http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i2.150 architectural practicing in the era of globalization (saudi market as a case study) ahmed mohamed shehata1, ibraheem n. a. al-bukhari2 1professor of urban & environmental design, islamic architecture department, college of engineering & islamic architecture, umm al-qura university 2islamic architecture department, college of engineering & islamic architecture, umm al-qura university abstract in the era of free trade and open markets, international consultant firms started to take over the local markets. local graduates are required to acquire certain skills and knowledge to compete in their local markets with the international graduates. local architectural teaching institutes are required to equip their graduates with the needed skills and knowledge. gulf construction and design market is one of the biggest markets in the world. saudi arabia, with its 646.44 billion dollar gdb, is considered the biggest market in the gulf area. the saudi vision of 2030 concentrates on economical sustainability and developing citizens. in this regard, this research investigates the competitiveness of the saudi educational outputs in the era of globalization and open markets. to achieve its objectives, the research analyzes the different scopes of practicing architecture especially in the design consultation field. international design firms working in the gcc counties and their required skills for positions were presented and analyzed. moreover, educational architectural curricula were investigated and tested against the required skills by international firms. the paper concluded with suggestions regarding architectural programs and their curricula that will enable saudi graduates to fulfill the international consultation market required qualifications and skills. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords saudi 2030 vision; educational outputs; architectural practice; competitiveness 1. introduction human capital is a vital factor in the success of any substantial development. one of the most significant assets of any society is its lively and vibrant youth. while many developed societies are concerned with aging populations, more than half of the developing societies’ population is below the age of 25 years. it is important for developing countries to take advantage of this demographic dividend by harnessing youth’s energy and providing them with the required skills. in a world without borders, achieving the desired rate of economic growth require an environment that attracts the necessary skills and capabilities both from within the local society and beyond national borders. this means building, attracting and retaining the finest local minds and provide them with all they need. one of the gulf state vision aspects is make use of the local as well as the foreign working force to contribute to economic development pg. 73 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i2.150&domain=press.ierek.com shehata / environmental science and sustainable development, essd and attract additional foreign investment. the 2030 saudi vision handled this issue and put objectives and strategies to ensure sustainable economy that works for saudi citizens. 1.1. saudi construction market profile the construction industry is showing strong growth rates through the last few years. charts in figures 1 to 4 show some of the most important indicators about the industry potential and market size of construction. it should be noted that the easily accessible building materials, such as cement, doors, and windows in the domestic market, are positive indicators for the construction industry. the growth in the construction industry has led to a wide array of job opportunities for both domestic and foreign job seekers. despite the anticipated budget deficit of usd 87 billion in 2016, construction projects are expected to be completed without any hindrances. the residential sector is also expected to grow significantly, as the rapid population growth (population is expected to reach ~37 million over the next 10 years) in the kingdom has stemmed a need for ~3 million housing units by 2025 (source global research, 2017; turner & townsend, 2017). figure 1. construction sector contribution to gdp (2011–2015) (”saudi arabian monetary agency”, 2015). figure 2. construction sector value in ksa (2011–2019f) pg. 74 shehata / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 3. building construction contracts awarded 2013–2015 (usd million) (”jeddah chamber”, 2016). figure 4. sector-wise construction budget distribution (2015) (”jeddah chamber”, 2016). 2. architecture practicing in gcc architecture record annual statistics of the top twenty firms in the world showed that 65% of the twenty top firms get more than 45% of their revenue out of practicing architecture design while 45% of them come from architectural engineering consultations. three of these firms get more than 40% of their revenue from international practicing. results of the top twenty firms’ revenues distribution are presented in figures 5, 6 and 7 (2016 top 300 architecture firms, 2016). figure 5. percent of international revenue of architectural firms required skills and knowledge: surveying job postings of the top firms that gets their revenue from practicing architecture shows that the required skills can vary based on the job but, in general, key skills can be classified into the following categories: (architect gulf consult, 2017). pg. 75 shehata / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 6. percent of design revenue from architecture figure 7. top twenty firms in 2016 survey revenue distribution codes knowledge: knowledge of codes and ability to interpret them and ensure designs meet codes is an essential aspect of any architecture job (quirck, 2014). · architectural codes · leadership in energy & environmental design (leed) · building codes · zoning codes technical design skills: using computer programs and processes are the key skills for architectural design: · technical vision · autocad · revit · drafting · model making · design concepts · design to delivery · plans · industrial design · sustainable design · specifications · rendering · computer aided · computer processing design (cad) building and construction skills awareness of the requirement and process of different kinds of buildings and construction, their settings and its pg. 76 shehata / environmental science and sustainable development, essd surroundings require the following skills: · building construction · building systems · construction · construction administration documents · industrial design · installation · new construction · preservation · retail · rehabilitation · renovation · residential project management skills: the following skills need to be pursued and developed through studying and practicing on real projects: · analysis · conceptualization · budgeting · coordination · client relations · collaboration · communication · legal · design to delivery · zoning codes · finance · management · problem solving · project management · scheduling · estimating · specifications · building codes · architectural codes · solving complex · seeing big picture · leadership in energy & environmental problems results design (leed) moreover, job sites like linkedin statics show that job postings for architects are almost more than half of the engineering job postings (shown in figure 8). it also shows that knowledge of computer software like autocad, sketch up, revit and photoshop are essential skills specially for fresh graduates. figure 9 shows the distribution of the key skills where architectural design comes first then computer software (”architect gulf consultant”, 2017). figure 8. insights about architect top gulf consultant members on linkedin (”architect — gulf consultant”, 2017). required experience and skills vary based on the job responsibilities and description. alison doyle in her article about most wanted architectural skills argued that accreditation is more important to architects than being licensed. moreover, she claimed that leed accreditation is the most wanted skill for different firms. figures 10 and 11 illustrates the most wanted skills as per statistics of job seeking site (doyle, 2017). pg. 77 shehata / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 9. top skills –required by architecture consultant members on linkedin figure 10. architecture licensure verses accreditation. figure 11. key skillsrated according to job postings. 3. the saudi vision of 2030 the second axe of the 2030 saudi vision considers achieving a thriving economy. the objectives that formulate this axe is consolidated in the learning for working. it stated that this would be achieved through investing in education and training the young men and women to be equipped for the jobs of the future. it is the aim that saudi youth, wherever they live, enjoy higher quality, multi-faceted education. efforts will be doubled to ensure that the outcomes of the saudi education system are in line with market needs. launching the national labor gateway (taqat) is part of these efforts. proposed sector councils will precisely determine the skills and knowledge required by each socioeconomic sector. expanding in vocational training will drive forward economic development. pg. 78 shehata / environmental science and sustainable development, essd scholarship opportunities will be steered towards prestigious international universities and will be awarded in the fields that serve the national priorities. innovation in advanced technologies and entrepreneurship will be in the focus of education (vision 2030, 2017). saudi architectural educational programs: the architecture schools within the kingdom were surveyed. table (1) summarizes the results of curriculum of the surveyed architectural educational institutes in saudi arabia. the survey shows that there are eighteen universities that teach architecture in the kingdom of saudi arabia. while 28% out of these eighteen are private universities, 22% of them are graduating only female architects. basic results showed that the study plan of these universities varies widely in their curriculum areas, position statements, program objectives and contents. table 1 also shows big differences in the number of elective courses and their topics. while hail and umm al-qura universities do not have any elective courses, taibah university has eight elective courses and the average of the rest is three courses. the most critical remark was the big difference in number of design courses and this, of course, affects the complexity of their projects. king faisal, prince sultan and taibah offer only three courses in addition to the graduation project. while king fahd university students attend 10 design studios. results also show that only half of the surveyed schools give a deep and detailed building science courses (joseph, 2010). pg. 79 shehata / environmental science and sustainable development, essd pg. 80 shehata / environmental science and sustainable development, essd pg. 81 shehata / environmental science and sustainable development, essd curriculum models: king saud, king fahd and king abul-aziz universities are the oldest and have the most developed curriculum and constitutes the reference for the rest of the architecture universities. their curriculum is based on a hybrid model that started with the bauhaus generated american model then transformed after a series of developments into unique programs. students are enrolled for three different phases: general studies: it aims to develop their basic design skills and drawing abilities while assimilating theoretical knowledge related to the built environment disciplines. -intermediate phase (junior): in this phase, core applied and theoretical knowledge is developed and advanced architectural engineering skills are being developed. -professional phase (senior): this phase aims to build environmental and global awareness and developing management skills. there are university requirements, college requirements, and departmental requirements. most of the university requirements are required in the first year. pg. 82 shehata / environmental science and sustainable development, essd all the other universities curricula are different modified versions of this curriculum (joseph, 2010). position statements: some of the surveyed curricula were oriented to environmental studies where sociology and human culture have an impact on the social and physical environment and their design related courses are in the core of the courses, while in other cases engineering and building science where courses of mechanical and electrical in addition to structure and design courses are in the core courses, while the rest are elective courses. in the third orientation, architecture design pedagogy is supplemented with history and theory courses. all the surveyed curricula were split somehow into three different phases: introductory stage: one or two years dedicated to offering students basic science, basic design, and the development of their imagination and conceptual skills intermediate stage: after the introductory phase, for two to three-years stage, students are specialized in one of the core disciplines mentioned earlier in this section: architecture, environmental design, or construction engineering. professional stage: one year of professional studies that include courses in professional practice, building economics, and the graduation project. programs’ objectives: some of the surveyed programs target graduate architects with extra engineering backgrounds, others target graduate architects with humanities and environmental backgrounds. they all have a dose of building science background. the overall objectives vary according to the position statement of each program. in general, the objectives can be rounded in the following points: provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for the practice of architecture. prepare graduates who can contribute to the development and improvement of the saudi local natural and built environment. develop the students’ intellectual awareness of the physical and spiritual factors constraints and their impact on the designed environment. preparing future generations of architects who can propose design and planning solutions for local problems, assimilate environmental and technological factors that influence the building industry, and manage the design and execution of buildings. 4. conclusion and recommendations the research proved that key skills defined by the professional market are almost aligned with the educational trends within the educational architecture schools in the kingdom despite that the research did not investigate the details of the courses’ contents. it also showed that there is a big variation in the given dose of many knowledge fields like design, computer and building science. building construction and computer applications, in addition to construction management axes, need to be enhanced in terms of content and the number of contact hours. this can be achieved through obligatory courses or elective ones to match the required key skills of the job postings. the research recommends that the curriculum of architecture schools within the kingdom needs to be standardized through efforts to be led by the ministry of education. this will ensure maintaining the minimum standard of skills and knowledge of the graduated architects. moreover, the curriculum in architecture schools within the kingdom must be updated periodically and aligned with the professional market required key skills. it is recommended that specialized diplomas that give professional architects deeper and more specialized knowledge in key fields like sustainability accreditation and building codes and projects management should be facilitated by architecture educational institutes within the kingdom in cooperation with the saudi professional societies. pg. 83 shehata / environmental science and sustainable development, essd references 1. 2016 top 300 architecture firms. (2016). retrieved july 15, 2017, from https://www.architecturalrecord.c om/top300/2016-top-300-architecture-firms-1 2. architect gulf consult. (2017). retrieved 2017, from https://www.linkedin.com/userp/title/architect-at-gu lf-consult 3. doyle, a. (2018). architect skills list and examples. retrieved from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/ architect-skills-list-2063730 4. jeddah chamber. (2016). the report: saudi arabia 2016 (rep.). oxford business group. 5. joseph, a. (2017). college and universities in saudi arabia. retrieved june 30, 2017, from http://get2know saudiarabia.blogspot.com/2010/08/top-colleges-and-universities-in-saudi.html 6. quirck, v. (2014, july). want to land a job at one of the top 50 architecture firms? here are the skills you need to have. . . retrieved from http://www.archdaily.com/527556/want-to-land-a-job-at-one-of-the-to p-50-architecture-firms-here-are-the-skills-you-need-to-have# = 7. saudi arabian monetary agency. (2015). fifty first annual report (rep. no. 1436h). saudi arabian monetary agency. 8. source global research. (2017). the gcc consulting market in 2017. retrieved from http://www.sourceg lobalresearch.com/report/3021/the-gcc-consulting-market-in-2017 9. turner & townsend. (2017). international construction market survey 2017. retrieved from http://www.tur nerandtownsend.com/en/insights/international-construction-market-survey-2017/ 10. vision 2030. (2017). national transformation program. retrieved from http://vision2030.gov.sa/en/ntp pg. 84 introduction saudi construction market profile architecture practicing in gcc the saudi vision of 2030 conclusion and recommendations http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i1.487 selecting ventilation fan capacity for university classroom based on empirical data wannawit taemthong1 1associate professor, king mongkut’s university of technology north bangkok, bangkok, thailand abstract this paper presents a guideline for selecting ventilation fan based on empirical data. the research project was undertaken in a university classroom of 64 square meters. in a two-hour experiment, carbon dioxide levels exceeded 1600 ppm when not using any ventilation system. subsequently, the carbon dioxide levels increased approximately at a rate of 11.49 ppm per minute for 15 students sitting in the room. the carbon dioxide levels within the tested classroom exceeded 1000 ppm after the 42nd minute. when students left the room, co2 decreased approximately at a rate of 3.67 ppm per minute. straight-line functions were used to model the increasing and decreasing behaviour of co2 concentration in the classroom. an example of how to select an appropriate ventilation fan capacity is shown as an approximation guideline. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords carbon dioxide; classroom; indoor air quality; ventilation 1. introduction ventilation rates have significant impacts on building energy and indoor air quality (persily, 2016). good indoor air quality promotes occupant health, comfort and workplace productivity (cheong & chong, 2001). thermal comfort in classrooms is an important requirement to promote students’ efficiency and reduce health symptoms (stazi, naspi, ulpiani, & di perna, 2017). indoor carbon dioxide concentrations can be used to measure building ventilation and indoor air quality (persily & de jonge, 2017). as ventilation to supply fresh air in an air-conditioned office consumes a considerable portion of energy, while higher ventilation rates result in less dilution, high ventilation rates can have a huge impact on both energy costs and comfort (wong & mui, 2008), (prill, 2000). higher indoor air quality initiatives result in a nonlinear increasing trend in annual thermal energy consumption (wong & mui, 2008). while low ventilation rates consume less energy, they may result in poor indoor air quality (wang, xie, liu, & xu, 2016). indoor air quality is associated with student learning ability. good air quality in classrooms enhance both children’ levels of concentration and teacher productivity (clements-croome, awbi, bakó-biró, kochhar, & williams, 2008). high levels of co2 have been shown to have an effect on pupils’ learning ability (griffiths & eftekhari, 2008). levels of carbon dioxide can increase by up to 4800 ppm during the first two hours of a classroom in a not well-ventilated classroom (heudorf, neitzert, & spark, 2009). it has been established that mechanical ventilation systems are able to ensure the highest outdoor air supply rates in classrooms, independent of the season pg. 13 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i1.487&domain=press.ierek.com taemthong / environmental science and sustainable development, essd (gao, wargocki, & wang, 2014). installing an air exchange fan can reduce indoor co2 concentration by up to 10.4% (kang, tseng, wang, shih, & nguyen, 2016). ventilation rates represent a critical parameter related to building energy bills and health and comfort of occupants (batterman, 2017). poor ventilation potentially causes excessive humidity and the accumulation of gas or chemical exposure (bernstein et al., 2008). (wargocki and silva, 2015) studied impacts of manually window opening to reduce co2 level in school classroom. co2 sensors were provided as visual indicator in classrooms for teachers and students to react by opening windows. they found that energy usage increases in winter and cooling requirements reduces in summer due to such operation. overall indoor air pollution exposures attribute to their health since most europeans spend more than 90% of their time indoors (arvanitis et al. 2010). people spend most of their time in confined spaces and thus are exposed to high extent to chemicals accumulated indoor (kotzias & pilidis, 2017). indoor air pollution has a high correlation to outdoor air source (sabazioti, galinos, missia, kalimeri, tolis, & bartzis, 2017). strong emission sources affect indoor environment in buildings (sakellaris, tolis, saraga, & bartzis, 2017). in order to design and manage appropriate ventilation systems, the effects of increasing and decreasing rates of co2 need to be studied. it is useful to know the carbon dioxide generation rates of students in a classroom. (persily and de jonge, 2017) studied co2 generation rates for building occupants based on human metabolism and exercise physiology. several methods can be used to estimate and model co2. (lawrence and braun, 2007) suggested a methodology for estimating co2 using field measurements and developed a co2 schedule to manage demand-controlled ventilation in small commercial buildings. (lu, knuutila, viljanen, & lu, 2010) introduced a method of estimating occupant co2 generation rates from measurements in mechanically ventilated buildings. (jiang, masood, soh, & li, 2016) used realtime co2 measurements as an estimator tool for co2 levels. (bartlett, martinez, & bert, 2004) used numerical method to estimate co2 concentration in natural ventilation elementary school classrooms. they found that co2 were generated at a rate 404 mg/min per child and air quality in such classroom was lower than recommended air standard. in addition, weekly et al. developed partial and ordinary differential equations for modeling and estimating co2 in a conference room setting (weekly, bekiaris-liberis, jin, & bayen, 2015). however, none of the above studies considered either increasing or decreasing rates of co2 levels in a classroom environment in hot and humid climate liked thailand and modeling them in a function of carbon dioxide versus time. this paper aims at modeling co2 behavior and suggesting a method for designing ventilation fan capacity in classroom. 2. research methodology the study was implemented in one classroom of the king mongkut’s university of technology north bangkok. it had a size of 64 square meters, and a ceiling height of 3.5 meters. fifteen students were present in the room. initially, two experiments were undertaken involving increasing and decreasing levels of co2. rates of co2 concentration in the classroom were recorded by an indoor air quality meter (kimo aq 200). data was modelled using the linear regression method, which is a statistical technique for modelling the relationship between variables (montgomery, peck, & vining, 2012). a straight-line function was selected to represent co2 concentration data. apprehension regarding using slope and y-interception represents the reason for using the straight-line form shown in equation 1. the slope of a straight-line represents the relative increasing/decreasing rate of co2 concentration. the y-interception represents the initial co2 level in the room prior to occupancy. y = ax+b (1) where y = carbon dioxide concentration in ppm; x = time in minutes; a = slope of a straight-line or increasing/decreasing rate of co2 concentration; and b = y-interception or initial level co2 in the room. the first and second experiments studied the increasing and decreasing of co2 as shown in figure 1 and 2, respectively. data were gathered on november 9, 2015 during 13:00 to 15:00 for the first experiment in figure 1. carbon dioxide levels were recorded for two hours while students were present in the classroom. nevertheless, actual co2 concentration has a single curvature, as shown in figure 1, and a 2nd degree polynomial function should be used for better correlation than a straight-line function. however, the polynomial can be best employed to estimate figures pg. 14 taemthong / environmental science and sustainable development, essd within the range of the data known. it is not an effective model for making predictions because it tends to create double curvatures later. therefore, a straight-line function was selected to represent increasing and decreasing rates of co2 in this research as an approximation model. in our experiments, two variables were found. carbon dioxide levels in a classroom are a function of the time that students are present or left the classroom. the co2 concentration in figure 1 can be represented by a straight-line function, as shown in equation 2. it has a correlation value or r2 of 0.988. thus, the increasing rate is 11.49 ppm/minute, as shown in the slope value. y = 11.49x + 427 data for the second experiement were gathered on november 9, 2015 during 15:15 to 17:15 as shown in figure 2. the decreasing rates of co2 concentration can be noticed after students left the classroom without ventilation fans having been operated. such rates decrease naturally. all doors and windows were not open during the two-hour periods under consideration. a straight-line model for these data sets is shown in equation 3. it has a correlation value or r2 of 0.994. co2 decreased at a rate of 3.67 ppm/minute. correlation values of the decreasing rates of co2 function is obviously better than the increasing rates of co2 function. y = −3.67x + 1801 (3) figure 1. increasing rates of co2 in the experimental room figure 2. decreasing rates of co2 in the experimental room pg. 15 taemthong / environmental science and sustainable development, essd with respect to carbon dioxide levels, the occupational safety and health administration specifies the transitional limit of carbon dioxide in workplace as 5,000 ppm over a time weighted average (osha, 2017). a generally satisfactory level for indoor co2 concentration is between 1,000-1,200 ppm (ashrae, 2014). therefore, the level of co2 used as a threshold in this research is 1,000 ppm, representing generally acceptable indoor air quality. the impact of employing ventilation fans is then studied by encouraging fresh air into the room and reducing co2 concentration, as shown in figure 3. it illustrates the data gained in the third experiment where ventilation fans were operated. the fans were operated manually when co2 levels inside the room exceeded 1000 ppm. the ventilation fans supply fresh air at a rate of 362 cfm, or 616 m3/hr. the actual ventilation rate, which ensures acceptable indoor air quality, is 24.13 cfm/person. this number is higher than that recommended by thai standards. the minimum ventilation rate required for a classroom in thailand stands at 15 cfm/person (eit, 2005). the fresh air supply fan has enough power to disburse co2 at a rate under 1,000 ppm. the test duration in figure 3 is less than 120 minutes due to classes adjourning before time. from figure 3, the ability to dissipate co2 concentration can be determined by projecting the increasing rate beyond the 64th minutes with equation 2, and subtracting with actual co2 figures for the period between the 64th and 101st minutes. thus, we arrive at the projection shown in figure 4. the difference between the values of the two lines shown in the figure 4 can be modelled as presented in equation 4. it can estimate a removal rate of co2 while ventilation fan is operated. the installed ventilation fans, which have a capacity of 362 cfm, have the ability to remove co2 at a rate of approximately 13.4 ppm/minute. by dividing 362 cfm with 13.4 ppm/minute, 27 cubic foot of fresh air is required to remove one ppm of co2. y = 13.4x−0.98 (4) however, ventilation fans serve to channel hot and humid air into rooms since thailand is subject to a typically hot and humid climate. electricity consumption increases since air conditioning units work harder and consume more electricity to maintain the room temperature at 25 ◦c. energy consumption is 1.28 and 1.91 kwh when ventilation fans are switched off and on, respectively. through dispersing fresh air into the experiment room, electricity consumption increased by 49%. thus, minimizing the use of ventilation fans can save energy. figure 3. operating a ventilation fan at a threshold of 1000 ppm pg. 16 taemthong / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 4. using equation 2 to project increasing rate of co2 to determine the ability to dissipate co2 by installed ventilation fan. 3. scenarios in operating ventilation fans to maintain desirable indoor air quality, ventilation fans should be operated in rooms crowded with people. in this section, we will consider two scenarios concerned with the operation of a ventilation fan. the first scenario mimics situations when co2 sensors are set to operate ventilating fans at 1000 ppm, as shown in figure 5. equation 2 was used to generate co2 in both scenarios. meanwhile, the ability to remove co2 by fans as represented in figure 3 is used to simulate the co2 concentration behaviors when operating ventilation fans. the total fan operating time is 54 minutes and the maximum co2 found is 1015 ppm. second, the alleviation of co2 concentration is studied after students having left the classroom. two methods were considered involving alleviation under natural conditions and alleviation using ventilation fans, as shown in figure 6. during the first 120 minutes, classes were full with 15 students studying for two hours. subsequently, students left the classroom. in figure 6, the top line represents the situation where co2 decreases naturally at a rate of 3.67 ppm per minute as determined from equation 3. it is obvious that co2 cannot be removed to a satisfy level at 1000 ppm within one hour. the other line represents the situation where the ventilation fan was operating and students left the room for one hour. co2 concentration reduced at the combined rates of 3.67 and 13.4 ppm per minute as determined from equations 3 and 4, respectively. when using the latter method indoor air quality quickly improves. co2 concentration diminishes by 1029 ppm in one hour. since most classrooms in thailand are vacant during lunch period from 12:00-13:00, schools should be strongly encouraged to operate ventilation fans during this period in order to restore air freshness in the classroom. 4. selecting ventilation fan size this section gives a guideline in selecting the appropriate size of ventilation fan based on developed models. the question under consideration concerns if 25 students are attending a class in a 64 square meter room, what is the appropriate capacity of a ventilation fan in cfm. the first step involves calculating the co2 emission of 25 students. based on our data, co2 increases at a rate 11.49 ppm/minute for 15 students or 0.76 ppm/person/minute. pg. 17 taemthong / environmental science and sustainable development, essd therefore, the co2 emission rate for 25 students should be 19.15 ppm/minute, as shown in table 1. from earlier results, it is suggested that approximately 27 cubic feet of fresh air would be required to remove one ppm of co2. therefore, a ventilation fan capacity of 517 cfm is appropriate for this size of room and number of students. this number is higher than recommended by eit (2005) and (ashrae, 2007) at 375 cfm and 187.5 cfm, respectively. furthermore, the fan might be controlled by co2 sensor setting a threshold at 1000 ppm to turn the fan on and off at 800 ppm. such operation could minimize energy consumption from air condition unit. figure 5. simulating an operation of a ventilation fan at a threshold of 1000 ppm. figure 6. effects of co2 removal by natural means and using ventilation fan after students have left a classroom pg. 18 taemthong / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1. example in selecting the size of ventilation fans input number of students 25 persons size of room 64 sq.m. process rate of co2 generated by students at a rate of 0.76 ppm/person/minute 19.15 ppm/min result required size of fans to maintain 1000 ppm based on 27 cf/ppm 517 cfm 5. conclusion this research outlines details of preliminary models for estimating and predicting co2 concentration in classrooms. an example case study is presented. however, there are many limitations regarding the models since they are developed in terms of a classroom of 64 square meters with 15 students in attendance. more research could be undertaken to develop more versatile models encompassing different situations such as different size of rooms, ventilation fan capacities, and number of students. in our experiment, co2 increases at a rate 11.49 ppm/minute with 15 students, or 0.76 ppm/person/minute. it decreases naturally at a rate of 3.67 ppm per minute after students have left the classroom. this rate also depends on the nature of openings to the room. guidelines for selecting the size of ventilation fans to reduce co2 concentration in classrooms have been suggested. the operation of mechanical ventilation may be required during vacant periods before students enter their next class in order to ensure acceptable indoor air quality for students. this research demonstrates how to develop a model for estimating co2 values in a classroom from an empirical study. an increasing rate of co2 due to students being present in the classroom were found at 0.76 ppm/person/minute. by using a ventilation fan, co2 level in room reduces. from our study, a 27 cubic foot of fresh air is required in order to remove one ppm of co2. as a result, building designers can use this number as a guideline in selecting ventilation fan capacity. 6. acknowledgments this research is supported by the royal thai government funding of fiscal year 2014 through the king mongkut’s university of technology north bangkok (kmutnb). the author wishes to thank them gratefully. 7. references 1. arvanitis, a., kotzias, d., kephalopoulos, s., carrer, p., cavallo, d., cesaroni, g., ... & fromme, h. 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(2015). use of visual co 2 feedback as a retrofit solution for improving classroom air quality. indoor air, 25(1), 105-114. 28. weekly, k., bekiaris-liberis, n., jin, m., & bayen, a. m. (2015). modeling and estimation of the humans’ effect on the co 2 dynamics inside a conference room. ieee transactions on control systems technology, 23(5), 1770-1781. 29. wong, l. t., & mui, k. w. (2008). a transient ventilation demand model for air-conditioned offices. applied energy, 85(7), 545-554. 30. wong, l. t., mui, k. w., shi, k. l., & hui, p. s. (2008). an energy impact assessment of indoor air quality acceptance for air-conditioned offices. energy conversion and management, 49(10), 2815-2819. pg. 21 introduction research methodology scenarios in operating ventilation fans selecting ventilation fan size conclusion acknowledgments references http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i1.486 facades for achieving visual comfort: high performance computing fatima belok1, mostafa rabea2, mohamed hanafi3, ibtihal el bastawissi4 1phd candidate and teaching assistant, faculty of architecture-design & built environment, beirut arab university 2assistant professor, faculty of architecture-design & built environment, beirut arab university 3professor, faculty of architecture-design & built environment, beirut arab university 4professor and dean of faculty of architecture-design &built environment, beirut arab university abstract within the last few decades, many digital technologies have been integrated to the field of architecture. this in turn has developed a number of architectural trends based on these revolutionary changes. kinetic skin is one of these trends that is directly related to visual performance and comfort, an important aspect. the feeling of comfort is related to the sense organs network; i.e. the eyes, ears, nose, tactile sensors, heat sensors and brain. visual sensation is the most dominant one in human perception since the eye contains two thirds of the nerve fibers within human central nervous system. the use of kinetic facades for achieving visual comfort in spaces has been recently the subject of many researches, where various aspects have been explored. however, this paper will attempt to review these researches while identifying gaps and potential for future research. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords visual comfort; kinetic facades; optimization; digital tools 1. introduction 1.1. visual comfort and daylight the illumination engineering society of north america (ies) noticed that activity and perception could be reinforced through the lighting. most of human perceptions are influenced by light (natural or artificial), which is a source of enjoyment and aesthetic pleasure. it also affects mental health. also, daylight factor should be considered for having more comfortable spaces (jenkins & newborough, 2007). daylight could affect mainly three categories, which are functional efficiency, energy efficiency and human health (el-dbaa, 2016). a) functional efficiency: adequate lighting allows for better functional efficiency, not only in terms of direct use, such as reading and writing, but in exposing features of color, texture, and form that increases spatial and functional pg. 1 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i1.486&domain=press.ierek.com belok / environmental science and sustainable development, essd efficiency of space (el-dbaa, 2016). b) energy efficiency: by reducing the amount of artificial light, and by improving the amount of daylight in a space, the energy consumption will automatically be reduced. this reduction is not only related to the electricity, but also will reduce the cooling and heating load (el-dbaa, 2016). c) human productivity and health: the importance of daylight does not only on the energy efficiency, it is also related to its advantages on user’s productivity and health. studies show that people working at night have a considerable increased negative mood than others working in daylight, since psychological well-being, mood, body temperature and brain activity, are influenced by the light in a specific architectural environment (tomassoni, galetta & treglia, 2015). the nervous system could be disturbed if their amount of daylight is unsatisfied, which will motivate the feeling of fatigue (el sheikh, 2011). working or studying for long time in a space illuminated only by artificial light will cause discomfort and stress, while daylight helps to give a healthy space. thus, controlling the amount of daylight in spaces, will improve the user productivity and mood. (tomassoni et al., 2015). 1.2. kinetic facades definition and importance building envelope improves human comfort, because it is the layer between the outside and the inside of a building (kim, 2013). the shading devices or the building envelope could be static or dynamic. those that are nonstationary are generally described by words such as convertible, kinematic retractable, kinetic, or simply adaptive. in architecture, adaptive and dynamic building envelops are the current trends (fouad, 2012; barozzi, lienhard, zanelli & monticelli, 2016). kinetic is the movement, while architecture is the style of the building (fouad, 2012). thus, kinetic architecture is the design of buildings that are produced by movement. several technologies responding to changing needs have been developed, where kinetic architecture is one of the most important technologies, which is considered as an evolution from static to dynamic form in architecture (al horr et al., 2016). many researchers have discussed kinetic architecture from 1970 till now, such as zuc and clark in 1970, michael a.fox in 2003, chuck hberman, sanchez-del-valle in 2005, robert kronenburg in 2007, kostas terzidis in 2008, etc. (barozzi et al., 2016). sanchez-del-valle explains that usages of adaptive kinetic structure are due to economy of means, and responsibility toward the natural environment and human need satisfaction. in addition, in 2005 sanchez-del-valle said, “adaptive kinetic architecture creates an ecological system as its components have shifting interdependencies when responding to changing environment”. in addition, kostas terzidis in 2008 has argued that adding motion to a building will be important, since it will affect the design, aesthetic and performance of the building. consequently, kinetic architecture is not just about moving a building, but it is also making a link between nature and built environment, regarding the environmental variations. furthermore, kinetic architecture could be applied in different ways based on the purpose of the system (rossi, nagy, & schlueter, 2012). for instance, it could be applied on building facades, on building structure, in the landscape and others. this paper focuses on kinetic shadings. kinetic and adaptive shadings could serve as a good treatment more than the fixed ones, since adaptive systems can be modified in relation to external environmental changes such as solar radiation, to achieve the optimum daylight and shade during the day. this mechanical system could be added on external or internal facades (fouad, 2012 & barozzi et al., 2016). in addition, many interactive ideas and concepts have been recently invented and could adjust and interact with environmental factors such as daylight heat, wind, or even people (al horr et al., 2016). 2. aim the aim of this paper is to explore possible roles for architects in developing kinetic facades for achieving visual comfort. pg. 2 belok / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3. objectives the paper objectives are: – exploring the current state of art in kinetic facades and visual comfort. – exploring possible future applications and studies. 4. methodology this paper will start by a literature review on different recent researches and studies that focuses on how to reach visual comfort using kinetic facades, then an evaluation and a comparative analysis for the recent researches followed by a discussion. finally, it will end by conclusions and recommendations. 5. previous work optimizing visual comfort and enhancing the daylight performance in different spaces, has been the aim and target of many researchers in several studies. based on some readings in this field, it has been noted that architects and designers usually follow a certain process; i.e. starting with designing the kinetic skin and specifying its mechanism, then testing different alternatives using environmental simulation programs and software, and finally linking all of them to reach optimum solutions. based on this process, and based on the responsive kinetic skin design framework (explained later), the examined researches in this field are classified in three categories, as shown in fig.1, which are: form and mechanism, computational analysis and simulation, and design framework category. figure 1. categorization of different researches examining the daylight performance using kinetic systems (source: author) 5.1. form and mechanism category this category mainly focuses on researches examining the form and mechanism of kinetic systems for enhancing daylight performance in a space. it includes the scale, the composition, the aesthetic, and the motion of kinetic shadings. several researchers discussed in their studies the performance of fixed and movable shadings in different architectural spaces. some of them examined the effect of fixed screens on enhancing the daylight distribution with modification of one shading parameters, such as the shape of cells of the screens, rotation angles, and screen opening proportion (horizontal: vertical) from 1:1 to 18:1 (sabry, sherif, gad elhak, & rakha, 2012). however, recently most of the researches are focusing on dynamic shadings in response to external environmental factors, such as the daylight, wind factor and others. as dynamic systems have several advantages in comparison to the static one, for instance increasing occupancy comfort, increasing energetic performance and giving chance for pg. 3 belok / environmental science and sustainable development, essd aesthetics opportunities. in addition, adaptive architecture allows changing the building behavior responding to real world events (rossi et al., 2012), nowadays, new technologies allow designing dynamic systems, which are related to internal and external conditions. (meyboom, johnson & wojtowicz, 2011) focused on the different shapes and organizations of kinetic facades, which affect human comfort inside the space as shown in fig.2. facades, which are the link between outside and inside of a building, should be responsive to adapt these environmental changes and satisfy the human comfort. this is where the amount of light (artificial or natural) and the shadings devices especially the kinetic one, could be controlled based on the illuminance standards, are all serving and targeting the occupants’ and the users’ comfort, as shown in fig.3 (rossi et al., 2012). figure 2. examples of different shapes and organizations that could be presented on kinetic facades (source: rossi, nagy & schlueter, 2012). figure 3. the importance of the occupant in each factor (source: rossi, nagy and schlueter, 2012). pg. 4 belok / environmental science and sustainable development, essd (varendorff & garcia-hansen, 2012) have done a comparison for many shapes of kinetic systems on a specific building facade to identifying the best daylight distribution in relation to daylight glare probability and the amount of exterior unobstructed view. in a similar approach, (elghazi & mahmoud, 2016), have tested several origami techniques, which are one of the designs approaches that could provide kinetic shadings for better daylight performance based on several parameters, such as the motion and the module size. in addition, they have also examined the optimum number of folds and divisions for the origami geometries, as shown in fig.4. figure 4. different scale, composition and mechanism for a kinetic façade for optimizing daylight performance (source: elghazi & mahmoud, 2016) (el-dbaa, 2016) has studied the effect of the kinetic facades in an office building on improving the daylight performance through specifying the best louvers movement using simulations. it has determined the best movement of two types of kinetic louvers, rotation and vertical movement. in addition, it has given many examples concerning the kinetic façade’s motion and mechanism, as shown in fig.5. figure 5. examples of different kinetic facades’ motion and mechanism (source: el-dbaa, 2016) pg. 5 belok / environmental science and sustainable development, essd thus, based on these studies, it is noted that designing the form, geometry and mechanism of a kinetic system should be done through using different modeling software and programs such as grasshopper, rhino and others for inserting many inputs. architects and designers therefore face some problems in the process of modeling of kinetic system, since it consumes lots of time and efforts. 5.2. computational analysis and simulation category the computational analysis and simulation category reviews researches focusing mainly on environmental simulation for daylight; it also involves small description and presentation of the existing digital application and plug-in used by architects to do this type of simulation. several papers have examined and compared different types, methods and plug-ins for daylight and glare simulation. (yoo & manz, 2011) has argued that visual comfort increases and glare decreases by installing fixed shading devices. in a similar approach, (sabry et al., 2012) has studied the daylight performance through using several solar screens shape. in addition, the effect of using shading devices on daylight performance was investigated by many researchers in several climates and locations, since the negative effect of solar radiation and direct sunlight could be reduced by using shading devices (wageh & gadehlak, 2017). in 2016, tzempelokps and hiong have developed a strategy for controlling the glare using roller blind. (eltaweel & su, 2017) developed a reflective blind strategy that could be used parametrically through grasshopper for rhinoceros. (katsifaraki, bueno, & kuhn, 2017) have developed a new shading controller, in office buildings that also controls the glare and maximizes the daylight level through doing a prototype in freiburg, germany. nowadays simulation tools are very important, since many architects want to test internal spaces before the construction phase (evangelos & david, 2005). several digital tools, such as diva, honeybee, rayfront, relux 2004 vision and lightscape are used by architects to evaluate the performance of a building facade quantitatively and qualitatively in correspondence to the daylight transmittance of this façade (kim, 2013). many inputs should be introduced to those tools, such as the space materials, the materials transmittance, the grid of measurement, the weather file and others, while the outputs are graphs and tables. diva is a plug-in inserted to rhino software. it allows evaluating the environmental performance on urban landscape and buildings, as shown in fig.6. in harvard university, the graduate school of design developed diva initially, but now solemma llc. is developing diva (he, schnabel, chen & wang, 2017). also, the glare and illuminance level could be calculated in different software, such as diva and energy plus, which is a program for energy simulation used by architects, engineers and researchers (”energy plus”, 2018). figure 6. a daylight simulation using diva plug-in (source: el-dbaa, 2016) pg. 6 belok / environmental science and sustainable development, essd however, an extended and long workflow for optimization process and corresponding visualizations graphs are needed to be done by architects to reach the optimum kinetic shading for achieving visual comfort, which is considered as a problem for architects, since it will take lots of time to be accomplished, as shown in fig 7. in addition, users should practice on all of these programs to reach the optimum solution which is also another problem faced by many architects. figure 7. optimization process workflow and the corresponding visualizations panels in some of the visualization tool (source: gadelhak, lang & petzold, 2017) 5.3. design framework category many researchers have proposed theoretical frameworks for supporting the design, as shown in fig.8. for instance, in 1970 the waterfall model is a framework focusing on the early design stage, as shown in fig.9a. in 2000, another framework was proposed, which is the pathfinder model (horváth, 2000), as shown in fig.9b, the most updated theoretical framework is the responsive kinetic skin design framework for supporting the design process of kinetic architecture in early design stages (zboinska cudzik, juchnevic & radziszewski.,2015), as illustrated in fig.10. pg. 7 belok / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 8. chronological order of the theoretical framework (source: author) figure 9. shows the two existing structured frameworks for the conceptual design process before the appearance of the theoretical framework of kinetic architecture (source: zboinska et al.,2015) the responsive kinetic skin design framework was constructed and developed focusing on the construction of its foundation. several experiments were prepared to specify the framework characteristics (zboinska et al., 2015). this framework has explored six design aspects of adaptive architecture, as shown in fig.10, which are: – functionality: selecting the best solution to have the optimum performance (using grasshopper and galapagos). – form: defining the geometrical shape/composition, and exploring esthetically each part (using rhinoceros and grasshopper). – kinetic behaviors: exploring the visual qualities of the movement, and simulating of the system dynamism (using kangaroo) pg. 8 belok / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – performance: analyzing and simulating computationally the system performance, such as environmental performance, structural performance and other (using karamba and diva). – responsive behavior: studying the interaction between the environment and the architecture. also analyzing the real time performance in the physical environment (using arduino toolkit, firefly, sensors and actuators). – system mechanism: specifying the material and the mechanical design of the system. also fabricating the prototype and testing its movement (using laser cutter and 3d printer). those six design aspects were also explored by various means (zboinska et al.,2015), as shown in fig.11. figure 10. responsive kinetic skin design framework and its cycle (source: zboinska et al., 2015) figure 11. various means that explore the six design aspects of the framework (source: author) however, this framework is not yet digitalized to be easily used by architects and designers. it still also needs more empirical verification, more exploration for its advantages and limitations, and need more development in the future (zboinska et al.,2015). 6. conclusion and recommendations based on the above review; the current researches in the field of kinetic facades for daylight optimization has been focused on the following lines: pg. 9 belok / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – kinetic facades’ form and mechanism, in which researches have explored several shapes, scale, aesthetical compositions and motions of kinetic facades. – kinetic facades’ form and mechanism, several researches have focused on developing and applying different environmental simulation programs and software related to optimizing daylight using kinetic systems. – kinetic design framework, in which several studies have examined theoretically different design frameworks, mainly the responsive kinetic skin design framework, as it is related to kinetic and responsive behavior. hence, it is recommended to discuss and explore more possible future researches in the topic concerning the enhancement of daylight performance by applying kinetic shadings. these recommendations to be categorized as follows: – in the form and mechanism category: it is recommended to explore more on automatic optimization of the form and mechanism of kinetic shadings to improve the daylight performance in a space. – in the computational analysis and simulation category: the processes of optimization and visualization present many challenges for architects, require extensive computer programing knowledge in different software, and involves many different specialists to reach optimum solution. thus, for better functionality, it would be recommended to devise a single toolset that function automatically for facilitating architect’s ability to realize more effective kinetic skins. – in the design framework category: a theoretic framework needs to be validated through digital tools finding a mathematical relation between several environmental and kinetic parameters, to reduce its complexity. in addition, it is better to present it through an easy graphical user interface (gui), to be easily used by all architects, not just by those who are professional in using digital tools and applications. finally, the consideration of these recommendations will help architects to overcome many problems, to save time, to reduce their efforts, and to efficiently design and control kinetic shadings for ultimately achieving visual comfort in different spaces. in other words, architects’ role should positively develop towards more efficient environmental performance of building through kinetic facades. 7. references 1. al horr, y., arif, m., kaushik, a., mazroei, a., katafygiotou, m., & elsarrag, e. (2016). occupant productivity and office indoor environment quality: a review of the literature. building and environment, 105, 369-389. doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2016.06.001 2. barozzi, m., lienhard, j., zanelli, a., & monticelli, c. (2016). the sustainability of adaptive envelopes: developments of kinetic architecture. procedia engineering, 155, 275-284. doi: 10.1016/j.proeng.2016.08.029 3. el-dbaa, r. (2016). the use of kinetic facades in enhancing daylight performance for office buildings. master degree. arab academy for science, technology and maritime transport. 4. elghazi, y., & mahmoud, a. (2016). origami exploration: a generative parametric technique for kinetic cellular façade to optimize daylight performance. shape, form and geometry, applications, 2. 5. eltaweel, a., & su, y. (2017). controlling venetian blinds based on parametric design; via implementing grasshopper’s plugins: a case study of an office building in cairo. energy and buildings, 139, 31-43. doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2016.12.075 6. energyplus. (2018). energyplus. retrieved from https://energyplus.net/ pg. 10 belok / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 7. evangelos, d. and david, c. (2005). daylighting simulation: comparison of softwares for architect’s utilization. in: ninth international ibpsa conference. [online] available at: http://www.ibpsa.org/proceed ings/bs2005/bs05 0183 190.pdf [accessed 23 jun. 2018]. 8. fouad, s. (2012). design methodology kinetic architecture (master of science). alexandria university. 9. gadelhak, m., lang, w., & petzold, f. (2017). a visualization dashboard and decision support tool for building integrated performance optimization. in shocksharing computational knowledge. rome, italy. retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320057576 a visualization dashboard and deci sion support tool for building integrated performance optimization 10. he, y., schnabel, m., chen, r. and wang, n. (2017). a parametric analysis process for daylight illuminance. in: 22nd international conference of the association for computer aided architectural design research in asia (caadria). hong king, pp.417-425. 11. horváth, i 2000 ’conceptual design: inside and outside’, proceedings of the 2nd international seminar and workshop on engineering design in integrated product development, pp. 63-72. 12. jenkins, d., & newborough, m. (2007). an approach for estimating the carbon emissions associated with office lighting with a daylight contribution. applied energy, 84(6), 608-622. doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2007.02.002 13. katsifaraki, a., bueno, b., & kuhn, t. (2017). a daylight optimized simulation-based shading controller for venetian blinds. building and environment, 126, 207-220. doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2017.10.003 14. kim, j. (2013). adaptive façade design for the daylighting performance in an office building: the investigation of an opening design strategy with cellular automata. international journal of low-carbon technologies, 10(3), pp.313-320. doi:10.1093/ijlct/ctt015 15. liu, y. (2012). a study on perception of daylight shadows and visual comfort in library reading areas. in: american solar energy society. oregon. 16. meyboom, a., johnson, g., & wojtowicz, j. (2011). architectronics: towards a responsive environment. international journal of architectural computing, 9(1), 77-98. doi: 10.1260/1478-0771.9.1.77 17. rossi, d., nagy, z. and schlueter, a. (2012). adaptive distributed robotics for environmental performance, occupant comfort and architectural expression. international journal of architectural computing,10(3), pp.341-359. 18. sabry, h., sherif, a., gad elhak, m., & rakha, t. (2012). external perforated solar screen parameters and configurations: daylighting performance of screen axial rotation and opening proportion in residential desert buildings. in 14th international conference on computing in civil and building engineering. moscow,russia. 19. tomassoni, r., galetta, g., & treglia, e. (2015). psychology of light: how light influences the health and psyche. psychology, 06(10), 1216-1222. doi: 10.4236/psych.2015.610119 20. varendorff, a., & garcia-hansen, v. (2012). building envelope: performance optimization processes for a daylight responsive architecture. in 28th conference, opportunities, limits & needs towards an environmentally responsible architecture. peru. 21. wageh, m., & gadehlak, m. (2017). optimization of facade design for daylighting and view to-outside: a case study in lecco, lombardy, italy. draft, 1-9. 22. yoo, s. h. & manz, h. (2011). available remodeling simulation for a bipv as a shading device. solar energy,95(1), pp. 394-397 pg. 11 belok / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 23. zboinska, m., cudzik, j., juchnevic, r., & radziszewski, k. (2015). a design framework and a digital toolset supporting the early-stage explorations of responsive kinetic building skin concepts. smart and responsive design,2, pp.715-725. pg. 12 introduction visual comfort and daylight kinetic facades definition and importance aim objectives methodology previous work form and mechanism category computational analysis and simulation category design framework category conclusion and recommendations references http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i1.489 green building with nature concept on lakeside resort design wasilah wasilah1, andi hildayanti1, hamzah hamzah1 1architectural engineering, faculty of science and technology alauddin islamic state university, indonesia abstract the natural condition of matano lake is heavily scenic includes the land, water, air, energy, and reasonably required to preserve. exploration in the resort design with green building and design with nature concept is one of preservation effort to maximize the natural potency of the area based on the aspect of environment, socio-economics, and sociocultural. the method in the design process involve a green building and design with nature principles implementation in the site plan, structural design, natural energy to maintain the building thermal and natural lighting, and reuse rainwater management to optimize the resort function, green materials and prevent the residual material. the result explained the lakeside resort based on green building and design with nature principles increase the aesthetic potential view and environmental sustainability of matano lake. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords resort; green building; design with nature; structure; material building; lakeside 1. introduction most of green building concept is to create a better life and meet the next generation needs. the aim concern on the environmental protection, health, and social. the environmental destruction phenomena have been existing in all aspect of life and cause a natural disaster (hildayanti, shirly & suriana, 2012). some societies are intense expressing a restoration and the balance of nature. one of the program is green building concept that includes a building development, house, apartment, office, and so forth. the green building concept tries to practice efficiency in four factors: efficiency in structure design, energy, water, and material (frick and suskiyanto, 2007). the purpose of design structure efficiency is to minimize the impact of development, from the execution to the building occupation. if the step is not efficient, then the development will produce a negative effect to the environment. the negative effect might occur in massive material usage or wasteful. additionally, efficiency in energy includes the steps to save the energy. the energy is including a daily needs energy, such as air and sunlight that come into the building or energy for operational aspect. for example, a building with wooden material tend to produce a lower disposal energy than the stone, concrete, or steel material. energy efficiency also relates on the number of electrical consumption of the building to support the optimization the function of the building (frick and mulyani, 2016). besides that, water efficiency relates on the life principles that strongly depend on the water. in fact, the human cannot live without a water, meanwhile the supply of the clean water is become a polemic. therefore, the green building concept also concern to water consumption efficiency. the efficiency includes how to get the water and pg. 31 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i1.489&domain=press.ierek.com wasilah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd green water management. for example, the rainwater reservoir tank, absorption wells, and soon could practice in order to collect the water. furthermore, material efficiency related on the building structure material. the material has a correlation with the efficiency of structure design. application of green building concept should practice as the necessities of material precisely (safrilia, 2013). please be advised that excessive material usage will boost the development budget, more impact to the environment, high energy consumption during the construction process, and etc. consequently, the principle in green building concept emphizes the design principle which concern on the environmental condition and the concept is closely related with design with nature. the principle is building without environmental destruction. the building design has a great expectation where the design should provide a solution on the development problem as the human needs but does not create a problem to the environtental (prihambudi, 2010). one of the typical solution to apply this objective is to practice the sustainability principle that concern with the aspect of social, economy, environment, and local wisdom as the design identity itself. in many ways, green building principle has a huge benefit for the human life and enviromental sustainability. some of advantages in the green building are (1) as a saving, from co t development saving, electrical, water, and saving the energy (frick and suskiyanto, 2007). the impact explicitly on the financial and. simple and small monthly expense. the practice of green building concept definitely involves an extra cost in early development, but the concept will economical for a long-term operational cost. some studies have proved an economical green building concept practice with; (2) an increasing productivity and quality of life of the occupant with green building concept. in fact, the concept definitely influences the productivity improvement. for example, there is a study in 31 green buildings in seattle city. the result explains the worker absences reduce up to 40%. the cushman & wakefield study conclude that the sick leave decline to 30% in the employee and increasing of profit because an improvement of employee performance. the increasing also occur in the quality of life. the green building may minimize a stress, an increasing of a life style, more health, and a good social condition. based on the study of the green building concept and a huge benefit of design with nature for human life and environment sustainability, this paper designs a lakeside resort area that high potential for the development of lakeside tourism function. the lake is matano lake that located in sorowako city, east luwu regency, about 600 km southwest of makassar city, south sulawesi. matano lake has 16,408 km2 wide and high potential for a new tourism destination in some part of the lakeside (east luwu culture and tourism office, 2016). currently, some lakesides area become a location of a recreation, such as ide beach, kupu-kupu beach, and salosa beach. matano lake presents an exotic panorama, cool water, beautiful lakeside landscape with many big trees with a lot of leaves that create pleasant atmosphere (minisitry of environmental of indonesia, 2014). however, some aspects have a poor tourism accommodation. according to east luwu tourism office data 2015-2016, tourism facility is inadequate and poor supporting facility (south sulawesi culture and tourism office, 2016). therefore, the formulation of resort area design performs to fulfill a demand of resort area development as tourism area. the resort would be facilitated and become a destination for local people, domestic, and international tourist. the development·should be provided a local income and an effort to create an innovative and efficient green building design. 2. research method this study conducted a content analysis approach to realize the result of the design with green concept application. the design methods of this study are: a) literature study: data collection on green building, efficiency of structure design, efficiency in energy, water, material, and a requirement and the standard of the room for facility area in lakeside resort. b) design location observation: collecting the information on the series of tourist activity in lakeside recreation area, characteristic of the tourist, and matano lake environment as the siteplan to support the resort design. c) analysis in the design approach: identifying the green building principle, including: pg. 32 wasilah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – structure design efficiency, such as element of the construction and building structure. – energy efficiency, used the natural potential such as the air and sunlight that come into the building and the aspect of operational energy. – water efficiency, how to get the water and green management. rainwater reservoir tank, absorption wells, and etc., are a method to collect the water. – material efficiency, implementation of building material for the development of architecture elements, such as wall, roof, and floor. material usage practice as the necessities of material precisely. d) the concept design; applying theroom configuration with the green building principle and design with nature, integrated with the social and environmental aspect the siteplan. the principle of green building and design with nature is to emphasize the harmony and balance between physical design and high quality of the landscape. e) the result of the design: in form of resort area design in matano lake area with the implementation of green building concept and design with nature to present an efficient, expressive, and innovative. 3. result and discussion 3.1. design transformation the design considers on the protection of lakeside to minimize the water and air pollution. an unoccupied building could have another benefit by modifying the function of the building into commercial function. the transformation of building function consistent with the local government policy as the effort to increase the quality of lakeside environmental. however, there are some obstacles during the development of the area. the obstacle factors are erosion or abrasion, sedimentation, and high cost on the siteplan development because the development involve specific technology and construction. therefore, the formulation of land use concept determines the function of the area as the resort with some supporting facilities to optimize the resort function. the concept will provide an access for the public, providing some green, economical, accommodative facilities for long-term period in order to attract the visitor. according to the activity that facilitated by matano lakeside resort, there are three resort activities: category, primary, secondary, and tertiary function. a. primary function. the function is the primary requirement for the resort, such as: 1) occupation the occupation is the primary function in the design as the place for relaxation, to stay, and enjoying the matano lake environment from the resort. the resort facility should facilitate the visitor activity to create a comfort atmosphere. 2) entertainment and recreation based on the design theme, the resort certainly presents an entertainment and become a recreative area located in the matano lakeside. this function is the primary attraction of the resort. the attraction will realize in form of mini waterboom/water park, outbound arena, swimming pool, and some others supporting facilities. b. secondary function. the realization of this function is to support or operating the primary function, such as: 1) administration the administration related to the all resort management, such as: manager room, staff room (administration) and etc. 2) commercial service commercial facility is the facility that support the quality of the resort, such as cafe, atm, minimarket or convenience store and souvenir shop. pg. 33 wasilah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3) promotion the promotion category will facility are the hotel announcement to the tourists and organize the event to attract the visitor to come the resort. 4) sport the sport facility is to support the requirement inside the resort. the facilities are swimming pool, jogging track, and outbound area. c. tertiary function. the function is to support the primary and secondary function, which are: 1) service a service will support all resort activity, include maintenance /repair and building maintenance. 2) service function the function will present a service to the resort guest. all quest needs will provide by service function. the service function facilitated with main kitchen, engineering, praying room, and parking area. the resort facilities above conclude that the room requirement define by the building function to be facilitated the room inside the building. the next part will describe the site plan of lakeside resort area of the matano lake and some recreation facilities inside the resort area (see figure 1). figure 1. the site plan and the facility of matano lakeside resort area the site plan is 60,000 m2 or 6 hectares. total of the lands space is 11,569.31 m2 or 19.28 % of the site plan. 48430.69 m2 is non-built-up area and most area is a reforestation area with big tree and shrub vegetation. the allocation of built-up area and non-built-up area proportion usage is one of the implementations of design with nature concept with the application of balance between resort physical design and reforestation composition in matano lakeside land. 3.2. structure design all wooden material must dry, old, straight, and without a crack, and the humidity degree is less than 15% as the requirement stated in pkkl 1970-ni.5. the selection of wooden material because a wood construction is an pg. 34 wasilah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd accessible material. the material is the material that mastering by the local engineer because the characteristic of wood are easy to cut and flexible (measurable, easy to cut, elastic, and etc.). the truss construction for the roof will resist the wind pressure horizontally and proved by the application in the traditional house. in fact, the construction is standing for a hundred years, depend on the preparation of the wood material (see figure 2). figure 2. the building structure a re roof. middle, and sub structure. the sub structure of building practice the caisson pile to adapt the land contour, and pedestal column applied in the building pile. the middle structure of house building is reinforced concentrate and the upper structure is a wood truss. some buildings have foot plate sub structure, a common structure found in the high building with soft land condition. the foundation characteristic is economical and the land pit is few that make the project time saving. 3.3. energy the light and the air are the most important elements to provide the illumination into the building interior and sufficient natural ventilation. the elements also present amenities to the user for their activity. the rooms with ventilation and natural illuminance will have sufficient humidity and keep the environment condition. moreover, sufficient ventilation and natural illuminance will save the electrical energy, because the building will not completely depend on the artificial light and mechanical ventilation. the strategy of natural energy consumption inside the matano lakeside resort area (see figure 3). energy consumption inside the building will maximize by the implementation of building orientation that positioned between the sun path and the wind (sahabuddin, 2019). the most advantageous building positioning is to the west from the eastward. the opening head to the south and east to avoid direct sunlight. the building will have enough wind opening, the ventilation positioning is horizontal and vertical, and the larger room positioning will direct to the wind direction. the building considers on the window orientation to the sun with natural material that absorb the heat. the material includes wooden material for the interior, fence and vertical garden, pitched roof formation (simple plane) to reduce the temperature under the roof. the design provides a terrace for the pg. 35 wasilah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd building/house as a transition area between outdoor (yard) and indoor (building) that create a micro atmosphere either inside the building or around the building. the design enhances green vegetation, secondary skin concept on the faced to reduce the heat of the sunlight, providing an open space inside the building, and located the pond around the building area. moreover, there are implementation of building form configuration, cross ventilation, and skylight to reflect sunlight from the top. figure 3. the utilization strategy on natural energy for building illumination and ventilation 3.4. water water efficiency more emphasize on the reuse of rainwater utilization for operational resort. reservoir system provides a reservation for the rainwater. reservoir tanks is dark painting to obstruct the growth of algae, enclose, the ventilation is like a filter, and easy to clean (if use for a clean water system). the water reservoir tank material is from concrete and clay. the reservoir container material is from fiberglass reinforced plastics (frp) which available in various form and dimension. the reservoir tank or storage is the most important component for rainwater system and usually is the most expensive system. reservoir water tank located as close as possible to the rainwater splash area and the dimension calculation is based on the requirement, rainfall frequency, wide surface, budget, and aesthetic (see figure 4). the tank position to the rainfall area and filter in accordance with the water current and important to maximize the water collection. therefore, some strategic location selected for reservoir tank and along with the characteristic of the location as describe in figure below. pg. 36 wasilah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 4. location of water tank positioning according to the allocation of various room requirement to optimize the resort function, two water tanks should be able provided up to 150,000 liters with consumer standard needs is 10-15 liters/person/day. the water tank characteristic is communal or center. the water will distribute through the pipe with water pump support. 3.5. materials according to design approach that emphasize the green building concept and design with nature, the material selection priority on the green material. the green material is not only for environmental sustainability, but more efficient and energy saving based on the long-term estimation cost aspect. green material selection includes the aspect of technology and application. according to the aspect of technology, material selection avoids the toxic contain material and the production is compatible with the nature. wooden material application is appropriate with the quantity and availability of material in the nature. as long as the site plan area has abundance wood resources then wood utilization still appropriate for the construction process. moreover, in the utilization aspect, green material selection like is transparent glass material will generate more reflection of the natural sunlight. wooden is in accordance with the requirement and avoiding produce a residual material. figure 5. building material pg. 37 wasilah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd most of the material in building resort is used natural material, such as wood, stone, and straw. moreover, the glass material implemented on the building window. the purlin roof and lath, terrace, and the upper wall is wooden material and the main wall is brick wall. 4. conclusions green building with nature concept is one of the effort for sustainability development. the formulation process considers on the harmony of the nature and physical and non-physical design component to avoiding a natural destruction because of the development in the lakeside resort area. the government has make an exclusive regulation for waterfront area as critical consideration in the development of coastal area. benefit in the application of green building with nature concept in the matano lakeside area is a preservation in east luwu local architecture. principally, the concept practices a natural synergy that create a local wisdom with green building concept. implementation of green building with nature concept component includes the composition of built-up and non built-up area where the area function are the reforestation and playground area. the building material, secondary skin is the obstacle from a direct sunlight into the building. the utilization of rainwater is to support resort activity around the matano lakeside area. the function of recreation activity with natural interaction concept present the visitor to enjoy the vegetation landscape view and matano lake with playground, swimming pool, and field area facilities. as a result, green building with nature concept principles are structure design efficiency, energy, water and material efficiency. these efficiencies have been applied in the design of matano lake lakeside resort. 5. acknowledgments authors would like to show our gratitude to the architectural engineering laboratory staff, faculty of science and technology alauddin islamic state university, for sharing their pearls of wisdom with us during the course of this research. 6. references 1. dinas kebudayaan dan kepariwisataan provinsi sulawesi selatan [south sulawesi culture and tourism office]. (2016). analisa data kunjungan wisatawan (nusantara dan mancanegara) [data analysis in tourist visit (local and international)] 2015-2016. 2. dinas kebudayaan dan pariwisata luwu timur [east luwu culture and tourism office]. (2016). mengenali potensi budaya dan pariwisata luwu timur [introduction on culture and tourism east luwu potency]. 3. frick, h., and mulyani th. (2016). arsitektur ekologi (seri arsitektur ekologis 2) [eco-architecture (2nd series of eco-architecture)], yogyakarta: kanisius. 4. frick, h., and suskiyanto, fx bambang. (2007). dasar – dasar ekoarsitektur (seri arsitektur ekologis 1) [architecture fundamental (1st eeco-architecture series)], yogyakarta: kanisius. 5. hildayanti, a., shirly w., & suriana l.t.. (2012). review procedures for building housing and settlement with the concept of green river flowing river pampang area makassar city. 6. kementrian lingkungan hidup republik indonesia [minisitry of environmental of indonesia]. (2014). gerakan penyelamatan danau matano (germadan or a movement to save the mantano lake) matano. 7. neufert, e. (2000). data arsitek jilid 1 [architect data 1st volume]. jakarta: erlangga. 8. neufert, e. (2002). data arsitek jilid 2 [architect data 2st volume]. jakarta: erlangga. pg. 38 wasilah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 9. prihambudi, a. (2010). resort dikawasan wisata kota batu dengan tema green architecture [resort in kota batu tourism area with green architecture theme], undergraduate thesis in fts itn malang. available in (https://www.scribd.com/doc/214634640/skripsi-arid-prihambudi-resort-di-batu-denga n-tema-green architecture), accessed on 3 march 2017, 20.17. 10. safrilia, a. (2013). perancangan resort dengan penerapan prinsip ekologi di pulau menjangan kecil karimunjawa [resort design in application of ecology principle in menjangan kecil karimunjawa island], article in ft brawijaya university malang. available in (http://arsitektur.ub.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/201 3/10/jurnal-ilmiah12.pdf), accessed on 20 april 2017, 21.10. 11. sahabuddin, w. (2019). the design of space based on architectural geometry. international journal of engineering & technology (9) pg. 571-576, science publishing corporation 7. appendix a a.1. specification of room requirement and dimension in the matano lakeside resort design in this appendix we present the collecting data used for specification of room requirement and dimension in the matano lakeside resort design. table 1. requirement and room dimension room quantity capacity standard (m2) area (m2) source management general manager room 1 5 4.4 22 m2 tss assistant general manager room 1 4 3.1 12.4 m2 tss manager room 1 4 2 8 m2 da management staff room 1 4 2.3 9.2 m2 hpd financial manager room 1 3 3 9 m2 da financial staff room 1 8 2.3 18.4 m2 da marketing manager room 1 3 2.3 6.9 m2 tss marketing staff room 1 3 2.3 6.9 m2 hpd meeting room 1 9 2 18 m2 hpd pantry and locker 1 7 1.2 8.4 m2 ap toilet 1 5 2.25 33.75 m2 da subtotal 3 144.55 m2 20% for circulation 28.91 m2 total 173.46 m2 room quantity capacity standard (m2) area (m2) source hunian resort type a resort occupation guest room 1 9 9 m2 ap continued on next page pg. 39 wasilah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 2 continued family room 1 9 9 m2 ap master bedroom 1 12 12 m2 ap pantry 1 5 5 m2 ap wash stand 1 1 0.64 0.64 m2 stui bathroom 1 1 2.25 2.25 m2 da subtotal 20 757.8 m2 20% for circulation 151.56 m2 total 909.36 m2 type b resort occupation guest room 1 9 9 m2 ap family room 1 15 15 m2 ap master bedroom 1 16 16 m2 ap children bedroom 1 9 9 m2 ap pantry 1 5 5 m2 ap wash stand 1 1 0.64 0.64 m2 stui bathroom 1 1 2.25 2.25 m2 da subtotal 11 625.79 m2 20% for circulation 125.158 m2 total 750.948 m2 type c resort occupation guest room 1 15 15 m2 ap private room 1 15 15 m2 ap family room 1 12 12 m2 ap master bedroom 1 25 25 m2 ap children bedroom 1 20 20 m2 ap pantry 1 9 9 m2 ap wash stand 1 1 0.64 0.64 m2 stui bathroom 1 1 2.25 2.25 m2 da subtotal 6 327.84 m2 20% for circulation 65.568 m2 total 330.09 m2 1990.398 m2 room quantity capacity standard (m2) area (m2) source entrance lobby 1 40 0.9 36 m2 bpds receptionist 1 2 0.9 1.8 m2 bpds locker 1 3 0.882 2.646 m2 nad book keeper 1 1 0.02 0.02 m2 hpd wash stand 4 1 0.64 2.56 m2 stui bathroom 1 1 2.25 2.25 m2 nad subtotal 45.276 m2 20% for circulation 9.0552 m2 total 54.3312 m2 pg. 40 wasilah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd room quantity capacity standard (m2) area (m2) source service cashier 1 4 2.75 m2 11 m2 nad restaurant 1 150 2.5 m2 375 m2 nad cafe 1 30 2.5 m2 75 m2 nad staff room 1 20 2.25 m2 45 m2 nad kitchen 1 10 4 m2 40 m2 nad kitchen and washing room 2 4 0.2 m2 1.6 m2 tss food storage 32 1 0.1 m2 3.2 m2 hpd drinking storage 2 1 0.18 m2 0.36 m2 nad freezer storage 1 7.5 m2 7.5 m2 ap serving room 1 32 0.32 m2 10.24 m2 nad laundry 1 16 m2 16 m2 tss cleaning room 1 25 m2 25 m2 ap office boy room 1 18 m2 18 m2 ap staff resort room 1 30 m2 30 m2 ap parking staff room 1 8 m2 8m2 ap gardening room 1 8 m2 8 m2 ap gardening storage room 1 4 m2 4 m2 ap locker 1 10 0.882 m2 8.82 m2 nad parking gate 3 1 1 m2 3 m2 nad toilet 1 1 2.25 m2 2.25 m2 nad wash stand 1 1 0.64 m2 0.64 m2 stui subtotal 675.93 m2 20% for circulation 135.186 total 811.116 room quantity capacity standard (m2) area (m2) source m.e.p staff room electrical room 1 3 1.5 4.5 m2 ap engineering room 1 3 0.8 2.4 m2 ap genset room 1 25 25 m2 ap toilet 2 1 2.25 4.5 m2 da subtotal 36.4 m2 20% for circulation 7.28 m2 total 43.68 m2 room quantity capacity standard (m2) area (m2) source entertainment and recreation children swimming pool 2 200 400 m2 ap adult swimming pool 2 500 1000 m2 ap water park 1 400 400 m2 nad continued on next page pg. 41 wasilah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 6 continued outboud area 1 5000 5000 m2 ap visitor locker 1 100 0.882 88.2 m2 ap dressing room 10 1 1.25 12.5 m2 nad toilet 10 1 2.25 22.5 m2 nad rinse room 10 1 2.25 22.5 m2 nad subtotal 6945.7 m2 20% for circulation 1389.14 m2 total 8334.84 m2 room quantity capacity standard (m2) area (m2) source management, staff and costumer musallah 1 40 1.008 40.32 m2 da toilet 4 1 2.25 9 m2 da storage 1 1 25 25 m2 ap subtotal 74.32 m2 20% for circulation 14.864 m2 total 89.184 m2 room quantity capacity standard (m2) area (m2) source security guard head of security 1 2 5 10 m2 ap security staff room 1 4 5 20 m2 ap security post 4 2 2 16 m2 ap locker 1 6 2 12 m2 ap toilet 1 1 2.25 2.25 m2 da subtotal 60.25 m2 20% for circulation 12.05 m2 total 72.3 m2 room quantity capacity standard (m2) area (m2) source parking area parking area car 29 5.5 x 2.4 348 m2 da motorcycle 72 2.2 158.4 m2 da bus 3 12 86.4 m2 da speedboat 6 7.25 33.3 m2 da subtotal 592.8 m2 m2 50 % for circulation 296.4 m2 m2 total 889.2 m2 m2 room area (m2) total of building area continued on next page pg. 42 wasilah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 10 continued management 173.46 m2 resort occupation 1990.398 m2 entrance 54.3312 m2 service 811.116 m2 m.e staff 43.68 m2 entertainment and recreation 8334.84 m2 management, staff, and consumer 89.184 m2 security guard 72.3 m2 parking area 889.2 m2 total remarks d.a data arsitek [architecture data] (neufert, 2000; neufert, 2002) t.s.s time saver standar for building types a.p asumsi pribadi [personal opinion] pg. 43 introduction research method result and discussion design transformation structure design energy water materials conclusions acknowledgments references appendix a http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v1i1.17 the courtyard house: can a sustainable future learn from a context relevant past hocine bougdah1 1the canterbury school of architecture, university for the creative arts, uk abstract this paper looks at the courtyard house as a traditional urban dwelling of yesteryears with a view to explore its potential in informing the housing developments of the future. in order to address the question, the paper starts with a historical overview of this built form as an urban dwellings that fulfilled its functional and spatial requirements in times gone by. it then goes on to highlight the inadequacy of post-colonial housing solutions in algeria and to look into two important aspects of this traditional housing typology; its socio-cultural relevance and environmental performance. the analysis is carried out using both secondary research in the form of three examples from the literature and the primary research carried out as field work in the form of temperature measurements inside a house, during the hot season, in boussaada (algeria). the discussion and concluding remarks attempt to make arguments for re-considering what could be learned from such traditional housing typology to inform future urban development that would subscribe to the values of sustainable development. © 2018 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords courtyard house; urban development; typology; cultural relevance; environmental performance; traditional architecture; sustainable development. 1. introduction dwellings form the biggest share of building stocks in developing countries are likely to have lasting impact on the economy and environment, both, locally and globally. in the middle east and north africa (mena), which is the focus of this paper, there is an added significance to such debate given the cultural identity “crisis” that arab/islamic countries are undergoing, and the far-reaching consequences of such a crisis on both the built environment and the quality of life of people living in it. given this situation, any discussion relating to the provision, policies, design and theories of dwellings in this region are to be set within the context of an examination of the cultural heritage and development of this part of the world whose importance ‘cannot be over-emphasized at this juncture in the history of the region and the political and economic currents that are sweeping the world from china to brazil’ (avrami, 2013). through a discussion of the courtyard house as a building typology, this paper attempts to make an argument for the role of this form of traditional buildings in informing the debate on how to address the issue of dwelling provision in a way that is conducive to the socio-cultural context and compatible with the principles of sustainable pg. 83 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v1i1.17&domain=press.ierek.com bougdah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd development. the discussion of the role of the courtyard house will focus on two aspects; its socio-cultural significance and its environmental performance (in terms of thermal mitigation against excessive heat gains) with a view to build an argument for its potential within a sustainable development framework. the discussion takes place through a combination of secondary and primary research. the former involves the use of a selection of examples from the literature while the latter is by means of analysis and discussion of data obtained by direct temperature measurements in the field. 2. the urban courtyard house: between a forgotten world heritage and an expensive liability courtyard houses are one of the oldest forms of dwellings that are still around nowadays. although they can be found in different regions of the world (latin america, china, europe) it is traditionally associated with the middle east. the ancient civilisation at kahun in egypt and the chaldean city of ur bear witness to that (oliver, 2003). while courtyard houses exist in most parts of the arab/islamic world, they evolved in different ways “as influenced by existing local traditions, construction materials and environmental factors” (sibley, 2006). whereas the courtyard houses of the casbah in algiers have some unique characteristics (golvin, 1988), their past role and potential future is similar to that in the mena region. those characteristics include: the square courtyard (wast ed dar) surrounded by two or three arched galleries on the four sides and long shallow rooms (fig. 1). in larger houses, as the size of the courtyard increases the covered circulation galleries can become four, five or even six arched ones as the case of dar aziza (fig. 2). to complete the list of features; the courtyard is accessed through a chicane (sqifa) that acts as a buffer zone between the alleyway and the courtyard, providing privacy. in its heyday, the urban courtyard house seems to offer a balance between the perfect geometry of the courtyard and the irregular periphery that adapts to the plot in a way that” the symmetrical and totally balanced order of the courtyard can be interpreted as the timeless centre of gravity of the house, while the periphery responds to the given circumstances and pressures of the earthly environment” (bianca, 2000). in doing so it offered a solution that balanced the environmental constraints, the socio-cultural needs and the economic conditions addressing both material and immaterial needs of its occupants. the french colonial period, which for algeria lasted 132 years (1830-1962) has introduced many changes that have left their imprints on the built environment, the cultural identity of the indigenous population and their social make-up. on the one hand, urban developments during this period were primarily for the benefit of the european settlers and consisted of apartment blocks and villa neighbourhoods following european architectural styles and conforming to their standards. at times, the historic city fabric was demolished to clear the way for such interventions. on the other hand, rural migration to the cities, whether be it forced by the colonial administration, encouraged or simply for economic reasons, has led to the proliferation of large squatter settlements (or bidonvilles) around the colonial cities (sibley, 2006). the situation reached a critical level in terms of housing shortage after the second world war due to the indigenous population growth, which jumped from 23 % in 1906 to reach 51.4 % by 1954 (hadjri and osmani, 2009). to face this problem, the french administration launched a program for the construction of new neighbourhoods, in algiers, to house the indigenous population. this initiative resulted in projects such as ‘climat de france’ and ‘djenan el hassan’ by french architects pouillon for the former and simounet for the latter, which were completed in 1957 and 1958 respectively (figs 3-4). in an attempt to be seen to deal more efficiently with the housing crisis by the colonial administration, this initiative was replaced by the ‘plan de constantine’ launched in 1958, as an urgent operation for the construction of big scale projects especially social housing (50,000 units per year) named as ‘les grands ensembles’. the plan was highly criticised for being more concerned with quantity than quality; the lack of reference to the site and the local character, however the circumstances at the time didn’t allow any place for debate. pg. 84 bougdah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 1. : a basic courtyard house in thecasbah in algiers (golvin, 1988) figure 2. four arched gallery pg. 85 bougdah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 3. climatde france housing development figure 4. djenan el hassan housing scheme pg. 86 bougdah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd it resulted in urban developments lacking spatial quality and with little or no reference to the traditional built heritage. unfortunately this continued to exist in post independence algeria (eag-certuc, 2003). after more than half a century of independence, the built environment in algeria is lacking both the architectural qualities and the cultural relevance. this situation is often identified as a contributor to what became of the traditional courtyard urban dwelling, such that of the casbah in algiers, as a forgotten heritage that is very expensive to keep and maintain. it reached a point where it needs to be “rehabilitated both physically and socially. the mere renovation of its physical condition will not improve its reputation and attract national and international visitors and investors unless the social and cultural problems are tackled and resolved in full” (elsheshtawy, 2009). the courtyard house, regardless of its origin, has evolved into a domestic built form that is responsive to its multideterminant context. chief among these are climate and culture (rapoport, 1969). in the forthcoming sections, both these determinant will be discussed by means of a number of examples from the literature and some analysis and discussion of data obtained by direct measurements in the field. 3. the socio-cultural significance of the courtyard house this section will focus on the role that courtyard houses can play as a setting for social interactions and cultural expression as well as a tool to strengthen those bonds. three examples from palestine, the south of algeria and spain will be made use of. 3.1. the courtyard in the jerico-nablus study in a study that looked at sustainable strategies for future house buildings in palestine (haj hussein, 2010), the author compared the features of outdoor spaces in both traditional courtyard houses and contemporary apartment blocks with a view to analyse the socio-cultural, economical, functional and environmental dimensions of these spaces. with regard to the socio-cultural factors, the study made use of a questionnaire with 300 interviewees living in contemporary blocks and comparing their responses to an assumed hypothesis, which stipulates that both privacy and social interaction (or community) exist in the traditional setting. with regard to the issue of privacy, 50.6% of total respondents and 60% of female respondents were dissatisfied with the levels of privacy in contemporary blocks. with regard to socializing and communal activities, 45.5% of the respondents feel that the current provisions are inadequate and that they would rather have a bigger external space at the expense of the indoor living space. furthermore, some 75% of the respondents believe that there is a need for outdoor spaces where the children can play safely under the eyes of the parents and neighbours. despite the lack of systematic rigour in terms of data comparison (as the inhabitants of traditional houses were not interviewed), there is evidence that points towards the socio-cultural relevance of the courtyard house as a building typology. 3.2. tafilelt courtyard style community housing in the m’zab valley (algeria) in a research paper on a community driven initiative to provide housing in tafilelt, one of the settlements in the m’zab valley in southern algeria (bouali-messahel, 2011), the author reports on an interesting experiment of community housing based on the local traditional courtyard house typology. in this part of the country, traditional values are still prevalent in areas such as culture, social relations and the way of life. in such a traditional context, community driven initiatives are not a novelty. what is new in this case is the collaboration between the state (financial assistance) and the local community (participatory design, construction and project management). the project was conceived as a community housing project intended for low and average income households, emanating from within the local population. with an initial plan to deliver 870 dwellings, work started in 1997. by 2011, 1007 units were delivered. both the individual units and the settlement as a whole are based on traditional designs with somehow a contemporary interpretation (figs 5-7 and 8). this development is a success on many levels, pg. 87 bougdah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd but most relevant to this discussion is its success in transforming a community self-build project into a tool to create social bonds and strengthen them. according to the author, the success of the project can be seen “through the participation of the population in its design, its management and sometimes even in the financing scheme of certain dwellings, by contributing to the collections intended for the neediest; which exploits the ancestral mutual aid (twiza) and tightens up the social connections” (bouali-messahel, 2011). like other experiments that adopted certain aspects of traditional styles in a contemporary context, such as those by el minyawi brothers in algeria during the 1970’s (bellal, 2012), this project has shown that certain elements of the courtyard house typology can be adapted as part of a contemporary housing development that seems to be in tune with the socio-cultural needs of the dwellers. figure 5. traditional mozabite house (ravereau, fathy & roche, 1981) figure 6. theplans adopted for the tafilelt village in the m’zab valley (bouali-messahel,2011). figure 7. courtyard as a children play area pg. 88 bougdah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 8. adevelopment in harmony with the site 3.3. the courtyard house of cordoba (spain) a study into the social role of the courtyards in the historic quarter of cordoba was carried out to test the idea of whether these spaces can promote social interactions between citizens, in the same way as public spaces do (priego, rodrigues-morcillo & breuste, 2012). the authors’ introduction to the study highlights the importance of courtyards in this part of cordoba when they state: ’the historical quarter of the city of cordoba (spain) has numerous houses with courtyard gardens (fig. 9). rather than being simply architectural structures, these courtyard gardens provide a space for social interaction and cultural expression, accommodating a lifestyle that is specific to this particular urban environment and in which the boundaries between the private and the public sphere are blurred’ (priego, rodriguez-morcillo & breuste, 2012). using discussion groups as a methodology, the research team sought to gain a greater insight into the citizens’ perceptions and attitudes towards the traditional courtyard gardens and shed some light on the way they are used on a daily basis and for social purposes. the study concluded that the dwellers of the cordoba courtyard houses attach a special importance to their courtyards. not only are these courtyards seen as a setting for social interaction, but they also provide a sense of community. the courtyard gardens encourage social relations and the conservation of cultural heritage, while they promote a sense of identity beyond that attached to the city’s historic monuments. according to the authors, this research ‘has shown that courtyard houses are not simply dwellings inhabited by people, but reflect a lifestyle full of close and varied social relations based on community values’ (priego, rodriguez-morcillo & breuste, 2012). figure 9. a typical courtyard in the cordoba historicquarter (mousli, semprini, 2015) pg. 89 bougdah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 4. a typical courtyard in the cordoba historic quarter having discussed the socio-cultural relevance of the courtyard house in the previous section, the second aspect of its multi-determinant context, which is the climate, is discussed through a study into the environmental performance (internal temperatures) of a typical example of traditional courtyard house in boussaada, algeria (35◦20’n, 4◦12’e, 459 m above sea level). the temperature readings are then compared to external air temperature as given by the regional office for meteorological data. in such a hot arid climate, the magnitude of heat exchange between the sun, earth and the atmosphere is greater than elsewhere. this is due to the lack of cloud cover which in turn leads to maximum levels of heat reaching the surface of earth from the sun during the day and released into the atmosphere at night. the resulting effect is a large range of daily air temperature fluctuations. this can vary from 100c to 250c during the summer months. in these conditions, the courtyard house owes its survival to its suitability to the climate where the principles of passive cooling using thermal mass and shading are used with much success. 4.1. the courtyard house this type of domestic architecture is a feature of traditional architecture around the mediterranean region and beyond to the middle east and india. in these arid and semi-arid climates, this form of building owes its survival to its suitability to the climate. the traditional moorish house of north africa is a typical example of the courtyard house where the principles of passive cooling using thermal mass, shading and reduction of external solar heat gains are used with much success. the house being the subject of this study is a two-storey courtyard family dwelling located in the heart of the old quarter of the city (fig. 10). the layout consists of a central courtyard surrounded by rooms arranged over two levels. the lower floor makes up the living area where all the day activities take place. it consists of a shop with its separate entrance directly accessible from the narrow alleyway, two family rooms and a kitchen. four bedrooms and two small storage/utility rooms occupy the upper floor. the rooms are tall and narrow, which facilitates air movement inside. external windows are kept to a minimum, both in size and number. on the upper floor all the openings are onto the central courtyard. the lower floor openings (doors) are in the shade all day round. the structural fabric of the house consists of load bearing walls supporting the floors and providing thermal mass for the building. the walls are 600 mm thick of unfired clay blocks, covered with a mixture of cement and gypsum based render. 4.2. temperature recordings the indoor dry bulb temperatures were recorded during the month of september, in one of the bedrooms at a height of 1.2 m above the floor near a window overlooking the courtyard (figure 11). the temperatures recorded over a six-day period, are shown in the diagram in figure 12. the diagram shows the air temperatures recorded inside the house. for comparison purposes, the mean maximum and minimum external temperatures for september are also shown. the period consisted of five full daily cycles with two half daily cycles at the beginning and the end of the recording period. the general pattern of the data shows no major fluctuations over six-day period except for start of the recording period when the internal temperature reached a maximum of 270c. the three daily cycles that followed had similar patterns of internal temperatures with maximum and minimum values of 250c and 22.50c occurring around 18:00 hours and 06:00 hours respectively. the next 24 hours cycle saw a slightly different pattern in terms of timing of the minimum temperature which occurred later than previous days, at around 12:00 hours and reaching 240c. the maximum temperature recorded still remained at 250c and occurring around 18:00 hours. the last full 24 hours cycle saw a pattern of temperatures similar to the first two cycles. during the recording period, the temperatures inside the house were kept within a narrow range as figure 11 clearly shows despite the large fluctuations in external daily temperatures. in such inhospitable climate, the traditional courtyard house managed to keep the internal temperatures within what can be seen as confortable limits for a hot pg. 90 bougdah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd dry climate without the use of any mechanical ventilation or cooling. these results compare favourably with those reported by mousli & semprini (2015) for their study of comfort in traditional house in damascus. figure 10. the historic quarter of boussaada (algeria) figure 11. air temperatures recorded inside a traditional courtyard house 5. discussion and conclusions the courtyard house has evolved from its early primitive form to become ‘the basis of the urban pattern of the medinas of the islamic world’ (ozkan, 2010). fez, algiers, tunis and other cities still have some finely restored examples of courtyard urban houses. not only did this plan typology offer functional efficiencies for such a densely occupied urban fabric, it also offered an environmental response to the hot climate and most importantly a cultural relevance (figs 2, 13 &14). those examples show that despite the upheavals of colonisation and wars of independence, at least the material side of the courtyard house has survived to varying degrees of physical damage. however the context in which those medinas exit today is far from the one that existed when they were first built. arab islamic architecture has undergone a series of changes and shifts during the last two centuries that coincided with the western colonial dominance over the region and its aftermath. those changes were not limited to the built environment only, but extended to the socio-cultural scene and the way of life itself. pg. 91 bougdah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 12. plansand section of the boussaada house. source: the author (2016) pg. 92 bougdah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd as a way for the national independence movements to stamp their ‘raison d’être’ on the newly independent states they introduced large development programmes which were meant to stand for modernity, nationalism, and socialism. these were largely based on western models that were imported into what is essentially an alien context, both environmentally and culturally. european style housing blocks became the norm for urban development, and even the rural world was not spared. what made the situation worse was a lack of understanding of the “new” technology by the locals. badly constructed ugly looking concrete blocks became the norm. even the new ‘development revolution’ that started in in the gulf region over 2 decades ago, did not do much to bring with it something that is culturally and environmentally relevant, despite the much improved build quality introduced by the steel and glass skyscrapers builders. few experiments are worthy of mention, where attempts were made to design and build in a way that combined tradition and modernity. such experiments include the work of hassan fathy, particularly the new gourna village (steele, 1997) and the works of el minyawi brothers in el oued in the south of algeria (bellal, 2012). fathy’s work has shown him to be a pioneer in ‘sustainable design’, back in the 1940’s, even before the term was invented. his use of local materials and traditional elements of architectural composition, while putting emphasis on energy efficient low cost design made him a household name among environmentally conscious designers. from and administrative and economic perspective, his project for the new gourna village failed to resettle the local community from the old gourna, as the locals were determined to go back to tomb robbing there, as that was their means of making a living. this failure is nothing to do with his design but rather with the way the decision makers dealt with the issue. despite this, architecturally his design for a community settlement is a success. the examples presented in this paper have shown that each one of them offers something that addresses either the sociocultural values or the environmental constraints of the context in which a version of the courtyard house exists. with regard to the major determinants of its context (culture and climate), the various examples presented here have shown that the courtyard house is more than just a place of dwelling or a space organiser, but it is also a setting for strengthening social bonds and encouraging cultural interactions. furthermore, in the tafilelt example, it became a tool for social and economic development. the internal temperature measurements data from boussaada have confirmed what’s already known about the environmental responsiveness of this type of traditional building to its context. the question that remains is whether or not the courtyard house, as a traditional form of dwelling, has the potential to be part of a contemporary sustainable urban housing. the answer is neither as easy as it may seem, nor is it straightforward. of course in its heydays, this built form has performed well on all levels, socially, culturally, environmentally and economically. however, times have moved on and so have the ways people live. the questions should not be approached from a polarised position between tradition and modernity. instead, a more suited approach would be for designers to acknowledge what traditional building forms, such as the courtyard house, have to offer and how to deploy it in a contemporary context. we already know that trying to duplicate traditional architecture, as part of a contemporary development, will not work. nevertheless, the various components of the courtyard house as a typology (form, space planning, openings, materiality etc.) need to be considered with a view to establish if any of those components can be used as part of a contemporary urban housing development. what the examples examined in this paper show is that the courtyard house as a form does actually offer advantages over imported models. at a time when the search for sustainable solutions to global development is primary driven by the use of western high tech systems, it is worth considering going back to basics and looking at what one can learn from traditional design and development knowledge that can be implemented in a way that is compatible with the preoccupations of present societies without compromising the needs of future generations. the need to learn from the past is as important as the triple point of sustainable development. in fact for arab/islamic countries one could argue that true sustainable development would not take place without considering it alongside the question of cultural identity, or the crisis this is going through. there is a perception among the younger generation in the arab/islamic world–and most developing countriesthat building in a traditional way is backward. one cannot deny that lifestyles change and with them architecture can and must change and the reproduction of tradition will not solve the problem. for these reasons, the need to understand heritage, learn the lessons from it with a pg. 93 bougdah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd view to adopt certain principles and adapt them within a contemporary context is most critical. relying on literal translation of global concepts developed in the rich west will not lead to sustainable development in these parts of the world. the definition of sustainable development as meeting the needs of today without sacrificing the needs of future generations is a case in point. the resources required by a first world family are about 20 times those for a third world family. figure 13. dar benabdallah, tunis (riadmisbah, n.d.) figure 14. riad misbah, fez (steele &fathy, 1997) references 1. avrami, e. (2013). fekri hassan, aloisia de trafford, and mohsen youssef, editors. cultural heritage and development in the arab world. alexandria, egypt: bibliotheca alexandrina, 2008. international journal of cultural property, 20(03), 349-352. doi:10.1017/s0940739113000167 2. bellal, t. (2012). housing as an expression of self-identity in contemporary algeria: the work of el-miniawy brothers. journal of islamic architecture, 1(2). doi:10.18860/jia.v1i2.1719 3. berry, b. j. (1976). urbanization and counterurbanization. beverly hills, ca: sage publications. 4. bianca, s. (2000). urban form in the arab world: past and present. zürich: vdf hochschulverlag ag an der eth zürich. pg. 94 bougdah / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 5. bouali-messahel, m. (2011). a community project to preserve the m’zab valley. in proceedings of the 23rd enhr conference. toulouse. 6. ecole d’architecture de grenoble and centre d’études sur les réseaux, les transports, l’urbanisme et les constructions publiques (2003) (eds.). algérie, traces d’histoire: architecture, urbanisme & art, de la préhistoire à l’algérie contemporaine. lyon, france: ecoles d’architecture lyon. 7. elsheshtawy, y. (2009). planning middle eastern cities: an urban kaleidoscope. new york: routledge. 8. golvin, l. (1988). palais et demeures d’alger à la période ottomane. aix en provence: edisud. 9. haj hussein, m. (2010). courtyard concept: a sustainable strategy for future housing buildings in palestine. in proceedings of sustainable architecture & urban development conference. amman. 10. mousli, k., & semprini, g. (2015). thermal performances of traditional houses in dry hot arid climate and the effect of natural ventilation on thermal comfort: a case study in damascus. energy procedia, 78, 2893-2898. doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2015.11.661 11. oliver, p. (2003). dwelling: the house across the world. oxford: phaidon press. 12. priego, c. rodriguez-morcillo, b. l. & breuste, j. h. (2012) the courtyards of cordoba in spain: social functions of private spaces in historical neighbourhoods. laufener: bayerische akademie für naturschutz und landschaftspflege. 13. qantara. (n.d.). retrieved september 16, 2016, from https://www.qantara-med.org/ 14. rapoport, a. (1969). house form and culture. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. 15. ravereau, a., fathy, h., & roche, m. (1981). le m’zab, une leçon d’architecture. sindbad. 16. sibley, m. (2006). the courtyard houses of north african medinas, past, present and future. (b. edwards, m. sibley, m. hakmi, & p. land, eds. abingdon, oxfordshire: taylor and francis. 17. steele, j. (1997). an architecture for people: the complete works of hassan fathy. london: thames and hudson. pg. 95 introduction the urban courtyard house: between a forgotten world heritage and an expensive liability the socio-cultural significance of the courtyard house the courtyard in the jerico-nablus study tafilelt courtyard style community housing in the m'zab valley (algeria) the courtyard house of cordoba (spain) a typical courtyard in the cordoba historic quarter the courtyard house temperature recordings discussion and conclusions http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v3iss1.253 drinking water quality from water vending machines in selected public schools in cebu city, philippines marchee tabotabo-picardal1, emily may g. rapirap2, ofelia n. barrientos3, mary jane b. tura4, arnulfo c. sarnillo5, adelaida l. porol6, rey a. kimilat7 1don vicente rama memorial national high school department of education, cebu city division, region 7, philippines 2don vicente rama memorial national high school department of education, cebu city division, region 7, philippines 3pardo national high school department of education, cebu city division, region 7, philippines 4ramon duterte memorial national high school department of education, cebu city division, region 7, philippines 5madridejos national high school’s department of education, cebu province division, region 7, philippines 6sage prep schoolhouse, cebu city philippines 7abellana national school department of education, cebu city division, region 7, philippines abstract drinking water from water vending machines (wvm) may pose health risks to consumers especially to students who are primary end-users in the public school setting. a one-shot survey of wvm water samples from 8 public schools in cebu city philippines was analyzed for microbial test and 3 schools were further investigated for physicochemical analysis. results revealed that 8 water samples registered a total coliform count of 2.6 cfu/ml while specific e.coli testing posted (<1.1 to 2.6 cfu/ml). these data are higher than the national standard for permissible value for clean water (<1.1/100 ml) and international standard of 0.00 cfu/100ml except in 2 schools that fall within the normal level (<1.1 cfu/ml). the water samples passed the physicochemical evaluation but failed in the microbiological test due to the presence of high levels of e.coli. hence, water dispensed from the wvm is not safe for students’ consumption. schools and other institutions that utilized wvm must require private companies as well as the management also of the institutions to routinely check, clean, and maintain the machine to avoid accumulation of coliforms and e.coli contamination. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords water vending machine; public schools health; coliform; water assessment; philippines pg. 1 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v3iss1.253&domain=press.ierek.com picardal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 1. introduction the need to ensure safe drinking water especially for a vulnerable subpopulation such as school children and the students is anchored on the millennium development goal on environmental sustainability. water vending is usually associated to private vending of drinking water which world health organization (2011) highly recommends that there is a need to constantly monitor the chemical and microbial parameters as part of the requirement for the suitability of water for human consumptions. furthermore, it will also serve as a basis for the control measure such as water treatment requirements. water that is supplied to the schools for consumption should meet the guidelines set by the regulatory agencies standards because the quality and adequacy of water supplies vary. in the philippines, commercially sold vended water usually is supplied from private and registered water companies in which water is treated prior to delivery and mode of access is through conventionally supplied tankers, others in coin-operated standpipes and/or water kiosks. hence, good hygiene in handling vended water and its machine is required in order to avoid water-borne diseases caused by disease-causing bacteria and other microorganisms. ideally, drinking water should not contain pathogenic organism such as e.coli which is considered to be a fecal indicator for water quality test. the presence of this thermotolerant coliform has been conventionally employed to monitor drinking-water quality up to the present time. as reported by hutin, luby & paquet (2003) that vended water has been associated with gastrointestinal diseases such as diarrhea. such diseases can adversely affect the performance of the students especially on their attendance (jasper, le, & bartram, 2012). the issue of clean and potable water is a pressing global concern. issues on water security, water sanitation, and adequacy of water supply are considered a barometer of economic development of a nation in general and local districts in particular. in the local scenario, the metropolitan cebu water district [mcwd] facilitates the equitable distribution of clean water for all domestic purposes. mcwd operates under a strict compliance to standard water sanitation practices, thereby rendering its water safe for human consumption. however, the course to which clean and potable mcwd’s water reaches the household is affected by the following factors, namely: (a) stability and well-maintained pipes; (b) presence of septic tanks to which these pipes flow; (c) “pipe-tapping devices”, an illegal form of drawing water from the main water lines; and (d) hygiene and sanitation practices in the end-user’s household. ideally, mcwds water is clean, purified, underwent standard chlorination, filtration and ozonation processes and are essentially ready for consumption. these protocols increase consumers’ trust and confidence that such an affordable water supply is free from pathogenic organisms and has tolerable limits of dissolved metals. despite mcwd’s provided assurance to their consumers as to the safety of the water for drinking, a majority of local people prefer to buy purified water from water refilling stations. local anecdotal reports from consumers argue on the increased safety once community water provided by mcwd passed through the second filtration process performed by refilling stations. all over the philippines, modes of delivery are observed either through the use of water dispensers in households and offices or water vending machines (wvm) in public places. the latter is commonly accessed in public elementary and secondary schools (i.e. where there is an absence of sterile water fountains as in the case of private schools), and these wvms are operated by private franchisees which do not usually undergo strict sanitary monitoring due to the inherent trust of the schools to these wvms operators. drinking water from bottle-less coolers such that of the water vending machines may pose some public health risks to consumers due to either chemical or microbiological contamination (hussein, hassan & bakr, 2009). the lack of sanitary monitoring paved the way for increased complacency on ensuring regular cleaning of wvms, replacement of old gallons, removal of accumulated residues from biological and non-biological matter. this alarming condition is a perennial concern especially in public schools where the population is large and children whose ages are vulnerable to gastrointestinal diseases. who statistics shows that there are approximately 94,000 deaths occurred in ncr due to diarrhea in 2014 caused by lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene (wash) services (wpro, 2017). as to the report of the department of health that in 2018, within a month, 1,051 acute bloody diarrhea cases were reported and this is caused by exposure to various pathogens in food and water. pg. 2 picardal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd such precedence is the standpoint of this initial assessment in order to investigate the quality of drinking water distributed through water vending machines located in different public schools in cebu city. 2. review of related literature it is an inherent right for every citizen to have access to safe drinking water (who, 2011). due to the increase in demand for potable water by the growing population, water service providers respond to the need through the placement of water vending machines in populated areas such as in schools. the philippine government must strengthen the regulation of these water supplies by ensuring them to be compliant to the national standard (i.e., pnsdw) for drinking water and that of the international institutions (i.e., who and us-epa) (del rosario, migo, clemente, cerbolles, & tecson-mendoza, 2012). water dispensed by the wvm comes in the form of bottled water hence; the agency responsible for the regulating and monitoring of water is the department of health (doh) food and drug administration. this agency utilizes the philippine national standards for drinking water (pnsdw) 2007 in determining the water quality (del rosario et al., 2012). to ensure implementation of the task at the local level, the local water utilities administration (lwua) was created through presidential decree 198 (1973) to monitor the local water standards and assess its compliance with the national standard. administrative order 0012 s. 2017 stipulates the guidelines for monitoring water vending machines such that the minimum frequency of sampling should be conducted once a month for a microbiological test and twice a year for physico-chemical analysis. despite the tasked force and legal mandate, access to safe drinking water still remains an issue which prompted researchers to conduct an independent and third-party assessment of the water quality in their locality. in the published reports conducted in the philippines, tonog and poblete (2015) looked into the quality of drinking water obtained from various sources such as deep well, pump well and communal faucets in some barangays in northern samar and found out that all water samples were positive for fecal coliforms. meanwhile, alambatin, germano, pagaspas, peñas, pun-an, & galarpe (2017) evaluated the physicochemical parameters of drinking water samples in cagayan de oro and found out that water is fit for human consumption, however; findings lack analysis on the presence of heavy metals, pathogens, and organic components. meanwhile, austero, bernardes, dael, dela cruz, honkulada, jawadil, stacy, & uy (2013) evaluated the water samples collected from water vending machines within the radius of the hospital, and found out that all of the samples were positive for total coliform, total bacterial and fecal coliform count which rendered the water unfit for drinking. in the global scenario, this water quality monitoring has been practiced. decades ago, chaidez, rusin, naranjo, & gerba (1999) have already initially assessed the water vending machine in terms of microbiological and physicochemical parameters. they concluded that there is a high bacterial concentration of total coliforms and escherichia coli detected in the drain samples. no significant correlations were found between the physicochemical and bacteriological parameters. similarly, al moosa, ali khan, alalami, & hussain (2015) investigated the water dispenser machines installed in schools and universities in uae in terms of a microbial parameter. they concluded that the water samples were found unsatisfactory as total coliform and e.coli were detected. they attributed it to the low maintenance and improper hygiene and unsanitary conditions of the water dispenser machines. the aforementioned condition of water implies the need for ensuring water quality locally. from the prevailing scenarios both at the local and global scene, similar conclusions have been presented on the water samples collected — that it is not fit for human consumption due to the presence of pathogenic organisms. us-epa (2018) strongly emphasized that there should be zero tolerance for the presence of fecal coliform in drinking water. hence, this present study would like to verify if the water vending machines located in schools in cebu are compliant with that national and global standard. pg. 3 picardal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3. materials and methods 3.1. study site this descriptive survey was conducted in eight (8) randomly selected public schools (composed of 4 elementary schools and 4 high schools) located in different regions within the city (refer to figure 1). the number of schools selected as a sampling site is ten percent of the overall number of public schools in the whole division of cebu city. in addition, the schools belong to the criteria of very large population size and the presence of wvm in the school premises. the city is divided into two congressional districts, north and south. there were four schools purposively selected for each of the district (comprised of 2 elementary schools and 2 secondary schools). from each school, water sample [total 2.5l] was collected from 10:00-11: 00 am for the summer month of april 2017 on the same day and these were analyzed for microbial contaminants (i.e. total coliform). meanwhile, three schools were randomly chosen from the six schools that registered higher than the normal level of e. coli test results (<1.1 cfu/ml) using a fishbowl technique (composed of one elementary and two high schools) for further physicochemical testing of the water from wvm found in the school for the ph, hardness and presence of heavy metals (hg, pb and as). figure 1. map of cebu city proper where sampling stations were located. 3.2. sampling water samples were collected from the water vending machines installed in randomly selected schools (names withheld for privacy and anonymity and ethical considerations). specifically, grab sampling technique was employed in this study in which a sample was collected from those chosen schools simultaneously during the month of april 2017 and is assumed to represent the composition of the water only at that time and place. in each school, the researchers collected 1.5 liters (l) water sample for chemical analysis and 1l water sample for the microbiological test. to avoid affecting the quality of data, the first and second running of water were disregarded. the third time was then used as the sample and was then taken into sterile containers without superficial disinfection of the outlet nozzles. specimens were then submitted to the laboratory of mcwd in a cool box within 6 hours. analyses of the physical property (i.e. ph and hardness) of the water samples were done at the chemistry laboratory of a university. heavy metal concentrations were analyzed at the metro cebu water district. pg. 4 picardal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3.3. physicochemical and microbiological analysis the drinking water samples were taken directly from the nozzle of the water dispenser machine. the samples were stored in a pre-sterilized 500 ml bottle. right after the collection, drinking water samples were immediately submitted to the microbiological laboratory for the analysis. the colilert reagent was used to identify the presence of total coliform and e.coli. 3.4. data analysis data from diagnostic laboratories were collated, tabulated and analyzed using descriptive statistics (i.e. mean+s.d.) for parameters with 1 sample/trial. all data were presented and were correspondingly compared versus permissible limits (i.e. standard values published by united states environmental protection agency [us epa] 2018, world health organization [who], 2011 and philippine national standards for drinking water [pnsdw], 2007 for each heavy metal (see table 3) and microbiological component (see table 1). 4. results and discussion water quality is assessed in terms of the following parameters: biological, chemical and physical properties and these parameters are presented in separate tables below. briefly, chemical properties include dissolved heavy metals alone while physical properties include ph and water hardness in terms of concentration of cacl. for microbiological attributes, the presence of fecal coliform and total coliform counts were determined. 4.1. biological property of water from wvm the biological component of drinking water was assessed using multiple tube fermentation technique (mtft) in two parameters, namely: appearance (in terms of colonies) and total coliform as well as fecal coliform (table 1). the result shows that all eight samples did not show any remarkable appearance of colonies in the growth media, indicating the insignificant bacterial growth in the water samples. meanwhile, total coliform registered 2.6 cfu/ml while specific e.coli testing posted <1.1 to 2.6 cfu/ml. total coliform test for all samples (2.6 cfu/ml) were all higher than the philippines standard value for clean water (i.e. <1.1/100 ml) and international standard set by who and us epa which is 0.00. e. coli test, on the other hand, resulted to normal levels (<1.1 cfu/ml) in 2 (school b and h) of the 8 schools sampled if based on pnsdw standard but still violates the strict international standard. although such colony counts were within the standard values for e.coli testing, its total coliform counts were beyond standard values (see table 1) and this finding is in consonance to prasai, lekhak, joshi, & baral (2007) that registered 82.6% and 92.4% of drinking water samples found to cross the who guideline value for drinking water. furthermore, the same finding also agrees with the studies of tonog and poblete (2015) and al moosa et al. (2015) on the unsatisfactory condition of drinking water due to the observed and identified total coliform and e.coli. these indicate that still, samples from school b and h, like the rest of the samples, and are also not safe for human consumption in the long run as purported by prasai et al. (2007) that bacteriological pollution is increasing alarmingly in drinking water supplies when he analyzed drinking water in kathmandu valley. there are factors to be considered in this result such as the [1] temperature (al moosa, ali khan, alalami & hussain, 2015) as most of the wvm are placed where direct sunlight can reach it, [2] handling and delivery of the water during refilling process and replacement of gallons from the station to the vending machine, and [3] exposure of nozzle and carbon filter itself to dust or soil particles that may contaminate the water sample (al moosa et al., 2015; chaidez, rusin, naranjo & gerba, 1999). appearance refers to the presence or absence of visible colonies of bacteria when grown in growth media during testing. total coliform refers to the gram-negative non-spore forming and motile or non-motile bacteria which pg. 5 picardal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1. themicrobiological test result of water from wvms among selected public schools in cebu city sampling site (school) analysis remarks appearance total coliform cfu/ml e. coli cfu/ml a clear 2.6 2.6 failed clear 2.6 <1.1 failed c clear 2.6 2.6 failed d clear 2.6 2.6 failed e clear 2.6 2.6 failed f clear 2.6 2.6 failed g clear 2.6 2.6 failed h clear 2.6 <1.1 failed standard value of pnsdw (2007) <1.1/100 ml <1.1/100 ml standard value of us epa (2018) 0.00 0.00 standard value of who (2011) 0.00 0.00 under the suitable environmental condition of 35–37◦c can ferment lactose with the production of acid and gas (edberg, rice, karlin, & allen, 2000). as purported by omer, algamidi, algamidi, fadlelmula, and aklsubaie (2014) that contaminated water is a suitable medium to transmit diseases which is why e.coli is commonly used indicator of sanitary quality of water. their presence is used to indicate that other pathogenic organisms of fecal origin may be present (onichandran, 2014). the coliform index is also a rating of the purity of water based on the fecal bacterial count (prasai, lekhak, joshi & baral, 2007; edberg et al., 2000 & tan, arifullah, & soon, 2016). these bacteria originate from the intestine of warm-blooded animals (like humans and most mammals). evaluation of total coliform is an important measure of whether the water came in contact with human feces (fecal-oral route) along the way to the pipes (processing to filtration) and eventually to human (chaidez et al., 1999). hence, in this study, the majority of the water samples is not fit for human consumption due to the presence of fecal coliform as it did not qualify for the permissible standard value set by the pnsdw, us epa, and who. this finding also implies that it may cause an adverse effect on the gastrointestinal health of the consumers. it is not an assurance that although the water appears clears it is free from contamination (lechevallier, 2003). chemical property of water from wvm majority of the reported and recorded water-related health problems is due to the microbial contamination and also brought about by chemical contamination of drinking water (who, 2011) table 2. heavymetal test on water samples from wvms from selected public schools in cebu city school heavy metals test value* (mg/l) reading / interpretation a mercury 0.001 negligible lead 0.000 normal arsenic 0.000 normal mercury 0.000 normal lead 0.002 with dissolved units – check the tubing arsenic 0.000 normal c mercury 0.000 normal lead 0.004 with dissolved units – check the tubing arsenic 0.000 normal *results are for extracted heavy metals using ph 4.8 ammonium acetate using atomic absorption spectroscopy. for drinking water, 000/-000 is the most ideal concentration (i.e. absence of heavy metals) note: who standard for hardness test (mcgowan, 2000): pg. 6 picardal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 3. permissible limits of drinking water quality forinorganic chemical constituents (mg/l) recommended by various agenciesconcerned on food and water quality and sanitation heavy metals philippine national standards for drinking water [pnsdw, 2007] the united states environmental protection agency [us-epa, 2018] world health organization [who, 2011] mercury (hg) 0.001 0.002 0.001 lead (pb) 0.01 0.00 0.05 arsenic (as) 0.05 0.05 0.05 table 4. hardnesstest result (concentration of cacl) of water samples from wvms school calcium chloride (mg/l) classification a 18.5 soft 7.9 soft c 9.0 soft <60 mg/l = soft; 60–120 mg/l = moderately hard; 120–180 mg/l = hard; >180 mg/l, very hard the typical contribution of calcium in the diet is 5–20% of the drinking water and the rest of it are obtained from food sources for the recommended 80% dietary intake. mineral-rich drinking water can be a good source of these recommended nutrients and may supplement the needed calcium requirement by the body, in addition to main food sources of calcium such as milk, cheese, and other dairy products (who, 2011). table 5. phof water samples from wvms from public schools in cebu city. school ph mean + sd *standard value interpretation trial 1 trial 2 trial 3 a 7 7.5 6.5 7.00 + 0.500 6.5 – 8.5 normal 5.5 5 6 5.50 + 0.500 6.5 – 8.5 slightly acidic c 6.5 7 7 6.83 + 0.288 6.5 – 8.5 normal *us-epa 2018 standard drinking water regulation (ph = 6.5 – 8.5) the ph of water from different wvms ranges from 5.50 (slightly acidic) to 7.00 (neutral). normally, ph range for drinking water is between 6.50 to 8.50 (tan et al., 2016), thus except for one sample (school b), the two other schools have wvms providing a water with acceptable ph level. this may suggest a slightly higher concentration of hydrogen ion in the water medium due to rapid loss of electrolytes like sodium, calcium, and magnesium. water samples from wvms came from water refilling stations that employ purification process hence the water is slightly acidic as it becomes an active absorber of carbon dioxide as it comes in contact with air (flanagan & mccauley, 2010). the acidity can be linked to poor maintenance of either the container, nozzle tube or the entire machine in general. in general, water with a ph < 6.5 could be classified as acidic, soft, and corrosive. the acidity of the water may indicate a significant amount of metal ions such as fe, mn, co, pb, and zn. hence, acidic water contains a high amount of toxic metals which may be associated with health risks and pose a detrimental effect on the human body. thus, neutralizing solutions are used (i.e. containing sodium carbonate or commonly known as soda ash) which may eventually increase ph level. on the other hand, the hardness of water is indicated by a ph level of >8.5 which is considered alkaline which does not pose a health risk. however, hard water may cause aesthetic problems such as alkali taste, the formation of scale deposits on the surface that comes in contact with the water, slippery and difficult to lather for soaps and sometimes forms insoluble precipitates on clothing. while the ideal ph level pg. 7 picardal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd of drinking water should be between 6.50 8.50 (us-epa, 2018), the human body has the ability to maintain ph equilibrium regularly regardless of the water intake. for instance, our stomach maintains a naturally low ph level of 2 which is needed and aids in the digestion of food. 5. conclusion based on the results of the study, chemical and physical test were within the acceptable levels as heavy metals (which are known to be toxic in large amounts) were at the negligible to a normal level, ph was relatively acceptable, and hardness level is acceptable. however, the water samples obtained from the wvm were relatively unclear of coliform bacteria such as e.coli and total coliform count as evidenced by a relatively higher cfu/ml compared to the acceptable values in drinking water. hence, the study concluded that the water sample is unfit for human consumption. as the results may suggest, these water vending machines need routine cleaning and maintenance to avoid accumulation of coliforms and contamination of e.coli. 6. recommendations in order to ensure the quality of drinking water accessed by the public through vending machines installed in schools, it should be regularly cleaned, monitored and tested by the company owner to comply with the guidelines and also by the designated government agency for public safety and welfare. furthermore, hygienic conditions in handling, delivery, and storage of water should be given utmost priority. a school administrator also must create and implement guidelines and protocols in regulating the bottles of water supplied, machines installed in schools, as well as the usage and maintenance of the overall facility to ensure utmost compliance to the standard for safe drinking water. local government units must conduct regular monitoring as mandated in the administrative order 0012 s. 2007 that all the water vending machines installed in public places be analyzed for microbiological constituent monthly and physicochemical analysis twice a week not just in schools but also in eateries and convenient stores where most of the water vending machines are placed. references 1. al moosa, m., ali khan, m., alalami, u. & hussain, a. (2015). microbiological quality of drinking water from water vending machines. international journal of environmental science and development, 6(9). 2. alambatin, ak., germano, j. c.., pagaspas, d.l.., peñas, f.m.., pun-an, a. & galarpe, v. rk. (2017). drinking water quality of selected tap water samples in cagayan de oro (district ii), philippines. journal of sustainable development studies, 10 (1), 1-6. issn 2201-4268 3. austero, s., bernardes, mc., dael, rr., dela cruz, k., honkulada, am., jawadil, j., stacy, l. & uy, j. (2013). safety of water in water-vending machines within a 500-meter radius of vicente gullas memorial hospital.philippine council for research health and development. available at 4. chaidez, c., rusin, p., naranjo, j. & gerba, c. (1999) microbiological quality of water vending machines, international journal of environmental health research, 9:3, 197-206, doi: 10.1080/09603129973164 5. del rosario e. j., migo v. p., clemente e. m., cerbolles m. t. c., tecson-mendoza e. m. (2012). purification and quality department of health. (2018). food and water borne diseases. epidemiology bureau public health surveillance division. accessed on may 10, 2018. 6. del rosario e. j., migo v. p., clemente e. m., cerbolles m. t. c., tecson-mendoza e. m. (2012). purification and quality of drinking water: issues and concerns. transactions of the national academy of science and technology phl 34. pg. 8 picardal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 7. edberg, s., rice, e., karlin, r., & allen, m. (2000). escherichia coli: the best biological drinking water indicator for public health protection. journal of applied microbiology 2000, 88, 1068-1168. 8. flanagan, k.m. & mccauley, e. (2010). experimental warming increases co2 saturation in a shallow prairie pond. aquatic ecology 44: 749. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-010-9313-0 9. hussein, r., hassan, a., & bakr, w. (2009). assessment of the quality of water from some public coolers in alexandria, egypt. journal of egypt public health association 84 ( 1 & 2). 10. hutin y, luby s, paquet c (2003). a large cholera outbreak in kano city, nigeria: the importance of hand washing with soap and the danger of street-vended water. journal of waterand health, 1:45–52. 11. jasper, c., le, t. & bartram, j. (2012). water and sanitation in schools: a systematic review of the health and educational outcomes. int. j. environ. res. public health, 9, 2772-2787; doi:10.3390/ijerph9082772 12. kathmandu valley 13. lechevallier, m. (2003). conditions favouring coliform and hpc bacteria growth in drinking-water and on water contact surfaces,” in heterotrophic plate counts and drinking-water safety, j. bartram, j. cotruvo, m. exner, c. fricker, a. glasmacher, eds. iwa publishing, london, 2003, pp. 178-180. 14. microbiological analysis of drinking water of 15. omer, e., algamidi, a., algamidi, i., fadlelmula, a., & aklsubaie, a. (2014). the hygienic-related microbiological quality of drinking water sources al-baha province, kingdom of saudi arabia. journal of health specialties 2 (2). 16. onichandran, (2014). waterborne parasites: a current status from the philippines. parasites & vectors 7:244. 17. philippine national standards for drinking water. 2007. administrative order no. 2007-012. department of health: philippines. available: http://www.lwua.gov.ph/tech mattrs/water standards.htm. accessed march 17, 2017 18. prasai, t., lekhak, b., joshi, d., & baral, m. (2007). microbiological analysis of drinking water in kathmandu valley. scientific world, 5 (5) 19. sarkar, b., bhaumik, k., mukherjee, a & sarkar, k.(2016). school children exposed to arsenic contaminated drinking water in the backdrop of widespread under-nutrition in west bengal, eastern-india. epidemiology (sunnyvale) 2016, 6:4 20. tan, e., arifullah, m., & soon, j. (2016). identification of escherichia coli strains from water vending machines of kelantan, malaysia using 16s rrna gene sequence analysis. water quality exposure and health 8(2). doi:10.1007/s12403-016-0194-x 21. tonog, m. & poblete, m. (2015). drinking water quality assessment in selected barangays in laoang, northern samar, philippines. international journal of environmental science and development, 6(1) 22. united states environmental protection agency (2018). drinking water standards and health advisories. washington, dc. march 2018. document no. 822-f-18-001 23. world health organization (2011). guidelines for drinking-water quality — 4th ed. isbn: 9789241548151. pg. 9 introduction review of related literature materials and methods study site sampling physicochemical and microbiological analysis data analysis results and discussion biological property of water from wvm conclusion recommendations http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i2.168 the dry port as a holistic approach for the relocation of city gateways mourad s. amer1 1phd candidate, faculty of fine arts, alexandria university, egypt abstract alexandria city has several types of gateways that are not fully supported with connections and corridors that maximize their efficiency, thus, creating additional pressure on metropolitan areas. in addition, the marine gates of alexandria and dekheila face a lack of efficiency in their capacity as a port. the aim of this study is to relocate the city gates and to find a mechanism of change, which is necessary for promoting the globalization of alexandria through strengthening inter-city freight transport. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords freight transport; gateways; dry ports 1. introduction with an increase in product specialization and globalization, cities need well-connected transportation networks, however, cities tend to neglect freight transport. although freight transportation benefits the urban economy through offering a number of jobs and services, it has been overlooked and hardly ever included in transport surveys, transport strategies, and regional planning (lasalle, 2015). the capability of transporting goods to nearby cities has, therefore, put a critical situation. the transport system in general and the intermodal transport terminals, in particular, have now been relocated or redesigned in many cities. however, such expansion may face some constraints; for example, a city gate must be relocated in the middle of the city rather than at the edge for any possibility of the city’s expansion. the demand for land in central areas, stresses on the need to relocate large-scale internal dry gates or ports to less central city locations. the study should adopt a strategy of directing cities to benefit from their gateways as a method of improving their freight transportation system which can lead to the reduction of traffic congestion in urban regions and making them more livable. this category of urban transport should be regulated by road transport policies on an economical basis in an attempt to decrease the difficulty that excessive congestion places upon both travelers and urban dwellers along the urban road network. the goal of this study is to find the most suitable location of the dry port that will assist the sea-ports in alexandria as well as control the congestion in the inland transport network. the criteria of choosing the dry port location shall be applied using geographic transport system gis. a new action to activate the role of inland port in finding strategies of creating an effective freight network at national and local levels, especially when infrastructure and pg. 42 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i2.168&domain=press.ierek.com amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd services are sufficient. 1.1. purpose of study the purpose of the study is to enhance the freight transportation at the city gates, which is necessary to solve the traffic problems and congestion. in that light, the city could reach a level of globalization which will boost the economic situation as well. the study will analyze the potentials of alexandria sea ports, their capacities and their effects on the daily traffic flow. it aims to activate the dry port concept and therefore, the study will present the most suitable location to construct the dry port. 1.2. aim and objectives the aim of this study is to employ the concept of dry ports in order to assign a new role and function to the city gateways; as the mechanism for change, which is necessary to promote the globalization of alexandria city through strengthening the infrastructure of both the network of freight transportation corridors and an intercity transportation system. the study aims to find the most suitable location of the dry port in order to solve the city inland transport system, thus, the movement could be directly transferred from the sea port to the dry port and then to the demanded location without the need to enter the city center or the high-density areas. this movement transfer will minimize the pressure on the inner network, which suffers from high-density congestion. the study also fulfills a number of objectives, such as: 1. solving the traffic jams and congestions, 2. enhancing the intercity movement with increasing the possibility of economic investment and encouraging a lot of small medium enterprises (smes) in alexandria as well as in neighboring cities. 3. rebalancing the existing development patterns. 4. empowering alexandria to be a nodal global city with a an international connection and movement corridors for people and commodities, which can connect the city to the global economy system. the study hypothesizes that relocating the city gates to inland dry port, as a result, there will be an increase in connectivity, proximity, and accessibility between the dry port and all destinations without any additional pressure at the inland transport. moreover, the dry port should re-balance the existing travel patterns, orient the freight movement into a direct and sufficient transport system, find new economic potential and form the spatial policy of freight transport in alexandria. alexandria will then be declared a nodal and global city to the global economy system. the reform and development of this issue can lead to discovering a lot of small medium enterprises (smes) in alexandria as well as in mediterranean crossborders and thus create a balance to the social class and recent inequalities. 2. alexandria’s gateways types alexandria is considered as the second capital of egypt, one of the most important vital transport centers as it is considered as the northern egyptian gateway, and it connects the western region and egypt’s core. with the steady rise in the urban growth and traffic density of the city of alexandria, it was necessary to make a detailed study describing the status and offering future proposals on the level of the internal and external movement of the city. pg. 43 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the study is focused on the relationship between the city of alexandria and the province alexandria, which consists of (the city of alexandriabehera governoratemarsa matrouh governorate). the province of alexandria is divided into three levels, depending on the density, which is inversely proportionate to the area. the delta region (behera governorate): despite its small area compared to the desert region (marsa matrouh), it has the higher density, figure 1a. the city of alexandria has a linear urban form expanding to the southwest and bordered by the mediterranean sea to the north, which is currently considered as one of the main traffic arteries of the city. it is also parallel to one of the main perpendicular roads which penetrates the vertical urban fabric of the city, determining the current gateways of the city, figure 1. figure 1. alexandria region between egyptian regions at fig 1a, alexandria districts at fig 1b, and main nodes and intersections at 1c. alexandria city contains different types of gates; as they are: a. air gateways: the air gateways in alexandria are nozha airport and borj el arab airport; nozha airport, with time, has merged with the inner city fabric, which has negative effects on the movement and has negatively affected traffic, causing congestions. borj el arab airport is located outside the city in a moderate location, and it serves alexandria and marsa matrouh governorate, but its location is far to serve behera governorate, which needs direct access to this gate, figure 2. b. land gateways of the city contain official gateways. they are the main entry points laying in the administrative division places such as the desert road gateway, maadia area in the eastern direction and elhamam at the western direction. the desert road gateway is located in kilometer 39, and it functions as the official gate of the city, connecting it to the desert road linking to the capital. there are also unofficial gateways, such as the access nodes at the entrance of smouha district, the intersection between 45 road and costal road and sidi krir node, figure 2. figure 2. alexandria high ways and important nodes. c. marine gateway: alexandria contains three harbors, the most important of which is the alexandria harbor. the second important port is dekheila harbor; however, both harbors are located near to the city center, which causes negative effects on the movement in the city. the third harbor is located at abou kir, this area has very limited access that isolated it from the main transportation arteries, figure 2. pg. 44 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3. problem statement: alexandria’s gateways problems although alexandria has several gates, these gates has negative impacts on the city, rather than enhancing it to be a global one that lays a successful transportation network. due to the lack of connectivity between alexandria’s city gates, all the movements either in the eastern or western directions have to pass through the city, which has added an extra burden to the city center. moreover, this led to the fragmentation of the urban fabric such as: a. abou kir district, which contains an important marine port; this area has become a closed and isolated district, and it suffers from the lack of sufficient movement axis and accessibility issues, figure 3. figure 3. the transportation and connectivity problems in alexandria b. down town: a compound and a complicated area, contains the airport entrance, the agricultural road entrance, and the desert road entrance. in addition, adjacent to the city center and alexandria port entrance. accounts for high traffic from all the directions leading to inadequate means of movement. it has also led to the degeneration of the urban fabric and the lack of clarity of access to the city center. the aforementioned issue goes in hand with the fragile link between the port and the means of rapid movement. c. dekheila port: in addition to its function as a port, it contains many factories that receive heavy-duty transport vehicles, which causes a difficulty in cargo transportation, and, consequently, bigger problems in traffic accompanied with the need for direct connection to highways. d. western zone: it contains borg el arab airport and the costal entrance from the west direction located at hamam city. this area faces a lack of public transportation and is difficult to reach alexandria city needs to redistribute the movement capacity by reconnecting the isolated gateways and employing their role as the valve of internal and external movement. the study will present the hypothesis framework of the transportation network depending on the available feature in the city.the city of alexandria contains two main harbors, the alexandria and eldekheila port, both of which suffer from an inefficiency in their capacities leading to the stagnation of the economic situation. this reflects on the social status of the city. according to the report of the egyptian port capacity the maritime transport sector, eldekheila harbor will reach its maximum capacity and will not be able to receive any more commodities, using the assumed rate of the annual growth domestic product gdp of 6.9%, the import and the export should increase as seen in table 1 (”egyptian maritime data bank”, 2005). pg. 45 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1 above depicts the expected achieved volume of cargo and teus during the years of 2017, 2022, and 2032. the chart in figure4 states that in 2012, the dekheila port will have exceeded already its full capacity in receiving cargo and tbus and the alexandrian port will have exceeded its limit of receiving teus and then cargo soon in 2024 (“the egyptian port’s capacity”, 2012). figure 4. the expected capacity to be achieved at 2017,2022, 2032 for alexandria and dekheila ports. this problem confirms the fact that alexandrian gateways face an incapability of efficiently implementing economic development and playing its role of leading the city to better future properly. therefore, alexandria’s city gates are in need of a complete development plan that addresses the existing problem and provides its future needs. pg. 46 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 4. the dry-ports dry ports, has been employed to organize the transmodal services of containers and dry cargo between the terminal to be distributed through using advanced logistical services. a “dry port” is defined as a terminal that is located inside the land connecting the main seaport with multi modes of transport. it plays the same role of the seaport in receiving, handling, forwarding, and distributing cargo and teus (roso & lumsden, 2010). the benefits of the “dry ports” extend to the ability to configure the intercity freight transport network, and thus improving the process of distributing the supply chain, (bergqvist, wilmsmeier, & cullinane, 2013). the most important feature of a “dry port” appears when it can exploit its connectivity with different inland modes of freight transport as well as a logistics hub, (veenstra, zuidwijk, & asperen, 2012; monios & bergqvist, 2016). as for the characteristics of dry ports, the illustration made, reflects different development levels, the definitions and the procedures taking place in the terminals mentioned above. moreover, a composite diagram that illustrates the services that could be offered by a dry port and the capabilities of all facilities could be seen in the figure, 5 below. figure 5. the procedures and services in terminals and dry ports. the optimum functions of a dry port when compared to the other sites is characterized with many functions such as; loading, interchange, forwarding, and administrative buildings that contain customs logistics services, and the ports authority. the connectivity with the seaports should be through a well-conditioned and safe rail line, trucks corridors. however, most endeavors for developing dry ports were futile and thus were falling, because most of them were under the supervision of local authorities. as in most dry port developments, there is a kind of governmental intervention that lets the government always be a partner with the private section (nguyen & notteboom, 2016). hence, seaports engage the distant dry ports to encourage the shippers using it. therefore, the pressure happens to the accessibility of the intercity as well as the congestion which stems from various and interrelated directions such as increasing the containerized transport. 4.1. the fully combined dry port in regards to the dry port, a model of the three forms of the dry ports could be implemented in a full combined dry port as shown in figure 6. this combination offers flexibility to all kinds of shippers and will be convenient to the intermodal terminal to which the most suitable dry port according to the distribution plan and then to the regional distribution or to the intercity modes. furthermore, transferring activities, that are causing congestion to the main seaport, to the dry ports. the dry port can manage the customs clearance, handling, and some other activities. however, the most important condition that meets the need of freight flows is that the dry port should be large enough to facilitate all operations and to satisfy the speed and frequency from and to the dry port. finally, the close, mid-range and distant dry ports are the component of the fully combined dry port, which represents the full service with the maximum ability to add value through the provided services. the whole process is possible through multi operational processes which are available in the dry port environpg. 47 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 6. fully combined dry port ment, such as applying connections to all market sectors and acting collaboratively as the intermodal hub in the freight transport networks; handling different types of cargo; the diversity of services in intermodal operations and covering all different type of interests and distributing locations. 4.2. the criteria of choosing a dry port location a “dry port” works as an inland intermodal terminal that has a direct connection to the sea-port with multi transport means, considering that the full services exist, such as customs clearance; warehousing; consolidation; cargo handling and different transport modes should be available. the environmental aspect is the main criterion that should be taken into consideration when planning for a dry port’s location. in addition to the available facilities and components that are necessary for the management process, like the information technology and labors. choosing the location of a dry port in the planning process requires a specific criterion that should follow multiple stakeholders’ perspectives. the location has to increase the integration between the seaport and its hinterlands to endow the regionalization by extending the sea gate. the dry port facilities should meet the interests of all stakeholders such as dry port users, and the community to find a considerable value for them; and for investors, gains considerable revenue to enrich the economic condition. the direct dry port stakeholders are shippers, logisticians, transport companies and freight forwarders as they are usually interested in the efficiency of transport system from different freight flows to the gateway port. the location is the most important factor for investors when it includes all the services needed to operate the process of trading with minimizing the operating cost which is, in fact, the main factor for allocating all services to the project location. many other criterions affect the cost factors considered, such as the land cost, energy cost, labor cost and the cost of relocating the rail lines to the rail network. future demands and expected future expansion of the dry port must be considered along with an estimation of the needed area foreseen. additionally, many other factors related to climate, the environmental context in general, and the support of certain municipalities are in need of reconsideration. as a prerequisite, the site selection of a dry port shall depend on the efficiency of the transport network and accessibility of the site to the network. the community and public awareness, both, play significant roles in supporting the idea and are quite essential in that sense. shipping companies, similarly, must provide their support to the project as it is a suitable chance to expedite their work and businesses. governmental authorities and planners must also consider this idea in land uses and future proposals. this is necessary for considering the demographic statement needed to assign the employments and laborers to work on the project. as a result, it then becomes possible to avoid the pollution and noise generated from the port or from the industrial area nearby. the following presents some criteria abstracted in points that could be used as a checklist when comparing between selected sites: 1. reduction of transportation cost and time. 2. accessibility to road, railway and waterways infrastructure. pg. 48 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3. range of services and other logistics platforms. 4. proximity to the factories and production bases and employment generation. 5. demand for dry port services and opportunities for expansion. 6. minimizing visual intrusion, noise and pollution. 7. contribution to land use reorganization and proximity to the industrial areas. 8. maximized value added services and return to the government. the criteria above will be applied to compare which is the most suitable option between selected sites in order to get an ideal concept of a dry port to hopefully enhance freight transport between the city gates. 4.3. alexandria dry port project in alexandria, the dry port concept is still not effectively used since some frail attempts failed in alexandria. table 4 contains the list of all plans of dry port projects as well as the existing ones. the ones responsible were not taken seriously or planned in a proper manner such as amria free zone (ragab) and el-nobaria port, figure 7a. all of these previous initiatives are not considered as a smart approach, or properly used to increase the dry port functions, both seem to be only as warehouses for traders. the capacity of these ports is very low (452 containers) as shown in figure 7b. moreover, they depend on truck access that means maintaining the same congestion problem. another future initiative is to develop a real dry port in max area which will be supported by railways. for a successful dry port, it should depend on its distance from the seaport, the role of the dry port may vary and has to be directly connected to one or more seaports, and must be capable of handling intermodal operations and must carry out the main functions of a port such as storage, consolidation and distribution of the goods. pg. 49 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 7. fig. 7a depicts the capacity of dry ports in egypt from 20032006, (”japan international cooperation agency”, 2008a), fig. 7b depicts the location of the previous initiative dry port in alexandria. a dry port will be needed to assist the two main harbors of the city of alexandria, as the origin of several corridors exists at the same point. great benefits can be attained from the usage of each dry port such as increasing the cost efficiency of the new freight transport systems, decreasing the time of transport and the possibility of higher frequencies of transport. this will also increase the labors and employment including the drivers and assistants who will be working in the port itself, as well as the delivery drivers who will travel from the dry port itself to the destination in the city. this is calculated by estimating the distance from the dry port to a random location in the city, estimating curvature factors for circuitous roads in the city, speeds, and loading or unloading time for the vehicles. the first step for choosing the dry port site is using gis in applying the previous criteria mentioned above. the location has to be close to the existing access (max = 0.5 km), figure 8a, close to rail lines (max = 0.5), figure 8b, proximate to inland waterways (max = 5 km), figure 8c, proximate to factories and production base (max = 5 km), figure 8d and range to service and logistic platform in the original port (10 km – 50 km), figure 8e. the output of applying the criteria of site selection in figure 8fsuggests many different locations that lie along on red indicators at the map to filter which location is most suitable for the dry port project; however, the remaining criteria should be applied. the site has to be outside the urban areas to minimize visual intrusion, noise, and pollution. it also has to own real opportunities for future and possible expansions, and if the project will be sponsored by a governmental entity, the site should avoid the private land ownerships. through the final selection, the study suggests location p1(31◦6’12”n, 29◦50’27”e), p2 (31◦ 0’9”n, 29◦51’2”e), or p3 (30◦53’45”n, 29◦58’31”e) for figure 8. the suggested location for the dry port according to spatial analysis. pg. 50 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the dry port, where there is a great chance to offer an excellent opportunity for this site to be suitable supporter to both ports of alexandria and dekheila. the aforementioned location provides a railway line for the transport of goods linking the network to the railway network as well as the passage of the canal nubaria closely to the location. in addition, the availability of the main highways linking the location to the neighboring cities does exist, such as the international coastal road and the desert road. finally, the location is adjacent to existing industrial areas such as al amria, om zegew, herfeen, and the industrial city at borj alarab, figure 8f. all three sites could be chosen periodically as close, medium and distant dry port. the study refers to the quite suitable locations to propose the dry port, which should also meet the preference of stakeholders when this location is presented to them in a participatory process. great influences could be mentioned because of the proposed dry port on the transport network especially in the metropolitan areas of the city, where the transfer of goods from seaports, which are surrounded by densely populated areas, will be carried out to the new dry port outside the central region. accordingly, the dry port will contribute to the reorientation and organization of the movement of goods from and to the ports of alexandria and dekheila. when the dry port works efficiently, the overloaded capacity at sea ports of alexandria and dekheila of peus, dry bulk and general cargo could be transferred by rail to the dry port yard for both import and export. this is so important to activate the role of the dry port as well as back to the maximum capacity of the sea ports. table 3 depicts the influences of the dry port project and its role in decreasing the overload capacity occurred to alexandria and dekhiela ports as mentioned above, the table depicts the volume of teus and general cargo that be proceeded to the dry port in the three stages of applying the fully combined dry port. therefore, the minimum capacity of the dry port would be the transferred cargo (row f) from the two seaports to pg. 51 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd reset the capacity limit of each seaport as shown in table 3 row a and b. 4.4. challenges of dry port implementation implementing a dry port project in alexandria will definitely bring many advantages, but at the same time, it may face several major challenges for the following reasons: firstly, because dry ports are an extra transshipment point between two different transports modes that adds additional costs in the total transport chain expenses. additional costs include plus risk costs will be added to the transportation costs. secondly, it would occur for the implementation of the egyptian process, where the difficulty of planning and implementation due to the bureaucracy which halts the developmental projects. the importance of this project is highly recommended because it can solve the bottleneck problem of the congestion in the port, port city pollution or road congestion in the port city and access to the port area. when the government owns the project, additional challenge may be added due to the complexity of land ownership that requires more time and fund. 5. conclusion the strength and density of a port’s neighbor activities depend on the port capacity, the available transport modes, and the use of logistical technologies. large ports always include all modes of rail lines, roads, and when available water vessels, the transit hubs of these modes are always located into the hinterland. thus, large ports are more flexibles in assigning the suitable mode of transport. the most important area is the gate of the terminal because it contains all important units of administration and all procedures of import and export which could be achieved there. it is the coordination point between the port and shippers and all other services’ companies. therefore, controlling congestion as well as enhancing the trade starts from the port’s gates, where different modes of transport and the opportunities of relocating the terminal gates by establishing a dry port to assist the main terminal. the importance of the dry port is to decrease the pressure on the terminal gate. 6. recommendations being a popular and essential topic for discussion, many entities of the same interest are concerned with this development such as shipping companies, port authorities, ministries, such as the ministry of planning and commerce, and even the citizens themselves. the study encourages decision makers to adopt this project for sustainable economic development and the operation of a large number of labors. it encourages both port authorities to closely and meticulously follow and monitor phases of the project until desired results are reached. as for investors, the study highly encourages them to invest in similar and promising projects that can lead to a better future and enhance the economic conditions in egypt. it similarly encourages exporters and importers to fulfill their duties as to increasing exports especially since it is a project that should provide the appropriate environment. production companies should also work towards increasing their exports as the study discovers that the volume of export makes up a quarter of import volumes which is quite a small amount that should be increased. retailers are required to use the shortest paths to transship their commodities at low costs and less time. the study, finally, encourages citizens to take the responsibility of reducing their own trips and using public transportation for a more sustainable life. references 1. bergqvist, r., wilmsmeier, g., & cullinane, k. (2013). introduction – a global perspective on dryports. farnham, united kingdom: ashgate publishing limited. pg. 52 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 2. japan international cooperation agency. (2008a). the study on multimodal transport and logistics system of the eastern mediterranean region and master plan in the arab republic of egypt (vol. 1, rep.). cairo, egypt: transport planning authority ministry of transport the arab republic of egypt. 3. japan international cooperation agency. (2008b). the study on multimodal transport and logistics system of the eastern mediterranean region and master plan in the arab republic of egypt (executive summary). cairo, egypt: transport planning authority ministry of transport the arab republic of egypt. 4. lasalle, j. l. (2015). the business of cities (rep.). uk: jll cities research center. 5. egyptian maritime data bank. (2005). retrieved from http://www.maritime-database.com/company.php?c id=246097 6. monios, j., & bergqvist, r. (2016). intermodal freight terminals: a life cycle governance framework. london: routledge, taylor & francis group. 7. nguyen, l. c., & notteboom, t. (2016). a multi-criteria approach to dry port location in developing economies with application to vietnam. the asian journal of shipping and logistics,32(1), 23-32. 8. roso, v., & lumsden, k. (2010). a review of dry ports. maritime economics & logistics,12(2), 196-213. 9. the egyptian port’s capacity. (2012). retrieved from http://www.mts.gov.eg/en/content/275/1-83-the-eg yptian-ports-capacity 10. veenstra, a., zuidwijk, r., & asperen, e. v. (2012). the extended gate concept for container terminals: expanding the notion of dry ports. maritime economics & logistics,14(1), 14-32. pg. 53 introduction purpose of study aim and objectives alexandria's gateways types problem statement: alexandria's gateways problems the dry-ports the fully combined dry port the criteria of choosing a dry port location alexandria dry port project challenges of dry port implementation conclusion recommendations http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v1i1.19 the economic evaluations and the real estate appraisals for the effectiveness, feasibility and sustainability of urban regeneration measures francesco calabrò1, lucia della spina1 1mediterranea university of reggio calabria, italy abstract the urban policies and territories live a period of profound transformation characterized by a shift to new approaches and governance tools. the programmed public action generates an application for assessment: facing the loss of representation in politics and the increasing complexity of the variables that influence public choices, decision-makers have the absolute need for auxiliary tools to help optimize the use of resources and, at the same time, to make the decisional path shareable and transparent. when resources are scarce, the time spent during the transformation process becomes increasingly important as the rational legitimacy of choices are some of the difficult issues to solve that lead to the need to experiment with new tools to support decision makers from the early stage of planning or in the pre-design phase saaty (1990, 2008). in this valuation context of compatible functional solutions, the multiple-criteria decision making (mcdm) methodologies (roy & bouyssou, 1993), and the analytic hierarchy process (ahp) in particular play a significant role as they enable all the intrinsic values of the assets in question to be taken into account, both economic and extra-economic. the use of these methods can provide choices that are not always based on the best cost-benefit ratio (nesticò & pipolo, 2015). in addition to guaranteeing the presence and the clarification of different values, the formalisation of an evaluation process carried out in these terms and the expression of the community needs also allow for the control and the correspondence between general and specific choices to take place. since the asset is of a particular value, it is, however, necessary that the various criteria and weights taken on the basis of the evaluation be shared by the community or rather by direct users and by potential or future users. © 2018 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords economic evaluation; multi-criteria decision making; strategic planning 1. introduction the project of kiwis 2016 correctly highlighted that “the economic crisis and, consequently, the social crisis that hit most european cities is having effects on transformation and urban regeneration processes. more and more often we see cases of ”large” projects abandoned, deferred or lapsed, either by difficulties encountered by operators pg. 46 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v1i1.19&domain=press.ierek.com calabrò / environmental science and sustainable development, essd for the exponential delay in approval times or realization or, as in most of the recent cases, for the coming up of unsustainability costs of realization. on the basis of recent experience, it appears that today this approach to urban planning, characterized by great works, long lead times and high costs, it is questioned and it appears, also, in crisis. urban regeneration is an emergency but requires more measured, rapid and widespread interventions and with low investment: recoveries, demolition and reconstruction, creation of public spaces. no more time for large projects projected over the long term and in need of substantial capital, it’s necessary to improve the quality of urban life with small actions, fast and flexible, low cost and low or no impact, in the places of everyday life; in the spaces of real life.” if all this is true, and we think it is, then there is a clear need for aid in promoting a holistic approach to urban regeneration in which the culture of evaluation, in particular economic, and estimates plays the usual role of auxiliary tools for decisions: learning to decide by building a path of continuous references between rationality and invention. 2. the economic evaluations and the real estate appraisals for the effectiveness, feasibility and sustainability of urban regeneration measures in other words, really changing the reality around us to make it more fitting to our needs implies a decision-making process as a synthesis of formal solutions and their possible implications in terms of: capacity to satisfy the needs for which they were designed, resource requirements for their realization, and diachronic implications in terms of management and maintenance. the decision-making process does not have a rectilinear course in which each successive pass is a necessary and an unambiguous consequence of the previous steps. it is, rather, a directed branched system representable by a directed graph, where each node is connected to another downstream of an evaluation process implicitly or explicitly. decisions pertaining to the rethinking of urban spaces cannot be taken only through a process aimed at identifying the formal solutions most consistent with the world view of the designer, but also while taking into account the technological implications necessary for its technical feasibility. the absence of control of estimative implications, under construction and management phases, is one of the main causes of the proliferation of unfinished or unused works. another aspect that appears to be significant is the legitimacy of decisions: why was a project chosen over another? why was a given solution adopted? the total de-legitimization of the political class, as well as the loss of sure cultural references produced by the collapse of ideologies, makes it difficult to build a consensus around the decisions of local public officials. to make the objectives that a decision-making process intends to pursue and the criteria adopted explicit to choose among the conceivable alternatives, at least make clear the way in which it has reached a certain choice and, at the same way, make it possible to modify and to improve the choice through a rational path. if all this is true for the individual public project, it is even truer in the context of a more intensive program of activities, as an urban renewal program of significant parts of the city. in this case, on the considerations set out above, which retain their validity, additional levels of complexity add themselves to the decision-making process dictated by the need to take into account the presence of several actors, public and private, with the municipal administration that takes for direction, coordination and control. how does it contribute to meeting the needs of the community to entities that differ from the local authority? how does it create conditions for private convenience? how does it make the collective conveniences contemporary with private ones possible? pg. 47 calabrò / environmental science and sustainable development, essd again, the culture of evaluation can support decision-making through estimating the impacts that can be generated from alternative hypotheses, verifying the persistence of convenience conditions for all parties, and ensuring the sustainability of the interventions. the decision-making process at the time when the system of identity resources is involved becomes even more complex, where the expression of a judgment of convenience is entirely outside the logic of the market. however, there remains a need to ensure, through appropriate management models, the sustainability of the interventions in a historical period in which it is no longer possible to think about the use of public resources for the management. 3. economic evaluation of projects and public spending contraction historically, the cost-benefit analysis from the earliest experiences of the 30s of the last century was made in the united states and then gradually in all subsequent areas. this intended to demonstrate that the benefits to a community, deriving from a particular work, outweighed the costs it had incurred. this test was sufficient by itself to finance the work in a political-economic context, which considered the public debt as a useful tool to increase the collective welfare; it was still far from being the problem that severely affects the contemporary public policies in the western world. in fact, it was operating as if there was an ideal position with unlimited resources. the gradual decline in public spending has changed the paradigm of reference for the economic evaluation of projects: the decision-makers have to give answers to needs that are always unlimited but with fewer resources always available. it is in this context, and also for other reasons omitted for brevity here, that for the use of public resources for urban and territorial transformations, new tools as complex urban programs and strategic plans are designed. the results of these new tools are not yet satisfactory but they make sense of their potential, thus stimulating the research for the necessary correction for their effective application. in particular, the culture of evaluation can and should make a significant contribution to the improvement of these tools: it is clear, however, that paradigm shifts mentioned above also determine the need for a radical change in the assessment tools used. 4. the evaluation of strategic plans and operational programs 4.1. the phases of the transformation process and the evaluation questions in those circumstances, the question that the evaluator must answer often is: when placing an almost unlimited picture of and one limited stock of resources, what is the optimal use of these resources? in fact, the question itself is not unique but it changes depending on several factors: – the nature of the subject that raises the question namely whether it is a public or private entity; – in the case of a public entity, the phases of the transformation process are as follows: phase 1: strategic planning / operational programming phase 2: design phase 3: execution phase 4: management phase 5: disposal / regeneration in general, the evaluation, on any level of detail, can reduce the risk of error but not eliminate it; it is evident that the system of the information on which the feedback is based is more reliable and lowers the risk of error, which pg. 48 calabrò / environmental science and sustainable development, essd is an inverse function of the quantity and quality of the information available. these considerations show that the risk of error decreases by implementing the decision-making process towards more advanced stages in which the information available is more and with more reliability. in the first phase of the transformation process, as part of the strategic/operational planning, evaluation plays a decision-supporting role for the selection of actions to be included in the plans/programs. this phase is characterized by the scarcity of the information available, given the level of depth of the actions, therefore by the need to decide in highly uncertain conditions. the evaluative question may concern: – selection of prioritary interventions/actions to be included in the plan/program: in this case, some interventions/actions among many hypothesized must be selected; – the feasibility of a single work: in this case, it is necessary to select a solution from two or more alternatives. 4.2. the selection of priority interventions / actions to be included in the plans/programs these data are constant, which characterize all situations of planning: it is the shortage of resources compared to the needs to be met. the process of planning/programming, in turn, can be considered in three phases: – cognitive phase, in which the analysis of the context affected by the plan/program is carried out, of the critical issues to be addressed, of the resources to be enhanced; – decision making phase, in which the strategy is defined, the priorities are set, and the actions that will be part of the plan/program are selected; – descriptive phase, which is explains the strategic plan/operational programme in detail and includes, in relation to the time schedule according to which it will be implemented, its related modalities, the actors involved, the sources of financing , and so on. the actions are the means by which to achieve the results. they must be, therefore, clearly connected to the results to be achieved (expected results): certainly, more actions (i.e. different actions) could be provided for a single expected result. in the program theory, the expected results representing the program’s objectives and actions are the tools and what you think you can do to achieve (or to help to achieve) those results. actions can be simple or complex. thinking carefully and in detail of the actions in the planning phase helps to have an abundance of time in the later phases. the actions to be put in place must therefore be defined in as much detail as possible: the predominant way, which is often used to program, has certainly helped to make the programming choices totally and not understandable nor verifiable. the selection of actions that constitute a plan/programme happen on the basis of an evaluation process that is divided into steps that take into account the following: step 1: the consistency of actions against objectives; step 2: the capability of actions to satisfy the needs, i.e. their effectiveness; step 3: their feasibility and sustainability; step 4: distributive equity, compared to the territories and / or to the bodies involved; step 5: the priority given to the aims pursued by the actions, i.e. the relevance of the actions; pg. 49 calabrò / environmental science and sustainable development, essd step 6: the availability of resources (budgeting). step 1: the consistency of actions against objectives in this phase, an extensive list of possible actions is drawn up: it is based on the information coming from the analysis of the context and of the objectives identified to implement the strategy. step 2: the capability of actions to satisfy the needs, i.e. their effectiveness in this phase, the results obtained from the individual actions are estimated and due to the scarcity of available information, the estimate is based on the opinions of experts and/or in comparison with similar experiences in similar contexts. step 3: the feasibility and the sustainability of actions in such an evaluation process, testing the feasibility of the actions that are above all technical, legal-administrative, and economical in addition to the estimate of the initial investment, are verified, especially in terms of sustainability in the management phase. step 4: distributive equity apart from a few authors (mollica, 1966,) for example, this aspect of the decision-making process is too often omitted, almost as if it involves illegal activities. it appears instead entirely lawful that an entity, especially if it’s public or bearer of popular and not individual interests, is partners of a program as it proves to be a useful tool to meet the needs of the territory or of the category it represents. it is clear that beyond automatic mechanisms (resources allocated in proportion to the population, for example) on the decision-making process, other factors also have an impact, even of objective nature or easily sharable by decision makers, such as the relevance of the resources or the problems of a certain portion of territory, rather than the relationship with other previous or parallel plans / programs. other aspects that are less “technical” such as the authoritativeness and prestige of the political representatives also influence the decision-making process in real life. the aim of assessment is certainly to take into account equitable distribution requirements based on objective mechanisms: corrections, which to some extent also take account of the political and adhere to the sphere of decision-makers. step 5: the priority of the aims the initial analysis of the context, of its resources and of the critical issues to deal with, provides the information that lead to defining the strategy of the program and its hierarchized objectives. once the effectiveness of actions is measured, their feasibility and sustainability are verified, the distribution criteria is set, the selection of the actions is based on the priorities assigned to the objectives being pursued through the actions. this activity allows us to draw up a sort of final list of actions to be taken, possibly structured by the intervention sector. step 6 the availability of resources (budgeting) one of the primary differences between a plan and a program is that a plan, especially if strategic in nature, does not usually have a pre-set budget. in this case, there is no budgeting phase; the actions will be funded in successive phases as they present opportunities arising from calls or by the partners’ own resources. in the case of programs, however, in relation to the budget hypothesized, the actions are included in the program according to the ranking made in the previous phase. 5. mcdm and the analytic hierarchy process generally, a number of decision makers, each with his or her own objectives and priorities, govern the problems and the impacts of these targets are necessarily expressed in different units. it is, therefore, one of the decision-making problems: multi-decision makers, multi-objective and multidimensional, in which the available information is represented by a matrix of mixed data with quantitative and qualitative values. all evaluation problems are analysed by identifying and entering the information in the decision-making model pg. 50 calabrò / environmental science and sustainable development, essd (fig. 1), the following elements: – a goal which is the general objective to be achieved; – a decision maker or a group of decision makers who express their preferences; – evaluation criteria the basis of which is that the alternatives are evaluated; – the alternative representing the object of the assessment that must be ordered; – scores expressing the value of the alternative compared to a criterion. figure 1. elements of a decision-making model any problem to be solved makes use of decision support, i.e. evaluation techniques. more recently have we developed decision support techniques such as multi-criteria analysis and multiobiettivio where it is not required to use a single unit of measurement but it is rather possible to compare quantitative and qualitative data. one of the main implications of the multi-criteria approach was the renunciation of optimality paradigm in the new analysis techniques. with the presence of heterogeneous objectives often in conflict with each other, it is usually not possible to find solutions that simultaneously pursue all objectives and the decision problem is solved looking for the most satisfactory solution, or better ”more coherent” with the logic of the decision makers. the choice must therefore be affected within the set of non-dominated solutions; those solutions that realize a certain level of achievement of the various objectives such that it is not possible to improve the level of one of them without causing a worsening of the level of at least one other objective. a multiobiettivi decision problem is thus solved by transforming it into a series of mono-objective optimization problems in which one of the objectives is chosen as a function to be optimized with respect to the target on the level of achievement of the other objectives. in this valuation context, the multiple-criteria decision making (mcdm) methodologies, and the analytic hierarchy process (ahp) in particular, play a significant role as they allow all the intrinsic values of the assets in pg. 51 calabrò / environmental science and sustainable development, essd question to be taken into account, both economic and extra-economic (roy & bouyssou, 1993). the use of these methods can provide choices that are not always based on the best cost-benefit ratio but, for example, which optimizes the quality of conservation or that safeguards the intrinsic value of the asset (nesticò & pipolo, 2015). as well as guaranteeing the presence and the clarification of different values, the formalisation of an evaluation process carried out in these terms, expression of the community needs, also allows the control and the correspondence between general and specific choices. since the asset is of a particular value, it is, however, necessary that the various criteria and weights taken on the basis of the evaluation be shared by the community or rather, by direct users and by potential or future users. the analytic hierarchy process (ahp) among various mcdm provides a hierarchical analytical method that has found many applications in evaluation of priority and pre-feasibility of different projects. as techniques that help decision-making, the ahp has been, up until now, applied to an extensive variety of decision problems such as the selection of projects, planning public resources such as energy and medical resources and, more generally, conflict analysis and strategic planning calabrò and spina (2014a). specifically, the ahp, developed by saaty, is used to achieve preference scales on the basis of the comparison pairwise technique between the elements that make up the decision problem in relation to a defined objective (saaty, 1980). users of the ahp first break down the decision problem into elementary parts and subsequently compare each pair of data in order to develop a priorities scale among the alternatives at each level of the decomposition. effective help to the study and support to the decision of those issues are offered through the multi-criteria analysis group (figueira, greco, & ehrgott, 2005). among them is the ahp methodology used as a tool that can provide an integrated approach to the issue of sustainability assessments. the hierarchical scheme illustrated in figure 2 is organized on two levels of criteria: the first is through the use of artistic, economic, social and cultural indicators trying to define the priority matrix in three different scenarios whilst the second level of criteria, through characteristic elements of the problem, addresses the construction of ”appreciation matrices” of the criterion in relation to the four alternatives. the assumptions and criteria used in the evaluation process represent the synthesis of a comparison to make with delphi-type procedures through the interaction of a panel of selected and independent individuals (experts, privileged witnesses, etc.). they anonymously interacted and actively debated the complex problem, thus creating an independent communication process (okoli & pawlowski, 2004). the communication among participants in the panel allows each expert to express their knowledge, perspective and opinion on the evaluation issue and reconsider, after feedback, the opinion expressed by others. the aspects of the overall value of the property are thus identified: the fundamental coordinates against which to assess the possible works of transformation and reusing of the asset. figure 2. hierarchical decisional scheme: objective – criteria – sub-criteria – alternatives the economic value (e.v.) is expressed by the monetary benefits resulting from the asset or rather the benefits it should return (in terms of opportunity cost) (calabrò & spina, 2014b). pg. 52 calabrò / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the cultural value (c.v.) represents the ”intrinsic value” of the asset, namely the incommensurable or qualitative values. it is expressed with the use of multi-criteria analysis. the social value (s.v.) is expressed in order to gather all the benefits originated, in time and space, by the conservation using the division among the different types of users. the social value as an expression of the needs of the present, potential, and future community, which also reflects those ”post-materialistic” needs that manifest the need to conserve and protect its cultural and historical heritage. these three aspects (criteria) represent the fundamental coordinates with respect to that which must be placed on the issue of evaluation of a resource and, above all, the evaluation of possible projects for transforming it. in addition, they define the ”complex social value” of the resource, as a whole of all the benefits (economic, cultural and social) that can be achieved over time from the asset by all users (direct, indirect, potential and future). 6. conclusions the multi-criteria methodologies have proven particularly useful in the process of urban regeneration and local development. it is an instrument of mediation among the multiple and often divergent interests and is able to create a shared platform among all decision-makers, stakeholders and people directly affected by the final solutions. the use of different techniques of mcdm in the preliminary stages will support public administration in complex decisionmaking problems ensuring that they are integrated, multidisciplinary and transparent in the whole evaluation process. it has emerged that these tools are extremely strategic, especially if adopted early in the planning stage or the pre-feasibility, playing a role of control and management (cassalia, 2014). it can support the public body in the choice among different policy options through negotiation among the various stakeholders for a more transparent and efficient identification of shared and sustainable choices (calabrò and spina, 2014b); spina, scrivo, ventura, & viglianisi, 2015). thinking in terms of sustainability, the mcdm plays an important role in the path towards sustainability. to consider the development for sustainability means considering the multiple dimensions involved in the development and planning of the urban transformation (d’alpaos, 2012), considering the development as the result on the short and long terms, interconnected social, economic, and environmental objectives (calabrò & spina, 2013). for this purpose, the mcdm and in particular the ahp lends itself as a tool capable of dealing with this multidimensionality in an integrated way and reflects the complex interdependencies among the different dimensions of the transformation and reuse of the asset. the high transparency of the ahp steps and simple hierarchical representation of the various evaluation stages are the widespread application of this multi-criteria technique and its intrinsic effectiveness in identifying shared choices. the use of the hierarchical diagram, the matrix of the criteria, and the matrices of the alternatives being input and the vectors of preferences for the different scenarios in the output stage characterise the multi-criteria technique of operational simplicity and clarity of the mathematical process, making it logical for everyone involved. references 1. calabrò, f., & spina, l. d. (2013). the cultural and environmental resources for sustainable development. advanced materials research, 869, 43-48. 2. calabrò, f., & spina, l. d. (2014a). innovative tools for the effectiveness and efficiency of administrative action of the metropolitan cities: the strategic operational programme. in: 1th international symposium new metropolitan perspectives the integrated approach of urban sustainable development (isth2020). advanced engineering forum, 11, 3-10. 3. calabrò, f., & spina, l. d. (2014b). the public-private partnerships in buildings regeneration: a model appraisal of the benefits and for. advanced materials research, 931-932, 555-559. 4. cassalia, g. (2014). assessing heritage significance: decision support tools for managing landscape’s pg. 53 calabrò / environmental science and sustainable development, essd cultural value in southern italy. advanced engineering forum, 11, 647-652. 5. figueira, j., greco, s., & ehrgott, m. (2005). multiple criteria decision analysis: state of the art surveys. in (vol. 78). new york: springer science & business media. 6. nesticò, a., & pipolo, o. (2015). a protocol for sustainable building interventions: financial analysis and environmental effects. international journal of business intelligence and data mining, 10(3), 199-212. 7. okoli, c., & pawlowski, s. d. (2004). the delphi method as a research tool: an example, design considerations and applications. information & management, 42(1), 15-29. 8. roy, b., & bouyssou, d. (1993). aide multicritére à la décision: méthodes et cas. paris: economica. 9. saaty, t. l. (1980). the analytic hierarchy process. new york: mcgraw hill. 10. saaty, t. l. (1990). decision making for leaders: the analytic hierarchy process for decisions in a complex world. pittsburgh: rws. 11. saaty, t. l. (2008). decision making with the analytic hierarchy process. internal journal of services sciences, 1, 83-98. 12. spina, l. d., scrivo, r., ventura, c., & viglianisi, a. (2015). urban renewal: negotiation procedures and evaluation models. lecture notes in computer science, 9157. pg. 54 introduction the economic evaluations and the real estate appraisals for the effectiveness, feasibility and sustainability of urban regeneration measures economic evaluation of projects and public spending contraction the evaluation of strategic plans and operational programs the phases of the transformation process and the evaluation questions the selection of priority interventions / actions to be included in the plans/programs mcdm and the analytic hierarchy process conclusions http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i1.88 implementing environmental management systems (ems) in sarawak: adoption factors lee lee ho1, puong ling law2, soh fong lim3 1department of civil engineering, faculty of engineering, universiti malaysia sarawak 2department of civil engineering, faculty of engineering, universiti malaysia sarawak 3department of chemical engineering & energy sustainability, faculty of engineering, universiti malaysia sarawak abstract in most organizations, environmental management systems (ems) adoption is based on a voluntary basis in which the adoption depends on the organization’s aspirations for better environmental performance. organizations are attracted by very practical benefits through implementation of ems in their organizations. the primary purpose of an ems implementation is to improve environmental performance continually in an organization. this research investigates the factors that drive the adoption of ems by organizations in sarawak. empirical findings of a survey on the above in sarawak organizations are presented. about 112 survey questionnaires invitations were forwarded to various organizations in sarawak and a total of 47 responses (about 42.0%) were received. walford (1995), in his assertion, said that sampling techniques require 10 percent or more of observations or sampling fraction so that they are to be considered representative of the total population. from this research, organizations which have implemented an ems are mostly from larger organizations in sarawak which have been established for more than 15 years with over 251 employees and more than one operating location. the results showed that iso 14001 is the most common ems frameworks adopted by organizations in sarawak followed by roundtable on sustainable palm oil (rspo). among the ems adoption factors in sarawak, ems implementation motivation and the role of top management are the most critical factors in ems adoption in sarawak. besides, management support is also another essential factor for ems adoption among sarawak organizations followed by the current market orientation factor. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords iso 14001; implementation motivation; role of top management; management support; current market orientation 1. introduction there is no denying that our environment is constantly changing. as it changes, there is an increasing need to be aware of the environmental problems that surround it such as global warming, air and water pollution, increased carbon footprint, ozone layer and natural resources depletion, climate change, natural disasters, acid rain, genetic pg. 80 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i1.88&domain=press.ierek.com ho / environmental science and sustainable development, essd modification and many more which affect every human, animal and nation on earth. such environmental problems would cause disasters and tragedies, now and also in time to come, until and unless we look for the solutions to address the various issues seriously. ems implementation in organizations can be a positive step to improve the global sustainability problem. ems is a framework that assists organizations to consistently review, evaluate and improve its environmental performance to achieve their environmental goals (usepa, 2016). the very purpose of implementing an ems is to enhance the environmental performance of organization. ems implementation has provided measurable environmental and business performance improvements for organizations in many countries. according to to ho and law (2015), ems implementation has proven to be a practical way in enhancing environmental performance of an organization in sarawak by ensuring that the organisation has effectively managed its environmental risks. in most organizations, ems adoption is based on a voluntary basis in which the adoption depends on organizations’ aspirations for better environmental performance. besides, in recent years, the growing environmental awareness and public concerns has prompted governments and industries of both developed and developing countries to change their status about environmental issues from being reactive to proactive (marambanyika & mutekwa, 2009). therefore, to achieve sustainable development in the process of decision planning and making, resources and environmental considerations shall be integrated (wced, 1987). darnall et al. (2000) found that some other considerations, which are categorized as non-environmental such as enhancement of public relations, fulfilling customer demands and overall costs reduction also contributed greatly to encouraging organizations to adopt an ems and seek certification. govindarajulu and daily (2004) found that adoption of ems is also influenced by top management’s commitment as well as organizational management’s awareness of environmental protection (russo & fouts, 1997). fryxell, lo & chung (2004) found that motivation and perceived benefits are also main factors for ems adoption among organizations. the primary objective of this research is the identification and examination of factors that account for adoption of ems by organizations in sarawak. earlier studies and literature have linked ems implementation to improved environmental performance as a whole and subsequently motivate organizations to implement ems as well. ems implementation is also more common in european countries compared to malaysia. questions arise, for examples (1) if ems implementation can lead to improved environmental performance in organizations which adopt ems in comparison to non-adopters, why are there only a handful of organizations in sarawak, malaysia that are adopting ems? (2) what are the major factors for sarawak organizations to adopt an ems? in this research, six adoption factors for ems implementation in sarawak were considered: 1.1. role of top management klassen (1993) viewed that the first thing that is required from an organization for the adoption of an ems is the commitment from top management. top management plays an important role in the integration of the organization’s functional areas, which is giving direction and promotion. urban and star (1991) stated that top management has become a critical factor in implementing successful competitive strategies. chin (1999) found that top management commitment played an important role for ems implementation in printed circuit board industry in hong kong. 1.2. management support through the reorganization of organizational structure, environmental strategies can be formulated (daft and macintosh, 1984). randall (1995) viewed that to incorporate good environmental practices in organization, it requires changes in organization, be it structurally, responsibilities delegation, personnel training, as well as the communications and control management. decisions to advance environmental management actions is difficult to carry out especially in organizations whose managers who still think traditionally and are mentally defensive towards environmental practices, (stone et al., 1997). pg. 81 ho / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 1.3. motivation in ems implementation according to rivera-camino (2001), in european firms, the pressure groups that motivate organizations to adopt ems are the national regulators (83.5%), followed by owners, management, and employees (70.15%). the third source of influence are international regulators, with an impact of 64.5%. the result (table 1) revealed the level of influence (in %) that the pressure groups have on ems implementation in european firms. table 1. influence of pressure groups on ems implementation in european firms influence of pressure groups level of influence (%) none moderate high national regulators 7.4 9.1 83.5 owners, management, employees 12.4 17.45 70.15 international regulators 17.3 18.2 64.5 voluntary agreements, local population, environmental organizations 18.75 25 56.2 customers, competitors, consumer organizations, distributors, suppliers 25.16 17.74 47.06 scientific institutions 27.1 34.0 38.9 from an iso 14001 registered organizations survey conducted in canada, the results revealed that most organizations were motivated to adopt iso 14001 because they would like to have a positive environmental outlook, encouraging goodwill and integrity(yiridoe et al., 2003). based on the user rankings of factors influencing the adoption of iso 14001 standard from the iso 14001 continual improvement survey 2013 (iso, 2014), the commitment to environmental protection or conservation (2016) was the strongest environmental driver for iso 14001 adoption. the second strongest environmental driver was the risk reduction of adverse environmental impact. primary influences related to business management included customer requirements and public image. figure 1 shows the results of the survey on the factors influencing iso 14001 adoption. figure 1. results of iso 14001 continual improvement survey 2013: factors influencing iso 14001 adoption source: iso (2014) 1.4. current market orientation according to maier & vanstone (2005), in germany, there are many organizations certified to use iso 14001 and emas requirements because of the public has strong awareness on environmental issues. besides, the high adoption rate is also because of some german companies that demanded their suppliers to have certified management systems. based on an empirical study among organizations in germany, usa, india and china (dögl, 2015 & pg. 82 ho / environmental science and sustainable development, essd benham, 2015) regulatory, social stakeholders and market influences positively affect the organizations’ corporate environmental responsibility practices. the study also pointed out that environmentally responsible behavior is increasing due to green technologies, products, communication as well as strategies. according to bhattacharyya & cummings (2015), the corporate environmental performance was getting more interest from the organizational stakeholders. he also viewed that environmental performance measurement is influenced more by its organizational system as well as the stakeholder relations rather than operational countermeasures and environmental tracking. azzonea, noci, manzini, welford & young (1996) found that stakeholders also demanded environmental improvements as well as the evidence that these have been made. therefore, there was a need for an integrated framework for environmental performance indicators. fryxll, lo & chung (2004) found the enhancement of the firm’s reputation as the second main driver for iso 14001 certification. analysis by azzonea, bianchi & noci (1997) highlighted that market pressures such as customers and public opinion requirements, competitors’ actions, were the main trigger of the process towards environmental certification. in particular, firms were induced to obtain an environmental certification to improve relationships with stakeholders, shareholders and supply value chain partners. environmental certification was considered as a useful tool with which to demonstrate to external factors the quality of their environmental systems and to improve their green image. scott (2003) viewed that organizations can use iso 14001 certification to benchmark the commitment level in their supply chain, for example, kingfisher, a company that used iso 14001 certification as an essential criterion, evaluated a few thousands potential suppliers within their supply chain. schmidheiny (1992) viewed that business is responsible to change the world development direction, which would help the world sustainably develop. 1.5. implementation support according to azzone et al. (1997) who conducted an empirical study on ems certified companies in italy, these companies have significant availability of implementation support. the analysis revealed that they have well qualified human resources who were able to understand the environmental implications of products and processes and efficient research and development departments which enable them to introduce innovative solutions when necessary. in the event that internal facilities are insufficient, the companies could take advantage of resources at headquarters level as there was a high level of internationalization. environmental certification also induced all firms analysed in italy 1997 to develop formal and codified audits to verify environmental performance trends in a particular area of activity. 1.6. organizational culture in japan, many organizations have adopted iso 14001 due to japan’s earlier experience with iso 9000. in the beginning, japanese organizations that implemented iso 9000 found that it was slow as they considered they already have very good quality standard. however, due to request from european and us customers who requested japanese suppliers to register themselves with iso 9000, massive japanese firms had implemented iso 9000 to avoid losing business opportunities. therefore, when iso 14001 was introduced, japanese firms had adopted iso 14001 standard to a high degree. with that, japan has more than 5500 iso 14001 registrations by december 2000, including manufacturing and service firms, schools, universities and government agencies. there is a similar experience with iso 9000 in taiwan, which also encouraged firms to proactively seek iso 14000 registration (corbett & russo, 2001). in italy, most ems certified companies already have a total quality management system prior to adopting an ems. in particular, the sample firms have been assisted by their existing quality procedures, which have been adjusted to accommodate the environmental issues, thus allowing them to save time and money (azzonea et al., 1997). pg. 83 ho / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 2. material and methods the research methodology structure entailed the following target: determination of the ems adoption factors among organizations in sarawak, where the adoption factors are chosen through the researcher’s experience as well as factors that several other literature had suggested which had important roles in determining adoption of an ems. the source of information and the relevant research techniques that were employed to achieve the targets mentioned above include, but are not limited to, the following: – primary sources of information: questionnaire with a total of seven sections; informal interviews with environmental management system representatives (emr) from several organizations from sarawak, malaysia, government or government-linked bodies, such as department of standards malaysia and sirim-qas international (2015) as well as a few other accredited certification bodies certifying ems. – secondary sources of information: the literature, retained documented information of ems of one of the organization in sarawak, malaysia, data from international organization for standardization (iso)(2014) department of standards malaysia and sirim-qas international. 2.1. sampling design the population of this study is only comprised of organizations in sarawak that are certified with ems under sirim qas international sdn. bhd.; certified to ems under other accredited certification bodies accredited to department of standards malaysia, united kingdom accreditation services (ukas) and others and registered under sarawak manufacturers’ association (sma). the department of standards malaysia (dsm, 2015) has a total of 13 accredited certification bodies for environmental management systems (ems). the statistics, which were updated from quarter 3, year 2015 show that the total number of ems accredited certification or certified organizations in malaysia is 1,137 organizations. sirim qas international sdn. bhd., as the main dsm accredited certification body for ems has issued a total of 723 ems certifications in malaysia, which comprises of about 40 percent of the total ems certificates under dsm (sirim qas, 2015). out of the total 723 ems certificates, a total of 38 ems certificates were issued for 32 organizations in sarawak. the researcher has invited all the 32 organizations from sarawak to participate in the survey questionnaire and or informal interview regarding their ems implementation. besides, to increase the reliability of this research, the researcher has invited the other 20 ems certified organizations from 12 other accredited certification bodies accredited to department of standards malaysia, united kingdom accreditation services (ukas) and other accreditation bodies to participate the study. the researcher has randomly selected 60 organizations from the list of sarawak manufacturers’ association members, or about 30 percent of the total 204 organizations from sma list. walford (1995) in his assertion said that sampling techniques require 10 percent or more of observations or sampling fraction so in order to be considered representative of the total population. 2.2. data collection method one of the key source of information for this study is through the data gathered and or data analysis performed from questionnaire with title, “survey on implementation of environmental management systems”. the questionnaire was prepared in hardcopy as well as softcopies such as in the format of microsoft word and pdf format sent through email and or hand carry to targeted respondents. besides, the researcher has prepared the same questionnaire online using the google forms template for those who prefer to reply online. the online questionnaire can be found through the link, http://goo.gl/forms/5echn1jrvh. besides having to choose the most suitable answer(s) on the different items in the questionnaires to measure the variables, a 5 point likert scale was used, which is described as 1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 neutral, 4 agree and 5 strongly pg. 84 ho / environmental science and sustainable development, essd agree. nunnally and bernstein (1994) recommended that when a measuring instrument is used for data collection, the subjects used should be those for whom the instrument is intended. therefore, the respondents targeted in this study through the questionnaire were the organizations’ environmental management representatives (emr), safety, health and environment (she) managers, and other directors or executives whose jobs are related to environmental issues. a cover letter from the researcher’s academic supervisor was attached together with the questionnaire to request the targeted respondents to reply. besides, the researcher has made personal telephone calls to most of the targeted respondents and to some, personal meet up appointments to explain to them personally the purpose of the questionnaire. informal interviews were conducted through informal meetings and other means of telecommunication with selected emr (about 65% from the total respondents) of the certified organizations who have responded to the questionnaire. 3. result and discussions the results of the research show that organizations which have implemented an ems, more than half (66.7%) of them are from larger organizations in sarawak with over 251 employees, about 28.6% of them are from organizations with 51 to 250 employees and only 1 of them is from an organization with a total of 10 to 50 employees. a possible reason for this distribution of sizes is that there is less available human resource, finance and time allocated for ems in medium and smaller organizations than in larger organizations. as for the total number of operating location for organizations with an ems implemented, more than half (52.4%) of the total organizations have more than one operating location. besides, most of the respondent’s organizations (about 80.9%) with an ems implemented have been established for more than 15 years. figure 2 shows the role of top management in organization planning to implement an ems as well as in organization with an ems. different elements on the role of top management are getting a total of at least 62.5% to 100% of the respondent’s organizations from both categories to agree and strongly agree on. the findings confirmed the view of $ that the comitment from top management is required for the adoption of an ems as well as for ems implementation. the findinul (chin, 1999) also showed that 100% of the respondents agree and strongly agree that it is the decision of the top management to implement ems in their organization and confirmed the literature by urban and star (1991) that top management has become a critical factor in implementing ems. figure 2. role of top management pg. 85 ho / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 3 shows the importance of management support in organization planning to implement an ems as well as in organization with an ems. different elements on management support are getting a total of at least 50% to 100% of the respondent’s organizations from both categories to agree and strongly agree. the finding confirmed to the literature by randall (1995) who viewed that to incorporate good environmental practices in an organization, it requires changes in organization, be it structurally, responsibilities delegation, personnel training, as well as the communications and control management. stone, joseph & blodgett (2004) viewed that managers’ mentality and decisions are essential to advance environmental management actions. and generally, organizations which have implemented an ems strongly agree more than organizations which are planning to implement an ems that management support is an essential factor for ems adoption in organizations. figure 3. management support figure 4 shows the importance of ems implementation motivation factor in organization planning to implement an ems as well as organization with an ems. different elements on motivation are getting a total of at least 87.5% to 100% of agree and strongly agree from both categories of respondents. among the elements under motivation factor, 100% of the respondents strongly agree that ems is believed to be able to reduce waste and pollution and strongly agree and agree that ems has positive impact on organization’s environmental performance and also adoption of ems enhances the organization’s relationship with authorities and communities. figure 5 shows the importance of the current market orientation factor in organization planning to implement an ems as well as in organization with an ems. different elements on current market orientation are getting a total of at least 50% to 87.5% of agree and strongly agree from respondents in both categories. among the elements under the current market orientation factor, a total of 87.5% of respondents from the category of organizations are planning an ems and a total of 85.7% of respondents from the category of organizations are implementing an ems, they strongly agree and agree that ems is able to fulfill the current legislation enforced by local authorities. this result confirmed the literature by dögl (2015) that regulatory, market and social stakeholders have positive influences towards the firms’ corporate environmental responsibility practices. apart from that, a total of 75.0% of respondents from the category of organizations are planning an ems and a total of 81.0% of respondents from the category of organizations are implementing an ems, they strongly agree and agree that ems is for the purpose of dealing with consumer-driven green demand as well as market pressures. this result confirmed the study by dögl (2015) who pointed out that environmentally responsible behavior such as green technologies, products, communication and strategies were requested by companies’ stakeholder in an increasing trend and by azzonea et al. (1997) who highlighted that market pressures such as customers and public opinion requirements, competitors’ actions, were the main trigger of the process towards ems certification. pg. 86 ho / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 4. implementation motivation figure 5. current market orientation figure 6 shows the importance of the implementation support factor in organization planning to implement an ems as well as in organization with an ems. different elements in implementation support are getting a total of at least 12.5% to 95.2% of agree and strongly agree from respondents in both categories. among the elements under implementation factor, a total of 50.0% of respondents from the category of organizations are planning an ems and a total of 95.2% of respondents from the category of organizations are implementing an ems, they strongly agree and agree that there have been ongoing supports for ems implementation in their organizations. however, with regards to the elements concerning internal audit programs being ongoing as well as the program showing continual improvement, organizations which are planning to implement ems, a total of 50.0% to 62.5% of the respondents strongly disagree and disagree about it. however, a total of 95.4% of the respondents from the category of organizations which had implemented an ems strongly agree and agree about the same matter. the difference in this response is because in organizations which had implemented an ems, internal audit is a mandatory requirement to abide. these results also show that both categories of respondents have different opinions in implementation support factor as ems adoption factor. organizations which have implemented an ems viewed (85.7% to 95.2% of them strongly agree and agree) the implementation support as very essential for pg. 87 ho / environmental science and sustainable development, essd successful ems adoption. this result confirmed the literature azzonea (1997) that ems certified companies have significant availability of implementation support, be it in the internal audit program, resources sharing and support from the headquarters, qualified human resources and supports. figure 6. ems implementation support figure 7 shows the importance of the organization culture factor in organization planning to implement an ems as well as in organization with an ems. different elements in organization culture are getting a total of at least 12.5% to 95.2% of agree and strongly agree from respondents in both categories. among the elements under the organization culture factor, a total of 87.5% of respondents from the category of organizations are planning an ems and a total of 80.9% of respondents from the category of organizations are implementing an ems, they strongly agree and agree that prior ems implementation, there were other management systems such as iso 9001, ohsas 18001, iso 22000 implemented in their organizations. this is a similarity among the two categories of respondents, in their opinion. this result confirmed the literature by corbett and russo (2001) who said that iso 14001 adoption in japan and taiwan was high due to both countries’ earlier experience with iso 9000 quality requirements and the experience also had encouraged firms to proactively seek iso 14000 registration. besides, this is confirmed by literature by azzonea (1997) who has written that in italy, most ems certified companies already have a total quality management system prior to adopting an ems. in particular, the sampled firms have been assisted by their existing quality procedures, which have been adjusted to accommodate the environmental issues, thus allowing them to save time and money. however, with regards to the matter that employees are equipped with necessary knowledge and skills for ems implementation, only 12.5% of respondents from organizations which are planning to implement ems agree while the other 50% of the same disagree about it. however, there are 85.7% of the respondents from the category of organizations which had implemented an ems strongly agree and agree about the same matter. besides, another matter with regards to organization culture, which has bigger differences compared to both categories of respondents, is about awareness of environmental issues is cultivated in the organization through communication from management, training and campaigns. about 50% of respondents from organizations which are planning to implement ems agree while the other 12.5% of the same disagree about it. however, there are 95.2% of the respondents from the category of organizations which had implemented an ems strongly agree and agree about the same matter. the difference in this response is because, in organizations which had implemented an ems, trainings regarding the ems requirements and ems awareness in general are normally given to the employees in the organizations. and the experiences in managing an ems throughout the years would increase the knowledge and skills of the users of the ems. pg. 88 ho / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 7. organization culture 4. conclusion from this research, organizations which have implemented an ems are mostly from larger organizations in sarawak which have been established for more than 15 years with over 251 employees and have more than one operating location. iso 14001 ems is the most accepted and well-known ems in sarawak at the present moment. as for the adoption factors investigated, ems implementation motivation and the role of top management are the most critical factors in ems adoption in sarawak. the results show that under a motivation factor, 100% of the respondents strongly agree that ems is believed to be able to reduce waste and pollution, they strongly agree and agree that ems has a positive impact on the organization’s environmental performance as well as the fact that adoption of ems enhances the organization’s relationship with authorities and communities. besides, 100% of the respondents also agree and strongly agree that it is the decision of the top management to implement ems in their organization. management support is also another essential factor for ems adoption among sarawak organizations followed by current market orientation factor. both of the factors drove at least 50% of their respondents to strongly agree and or agree to the respective elements. both adoption factors, namely implementation support and organization culture, are getting a total of 12.5% to 95.2% of agree and strongly agree from respondents in various elements. 5. acknowledgments the authors acknowledge the funding of this research by the ministry of education in malaysia through mybrain 15, the facilities provided by universiti malaysia sarawak, as well as to the respondents of the questionnaires. references 1. azzone, g., noci, g., manzini, r., welford, r. and young, c.w. 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(2003) management systems and sustainable development. iso management systems, september – october 2003, pp. 27-32. 25. stone, g., joseph, m. and blodgett, j. (2004) toward the creation of an eco-oriented corporate culture: a proposed model of internal and external antecedents leading to industrial firm eco-orientation. journal of business & industrial marketing, 19(1), pp. 68-84. 26. sirim qas international sdn. bhd. (2015) malaysian certified. [www] sirim qas. available from: http: //www.malaysiancertified.com.my/mgmtcertification.aspx. [accessed 17/12/15]. 27. urban g.l. and star s.h. (1991) advanced marketing strategy. prentice-hall college: englewood cliffs, nj. 28. united states environmental protection agency (2016) learn about environmental management systems. [www] u.s. environmental protection agency. available from: https://www.epa.gov/ems/learn-about-en vironmental-management-systems [accessed 27/07/16]. 29. walford, n. (1995) geographical data analysis. new york: john wiley and sons. 30. world commission on environment and development (1987) our common future. new york: oxford university press. 31. yiridoe, e.k., clark, j.s., marett, g.e., gordon, r. and duinker, p. (2003) iso 14001 ems standard registration decisions among canadian organizations. agribusiness, 19(4), pp. 493-457. pg. 91 introduction role of top management management support motivation in ems implementation current market orientation implementation support organizational culture material and methods sampling design data collection method result and discussions conclusion acknowledgments http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i2.560 urban public space axis rector of green infrastructure in the current city of ecuador experience ambato marina perez-perez1 1architecture, arts and design faculty, technological university indoamerica, ecuador abstract the current city calls for the reconsideration of a close relationship between gray infrastructure and public spaces, understanding the infrastructure as a set of items, equipment, or services required for the functioning of a country, a city. ambato, ecuador, is a current intermediate city, has less than 1% of the urban surface with use of public green spaces, which represents a figure below the 9m2/ hab., recommended by oms. the aim of this paper was to identify urban public spaces that switches of green infrastructure in the city today, applying a methodology of qualitative studies. with an exploratory descriptive level analysis, in three stages, stage of theoretical foundation product of a review of the existing literature, which is the theoretical support of the relationship gray infrastructure public spaces equal to green infrastructure. subsequent to this case study, discussed with criteria aimed at green infrastructure and in the public spaces of the study area. finally, after processing and analysis of the results, we provide conclusions for urban public space as a definition of the green infrastructure of the current city of latin america; in the latter, the focus is to support this article. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. 1. introduction the current city, fragmented by structures constituted in networks and nodes, has caused urban public spaces to empty, forgetting that these spaces are considered an opportunity to strengthen social relations and that budgets are also allocated to improve the vitality of these spaces . in this sense, the new trends in the configuration of the urban environment, point towards a literacy of space, based on the sensitive perception and imagination of citizen (trachana, 2013), where the current city is seen as a large social space, in which values the practices of its active citizens by and for it (lefebvre, 1978). as a result we obtain a model of public space produced by modernity, far from reality, with this model the state offers an ideal setting for the integrating and mediating function of its inhabitants, with the idea of a public space as a guarantee of democracy and space of freedom, with the opportunity to be an individual. the definition of the city presents different relationship solutions by mixture of uses, continuous, intermittent or occasional: hybridization, when it hosts different activities, public spaces, equipment, etc.; or acupuncture, by repetition of the same activities in sequence along an infrastructure system (mayorga & fontana, 2012), the street. the streets have been ”something rather than a public service, rather than a series of linear physical spaces that pg. 107 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i2.560&domain=press.ierek.com perez-perez / environmental science and sustainable development, essd enable scrolling they are places of encounter and exchange, social or commercial; the medium where people meet, main reason being of cities” (jacobs, 2013). the exorbitant consumption governance, low services to the ecosystem and new behaviors, product of globalization, give as a result urban sustainability indices that define green infrastructure. the scope of the green infrastructure occurs in various scales. based on a three-dimensional model of sustainable development, indicators for the study of the green infrastructure provide the three basic axes, with particular approaches. in the case of social sustainability, the role-played by the participatory processes of the inhabitants of the city becomes relevant. the diversity of classes are manifested in the social middle class and high tends to locate its field of action in its residential spaces and public spaces under private control socially paragraphs, by adopting an indifferent attitude with regard to the public space classic, except in what is related to your travel needs. attitude that has consequences, which imply that the city is taken as a reality outside, inevitable or normal, and their actions are limited to the area where your house, contributing to its territory the nature of public space is located. on the other hand the popular classes, intensely used traditional public space, through its economic practices, mobility, consumption, recreation, imposing its aesthetics, on par with the absence of urban culture that allows assuming public as own and communal, the absence of a culture that guidelines for the care and respect of the public space. low empowerment of public space in the latin-american city resulting in practices forms of use, and appropriation of public space indifferent to the common good. 1.1. the infrastructure in the current city. it is recognized that the decreasing quality of public space is due to causes, such as the impact of changing the function of the meeting space in the communication era. the combination of work, care and personal life leads to whether today’s society needs the vitality of cities, adding the appearance of shopping centers, leisure, etc. they attract a large number of people, generating a set of spaces for collective use. which causes territorial segmentation with problems such as the appearance of borders or the zoning of uses with the consequent loss of diversity and quality of life. the assessment of public space, accounts for the habitability that presents, as urban quality of life, habitable and comfortable conditions. linked to a degree of satisfaction of services and perception of habitable space: parks, green infrastructures. in this multidimensional framework, the public space from its habitability constitutes one of the satisfies of the quality of urban life. the importance of public space is such that a city is valued depending on the experiences that individuals have in relation to their peers(paramo, burbano, jimenez-domınguez & barrios, 2018). in the current context, cities are protagonists of the provision of services, the construction and location of buildings, in facing inequalities and in managing the environment as a contribution to human health (montoya, 2016). in this sense it is necessary to collect spontaneous and emerging processes that build the social space, proposing alternatives to the current urban model, with green infrastructures. the public spaces of the current city are unique compared to the quality of the spaces of the traditional city. working on the regeneration of these spaces requires proposals that come from technical, economic, environmental and social perspectives. the current city claims to reflect on its internal growth, reflection on the possibility of becoming a consolidated city as an urban model based on sustainability, understanding public space as a resource that must be taken care of, maintained, and revalued environmentally, effectively, healthily and habitable infrastructures are decisive in that configuration of the current city, which increases the demand for comfort and mobility. infrastructure brand that relationship influencing the definition of urban spaces, issuing guidelines in the form of the city and defining the potential or shortcomings (ramos, 2015), which affects the surrounding public spaces. the infrastructure found a historical time, through sections that can be read on several levels. this is why infrastructure is considered as the main core, which acts as the current city coalescer. this infrastructure analysis is pg. 108 perez-perez / environmental science and sustainable development, essd given based on the sum of these differential cross-sections at different spatial and temporal scales (munar, 2015. that you join tangent scenarios’ infrastructure with a formal relationship, defined by the infrastructure. green infrastructure is a wide range of specific practices and a series of definitions. the u.s. environmental protection agency defines the green infrastructure as a durable, cost-effective approach to the management of the impacts of the humid climate, which provides many benefits to the community. in general, green infrastructure is economic, improving security and the quality of life of the community, incorporates both the natural environment and engineering systems to conserve the values and functions of ecosystems and provide a wide range of benefits for the inhabitants of the city. green infrastructure can be designed to meet the needs of the rural life in the city. it includes parks and urban forests, which provide a habitat for the quality of life. in general, smart cities are using the green infrastructure from the streets and green roofs, to bring the benefits of nature to the built environment. it can be a central element of the regional intelligent planning, ensuring the city to have a habitable environment for future generations. the green infrastructure has become a tool for the resilient city to enhance its ecosystems, contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, benefit to the populations and habitat in the sectors of agriculture, forestry, water, in addition to the mitigation of climate change and adaptation in order to strengthen consistency with the needs of the current city. green infrastructure can be defined as “an interconnected network of green spaces that conserve the functions and values of natural ecosystems and provide benefits associated with the population” (benedict & mcmahon, 2002). an idea that emerged in 1900, notwithstanding the concept of green infrastructure reappears in the decade of 2010, with the design and planning of urban and peri-urban environments (eisenman, 2013). gradually the green infrastructure has been included in the definition of urban environments, expanding its presence. hence, in the beginning, the term green infrastructure that was focused on the conservation and maintenance of natural ecosystems, through a network of interconnected spaces, did not include this type of green infrastructure (hellmund & smith, 2006). in the current city, the incorporation of the concept of green infrastructure in the planning process is a challenge. understanding urban green public spaces as infrastructure, is to consider the importance in the preservation of natural resources for future generations, of fragmented and disorganized urban growth (valdes & foulkes, 2016). at the local level, green infrastructure helps maintain landscape integrity and social welfare. the relationship of gray infrastructures with public spaces allows the green infrastructures of the current city to be perfectly enhanced, as well as to define it from a scientific-technical methodology of urban growth analysis, social welfare and environmental protection, emphasizing spaces public spaces for recreation, leisure and relationship with nature. 1.2. the integration of green infrastructure in the current city. despite the relationship between habitat and quality of life, public spaces have evolved unbundled in cities. the activities that were customary to perform in these spaces, have moved to private spaces and have modified behaviors in individuals, making them increasingly frequent less parks, squares, streets. these changes meant that the spaces were replaced by private spaces that sought to complement the activities with safety, comfort and hygiene (paramo, burbano & fernandez-londono, 2016). in countries, developed or developing, cities are synonymous with an alternative to desirable existence. there are a series of factors resulting from these processes, for example, unemployment, the informal economy, among others (castillo-oropeza & alejandre-ramos. the public space of latin american cities is currently the object of management, in order to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of its inhabitants, given the importance that is given to sustain the social practices carried out in the public space (paramo et. al, 2016). the limited success of sustainable urban development is related to the limited availability of information in less developed countries, hence the need to monitor these cities and study their contribution to the right to quality of life (nacif, 2016). the common place to the cultural and the economic, as well as the coexistence of the natural pg. 109 perez-perez / environmental science and sustainable development, essd environment with the built one, focuses on the re-interpretation of the physical environment for the user through activities and respect for the human scale. activation of the present space at any time of the day with spontaneous character. with expression based on the relationships arising in the public space, the capacity of attraction of the place and the users and that jointly, construct through the public spaces that urban fabric capable of absorbing changes, reacting and increasing by itself its social capital. for latin american cities (where less than 50% of their land has basic services, water supply, sanitation, or transportation), adapt to sustainability, one of the resources are urban indicators, which allow monitoring the public spaces. indicators are essential components in the evaluation of progress towards sustainable development (gallopin, 2006). the relations of the city, in terms of the public space, are expressed in the streets, squares, parks, places of citizen meeting. the public space is the main space of urbanism, urban culture and citizenship (borja & muxi, 2003). the public space is not only considered an indicator of urban quality but also a privileged instrument of urban policy to build a city and to maintain and renovate traditional cities and to give the infrastructure a civic value. the incorporation of the concept of sustainable development in the management and urban planning is the result of research that contributes to enrich the strategies of management and green planning of the city (floresxolocotzi, 2012). the green infrastructure is a term increasingly used among professionals of natural resources, for the purposes of this paper, the green infrastructure is an interconnected network of green spaces that preserves the natural values and functions of the ecosystem and provides benefits to the population . the green infrastructure is the necessary ecological framework for the environmental component of sustainability, and this is where it joins the social and economic one. the green infrastructure is presented as a strategic approach to conservation that addresses the environmental and social impacts of uncontrolled expansion and accelerated consumption and the fragmentation of urban sprawl. in the field of the concept and value of infrastructure, principles for successful green infrastructure initiatives are presented. 1.3. the current city of the mountains of ecuador. ambato case study the demand for green infrastructure in the current city of ecuador is a guiding element for urban management. aligned to the actions of the new urban agenda, which promotes a sustainable and inclusive urban economy, promoting environmental sustainability and adequate. the need to increase efforts to move towards a low carbon economy, contribute to curb climate change and aim for long-term economic growth. the nua recognizes the importance of actions to achieve these objectives with a focus through the implementation of sustainable activities. for the study of green infrastructure, in the current city, it has been applied in a specific case study, with a qualitative quantitative methodology, and an exploratory descriptive analysis, in three stages, the first is the theoretical foundation product to review existing literature to support the exposition of basic concepts and the theoretical support of the gray infrastructure-urban public spaces relationship. after that, the case study is analyzed, with criteria oriented to green infrastructure, analyzing the public spaces of the study area in ambato, ecuador, mappings were made for the registration of the infrastructures. faced with the particularity that ambato is an intermediate city with high seismic character. the territory of ecuador through it mountain systems, with three natural regions, costa, sierra and east. at different altitudes, the coast arrives at the level of the sea, the saw with the highest level the chimborazo to 6.267 msnm and the east located in the amazon region that goes from the 3.353 m to the 300-150 msnm (igm, 2013). figure 1. location of ambato pg. 110 perez-perez / environmental science and sustainable development, essd ambato (fig. 1), 155.80 km., of quito, the ecuador capital, has an area of 1016,454 km2, which equals 29.94% of the province of tungurahua. located in the region sierra at 2.575,00 meters above sea level, is part of the climate equatorial mesothermal dry (pourrut, 1983). between latitude 1◦ 14’ 32.11”, longitude 78◦ 37’ 45.23”. the temperature fluctuates from 13.3 14.7 ◦c variation given by the irregularity of the terrain, reaching the extremes of 7 to 24◦c, relative humidity between 70-80%. according to the records of the past 10 years, next above, measurements of t and rh have been kept without relevant variations. it is traversed by the ambato river which has a length of 26.6 km. the annual water deficit in the area amounts to approximately 1913.35 mm. its geography is differentiated by the western mountains, more than half of the surface, dividing it into two almost equal parts and a high plains area constituted by the andean alley. its orography is rugged with a series of hills, hills, streams and ravines, which considerably limit the existence of broad valleys. ambato, capital of the province of tungurahua, was founded in 1535, 251 years ambato was the victim of three significant earthquakes (1698, 1797 and 1949), the latter caused left an ambato in architectural ruins, giving rise to a new city. the current city of ambato, in addition to being a resilient city is an intermediate city (bid, 2015). with 154,369 inhabitants, with immediate rural surroundings with economic relations of interaction at the regional level (salazar, irarrazaval & fonck, 2017). its main economic activity is trade in regional output. with a periurban incipient growth ambato is an emerging city. figure 2. study area, ambato, ecuador. is defined an area of study that includes the current downtown and its immediate urban expansion, with an area of 343.4 hectares (figure 2), in which the green public spaces are 26.5 hectares (figure 3), representing 0.78% of the surface to such a study. figure 3. study area and area of urban green public spaces. pg. 111 perez-perez / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 1.3.1. road infrastructure the road system considered one of the pillars of growth, connecting territories and facilitating commercial and cultural exchange, as well as collaborating in the quality of life of the inhabitants. the emphasis on the role of the roads, in mobility, to achieve urban integration and social appropriation, goes in the degree of the infrastructures involved. in which the infrastructure allows articulation of circulation, facilitating the speculative practices of the real estate market, where the formal and abstract design of the city, determined by the disposition of the infrastructure, were related to each other and to the value of used to exchange value of the land (galan, 2017). figure 4. road infrastructure in the study area. the technical and socio-environmental aspects of the road infrastructure claim to follow sustainability indicators, applying the “eco-development” (ordonez diaz & meneses silva, 2015). aimed at the balance between economy and ecology and its inclusion in development models that favor dominated populations, displaced and the third world. in an attempt to improve the living conditions of the current city, a group of latin american countries has identified investment in infrastructure represents a decisive tool to advance towards economic and social development. a good road system is crucial for developing countries to exploit the potential of the economic sector: good roads and good roads are essential, efficient electricity network guarantees to industry and commerce (venanzi, 2014). figure 4 shows the road infrastructure that benefits urban public green spaces in the study area. the traditional infrastructures, the gray infrastructures respond to a limited number due to their complex integration in the territory. being replaced or coexisting with diverse green infrastructures of different dimensions, structured forming networks of natural, semi-natural or artificial elements, capable of offering multiple environmental, social and economic functions (magdaleno, 2017). among the measures for the implementation of green infrastructures are those that are decisive, considering that the gray infrastructures are conventional transport, service, social or commercial structures. they can also be storage (reservoirs and rafts) and conduction (pipes or channels) for wastewater, rainwater or supply. pg. 112 perez-perez / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 5. electricity network in the study area. figure 6. sanitary energy network in the study area. pg. 113 perez-perez / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 7. drinking water net work in the study area. table 1. gray infrastructure in the public spaces of ambato (figures 5, 6 & 7) infrastruc ture electric network sanitary network water networklow voltage medium voltage interior lighting network posts piping download well public spaces aerial underground aerial 1. dos culturas si si si si si si si si 2. los sauces si no si si si si si si 3. luis a. martı́nez si no si si si si si si 4. los quindes si no si si si si si si 5. la vicentina si si si si si si si si 6. la madre si si si si si si si si 7. juan benigno vela si si si si si si si si 8. juan montalvo si si si si si si si si 9. cevallos si si si si si si si si 10. doce de noviembre si si si si si si si si 11. plaza sucre si si si si si si si si 12. neptali sancho si si si si si si si si table 1 shows the types of gray infrastructure that each urban public space in the study area has, namely the data on service infrastructures: electricity networks, sanitation networks and drinking water networks (figures 5, 6 & 7). pg. 114 perez-perez / environmental science and sustainable development, essd they are known as ”gray” because of the lack of connection they exert on ”green” ecosystems, in the largest of cases they are single-purpose, monofunctional facilities, to respond to a specific need of society. high cost, high energy needs, significant impact on the environment, limited integration in the territory. 2. green infrastructure and quality of life the green infrastructure the case study arises in two ways: 1. from a conceptual framework to define the enhancement of public spaces, 2. specific knowledge in the area of study of ambato, with an approach to the issue of climate change by means of the concept of green infrastructure, adaptation and mitigation of climate change, that is close to the way that public spaces urban green as one more strategies for dealing with climate change in cities, with green infrastructure, are considered highly efficient. at the level of design, twelve public spaces of the current city of ambato conducive to both group and individual activities. even with the similarities that may have, there are differences determined from variable location, dimensions and activities, which respond to a geographical location (figure 8, 9 & 10). figure 8. geographical location of urban green public spaces. figure 9. the open public spaces and closed public spaces. pg. 115 perez-perez / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 10. the green public spaces and the equipment. 2.1. comfort, use and enjoyment of the public space. in a previous study directed to stay in public spaces, outdoor activities in the andean region of the ecuador, yield results that dwell time is correlated with the equipment, conditions that allow users to use the space in group activities (basantes nunez & garcia higueras, 2018). coupled with this are the environmental characteristics of the site, where the altitude, temperature and relative humidity determine the enjoyment of public space. the studies carried out, so far, are defined by the sustainability variables; existing infrastructures in relation to urban public spaces represent a favorable for the case study data. in an approximation of the international actions that are carried out on the links between urbanization and its infrastructures, with a view to mitigating the negative effects of uncontrolled urbanization (bazant, 2010), guidelines for the conservation of biodiversity in the cities, in order to strengthen the sustainability of natural resources in an urban context. 2.2. urban green public spaces the green infrastructure of the current city. urban public spaces, in the area of studies of ambato, have little of the classic playgrounds. the playground loss product of urban life, space of the modern city, which arises as a response to keep children away from the street. becoming a playful, formative, normative and educational space, a place to test the civic rules of behavior (stutzin, 2015). ambato urban green public spaces are far from having the value of the playground as a place full of potential for social integration not only of children but also for adults who care for them. while they agree on the way in which to understand public space, they also respond to different ways of conceiving the game and its social function. their level of appropriation is different, the space where users are related to the city and the rest of society, staying in spaces of relations with close peers. if public spaces in which leisure is sought through the cleared space, made as a donation for the leisure, leisure as the capacity to enjoy the world that builds understanding (caraves, 2010). ambato spaces shape leisure, from the act of the ride, whether by user location, is neighbor or not, by distance or proximity, are spaces to be leisurely. in the public spaces of ambato, the relationship between public space and infrastructure defines ecosystem services offered by the green infrastructure, such as those that are some of the recognized ones to face climate change in the current city. in addition, they are classified according to whether they act as mitigation or adaptation mechanisms to climate change. there the importance of improving ecosystem services, as a form of a green infrastructure system, so that the city adapts to climate change (vasquez, 2016). the first aspect recognized in the case study, is the proper location of public spaces, records show that the equippg. 116 perez-perez / environmental science and sustainable development, essd ment found in the study area, in the vicinity of the public space, allow this diversity of activities, in the most of the cases, protected from noise. relevant elements that characterize green infrastructures (magdaleno, 2017). – the elements that share a green infrastructure network must have a critical dimension and adequate connectivity potential with the rest of the network. – national and european networks of protected natural spaces can be the basis of green infrastructure, due to their capacity to capture high biodiversity and ecosystems in good condition, due to the volume and importance of the ecosystem services they support. however, the green infrastructure must be based on all the major types of land use. – green infrastructures can include both natural and artificial elements, such as core and buffer zones, restored habitats and multifunctional areas. – the socioeconomic potential of green infrastructure is expressed through its capacity to optimize the management of natural capital, reduce natural risks or contribute to the european 2020 strategy. the result of a qualitative analysis, due to the need to understand the public spaces of the current city and in the specific case of the public spaces of ambato, ecuador, a series of mappings was made. faced with the particularity of intermediate city with high seismic character. the systematization of the data has allowed qualitative data to be obtained in the ambato sustainability function. the importance of public spaces also lies in the use they give and the ability to form their identity, also because of the gray infrastructure from which they benefit. the public spaces are places of potential with possibilities of green infrastructure that allows the space to adapt to the developed activity, to the characteristics of the environment and to the population density benefited. 3. conclusions according to the conceptual and methodological foundations for the implementation (magdaleno, 2017), and considering some critical aspects that are currently being discussed in the study area, it is possible to propose some initiatives for the development of green infrastructures, which could be benefit for users. the management and planning of urban green areas gradually incorporated an ecological vision, which has led, in recent years, to a three-dimensional perspective of sustainable development that requires an integral consideration of social, economic and environmental aspects. ecology and economics provide indicators of ecological footprint, green surface, biodiversity, carbon capture, oxygen supply, etc. indicators of importance to assess the environmental importance of urban green areas; they are even the sustenance of one of the indicators of quality of life most used in urban planning: the 9 m2 recommended by oms. considering a classic economic vision of sustainability, environmental economics provides economic values of environmental services of green areas without a market price; values that are useful in the benefits-costs for decision-making in the use of land in urban areas. from a social perspective, sustainability includes citizen participation, gender equity and social inclusion, hence the utility of knowing citizens’ perception of urban green areas. today offer the public space as a space for coexistence and equality is a difficult task. urban public spaces of ambato are solutions that exemplify the importance of the relationship between public spaces urban green infrastructure at different scales, where the infrastructure provides successful or less successful conditions to the urban public space, guaranteeing a weight in the urban sprawl to a greater or lesser extent. promoting the idea of public space as playful and collective space where innovative dynamics are developed, between the need and the creativity of its users and people who act jointly (lefebvre, 1978). the case study green public spaces represent 0.78% of the total area. action that can be seen as an approach to the consolidation of the green infrastructure at the level of the current city of ambato, integrating spatially different pg. 117 perez-perez / environmental science and sustainable development, essd existing and projected green infrastructure. aside from the aesthetic and recreational qualities of public spaces of ambato, the quality of life and sustainable development, the recognition of the multiple contributions of a green space means that a plan or project for its development have a greater political and social support. the improvement of the green infrastructure in terms of design, implementation and a relationship cost-benefit to the local economy, the current latin american city, first requires the definition of a policy of green infrastructure that fosters the planning of natural areas for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services, important for human wellbeing. in addition to the preferences of residents in the first instance, and how they relate with the green spaces urban. if it is impossible to imagine the existence of a city without drinking water and sewerage network, collectors of rainwater without infrastructure for the treatment of domestic waste water or infrastructure for education or health care. similarly, the difficulty in the development of the current city without planning, calls for the implementation of green infrastructure, with vital functions for the city. ambato, as intermediate city, with their gray infrastructure networks, the relationship with its surrounding territory is what gives character differentiating with respect to other types of urban settlements of the ecuador. in this way, green infrastructure networks defined urban growth with unique features, facing local governments of intermediate city, largely as a special feature. the improvement of the green infrastructure in terms of design, implementation and a relationship cost-benefit to the local economy, the current latin american city, first requires the definition of a policy of green infrastructure that fosters the planning of natural areas for the conservation of habitat, important for human wellbeing. in addition to the preferences of residents in the first instance, and how they relate with the green spaces urban. 4. acknowledgments this article is the product of research ”sustainable criteria of architectonic spaces public intervention project, according to its urban climate, level of appropriation and social habitat, between the avenues guaytambos, unidad nacional, del rey, quiz quiz y manuela sáenz, of ambato” (uti-citehs-pi-03 territory livability and sustainability research center). special thanks to carlos campoverde, which has made the delimitation of the site map. 5. references 1. bazant, j. 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(2018). altitud, variables clim´aticas y tiempo de permanencia de las personas en plazas de ecuador. urbe. revista brasileira de gest~ao urbana, 10(2), 414-425. 22. paramo, p., burbano, a., & fern´andez-londo~no, d. (2016). estructura de indicadores de habitabilidad del espacio p´ublico en ciudades latinoamericanas. revista de arquitectura, 18(2), 6-26. 23. paramo, p., burbano, a., jim´enez-dom´ınguez, b., & barrios, v. (2018). la habitabilidad del espacio p´ublico en las ciudades de am´erica latina. avances en psicolog´ıa. latinoamericana, 36(2). pg. 119 perez-perez / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 24. pourrut, p. (1983). los climas del ecuador: fundamentos explicativos. ceding. 25. ramos, a. m. (2015). infraestructuras en la ciudad madura. proyecto. 26. salazar, g., irarr´azaval, f., & fonck, m. (2017). ciudades intermedias y gobiernos locales: desfases escalares en la regi´on de la araucan´ıa chile. eure,43(130), 161-184. 27. stutzin, n. (2015). pol´ıticas del playground. los espacios de juego de robert moses y aldo van. eyck, 91, 32-39. 28. trachana, a. (2013). procesos emergentes de transformaci´on del espacio p´ublico. bit´acora urbano territorial, 22(1), 43-52. 29. vald´es, p., & foulkes, m. (2016). la infraestructura verde y su desarrollo regional aplicaci´on a los ejes recreativos y culturales de resistencia y su ´area metropolitana. cuaderno urbano, 20(20), 45-70. 30. v´asquez, a. e. (2016). infraestructura verde, servicios ecosist´emicos y sus aportes para enfrentar el cambio clim´atico en ciudades: el caso del corredor ribere~no del r´ıo mapocho en santiago de chile. revista de geograf´ıa norte, 63, 63-86. 31. venanzi, a. d. (2014). gasto p´ublico social y las inversiones en infraestructura para el desarrollo (20002010). revistavenezolana de an´alisis de coyuntura, 1, 71-94. pg. 120 introduction the infrastructure in the current city. the integration of green infrastructure in the current city. the current city of the mountains of ecuador. ambato case study road infrastructure green infrastructure and quality of life comfort, use and enjoyment of the public space. urban green public spaces the green infrastructure of the current city. conclusions acknowledgments references http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i1.490 energy rehabilitation of social housing in vulnerable areas case study: a 1950s building in a medium-sized mediterranean city ruá marı́a josé1, huedo patricia1, cabeza manuel2, saez beatriz2, civera vicente1 1mechanical engineering and construction department 2industrial systems engineering and design department. jaume i university abstract in the urban context, buildings play a key role as they are energy consumers. in well-established cities with a high percentage of aged building stock, the focus should lie on sensitive urban areas where the weakest population sectors and the worst physico-economic conditions are usually encountered. in this work, the energy refurbishment of social housing is proposed. a block of municipally owned buildings is selected as a case study to consider that public buildings play an exemplary role according to directive 2012/27/eu. the group is formed by 12 buildings, which account for 120 dwellings. this study is grounded on two levels. first the urban level. the building is located in a prioritised urban area of rehabilitation, renovation and urban regeneration (arru), according to the new local land plan. this area presents multidimensional vulnerability and considers urban, building, socio-demographic and socio-economic features. second, the building presents very low energy performance. it was built in 1959 when a high demand of dwellings and the economic resources then available led to low-quality buildings that are far from meeting today’s standards. some proposals are made, having in mind the specific features of the urban context. the energy refurbishment of the building is proposed, selecting the optimal solution, considering technical, environmental and economic criteria. the energy performance simulation shows a remarkable improvement of the energy performance, resulting in an improvement of the thermal comfort of the dwellers. besides, a reduction in the energy consumption is reached, which would reduce the energy bills and, on the other hand, a reduction of the carbon emissions to the atmosphere, contributing to a better environment quality. having in mind that the building is intended for social housing, energy poverty situations could be avoided, as dwellings are inhabited by low-income dwellers. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords rehabilitation; social housing; energy performance; vulnerability; urban areas 1. introduction cities and urban settlements consume lot of resources and generate emissions and waste, which spells detrimental environmental effects. buildings have a strong impact as they consume resources such as land, water and energy. they are also responsible for one third of the green gases emissions that reach the atmosphere. however, buildings pg. 44 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i1.490&domain=press.ierek.com josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd are necessary to live in and to conduct human activities. according to the 11th sustainable development goal (sdg) of the united nations, for sustainable cities and communities, the objective is “to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. this implies urban sustainability involving social inclusion. within this new framework, distressed areas should be firstly observed as they present high physical and social vulnerability. the latter implies the incapacity of some groups and individuals to solve their housing needs. therefore, these areas should be prioritised by the authorities to undertake urban plan actions. hence the building should be analysed from a holistic perspective by considering its urban context and interactions with citizens. the well-established urban areas with many initial limitations are especially challenging because very often they present old obsolete buildings inhabited by vulnerable populations. this work proposes the energy refurbishment of social housing. the selection of the building was based on a threefold perspective. on the one hand, the typology of the block of buildings, together with the constructive analysis, show a low-quality building with a typology dating back to a time where resources were scarce and, consequently, energy performance was very poor. earlier studies have identified urban areas in spain with inefficient buildings, which have been linked with their construction period (martı́n-consuegra, hernández-aja, oteiza & alonso, 2016). second, social housing is intended for low-income people at risk of social exclusion. last, but not least, the building is a municipal property, so its refurbishment should reinforce the exemplary role that the authorities play (energy efficiency directive, edd 2012/27/eu) regarding the renovation of existing buildings. 2. methodology some stages were followed (see figure 1) to undertake this work. first, the case study was selected according to three main pillars. on the one hand, the urban area was selected based on a previous work in which vulnerable urban areas of the city were defined. on the other hand, the building’s poor energy performance was the main observed feature. finally, the building’s social housing condition guaranteed vulnerable dwellers, e.g., low-income citizens. figure 1. methodology pg. 45 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd once the building was selected, a diagnosis of its current state was made by analysing the scarce available project information and visiting the site to collect complementary and necessary information. this permitted the building to be simulated in officially recognised software to determine its energy performance. the third stage consisted in analysing the refurbishment solutions and selecting the optimal solution according to a multicriteria analysis after bearing in mind the actual conditions the building was in by looking for a real applicable one. the fourth stage consisted in determining the building’s energy performance after refurbishment. finally, economic feasibility was estimated by the cost-optimal method to acquire an order of magnitude of the investment and other costs. 3. background 3.1. vulnerable urban areas the definition of areas of rehabilitation and urban renovation and regeneration (arru) is included in new spanish urban plans to contribute to sustainable development by structurally intervening in the city (lotup, 2014). this intends to support those responsible for local administration decision making by selecting the urban areas that require priority interventions and to undertake durable actions over time. therefore, the buildings included in an arru would be prioritised when addressing potential refurbishment subsidies. moreover, considering the most vulnerable areas will affect the whole city’s substantial improvement. 3.2. social housing one of the first obligations that franco’s government had to face after the end of the spanish civil war was to reconstruct the country. one major part of this work was to recover urban areas, which entailed not only repairing destroyed heritage, but also constructing new housing that could accommodate a population with scarce resources. to fulfil this purpose, immediately after the civil war was over the first law for low-income housing was introduced, as was the government institution responsible for ensuring the promotion and control of building such housing all over the country, the national housing institute (law 19 april 1939). in this way, apart from updating the legislation on such interventions, governmental institutions sought to tightly control the promotion of public housing, so it was left as a private initiative on the sidelines (gómez, 2004). however, the economic precariousness that the country was in during the first post-war period years did not allow the agreed quantitative targets for the building stock in successive national housing plans to be achieved. during the first two decades of franco’s government, countless laws were introduced (see table 1) to promote building stock growth rather than regulate housing. table 1. main legislation on social housing during franco´s government. 1939 -1975 date introduced legislation repealed legislation 19 april 1939 law on protection for a low-income housing system and establishing the national housing institute law of 12 june 1911 (law on cheap houses) 23 february 1944 order regulating basic hygienic conditions for housing 25 november 1944 law on contributions and tax reduction to build income housing for the middle class. continued on next page pg. 46 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1 continued 19 november 1948 decree-law that amended law 25 november 1944 on protection for a low-income housing system law of 25 november 1944 29 may 1954 decree-law to build social housing: lowincome and minimum-income housing 15 july 1954 law on protection of limited-income housing law of 19 april 1939 law of 25 november 1944 decree-law of 19 november 1948 12 july 1955 order introducing the text of technical ordinances and building standards for limited-income housing 24 january 1958 decree extending the new type of subsidised housing throughout spain 24 july 1963 decree introducing the revised text of social housing legislation all previous legislation 20 may 1969 order introducing the adjustment of technical ordinances and building standards to social housing this objective would definitely not be met until the beginning of the 1960s, in 1963 with the last social housing legislation of franco’s government. governmental institutions would lose the strong interventionist character they held thereafter to behalf of the private promoter who was consolidated as a preferred agent in the building of this type of housing. apart from the limited implementation of successive housing plans, the economic shortage led to restrict the use of materials in the building, especially iron (decree 11 march 1941), to avoid increasing the construction cost of housing buildings. consequently for housing, builders were forced to use building systems from the beginning of the century and use alternative materials in those elements in which steel had become the most suitable option. this meant a delay in the building technology progress made in spain as social housing built during the first two decades of franco’s government brings to light. after the spanish economy opened out to the international scene and thanks to the stabilisation plan of the late 1950s, it managed to overcome years of shortage and, thus, the liberalisation of building stock, which would lose the tight constructive control normalisation by governmental institutions (sambricio, 2004). 4. case study 4.1. the urban scale the development of the new land use plan of the city of castellón de la plana (spain) needs to define arru. this definition was created by using 29 ad hoc selected indicators of vulnerability. they were grouped into four categories: urban (4), building (4), socio-demographic (16) and socio-economic indicators. the arru were those areas where all the categories concurred, so they presented multidimensional vulnerability. as a result, 17 arru were defined in the city (garcı́a bernal et al., 2017; ruá et al., 2017). the building used as a case study in this work is included in one of the arru. the defined arru are indicated in figure 2. the selected block of buildings is included in arru 01. the location of the block is indicated in the top-right corner of figure 2. pg. 47 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 2. situation 4.2. the block of buildings the block of buildings was built in 1959 as social housing by ministry of housing subsidy. the group is formed by 12 buildings, the north façade, with odd numbers 1 to 11, to huesca street, and opposite the castalia football stadium. the south façade is in martı́nez tena street, numbers 2 to 12. figure 3 shows a general view of the block of buildings. the block forms an internal courtyard and each building is formed by one ground floor and four upper floors, with two dwellings per floor, which means 10 houses per block and 120 houses in all, which account for 2339 m2. figure 4 shows the front side view and the side elevation plan, section and roof plan. figure 5 represents a 3d image of the block using the revit software, drawn after the visits made to the site. figure 3. general view pg. 48 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 4. front side view, side elevation, section and roof plans figure 5. 3d image of the block 4.3. the building’s energy performance there are four buildings in the corners of the block, while the rest are terraced buildings which present better energy performance as they are less exposed to the outer environment. the building located in the north-west corner (357º north) is the worst in energy performance terms. in order to simplify simulation, only this building was simulated. there are three types of housing, as seen in the original plans presented in figure 6, where the selected building is indicated. figure 7 shows the floor plan, with dwellings types i and ii, included in the building selected in the block. dwelling type iii is included in the terraced buildings in the block. figure 6. second floor (original plans) pg. 49 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 7. floor plan of dwellings types i and ii in order to analyze the building’s thermal performance, some starting conditions need to be considered. regarding external conditions, and according to spanish regulation for energy saving, cte db-he1, appendix d, the building is located in climatic zone b3 (winter severity b on a scale from a to e, from the warmest to the coldest; summer severity 3 on a scale from 1 to 4, from the least to the most severe). the thermal envelope characteristics are summarised in table 2, where the layers of the constructive solutions are represented, together with the exposed area and the thermal transmittance data. all this, plus the facilities used to obtain domestic hot water (dhw), heating and cooling services, in this case electric appliances, will be the starting data to simulate the building to estimate its energy performance in its current state: table 2. original thermal envelope thermal envelope constructive solution transmittance u (w/m2k) figure façade 1 bearing wall formed by double leaf brick: exterior masonry wall of ceramic solid brick of 1 footthick with cement mortar joints + inner skin of hollow ceramic brick, 4-cm thick, with cement mortar joints + plastering. exposed area: n 93.41 m2; w 78.93 m2 1.44 figure 8 continued on next page pg. 50 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 2 continued façade 2 bearing wall formed by double leaf brick: continuous outer coating with cement mortar + exterior masonry wall of ceramic solid brick of 1 foot-thick with cement mortar joints + inner skin of hollow ceramic brick 4 cmthick with cement mortar joints + plastering. exposed area: n 190.64 m2; w 100.63 m2; e 57.84 m2; s 169.51 m2 1.29 figure 8 windows wood carpentry with single glazing. carpentry: 2.20 glazing: 5.50 figure 9 roof 1 flat roof ventilated, trafficable: finishing ceramic tiles + mortar layer 5 cm + bituminous sheet + ventilated air chamber + reinforced concrete one-way slab 30 cm, ceramic hollow plot + plastering. exposed area: 38.83 m2. 1.37 figure 10 roof 2 gable sloping roof ventilated 16º: finishing ceramic gables + mortar layer + ceramic tiles for roof slope + ventilated air chamber + reinforced concrete oneway slab 30 cm, ceramic hollow plot + plastering. exposed area: 116.03 m2. 1.05 figure 11 figure 8. pg. 51 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 9. figure 10. figure 11. pg. 52 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd to evaluate the building’s energy performance in its current state, the ce3x software was used, the official software for energy certification in spain (the open access so ftware provided by the ministry of industry). using ce3x permits energy demand to be known, energy use and carbon emissions associated with the building’s use. the software estimates the annual energy demand linked to heating and cooling in kwh/m2, and the annual co2 emissions due to heating, cooling and dhw in kg co2/m2. the sum of emissions will evaluate energy performance using a scale from a to g, with the best and the worst energy performance, respectively. this software is widely used professionally, but has also been included in research works (alguacil, lufkina, reya & cuchı́, 2018; de ayala, galarraga & spadaro, 2016), specifically to social housing (escandón, suárez & sendra, 2016) to obtain simulation energy performance values. the input data in the software result in the energy performance presented in figure 12. according to the simulation, the building emits 29.5 kg co2/m2 due to heating, cooling and dhw, with 15.98, 5.09 and 8.41 kg co2/m2, respectively. altogether, the building obtains an e energy label, where dhw presents the worst energy performance, with f, followed by heating with e and a medium d for cooling. figure 12. energy certification label for the current building 4.4. energy refurbishment proposal the next stage consists in analysing some refurbishment solutions to improve the building’s energy performance and to select the optimal one. to do so, four perspectives are observed: technical, environmental, economic and heritage. the technical perspective analyses the advantages and disadvantages of actually implementing the constructive solution. the environmental perspective is based mainly on the resulting transmittance of the refurbished solution, together with the reduction of thermal bridges. the economic perspective examines the viability of refurbishment. finally, the building’s heritage value is considered by looking at the aesthetic variation of the building’s external envelope as it can be representative of the building type built at a particular socio-economic period of time, as explained in section 3.2. regarding the thermal envelope, the refurbishment aimed to add insulation layers that did not exist in the original building’s state. insulation material is generally the most cost-effective solution when buildings are refurbished (hamdy, hasan & siren, 2011; ruá & lópez-mesa, 2012). this should be done on façades together with improvements to carpentries, with double glazing solutions, and also in roofs. adding insulation on façades and roofs could be done basically in two ways: on the outer or the inner layer. table 3 shows some constructive solutions (huedo, mulet & lópez-mesa, 2016), along with their advantages, disadvantages and features by bearing in mind the technical, environmental, economic and heritage perspectives. the selected solutions are shaded in grey in table 3 and represented in figure 13. for façades, inner insulation (fi) was ruled out because of the dimensions of rooms. it would mean reducing the areas of rooms as they could not fulfil the minimum required dimensions according to new standards. therefore, the outer solution with the external insulation system was adopted in this case because it was more convenient than the ventilated façade, pg. 53 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd and fell in line with different criteria. the convenience of this solution is supported by other studies (sierra-pérez, boschmonart-rives & gabarrell, 2016) and can be applied to both façade types. for roofs, the inner solution proved more convenience when looking at advantages and disadvantages. the same solution involving mineral wool and finishing plaster board could be applied to roof 1(sri) and roof 2 (fri). figure 13. façade, sloping roof and flat roof refurbishment solutions table 3. multicriteria analysis of the constructive solutions for the thermal envelope thermal envelope criteria technical environmental economic aesthetic solution advantagesdisadvantages u thermal bridges c/m2 time external variation façades fo1. ventilated façade medium-high level of difficulty requires scaffolding does not interfere with users high embedded energy due to the aluminium substructure 0.49 reduced 158.50 medium high fo. external insulation system medium-low level of difficulty requires scaffolding does not interfere with users f1: 0.49 f2: 0.47 reduced 90.35 medium medium fi. inner mineral wool and plaster board low level of difficulty interferes with users does not fulfil minimum dimensions 0.48 equal 27.99 short none continued on next page pg. 54 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 3 continued sloping roof sro. xps (extruded polystyrene) under the finishing layer high level of difficulty, the finishing roof layers are removed to add insulation requires scaffolding does not interfere with users 0.44 equal 93.47 long none sri. inner mineral wool and plaster board low level of difficulty interferes with users 0.44 equal 27.99 short none flat roof fro. xps and gravel over the finishing layer adds loads to slab. it requires a structural analysis does not interfere with users 0.49 equal 75.08 short none fri. mineral wool and plaster board low level of difficulty interferes with users the same solution for the two roof types 0.44 equal 27.99 short none theoretically, other measures can be proposed. for example, solar energy to cover a high percentage of dhw demand could have been proposed. however, this would need a further structural analysis to check that the structure would support the new load added by fitting solar energy. the presented proposal is intended mainly to be realistic and economically viable by considering the building’s socio-economic features. 4.5. energy performance after refurbishment the selected construction solutions, together with improved facilities, by going from electrical new boilers to condensed natural gas ones, shows a relevant improvement in energy performance and reduced annual carbon emissions from 29.5 to 15.3 kg co2/m2. table 4 shows the heating and cooling demands, together with emissions, due to different facilities and the savings made after refurbishment. table 4. improvement of energy performance and savings in emissions obtained by the ce3x software current state refurbished saving % heating demand kwh/m2 64.5f 17.5c 72.8 cooling demand kwh/m2 17.8d 14.7d 17.3 heating emissions 16.0e 4.3c 72.8 cooling emissions 5.1d 4.2d 17.3 continued on next page pg. 55 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 4 continued dhw emissions 8.4g 6.7g 19.9 global emissions 29.5e 15.3d 48.1 4.6. economic viability of refurbishment to analyze the economic viability of refurbishment, the guidelines of commission delegated regulation (eu) no. 244/2012, of 16 january 2012, which supplements directive 2010/31/eu of the european parliament and the council on the energy performance of buildings by establishing a comparative methodology framework to calculate cost-optimal levels of minimum energy performance requirements for buildings and building elements, was used. according to this methodology, energy performance measures are considered an investment and the net present value is used. this indicator is appropriate for long-term investments. buildings are products of a long service life that require maintenance, replacing certain elements, etc. therefore, the global cost, referred to as starting year τ0, was calculated using the following equation (1) over calculation period , for a set of measures j during year i: cg(τ) =ci +∑ j [ ∑ τ i=1 (ca,i( j)rd(i)+cc,i( j))−vf ,τ( j) ]� (1) table 5 presents details for each term of equation 1 and the estimated values using the macroeconomic perspective by considering the carbon cost. the graphic represented in figure 8 shows the accumulated npv for two discount rates, r1% and r4%. npv is c53,184.12 for 1% and is c4,736.1 for 4%. with the starting hypothesis of table 5, we can see that the investment starts to be positive from year 20 and 28 for the 1% and the 4% discount rate, respectively. this is not a surprising result if we consider the private costs and only the carbon price a social cost. some subsidies can be considered in the calculations, if we bear in mind that the building is included in an arru, as mentioned in section 3.1. this would result in a more optimistic scenario with a shorter payback, as calculated in previous studies (alguacil et al., 2017). for example, estimating a hypothetical subsidy of c5,000.00/dwelling, the investment would be returned in less time, as seen in figure 14. table 5. terms for the global cost and hypothesis used for estimations term meaning estimated value and source τ calculation period starting year τ0 2018 30 years r244/2012 suggests 30 years for residential and public buildings ci initial investment cost for measure or set of measures j cost of refurbishment of façades, windows, roof and replacing boilers (price database) c10,5195.64 in τ0 (c10,519.56/dwelling) ca,i(j) annual cost during year i for measure or set of measures j cost of electricity: c0.24/kwh (savings from the original to the refurbished building: 35.16 kwh/m2.year): c6416.70/year maintenance cost: inspection of boiler, mandatory every 5 years: c50/dwelling replacement cost: boiler 15 years of service life: c1800/dwelling maintenance cost: to inspect boilers, mandatory every 5 years, estimated at c50/dwelling. replacement cost: boiler ,15 years of service life continued on next page pg. 56 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 5 continued cci(j) carbon cost for measure or set of measures j during year i values recommended by the r244/2012 (savings from the original to the refurbished building: 14.2 kg co2/m2.year). prices co2: c20/ton until 2025; c30/ton until 2030; c50/ton from 2030 v f ,τ (j) residual value of measure or set of measures j at the end of the calculation period (discounted from the starting year τ0) the residual value is considered zero rd(p) discount factor for year i calculated as rd(p) =  1 1+ r 100 p where p: number of years from τ0 r: real discount rate a sensitivity analysis must be performed with at least two rates. from a macroeconomic perspective of 4% (according to the commission 2009’s impact assessment guidelines). sensitivity analysis: r1: 1%; r2: 4% figure 14. façade, sloping roof and flat roof refurbishment solutions 5. conclusions in this work, the refurbishment of a block of buildings located in castellón de la plana (east spain) is proposed. the selection of this building was based on various criteria: first, it is located in a vulnerable area of the city, as the new land plan reflects. second, the year of construction is characterised by socio-economic circumstances, which represents a building typology that entails a heritage value. the scarce economic resources at that time led to poor quality dwellings that can still be found in many spanish cities today. these buildings very often present low energy performance and obsolete quality standards. moreover, in this case, the selected building is the property of the municipality and is intended for social housing. the refurbishment proposal requires a previous diagnosis being made according to its current state. data were collected using the original project, visiting the site for measures, employing first-hand information and drawing new plans. some refurbishment solutions were analysed after bearing in mind the particularities of the case to select the pg. 57 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd optimal solution. the selected refurbishment solution is based on different criteria. although other solutions could have been proposed, the adopted solution was adapted to a realistic scenario by considering the building’s specificities. the energy performance estimation shows major savings in both energy and carbon emissions. the economic analysis conducted by the cost-optimal method shows an initial investment of c10,519.56/dwelling. with the starting hypothesis, the npv is positive. the cumulative npv shows that, in both cases, the npv is over zero after 20 years. this term would be shorter if subsidies could address the building. its location in an arru means that it is an area that should be prioritised to address potential subsidies. refurbishment would also benefit users’ quality of life by improving the thermal comfort of their dwellings as it would make the energy poverty situation more unlikely. besides it would increase the market price of dwellings, which is an aspect that the economic analysis does not consider. 6. acknowledgments the research for this work was carried out in the framework of the project gv/2017/110, diagnosis and proposals for the regeneration of public housing buildings for social inclusion purposes (vivinso), within the research, development and innovation projects developed by emerging research groups gv-2017, funded by the valencian autonomous government. 7. references 1. alguacil, s., lufkina, s., reya, e. & cuchı́, a. (2017). application of the cost-optimal methodology to urban renewal projects at the territorial scale based on statistical data. a case study in spain. energy and buildings,144, 42-60. 2. de ayala, a., galarraga, i. & spadaro, jv. (2016). the price of energy efficiency in the spanish housing market. energy policy,94, 16-24. 3. hamdy, m., hasan, a. & siren, k. (2011). applying a multi-objective optimization approach for design of low-emission cost-effective dwellings. building and environment, 46, 109-123. 4. decree 11 march 1941, on restriction on the use of iron in buildings. official spanish gazette 71, 12 march 1941. 5. escandón, r., suárez, r. & sendra, jj. (2016). protocol for the energy behaviour assessment of social housing stock: the case of southern europe. energy procedia,96, 907-915. 6. garcı́a-bernal, d., huedo, p., babiloni, s., braulio, m., carrascosa, c., civera, v., ruá, mj. & agost-felip, mr. (2017). estudio y propuesta de áreas de rehabilitación, regeneración y renovación urbana, con motivo de la tramitación del plan general estructural de castellón de la plana. retrieved from: https://s3-eu-west1.amazonaws.com/urbanismo/tomo i.pdf https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/urbanismo/tomo ii.pdf, https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/urbanismo/tomo iii.pdf; and https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/ urbanismo/tomo iv.pdf. 7. gómez-jiménez, ml., (2004). la intervención administrativa en el sector de la vivienda (doctoral dissertation). universidad de málaga. 8. huedo, p., mulet, e. & lopez-mesa, b. (2016). a model for the sustainable selection of building envelope assemblies. environmental impact assessment review, 57, 63-77. 9. law 19 april 1939, on protection to low-income housing system and establishment of national housing institute. official spanish gazette 110, 20 april 1939 pg. 58 josé / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 10. law 5/2014, 25 july 2014, on territorial planning, urban planning and landscape, valencian community, lotup, 2014. official valencian community gazette 7329, 31 july 2014 and official spanish gazette 231, 23 september 2014. articles 35 and 72. 11. martı́n-consuegra, f., hernández-aja, a., oteiza, i. & alonso, c. (2016). energy needs and vulnerability estimation at an urban scale for residential neighbourhoods heating in madrid (spain), presented at 32th international conference on passive and low energy architecture, proceedings of plea16, 3, 1413-1418, california state polytechnic university pomona, los angeles, july 11-13. retrieved from: http://oa.upm.e s/44264/. 12. ruá mj., lópez-mesa, b. spanish energy rating labelling of buildings and its cost implications. informes de la construcción, 2012; 64: 307-318. 13. ruá, mj., huedo, p., agost-felip, mr., braulio-gonzalo, m., civera, v., garcı́a-bernal, d. & babiloni, s. (2017). defining the areas of rehabilitation, regeneration and renewal in castellón de la plana (spain). using a geographical information system in urban planning, presented at international symposium integration of art and technology in architecture and urban planning, university of science and technology, faculty of civil and environmental engineering and architecture, bydgoszcz (poland), 8-9 june 2017. bydgoszcz: wydawnictwa uczelniane uniwersytetu technologiczno-przyrodniczego. 14. sambricio, c. (2004). madrid, vivienda y urbanismo: 1900-1960. madrid: arkal arquitectura. 15. sierra-pérez, j., boschmonart-rives, j. & gabarrell, x. (2016). environmental assessment of façadebuilding systems and thermal insulation materials for different climatic conditions. journal of cleaner production,113, 102-113. pg. 59 introduction methodology background vulnerable urban areas social housing case study the urban scale the block of buildings the building's energy performance energy refurbishment proposal energy performance after refurbishment economic viability of refurbishment conclusions acknowledgments references http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i2.157 the impact of built environment on human behaviors amira mersal mahmoud1 1higher institute of engineering and technology, king mariout abstract this study discusses the relationship between the physical environment and the behavior of its inhabitants in traditional cities (the old city of al-quds). it analyses the effects of a particular physical environment on the different aspects of the lives of its people as well as their interactive influence and changes of the features of the environment within which they are living. the built environment should adapt to their different needs in this rapidly changing era of technological revolution in order to understand how does that old urban fabric, which was originally formed as a reflection and translation to a past culture, emphasize the importance of utilizing the knowledge of human behavior while designing built environments. it also discusses the role of architects in the psychological space design and formation of appropriate and inappropriate behavioral patterns. this study mainly aims to shed light on housing in the old city of al-quds in particular, a city that has witnessed continuous decline in its standards and requirements of living in terms of the functional, social, educational psychological and health aspects of the population in order to examine the relationship between the population and the physical environment. this is done by analyzing the specific architectural style of the housing environment with its particular formation, elements, and characteristics, and their influence on the people’s traditions, values, social relations. the study concludes that the existing situation of the residential environment in the old city has lost much of its cultural values that forms the link between the cultural and social identity of the inhabitants and the architectural style of the physical fabric of housing. it also shows that the reality of its existing situation has a negative impact on residents’ characteristics and on their different life issues. while sometimes keeping part of the original features, the study recommends that upgrading housing use within the old city in al-quds, is one of the most important factors not only to save the old city, but also to revive the cultural values associated with our cultural heritage and national identity. this could be achieved by applying various programs among people to support them, promote their living conditions, raise awareness, and strengthen their national affiliation. this will also lead to reversing the decline in historic monuments that are closely linked not only to the peoples’ own civilization, but also to their historic rights in this land. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords human behavioral; environmental psychology 1. introduction because the needs of humans are vast and ever changing, it is vital that designers be informed about the relationship of the people with their built environment (lang, 1987). the understanding of this mutual relationship between pg. 29 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i2.157&domain=press.ierek.com mersal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd people and their surroundings is the major concern of behavioral sciences (dent, 1998). human behaviors, attitudes and values become significant in order to create enabling environments for the diverse needs of people in the contemporary society (dent, 1998; churchman, 2002). in this respect, the main aim of this paper is to emphasize the importance of utilizing the knowledge of human behavior while designing built environments and to approach this issue from the perspective of an interdisciplinary discourse: environmental psychology. nowadays, it is quite a necessity to use the behavioral sciences and environmental psychology findings in the field of architecture. theoretical knowledge in the field of architecture has always been in need of some frameworks in order to facilitate theory development, criteria preparation and review of architectural products and process. behavioral science is one of the disciplines that can provide the framework and theoretical background for architecture. generally, using behavioral sciences in the process of architectural design increases the quality of the final product. the interaction between the physical environment and health has been of interest to epidemiologists. however, until recently, psychologists have tended to define the role of the environment in the determination of behavior and the psychological and physiological effects of these concepts on the behavior of an individual (tala, 2008). naturally, knowledge and understanding of these concepts will be of vital importance to the environmental designers. 2. environmental psychology environmental psychology is the study of the relationships between behaviors and experiences of a person and his/her built environment. looking at the historical background “the topic under that label includes perception n theory, cognition, social and anthropological psychology, the study of social relationships and the study of culture” (lang, 1987). therefore, the next parts of this paper expand the issue of environment-behavior relationship by analyzing the factors changing this framework, like the globalization process. an important aspect concerning the definitions of environmental psychology is made by emphasizing the reciprocal action between an individual and his/her surrounding . in his book, environmental psychology: principles and practice, grifford defines environmental psychology as “the study of transactions between individuals and their physical settings” (gifford, 2002). while inquiring about the definitions of the field of environmental psychology, it is important to highlight that environmental psychology is included within the person-environment theory and goes under the topic of behavioral sciences (land, 1987; gifford, 2002; bonnes & secchiaroli, 1995). one of the definitions of environmental psychology is assessing the built space i.e. whether or not the space satisfies the designer’s goals. in environmental psychology the human reaction to the environment is studied ( bonnes & secchiaroli, 1995). environmental psychology helps the architect to design a built environment that caters to the needs of the people. during the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s, architects considered the needs of the people (jahanian & motalebi, 2013). all the aforementioned definitions of environmental psychology highlight the significance of understanding this reciprocal relationship and of using this knowledge in order to be able to mitigate a variety of problems (dent, 1998; gifford, 2002). within the framework, it is also important to describe this mutual relationship in more detail and expand the meaning of place attachment and sense of place. thus, the study brings clarity to the issue of how people perceive, feel, sense and interact with their surrounding environments. 3. human perception of the urban environment the interaction of individuals with the spatial environment depends on the extent of the individual’s perception of the vacuum and the way he or she absorbs the environment around him or her. the individual perceives the environment around him or her through the following levels (ittelson, proshansky, rivlin & winkel, 1974): the geographical environment: the global content of the general perception of the individual and the interactive environment of individuals pg. 30 mersal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the interactive environment: it is a component of the parts that collide with the human in his or her dealings, and the parts of perception is the environment known to man the aware environment: which depends on current indicators and past experiences behavioral environment: represents the part closest to the individual, which is part of the perceptible environment of the individual and determines his or her behavior towards the environment. we conclude from this that dealing with the environment does not only include the effect of the environment on man, but also includes the reflection of man’s behavior on the environment around him or her, i.e., the effect of reciprocity. the environment affecting human beings must include several variables taken into account such as culture, social status, ethnic groups, family relations and lifestyle. these factors represent the environment around man (fig 1) and this environment consists of all human and material elements, social and cultural structures, and psychological influences that surround the elements of the environment in the vacuum of the individual (sharif, 1992). figure 1. the relationship between mental and behavioralactivities and their impact on understanding and dealing with the environment 4. the relationship between human behavior and the environment in this context, knowing and understanding of every day lives plays an important role while designing the physical environments. gifford (2002) explained this importance with the keywords of perception and cognition. environmental perception is related to the reinterpretation of the gathered data by users in the way that they store, transform, organize, forget, and recall knowledge (gifford, 2002). the individual concerns about the built environments, which gifford called environmental attitude, also became significant in terms of environmental psychology. understanding the concepts of preference, cognition and place attachment are important factors changing the framework of environmental psychology as well as of architecture and planning while designing built environments and relating everyday environment to the human behaviors. it should also be noted that besides preference, cognition and place attachment, there is also impact of information and communication technology (ict) on human behaviors and their relationship to their everyday life because “ict is transforming all aspects of society”] (selwyn, 2004). by referring to the term ict and its relationship to our surrounding environment, it is possible to state that the physical environment is changing more rapidly and using and distribution of all technologically based products and environments can affect all of the human behaviors and attitudes (fozard, rietsema, bouma & graafmans, 2000). the control of space can be achieved through habitual occupation, some form of defense, personalization and mere marking. psychological well-being, feelings of security and safety act on people’s attitudes and the indicators of environmental psychology depend on the user’s perception of space as territory (newman, 1972; grifford, 1997). in countries with high urban crime rates, the feelings of security are often expressed through territoriality attitudes. the control of space is considered vital for physical safety and prevention of crime. fences, walls, and security bars are all signs of defense attitudes. pg. 31 mersal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd with regards to human behaviors, individuals can be forced to show certain behavior but surely such ways for making behavioral changes will not be useful. instead, they will result in mental reactions such as separation from the environment or external reactions such as changes in the environment. this is due to the fact that individuals always try to use their own methods until they are justified not to and if they are forced to do an action, they will become aggressive (selwyn, 2004). “the behavioral sciences can help us to understand the present and what the trends in society are, they can help us to predict the outcomes of our design proposals for the future better than we do now” (lang, 1987). with the help of the study of environmental psychology, it is possible to reduce the uncertainty of architects, interior designers and urban planners while making decisions on users’ needs during the design process. moreover, it is also possible to improve their designs by taking account the environmental research results and incorporating the findings to the design proposals. finally, “useful information must be located, and it must be translated from the terminology of human sciences to the language of design” (motalebi, 2003; deasy, 1974). personal space, as defined in environmental psychology, is the distance and orientation component of interpersonal relations. cultural differences exist. also when physical settings are less spacious, interpersonal distances increase. crowding, therefore, affects this concept. if individuals lose their perception of the environment and the criterion for judging it, architecture will not have any achievements. the reason is that architecture is a direct response to expectations that have altered due to the loss of space perception and declined to a low level. symbolic data: during the process of socialization, the human learns specific behavioral patterns in addition to other acquisitions on how to use some spaces and respond to symbolic meanings of environmental stimuli. thus, humans give meaning to some spaces, stimuli, and events in relation to cultural values of his or her environment and behaves based on them (motalebi, 2005). behaviors, as the process of doing any activity, have the following common features: 1. perceptibility of behavior 2. behavior evaluation 3. individual or collective behavior 4. predictability of behavior 5. changeability of behavior 6. dependence of behavior to the psychological space. with increasing urban densities, more attention must be given to the provision of personal spaces. high densities are part of brazilian urban models, however economic pressures act on the provision of appropriate personal spaces. crowding occurs and these conditions can be linked to social problems. behavioral consequences, such as aggression and crime rates may be linked to unfavorable spatial conditions. the architects and planners have the responsibility of creating buildings and urban fabrics that can communicate with its users and can be communicated by users. in this sense, they are also responsible for taking into account the mutual relationship between people and the built environment because as human beings, we regularly get contact with the physical environment which affects us and has influences on our behaviors. 5. the impact of the physical environment on human behavior 5.1. the impact of architecture on human behavior the shape and architecture of the building have an effect on the personality of the inhabitants. there is interaction between the urban framework and the human and many people exchange influence with the physical environment in which they live. therefore, most of the treatments to solve the problems of the city were urban treatments. the careful observation of urban life gives an impression of the rudeness of social relations, the prevalence of individuality, the lack of precise knowledge and the lack of deep emotional involvement, despite the abundance of means of communication between individuals and groups and the importance of this communication in expanding the circles of interest, participation and outreach out of the narrow confines of the small community to the wider boundaries of society and humanity. the design process is capable of changing the habits, traditions and behavior of its inhabitants or users by using them for this origin (fig 2) (altayash, n.d.). pg. 32 mersal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 2. interrelationship of human behavior and urbanization and their impact on each other it was, therefore, necessary to ensure that there is an appropriate amount of interaction within the small unit in the city (the neighborhood or neighboring neighborhood so that the communication becomes a fruitful and socially harmonious and supports the great impact of spatial proximity and the small number of connections in the region). the residential community is small, as it says that links to the residential area act as communication channels in which information and opinions are conducted. this process makes the life of the community more coherent. there is also a general assumption in city planning and construction that the first social contacts and the nucleus of social life consists of adjacent to residential, and the neighboring significant impact in determining the characteristics of the links (kanani, n.d.). the various studies have influenced architecture and have led to the emergence of trends interested in the study of human behavior as a tool to design urban elements to meet social needs. when we want people to establish social relations, they must provide them with the age-old environment and its residential units so that these relations can take their place in the social environment (abdul hakim, 2009). there are many influences that determine the nature of the interaction and the type of relations within the group. three main factors are mentioned: the length of time spent by individuals within a group, in a small group, relationships slowly form and become more permanent. spatial proximity, where being in a specific small place facilitates contact and interaction with others face to face. small numbers; small groups with limited numbers have a greater opportunity to document personal knowledge (kanani, n.d.). as any living creature, the most important thing is to meet the vital physiological and psychological requirements, which vary according to age, environment, culture and customs. here, we find that architecture meets these requirements and promote urban development. the function of the urban environment is linked to two objectives: first, to achieve the physical aspect of creating spaces that act as content for activities. second, the definition of the built environment as an environment surrounding the human and highlight that in the definition of the moral function of the built environment, man is the center of that environment and he or she affects and is affected by the built environment. this relationship is achieved through integration with the patterns of human behavior in which the design of these characteristics makes the connection to many psychological processes in humans. it can be said that the function of the environment with its material and moral dimensions is only the outcome of the design process of that environment’s outputs and psychological processes by emphasizing the design goals of the built environment that are shaped by the intersection of psychological processes (cognition, knowledge and behavior) and elements and components that affect human behavior (lang, 1974). individual abilities, characteristics, social, pg. 33 mersal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd cultural and material framework (fathy, 2001). 5.2. the impact of the urban environment on human behavior the physical environment can affect humans and can change according to the needs and behavior, hence the importance of the functional considerations of the activities and behavioral patterns within the place and the importance of the behavior of individuals and users within the vacuum (fathy, 2001). this includes studying and analyzing the urban spaces and the surrounding physical environment and examining the possibility of change in accordance with the requirements of the users in light of the diversity of behavioral patterns of users as the full awareness of the nature of the activity comes from the determination of the surface that contains this activity functionally. lynch 1960 also states that designers make the environment so that the user can do what he really wants or give him or her other opportunities for actions and reactions and these actions must be determined by vacuum and equipment. it can be said that the function should be appropriate to the available space in the sense that the analysis and design of spaces should be in a manner that achieves compatibility and harmony and balance and flexibility with the function that is required within the vacuum. there should also be a good understanding of behavioral patterns either through direct observations or indirect questioning. building spaces and buildings cannot be viewed as mere contents of human activities but are integrated within human behavioral patterns so the built environment affects the behaviors of individuals and is affected by their presence in terms of choice of materials and moral dimensions (lang, 1974). 6. characteristics of the physical environment and its relationship with the characteristics of the population in the old town of jerusalem this is done by describing the characteristics of the architectural dwelling and the characteristics of the population in different aspects of life and analyzing the correlation between these characteristics and the nature of the interaction between man and his or her living environment. 6.1. physical environment of the dwelling there is no doubt that the nature of the connection of the resident to his or her home affects the way he or she deals with the environment of the physical dwelling since it is the habit of the human being to take possession and ownership and to take care of what he or she owns. it turns out that the largest proportion of the population rent homes because they cannot afford to own a house. as a home-owner, this largely explains the deterioration of the situation of homes where the occupants are temporary and do not care to preserve them. in terms of length of stay, the largest proportion of tenants who live in their homes is longer than 20 years of age. the lower expenditure on housing also explains the comfort of the housing provided by the larger segment. the decline helps to meet and provide the rest of the requirements of life but the concept of comfort here mostly means adaptation to living conditions because most of the population expressed that they only stay in these conditions due to their physical needs. as for the physical characteristics of houses, it was found that the largest proportion of houses are currently stone. there are houses that consist of concrete material 7.2, which are modern buildings extraneous to the architectural heritage made of stone (table 1). pg. 34 mersal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1. building material in housing in the study area material percentage stone 53 concrete 7,2 stone of other material 39.8 total 100 figure 3. shows the quality of construction and stones used in the old town of jerusalem since it is general knowledge that the buildings of the old town are built using stone, (fig. 3), these buildings are cold in the summer and warm in the winter, so they can isolate the external weather and maintain a pleasant interior atmosphere. 64.1% of households use heat daily, 43.1% use heating appliances most of the time and 45.1% use them for at least 2 hours to 5 hours. these families report that their houses are very cold in winter while 58.5% of them use air conditioning, which is a fan in this case. the largest percentage of them, 59.5 %, of them also use air conditioners most of the time because of the fact that housing is too hot in the summer. as for the entrances of the house, it was found that the largest proportion of the houses is the entrance of the family dwelling in a manor or a building. it also shows that the palace still contributes to the consolidation of relations between the neighbors. as for the number of floors that make up the house, most homes only have one floor (table 2). table 2. the number of floors that make up the house number of floors of the house percentage one 65% two 24,2% three floors 10.8 total 100 the presence of the courtyard in more than 40% of the houses helps to alleviate the narrowness of the area and the house overlaps above the mansion on several floors where it is exploited by the residents to meet their various domestic needs where the dwelling with the inner courtyard of the family is one-story or two floors (stallions, 2007). we find that a large proportion of houses in the old town of jerusalem are condensed in an area estimated to be half the appropriate space needed. the sizes of houses are usually less than 50 square meters and this contributes to the narrowness of housing, loss of privacy for all members of this family, spread of diseases, and negatively affects the psychological state of children. the congestion within the house creates a sense of distress. instead of being places were families can meet and reunite, houses are a source of discomfort that provide a sense of familiarity, affection and compassion among members of the same family (halibi, 2008). it should be mentioned here that studies indicate that the living of a family of six people in two or three small rooms with a small area of the kitchen and bathroom leads to high mortality. pg. 35 mersal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the research found that the houses in the old town of jerusalem are overcrowded in terms of the number of individuals relative to the area of the house. there is no doubt that this has negative impacts because the family members participate in the allocations of the house and interfere in each other’s privacy which causes tension. the overcrowded housing leads to the restriction of the individual’s freedom leading to family disintegration and the isolation of people and the crowding in the house leads to the choice of children to stay in the street outside the home and thus leading to the problem of tumble school. almost one-third of the families live in the temporary housing in the old town. about 35% believe that low-income housing in the old city helps to plan life for the physical savings of purchasing an apartment outside the old city. figure 4. the bad situation of some houses in the old town of jerusalem. a high proportion of housing suffers from moisture; humidity is the most prominent issue in the old town of jerusalem where it was found that 94.8% of houses suffer from several forms of moisture. the walls, droppings, and smell of moisture in the house have been proven by studies that moisture and mold are associated with an individual’s depression regardless of individual characteristics or other housing characteristics and thus affect physical health. however, the houses are also blessed with natural lighting as the sun shines strong in most of the rooms. this improves the internal environment within the house in terms of ventilation, natural lighting, availability of green and water elements, and protection against aerial, audio and visual pollution. most of the families in the region have relatives living in the same area as this was a large proportion of the residents of the area. since the old town consists of many areas in the city, this means that there is a concentration of some families and their relatives in this area. there is also a lack of safety and the sense of danger and this indicates the weakness of family ties and social relations between relatives and knowledge. we note that the physical nature of the old town has a strong impact on the needs of individuals and that the lack of acquisition of the population of private vehicles to this day is the result of the structural nature of the complex that makes all services close. the study area of the city center is located nearby and accessibility on foot reduces the need to obtain a means of transport, which contributes to lower living costs in the region. the schools of the majority of the population are located within the old town i.e. in the same area of residence or on its borders that is close to the students and a very small proportion of students are studying in private schools outside the old town that does not have this type of schools. the extent to which the physical environment of transportation can be adapted, as we know this environment was not prepared for it during the period of its establishment, shows that more than half of the houses cannot be easily reached by means of transportation. in the same direction, we find that the ambulance cannot reach the house in emergencies forcing them to carry the patient in need to reach the nearest accessible area for the ambulance. most of the time, the courtyard in the dwelling no longer retains its functional and aesthetic features and is unfit to attract knowledge and neighbors. in this context, the physical environment of the built-up environment and the special urban nature of the old-age habitats in the pg. 36 mersal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd old city strengthens the bonds between the population. 6.2. physical environment and psychological characteristics of the population the distortion of the old town is usually attributed to the lack of awareness among its inhabitants, including the lack of appreciation for the architectural value of the architectural elements in their dwellings and therefore the inadvertent destruction and destruction of the city’s municipal windows. first of all, the residents of the first class, as a higher priority than the preservation of the architectural heritage itself, were responsible for the replacement of the damaged glass only by the supervisors of the municipality’s work, but the vast majority of the population supported the removal of the intention y traditional, this indicates a high rate of lack of awareness of the value of human architectural impact of the population, despite the conditions in which they live in a conflict of existence and identity with the occupier and despite the fact that most of them are aware of the occupier and settlers stealing this heritage and buy it. 6.3. the future of the old city according to the behavior of the population the proportion of families that will remain in their home and will not leave during the next five years at least is 82%. the main determinant of whether or not to stay in the house was the economic situation. it was found that the large proportion of those who would remain in their homes remained the physical necessity since the old town became a refuge for the poor both inside and outside the city. the greater proportion of the population will remain in their homes because of the physical necessity. at the same time, the larger percentage sees that they are comfortable in their homes. this indicates the ability of the residents of the region to adapt to the environment they do not belong to and also indicates the flexibility of the traditional dwelling that can meet the needs of the residents. as for the way people look at their residential environment, it has been shown that 30.2% of the population believes that the problem of the house is in the occurrence within the area of the old town, while the largest proportion of them do not see that there is a problem in the housing area. 72% believe that the problem is physical in the same dwelling, while 28% see no physical problem at home and this brings us back to two-thirds of the population who are satisfied with their home, explaining the physical state. in addition, 62% of the population does not see any problem in the neighborhood. on the contrary, half of this population, or more than a third of the population, refuse to have problems with the nature of the neighboring population. the proportion of the population who believe that there is a problem in the negative social outlook towards the area of the old city and its residents was a high percentage, which indicates that there is the so-called social isolation in the old city of jerusalem by the city’s community. however, what alleviates this feeling on the population, according to their testimonies, is that most of their acquaintances are from the same region and, therefore, the situation is one, which creates the familiarity and belonging and the strength of social ties between them, but this leads to the reluctance to participate in social relations, especially outside the old city. 6.3.1. the population’s awareness of their housing as architectural heritage and cultural identity the study is concerned with the extent to which the residents of the region are interested because it reflects their awareness of dealing with them as they are the most important actors influencing their physical environment and thus their architectural heritage value. this also indicates the degree to which they will lose the old town as an integrated heritage entity its traditional architectural elements and thus its heritage spirit. the study showed that the largest percentage (87%) of the population would like to remain in their homes within the old city in case of restoration and maintenance work to solve their physical problems. the largest consensus of the population (88.6%) desired to stay in their traditional homes if they were restored, pg. 37 mersal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd maintained and solved their physical problems. third parties must bear the costs of rehabilitation. the reason for all the members of this group is the tightness that prevents them from maintaining them. at the same time, it is difficult for them to provide sufficient funds for housing in a more appropriate dwelling than the current one. after this consensus comes second, they do not agree to take easy loans without interest. the main reason for this is the lack of stable or stable income for the family and therefore fear that it will not be able to pay the loan payments. the opinion consensus, which comes third, was surprising, with 47% of the population agreeing to completely demolish the traditional area and replacing them with modern residential buildings but only 8.51% of the population rejects the idea of demolishing traditional buildings because they are aware of their value not only for architecture and heritage but also for their importance. as a result, 46% of the population agreed to convert it into a purely tourist area and replaced it with modern-style dwellings outside the old city. however, we find that as many as 6.50% of the population do not agree with this view. of the population who answered that the issue of the region as a heritage does not really matter were (43%). on the other hand, 56.9% of the population is interested in the old city area, and they object to the view that they do not care, and 30% strongly object. the results of these statistics show that by taking a percentage of those who cannot determine their position on the concept of heritage and identity of the old town, we find that the percentage of those who have a cultural awareness of the value of the region is almost equal to the proportion of those who do not care about the subject area at all. the residents themselves have also pointed to the way they keep their homes and thus keep the old city vibrant. they are improving the physical environment of their dwellings with external financing. they have mostly gathered that they want to stay in their homes if their physical environment is rehabilitated. the study was conducted on the basis of research on the vulnerability of the physical environment of housing in the old city of jerusalem, the behavior of the population, the social, psychological, health and economic characteristics of the population and the region, and, conversely, does their personal qualities influence the surrounding physical environment and give it a special color. as a result of their behavioral and personal qualities and the analysis of mutual relations, the author concluded that: the physical environment of the dwelling clearly affects the health characteristics of the population in terms of faster transmission of the disease among family members, as well as the obvious effect of the internal environment of the house from the mold and the fall of building materials. it’s also affected by the lack of sunlight in the homes and, therefore, the cold inside the house with the inability of residents to have a source of heat. there is a clear impact on the physical environment on the psychological characteristics of the population and this confirms the scientific theories documented in the study, which assume that there is a negative impact of the home that suffers from the manifestations of moisture on the psyche of the population as the vast majority of housing in the old city suffers from humidity. there is a clear relationship between the physical environment of the home and the educational attainment of children because of the overcrowding of the house from the lack of privacy and noise and the need for children to leave their schools. this is a reflection of the conditions of their poor families. -there is a strong relationship between the physical environment of the majority of houses located within israeli territory and between the consolidation of social ties between the neighbors. there is a clear relationship between the physical environment of adjacent homes and the low level of privacy in the population with more than one third of the windows of the houses overlooking the neighbors and israeli territory. there is a direct and clear relationship between the poor economic conditions of the majority of the population in the old town and the continued depreciation of buildings and the worsening physical condition of homes. the study showed that the vast majority of the population wish to do maintenance work but the economic situation prevents that. unfortunately, they are forced to use the easiest and most appropriate methods to suit the degree of their knowlpg. 38 mersal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd edge, their awareness and their urgent need to rehabilitate the bad conditions of the house, which leads to the damage of the architectural character of the building and its cultural structure. there is a direct relationship between the administrative decisions of the municipality of medina and the poor environmental conditions in the old city. housing within the old city constitutes a temporary stage for more than one-third of the families and it further enhances that one-third of the families who believe that the low cost of living can save them from planning to own a modern apartment and get out of the house. 7. conclusions and recommendations this paper has shown how a conceptual framework on environmental psychology can be drawn up and can be applied to the study of the importance of using human behavior while designing built environments. in the broader sense, this study suggests the use of behavioral sciences and their integration into theory and design practice. the lack of knowledge about human behaviors, attitudes and values is an important problem faced by architects and planners today in the design of built environments. in this regard, leveraging the knowledge of human behavior and the possibilities of behavior science provides designers with the possibility of integrating the social and individual aspects of people living in design processes (churchman, 2002). the architectural perception of the issues affecting the relationships between people and the environment is important in a creative and sensitive creative process. investigation of the type presented here should be encouraged, particularly in the field of architectural education. icon design from magazines and architectural prints provides access to diverse ammunition in diverse contexts. in light of the study and analysis, the following results can be obtained: the physical environment of the homes in the old city of jerusalem affects the health aspects of the population. the architectural characteristics of the house affect the psychological characteristics of the population, especially the narrow space in most housing, which leads to the integration of private jobs resulting in violation of privacy and people refraining from participating in social relations, especially with residents from outside the region. the physical properties of the house threaten the scientific and professional future of the children of the families living in the old town. the prevailing structural system of houses located within the israeli system in the old city is still a social vacuum that affects the neighbors and encourages them to meet and socially interact, thus strengthening the bonds of relations between them despite the different ties of kinship and the current cultural backgrounds among them. the behavior of the population in turning the yards into a closed space has led to a decrease in the level of privacy of the population where the windows overlooking the neighborhood are adopted inside their homes. the majority of the population in the region has a poor economic level, which is the main reason for the lack of interest in the maintenance of their homes and thus the continued deterioration of the physical condition of the buildings and the threat of traditional tissue compact to the old town. housing conditions in the old city are worsening as they constitute a transitional temporary residence not a target for stability. the poor physical condition of housing is devoted to the use of the poor class so that it has become attractive to the poor and uneducated groups from within and outside the city because of the low value of rent. the current situation in the old city continues to promote social separation and discrimination towards its population by residents of many other neighborhoods of the city. the housing in the current poor physical conditions in the old city has worked to weaken the link between the human and the physical environment as it has become an environmental repellent for the financially able people. pg. 39 mersal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 8. recommendations directing financial support to private housing rehabilitation projects by convincing the financer of the closed link between the sustainability of the urban heritage area and the importance of the housing function in it as inhabited housing is the heart of life for the area whose environment is subject to abandonment and destruction. financial support to preserve the architectural value of the houses as they constitute the majority of the integrated historical urban fabric that gives the region its importance and self-help projects through projects that are based on granting the population financial aid to carry out the necessary maintenance and repair work for the houses. references 1. abdul hakim, h. (2009). experience the urban style developed in the arab-islamic urban environment. urban social study of the realities of new riyadh city, saudi arabia. al-riyadh, saudi arabia. 2. altayash, k. (n.d.). some neighborhoods lack social cohesion and others cultivate an affinity between alqa’eda 1429. al-riyadh newspaper. al-riyadh: al-riyadh newspaper. 3. bonnes, m., & secchiaroli, g. (1995). environmental psychology: a psycho-social introduction. london: sage publications. 4. cassidy, t. (1997). environmental psychology: behavior and experience in context. east sussex: psychology press. 5. churchman, a. (2002). environmental psychology and urban planning: where can the twain meet? in r. b. churchman, handbook of environmental psychology (pp. 191-202). new york: john wiley and sons. 6. deasy, m. (1974). design for human affairs. schenkman publishers, cambridge. 7. dent, l. (1998). a post-modern glance at some recent trends in environment and behavior research studies behavior research in pacific rim. the 11th international conference on people and physical environmental research (pp. 17-24). sydney: university of sydney publishers. 8. fathy, h. (2001). architecture of the poor. egypt: egyptian book authority. 9. fozard et al., j. (2000). gerontechnology: creating enabling environments for the challenges and opportunities of aging. educational gerontology, 331-344. 10. gifford, r. (2002). environmental psychology: principles and practice. optimal books publishers. 11. grifford, r. (1997). environmental psychology: principles and practice. boston: allyn and bacon. 12. halibi, k. (2009). initially contribute to homeland security. family development center. al-ahsa, saudi arabia. 13. ittelson, h. (1974). an introduction to environmental psychology. holt reinhart. 14. jahanian, p., & motalebi. (2013). effect of personal-environmental factors on people satisfaction from residential region. international conference on architecture, civil engineering and sustainable development, (p. 74). 15. kanani. (n.d.). star: social life in the city and the feasibility of urban remedies. baghdad, iraq. 16. lang, j. (1974). fundamental processes of environmental behavior. in e. a. lang, designing for human behavior: architecture and the behavioral sciences. dowden, hutchinson & ross. 17. lang, j. (1987). creating architectural theory: the role of the behavioral sciences in environmental design . new york: van nostrand reinhold. pg. 40 mersal / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 18. motalebi, g. (2003). environmental psychology, a new knowledge for architecture and urban design. journal of fine arts, 65. 19. motalebi, g. (2005). fundamentals of architectural topics, functions of architecture, recognition of form and function proportion in architecture. 20. motalebi, g. (2005). fundamentals of architectural topics, functions of architecture, recognition of form and function proportion in architecture. . 21. newman, o. (1972). defensible space: crime prevention through urban design. new york: collier books. 22. selwyn, n. (2004). the information aged: a qualitative study of older adults’ use of information and communications technology. journal of aging studies, 369-384. 23. sharif, n. (1991). the role of architecture in the process of cultural development. the second international scientific conference of the faculty of engineering university of al-azhar. 24. stallions, s. (2007). formation of urban fabric for new residential neighborhoods 25. third housing seminar. riyadh, saudi arabia. 26. tala. (2008). building as care, trans-allegheny lunatic asylum. pg. 41 introduction environmental psychology human perception of the urban environment the relationship between human behavior and the environment the impact of the physical environment on human behavior the impact of architecture on human behavior the impact of the urban environment on human behavior characteristics of the physical environment and its relationship with the characteristics of the population in the old town of jerusalem physical environment of the dwelling physical environment and psychological characteristics of the population the future of the old city according to the behavior of the population the population's awareness of their housing as architectural heritage and cultural identity conclusions and recommendations recommendations http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 60 doi: 10.21625/essd.v5i2.760 guilty by association: addressing sustainability in architecture education tyana santini 1 1 assistant professor. universidad ort, uruguay corresponding author e-mail: (tyanasantini@gmail.com) abstract despite the growing interest in sustainability, negative associations of this term with naïve discourses, green-washing, or low-quality design are still common within some areas in the discipline of architecture. through a literature review and an examination of the programs of the top ten architecture schools, this article explores the causes and implications of this slight but persistent discredit of sustainability in the field of architecture. the article discusses how some of the perceived downsides of sustainability are reflected on the university curricula, as the fragmented understanding of environmental problems or the overly technical approach to their solution within technology and design. the discussion also addresses the improvements brought by recent multidisciplinary explorations of environmental issues made within the architectural humanities, that provide students a comprehensive historical, social, and cultural understanding of the issue. © 2020 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords sustainability; architecture education; green-washing; sustainable architecture; environmental humanities 1.introduction over the past two decades, the increasing awareness of environmental issues has encouraged architecture schools to expand their offers on sustainability lectures and programs. many institutions are even integrating architectural schools into the more comprehensive environmental design departments, which have a much more interdisciplinary approach to construction than the traditional architecture education. however, there is still within the discipline a subtle rejection of sustainability —usually stronger among historians and theorists (hurley, 2009; baird, 2011)— that has inadvertently distanced many architects from the entire subject of environmental problems. although negative views of sustainability are not prevalent, they have been nonetheless withholding the full engagement of the discipline with environmental issues, and it is the intention of this article to discuss the reasons behind these negative views. to this end, first, the literature review presents an analysis of the bad reputation of sustainability among architecture professionals and scholars in section 2. the study then places the discussion in the context of education through a careful examination of the programs and syllabi of the world’s top ten architecture schools, which is further explained in section 3. it is not the purpose of this article to cover all the complex problems of the integration of sustainability in higher education, for which there is an extensive array of general and discipline-specific research (wright, 2003; aia, 2006; shari & mohd, 2006; guy & moore, 2007; altomonte, 2009; kahn, vandevyvere and allacker, 2013; iulo, gorby, http://www.press.ierek.com/ mailto:tyanasantini@gmail.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v5i2.760&domain=press.ierek.com santini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 61 poerschke, kalisperi and wollen, 2013; gale, f., et al., 2015; gucyeter, 2016; higgins, b., & thomas, i., 2016; ismail, keumala and dabdoob, 2017; hassanpour, alpar and ghader, 2017). this discussion article hopes to bring forward a relevant analysis of the particular subject of the negative connotations associated with sustainability among some scholars. moreover, despite the focus on architectural programs of the 2016-2017 academic period, this discussion intends to reach a readership beyond this field and timeframe to share some insights into a problem that may affect other areas of knowledge. 2. architecture and sustainability's bad press architecture is a complex discipline. it involves the creative act of design, the ability to manage strict scientific data for the construction process, and the aptitude to reflect on philosophical matters as aesthetics or the conflicts of our contemporary world. within architecture education, these multiple and interconnected dimensions are addressed on an ever-increasing variety of lectures that allow for various categorizations. howevetr, for the specific purpose of this article, lectures are divided in the traditional areas of building technology, design, and humanities. building technology has been the area most committed to solving the environmental crisis, but it is also the source of some polemics that have encouraged the distrust in the concept of sustainability (czajkowski, 2016; green 2018). for example, the growing phenomenon of green-washing —or ‘false sustainability’— has had a negative impact on the public’s perception of sustainable architecture (jurado, 2016; graham, 2017). authentic efforts of achieving efficient constructions are affected by the misuse of ‘ecogadgets’ that serve more as status symbols than as efficiency enhancers (williamson, radford and bennets, 2003). within architectural research, the international certification systems for green buildings have become a frequent target of criticism. one of the most frequent claims against leading certifications as leed or breeam is that they make too much emphasis on energy efficiency, encouraging a fragmented and limited approach to sustainability (wargo, 2010), overlooking other important problems as resource depletion or pollution (newsham, mancini and birt, 2009). these certifications have also been accused of endorsing deficient assessments of the building’s life cycle (scofield, 2009; blaviesciunaite and cole 2011), of being potentially harmful for local identities (cole & valdebenito, 2013), and of unwisely disregarding the benefits of traditional constructions (dirlich, 2012). still, the biggest limitation of these certifications is that their usefulness is rather symbolic since, on a global scale, the percentage of buildings achieving real sustainability is negligible (jarzombek, 2009; kozak, 2014). within the area of design, attitudes towards sustainability are more complex. trends in this area are usually guided by the built and written work of renowned practitioners, better known in the field as ‘starchitects’ (ponzini, 2018). for the particular purpose of this discussion, starchitects’ postures towards sustainability could be broadly divided into two major approaches, namely, sustainability seen as a guiding element intrinsic to the design process, and sustainability seen as a feature subordinated to other more important interests of the design process, as it is done with plumbing or electric systems. among the most publicized contemporary architects involved with green or sustainable design –the ones representing the first approach– are richard rogers, bjarke ingels, renzo piano, stefano boeri, and ken yeang. the active engagement of these architects with sustainability is apparent in their buildings and discourse. their theoretical production on sustainable architecture is not as extensive as their built work, but there are noteworthy contributions as roger’s book ‘cities for a small planet’ or the development of the concept of ‘hedonistic sustainability’ by bjarke ingels (jacobsen & tester, 2016). for the second group of architects, efficiency is not a central aspect of the design process, and despite the mainstream popularity of sustainability, this is the prevailing approach among architectural practitioners. this, however, does not necessarily imply that these architects are unaware of environmental issues or that their buildings are less sustainable. in the work of these architects, other concerns as formal experimentation or the social role of the building take priority in the design process. some examples of this second group are remment koolhaas or peter zumthor. although most of their late designs do consider efficiency and environmental impact, sustainability or environmental problems are not usually part of their discourse (oma, 2018; zumthor, 2006). when talking about their own production, these santini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 62 architects make emphasis on other aspects of architecture as formal issues, the effects created by different spaces, or the relation of the building with its context. within this group, there are architects who straightforwardly condemn sustainable architecture. the most recognized personality in this regard is the american architect peter eisenman, an open critic of contemporary green construction. on a controversial interview from 2009, eisenman stated that ‘“green” and sustainability have nothing to do with architecture’, adding that ‘[s]ome of the worst buildings [he has] seen are done by sustainable architects’ (eisenman, 2009). today most architects would not openly share this view, but there is consensus in that sustainability does not necessarily translates into good architecture, or bad for that matter (moss, as quoted in hosey 2012; kozak, 2016). within architectural humanities, there was until recently a widespread rejection of sustainability as a serious subject of research, either as a general concept or as applied in construction. architecture historians and theorists tend to avoid the term because of its vagueness or ambiguity (pareja and støa, 2004; moe, 2007; fuller, 2010; schroeder, 2018) and it is still common within this area for comments on sustainability to quickly turn into semantic disputes. the lack of serious theoretical grounds or significant architectural contribution of green architecture have also been common reasons to reject sustainability within the humanities. but perhaps the most harmful association has been that of sustainability with the uncritical acceptance of naïve discourses and compliant attitudes (guy and moore, 2007; jaimes, 2016). two decades ago, the professor of urban planning, peter marcuse, stated that ‘the promotion of “sustainability” may simply encourage the sustaining of the unjust status quo’ (marcuse, 1998), while more recently, koolhaas’ analysis of the smart city movement denounced that ‘traditional european values of liberty, equality, and fraternity have been replaced in the 21st century by comfort, security, and sustainability’(koolhaas 2014). besides the harm that these associations made to the image of sustainability, there was a lack of an appropriate body of knowledge on environmental problems, suitable for discussions on architecture in humanities. however, in the last decades the production of architecture history and theory has been accompanying the developments of other environmental humanities in the creation of more comprehensive and critical perspectives of sustainability (rawes, 2013; axel, colomina, hirsch and vidokle, 2018). a new framework for the contextualization of contemporary architecture has become available through the insights on the politics of the anthropocene of bruno latour (2004), while kate soper’s challenging reinterpretation of the good life (soper, thomas and ryle, 2009) offers valuable insights into social changes. similarly, the works of william cronon (1995) and timothy morton (2007) on nature and wilderness are enriching architects’ reflections on the relationship of the built and natural world. 3. sustainability and architecture education despite all the criticism of current practices of sustainability, there is a general agreement on that future architects should be educated on the subject. nevertheless, the integration of any current issue into education is bound to provoke controversies, and sustainability has not been an exception. one of the most vocal critics of the incorporation of sustainability into education is the british architect austin williams. in his view, environmental discourses tend to be misanthropic (williams, 2008) and he argues that sustainability education ‘undermines critical engagement and replaces it with blind loyalty’ (williams, 2013). this point of view is extreme and shared by few (peterson & wood, 2015), but is driven by a premise widely accepted among architects, which is the shortage of critical approaches to sustainability. in order to examine how the shortcomings of sustainability perceived by architects relate to education, a review of the top ten architectural schools was made. the institutions selected were the ones occupying the top ten places of the architectural schools ranking made by the british firm quacquarelli symonds (qs), one of the world’s leading higher education analysts. the schools and departments reviewed belong to the following universities: the national university of singapore (nus) and the university of hong kong (hk) from the asian region; harvard university (gsd), massachusetts institute of technology (mit), and the university of california-berkeley from the unites states; and from europe, the university college london-bartlett (ucl bartlett), manchester university, cambridge university, delft university of technology (tu delft), and the swiss federal institute of technology in zurich (eth zurich). the official programs and brochures that were publicly available of these ten schools were carefully examined. for the seven schools where syllabi were available (nus, hk, harvard gsd, berkeley, mit, tu delft, and eth zurich), a comprehensive review was made of the contents of the lectures offered. a total of 1364 course descriptions were santini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 63 examined to determine if and how they addressed sustainability or current environmental issues. the categorization of a lecture as ‘environmentally aware’ was not strictly limited to those that used particular terms as ‘sustainability’ or ‘environment’ — or any of their variations. it was taken into account that references to these subjects were often made indirectly, as for example with the citation of an author highly concerned with environmental problems or with the inclusion of technical means that reduce the environmental impact of buildings. it should be considered that all the lectures surveyed belonged to the architectural departments. this study examines the standard curriculum of the architecture schools and does not consider cross-listed lectures or other options offered in which students tailor their majors or minors with lectures from other departments, making each student’s experience highly individual. the percentage of lectures by area who address the environmental issues is shown in table 1, while table 2 shows the percentage of lectures in the six schools where the available information allowed for a distinction between graduate and undergraduate lectures. it is important to note that the main purpose of the survey is not to conduct an exhaustive evaluation of sustainability in architectural education ⁠—for which the data is not suitable— but to explore the content of programs and syllabi to discuss possible connections with the issues covered in the literature review. table 1. percentage of environmentally aware lectures by area school building tech. (%) design (%) humanities (%) harvard gsd 48% 34% 10% mit 33% 9% 18% berkeley 35% 30% 16% tu delft 44% 43% 25% eth zurich 30% 11% 16% hk 30% 10% 13% nus 33% 45% 35% table 2. percentage of environmentally aware lectures by program and area school building tech. (%) design (%) humanities (%) mit und. 62% 6% 6% mit grad. 10% 12% 30% berkeley und. 38% 45% 20% berkeley grad. 33% 17% 14% tu delft und. 100% 45% 19% tu delft grad. 30% 43% 28% eth zurich und. 22% 10% 19% eth zurich grad. 38% 13% 15% hk und. 29% 7% 18% hk grad. 31% 13% 13% nus und. 50% 48% 33% nus grad. 20% 37% 39% santini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 64 3.1. building technology in architecture education, this area provides from the most basic construction knowledge about structure to the most complex computations of hyperbolic rooftops or house automation. this area also deals with all the aspects of human comfort, as thermal regulation, humidity, acoustic control, and lighting. the traditional goal of these subjects has been to teach future architects how to create safe and comfortable environments. nevertheless, in the last decades, building technology has gained the additional responsibility of providing the technical knowledge for an efficient use of resources, low energy consumption, and the minimization of pollution. in accordance with the situation in architectural practice, the predominance of the technical approach to sustainability was apparent in all ten architectural programs. six out of the seven universities with available syllabi had the highest percentage of lectures dealing with sustainability within building technology, with percentages ranging between 30% and 48%. within the universities in which graduate and undergraduate programs could be differentiated, four out of six cases had a higher percentage of sustainability lectures in undergraduate programs, being the highest percentages found in mit (62%) and tu delf (100%). this outcome confirms that the technical instruction on sustainability is seen as part of the basic education that an architect should have, and not only as a specialization. this is also evident in the reviewed schools not included in the tables, as ucl bartlett, cambridge, and manchester school of architecture, where courses on sustainability technology are offered during the first years of undergraduate programs (manchester school of architecture, 2017; ucl bartlett, 2017; university of cambridge, 2017). as discussed in the previous section, one of the causes of the negative image of sustainable architecture within building technology is the emphasis on inefficient certification systems. however, despite the importance of these certifications in practice, the subject is surprisingly absent from technical lectures. to become a professional with leed or breeam credentials it is necessary to undertake a specialized test of such institutions. some architectural schools, as harvard gsd or ucl bartlett, provide courses to prepare these tests, but these are not included in the official architectural programs. the rare lectures that explicitly claim to address sustainability certifications seem to be aware of their limitations, as the mit course ‘design for sustainability’ (ochsendorf, 2016), which covers some requirements of the leed certification, but in combination with a system called life cycle assessment, which is one of the alleged weak points of the system. following the trends of architectural practice, the subject most commonly addressed in sustainable technology lectures is energy efficiency, mainly approached through the enhancement of thermal control, ventilation, and lighting. on the other hand, the appropriate use of water, the management of construction waste, and other issues associated with environmental problems are still rare. however, within the reviewed syllabi there are scarce but valuable examples of lectures dealing with subjects other than energy. at mit, structure courses include the assessment of the environmental impact of structural systems (ochsendorf and mueller, 2016), where a lecture on building materials at eth zurich considers the availability and lifecycle of materials (carmeliet, koebel, trzebitowski, winnefeld, zimmermann, 2016), while at tu delft, the course ‘zero-energy design’ introduces strategies on waste products in accordance to regional plans (broersma, 2016). the growing awareness of the negative effects of the energy-focused approach to sustainability is apparent in the content of new lectures as ‘renewable resources and architecture’ (nus, 2017), where the impact of the construction industry in the natural environment are examined. moreover, the mit course ‘modelling urban energy flows for sustainable cities and neighborhoods’ provides an understanding of the subject that goes beyond the limits of the building, encouraging students to examine environmental issues related to urbanization and greenhouse (reinhart & jones, 2017). 3.2. design courses in which students engage in design practice are considered the backbone of architectural education. this category includes everything from the first drawing and modelling lectures to graduation projects where future professionals must create comprehensive architectural designs. studio-based courses are regarded as the most important for the development of design skills, and at some universities, as ucl bartlett, design studios can reach up to 70% of the required courses (ucl bartlett, 2019). architecture schools offer several studio options with different approaches to design achieved by either integrating art, making emphasis on computational skills, or focusing on the santini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 65 conservation of historical areas. it is in design studios where students learn how to integrate the knowledge acquired in other lectures. this fact becomes especially relevant for sustainability since design decisions can have an important effect on the building’s performance. a proper orientation can maximize natural sunlight, the level of insulation changes according to the materials chosen, and facade decisions can hinder or favor natural ventilation. all the programs reviewed have a wide range of design courses fully or partially dedicated to sustainability, but in smaller percentage than in building technology. nus is the only university with the highest percentage of courses claiming to consider sustainability within the area of design (45%). these results reflect the predominant attitude in architectural practice, that takes sustainability as one of the requirements to which constructions must comply, and not as a crucial guiding premise of the design process. still, a positive aspect revealed by the review is that, as in building technology, most universities have a higher percentage of design courses that include sustainability on undergraduate programs. the degree of engagement of design studios with sustainability varies extremely. within studios where environmental issues are not the main concern, students are not normally expected to undertake efficiency calculations, at least not within the framework of the studio requirements. a good example to illustrate this approach is the tu delft studio ‘housing the inner city,’ where the premise is to design a housing project for the city of johannesburg. in this studio, students are asked to conceive an urbanization strategy for an area with a difficult economic and social context of segregation, gentrification, and over-population (brillembourg & klumpner, 2017). within this context, environmental issues are only one part of the complex equation. not all studio proposals are as complex as this one, but students usually have to deal with a wide range of difficult factors while keeping the focus on the overall design. general sustainable measures must be foreseen, as it is done with structures or electricity systems, but detailed specifications are not expected. in most universities, the technical knowledge to achieve an efficient design is taught separately in building technology courses. that is the case of the university of cambridge, where from the first undergraduate year, technical lectures on environmental systems and bioclimatic design are offered with the explicit intention of preparing students to evaluate the performance of their own designs (university of cambridge, 2017). within design courses entirely focused on sustainability, approaches tend to be more technical. for instance, at the university of hong kong advanced computational methods are taught as part of design studios (the university of hong kong, 2016). in this type of studio, efficiency calculations do take precedence over design, but contrary to what might happen in building technology courses, the functional, formal, and aesthetic aspects of the building are as important as the performance of the building. the search for aesthetic quality is understood to be an implicit aspect of design courses. however, the syllabus of some courses as ‘zero energy residential high-rise’ from harvard gds (malkawi & gill, 2017), explicitly state that the aesthetic aspect of the design will be taken into account, possibly in response to the associations of green architecture with poor quality design. unlike courses in building technology, the term sustainability rarely appears in the syllabi of design courses, and when it does, it is frequently written within quotation marks. although the emphasis on technological aspects is predominant, a small group of design studios are providing a more comprehensive approach to environmental issues. the studio directed by the influential rem koolhaas at harvard gsd, focuses on the social consequences that environmental changes have in rural areas and examines, among other subjects, the emerging counterculture communes and the interaction of animals and humans (koolhaas, 2017). in this interdisciplinary studio, students collaborate with experts from fields such as bioscience, anthropology, history, robotics, and environment studies. another interesting example is the studio directed by carola hein at tu delft entitled ‘architecture and urbanism beyond oil’, which also addresses environmental issues from a perspective still unusual in architectural schools. her studio focuses on the current oil dependency, and students are encouraged to think about the larger political, economic, and socio-cultural contexts of architecture and urban design (hein, 2017). these studios —both directed by scholars who have produced theoretical work related to environmental issues (hein, 2009, koolhaas, 2014)— take the examination of environmental issues beyond the subject of energy efficiency, which is essential to explore comprehensive views of sustainability that incorporate social change. santini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 66 3.3. humanities courses on architecture humanities deal with the development, aims, and principles of architecture. all courses dedicated to history and theory, as well as classes or workshops dealing with the socio-cultural aspects related to architecture such as sociology or ethics, are considered within the humanities. the complex array of lectures considered as humanities allow students to understand the evolution of styles, reflect on the formal language of architectural movements, and explore the different ideological grounds behind them. one of the goals of the humanities is to guide students in the development of a critical position towards the context in which they will act. currently, environmental issues are an important part of that context (buchanan, 2012). the syllabi examination confirms that, in education as well, humanities is the area less involved with sustainability or environmental problems, where nus and tu delft are the universities with the highest percentage of humanities lectures addressing these issues (35% and 25% respectively). although there are some lectures entirely dedicated to environmental problem, most of these lectures cover the issue only superficially, as it is done with other subjects of our contemporary context such as politics or economy. the hard criticism towards sustainability does not explicitly appear on the programs or syllabi, but it makes itself apparent in the small number of lectures engaged with the subject as well as in the emergence of an alternative vocabulary that replaces the terms that carry negative associations. within the humanities syllabi, references to sustainability or environmental crisis are frequently made while avoiding those expressions, as in descriptions of our contemporary world as anthropocenic (jarzombek, 2016) or by referencing works of authors concerned with environmental degradation as rebecca solnit or j.b. jackson (crawford & stewart, 2017). lectures on architectural humanities are taking references from various environmental disciplines but maintaining the focus on the contents related to social concerns. for example, the lecture offered in nus entitled ‘topics in urban studies shaping liveable places’ explores how the loss of biodiversity and climate change have a negative impact on the citizens’ lives (nus, 2016), while the mit lecture ‘ecological urbanism seminar’ examines the effects of the interacting natural and urban processes in human welfare (spirn, 2016). this way, environmental issues are being integrated into the subjects that have been central to the architectural humanities. few lectures within humanities explicitly address the subject of sustainable architecture. the lecture offered at tu delft entitled ‘aesthetics of sustainable architecture’ is one of the rare lectures that discusses the aesthetic possibilities of sustainable architecture (lee, 2016), while also at tu delft, the class entitled ‘building green: past, present, future’ provides a historical perspective on sustainable architecture that allows students to relate the subject with the ecological, economic, and social sustainability (hein, 2016). literature on environmental history and theory of architecture is still limited, but some lectures are fostering the development of this historiography. a good example is the seminar ‘design radicals: the bay area counterculture legacy’ offered by greg castillo at berkeley in spring 2017, which published the results of its exploration of the ‘ecofreak’ and the beginnings of the ecological consciousness (castillo, 2017). as in other areas, there are some courses that confront environmental issues from a broad perspective, as the hk course called ‘sustainability and the built environment’(the university of hong kong, 2016), which examines sustainable futures in view of recent changes of population, transportation, technology, and energy, or the mit course ‘landscapes of energy’ that analyses systems of energy at many scales, considering the perspectives of critical geography, history of technology, and environmental history (ghosn, 2016). the approach of these lectures reflects the changes in research trends of architectural humanities, which are developing as a broader and more comprehensive analysis of environmental problems that merge the perspectives of technology, design, and the humanities. 4. final considerations the way environmental issues are confronted within architectural education is a reflection of the way the subject is dealt with in research and practice. it could be said that sustainability has already been assimilated within the technical areas of architecture. however, some of the drawbacks that architects perceive in sustainability are reflected on the curricula, which presents the fragmented approach seen in practice and it is overly focused on energy efficiency. there is, however, a promising interest of a small group of lectures in the interaction of the built and natural systems santini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 67 among professionals that is reflecting a cosnideration of the life cycle of materials, water treatment, and even architectural waste. within design studios, the situation is more complex since students must learn to comply with construction specification while creating functional spaces with aesthetic quality, meaning, and in the best-case scenario, even artistic value. while some studios place special emphasis on environmental issues, the tendency is for sustainability to be treated as one of the factors among the many that students must consider when designing a building. most probably, this integrative tendency will continue, and sustainability measures will become as assimilated to the design process as are now, for example, safety measure. irrespectively of positions on the integration of sustainability into design studios, the main agent driving the transition to a more sustainable architecture is the increasing legislation to minimize the environmental impact of constructions. therefore, if design studios keep in touch with the real-world requirements, the inclusion of sustainability will eventually become unavoidable. the engagement with environmental issues of architectural humanities is certainly limited if compared with other areas of the discipline. in the case of architecture education, the knowledge of historical and cultural problems associated with environmental issues becomes particularly relevant since construction happens to be one of the human activities with high impact on the environment (ortiz, castells, and sonnemann, 2009). however, the long-standing architects’ interest in nature has been relatively slow to transform into a sound critical perspective on environmental problems (buchanan, 2012; ursprung, 2017). at present, this situation is rapidly improving since references from environmental humanities are providing the historical, theoretical, and speculative approaches to evaluate the sociocultural dimensions of environmental problems (neimanis, åsber and hedrén, 2015; carr, 2004). moreover, examinations of environmental issues could be integrated into architectural education through indirect paths, as through the growing interest in social problems related to the environment as green gentrification (rigolon & németh 2020) or social justice (marsh, pilkington and rice 2020). universities have the responsibility to keep challenging knowledge claims with prescriptive tendencies (wals & jickling, 2002), and therefore, critical attitudes towards sustainability discourses should continue within architectural humanities, but without undermining the importance of environmental issues. sustainability has become ubiquitous in discussion of all areas of our contemporary world and it can no longer be dissociated from development plans or political agendas. for that reason, and regardless of positions on the subject, architectural humanities must provide students the proper tools to develop well informed arguments and strategies to confront the issue. attitudes towards sustainability within architecture are associated with worldviews, ideologies, and even local contexts, and a unanimous agreement on its meaning and implications is perhaps unachievable. 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(2006). atmospheres: architectural environments, surrounding objects. berlin: birkhäuser. https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/home/students/five-views-on-sustainability-in-architectural-education/8651398.article http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i2.447 smallholder organic farming: an entrepreneurial strategy in harmony with nature dina cartagena magnaye1 1assistant professor, university of the philippines school of urban and regional planning (up surp), e. jacinto st, diliman, quezon city, 1101, philippines; affiliate assistant professor and program chair, diploma in and master of land valuation and management, university of the philippines open university (upou), los baños, laguna, philippines abstract the paper examines the relationship between smallholder organic farming and entrepreneurship taking into account the environmental conservation approach of organic farming and the economic enhancement features of entrepreneurship. furthermore, it intends to determine, through qualitative analysis using case studies, how smallholder organic farming can be planned, and the competencies needed by an organic farmer when venturing into an organic farm enterprise. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords organic farming; entrepreneurship; environmental conservation; smallholder organic farming; farmer entrepreneur; organic agriculture 1. introduction organic agriculture and entrepreneurship are two concepts with distinctive characteristics but are interrelated (larsson, 2012; lynggaard, 2006; wolf, smit, & lauwere, 2004; rahmawati & triyono, 2016). organic farming is centered toward sustainable production and management of the farm while contributing to food security and biodiversity conservation. entrepreneurship, on the other hand, is a more complex and risk-prone undertaking that requires not only the capacity and capability of an individual, but most of all the entrepreneurial spirit needed to face the challenges of the enterprise development process. literature identified marketing as one of the challenges faced by organic farmers. the conventional products are usually cheaper than the organically produced commodities. convenience is another factor since most of nonorganic produce abounds in supermarkets. in local circumstances, the identified challenges are seen as motivators for some capable organic producers to group themselves, together with some supporters and advocates to embark into a marketing scheme that they termed as “subscription scheme” to ensure a captured market for their produce. some of them who possess entrepreneurial capabilities even set up food establishments not just as an alternative market but also as a source of additional income. other organic farmers group themselves together to attract support from their local government units or from concerned government agencies for technical and marketing pg. 1 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i2.447&domain=press.ierek.com magnaye / environmental science and sustainable development, essd assistance. 1.1. organic farming and nature the hrda— the organic organization (1998) indicated that “organic farming works in harmony with nature rather than against it. . . [utilizing] techniques to achieve good crop yields without harming the natural environment or the people who live and work in it.” organic farming is “rooted from the traditional agriculture systems wherein the cultural and biological evolution was anchored on the interaction of traditional and indigenous farmers with the environment, without utilizing inputs, capital or modern scientific knowledge, but only intensive experiential knowledge of how natural resources are made productive to ensure productivity through the management of agrobiodiversity in the form of diversified agricultural systems” (maghirang, de la cruz, & villareal, 2011). the emerging efforts in organic farming now combines the traditional methods and modern scientific knowledge of farming to create balance between nature and farming. for more than three decades, the farmers in the philippines have been practicing a chemical-based agricultural production strategy (mendoza, 2008). according to mendoza (2008), the “crop production strategies adopted by farmers involved the extensive use of fertilizers, pesticides and growth regulators since there are only few practical and feasible alternatives to boost crop yield. he added that even the university-based research identified the agricultural chemicals to include synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides as effective means to generate the highest crop yields.” farming becomes a family enterprise or business, especially in the rural areas where agriculture serves as the driver of the local economy. the farm is a means to realize profits with farmers as the entrepreneurs. 1.2. smallholder organic farming organic farming becomes essential to rural communities and smallholder farmers that do not have financial resources to access expensive synthetic pesticides and inorganic fertilizers. the smallholder farmers recognized organic farming as a cost-efficient means of crop and animal production that would address food insecurity and alleviate poverty given the continuous and rapid growth in the demand for organic produce. smallholder organic farming becomes highly relevant to income generation if farmers become market-oriented and transform themselves into innovative and forward-looking entrepreneurs. kahan, (2013) stated that many small-scale farmers possess the qualities of an entrepreneur who “look for better ways to organize their farms; try new crops and cultivars, better animals, and alternative technologies to increase productivity; diversify production; reduce risk – and to increase profits; . . . [as well as] take calculated risks to open or create new markets for their products.” 1.3. legal basis of organic farming in the philippines the passage of the organic agriculture act of 2010 (republic act 10068 or ra 10068) has greatly influenced the development of organic agriculture in the philippines. as defined by the law, organic agriculture includes all agricultural systems that promote the ecologically sound, socially acceptable, economically viable and technically feasible production of food and fibers. it covers soil fertility management, varietal breeding and selection under chemical-free conditions, and the use of biotechnology and other cultural practices. it also excludes the use of genetically modified organisms (gmos). ra 10068 aims to promote, propagate, develop further and implement the practice of organic agriculture in the philippines to cumulatively condition and enrich the fertility of the soil, increase farm productivity, reduce pollution and destruction of the environment, prevent the depletion of natural resources, further protect the health of farmers, consumers, and the public, and save on imported farm inputs. the law establishes a comprehensive program for the promotion of community-based organic agriculture systems which include, among others, farmer-produced purely pg. 2 magnaye / environmental science and sustainable development, essd organic fertilizers such as compost, pesticides and other farm inputs, together with a nationwide educational and promotional campaign for their use and processing as well as adoption of an organic agriculture system as a viable alternative. the law also encompasses the establishment of the national organic agricultural program (noap), protection of the environment, accreditation, registration, labeling and certification of organic products, and provisions of incentives to adopters of organic agriculture. the noap covers the preparation of strategic plans to promote, commercialize and cultivate through organic farming methods in the philippines, conduct research and technology upgrading, as well as capacity building for farmers and consumer education. environmental protection includes the generation of raw materials from industrial waste and community garbage to produce organic fertilizers and other farm inputs. an entity will be designated to handle accreditation, registration, labeling and certification of organic products. farmers are also entitled to receive incentives and cash reward when identified as one of the best organic farm in the country. the pure organic agriculture farmer/producer are also accorded with income tax holiday. 2. methods 2.1. data gathering two types of data were gathered for the case studies to include the primary and secondary data. the gathering of primary data focused on key informant interview (kii) method which covers an in-depth interview with persons knowledgeable about organic farming and entrepreneurship and familiar with the local situation. the kii covered the interview of three (3) individuals engaged in organic farming and entrepreneurship. the respondents were selected based on the following criteria: a) number of years engaged in organic farming; b) technical knowledge in organic farming principles, approaches and methods; and c) know how in organic farming enterprise planning, development operation and business management. an open-ended interview guide was developed for the kii. the interview with an organic farm owner cum worker in the landlocked province of ifugao in the cordillera administrative region of the philippines identified the motivating factors in organic farming, the challenges and experiences encountered in the organic production process, perceptions on organic farming and its contribution to food security as well as the conservation of the environment, and the necessary formal training in organic farming and management. an organic farmer cum entrepreneur from the province of laguna in the calabarzon (calamba, laguna, batangas, rizal, & quezon) region was also interviewed to determine how the idea of engaging in smallholder organic farming (vegetables, fruit trees and indigenous crops production, among others) started, the history of the enterprise from start-up to where it is today, and the technical background in organic farming and its management. a farm worker cum farm supervisor from the same province and region was also interviewed to determine the economic aspect of smallholder organic farming, the personal motivation as well as the benefits of working in an organic farm. actual visits to the smallholder organic farms were also conducted to observe farm operations and validate the results of the interviews with the chosen respondents. a participant observation approach enabled the researcher to observe things that occurred in the farm/enterprise over a given period of time. the secondary data gathering consisted of the review of related literature to include print and online review of journal articles, books, and reports on organic farming and its relationship with entrepreneurship. 2.2. data analysis the information gathered from the primary data gathering were analyzed qualitatively. qualitative data analysis involved the examination, tabulation, and interpretation of evidences that were investigated in the kii. pg. 3 magnaye / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3. results and discussions the section below discusses the results of the interviews made with the respondents. furthermore, the analysis of the findings establishes the relationship between smallholder organic agriculture and entrepreneurship based on the perception of the respondents and extensive review of local and foreign related studies. 3.1. the relationship of smallholder organic farming with entrepreneurship traditionally, the needed skills of organic farmers are centered into production, operational management, sustainable cultivation and rural development. they focused more on the quality of the produce to command a favorable market value and the importance of environmental protection. but today, the changes in the marketing environment requires smallholder organic farmers to enhance their skills in marketing, business management, networking and most recently, in identifying new business opportunities through social media. thus, aside from production skills, the farmers nowadays need entrepreneurial skills coupled with a little know-how in social media advertising, selling and networking. these are supported by the testimonies of the respondents from the three (3) case studies taking into consideration their perceptions on smallholder organic farming as elaborated in the succeeding sections. the testimonies are focused on sustainable agriculture, specifically sustainable farming. 3.1.1. perceptions of an organic farmer cum farm owner mr. villafuerte camat jr. of lamut integrated organic farm in ifugao province worked before as a welder in the republic of china, taiwan. he chose to engage in organic farming even if he would earn less from this endeavor than as a welder or conventional farmer. mr. camat cited passion, love of nature, awareness of the negative impacts of conventional farming on the environment, formal training undertaken on organic farming with the philippines department of agriculture (da), and the contribution of his education being a second-year college in an agriculture course in ifugao state university (ifsu), as his motivating factors. farming has been a tradition and culture for the camat family. when his father tasked him to manage their farm, he realized the responsibility that it was an opportune time for him to carry on the tradition. mr. camat is a member of the lamut organic practitioners association. the association receives support from the philippine da in the form of training, machineries and seeds for organic farm production. the members of the association have secured a space at the public market, which is provided by the lgu during designated market days. the university is considered as a captured market for mr. camat’s organic swine. the following presents the sustainable production approaches and processes being practiced in the farm of the key informant: 3.1.1.1. adopt crop rotation in the farm according to mohler and johnson (2009), “crop rotation is a critical feature of all organic cropping systems. . . ” crop rotation is defined by reza (2016) as a “system of designing how to cycle a parcel of land through various crops, and reducing the reliance on chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. it is how successful farmers nurtured their land over generations, and remains vitally important for farmers today wanting to nourish their local environment whilst growing good, healthy food.” this is a cultural practice in agriculture where different crops are cultivated in a given parcel of land for a period of time. according to reza (2016), a carefully designed crop rotation scheme sustains soil nutrients, improves soil fertility and structure, enhances presence of soil organic matter, controls pest populations and diseases, deters growth of weeds, maintains healthy soil, controls soil erosion, improves biodiversity, and reduces commercial risk, among others. pg. 4 magnaye / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3.1.1.2. practice resource use within the capacity and resilience of the farm this cultural practice allows the field to rest for a season by planting a crop (in this case mung bean) and cultivates the soil again without harvesting the crop. the crop rots in the field to revitalize the soils and accumulate the nutrients in the form of nitrogen fixing bacteria. 3.1.1.3. prepare organic feeds formulation using the leaves of indigenous plants and recycled peelings of fruits as well as vegetables from the kitchen as feeds for the livestock the leaves of many trees contain twice as many minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, nitrogen and ash) as animal manure that the plants need as their food. the peelings of fruits such as banana are also a good source of nutrients for the soil and make a good fertilizer. for instance, banana peels contain high levels of potassium, magnesium and other good minerals. the peeling of citrus has d-limonene, which serves as a natural insecticide. 3.1.1.4. formulate organic sprays and organic fertilizers using livestock manure as fertilizer for rice and vegetables using indigenous microorganisms (imo) formula to speed up decomposition the use of imo in natural framing is an old practice adopted by a number of countries to include japan, the philippines, mongolia, china, among others. studies revealed many benefits from the use of imo as follows: a) act as a reserve source for all nutrients; b) add organic matter to the soil; and c) increase soil fertility (sumathi, janardhan, srilakhmi, gopal, & narasimha, 2012). the use of imo in natural framing is an old practice adopted by a number of countries to include japan, the philippines, mongolia, china, among others. studies revealed many benefits from the use of imo as follows: a) act as a reserve source for all nutrients; b) add organic matter to the soil; and c) increase soil fertility (sumathi et. al., 2012). 3.1.1.5. carry out vermicomposting vermicompost refers to the process of composting using earthworms and microorganism. [it is] an oxidative process (with air) which ends in the stabilization of organic matter. like the mature compost, the “final product is organic matter, but the earthworms perform the process with the help of microorganisms” (lazcano, 2008; roman et al., 2015). vermicomposting is also a “low-cost technology, environment-friendly process used to treat organic waste” and has the following influences on plants: a) stimulates plant growth to include aromatic and medicinal plants; b) hastens seed germination; c) stimulates shoot and root development; and d) stimulates flowering of the plants; among others (lazcano & dominguez, 2011). as an organic farmer and farm owner, mr. camat is earning enough for his family although he emphasized that patience, passion, awareness and know-how are needed to succeed in organic farming as an enterprise. he emphasized that without these traits, the rate of success in organic farming as a business is very low. mr. camat urged the smallholder organic farmers in his locality to never give up when experiencing failures in organic farming. according to him, the option to engage in organic farming should not always be equated with the realization of a quick return or profit. what is necessary is the positive impact of organic farming to the farm, to people’s health and to the environment in general. the organic products from mr. camat’s farm are not certified since certification is an expensive and long process. in the philippines, organic certification is vital to ascertaining the integrity of an organic product. however, the organic farming industry is faced with the issue of the high cost of organic certification. ra 6008 clearly stipulates that only third-party certification is allowed for agriculture produce. the cost of certification ranges from php42,000 to php150,000. to address this issue, mr. camat sought the help of the da on this aspect. in terms of support from government agencies, mr. camat received training while the associations are getting other support in the form of machineries, seeds and other organic farm inputs. from the different training in organic farming, mr. pg. 5 magnaye / environmental science and sustainable development, essd camat disseminates information on organic farming by providing training and lecture in his farm at a certain fee. 3.1.2. perceptions of an organic farmer cum entrepreneur mr. jabez flores is an entrepreneur cum organic farmer. he finished his bachelor of arts in psychology at the university of the philippines in los banos (uplb), laguna, philippines. at the time of the interview, he is pursuing his masters in environment and natural resources management at the university of the philippines open university (upou). he is an active member of a group called nu wave farmers (nwf). this group represents the farmers born in the 1980s (hence the “nu wave” label referring to the popular music genre of that decade), but also includes new organic farmers who emerged from the early 2000s to present. . . [with the] slogan “making farming cool again,” [which] aims to change the mentality of the youth towards farming, from where it is usually viewed as a poor man’s and/or retiree’s profession to something that benefits their local community by providing good food in an ecologically friendly and “hip” way.” (sandoval, n.d.). originally, mr. flores wanted to employ the “seed-to-cup” philosophy in his coffee shop, cafe antonio. as a barista (generally prepares coffee drinks), he wanted to work with coffee farmers. however, he did not know how to talk with farmers and realized the need to learn how to relate to them. luckily, upou was offering a course on organic agriculture in 2012. this strengthened his desire to engage and expand knowledge in organic farming. aside from coffee, mr. flores also wanted to provide organic vegetables to his family because his mother had cancer in 2000. for mr. flores, he firmly believed that oa contributes to food security, helps in ecological conservation and mitigates climate change. as an organic farmer cum entrepreneur, mr. flores employs sustainable agriculture practices in organic farming. as characterized by (menalled et al., 2008), sustainable agriculture (farming)has the following benefits: “a) sustains the economic viability of farm operations; b) satisfies human food, fiber and energy needs; c) maintains or enhances the resource base upon which it depends by emphasizing soil conservation, nutrient recycling, biologically based-pest management and biodiversity; d) takes advantage of the knowledge and skills of farmers; e) is durable and resilient to disturbance, pest outbreaks and market variability; f) makes the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources; and g) integrates, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and pest control tools with production practices.” the following are among the sustainable production approaches highlighted by the respondent: 3.1.2.1. act as an advocate of organic agriculture (oa) being an advocate of oa is a way of “making a difference” which includes its promotion to a younger, stronger and more capable generation. a voluntary campaign for the youth, the nwf also introduces and implements community shared agriculture (csa) in the community. the yummy magazine (n.d.) referred to csa as “a sustainable alternative distribution system that supports smallholder organic farming by subscribing to prepaid, local and seasonal vegetables delivered weekly to a community.” 3.1.2.2. adopt forward linkage activities of organic farming with the food enterprise café antonio serves a combination of organic and non-organic food products. the former are sourced from the farms managed by mr. flores. according to mr. flores, he used to have a vegetable stand at cafe antonio called the beige table. however, he closed it down to focus on his online store instead. 3.1.2.3. operate the farm enterprise on a trust basis mr. jabez shared that his farm products are not certified as organic. he cited the long and tedious process as well as the high amount needed to obtain a certification. he operates on a “trust basis” where most of his customers are friends and supporters of organic farming. he also mentioned that he has not received support or seeking assistance pg. 6 magnaye / environmental science and sustainable development, essd from the government. 3.1.2.4. expose individuals on organic agriculture practices through field observation and networking as advocate of organic farming, his group nu wave farmers is conducting free training, farm tours, volunteer work in farms, networking and advocacy in organic agriculture. he is also hoping that organic farming, being the core of his group’s advocacy, would somehow change the perception of people on organic farming. 3.1.3. perceptions of an organic farmer-worker-farm supervisor mr. claro naral is an organic farm worker at kainos farm in barangay camaluigan, calamba city, laguna. he revealed that his salary as a driver is the same as his salary today as an organic farm worker. mr. naral highlighted three (3) important views on organic farming. 3.1.3.1. build up passion in organic farming it was stressed that the preference to work in the farm was due to intense passion and perseverance in organic farming. his deep-seeded commitment to learn and practice organic farming developed his passion. 3.1.3.2. earn from being a farm worker-farm enterprise partner mr. naral earns a share in the sale of vegetables from kainos farm. he co-cultivates and co-manages the organic farm with the owner. 3.1.3.3. participate in formal training regarding organic farming mr. naral attended formal training in organic farming conducted by the da. he adopts his learning from formal training in organic farming and modern methods in combination with traditional knowledge. according to mr. naral, at least five years is needed for a previously non-organic farm to heal or be converted into an organic one. he mentioned that the success of an organic farm is gradual and the profit is minimal. but what is important is that he is eating and selling healthy food that contributes to the conservation of the environment. 3.2. issues and challenges in smallholder organic farming as an enterprise marketing is the primary challenge in smallholder organic farming. it is hard for organic products to compete with inorganic or conventional farm products in terms of price, quality, volume and certification requirement. the organic farmers are also confronted with problems when offering their products to big supermarkets. accreditation is another problem since it is too expensive for small-scale organic farmers to obtain certification for organic products. the next concern is on training and awareness building where only those with proper training in oa and those who have deep awareness about the positive impacts of the organic produce trading survived. furthermore, only those consumers who are aware of the benefits of organic farming prefer and buy organic produce. 3.3. addressing concerns on organic farming as an enterprise: the need for development planning and competency building to address the accreditation issue, concerned government agency may lessen the requirements, especially for smallholder organic farmers or may subsidize the fees. the agricultural training institute of the da should expand the conduct of a massive free training on a regular basis so that even those non-practitioners on organic farming will be educated to increase their awareness on organic farming as an enterprise. smallholder organic pg. 7 magnaye / environmental science and sustainable development, essd farmers should also be linked by concerned agencies like the da or the local government units with the potential markets for organic products. 3.3.1. development planning facet of smallholder organic farming development planning is essential as a basis for interested entrepreneurs to venture into organic farming. (magnaye, 2016) defined three (3) important interrelated principles in planning community supported agriculture (csa). the principles behind csa such as climate smart agriculture, socio-entrepreneurial behavior and thinking as well as participatory development planning can be adopted in planning a smallholder organic farming as an enterprise. in addition, development planning for organic farming as a community-based enterprise or smallholder scale adheres to a participatory approach which requires consideration of the interests not only of the entrepreneur per se but also the other organic farmer-entrepreneurs in the community including the local government agencies, academic community, private sector representatives, and non-government organizations, among others. the four phases of csa formation as developed by (magnaye, 2017) can be adopted in planning for a smallholder organic farming enterprise to include the following phases: phase 1 — capital asset inventory and assessment; b) phase 2 — vision development and stakeholder motivation; c) phase 3 — local development strategy identification for sustained csa; and d) phase 4 — monitoring and evaluation for sustained partnership. the matrix below summarizes the scope of the mentioned phases. table 1. phasesof development planning for csa as a smallholder organic farming enterprise development strategy. development phase tasks involved actions and strategies phase 1: capital asset inventory and assessment analyze local assets • characterize human, social, natural, physical and financial capitals: human capital existing and potential organic farmers in the community in terms of skills, knowledge, health and wellbeing. social capital informal networks, membership of formalized groups and relationships of trust that facilitate cooperation (eg. with other farmers or community groups). natural capital quality and quantity of natural resources including land, water and soil physical capitalland availability, existence of organic (biodynamic farming) community, basic infrastructure such as irrigation and on-farm sanitation, offices and buildings, computers and communications technology, tools, vehicles and other equipment. financial capital availability of financial resources including savings, credit, and income from farm sales of goods and services to include provision of training to members. continued on next page pg. 8 magnaye / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1 continued development phase tasks involved actions and strategies examine capacity of farming community • evaluate the following aspects: ability of existing and potential organic farmer-entrepreneurs in the use of resources (land, labor, capital); strategies adopted vis-à-vis asset utilization; existing initiatives, duration of business, income generated, locations and members/employees; policies, institutions and processes that shape access to assets and opportunities; and factors affecting vulnerability to shocks and stresses. phase 2: vision development and stakeholder motivation define the direction of the development of the enterprise or the desired enterprise development outcomes • establish the vision of the organization based on the anticipated outcomes of the livelihood or social enterprise. • determine the social mission in consideration of social and environmental problems. establish goals, objectives and targets • formulate goals, objectives and targets based on the vision of the enterprise. goals are specific to the building up of partnership between the farmers and the market (buyers of farm produce) objectives and targets cover the establishment of fair pricing system; provision of support to small farms and fresh food for the consumers; protection of biodiversity due to efficient development phase tasks involved actions and strategies organic farming; increasing access to organic and local food by low income households; sustaining culture, community and a sense of belonging; reviving culinary traditions; among others. phase 3: local development strategy identification for sustained csa organize the organic farmer-entrepreneurs • define arrangements and functions of the organization to include identification of interested organic farmer entrepreneurs in the meetings of farmers or association of farmers. • identify and organize the members of the core group. continued on next page pg. 9 magnaye / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1 continued development phase tasks involved actions and strategies prepare business plan and measure viability • determine capital expenditures (land, equipment, tools, capital, among others), labor expenses, operating expenses, among others. • estimate the potential income from the entreprise to determine financial viability. phase 4: monitoring and evaluation (m&e) for sustained partnership identify and measure m&e indicators • assess financial and operational performance of the enterprise review, evaluate and improve plans • review and evaluate enterprise development plan and management schemes taking into account issues, concerns, and challenges. 3.3.2. building and enhancing competencies of a smallholder ffarmer-entrepreneur three (3) types of competencies need to be developed by a farmer entrepreneur to succeed in smallholder organic farming as an enterprise. these include entrepreneurial, technical and managerial competencies. entrepreneurial competencies. kahan (2013) defines nine (9) key entrepreneurial competencies, which must be developed and strengthened for farmers to survive in a continuously changing environment and realize income based on existing and emerging market opportunities. these competencies include initiative, ambition, focused problem-solving, creative thinking, taking risks, flexibility and adaptability, interpersonal abilities, networking and readiness to learn. he emphasized that these competencies enable farmers to “compete in the changing environment and better able to make profits by taking advantage of new market opportunities”. technical competencies. aside from entrepreneurial competencies, farmer-entrepreneurs should also enhance their technical competencies in terms of proper management of farm inputs; production management and marketing management. similarly, kahan (2013) established the necessary knowledge, skills and behavior to strengthen technical competencies of farmer-entrepreneurs. managerial competencies. a farmer-entrepreneur also needs to possess managerial skills aside from entrepreneurial and technical skills. an enterprise involves a number of processes from establishment, growth and maturity that usually exist with social, economic and financial barriers. thus, managerial functions will define the success of a farm enterprise. according to kahan (2013), entrepreneurial and technical competencies need to be complemented by managerial competencies. . . to include diagnosis, planning, organizing, leading, controlling and evaluating.” the table below summarizes the requirements to enhance the entrepreneurial, technical and managerial competencies of a farmer-entrepreneur in three (3) focal areas to include knowledge, skills and behavior table 2. entrepreneurial,technical and managerial competencies for a farmer-entrepreneur competency requirement knowledge skills behavior entrepreneurial competency continued on next page pg. 10 magnaye / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 2 continued competency requirement initiative (acts before others do) • determine and understand success factors • define vision and goals • initiate the first move and get things done ambition (determined to achieve goals) • know the challenges to be encountered • define actions to address challenges • patient and tolerant to stress focused on problem solving vfocused on problem solving and decision-making (trouble-shooter and opportunity-seeker) • understand decisionmaking process, farm business problems and new opportunities • gather data/information in solving problems, define alternative solutions and implement chosen option • vigorous in solving problems creative thinking (thinks out of the box) • understand the farm business as a system that is vulnerable to constraints given opportunities • gather new ideas and opportunities information to address problems and maximize opportunities • analyze farm business, define opportunities and implement actions taking risks (acts as risk taker) • understand and evaluate risks in decisionmaking • assess costs and benefits of risks for strategy management • calculate and mitigate risks and adopt new strategies flexibility and adaptability (sensitive to new and changing situations) • aware of the sources of changesaffecting the farm business • develop coping strategies based on changing situations • patient and tolerant to stress from changing situations interpersonal abilities (sociable and fond of maximizing network) • understand people and strengthen relationships with them • keen on sharing ideas with others • work well with people of all kinds • honest and trustworthy networking (value relationships) • understand key stakeholders • value negotiation and sustaining partnerships • trustworthy and honest in all dealings readiness to learn (keen on generating new knowledge and skills) • open to new learning opportunities • timely response to knowledge and skills utilization • curious technical competency managing inputs (cost conscious and strive for efficiency from sourcing and acquiring inputs) • know the required inputs and the source • proper input application and recording of utilization • prefer quality and affordable inputs and explore use of new inputs continued on next page pg. 11 magnaye / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 2 continued competency requirement managing production (desire sustainability from identifying, organizing and implementing production • know the most profitable and sustainable way to produce • know the critical farm activities and record all production activities • time conscious, adapter of more efficient production systems and explore new systems managing market (profitable marketing of farm products) • know the location of the most profitable market for the enterprise • negotiate contracts and keep records of transactions • search more profitable markets and adaptive to changing market condition and opportunities managerial competency diagnosis (analyze business setting to determine problems and opportunities affecting profitability) • understand the input, production and marketing requirements of the enterprise • assess the enterprise to determine issues and challenges • determine problem causes and effects and proposed solutions planning (analyze potential actions to support the goal) • know goals and objectives as well as alternatives to achieve them competency requirement knowledge skills behavior taking risks (acts as risk taker) • understand and evaluate risks in decision-making. • assess costs and benefits of risks for strategy management • calculate and mitigate risks and adopt new strategies flexibility and adaptability (sensitive to new and changing situations) • aware of the sources of changesaffecting the farm business • develop coping strategies based on changing situations • patient and tolerant to stress from changing situations interpersonal abilities (sociable and fond of maximizing network) • understand people and strengthen relationships with them • keen on sharing ideas with others • work well with people of all kinds • honest and trustworthy networking (value relationships) • understand key stakeholders • vaue negotiation and sustaining partnerships • trustworthy and honest in all dealings readiness to learn (keen on generating new knowledge and skills) • open to new learning opportunities • timely response to knowledge and skills utilization • curious technical competency continued on next page pg. 12 magnaye / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 3 continued managing inputs (cost conscious and strive for efficiency from sourcing and acquiring inputs) • know the required inputs and the source • proper input application and recording of utilization • prefer quality and affordable inputs and explore use of new inputs managing production (desire sustainability from identifying, organizing and implementing production) • know the most profitable and sustainable way to produce • know the critical farm activities and record all production activities • time conscious, adapter of more efficient production systems and explore new systems managing market (profitable marketing of farm products) • know the location of the most profitable market for the enterprise • negotiate contracts and keep records of transactions • search more profitable markets and adaptive to changing market condition and opportunities managerial competency diagnosis (analyze business setting to determine problems and opportunities affecting profitability) • understand the input, production and marketing requirements of the enterprise • assess the enterprise to determine issues and challenges • determine problem causes and effects and proposed solutions planning (analyze potential actions to support the goal) • know goals and objectives as well as alternatives to achieve them • establish alternative evaluation process and mechanism to implement alternatives • anticipates results and system or process-oriented organizing (initiating plan implementation) • determine resource requirement and sourcing modes • adopt process in resource sourcing • committed • process oriented leading (managing staff/workers/personnel) • know how to entice people to work • share ideas through communication and evaluate workers’ performance • trustworthy, encouraging and builds trust controlling (monitoring and evaluation of performance and activities • relate control mechanism with proffit generation • monitoring (checking benchmarks) and proper recording of data and information • looks at detail and processoriented evaluating (outcome and impact assassment) • determine impact of the enterprise on profit generation • relate actions with outcomes • objective and methodical 4. conclusion and recommendations based on the organic farm and enterprise management practices shared, the key informants of the case studies represent different groups that promote multi-stakeholder participation and collaboration in smallholder organic farming. the organic farmer cum worker values the importance of the cyclic use of natural resources, resource use within the carrying capacity of the organic farm, value of the tradition and culture of the family by continuing the operation of the organic farm after his father and earning a living from the farm that enhances socioeconomic capacity. the organic farmer-entrepreneur recognizes the importance of working with the community and the pg. 13 magnaye / environmental science and sustainable development, essd youth as advocates of organic farming. the organic farmer-worker-farm supervisor views that the success of a farmer depends greatly on his training and awareness about organic farming. the three (3) cases proved that organic farming activities are managed in harmony with nature in consideration of the contribution to food security, conservation of the ecosystems, and most importantly in climate mitigation. after realizing the issues of the case study, it is deemed necessary to enhance an existing program to educate and train communities in organic farming and entrepreneurship at the grassroots level. the department of education (deped) and the da-agricultural training institute are key agencies to operationalize these objectives. the department of health (doh) can engage in massive information drive on the health issues associated with chemical uses in the farms. the mass media or social media are very useful modes to disseminate this information. development planning for smallholder organic farming and entrepreneurship becomes essential which can be effected utilizing existing community supported agriculture models. however, it is of prime importance that a farmer-entrepreneur should possess the entrepreneurial, technical and managerial competencies in terms of knowledge, skills and behavior to fully realize the success of organic farming at the community level. these will serve as requisites for a competitive organic agriculture industry backed up with the government’s commitment to support smallholder organic farming especially in organic certification as well as research, development and extension. the effective implementation of the organic agriculture act will address the development needs of the majority of the poor populace which relies on subsistence agriculture. organic farming should be able to ensure food security in the context of food availability, 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(2013, october 11). organic agriculture act towards a greener philippines. retrieved from http://ap.fftc.agnet.org/ap db.php?id=93 pg. 15 introduction organic farming and nature smallholder organic farming legal basis of organic farming in the philippines methods data gathering data analysis results and discussions the relationship of smallholder organic farming with entrepreneurship perceptions of an organic farmer cum farm owner perceptions of an organic farmer cum entrepreneur perceptions of an organic farmer-worker-farm supervisor issues and challenges in smallholder organic farming as an enterprise addressing concerns on organic farming as an enterprise: the need for development planning and competency building development planning facet of smallholder organic farming building and enhancing competencies of a smallholder ffarmer-entrepreneur conclusion and recommendations http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i3.673 optimal sizing and design of isolated micro-grid systems alaa m. abdel-hamed1, kamel ellissy1, ahmed r. adly2, h. abdelfattah3 1 electrical power & machines department, high institute of engineering, el-shorouk academy, cairo, egypt 2 nuclear research center, atomic energy authority, egypt 3 electrical power and engineering department, faculty of industrial education, suez university, cairo, egypt abstract micro-grid and standalone schemes are emerging as a viable mixed source of electricity due to interconnected costly central power plants and associated faults as well as brownouts and blackouts in additions to costly fuels. micro-grid (mg) is gaining very importance to avoid or decrease these problems. the objective of this paper is to design an optimal sizing and energy management scheme of an isolated mg. the mg is suggested to supply load located in el-shorouk academy, egypt between 30.119 latitudes and 31.605 longitudes. the components of the mg are selected and designed for achieving minimum total investment cost (tic) with co2 emissions limitations. this is accomplished by a search and optimization matlab code used with particle swarm optimization (pso) and genetic algorithm (ga) techniques. the use of diesel generators (dgs) is minimized by limiting the gaseous co2 emissions as per targeted allowable amount. a comparison is accomplished for investigating the co2 emissions constraints effects on the tic in $/year and annual cost of energy in $/kwh. the obtained results verified and demonstrated that the designed mg configuration scheme is able to feed the energy entailed by the suggested load cost effectively and environmental friendly. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords micro-grid (mg); optimal design; optimal control; ga; pso. nomenclature bfoa bacterial foraging optimization algorithm der distributed energy resources epf energy pattern factor fc fuel consumption es energy storage ga genetic algorithm mg micro-grid mppt maximum power point tracker pso particle swarm optimization pv photovoltaic soc state of charge http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i3.673&domain=press.ierek.com abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 tic total investment cost wt total investment cost 1. introduction micro grid is a standalone “a local energy provider which reduces energy expense and gas emissions by using distributed energy resources (ders)”. mg is treated to be a promising choice or even an alternative to existing centralized or traditional grids (zhang, 2013). mgs apply a diversity of distributed generation units. these units includes photovoltaic (pv) modules, wind turbines (wt) and energy storage (es) such as batteries (shi, xie, chu, &, gadh, 2014). it is noted that very large number of population in the developing regions currently lose grid based electric current services. mgs represent an important option for reducing the electricity gap in very parts of developing world in the case of grid extension is unpractical (zhang, 2013). proper selection of ders and optimal sizing for them, for specific goal or objective, are challenging and very important tasks in the designing of isolated mgs. this is because the coordination between the mg units with adds of constraints is complicated (hassanzadehfard, tafreshi, & hakimi, 2011). a nonlinear optimization problem is to be formulated using the basic problem. this optimization problem can be then solved by a desired suitable optimising technique. there are number of optimization techniques which are used for the design of mgs (paudel, shrestha, & adhikari, 2011) such as the graphical construction methods (borowy & salameh, 1996), linear programming (chedid & rehman, 1997), iterative approach (yang & zhou, 2007), ga (zhou, yang, & fang, 2008), and bacterial foraging (noroozian & vahedi, 2010) and so on. the goal for each designer is to determine the best optimal objective/fitness function value for a given configuration whichever the optimization method. rui huang et al. in (huang, wang, chu, gadh, & song, 2014) studied and proposed an approach to find the optimal placements and sizes of a mg components. to solve the optimization problem, ga is used and compared with a mathematical optimization method (nonlinear programming). a comprehensive objective function with practical constraints which take all the important factors that will affect the reliability of the power grid, into account is proposed. the analysis on results shows that ga maintains a delicate balance between performance and complexity. it is concluded that ga performs better not only in accuracy, stability, but also in computation time. authors of (huang, wang, chu, gadh, & song, 2014) did not take the constraints on dynamical power flow into consideration when designing the new power system. a more comprehensive optimization problem need to be studied and solved thoroughly. in (tabatabaei & vahidi, 2013) proposed a model for setting the optimal operation of a mg. diversity of distributed generation sources that usually used in mgs are obtained by their proposed optimization problem. constraints are taken into considerations, in the proposed optimization problem, to reflect a number of limitations which is found in a mg systems. environmental costs have been also considered in the optimization problem. for minimizing the defined objective/fitness function by considering network and load limitations, a new evolutionary algorithm known as bacterial foraging optimization algorithm (bfoa) is applied. although the used technique is a new one, it has some disadvantages such as large number of parameters and complexity in design. in (mohamed & koivo, 2007) suggested a generalized formulation for obtaining the optimal operation strategy and cost minimization scheme for a mg. the mg components from actual manufacturer data are constructed before the optimization of the mg itself. the suggested objective/fitness function considers the costs of the emissions, and the operation & maintenance costs. the optimization method is aimed for reducing the cost objective/fitness function of the system while constraining the objective for meeting the load demand profile and safety of the system. authors of (mohamed & koivo, 2007) did not put the environmental impacts into consideration which should be considered to reduce the emissions level. the proposed cost function takes into consideration the costs of the emissions nox, so2, and co2 as well as the operation and maintenance costs but the the replacement cost is not considered. the abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 optimization aims to minimize the cost function of the system while constraining it to meet the customer demand and safety of the system without taking the environmental constraints into consideration. recently, it is needful to obtain a flexible generalized approach or methodology for any kind of mg design of higher computational efficiency. in addition, the computational optimization methods which use bio-inspired technologies have been significantly developed in recent years. they can effectively increase the efficiency of mg systems by finding the best configuration for optimizing the economic and technical criteria. this paper presents a design of an optimal sizing and energy management scheme of an isolated mg components. amatlab code is proposed for calculating the energy available from mg generation sources according to meteorological data of the suggested location. the proposed optimization scheme has the advantages that it is simple and and can be extended to deal with multi-objective functions besides dealing with more renewable and storage components for the mg. the components of the mg are selected and designed to supply the suggested load under the objective of minimum tic with co2 emissions limitations. the optimization process is carried out via ga and pso techniques. a comparison is accomplished to investigate the co2 emissions constraints effects on the tic in $/year and annual cost of energy in $/kwh. it has been proved that the proposed scheme can robustly and efficiently obtain the optimal mg configuration which is eco-friendly and has great economic benefits. consequently, this research reveals that the mg will operate successfully as an isolated controllable power generation unit for supporting the utility as well as reduces the dependency on the main grid and increases the market penetration of the mg system or mg sources. accordingly, it minimizes the problems associated with central power plants such as power blackout and limitations of fossil fuels. the rest of this article is organized as follows: description and modelling of the components for the mg are introduced in section 2. fitness function and constraints are presented and modeled in section 3. section 4 describes proposed optimization procedures and a case study. section 5 presents simulation results and analysis. finally conclusion is discussed in section 6. 2. complete system modeling the proposed isolated mg system includes wts, pvs, batteries, pv controllers, dg units, and inverters. the schematic diagram for the suggested mg system is indicated by fig. 1. the first step for optimization process is to model the mg components used to supply the load. in the following sections, a modeling description of the components of the complete system is demonstrated. figure 1. schematic diagram for the proposed hybrid multi source mg system 2.1. wt modeling wt uses kinetic energy from wind speed to produce mechanical energy and then this produced mechanical energy is utilized for generating the electrical energy (govardhan & roy, 2012). wt electrical energy is calculated for abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 each time based on site weather and height of installation for wts (bansal, kumar, & gupta, 2013). the speed of wind, at a specific height, can be obtained from “nasa surface meteorology and solar energy”. modification of wind speed to the desired hub height, using the measured speed of wind at the reference height, is significantly required (tito, lie, & anderson, 2015), (hassan, el-saadawi, kandil, & saeed, 2016). the energy output from the wt, at a site wind speed, is obtained using the wt power curve that is denoted by manufacturer. for a given speed profile, the energy available from wind can be modeled using equation (1) (yazdanpanah, 2014): 𝐸𝑊𝑇 = 𝑇ℎ𝑟 ∑ 𝑃𝑜 . 𝑓(𝑣, 𝑘, 𝑐) 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑣𝑚𝑖𝑛 (1) where ewt represents the energy output from wt in kwh at a given location, thr represents the time (hours) used in the study, po represents the power output of wt (kw), (vmin, vmax) represents the minimum and maximum speeds of wind, and f(v, k, c) represents the weibull function for a given site wind speed (ν) at a designed shaping coefficient k and scaling coefficient c. the energy pattern factor (epf) approach is required and recommended for more precise determination of c and k coefficients. this is to reduce uncertainties concerning with the output wind energy calculation for wind energy conversion system (wecs) (kidmo, danwe, doka, & djongyang, 2015). 2.2. pv modeling pv modules are systems in which sunlight straight converted into electricity. the energy per year of a pv module, at a certain location with a known solar irradiation and temperature, can be modeled using equation (2). 𝐸𝑃𝑉 = 𝑇ℎ𝑟 ∑ 𝑃(𝑇, 𝐺) 𝐺𝑚𝑎𝑥,𝑇𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐺𝑚𝑖𝑛,𝑇𝑚𝑖𝑛 (2) where epv is the energy production per year of pv module, thr represents time (hours) through which the sun hits the pv modules and p(t, g) represents the pv modules output power at a solar irradiation g and temperature t of hourly average values, which is calculated using equation (3) (mohamed & koivo, 2011). 𝑃𝑃𝑉(𝑇, 𝐺) = 𝑃𝑆𝑇𝐶 𝐺𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝐺𝑆𝑇𝐶 (1 + 𝑘(𝑇𝑐 − 𝑇𝑟)) (3) where ppv(t,g) represents the pv power at incident irradiance and temperature, pstc represents the maximum power for the pv at stc, ging is the fallen irradiation, gstc represents the irradiation at stc (1000w/m2), k is the power temperature coefficient (0.5 %/co), tc is the cell temperature, and tr is the reference temperature. 2.3. dg modeling the conventional roles for diesel generations have been the condition of peak shaving and stand-by power (mohamed el al., 2011). in this paper, dgs are supposed for sharing the wind/pv generations for feeding the load demand. dgs powers are related to their fuel consumption (fc). this means that they are characterized by their efficiency and fuel consumption. the dgs operate between 80 and 100 percent of their nominal powers for obtaining higher efficiency use (hassan, saadawi, kandil, & saeed, 2015). the energy that can be generated by a dg is determined by using the following equation (4) (bilal et al., 2012): 𝐸𝐷𝐺(𝑡) = 𝑃𝐷𝐺(𝑡). 𝜂𝐷𝐺 . 𝑇ℎ𝑟 (4) https://www.infona.pl/contributor/0@bwmeta1.element.elsevier-4e7f01b1-d1d5-3a17-ab9f-f5afb5cfdb2e/tab/publications abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 where edg is the dg energy per year in kwh, pdg is the dg rating power, 𝜂𝐷𝐺 is the dg efficiency, and thr represents its hours of operations. the fuel consumption of a dg depends on both the load and the size of generator. hourly fuel consumption is given by equation (5) (hassan et al., 2016). 𝐹𝐶(𝑡) = 𝑎. 𝑃𝑜(𝑡) + 𝑏. 𝑃𝑛 (5) where, (a & b) represents the coefficients for the fuel consumption curve and ( po & pn) are power output and nominal rating of the dg. in this paper, a is taken to be 0.081451 l/kwh while b is taken to be 0.2461 l/kwh (hassan et al., 2016). the total co2 emission amount can be determined using the following equation (6) (hassan et al., 2016): 𝑄𝑐𝑜2 = 𝐹𝐶 . 𝐸𝐹 (6) where qco2 is the total co2 emission amount in (kg), fc is the fuel consumption in (kwh) and ef represents the emission factor for the fuel used in kg/kwh. for the diesel fuel considered in this article, the default co2 emission factor is 0.705 kg/kwh (hassan et al., 2016). usage of a dg is not in line with prevention of air-pollution and minimization of co2 emission. a gas microturbine will be more environmentally friendly solution but it is not practical to be used in our location and its cost is higher besides its complex design. a tax on co2 levels of emissions in any sector did not yet applied by whether industrial or energy production in the site of the proposed mg. however, the department of environment stated, depending on the environmental law4 of 1994, that there is a need to force such a tax for emissions per year of that pollutant and harmful gas. the department of environment enumerated these ratings according to european standards. 2.4. battery modeling battery is defined as an electro-chemical device that stores the electrical energy from ac or dc units of mg for later use. since the output of the renewable sources of the mg is a random behavior, the state of charge (soc) of the battery is constantly changing accordingly in mg system. when the total power output from the wts, pv modules is greater than the load power, the battery is in the soc. when the total output power of the wt and pv modules is less than the load power, the battery is in the discharging state. the soc of battery bank can be calculated from the following equation (7) (wei, 2007): 𝑆𝑂𝐶(𝑡) = 𝑆𝑂𝐶(𝑡 − 1). (1 − 𝜎) + [𝐸𝐺𝑡(𝑡) − 𝐸𝐿(𝑡) 𝜂𝑖𝑛𝑣 ] . 𝜂𝑏𝑎𝑡 (7) where, soc(t) and soc(t-1) are the battery bank state of charge at time t and t-1, σ is monthly self-discharging rate, egt(t) is the total energy generated, el(t) is the load demand, ηinv and ηbat are the efficiency of inverter and battery. in this paper, the battery soc model is designed based on the ah method. the capacity of battery bank (breq) required for a mg system can be calculated using the following equation (8) (hassan et al., 2016). 𝐵𝑅𝑒 𝑞 = 𝐿𝐴ℎ/𝑑𝑎𝑦 . 𝑁𝑐 𝑀𝐷𝐷. 𝐷𝑓 (8) where lah/d is the total ah consumption of the load per day, mdd is the maximum discharge depth and df is the factor of discharging and nc represents the autonomous day’s number. abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 the number of parallel connected batteries (np) for giving the ah needed by the mg system is determined using equation (9), while the number of series connected batteries (ns) for giving the system voltage vn is determined using equation (10) (yazdanpanah, 2014). 𝑁𝑝 = 𝐵𝑅𝑒 𝑞 𝐵𝑐 (9) 𝑁𝑠 = 𝑉𝑁 𝑉𝐵 (10) where breq is the required capacity of the battery bank in ah, bc is the the selected battery capacity, vn is the mg system voltage and vb is the battery voltage. the total batteries number nbt is obtained as indicated by equation (11). 𝑁𝐵𝑇 = 𝑁𝑝. 𝑁𝑠 (11) 2.5. pv controller modeling the maximum power point tracker (mppt) controller is implemented as a pv controller which tracks mpp of the pv system. this is achieved throughout the day delivering the maximum amount of the available solar energy to the mg system. mppt controller comprises a number of pv controllers needed for the mg system. the pv controller numbers required for a pv system is calculated by using the equations 12, 13, and 14 (hassan et al., 2016), (hassan et al., 2015). 𝑃𝑝𝑣_𝑅𝑡𝑜𝑡 = 𝑁𝑝𝑣 . 𝑃𝑝𝑣_𝑅 (12) 𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥_ 𝑐𝑜𝑛 = 𝑉𝑏 . 𝐼𝑐𝑜𝑛 (13) 𝑁𝑐𝑜𝑛 = 𝑃𝑝𝑣_𝑅𝑡𝑜𝑡 𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥_ 𝑐𝑜𝑛 (14) where icon represents the maximum current which the controller handles from the pv to the battery, vb is the voltage of the battery, ppv_r is the pv rated power at stcs, ppv_rtot is the total power of the pvs at stcs, pmax_con represents the maximum power of one controller, and npv represents the total number of pv modules. 2.6. inverter modeling inverters are generally used as the interface to connect energy between mg components and the load. the selected power inverter must be capable of handling the maximum power expected by ac loads (bilal el al., 2012), (hassan, el-saadawi, kandil, & saeed, 2015). inverters are classified into three main different schemes. these types are standalone, grid tied battery less and grid tied with battery back-up inverters (hassan el al., 2015). in this paper, the stand alone inverter is used. the number of inverters needed for a certain load demand can be modeled and enumerated using equation (15) (solar energy international, (2007). 𝑁𝑖𝑛𝑣 = 𝑃𝑔_𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑃𝑖𝑛𝑣_𝑚𝑎𝑥 (15) where pinv_max represents the maximum power that the inverter can supply, pg_max is the maximum power that the mg system generates, and ninv represents the inverter numbers. 3. optimal design of mg configuration the optimal design of mg configuration that can manage the load makes the best compromise between the mg system co2 emissions and the cost of energy to optimize the fitness function in the mg system lifetime. https://www.infona.pl/contributor/0@bwmeta1.element.elsevier-4e7f01b1-d1d5-3a17-ab9f-f5afb5cfdb2e/tab/publications abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 3.1. objective function the objective of the proposed approach is the design of optimal mg configuration scheme that can manage the prescribed load under the suggested objective/fitness function and various constraints. the objective/fitness function in this paper is to minimize the system tic through the system lifetime in the standalone mode. the unknown variables are the number of wind turbines, pv modules, batteries, controller units, inverter units, and diesel generators. these variables represent the number of equipment needed to supply the load at minimum investment cost with co2 constraints. the problem is solved for two scenarios: cost minimization without emissions constraints and cost minimization with emissions limitations. the mathematical model for the general objective/fitness function can be formulated as follows (hassan et al., 2016): 𝑇𝐼𝐶 = ∑ 𝑁𝑊𝑇𝑖 𝑛𝑊𝑇 𝑖=1 . 𝐶𝑊𝑇𝑖 + ∑ 𝑁𝑃𝑉𝑗 𝑛𝑃𝑉 𝑗=1 . 𝐶𝑃𝑉𝑗 + ∑ 𝑁𝐵𝐴𝑇𝑘 𝑛𝐵𝐴𝑇 𝑘=1 . 𝐶𝐵𝐴𝑇𝑘 + ∑ 𝑁𝐷𝐺𝑙 𝑛𝐷𝐺 𝑙=1 . 𝐶𝐷𝐺𝑙 + ∑ 𝑁𝐶𝑂𝑁𝑚 𝑛𝐶𝑂𝑁 𝑚=1 . 𝐶𝐶𝑂𝑁𝑚 + ∑ 𝑁𝐼𝑁𝑉𝑦 𝑛𝐼𝑁𝑉 𝑦=1 . 𝐶𝐼𝑁𝑉𝑦 (16) where nwt, npv, ndg, nbat, ncon, and ninv are number for each type to be selected of wts, pv modules, dgs, batteries, controllers and inverters. cwt, cpv, cdg, cbat, ccon, and cinv are the total investment cost for each type of a wt, a pv, a dg, a battery, a controller, and an inverter. the tic of the dg comprises the capital (ccap), the operating & maintenance per year (co&m), the fuel (cf) and the pollutant co2 emissions costs (cem). the tic for other mg components contains capital (ccap), installation (cins), and operation & maintenance (co&m) costs. the following equations (17 to 22) demonstrates the mathematical model used for calculating the tic for dg, wind turbine, pv module, battery bank, a controller, and inverter, respectively (bilal el al., 2012). 𝐶𝐷𝐺 = ( 𝐶𝐶𝑎𝑝𝐺𝐷 4 + 𝐶𝑓𝐷𝐺 . 𝐻𝐴𝑛𝑛 + 𝐶𝑂&𝑀_𝑊𝑇 . 𝐻𝐴𝑛𝑛 + 𝐶𝑒𝑚). 𝑇𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒_𝑃𝑟 (17) 𝐶𝑊𝑇 = 𝐶𝐶𝑎𝑝_𝑊𝑇 + 𝐶𝐼𝑛𝑠_𝑊𝑇 + 𝑇𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 . 𝐶𝑂&𝑀_𝑊𝑇 (18) 𝐶𝑃𝑉 = 𝐶𝐶𝑎𝑝_𝑃𝑉 + 𝐶𝐼𝑛𝑠_𝑃𝑉 + 𝑇𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 . 𝐶𝑂&𝑀_𝑃𝑉 (19) 𝐶𝐵𝑎𝑡 = 𝐶𝐶𝑎𝑝_𝐵𝑎𝑡 + 𝐶𝐼𝑛𝑠_𝐵𝑎𝑡 + 𝐶𝑅𝑒 𝑝_𝐵𝑎𝑡 . 𝑁𝑅𝑒 𝑝_𝐵𝑎𝑡 (20) 𝐶𝐶𝑜𝑛 = 𝐶𝐶𝑎𝑝_𝐶𝑜𝑛 + 𝐶𝐼𝑛𝑠_𝐶𝑜𝑛 + 𝑇𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 . 𝐶𝑂&𝑀_𝐶𝑜𝑛 + 𝐶𝑅𝑒 𝑝_𝐶𝑜𝑛. 𝑁𝑅𝑒 𝑝_𝐶𝑜𝑛 (21) 𝐶𝐼𝑛𝑣 = 𝐶𝐶𝑎𝑝_𝐼𝑛𝑣 + 𝐶𝐼𝑛𝑠_𝐼𝑛𝑣 + 𝑇𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 . 𝐶𝑂&𝑀_𝐼𝑛𝑣 + 𝐶𝑅𝑒 𝑝_𝐼𝑛𝑣. 𝑁𝑅𝑒 𝑝_𝐼𝑛𝑣 (22) where hann is the number of hours that the dg can be used in one year (6*365), tlifetime is the life time for the project (20 years) and nrep is the number of unit replacements through the lifetime period. in this paper, the lifetime of both pv modules and wt is supposed to be 20 year, the inverter and controller is life time is supposed to be 10 years, and the batteries life time is assumed to be 5 years (bilal el al., 2012). the mg units replacement costs (crep) are considered to be the same as their capital costs. 3.2. constraint for energy balance the total generation of yearly energy (kwh/year) have to exceed or at least equal to the effective energy of the annual consumption. the effective energy of annual consumption is the energy consumed by the yearly load demand divided by the efficiency of the overall system (𝜂𝑠𝑦𝑠). the energy balance can be modeled using equation (23) and the overall system efficiency can be determined as equation (24) indicates (hassan et al., 2016). https://www.infona.pl/contributor/0@bwmeta1.element.elsevier-4e7f01b1-d1d5-3a17-ab9f-f5afb5cfdb2e/tab/publications https://www.infona.pl/contributor/0@bwmeta1.element.elsevier-4e7f01b1-d1d5-3a17-ab9f-f5afb5cfdb2e/tab/publications abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 ∑ 𝑁𝑊𝑇 𝑖 . 𝐸𝑊𝑇 + ∑ 𝑁𝑃𝑉 𝑗 . 𝐸𝑃𝑉 + ∑ 𝑁𝐷𝐺 . 𝐸𝐷𝐺 ≥ 𝐸𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝜂𝑠𝑦𝑠 𝑙 (23) 𝜂𝑠𝑦𝑠 = 𝜂𝐷𝐺 . 𝜂𝐵𝑎𝑡 . 𝜂𝐶𝑜𝑛 . 𝜂𝐼𝑛𝑣. 𝜂𝑊 (24) where eload, ewt, epv, and edg represent the energy consumption of the load, generated by wts, pv modules, dgs, in (kwh/year). ηsys, ηinv, ηcon, ηw, ηbat, and ηdg represent overall mg system, inverter, pv controller, connection wires, battery, and dg efficiencies. the average efficiency for dg, battery, pv controllers, inverter, and wires, are shown in table 1. table 1. efficiencies for components of mg. mg components efficiency mg components efficiency dg 0.85 inverter 0.95 battery 0.85 wires 0.90 pv controller 0.95 – – 3.3. much bounds and size of design variables constraints these constraints involve physical limits on the number of mg generation sources according to the available area of the land of the project. it also contains limits with respect to the sizing of the pv units as well as controllers and inverters and constraints to the soc of batteries. these constraints can be modeled as indicated by the following equations (25 to 30): 0 ≤ 𝑁𝑊𝑇 ≤ 𝑁𝑊𝑇_𝑚𝑎𝑥 (25) 0 ≤ 𝑁𝑃𝑉 ≤ 𝑁𝑃𝑉_𝑚𝑎𝑥 (26) 0 ≤ 𝑁𝐷𝐺 ≤ 𝑁𝐺𝐷_𝑚𝑎𝑥 (27) ∑ 𝑁𝐶𝑜𝑛 . 𝑃𝐶𝑜𝑛 ≥ 𝑃𝑃𝑉_𝑚𝑎𝑥 ∑ 𝑗 (28) ∑ 𝑁𝐼𝑛𝑣 . 𝑃𝐼𝑛𝑣 ≥ 𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥 ∑ 𝑖 (29) 𝑆𝑂𝐶𝑀𝑖𝑛 ≤ 𝑆𝑂𝐶 ≤ 𝑆𝑂𝐶𝑀𝑎𝑥 (30) where nwt-max, npv-max, and ndg-max represent the maximum number of wts, pv modules and dg units. pin, pcon, pmax, and ppv-max represent the maximum output power of inverter, pv controller, load, pv module in watts and soc is the battery state of charge. 3.4. diesel operation constraints dg should have operation time limits for reducing wear and tear. this limitation can be modelled using equation (31). 0 ≤ ∑ 𝑇𝐷𝐺 𝑇=24 𝑇=1 ≤ 𝑇𝑚𝑎𝑥 (31) where tdg represents the time in hours that the dg operates daily and tmax is the maximum permissible time that the dg operates per day. abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 3.5. co2 emissions constraints the co2 emissions amount in kg is an indication parameter for the environmental pollution. it represents the maximum percentage of the co2 emission results in fuel combustion. up till now, there are no maximum governmental permissible limits or level of co2 emissions in country where of the mg project is proposed (hassan et al., 2016). in this paper, a maximum permissible level of co2 (kg) is suggested for investigating the impact of co2 on the optimal mg system configuration and tic. this limitation can be supposed according to equation (32). 𝐶𝑂2 ≤ 𝐶𝑂2_𝑚𝑎𝑥 (32) where co2-max represents the maximum permissible limit of the co2 harmful emissions in (kg). 4. optimal mg configuration approach and case study 4.1. optimal method the mg configuration optimization problem is solved by using the matlab optimal search code. the ga and pso techniques used by authors in (el-wakeel, el-eyoun, ellissy, & abdel-hamed, 2015) are implemented with the proposed modules of matlab code. this is achieved to determine the numbers of wts, pvs, dg units, batteries, pv controllers, and inverters. this configuration supplies the load described in subsection 4.2.1 and reduces the tic per year taking into accounts the pollutant co2 emission limits. the matlab code which is divided into four module codes as shown in fig. 2 is designed to represent and execute the proposed approach. the 1st module calculates the energy generated per year by any given type of wt based on the designed model illustrated in section 2.1. a combination of wts power curve and weibull is used by this module. the input information for that module are: the wts power curves, the resource for wind speeds at both hub and tower height. the energy generated annually by any given type of a pv array, based on the mathematical model explained in section 2.2, is calculated by using the 2nd module. the data entered for the module are: power rating of each wt type, the site temperature and irradiance levels. the 3rd module computes the annual energy generated by any given type of dg based on the mathematical model explained in section 2.3. the data entered for the module are: the diesel generator rated power, the diesel generator efficiency, and its operation time. the 4t h module is the ga, and pso technique (el-wakeel, el-eyoun, ellissy, & abdel-hamed, 2015) used with the objective/fitness function for the optimization of the proposed configuration. all the previous results from first, second, and third modules are the inputs to fourth module besides the data for controllers, inverters, and batteries. this module calculates the optimal number of mg system components supplying and managing the specified load based on minimum tic for all components with co2 emissions constraints considerations. solar cells and solar temperature and radiation code of module 1 code of module 4 (ai techniques) prices, controllers and inverters data wind turbines power curves and wind speed data diesel rated power, efficiency and operation time code of module 2 code of module 3 annual solar energy annual wind energy annual wind energy load data optimal mg configuration for energy mangement figure 2. modules of the suggested optimization scheme abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 a detailed computational procedure of fourth module, for optimal mg system configuration, is indicated by fig. 3. the input data are 1) the data related to meteorological information of the selected location. this data is obtained from nasa. 2) the unit prices of the projected mg system components including installation, operation & maintenance costs, components life time which are acquired from (hassan el al., 2015). 3) other inputs are fitness function, constraints and load data explained previously. the optimal composition of pvs, wts, dgs, batteries, controllers, and inverters from different brands are calculated by using pso and ga as follows: using ga the initial population of the chromosomes that represents the number of each component of the mg is randomly generated. the chromosomes are evaluated according to the selected fitness function described in subsection 3.1. a new population based on the fitness of the individuals is selected from the old one. genetic operators (mutation and crossover) are applied to members of the population to create new solutions. the process of evaluation and new population creation is continued until a satisfactory solution based on specific termination criteria has been satisfied. usually the maximum number of generations is used as the termination criterion. experience shows that mutation should be done with a low probability ranging from 0.1 to 2%, while the crossover rate should be between 60 to 90%. again, the ga has been run for 20 independent trials with different settings until the solutions are very close to each other. according to the trials, ga parameters are determined as: maximum number of iterations/generations =100, population size = 3000, the cross over rate = 0.9 and the mutation rate = 0.001. using pso in the pso algorithm, a population of particles is put into the dimensional search space with randomly chosen velocities and positions knowing their best values so far (pbest) and the position in the d-dimensional space. the velocity of each particle is adjusted according to its own flying experience and the other particles’ flying experience. the fitness function value is calculated for each particle. if the value is better than the current pbest of the particle, the pbest value is replaced by the current value. if the best value of pbest is better than the current gbest, the gbest is replaced by the best value and the particle number with the best value is stored. the operation is continued until the current iteration number reaches the predetermined maximum iteration number. the pso algorithm has been run for 20 independent trials with different settings until the solutions are very close to each other. according to the trials, the pso parameters are determined as: maximum of iterations/generations=100, number of particles/agents = 3000, acceleration constant c1= 0.6, c2 = 1.4 and weighting factor = 0.95. generation of initial condition enter: meteorological data, economical data for function & constraints, techniques parameters evaluation of searching points using equation (14) stopping criteria reached ˀ modification of each searching point using ga or pso display: -optimal solution -mg configuration -tis -co emssions start yes no figure 3. computational procedure flow chart using pso or ga abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 4.2. case study the case study is a typical isolated mg suggested to supply a load located between (30.119 latitude and 31.605 longitude). it consists of different types of energy generation units such as wts, pvs, dgs, and battery banks as a storage system. the optimization scheme is used to find the optimal configuration and energy management of the mg components that satisfy the objective/fitness function discussed previously in equation (16). input data includes the load data, meteorological data of the suggested location, and techno-economical data of the mg system components. 4.2.1. load data it is considered that outdoor and indoor lighting load for educational building located between (30.119o latitudes and 31.605o longitudes) will be met by a mg system. table 2 shows the daily electrical load requirements, with a load of 50 kw peak. using table 2 and actual load measuring, a load profile is built as indicated by fig. 4. it shows the daily load profile for proposed mg system with a maximum value of 50 kw and an average consumption per day of 516.724 kwh. table 2. daily electrical load requirements purpose entrance outdoor indoor rated power (kw) 1.08 14.588 49.968 operation period (h) 6 11 7 dailyenergy( kwh/day) 6.48 160.468 349.776 total daily energy ( kwh/day) 516.724 figure 4. considered daily load profile 4.2.2. meteorological and techno-economical data the solar radiation and wind speed are obtained from “nasa surface meteorology and solar energy”. the monthly average insulations and air temperature (°c), for the suggested location, incident on a horizontal surface are indicated by table 3 and table 4 respectively. whereas, the average values per month of the wind speed at (50 m) above the earth surface are indicated by table 5. as explained before in section 2.1, it is found necessary to adjust the wind speed to the hub height if the speed is measured at a height different than that of turbine hub height. in this paper the wind towers are taken with a 20 meters height, so that the measured wind speed values have to be modified as it is obvious in table 6. the techno-economic data of the used commercial components in this article are taken as in (hassan el al., 2015) (21 types of wts, 13 types of pvs, 1 types of dgs, 5 types of pv controllers, 5 types of inverters, 20 types of batteries). 0 5 10 15 20 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 hour lo a d c o n su m p ti o n ( k w ) abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 table 3. monthly averaged isolation for the suggested location month jan feb mar apr may jun annual average 22-years average solar radiation (kwh/m2/day) 3.23 3.91 5.11 6.28 6.99 7.69 5.35 month jul aug sep oct nov dec 22-years average solar radiation (kwh/m2/day) 7.33 6.85 5.86 4.48 3.45 3.00 table 4. averaged air temperature/month for the suggested location month jan. feb mar apr may jun annual average 22-years average air temperature (°c) 13.3 13.6 16.0 20.1 23.4 26.3 21 month jul aug sep oct nov dec 22-years average air temperature (°c) 28.2 28.2 26.3 22.8 18.9 14.8 table 5. averaged wind speed/month at 50 m from the surface for for the suggested location month jan feb mar apr may jun annual average measured wind speed at 50 m height (m/s) 4.74 5.01 4.99 4.78 4.80 4.68 4.75 month jul aug sep oct nov dec measured wind speed at 50 m height (m/s) 4.73 4.71 4.78 4.68 4.44 4.71 table 6. averaged modified wind speed/month for the suggested location month jan feb mar apr may jun annual average modified speed at 20m height(m/s) 4.1584 4.3953 4.3778 4.1935 4.2111 4.1058 4.1709 month jul aug sep oct nov dec modified speed at 20 m height (m/s) 4.1497 4.1321 4.1935 4.1058 3.8952 4.1321 5. optimization results and analysis the optimum mg system configuration, that meets the energy required by the previously mentioned load profile with minimum tic and emissions limits, is obtained by performing the designed optimization scheme explained in subsection 4.1. table 7 indicates the bounds and size of design variables constraints used in this paper. the simulation results to obtain minimum tic without and with various emission limits using ga, and pso techniques are explained in the following subsections. table 7. indicates the bounds and size of design variables constraints optimal search limits nwt npv ndg nbat ncon ninv tdg (hours) minimum (lower limit) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 maximum (upper limit) 1 40 20 10 50 10 6 abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 5.1. using pso without co2 emissions constraint in this configuration, table 8 indicates different types and numbers of wind turbines, pv modules, diesel generators, inverters and controller in the designed mg configuration indicated in fig. 2 and explained in details previously in subsection 4.1. number of different battery types is also used for charging the excessive energy in case of generation higher than load and to supply the load in case of generation is higher. in this case, per year total generated energy is of 321650.34 kwh, and per year consumption of energy is 321603.88 kwh. the model represents a mg system configuration with a tic value of $47822.59 with emissions of 15146.06 kg of co2. table 8. mg sizing optimization results without emission constraint mg commercial type rated cap. no. commercial type rated cap. no. wind southwest (air x) 400w 1 bornay-inclin 6000 6000w 1 sw(whisper 500) 3000w 1 are110 2500w 1 ae (lakota) 800w 1 are442 10000w 1 bergey (bwc 1500) 1500w 1 kestrel wind (800) 800w 1 bergey(bwcexcelr) 8100w 1 kestrelwind(3000) 3000w 1 bornay (inclin 600) 600w 1 solacity (eoltec) 6000w 1 bornay (inclin 1500) 1500w 1 – – – pv sharp nd-250qcs 250w 32 csi cs6x-285p 285w 39 hyundai his-255mg 255w 36 canadiansolar250p 250w 33 lightway 235w 40 csi cs 6x-295p 295w 40 trina tsm-pa05 240w 40 canadiansolar300p 300w 40 solartechspm135p 135w 16 canadiansolr255m 255w 37 csi cs6p-235px 235w 21 hyundaihis260mg 260w 37 csi cs6x-280p 280w 40 – – – dg stephil -se 3000d 1900w 11 – – – battery mk8l16 370ah 1 us battery us2200 225ah 2 surrette2ks33ps 1765a 8 us battery us250 250ah 1 surrettes1-460 350ah 1 surrettes2-460 350ah 1 trogan t-105 225ah 2 surrettes530-6v 400ah 2 us battery us185 195ah 1 – – – controller se-xw-mppt-60 1500w 30 outback fm60 1500w 12 outback fm80 2000w 27 blue sky sb3048 750w 8 inverter se-xw6048 6000w 4 fx-2024et 2000w 2 se-xw4548 4500w 2 se-xw4024 4000w 4 tic ($) 47822.5970 co2 (kg) 15146.06 abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 5.2. using pso with co2 emissions constraint for investigating the co2 emissions effect on the tic of the mg system, a predetermined maximum permitted co2 emissions limits introduced. for co2 emissions constraints limited to 6884 kg, table 9 presents the optimization results using pso. table 9. mg sizing optimization results with emission constraint mg commercial type rated cap. no. commercial type rated cap. no. wind southwest (air x) 400w 1 bornayinclin 3000 3000w 1 sw (whisper 200) 1000w 1 bornayinclin 6000 6000w 1 sw(whisper 500) 3000w 1 are110 2500w sw(skystream 3.7) 1800w 1 are442 10000w 1 bergey-bwcexcelr 8100w 1 kestrel wind (1000) 1000w 1 bornay (inclin 250) 250w 1 kestrel wind (3000) 3000w 1 bornay (inclin 1500) 1500w 1 solacity (eoltec) 6000w 1 pv sharp nd-250qcs 250w 40 csi cs6x-285p 285w 40 hyundaihis-255mg 255w 40 canadiansolar250p 250w 40 lightway 235w 40 csi cs 6x-295p 295w 40 trina tsm-pa05 240w 29 canadiansolar300p 300w 39 solartechspm135p 135w 21 canadiansolr255m 255w 40 csi cs6p-235px 235w 40 hyundaihis260mg 260w 40 csi cs6x-280p 280w 40 – – – dg stephil-se 3000d 1900w 5 – – – battery mk8l16 370ah 2 us battery us185 195ah 4 surrette2ks33ps 1765ah 5 us battery us2200 225ah 3 surrette 4-cs-17ps 546ah 4 us battery us250 250ah 3 surrette6-cs-17ps 546ah 2 surrettes2-460 350ah 2 trogan t-105 225ah 4 surrettes530-6v 400ah 5 controller se-xw-mppt-60 1500w 17 se-xw-mppt-80 2000w 15 outback fm80 2000w 23 blue sky sb3048 750w 13 outback fm60 1500w 14 – – – inverter se-dr1524e 1500w 3 fx-2024et 2000w 5 se-xw6048 6000w 4 se-xw4024 4000w 4 se-xw4548 4500w 2 – – – tic ($) 48503.4315 co2 (kg) 6884.5772 abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 it can be concluded from table 9 that by decreasing the maximum allowable co2 emissions limits, number of dgs is decreased and consequently the number of pv modules, pv controllers, and wts are increased. this will increase the installation cost of the mg system and therefore the tic value will be increased to 48503.43$ instead of 47822.59$ without constraints. 5.3. impact of co2 emissions constraint with comparison between pso and ga in this section, comparison of impacts of co2 emissions constraint using pso and ga is made. table 10 indicates the co2 emissions constraints impacts on the mg configurations and also shows a comparison between the results of ga and pso techniques. figs 5 -7 show a comparison between energy generated with and without co2 emissions constraint. table 10. impact of co2 emissions constraints. item no co2 constraints maximum allowable co2 emissions 6884.5772 kg used technique pso ga pso ga energy required by the load 321603.88 321603.88 321603.88 321603.88 generated energy(kwh/year) 321650.34 321605.22 321776.51 321907.14 surplus energy (kwh/year) 46.4619 1.3403 172.6333 303.25 wind energy (kwh/year) 66557.88 46680.87 71602.43 71075.39 pv energy (kwh/year) 216187.10 236019.00 232489.83 233147.50 diesel gen.energy(kwh/year) 38905.35 38905.35 17684.25 17684.25 no. of dg 11 11 5 5 tic ($/year) 47822.59 48553.92 48503.43 48688.70 % increase in tic base base 1.42366 1.8110 annual energy cost($/kwh) 0.14870 0.15097 0.15081 0.15139 co2_emissions(kg/year) 15146.06 15146.06 6884.57 6884.57 %co2 emissions decrease base base 54.5454 54.5454 seeking time (sec) 55.2 88.5 57.6 90.7 abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 figure 5. monthly wind energy in a year with and without constraints using pso figure 6. monthly pv energy in a year with and without constraints using pso figure 7. monthly dg energy in a year with and without constraints using pso abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 it can be concluded from table 10 and figs 5 -7 that by decreasing the maximum allowable co2 emissions limits, the number of diesel generators is decreased. consequently, the designed scheme tends to select higher number of pv modules and wts to overcome the decreasing in energy generated from diesel. this increase in wts, pv units and pv controller will increase the tic (1.4236% in pso which is approximately zero) due to the increase of the installation cost of the system, but the co2 emissions is decreased to the required level (45.4545 %). it is obvious from table 9 that the results obtained by the configuration scheme optimized by pso is better than those obtained by ga. this is with respect to tic emissions and annual cost of energy. fig. 6 shows that the components of mg share higher power in april to august as the radiations of the selected site is higher at these months. 5.4. mg energy management while designing and simulating the proposed mg, it was assumed that the mg is isolated and supplies the rated energy to the load throughout the project lifecycle. from table 9, it is obvious that mg system configuration with a tic of $48503.43 and 54.5454 % decrease in co2 emissions represents the most economical design with lower emissions. thus this configuration is used for mg management and supplying the annual average load described in subsection 4.2.1. fig. 8 shows share of designed individual mg components (wind, pv, and diesel) in supplying the demand electricity for the load profile, whereas fig. 9 indicates the monthly sharing of combined components and fig. 10 shows the charged and discharged energy in batteries over the 12 month of the year. figure 8. load profile sharing using mg components with 6884 kg emissions constraints figure 9. grouped load profile sharing with 6884 kg emissions constraints abde-hamed/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 18 figure 10. surplus energy lost in batteries with 6884 kg emissions constraints it is evident from figs 8 -10 that with co2 emissions limitation, the dgs share the smallest part of the load profile energy. also wts shares poor energy due to the low wind speed profile of the mg site. the components of the mg share higher energy in april to august as the irradiations and temperature of the selected site are higher at these months. results also proved that pv technology is preferable in this location. 6. conclusion in this paper, an optimal sizing scheme and energy management of mg components, supplying a load demand, is constructed and designed. the objective of minimizing the tic with environmental emissions constraints is 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10.21625/essd.v4i2.561 unlocking the potentials of urban architecture in enhancing the quality of urban life in urban poverty areas through community projects ahmed khaled ahmed elewa1 1associate professor of town planning and architecture design, department of architecture, faculty of fine arts, helwan university, egypt abstract currently more than half of world population are living in cities, while world is witnessing a rapid urbanization process particularly in cities of the developing and emerging countries, where urban poverty areas (upa) with low quality of urban life (qul) and lack of the usual urban spaces are the most significant urban phenomena that characterized those cities. in such an urban context there is a need for an efficient tool that contributes positively to the enhancement of the qul, meanwhile to provide the best use of the rare vacant lands. this study argues that urban architecture as a design field offers a distinctive approach to a special type of buildings made for an urban setting, thus it can enhance the qul in upa through community projects. the study is based on an analytical study of selected cases of community projects in upa that represents examples of how urban architecture through its potentials has a positive impact on its urban context, notably through community projects that strongly linked to real community needs. the results showed that urban architecture as a design approach for community projects have multiple roles that boost the socio-economic daily life, as well it supports various environmental issues towards better qul. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords urban architecture; quality of urban life; urban poverty areas; community projects 1. introduction the fact that more than half of the world population already lives in cities (un, 2016) explains why cities are gaining more attention from urban specialists and researchers among other types of human settlements. meanwhile the world is witnessing a continuous process of urbanization, which accompanied with a vast growth in urban population, where cities of the global south cities of developing and emerging countries (cde) are leading both the urbanization process and the urban population growth of the world for more than four decades, according to the un most of the world’s fastest-growing cities are located in asia and africa. cdes already have socio-economic obstacles, this is why they represent a special case of world cities that face a real challenge regarding how to deal with the impact of the chaotic urbanization process and the rapid urban population growth, meanwhile to deal pg. 121 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i2.561&domain=press.ierek.com elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd with their socio-economic and environmental obstacles. these challenges have produced cities with urban defects, where urban poverty areas (upas) are the most significant urban phenomenon that characterizes the majority of cdes. this study concerning a specified type of upas which cannot be considered as shantytowns, as these areas basically consist of permanent buildings and have the potentials to be improved and upgraded (will be discussed later in another section of this study), this type of upas exist in many cdes, the majority of cases are in latin america such as rio de janeiro, sao paolo, bogota, medellin, also there are some cases in asia and africa such as cairo in egypt. it is expected that through the next three decades more upas will appear as well as the growth of the existing ones ”by 2030, projections indicate that two billion of the global urban population will live in slums, mostly in africa and asia” (ezeh, et al., 2016), also according to un-habitat: the absolute numbers of slums continue to grow and the slum challenge remains a critical factor for the persistence of poverty in the world (un-habitat, 2016). this study argued that under the influence of the continuity of chaotic urbanization and the urban population growth in cdes, there is still a need for new and smart solutions to cope with upas, particularly regarding those areas that can be considered as meaningful upas that have the potentials to be upgraded. the study discusses how urban architecture as a design domain can provide multi-dimensional solutions that contribute to the enhancement of the quality of urban life, as well as to unlock the potentials of the urban architecture product which represents a distinctive type of buildings. also to elaborate definitions to some terms that are in the core of the scope of this study, such as upas, urban architecture to a more comprehensive and broader understanding of these terms. 2. urban architecture, towards a broader understanding urban architecture is a term that is wildly used in the practical domain of both architecture and urban design by architects and urban designers to refer to a specific type of buildings that was designed in coordinates with its urban context. in other words, urban architecture aims at integrating the architectural project with its urban context (komez, 2011). this understanding of the term is what this study is looking for, to a broader understanding of urban architecture, to a more comprehensive understanding that is not limited to the patchy imperfection understanding that urban architecture is only comprised of buildings made for an urban setting, (harris, 2018) as it is not designed for a rural setting. however, this understanding of the term has a few scholar research that coped with this definition from a theoretical point of view. here are some definitions that consistent with the intended understanding in this study. this actually broadens the understanding of urban architecture is not relatively a contemporary concept. doxiades in his book ”architecture in transition” published in 1963, realized early how an architect needs in architecture design process to be not limited to the building itself, but must extend to its surrounding environment. he also explained that the architect must deal with the building environment at the local level, the other surrounding buildings, streets, squares, traffic, and moreover at a broader level with other similar activities (doxiades, 1963). however, doxiades literally used the term urban as oppose to rural which somehow makes his definition not very relevant to the broader intended meaning in this study (komez, 2011). however, the contemporary birth of the scholar research regarding urban architecture from a theoretical perspective and as a standalone design approach that engages between architectural design and urban design was in the usa during the1970s and 1980s. in 1981, the second volume of the harvard architecture review was titled urban architecture, it defined urban architecture as a design approach, which promotes architectural design that is responsive to variables of its urban context; city, street pattern, building character, open spaces and communities (the harvard architecture review, 1981). this definition comprises the contemporary understanding of the term urban architecture in this study, another example from the usa during the same period, attoe, and donn in their book: ”american urban architecture, catalysts in the design of cities”, published in 1989 the term urban architecture was mentioned in the title. however, they identified urban architecture in a metaphoric way as it reppg. 122 elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd resents a theory called catalytic architecture, which describes the positive impact of an individual urban building or project on the surrounding urban context and the whole city. urban architecture according to this definition have a broader understanding to include not only individual buildings, but it could also be a project that consists of several buildings (attoe, & donn, 1989). besides the preceding definitions, here are some contemporary definitions which correspond to the context of this study. in 2003, matthew carmona defined urban architecture as ”architecture that responds and contributes positively to its context and to the definition of the public realm,” (carmona, heath, oc & tiesdell, 2003). this definition is in line with the intended meaning in this study as well it highlights the positive impact of urban architecture on its urban realm, also robert cowan in 2005 defend it as ”buildings in an urban setting” or “the overall design of an urban area.” (cowan, 2005), according to cowan the main concept of urban architecture is to design buildings in harmony and unitary with its urban context. lastly, in 2009, komez defined urban architecture as a holistic architectural design approach that operates beyond the boundaries of the fields, opposing to the architectural projects that are designed and perceived as objects, urban architecture aims at integrating the architectural project with its urban environment, namely its context (komez, 2011). in light of the previous discussion, urban architecture in this study is a standing architecture design approach that engages between architecture design and urban design in one process. it aims to produce a unique type of buildings in harmony and integration with its urban context, so it generates the potentials to enhance the urban environment by boosting the interactions between users, their socio-economic activities and the urban realm which contributes to a better qul. 2.1. urban architecture as a catalyst for the urban enhancement this study argues that urban architecture through its potentials has a positive impact on its urban context that can enhance its qul, these potentials emerge from the final product of urban architecture as it represents a distinctive design process that gathering the advantages of both the architecture and urban characteristic. accordingly, this argument has a crucial twofold: – the first fold regarding the need to determine what is the product and its characteristics of an urban architecture process? as it produced through a holistic design approach that combining architectural design and urban design. – the second fold regarding how urban architecture contributes to the enhancement of its urban context. 2.1.1. the characteristics of urban architecture product the determining of the architectural and urban characteristics of the urban architecture product is playing a key role in the understanding of how to use urban architecture as a tool for enhancing the qul. it is logical and rational to expect a distinctive product that has the advantages of both architectural design and urban design, based on the reached definition. in this study, the product is a specific type of buildings, which have unique architectural and urban characteristics. attoe, wayne, and donn logan clarified the types and characteristics of the product of urban architecture as a design approach, this product is not only limited to individual buildings, but it includes also projects that consist of buildings and urban spaces (attoe, & donn, (1989). thus, the product may be a single building or several buildings gathered in an urban space within a project. they also determine a large list of buildings that can be considered as urban buildings, said urban buildings include a large list of different types, according to attoe, and donn : it includes a large list of various building types, for example, it might be a shopping mall, in another case a transportation hub and in a third a museum. it could be a designed open space or, at the smallest scale, a special feature like a colonnade or a fountain (attoe, & donn, 1989). in other words, the product of urban architecture whether it is an urban building or a project must be settled for public usage and have functions which operate for their sake. it could even just be an urban space with a landscape feature that has the potential to gather public users. it consists of distinctive types of buildings or projects that pg. 123 elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd combine both the advantages of architectural and urban characteristics; thus, it generates livability to its urban context, as it boosts the daily socio-economic activities of its urban community. komez in his notion about urban architecture explained that urban architecture is not a new phenomenon and that its contemporary definition is concerning the urban design, urbanism, and landscape. urbanism provides new ways for integrating buildings with their contexts by adapting strategies developed in these fields (komez, 2011). furthermore, attoe and donn represented a similar concept regarding the characteristics of the product of urban architecture in which they emphasized that the final product of urban architecture (building or project) contributes to the shaping of their city (attoe, & donn, 1989). to be put simply, an urban architecture product is physically and functionally connected and integrated with its urban context. 2.1.2. the catalytic role of urban architecture in urban poverty areas this study claims that urban architecture has positive potentials that can enhance the qul generally in a diverse urban context and particularly in upa cases. in other words, urban architecture, through its products (buildings or projects), acts as an urban catalyst that has roles and functions that go beyond those of ordinary common buildings. many authors promote the crucial role of urban catalysts in enhancing the qul and as a dynamic tool that positively impacts the urban context. in her book, ”urban catalysts in theory and practice”, juliet davis discusses the role of architectural projects which can be defined as ‘catalysts’ to urban renewal, she clarified the meaning of the catalytic role of urban architecture through both the theoretical views of a number of urban and architectural thinkers, as well as through a practical example of an urban architecture project (a specific project – the thames barrier park – that has been referred to as a ‘catalyst’ to the urban renewal of london’s royal docks). she managed to prove the catalytic role of urban architecture that can act effectively as an urban renewal tool (davis, 2010). moreover, according to kateissima francin: ”urban catalysts appear to be interesting tools to improve the quality of the built environment, and hence, the quality of life, by jumpstarting and shaping the urban transformation process of underutilized areas” (francin, 2015). these contemporary views of urban architecture and its catalytic role in urban development as a tool that can improve the qul is in line with the what attoe and donn in 1989 wrote regarding urban architecture as an urban catalyst, they described the product of urban architecture as an urban catalyst which has a positive impact in the urban context and act as an incremental urban regeneration tool. it has a greater purpose than just to solve a functional problem, create an investment or to provide an amenity, it represents ”an urban element that is shaped by the city (its ”laboratory” setting) and then, in turn, shapes its context. its purpose is the incremental, continuous regeneration of the urban fabric” (attoe, & donn, 1989). moreover, urban architecture produces urban buildings with public functions; thus, they ensure and support the validity and rationalistic of this study’s claim regarding its role in enhancing the qul. ernest sternberg described how some types of public buildings such as stadiums, museums and other facilities could be considered as urban catalysts, as they receive public support in order to spur development in the immediate surrounding area (ernest, 2002). 3. urban poverty areas, the intended meaning in this study urban poverty areas (upas) in this study are defined from an urban perspective; thus, it refers to a type of urban areas that suffer from bad quality of urban life (elewa, 2018). according to this definition, upas include not only informal urbanization areas but also formal areas that have a bad qul, so upa as a term has a broader scope than to be limited only to informal urbanization and of course slums, shantytowns, favelas (in south america), or any other similar terms can be considered as upas. upas are often linked to informal urbanism which is the product of the rapid urbanization process in the cities of developing and emerging countries. according to the un: rapid urbanization, if not well managed, will lead to more informal settlements and poverty (un, 2014). therefore, these areas represent the urban product of informality, they are characterized by the low-quality buildings as well as low-quality urban context but even so, pg. 124 elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd these low-quality urbanism areas as upas can be easily classified into two main categories regarding their quality of buildings and urbanism. the first type of upas is the type that consists of permanent buildings, and the other type is the type that consists of temporary buildings which often consists of shelters and huts that lack the main infrastructure and represent the worst case of slums which are also called squatter areas or shanty towns (elewa, 2018). however, in this study, the focus is on the first type which is a specific type of upas with architectural and urban criteria that according to the hypothesis of the study, these specific areas can be improved and upgraded through the usual and common upgrading approaches. 3.1. the architectural and urban characteristics of the permanent building type of upas this type of upas often spread in the cdes, witnesses a growing economy, this growing economy is usually accompanied by domestic immigration for socio-economic opportunities. these upas differ in many ways from the usual slums that consist mainly of temporary huts and tin ashes, they are not shantytowns since they consist of permanent buildings. this special type of upas have some potential that makes them meaningful places, in other words, and from an upgraded urban perspective, these areas have the capability to be improved regarding their quality of urban life. this specified type of upas spreads in the major cities of latin america such as mexico city, caracas, bogota, madeline, sao paolo, rio de janeiro and other similar cases. this type also exists in some cases outside south america in africa such as the case of slums in greater cairo which is significantly marked by the red bricks buildings (elewa, 2018), see figure 1. the most significant architectural and urban characteristics of the permanent building type of upas include the following: – the majority of buildings are residential, they were designed to meet the basic needs of the dwellers. they represent the power of the informal socio-economic sector in developing and emerging countries. these buildings mainly consist of multi-story structural buildings with bricks walls. – the urban context is characterized by the high density of the built-up area, and of course, this means less urban spaces and lack of public spaces which is a significant urban defect in these areas. – the urban context in these areas is the product of informality, the available urban spaces were occupied by the basic needs, and in other words, the other usual social spaces in the formal areas were neglected. according to satterthwaite they represent household livelihood or survival strategies (satterthwaite, 1995). – the street and alleys network in the majority of cases represent the original features of the topography of the site or the geometric divisions that is related to the former land use such as the agricultural divisions in some cases of upas in greater cairo. however, in most cases, inaccessibility and irregularity is a common defect. figure 1. examples of the permanent buildings type of upas from cairo, egypt and rio de janeiro, brazil. notice the similarity in the urban tissue and buildings type. source: google earth maps edited by the author. pg. 125 elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 4. practical cases the selected cases share the same characteristics regarding urban context and socio-economic aspects. they are all permanent building types of upas in cdes. as well as the fact that all the cases represent community projects (in terms of community participatory during the design process, decision making and implementing the project), and were designed through an urban architecture type of design approach. the analytical study aimed at clarifying the role of the potentials of urban architecture as a design approach in the enhancement of the qul in upas. the study based on the hereunder specified criteria: – introduction (a brief description of the basic demographic data of the case, the characteristics of the urban context). – the community participatory – the concept and the strategies (urban architecture as a design approach). – the program and the objectives: (the description of the project components, and the objectives). – the learned lessons. 4.1. tapis rouge, a public space in the informal neighborhood, port-au-prince, haiti. the case of tapis rouge represents an example of the urban architecture’s project as it was described in this study, it has an urban catalytic act that contributes positively to the socio-economic activities in urban communities particularly in the case of upas. also, the project is an example of a community project that delivers the actual needs of the community through their participatory role. the case is about a public space that delivers multi socio-economic functions for the poor dwellers of a upa. 4.1.1. introduction the proposed case ’tapis rouge’ is located in carrefour-feuilles, an informal upa in the southern outskirts of port-auprince, haiti. during the last three decades the metropolitan area of haiti was developed informally, the spread of informal chaotic urbanization is a significant phenomenon that marks the city. according to who, about 74% of the urban population lives in informal neighborhoods (unhabitat, 2017). tapis rouge was one of the most damaged informal neighborhoods during the 2010 earthquake. after the disaster, the site of tapis rouge turned into a tent camp for displaced dwellers. the site occupied the top of a slope overlooking the ravines where the houses cling to the slopes of the ravine. tapis rouge is a landmark all they way from the entrance to the narrow passages, the alleys, and the homes below (archdaily, 2017), see figure 2. figure 2. (a) port-auprince map. figure 2, (b) the dense urbanization of carrefour-feuilles. source: port-au-prince, haiti. © un-habitat. https://unhabitat.org/haiti/. edited by author pg. 126 elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the characteristics of the urban context of tapis rouge reflect the urban product of informality, extreme poverty is a remarkable phenomenon. the homes lack the basic infrastructure, in particular the neighborhood has limited access to electricity. moreover, the neighborhood suffers from inaccessibility, it can hardly be accessed by vehicles and pedestrians due to the narrow alleys and the downhill corridors’ network. as well as the urban fabric remarkably characterized by the lack of public spaces. moreover, the available public spaces lack safety and are predominately crowded due to the high density population, that is why the social life takes place among the tight corners and between the walls of the buildings. the project ’tapis rouge’ is in one of several public spaces in carrefourfeuilles, acting as an initiative under the program of lamika, the abbreviation for the phrase ’a better life in my neighborhood’ for the native people of haiti (archdaily, 2017). the design and the construction supervision conducted by emergent vernacular architecture (eva studio). according to the un-habitat: the construction process depended on local contractors, and by using locally available resources. all the construction materials are sourced from the local market and all the pavers are manufactured in haiti. (un-habitat, 2017). the project was funded by the american red cross, which was implemented by the global communities (an international development and humanitarian aid organization) in 2016. 4.1.2. a community project the case represents a community-oriented project that was designed by eva – emergent vernacular architecture – to respond to the real socio-economic needs of the local community through a participatory approach that allowed the community members to participate in the decision making of the design concept and program. the tasks of the eva studio included the arrangement of workshops with the local dwellers in order to determine the uses of the project and other related issues to the design components. according to the un-habitat: the final project represented suitable and effective design solutions that could address the most urgent needs, ambitions and goals identified by community members. the program of the space and the architectural design have been therefore established in different stages directly with the community (un-habitat, 2017). 4.1.3. the concept and the strategies (urban architecture as a design approach) the design concept was strongly linked to the project’s objectives that were reached through a community’s participatory approach. the concept focused on how to enhance the urban context of the informal neighborhood; meanwhile, in order to respond to the urgent social needs of the community (archdaily, 2017). thus, the design concept was to provide a multi-functional public space that was designed through urban architecture as a design approach. the design concept based on the usage of the potentials of urban architecture through its catalytic role in enhancing the qul in the informal neighborhood. besides the achievement of multi-socioeconomic benefits for the society, according to the un-habitat: the project aimed at exploring the unexpected impact boundaries of architecture, in a context where the values of architecture are unexpected and unfamiliar (un-habitat, 2017). the architecture here refers to urban architecture and its hidden and unexpected potential, particularly in such an urban context. the usage of urban architecture as a design approach in ’tapis rouge’ is in line with the targeted placemaking strategies that is aimed at making the dwellers proud of their neighborhood and to give them a sense of ownership towards the project (unhabitat, 2017). the characteristics of the urban architecture product allowed the users of the project (the neighborhood’s dwellers) to have full accessibility to the entire public space and to make it integrated with the urban context of the informal neighborhood. thus, the project can positively impact both the physical surrounding urban context and the social life of the community as well. for instance, the project included a wall that surrounds the circular borders of the main arena (the amphitheater) which has been transformed into a popular colorful mural by the local artists, the dwellers and their children. the idea emerged as a result of one of the participatory workshops that gathered the designers with the local dwellers (archdaily, 2017). pg. 127 elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 3. (a) general layout of the project. source: wilkinson, t., 2017. (b) ariel view of the project and the urban context. source: eva studio, http://www.evastudio.co.uk/tapis-rouge/ 4.1.4. the program and the objectives the project’s program and objectives reflected the essential role of the usage of urban architecture as a design approach. the project main objective was to meet both the community really needs and to achieve the enhancement of the qul in an informal neighborhood (wilkinson, 2017). the designers aimed at providing a multifunctional public space that provides societal facilities for the local community. the project was shaped to form an amphitheater as a community’s social arena, this central area has been marked as the heart of the project. the edges of the seating steps of the amphitheater are surrounded by small trees which when fully grown will provide shade for the users from the sun. the project contains an open area equipped as an open gym and another area near the colorful mural hosts open greenery terraces, each one is characterized by different plants. figure 4. cross-section and section in the main plaza of the project. source: archdaily, 2017 the project aimed to achieve the following goals: – the provision of a public space that acts as an urban catalyst to unfold an incremental urban reform and enhancement process. this public space compensates for both the lack of public spaces on the urban context level as well as the lack of adequate indoor spaces in the dwellers’ housing. – the public space has social functions to contribute to transform the community from social exclusion and informality towards social cohesion by giving the power for community participation of different population groups to urban life. as well as to give the dwellers the pride of their neighborhood and identity through the community participatory role that provides them with the sense of ownership (archdaily, 2017). – the open public spaces of the project were designed to fit the whole community’s dwellers of different ages. for instance, larger designed playground spaces for children, a green gym for youth and adults, outdoor workout equipment, as well as to provide spaces for relaxation with more comfortable equipment (unhabitat, 2017). – to mitigate the sources of environmental risks in the open public spaces such as floods and landslides, to improve urban accessibility and other needed infrastructure such as lighting for pedestrians’ network. as a result, reducing violence, crime, and other undesired social behavior (archdaily, 2017). pg. 128 elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – the project was designed to cope with the lack of basic infrastructure in carrefour-feuilles, the informal neighborhood suffered from extreme urban poverty, limited access to electricity and clean water. the project provided green energy solutions through the installation of solar lights for public spaces and pedestrians’ network. there was also a well incorporated through the project, according to un-habitat: there are storage tanks for the adjacent water distribution station. the well that feeds the tanks and station brings water from 100m below ground. the revenue generated from the sales of water will be reinvested into maintaining the public space (unhabitat, 2017). figure 5. shots showing the project’s urban spaces. source: archdaily, 2017 4.1.5. the results and learned lessons the case of tapis rouge showed several results and lessons extracted from practice; these lessons proved practically the argument of this study. these results and learned lessons include the hereunder: – the establishing of a community’s public space based on an urban architecture approach was a successful decision, the project managed to build a strong connection and interaction with the surrounding urban context. moreover, the project was a way to connect the informal neighborhood physically with the rest of the city, a step towards formality notably that the presence of the local authorities is weak and the urban growth process is chaotic and uncontrolled. – a well designed and quality constructed community’s project in an informal upa means to make a deeper urban impact for a low extra investment (unhabitat, 2017). in the case of the tapis rouge project, it has proved that urban architectural design can merge well designed and functional public spaces with mitigating infrastructures. so simply, a high-quality community’s project does not always mean high financing. – the project supported the sustainability of the local socio-economic system through the facilitating of livelihoods, the project managed to facilitate commercial and exchange between the neighborhood and the rest of the city by improving its image. moreover, the construction of the project relied mainly on local resources, products and workforce. eva studio’s design depended only on local contractors, local materials and available local plants, which resulted in strengthening the local construction chain and of course the entire socio-economic system. – the project supported environmental sustainability, the lighting of the public spaces and the pedestrian’s network relied on solar lamps. these lamps allowed children and their families to use the public spaces after sunset and to make these spaces safer. as well as in such an informal urban context that suffers from the discontinuously of electric supply and is not accessible to everybody, the installation of solar lamps in public spaces simply means to afford equal opportunity for all the community members. – the case highlighted the pivotal role of the active participation of the community members in both the design and construction of community projects in order to deal with the commonly expected issues, particularly in the case of informal upas. issues such as site safety, land tenure and the durability of the project can pg. 129 elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd be handled by the community active participatory. according to the un-habitat: the post-occupancy evaluation of public spaces in carrefour-feuilles, have highlighted that in haiti, the more public places provide space and comfort for outdoor activities, the more they acquire value for community members and the more they will provide unsolicited maintenance (unhabitat, 2017). 4.2. a vertical gym for the informal upas of caracas this case also represents the intended meaning by a building that was designed through urban architecture as a design approach, a creative case that showed how buildings can be adapted through urban architecture to deliver more opportunities and more functional spaces under the impact of space shortage in informal upa. 4.2.1. introduction this case represents an innovative idea that was explored through the potentials of urban architecture, it is a case of a vertical gym that was established in 2004 as a pilot project in la cruz an informal upa in chacao, caracas, the capital city of venezuela. caracas is an example of the cdes that suffers from the chaotic uncontrolled urbanization and the existence of informal upas (slums, locally known as barrios). according to brillembourg and klumpner: currently in caracas, about 60% of the city’s inhabitants are living in informal upas and the spreading of these informal districts is a continuous process. despite the continuing urban population growth, only 50,000 to 80,000 social units are being built annually, while at least a million units are needed. the result is more informal buildings and upas (brillembourg, & klumpner, 2011). figure 6. (a) caracas map. (b) the dense urbanization of chacao, caracas. source: aerial view of slums in caracas, venezuela. source urban-think tank, 2011. like other informal upas in cdes, la cruz suffers from informality that impacted the socio-economic activities and other aspects of urban life negatively. crime is a challenging and frightening aspect that makes public spaces dangerous particularly at night, the murder rate in caracas is the highest in the whole of latin america. (brillembourg, & klumpner, 2011). the lack of social amenities is another problem that faces dwellers particularly children and youth, they lack alternatives. however, the most significant urban defect that characterized la cruz is the extreme shortage of vacant lands for community facilities. the vertical gym in la cruz is a pilot project that deals with the problem of the urban space shortage by expanding vertically. the project was designed by architects alfredo brillembourg and hubert klumpner from the interdisciplinary design practice urban-think tank (u-tt), the project was implemented in 2004. the project forms part of the u-tt’s ambitions to create 100 vertical gyms for the informal upas in caracas. the municipality of chacao, where la cruz is located was the client, the project was implemented at a cost of 1.5 million usd. a german foundation donated a seed funding that was received by u-tt (schwartz, 2012). pg. 130 elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 4.2.2. a community project the designers’ team of u-tt views themselves as an agency for research and development and an instrument for social change which aims at empowering the poor through design (brillembourg & klumpner, 2011). moreover, this project’s case like all u-tt’s projects was self-initiated. that is why relationships with the local community in la cruz played a pivotal role in the decision making during the design process, according to amanda hurley: all u-tt’s projects were self-initiated. relationships were what got it built (hurley, 2014). therefore, the vertical gym represents a community project in terms of community participatory. the designers interacted with the community’s dwellers and managed to win them over, the project program and the final concept and ideas were developed by several workshops that gathered the design team and the community members (hurley, 2014). brillembourg and klumpner the project designers commented on the community role in the design process as the key to maximizing the use of the facility is to engage in community involvement from the beginning of the design process. we were on the ground asking residents of the barrio exactly what they wanted and what their neighborhood needed most. this practice gives the community a stake in the construction and design of the structure (cracknell, 2013). moreover, according to justin mcguirk in his book titled ”radical cities”: his first meeting with brillembourg and klumpner (the architects of the project and u-tt owners) was in la cruz, the informal upa in caracas. he described this meeting: ”inaction” in a caracas barrio, striking up conversations, playing a game of basketball with some kids. it is not a job for the shy or ill-at-ease. ”the activist architect is an extrovert or he is nothing” (hurley, 2014). 4.2.3. the concept and the strategies (urban architecture as a design approach) – la cruz as an informal upa was characterized by a very dense urban context that witnesses a continuous dynamic spatial change. the available buildable land is often claimed for housing as a priority, considering community facilities as a type of luxury needs that can be dispensed. therefore, the designers had to redraw and to redesign key elements to accommodate the shifting dimensions of available land. the design concept was based on maximizing the area of the small available land by expanding vertically to accommodate more spaces for diverse activities and making a combination between open outdoor space and inner spaces. moreover, to create innovative outdoor spaces within the building. for instance, the rooftop court to provide a building that is strongly linked to its urban context and to be well accessed to the community (brillembourg, & klumpner, 2011). – the designers tend to simplify the design, in other words, they used urban architecture tools to overcome the difficult financial, social and political obstacles. according to brillembourg and klumpner: urban-think tank shares their approach to working in complex environments that call for simple solutions (brillembourg, & klumpner, 2011). for instance, the u-tt designers’ team developed an innovative ramp to connect the several floors and to provide a smooth vertical circulation with affordable cost instead of the costly elevators. – the project was designed to be a replicable prototype that can be assembled in other upas with the diverse urban context, thus, the designers followed design strategies that seek achieving a low-cost flexible modular design that provides more effective spaces within the small available land. according to hurley: the consummate u-tt idea, the gym is tactical, replicable, and programmed to the max—to make the most of scarce land in a dense city (hurley, 2014). moreover, this prototype can be easily modified to adapt and fit different programs, social, financial and ecological demands (cracknell, 2013). pg. 131 elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 7. the vertical gym drawings showed how the project is a replicable prototype and the project after implantation. source u-tt. brillembourg, a. & klumpner, h., 2011. 4.2.4. the program and the objectives the project is more than a building as it was designed through urban architecture, the vertical gym is a public project that is well connected with society and positively interacted with the societal activities. in other words, the project is a piece of social infrastructure. the vertical gym occupied a ground area of about 1,000 square meters and through the vertically stacked three floors and an open roof, it provides facilities covering 3,800 square meters (cracknell, 2013). the program aimed at providing an extremely efficient variety of spaces for different recreational activities that targets mainly children and youth through after-school programs, summer camps and sports leagues. this include the following activities: vertically stacked basketball courts, a running track, a dance studio, weightlifting areas, an open-air soccer field., climbing wall, a café and relevant athletic facilities (brillembourg, & klumpner, 2011), (cracknell, 2013). the project aimed towards achieving the following objectives: – to solve space shortage in la cruz and upas of caracas that leads to the phenomenon of lacking social amenities. according to hurley: the consummate u-tt idea, the gym is tactical, replicable, and programmed to the max—to make the most of scarce land in a dense city (hurley, 2014); as well as to provide a piece of social infrastructure that aimed through sports and healthy activities at reducing crime rates amongst the youth and adults in la cruz and surrounding upas in caracas. and to also promote healthy lifestyles and strengthened social capital. – to enhance the qul in la cruz by providing a community urban architecture project that would bring socio-economic opportunities for the local community. – the project supports the local environment to be more sustainable. the project was designed to depend on renewable energy technology where ecological conditions allow them to, the project can also be outfitted with solar cells, wind turbines and rainwater collection infrastructure (brillembourg, & klumpner, 2011). pg. 132 elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 8. the vertical gym in la cruz duringconstruction and after implementation. source: (brillembourg, & klumpner, 2011), (hurley, 2014). 4.2.5. the results and learned lessons the case showed how community projects through urban architecture as a design approach can deliver more opportunities that support the enhancement of the qul in upas. the results and learned lessons from practice include the hereunder: – the architects have managed to accommodate public outdoor recreational areas into a small limited area through an innovative urban architecture design of a vertical gym. this is a lesson on how to design in small spaces in a deeply needy upa that is located in a very dense urban context. – the project clarified the essential role of community participatory in making the success of any project, the project managed to give the dwellers a sense of collective ownership and responsibility. thus, the project contributes positively to reducing crime rates and to attract high-frequency use. according to kate cracknell: the project helped lower the crime rate in this barrio by more than 30 percent since its inauguration (cracknell, 2013). – the vertical gym in la cruz as a pilot initial project provides some important lessons, u-tt’s designers relied on these lessons in standardizing the dimensions and to develop a prefabricated construction system that reduced the construction time and cost (cracknell, 2013). 5. conclusion the argument of this study dealt with urban architecture as an urban design approach that provides a distinctive architectural product made for an urban setting; therefore, it can enhance the qul in upa through community projects. this argument initiated a discussion aimed towards investigating the intended meaning by urban architecture and other related terms that are strongly linked to the study hypothesis. the study defined urban architecture from a broader perspective as a standing domain of architecture design that engages between architectural design and urban design in an integrated design process, it aims at producing a unique type of building that completely merges with the surrounding urban context. moreover, the study discussed the catalytic role of urban architecture in order to clarify, theoretically, how urban architecture can enhance the qul. simply, an urban architecture product is a public project that is physically and functionally connected and integrated with its urban context and delivers multi socio-economic benefits for its urban community. the study highlighted the importance to determine a specific type of upas which is intended in this study to be enhanced by community projects that were designed through urban architecture principals, which is a specific type of upas consisting of permanent buildings with architectural and urban criteria that have the capability to be improved and upgraded through the usual and common upgrading approaches, they are not the worst case of slums and shantytowns. finally, the study through an analytical study of two selected cases aims to prove and illustrate the study’s validity. the two cases provide various lessons from actual practices that clarified how community projects that were designed through urban architecture can positively enhance the qul in upas. pg. 133 elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 6. references 1. archdaily. (2017). tapis rouge public space in an informal neighborhood in haiti, emergent vernacular architecture (eva studio). retrieved july 25, 2018, from: https://www.archdaily.com/802993/tapis-rougeemergent-vernacular-architecture 2. attoe, w., donn, l. (1989). american urban architecture: catalysts in the design of cities. berkeley: university of california press. 3. brillembourg a. & klumpner h. (2011). build simply: south of the border. retrieved august 17, 2018, from: http://www.mascontext.com/issues/10-conflict-summer-11/build-simply-south-of-the-border/ 4. carmona, m., heath, t., oc, t., & tiesdell, s. (2003). urban spaces-public places: the dimensions of urban design. oxford: architectural press. 5. cowan, r. (2005). the dictionary of urbanism. tisbury, wiltshire: streetwise press, uk. p. 415. 6. cracknell, k. (2013). the only way is up; 2013. health club management 2013 issue 10. retrieved august 20, 2018, from:http://www.healthclubmanagement.co.uk/health-club-management-features/the-only-way-i s-up/28464 7. davis, j. (2009). urban catalysts in theory and practice. architectural research quarterly,13(3-4), 295-306. 8. doxiades, k.a. (1963). architecture in transition. london: hutchinson. 9. elewa, a. (2018). enhancing the quality of urban life in urban poverty areas through a strategy of integral multi approaches, public spaces as arena for change. proceedings of science and technology, 1(1). doi:10.21625/resourceedings.v1i1.175. 10. ernest, s. (2002). what makes buildings catalytic? how cultural facilities can be designed to spur surrounding development. journal of architectural and planning research, 19(1), p. 30-43. 11. ezeh, a., mberu, b., & haregu, t. (2016). slum health is not urban health: why we must distinguish between the two. retrieved july 20, 2018, from https://theconversation.com/slum-health-is-not-urban-healt h-why-we-must-distinguish-between-the-two-69939 12. francin, k.i. (2015). urban catalyst. mcgill university: school of urban planning 13. hariss, b. (2018). what is urban architecture? retrieved august 5, 2018, from https://www.wisegeek.com/ what-is-urban-architecture.htm 14. hurley ak. (2014). next progressives: going top down. retrieved august 20, 2018, from: https://www.a rchitectmagazine.com/design/next-progressives-going-top-down o 15. komez, e. (2011). urban architecture: urban architectural strategies in three exemplary. saarbrücken: lap lambert academic publishing. 16. lucas, p.k. (2013). norms and space. understanding public space regulation in the tourist city. lund university. 17. satterthwaite, d. (1995). viewpoint the underestimation of urban poverty and of its health consequences. third world planning review, 17(4). 18. schwartz, a. (2012). a prefab vertical gym for urban slums. retrieved august 17, 2018, from: https://w ww.fastcompany.com/1680630/a-prefab-vertical-gym-for-urban-slums 19. the harvard architecture review: urban architecture. (1981). cambridge: mit press. pg. 134 elewa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 20. united nations. (2014). world urbanization prospects: the 2014 revision, highlights, united nations, department of economic and social affairs, population division. 21. united nations, (2016). the world’s cities in 2016 – data booklet. united nations, department of economic and social affairs, population division. (st/esa/ ser.a/392). 22. un-habitat, (2016). slum almanac 2015 2016, tracking improvement in the lives of slum dwellers. 23. un-habitat. (2018). best practices database: award winners. three public spaces to enhance community resilience. retrieved august 15, 2018, from: http://mirror.unhabitat.org/bp/bp.list.details.aspx?bp id=5 254 24. wilkinson t. (2017). tapis rouge in port-au-prince, haiti by emergent vernacular architecture. retrieved august 15, 2018, from:https://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/tapis-rouge-in-port-au-prince-haitiby-emergent-vernacular-architecture/10017643.article pg. 135 introduction urban architecture, towards a broader understanding urban architecture as a catalyst for the urban enhancement the characteristics of urban architecture product the catalytic role of urban architecture in urban poverty areas urban poverty areas, the intended meaning in this study the architectural and urban characteristics of the permanent building type of upas practical cases tapis rouge, a public space in the informal neighborhood, port-au-prince, haiti. introduction a community project the concept and the strategies (urban architecture as a design approach) the program and the objectives the results and learned lessons a vertical gym for the informal upas of caracas introduction a community project the concept and the strategies (urban architecture as a design approach) the program and the objectives the results and learned lessons conclusion references http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 48 doi: 10.21625/essd.v5i2.759 freshwater: towards a better understanding of a wicked problem tom sanya1 1 school of architecture, planning and geomatics, university of cape town, south africa corresponding author email: (tom.sanya@uct.ac.za) abstract water begets intricate and profound linkages between multiple systems. quantitative limits to freshwater availability for human needs, variabilities in the water cycle and environmental water requirements interact with water source pollution. the arising tensions are a great challenge of immense contemporary significance that can best be described as a wicked problem – a problem with multiple dimensions that presents unexpected consequences when engaged. water challenges make vivid the compromises that must be made between the environment and development. these compromises surface in the conflict between ecocentric and technocentric discourse. globally, there is evidence of numerous disciplinary and interdisciplinary water-related studies both in the past and ongoing. but there is no metamapping of various dimensions of such research to give a clear overview of what has been and what needs to be done. consequences of this oversight may include unnecessary duplication of research, difficulty in articulating knowledge gaps and inability to see beyond disciplinary boundaries. the author suggests an outline of how these difficulties can be engaged. this is done through a wide-ranging literature review to identify a range of issues of focus, which issues are then themed into imperatives for water research. these imperatives are subsequently systematised using four normative descriptors: problem, drivers and mitigation measures. in combination, these descriptors articulate a spectrum of the key issues around water research. the key issues are mapped onto various academic disciplines and societal partners to outline a schema for positioning of water research. the proposed mapping can facilitate interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary (idtd) research by allowing researchers to benefit from relevant existing bodies of knowledge while also making explicit knowledge gaps and opportunities for collaboration. by locating academic fields within different worldviews, the outlined schema reveals common ground beyond disciplinary confines around which idtd research can be instigated. © 2020 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords freshwater; water scarcity; water pollution; worldviews; interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary (idtd) research 1. introduction the “blue planet”, earth, is made habitable by water. but more than 97 percent of planet earth’s water is saline (oceans and seas) and hence a mere 2.5 percent is freshwater. vast volumes of freshwater are locked up in glaciers and polar caps. this leaves only 0.77 percent freshwater available for human use in terranean and subterranean catchments (kuylenstierna et al, 1998; shiklomano, 1991). in conditions of freshwater scarcity, tensions arise between human water needs and environmental water requirements. global freshwater includes renewable and non-renewable water. non-renewable water, which constitutes 60 percent of the hydrologic cycle, is the water used by plants in evapotranspiration. though it is important for rainfed agriculture and the natural environment, non-renewable water http://www.press.ierek.com/ mailto:tom.sanya@uct.ac.za https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v5i2.759&domain=press.ierek.com sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 49 is generally out of the realm of control of humans and is not included in water scarcity studies. the remaining 40% is renewable water which is framed in reference to the global demands of two categories: (i) anthropogenic water requirements (ii) environmental water requirements (rijsberman, 2006; smakhtin et al, 2004). due to its cyclic nature, water supply and sanitation cannot be delinked. water occurs in a continuous hydrological cycle that entangles humans with biotic and abiotic systems in multiple pathways. water’s cyclic occurrence and omnipresence, coupled with its indispensability for the survival of humans and ecosystems, defines myriads of systems with mutual feedback loops. securing freshwater for growing populations is a grand challenge in the anthropocene. rijsberman argues that water is critical to an array of global challenges from health, to malnutrition, poverty, and sustainable natural resources management (2006). today, this complex challenge is articulated as the water-energy-food-health nexus (amorim et al, 2018; international water management institute, 2019). it can therefore be argued that the water challenge is a wicked problem. a wicked problem is one which eludes precise definition, whose amelioration demands uncomfortable compromises, and for which intervention in one realm yields unexpected results elsewhere (webber and rittel, 1973). water-focused research spans ecology, social-sciences, engineering and many more disciplines. freshwater research is wide in scope and has yielded numerous disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies. publications have covered such topics as water availability, scarcity and response to scarcity (falkenmark et al, 1989; guppy and anderson, 2017; world economic forum [wef], 2019) 2019; shiklomanov, 1991; kuylenstierna et al, 1998); aquatic ecosystem system services (abell et al, 2019; vörösmarty et al, 2018; costanza et al, 2014); water and climate change (vörösmarty et al, 2000 and arnel, 1999); wastewater and pollution (connor et al, 2017; world health organization [who], 2004; karr and dudley, 1981); and the relatively new field of water sensitive design (o'farrell et al, 2019; sharma et al., 018; howe and mitchell, 2011; wong and brown, 2009; carden et al. 2018). water research also extends to issues of rights and water, social justice, law and discourse analysis. together, these fields outline an impressive spectrum of water-related research. however, critical evaluation of literature reveals that none of these publications provides a strategic overview of water research because they speak to diverse, if overlapping, research fields. the result is that water-related research, though impressive in scope and depth, has not yet, to this author’s knowledge, been systematised to relate its diverse fields and subfields. this paper attempts to derive a comprehensive yet non-prescriptive outline to cover the breadth and scope of water-related research. such an outline can make possible reflexive contextualisation of past, present and future research to facilitate collaborative synergies, identify knowledge gaps, and pre-empt duplication in water-related research. thus, this paper is aimed at enabling researchers to critically position past and ongoing water research and to surface collaboration possibilities in future disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research endeavours. 2. method this paper uses systematic literature review to uncover and characterise different aspects of water-related research. the literature reviewed includes articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, some books and publications from multilateral organisations. endnote is used as a software to organise and theme the literature. after beker (2003), the paper adapts a three part approach to the literature review to cover analytical, normative and operational level literature. analytical level literature focuses on worldviews. normative literature covers definitions, goals, criteria and indicators. and operational literature proposes particular strategies and actions to deal with specific problem situations. first, normative and operational level literature is analysed. referencing the postulate that problems are “the fountainhead” of research (becker, 2006), the paper takes water-related disutilities to society and the environment as a starting point. these disutilises are captured in a set of problems: societal water scarcity; environmental water scarcity; temporal variations in the water cycle (drought and flooding); and water pollution. each problem is discussed in turn. normative and operational level water literature results in a three-part systematisation: problems, causes and mitigation measures. this becomes the vertical dimension of the outline schema for water related research. sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 50 apart from the water-related problems, there is emergent discourse which problematises the dominant quantitative water discourse. this is covered separately as part of normative and operational level literature. the next part of the paper is at the analytical level. it focuses on a higher level framing of the normative and operational literature. this part specifically draws from o’riordan (1981), drysek (2013), groat and wang (2002) and naess (1990 and 1973) to situate normative and operational literature within different worldviews. the final part references a classification of different academic fields and locates them within different worldviews. the worldviews together with the academic fields become the horizontal dimension in the outlined schema for water research. mapping the vertical and horizontal dimensions together outlines a schema for systemisation of water related research. 3. water research literature 3.1. societal water scarcity globally, humans abstract over 4 000 km3 (4000 billion m3) of available freshwater annually. 12 percent of abstracted freshwater is municipal water for domestic and commercial purposes (food and agricultural organisation [fao], 2016) such as drinking, food preparation, personal hygiene and sanitation and watering of ornamental landscapes. domestic water scarcity is evidenced by the 844 million people worldwide who lack access to safe water and the 2.4 billion people without access to improved sanitation (united nations international children education fund [unicef] and world health organisation [who], 2015). domestic water scarcity, which occurs mostly in poverty stricken rural areas and urban informal settlements (center for disease control and prevention [cdc], 2015; hou et al, 2014), significantly reduces wellbeing and is associated with a range of health risks. contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis a, typhoid, and polio (who, 2019b). more than 820 000 people die each year from diarrhoea as a result of unsafe drinking-water, poor sanitation, and due to poor hygiene (who, 2019b; unicef and who, 2015). the majority of the world’s population is already urbanised and, driven by population growth and migration from rural areas. the rate of urbanisation is accelerating – particularly in the resource challenged global south (united nations, department of economic and social affairs population division, 2019a and 2019b). therefore, inadequate water and poor sanitation will continue to be a significant challenge. this challenge is proactively acknowledged in sustainable development goal 6 (clean water and sanitation) (united nations, 2017). the research imperative that emerges here is secure safe water and sanitation for those who lack access. at 69 percent, the largest freshwater consumer is agriculture (irrigation, livestock and aquaculture) (fao, 2016). global projections are that, due to growing population, agricultural water demand will continue to grow (conforti, 2011). seventy times more food will be needed by 2050 (conforti, 2011). about 20 percent of freshwater abstracted by humans is used for industrial purposes and energy production (fao, 2016). taken together agricultural and industrial water use is expressed in gdp/m3 of water. that is, like embodied energy, every product contains “virtual water” (hoekstra, 2003; chapagain and hoekstra, 2004). generally, as populations grow and standards of living increase, water use increases proportionately (conforti, 2011). however, others have argued that an efficiency revolution, similar to the energy revolution is possible. indeed, recent evidence suggests that there is not necessarily a linear mapping of population growth and standards of living with water consumption (gleick, 2003). that is, increase of water productivity is possible (gleick, 2003). research into increasing water productivity is paramount. often, water for human use is scarce despite its abundance in natural systems – a phenomenon known as economic water scarcity (rijsberman, 2006). at a macro-level, economic water scarcity is caused by lack of capacity in terms of capital, technology and infrastructure to deliver the water for human consumption. at a micro-level economic water scarcity is faced by poor households that cannot afford to be connected to infrastructure e.g. in informal settlements. poverty and water scarcity, coupled with malnutrition and ill health, result in a vicious poverty-waterfood-health nexus that poses a critical global challenge (amorim et al, 2018; weitz et al, 2014). clearly, sdg 6 (clean water and sanitation) is key to achievement of many other sdgs, such as: no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, life below water, and life on land. economic sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 51 water scarcity may also be due to governance failure whereby poor institutions, institutional fragmentation, and lack of transparency and accountability result in societal water scarcity despite its abundance in natural systems (akhmouch and clavreul, 2016). research imperatives emerging here are about: securing clean water and sanitation for vulnerable populations and households. the above biophysical characterisation of water scarcity is extended by critical perspectives that position water availability in rights and social justice. arguing that water cannot be substituted, shiva (2006) posits that water must be free for all people and the environment. she argues that access to water is not a favour but a right. mehta (2003) highlights the variability of the water cycle across space and time to argue that the idea of enduring drought and permanent water scarcity is without basis. she contends that scarcity is essentially transient but modernity made it permanent. she argues that water scarcity is always interspersed with overabundance and that water availability is regularly irregular. she adds that vested powerful interests promote an alarmist narrative of water scarcity to obfuscate asymmetries in water access. in a granulated analysis, metha draws attention to the distributional and relational aspects of scarcity to argue that scarcity is not felt universally by all. this for example is when powerful agricultural and industrial interests and rich elites consume huge quantities of underground water resulting in depletion of poor people’s wells. and large technical solutions such as dams and canals are designed to maximise allocation of scarce water to the powerful agro-industrial interests at the expense of the marginalised poor. in this way, argues mehta (2003 and 2001), the rich are water secure but cause scarcity in poorer communities shiva (2006) highlights the plachimada declaration on water democracy as a victory of community movements against big private interests. the declaration asserts that because water is not a human invention and cannot be bound, it should not be sold as a commodity. water cannot be substituted and all people and the environment have a right to sufficient water. the plachimada declaration is elevated to a symbol of struggle for water rights (shiva, 2006). 3.2. environmental water scarcity on the other hand, abundance of water in human systems does not necessarily imply absence of water scarcity. ecological systems have environmental water requirements (ewr) (smakhtin et al. 2004; rijsberman, 2006). the falkenmark indicator (water stress index) is a combined metric for human and environmental water requirements (falkenmark et al, 1989). when available renewable water per capita per annum is less than 1700m3, the country is defined as experiencing water stress. water scarcity occurs at less than 1000m3 renewable water per capita. absolute water scarcity occurs at below 500m3 renewable water per capita per annum. there is also a variety of other measures of water scarcity (rijsberman, 2006). and, according to the united nations (2015), 1.7 billion people are currently living in river basins where water use exceeds recharge. depleting lakes and aquifers and rivers drying up before they reach the sea are obvious signs of unsustainable abstraction and environmental water scarcity. the colorado river in the united states and the yellow river in north china, are frequently completely or partially depleted before they reach the sea every year . the aral sea and lake chad are examples of water bodies disappearing because of reduced river inflows (see mekonnen and hoekstra, 2016). a key research imperative therefore is to measure anthropogenic and environmental water scarcity using the falkenmark index or another suitable indicator. smakhtin proposes that environmental water requirements (erw) be determined by classifying ecosystems into four classes: 1. natural (pristine and unmodified); 2. good (slightly modified); 3. fair (moderately disturbed); 4. poor (critically modified and degraded). smakhtin recommends environmental water allocation for each ecosystem whereby the more undisturbed the system, the more water environmental water should be allocated to it to keep it in that condition (smakhtin et al. 2004). a key research imperative is therefore setting environmental management and water allocation objectives by classifying ecosystems. environmental water is essential for ecosystem health and protection of freshwater ecosystem services. freshwater ecosystems provide a range of valuable goods and services such as flood protection, fisheries, recreation opportunities and wildlife sanctuaries (revenga et al, 2000; acreman, 2001, vié et al, 2009). it is estimated that these services are worth trillions of us dollars annually (posteland carperter, 1997). it is argued that freshwater ecosystem degradation has resulted in loss of services valued at 20 trillion dollars annually (costanza et al, 2014). it is therefore in society’s interests that aquatic ecosystem water requirements are met. this means that in regional planning, ensuring sufficient environmental water availability for watersheds is imperative. sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 52 most urban areas are fully built up or paved and would hence fall under what smakhtin (2004) describes as “modified beyond rehabilitation to anything approaching a natural condition”. many cities do not have healthy freshwater ecosystems – meaning that they forfeit the immense value of related natural goods and services. however, at the intersection between nature and the urban built environment is ecological infrastructure, which is commonly encompassed under water sensitive design (wsd) (donofrio et al, 2009). water sensitive approaches to urban design and planning can be used to introduce, safeguard and enhance freshwater ecosystems in the city. this is through linking new and existing water bodies and greenery into networks of blue-green natural infrastructure (wong and eadie, 2000; carden et al, 2018; o'farrell et al, 2019). natural infrastructure offers active recreation opportunities such as walking, jogging, cycling, canoeing and fishing. blue-green infrastructure in cities is also known to mitigate the urban heat island effect (brears, 2018). reduced temperatures, opportunities for active recreation and the pollution-cleansing effects of nature result in overall health benefits for city residents (coutts et al, 2013). research into wsd for protection and enhancement of urban freshwater ecosystems is imperative. 3.3. temporal variations in the water cycle water scarcity is complicated by the spatial and temporal variations in water availability due to the dynamic nature of the hydrological cycle. the same place can experience scarcity and flooding in the same year. global warming is increasing the intensity, frequency and duration of extreme weather events (cisneros et al, 2014 and arnell, 1999). the dynamic nature of the water cycle may explain why some authors argue that, unlike biospherical integrity and land systems, freshwater availability is not a critical contemporary limit (rockström et al, 2009). yet, mekonnen and hoestra (2016), in a fine scale spatial and temporal resolution, estimated that 66 percent of the global population lives under conditions of severe water scarcity for at least one month of the year. moreover, 40 percent of the world’s population will be living in seriously water-stressed areas by 2035 (guppy and anderson, 2017 and addams et al, 2009). in absolute terms, there has been a 55 percent drop globally in available freshwater per capita (guppy and anderson, 2017) while by 2030, global demand for water is expected to grow by 50 percent (united nations educational scientific and cultural organisation [unesco], 2012). the world economic forum (wef) warns that water scarcity is amongst the top ten global risks in terms of likelihood and impact (wef, 2019). the relatively affluent are apparently oblivious to this critical problem given that they waste up to 80 percent of potable water on uses for which non-potable water would suffice (sisolak and spataro, 2011). globally, 30 percent of global water abstraction is wasted through leakage (liemberger and wyatt, 2019). the reality of water-stress was emphasised, to rich and poor alike, when cape town almost ran out of water in 2017 and 2018 in what was known in global popular press parlance as day zero (taing et al, 2019; wolski, 2018). thus, for significant portions of global population, water stress is a new normal. this means that it is imperative for research to be focussed on adaption and building resilience in the face of episodic and enduring water challenges. adaptation and resilience building include: diversifying supply; reducing leakage; mainstreaming fit-for-purpose water use to avoid wastage of potable water; developing efficient technologies to reduce water consumption and wastage; nudging consumer mindsets from water wasteful to water mindful; and increasing water productivity. furthermore, civilisations have been known to flourish in historically water stressed geographies because they developed adequate institutions (rijsberman, 2006). mehta (2003) also demonstrates that local people have evolved flexible livelihoods in order to intermittent availability of water. hence, building resilience requires developing appropriate institutions for water governance. but it is not just water scarcity that is at issue. due to the dynamic nature of the water cycle, extreme weather events can cause sudden water overabundance which can result in flooding and landslides. water plays a major role in all disasters. 90 percent of all disasters in 2017 were water related (centre for research on the epidemiology of disasters [cred] 2017). floods and landslides alone accounted for more 75 percent of the disaster-related deaths (ibid). climate change has been foregrounded as a cause of water scarcity. due to climate change, the occurrence and severity of extreme weather events is projected to increase (wef, 2019). hence, adaptation to and mitigation of flooding is another important research imperative. mehta (2006) claims that the attribution of long droughts to climate change is not supported by local data and instead, more attention should be focused on human-induced scarcity due to deforestation and unsustainable irrigation, for example. edwards (2013) argues that, in australia, the narrative of an imminent water crisis induced by climate change is accompanied by neoliberalization of water governance. sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 53 bringing water to one area leaves a deficit elsewhere (shiva, 2001). dams upstream create scarcity downstream (hussien, 2017a). dams to provide water and power flood nature, displace communities and cause massive loss of flora and fauna. water can be a political matter. according to yorke (2016), in water scarce countries such as jordan, water is an instrument of patronage and power. and powerful elites consistently ignore or frustrate water demand management aimed at securing sustainable yields. therefore, water demand and supply is not just one of demand and supply but it is also a wider structural problem of national governance. for this reason, hussien (2018) argues, engineering and geological perspectives on water scarcity must be complemented by insights from the political and social sciences. 3.4. water quality and pollution most water consumed and used by humans becomes part of the environment and the water cycle again. this opens numerous pathways for pollution. two billion people worldwide contaminate water with faecal matter (who, 2015). globally, 80 percent wastewater is dumped untreated (un environment). in developing countries, 70 percent industrial waste is untreated. 15 – 18 billion m3 of freshwater resources are polluted by fossil fuel production annually (unesco, 2020). eutrophication from wastewater and agricultural run-off has, according to recent estimates, reduced biodiversity in rivers, lakes and wetlands by about one-third globally. ironically, eutrophication and biochemical oxygen demand (bod) are caused by depletion of valuable nutrients and organics from society (sisolak and spataro, 2011). hence, harvesting nutrients and organics from wastewater before releasing it to the environment simultaneously protects the environment and reclaims resources for agricultural systems. two imperatives emerge here (1) to research pollution of freshwater systems (2) research circular economy systems for wastewater treatment and resource reclamation. 3.5. the vertical dimension the above literature review reveals water related discourse from different perspectives. to find a common thread in the different perspectives, the literature-derived research imperatives are systemised into three distinct but interrelated categories: − problem description − problem drivers − mitigation measures the first category is analysing and describing existing problems in reference to human and environmental systems. this category addresses the scale and scope of problems around water quantity and quality. one of the problems is water scarcity as measured against human and environmental water requirements. another problem is the episodic occurrence of overwhelming amounts of water characterised as flooding. it is also here that the increasingly chronic nature of global water stress and the uncertainties unleashed by climate change are covered. a final problem is around water pollution and its effects. therefore, research focus here is to describe the problem in terms of water quantity (scarcity, flooding and climate change) and water quality (pollution) over a range of spatial and temporal scales [descriptive research]. in the second category, the drivers of each of the problems above are analysed. the focus is to analyse the drivers of these problems [analytical research]. a final category is related to mitigation measures focused on addressing each problem. this includes setting performance targets (normative guidelines) using expert-led and/or participatory processes. it also focuses on generating new solutions or applying existing ones in a different context. this category also covers evaluating past solutions for positive and negative lessons [normative, creative, applied and evaluative research]. the problems, their drivers and associated mitigation measures form a broad spectrum of agendas for water research and constitute the vertical dimension in this paper’s high-level outline. sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 54 3.6. water discourse apart from the literature about water, its availability and distribution, there is specific literature that focuses on discourse analysis of water-related research. the same reality can generate different, even opposed, discourses (hussien, 2017a). in the extreme, some others claim that the environment is socially constructed (escobar, 1996: 46). for hussein (2017b), discourses do not just help us to make meaningful stories but constitute a substantial reality imbued with actual agency. discourses define what matters and they foreground some issues and solutions at the expense of others. dominant discourses are deployed across generations through textbooks at the interfaces of formal, practical and popular geopolitics (ide, 2016). for pieterse (1992) participation brings integration, rather than emancipation. participation is problematised as being asymmetrical and manipulative (mehta, 2006). power converges through coalitions of actors sharing the same discourse but not necessarily the same motives. discourses connect local and international arenas to generate huge networks of actors from academic and nonacademic spheres. big infrastructure projects engender conflicting discourse alliances as described by hussien (2017a) for example. discourses and the coalitions they create are alive and mutable. actors, discourses, plans and motives evolve with changes in broader contextual factors. because of the contested context, hussien (2017b) suggests that water discourses ought to be extended from the watersheds to the “problemsheds” beyond. 4. worldviews this section uses worldviews to reflect, at higher level, on the above normative and operational literature. groat and wang (2002) identify three worldviews. the positivist worldview underpins rational science and its quantitative approaches. it aims for value-free research as an ideal. the naturalist paradigm embraces multiple, socially constructed realities and the importance of values in research. in the emancipatory paradigm, there are multiplicity of realities and knowledge that are socially and historically situated. knowledge is seen to be mediated by class, power, gender, economic, ethnic-cultural values. o’riordan (1981) distinguishes between technocentric and ecocentric perspectives. technocentricism is the result of the positivist worldview and science while ecocentrism is associated with the naturalist and emancipatory worldviews. technocentricists who promote limitless growth are described as cornucopians by o’riordan (1981) while dryzek (2013) calls them prometheans. however both authors extend technocentricism to sustainability in the forms of environmental managerialism, ecological modernisation and sustainable development. environmental managerialism and ecological modernisation focus on predominantly addressing ecological issues through continuous innovation. but sustainable development embraces ecology as well as intra and intergenerational equity. in their variety, the above technocentric discourses span approaches ranging from expert-lead, through participatory democracy, to unbridled free-market mechanisms for development. underpinned by scientific rationalism, technocentric approaches are politically and economically dominant (dryzek, 2013). technocentric actors include governments, bureaucrats and technocrats. they operate at local and global levels. local governments work with international bodies such as who, the un and other multilateral national corporations. they may also include compliant ngos that act as intermediaries with various communities. the normative and operational discourse by international bodies discussed above can therefore be said to be technocentric. similarly, the more quantitative approaches to normative and operational level water research are technocentric (including authors like falkenmark, mekonnen, hoekstra, smakhtin, rijsberma, kuylenstierna, conforti, contanza, guppy, others and others). here would also fall those who drive the agenda of climate change. ecocentric approaches on the other hand question the dominance of scientific rationality and question the desirability of perpetual economic growth. framed by naturalists and emancipatory worldviews, they reveal and critically engage the values that underpin normative practice and discourse and challenge man to fundamentally change consciousness (arne naess (1973 and 1990). for dryzek (2013), ecocentrism is synonymous with green radicalism because it agitates for a rupture from the dominant technocentricism. ecocentricism covers fields like deep ecology, critical history, ecofeminism, ecotheology, environmental humanities and posthumanism. from the above normative and operational level analysis therefore, the authors who exemplify ecocentricism include shiva, mehta, edwards and hussien amongst others. sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 55 5. academic fields compiling the work of several authors, the website enacademic.com (see enacademic, 2020) identifies five main academic groups: humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, formal sciences, professions and applied sciences. each academic group holds several sub-groups. in turn, each sub-group holds many academic fields each of which the authors describe in some detail. this paper referenced the groups, sub-groups and descriptions by enacademic.com to classify the main academic fields under the worldviews discussed above. this classification will form the horizontal dimension of the schema. natural and applied sciences fall in the positivist paradigm and technocentrism. they use scientific rationality, technocrats, bureaucrats and experts. some social sciences (those that emphasise use of quantitative methods such as controlled experiments and statistics) are also included here. together, these fields are responsible for engineering water infrastructure: designing, constructing, maintaining, managing it. they also include applied sciences such as health sciences and agricultural sciences. multilateral organisations such as the world bank and a range of united nations subsidiaries use methods of the natural and social sciences.. humanities arguably fall in the naturalist and emancipatory worldview. together with the critical fields in social sciences, humanities problematise water discourse through historical and socio-cultural lenses and structures of class and power. together with civil society, they engage in politics through building societal movements and grassroots democracy. particular types of fine arts and literature viscerally reveal underlying social and environmental injustices. spatial design fields such landscape design, architecture, urban design and planning straddle both scientific rationalism and the humanities. as creative fields, they offer visions of sustainable bioregions, water sensitive cities and liveable neighbourhoods. locating the academic fields under their respective worldviews defines the horizontal dimension of the research outline. 6. outline schema for water research the above vertical dimension (see section 3.6) and academic fields in the horizontal dimension are brought together to yield a high-level outline for water research. see figure 1 below. a single cell in the in the schema below is a well-focused water research area that relates to a specific field of study or practice. any vertical column in the outlined schema defines a range of possible areas for disciplinary research. any horizontal row in the schema draws focus to a single water issue around which an idtd team can be mobilised by drawing competencies from relevant academic and societal partners along that row. finally, choosing several cells from the schema without being constrained by cell adjacency or vertical and horizontal alignment enables formation of purposive idtd networked research spanning a diversity of knowledge areas deemed relevant to address a unique wicked water problem. sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 56 figure 1: outline schema for water research sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 57 7. discussion and conclusion water supply is a contemporary global challenge with multiple options for disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. but there is no generic outline schema for articulating the specificities and overlaps between the different research directions. through a rigorous review of existing water-related scholarship, this paper outlines a schema that hinges on societal and environmental water scarcity to delineate a range of research options that cover such aspects as drivers of water problems, solutions and innovations to mitigate scarcity and build resilience. the schema allows positioning of disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. this allows an individual or a team of researchers to locate their work vis-à-vis other studies and to identify complementary efforts and synergies. this therefore allows quick scoping, positioning and prioritization of research endeavors while also allowing researchers to avoid unnecessary duplication. this can facilitate collaboration and is hence valuable for accretional bottom-up coalescing of scattered study endeavors into a networked interdisciplinary research program. moreover, the schema can be used to reflect on the current state of the art – for example as an aid in articulating knowledge gaps for future research. at a broader level, the outlined schema can allow an interdisciplinary institute to be critically reflexive about its work and assess whether it is comprehensive in scope and appropriate in focus. it can be used to map existing areas of interest within a diverse interdisciplinary institute. such a map would make explicit the convergences and divergences of the interests of various people involved and thus be a useful aid to the framing of new idtd research endeavors. such an exercise can also illuminate the sorts of knowledge streams that are missing and needed to strengthen interdisciplinary research. at a national level, this can be useful in mapping the state-of-art in water research to identify what is being over-researched and where critical gaps exist, and to come up with measures to address any such asymmetries. this enables research managers to critically assess the field of water research nationally to identify and focus resources where they are most needed. moreover, the outlined schema can be a useful tool in the setting up of a national center of excellence in water research that bring together existing relevant expertise from several universities to undertake highly relevant idtd water-related research that cannot be executed within the confines of a single institution. water research is pulled by the enduring tension between the environment and development. this tension is mirrored in positivist scientific rationalism on one hand and naturalist and emancipatory worldviews on the other. the schema outlined here locates different academic fields within these worldviews. a significant value of the outlined schema is that it readily highlights that, although various strands of discourse may be underpinned by different assumptions 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(2016). jordan’s shadow state and water management: prospects for water security will depend on politics and regional cooperation. in society-water-technology (pp. 227-251). springer, cham. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/sanitation http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v3iss1.278 nanotechnology: towards sustainable solar cells haitham e. morsy1, magdy m. qasem2, wael s. moustafa3 1architecture department, lecturer assistant in faculty of engineering, october 6 university 2associate professor in architecture department, faculty of engineering, mansoura university 3istituto di ricerca e promozione delle aree interne della sicilia, caltanissetta, italy abstract in recent years, the technology of constructions witnessed such a development in building materials that assures the sustainability of buildings. due to the negative effects on the environmental zone, the sustainability of buildings may not be achieved. nanotechnology is not a technology with certain specifications but it is the unification of different fields of ultrafine units which is measured by a nanometer. the applications of this technology will appear in the near future in different fields such as: bio-medicine, computers, and energy and building materials. this research focuses here on the ways, materials and techniques through which nanotechnology is used to have perfect buildings and to save energy, these cells produce 108.261 m.w.h compared to normal cells, which produce 96.174 m.w.h. nanotechnology will also make these solar cells more efficient, longer and environmentally preferable. they will maintain their production of electrical energy over the long term compared to normal cells that produce less than 10% annually. moreover, the research paper aims to encourage the utilization of solar cells through which the solar energy can produce clean electrical energy. this electrical energy is produced from the materials made by nanotechnology, which make the cells live longer and more sufficient. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords sustainable design; nanotechnology; solar cells 1. introduction architecture is a reflection of the civilization of people and the spirit of the times and is now witnessing an era of ideological shifts in the field of architecture influenced by the revolution of technology and information that imposed itself on the scientific and architectural arenas. even though the continuation of this technological development is strong, it began to negatively impact society in the following ways: 1. the increasing of the phenomenon of sick buildings and polluting the environment 2. there are multiple variations of new architectural models that utilize modern technology, but they negatively impact the environment pg. 31 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v3iss1.278&domain=press.ierek.com morsy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3. a lot of renewable resources, which contribute to the environmental efficiency of buildings, such as solar energy in egypt are not utilized because people do not understand how to use them optimally so they, therefore, employ weak usage techniques. architectural creativity has not stopped from the traditional methods of design in terms of aesthetics of proportions and function. however, contemporary creativity has joined the integration of modern technology and technology in architecture whether at the level of design, construction or execution or in building materials, which aim to achieve the best products that seek the benefit and well-being of the building using environmentally friendly methods that ensure the sustainability of its resources. solar energy in egypt is one of the most important sources of alternative and renewable energy. solar cells have witnessed wide applications in all aspects of our daily lives. this is because we have a huge amount of solar energy in our arab countries. despite the steady expansion in the areas of its use, it still faces some obstacles and difficulties, the most important being its inefficiency and high price. in the long term, many researchers are now using the latest nanotechnology to try to develop solar cells that are more sustainable, efficient and less expensive. here are questions that come to mind: • can solar cells be developed through nanotechnology making them more sustainable? • can nanomaterials be compatible with the architecture of the future, which takes into account the highest environmental conservation standards? 2. sustainable design the concept of sustainable design can be summed up as a design that seeks to reduce the negative impacts on the environment, ensure health and comfort for the occupants of the building, and thereby improving the building’s performance and achieving the basic objectives of sustainability such as reducing the consumption of non-renewable resources (figure 1) (eid, 2010). there are several factors needed to reach sustainable design: • integration of planning and design: the design is self-running compared to traditional design • the design depends on sun light and natural cooling as energy resources • sustainable design depends on a structural philosophy rather than particular, familiar forms. • sustainable buildings are assumed to be expensive during implementation but are economic in operation. • consider rationalization and consumption of energy and improve the health of the user of the elements of the design, followed by other elements, the trends of modern design must be directed to the forms of energy conservation and the integration of technology and the preservation of humans and the environment (ashby & schodek, 2009). figure 1. global plans for demand for renewable energy resources as an alternative to fossil energy sources that face the risk of depletion over the next 100 years (beckman, 2017) pg. 32 morsy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3. the operational formula for achieving sustainability in architecture many of the pioneers of sustainability in architecture and many professional and academic organizations have worked hard to develop sustainability tools (figure 2). to make these tools available, concrete, building design should be long and play its role throughout time to be resistant to natural disasters. this means that the building achieves the maximum utilization rates of energy, water and materials regarding the following issues: 3.1. capacity based on self-sufficiency of energy 1. acceptance of the building for amendments and expansion in the future 2. the design of the building should avoid damage to health. 3.2. building materials through the optimization of materials, the use of renewable building materials, the use of durable materials and products, the selection of energy-saving materials and the promotion of the use of recyclable materials. 3.3. site selection natural validation of the site is beneficial in terms of preventing the environmental issues that can affect the supply of natural resources. the view of the world’s leading architects about the environment has changed considerably, or rather, towards sustainable architecture, and has changed many architectural concepts. but the challenge for architects today is to make this architectural approach as a design principle for the architecture of the 21st century (eid, 2010). figure 2. the most important strategiesto be upgraded to achieve sustainable design principles (rashwan, 2014) this research will focus on how solar energy can best be exploited by solar cells. 4. what are solar cells? solar cells are devices that convert solar energy into electricity (fig. 3), either directly through the photovoltaic effect or indirectly by the initial conversion of solar energy to heat or chemical energy. the most common form of cells for solar energy is the photovoltaic effect so that a light emitting diode, on a two-semiconductor device, has pg. 33 morsy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd a difference in voltage between the layers. this voltage is capable of running a current through an external circuit of this power supply (goetzberger & hoffmann, 2005). figure 3. solarcell components (”australian business council for sustainability energy”, 2004) 5. nanotechnology many definitions of nanotechnology are presented by experts and researchers. most of these definitions are similar in terms of content, concept, and/or their private and public status. they can be summarized in the following concept: ”it is the search, control or control of the internal matter environment at the atomic or molecular scale by restructuring and arranging atoms their component molecules, deal with structures of sizes between 1 and 100 nm in the design, production, characterization and application of unique materials, structures and systems” (ashby & schodek, 2009). nanomaterials have many terms for many international organizations: table 1. multiple terms from different nanomaterials (world health organization (”world health organization”, n.d.) iso standard materials with an external dimension of nanometers or with internal or surface nanometers. european union scientific committee on emerging and detected health risks materials with one or more external dimensions or internal structures may exhibit new properties compared to the same materials without nanometric properties or a form of material consisting of separate parts of a function, many of which have one or more scales of 100 nm or less. eu re-enactment of the new food law any material manufactured with one or more external dimensions of 100 nm or less or consisting of separate internal or surface functional parts having one or more dimensions of 100 nm or less including the environment, blocks and compounds of a size exceeding 100 nm but retaining the characteristics of the nanometer. american council of chemistry (acc) engineered nanomaterial is any material made of a single, binary or three-dimensional size between 100 nm in the normal way. it is noted that a nanometer or 100 nm is not a line error and the data available for materials outside this range may be the value. spherical fullerenes are involved in this range although their size is less than 1 nm. continued on next page pg. 34 morsy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1 continued through these previous terms, we find that they all agree that nanomaterials are materials with one external dimension on the nanometer scale 1-100 nm) 6. case study figure 4. a map showing the study area and the case studyraya plaza building (beckman, 2017) the 6th of october city will be highlighted as follows: 6.1. climate profile of the city the 6th of october is located in the average solar radiation area in egypt. therefore, the general climate characterization of the city is categorized by the large daily thermal range and the increase in solar radiation (fig. 5). the amount of horizontal solar radiation is about 6 kwh/m2/day, the average number of solar daylight hours per day is estimated to be10.825 hours, which is also high for cities in the world. of course, this average increases in the summer and is less in the winter (fig. 6) (el-shimy, 2009). figure 5. climate profile of the 6th of october city using the climate (consultant5.5) (10) pg. 35 morsy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 6. the thermal survey ofthe study area using the climate 5.5 program (beckman, 2017) figure 7. a mapshowing the study area and the study status of raya plaza building (”engineering department of raya plaza building”, 2017) 6.2. case study: raya plaza building (6th october city, giza) the banner plaza building was chosen for the following reasons: 1. based on the certificate of leed and, therefore, its objectives to improve the efficiency of energy use 2. it is classified as intelligent through its use of the elements of smart architecture. 3. a modern building used in technology nanotechnology as a user in the glass facades, thus, the research objectives can be achieved through the application of the photovoltaic cell system for use in the building, which is processed by nanotechnology in an attempt to increase and improve the efficiency of the building and reduce its energy consumption and this will be the objective of the research as shown in (fig. 7) (engineering department of raya plaza building, 2017). 7. ret screen expert program ret is the program used in our research, which was developed by the natural resources academy of canada, and the first version of the program was published in 1996 (ret screen v.1), which was developed by the academy pg. 36 morsy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd until 2007 to reach the fourth issue (ret screen v.4). it was also developed in 2014 to its latest release, ret screen expert (fig. 8), the latest version can be downloaded from the academy website (renewable energy technologies screen). figure 8. program’s main interface (”renewable energy technologies screen”, n.d.) 7.1. solar cells used in the case study (normal cells and cells manufactured by nanotechnology) two types of solar cells (fig. 9) were used, one of which was normal cells and the other a nanotechnology plant as shown in (table 2). normal cells and cells designed using nanotechnology table 2. applying the vocabulary of the appropriate photo voltaic system of the study model (shaded vocabulary is the vocabulary to be weighted) (”renewable energy technologies screen”, n.d.) company the name of the board capacity (w) efficiency (%) the area of the board (m2) capacity per square meter (w/m2) solaxess perc 310 26.2 1.2 280 normal cells sanyo mono si hip 205ba3 205 17.5 1.2 173.7 nano cells mono si hip 200ba3 200 17 1.18 169.4 mono si hip j50bi3 180 15.2 1.18 125.5 the characteristics of the selected photo voltaic system were determined and the system was distributed as shown in fig (10). 7.2. distribution of the components of the system (normal and nano-photovoltaic cells) on the building the required components can be distributed in a separate private electricity room or at least distributed by the technical engineer in the main electrical panel at the entrance of the model. the arrays can be distributed to the ceiling. the space can be increased by no more than 1 m2 as needed in order to reach the maximum amount of electrical energy that can be generated by comparing cases. the requirements for the distribution of matrices on the surface, such as the distances to avoid self-shadowing, are taken into account. pg. 37 morsy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 9. the panel data window which will be used (”renewable energy technologies screen”, n.d.) figure 10. distribution of photovoltaic matrices in astatic routing method and an open assembly in this case, matrices should be distributed on the surface with an open assembly method and a fixed orientation with ideal inclination. the dimensions of the proposed board are 1.50 m x 0.80 m, with an ideal slope of 27º. this should be carried out in an open distribution mode after leaving the required inter-ports, which are calculated according to the distance between the matrices and the length of the matrix, which is estimated in the city of 6th october to be about 1.8 as shown in (fig.11), (fig.12). accordingly, interval between matrices = ratio (1.8) x matrix length (1.5) = 2.70 m using ret screen expert, the following results are summarized in table (3): pg. 38 morsy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 11. data on the proposed renewable energy system photovoltaic systems (”renewable energy technologies screen”, n.d.) figure 12. relation between the fixed arrays and the citylatitude (”top 50 solar”, n.d.) table 3. calculating the amount of electrical power generated by the pv system in different design cases of the system using the ret screen expert program and comparing it with mathematical equations (”renewable energy technologies screen”, n.d.). normal photovoltaic system the photovoltaic system is manufactured using nanotechnology inputs (system data) outputs (the amount of electrical energy produced (mws)) climate data 6th october city data routing method fixed fixed inclination 27 27 number of panels 264 264 january 6.509 7.903 february 7.825 8.526 march 9.115 8.622 april 8.345 9.5277.903 may 8.012 9.132 june 7.913 11.118 july 8.780 10.102 august 8.801 9.910 september 8.452 9.455 october 8.256 8.396 nov. 7.641 8.358 dec 7.357 6.212 annually (total) 108.261 96.174 pg. 39 morsy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 8. production of electrical energy for regular and nanoparticle photovoltaic systems figure 13. economic value of solar cell sustainability inthe near term (time efficiency) (”renewable energy technologies screen”, n.d.). figure 14. economic value of long-term sustainability of solarcells (time efficiency) (”renewable energy technologies screen”, n.d.) 9. results the research ends with the results of the case study of the raya plaza building in 6th of october city. the photovoltaic systems manufactured by the nanotechnology industry are higher than their current counterparts which produce 108.261 m.w.h compared to normal cells, which produce 96.174 m.w.h. photovoltaic systems can achieve high performance in the generation of rate electric cells when compared to ordinary cell. this is because the cells manufactured using nanotechnology are characterized by the effectiveness of time, in the long and short run, where they are to maintain the production of electrical energy in comparison. moreover, these photovoltaic systems may achieve proper thermal insulation for the roof by using nanoparticles during the manufacturing process of solar cells. as a result, thermal insulation is improved. finally, a coefficient-based study found that these systems can be technically applied to the model chosen. 10. recommendations the paper showed the need to use nanotechnology in solar cells because of its efficiency, but at the same time, the urgent need to continue scientific research in this field to reach the best product at the lowest cost. references 1. ashby, m., & schodek, d. l. (2009). nanomaterials, nanotechnlogies and design: an introduction for engineers and architects. amsterdam: butterworth-heinemann. 2. australian business council for sustainability energy. (2004). the australian photovoltaic industry roadmap pg. 40 morsy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd / australian business council for sustainable energy. the council carlto. 3. beckman, k. (2017, september). dnv gl’s energy transition outlook: for the first time in history, energy demand will peak. retrieved from energy post: http://energypost.eu/dnv-gls-energy-transition-outlook-forthe-first-time-in-history-energy-demand-will-peak/ 4. eid, e. m. (2010). sustainability architecture towards a safer future. technology and sustainability conference in urbanization. saudi arabia: college of architecture and planning, king saud university, saudi arabia. 5. el-shimy, m. (2009). viability analysis of pv power plants in egypt. renewable energy, science direct, 2187-2196. 6. engineering department of raya plaza building. (2017). architectural designs of raya plaza building. 7. goetzberger, a., & hoffmann, v. u. (2005). photovoltaic solar energy generation. springer-verlag berlin heidelberg. 8. rashwan, a. (2014). the role of nanotechnology towards designing sustainable future architecture. master’s thesis, department of architecture, faculty of engineering, mansoura university. mansoura, egypt: mansoura university. 9. renewable energy technologies screen. (n.d.). ret screen. 10. top 50 solar. (n.d.). b5 solar photovoltaic and solar systems partner. retrieved from top 50 solar: https: //www.top50-solar.de/de/teilnehmer/id/1636/b5-solar.de.html 11. world health organization (who). (n.d.). intergovernmental forum on chemical safety. retrieved from intergovernmental forum on chemical safety: http://www.who.int/ifcs/forums/six/en/index.html pg. 41 introduction sustainable design the operational formula for achieving sustainability in architecture capacity based on self-sufficiency of energy building materials site selection what are solar cells? nanotechnology case study climate profile of the city case study: raya plaza building (6th october city, giza) ret screen expert program solar cells used in the case study (normal cells and cells manufactured by nanotechnology) distribution of the components of the system (normal and nano-photovoltaic cells) on the building production of electrical energy for regular and nanoparticle photovoltaic systems results recommendations pg. 1 foreword the concept of sustainable development has been a snowballing concern that spread to people all over the world. in these circumstances, engineering is considered a major tool that fuels that conscious need to make a difference in the world. by utilizing its branches of instance, construction, marine, mechanical, chemical, electrical, … etc. it enables researchers to get in touch with reality and spread awareness worldwide. engineering provides a scientifically monitored process that enables missions related to manufacturing, mining, design, operating, transporting and all other purposes to get in touch with sectors that could be rescued and later design a sustainable model that benefits both nature and urbanism. it aims to change people’s way of thinking by reckoning solutions for constrains and barriers that detach people from nature and socio-economic situation. education is a topic that is brought to the table as a fundamental principle to involve as a contentiously parallel concept to sustainable engineering in all aspects of life. green infrastructure for conservation planning is presented as a topic of discussion in this issue that operates as the offspring of engineering that functions upon the supply of energy sources that avoids compromising the environment in any shape or form. the role of practitioners is also profound in the sense that it needs to be fuelled by the power of literature and facts that illustrate the consequences of reckless behaviour. urban improvement is a case that will always be adopted by spokesmen. therefore, by activating the role of engineering as the achievable dream, many countries will attain sustainable development, while executing their futuristic plans. morad amer architect, bsc, dsc, msc, phd founder and the ceo at ierek http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v3iss1.276 the influence of a building’s orientation on the overall thermal performance aiman albatayneh1, sulaiman mohaidat2, atif alkhazali3, zakariya dalalah4, mathhar bdour5 1energy engineering department, school of natural resources engineering and management, german jordanian university, amman, jordan 2engineering department, jordan university of science and technology, irbid, jordan 3industrial engineering, faculty of engineering, the hashemite university, zarqa, jordan 4energy engineering department, school of natural resources engineering and management, german jordanian university, amman, jordan. 5energy engineering department, school of natural resources engineering and management, german jordanian university, amman, jordan. abstract containing and then reducing greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions require designing energy efficient buildings which save energy and emit less ghg. orientation has an impact on the building’s overall thermal performance and designing heating and cooling to reach occupants’ thermal comfort. correct orientation is a low cost option to improve occupant’s thermal comfort and decrease cooling and heating energy. an appropriate building orientation will allow the desirable winter sun to enter the building and allow ventilation in the summer by facing the summer wind stream. in this paper, a building module in jordan will be assessed using designbuilder simulation packages to find the effect of the building orientation on the overall thermal performance. it was found that the larger windows should be in the southern walls in the northern hemisphere to provide the most heat to the building through the window which allows the sun in winter to enter the building and heat it up. this will reduce the amount required for heating by approximately 35% per annum. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords thermal performance; building orientation; sustainable design 1. introduction energy consumption of buildings covers about 40% of the total energy (laustsen, 2008), mainly used for operating and constructing buildings, which emit one third of global greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions (unep, 2009). to save buildings operating energy and reduce ghg emissions, sustainable building design should be used to correctly pg. 63 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v3iss1.276&domain=press.ierek.com albatayneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd predict the amount of energy that will be consumed. energy consumption is partly dependent on the weather, for example, in a cold year, more energy is consumed to maintain comfortable internal temperature than in a warmer year (holmes & hacker, 2007). however, it is not only dependent on climate characteristics but also building designs influence energy use. the building envelope is the focal interface between indoors and outdoors and has an important role in controlling differences in the outdoor climate conditions, providing thermal comfort for residents and therefore determining the heating/cooling loads of the building (florides, tassou, kalogirou, & wrobel, 2002). a building with a poor design envelope does not perform as well as a building with an energy efficient envelope regarding energy use. energy consumption is the amount of fossil fuels, renewable fuels and electricity consumed by end use sectors: industrial, residential, transport and service. one of the largest sectors that consume a significant amount of total energy in the world is the residential sector. in jordan, energy consumption has increased dramatically during the past years, whereas in the year 2000, the electricity usage was about 6.1 billion kwh, which has increased gradually to 13.54 billion kwh (kilowatt-hour) in 2014. residential buildings in jordan account for approximately 22% of the energy consumption of the country, with the residential sector responsible for around 43% of total electricity consumption, industrial and commercial follow with 25% and 15% of total demand respectively (jmemr, 2013). the contribution of buildings to environmental problems is increasing significantly. a considerable amount of energy is being used for the heating and cooling of a building to maintain its resident’s thermal comfort (albatayneh, alterman, page & moghtaderi, 2017). due to this known fact, measures to reduce space heating and cooling energy use through proper design of the building envelope supplies should be supported if the country is to play a part in diminishing the global problem of climate change. at the same time, a reduction in energy consumption of buildings by using precise design strategies, which perform to keep inhabitants’ thermal comfort within acceptable limits should take place (mohammad & shea, 2013; albatayneh, alterman, page & moghtaderi, 2016). simulation software provides significant contributions in dealing with climate adaptations regarding responsible and efficient energy planning (albatayneh, alterman, page & moghtaderi, 2015). these simulation tools are widely used by engineers to permit investigation and evaluation of various design alternatives (albatayneh, alterman, page & moghtaderi, 2016; albatayneh, alterman, page & moghtaderi, 2017). such tools provide an understanding of the performance of the whole building and enables architects to estimate and optimize the thermal performance of the building envelope, occupant thermal comfort and, ultimately, the energy performance of the finished building. in this paper, the software designbuilder is used, designbuilder is a state-of-the-art software tool for examining building energy, carbon, lighting and comfort performance. developed to simplify the process of building simulation, designbuilder allows you to rapidly compare the function and performance of building designs and deliver results on time and on budget. designbuilder’s simulation operating engine is energyplus. energyplus is a whole building energy simulation program that engineers, architects, and researchers use to model both energy consumption—for heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, and plug and process loads—and water use in buildings (gerber, 2014). accurate orientation, correct location on a site, and landscaping changes may decrease the energy consumption of a typical building by 20% (spanos, simons, & holmes, 2005) and provide the building designers with the economical tools to reduce energy consumption. there are two ways to ensure optimal orientation: analyse various parameters and certify optimal design and orientation for each building but this approach consumes more designing time and cost. the second way is to develop ‘adaptable’ designs which perform well across a range of orientations, which are used in the volume build industry (morrissey, moore, & horne, 2011), but this approach does not give the optimum building orientation. pg. 64 albatayneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 2. methodology simulating a typical residential building that would characteristically match 60% of the buildings found in jordan using the designbuilder software also preliminary data gathering that also included obtaining the thermal transmittance (u-values) of the structures used in simulating the apartment from the jordanian building code. consequently, after complete familiarity; organize, plan and propose a schedule to finalize the building design as shown in figure 1. the building was rectangle shape with around 10m length and 15m width were the long axis facing east and west. figure 1. layout of the building used in this simulation. designbuilder was used as shown in figure 2 to model the dynamic thermal performance of a typical building located in amman and simulated using hourly weather data over a complete year. amman’s climate is considered sub-mediterranean climate with a warm summer and cold winter with almost all the rain and sometimes snowfall in the winter. figure 2. overview of the building in designbuilder mode. the building has no wind obstacles and, due to not experiencing any shading, the building receives a substantial amount of solar radiation. the values and parameters that were entered in designbuilder include heating, cooling, lighting, external and internal walls data. the number of hours that each system would be functioning was also needed to be entered. after the data entry, the simulation could be run over any specified period whether hourly, daily, monthly or yearly. pg. 65 albatayneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd this structure is reinforced concrete that is composed of reinforced columns, beams and lightweight hollow bricks, representing most of the residential building technology in jordan. using this “base case” and with the alteration of some of the simulation parameters, mainly the type of wall structure chosen, we were able to simulate and obtain the results that lead us to the best, worst, and most energy efficient orientation. the energy consumption rates were studied to find the usage trends and patterns, and to identify and control any irregular behaviour. rotating the base case building in a clock wise direction each time the building will rotate by 45◦ from the previous location as shown in figure 3. figure 3. basecase. b)rotating the building from the base case by 45◦ clock wise. 3. results and discussion the overall thermal performance of the building was largely influenced by the weather conditions (i.e. solar radiation, wind and external air temperature). fluctuations in the solar radiation during the day had a direct impact on the thermal behaviour of the building. in summer environments, high solar radiation produced high external surface temperatures on the roof, eastern and western walls and was limited on the south facing wall. the northern wall just received diffused solar radiation. in the winter, the incident solar radiation on the exterior surfaces of the building’s western and eastern walls was decreased compared to summer. however, the major difference was the significant increase in the solar radiation on the south side due to the lower sun altitude in the sky which results in warmer winter temperature when the largest glassing side faces the south as shown in figure 4. the diffused solar radiation on the northern wall remained as low as it was in summer. the high solar radiation fallen on the southern wall throughout the whole day acts as a crucial heat source for the building. there is around 2 degrees of temperature difference between the base case design and when rotating the building by 90◦ (when most of the glassing area is facing south). pg. 66 albatayneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 4. temperature variations for different building orientations. to sustain thermal comfort in the summer, the cooling temperature is set to 25◦c for the summer and 22◦c in the winter. in the winter, there is a significant increase in the solar radiation on the south side due to the lower sun altitude in the sky which results in warmer winter temperature due to the largest glassing side facing the south where the incident solar radiation on the western and eastern walls was decreased compared to the summer. the high solar radiation fallen on the southern wall throughout the whole day acts as a crucial heat source for the building. for the heating loads in the winter, the highest load required was in the base case around 975kwh/year and when rotating the building by 90◦ or 270◦ the heating load drops by almost 35% to around 655 kwh/year as shown in figure 5 which is a significant drop using a budget-friendly option by just orienting the building to the right direction. figure 5. energy consumption (cooling loads) to sustain thermal comfort for different orientations. for summer months the cooling loads were peaked for the base case and when the buildings were rotated by 180◦ pg. 67 albatayneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd as shown in figure 6 and this is due to the largest glassing areas on the east and west walls. in the summer, solar radiation produced high external surface temperatures on the roof, eastern and western walls and was limited on the south facing wall. the northern wall just received diffused solar radiation. figure 6. energy consumption (heating loads) to sustain thermal comfort for different orientations. shading has a great influence on the building overall thermal performance, the requirements for shading vary according to the house’s orientation and the climate (to eliminate the summer sun and allow the full winter sun to enter the building). shading in the summer in a hot climate improves comfort and decreases energy bills. changing the building orientation from base case to any other direction showed a significant enhancement to the thermal performance especially when the long axis is facing north and south. 4. conclusions to tackle climate change and global warming, measures need to be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as designing low energy buildings. in this paper, the influence of the orientation of a typical jordanian building on the overall thermal performance was analysed. the final results confirmed that an appropriate orientation is a low cost option to improve comfort and decrease energy bills. changing the building’s orientation where the long axis to either the east or west will heat the building during unwanted time (summer) because the east and west windows lose more heat than they gain in winter and gain more heat in summer and this will reduce the cooling load by almost 10%. on the other hand, the best orientation is when the long axis faces north/south to allow the winter sun’s radiation to enter the module and to avoid the main wind stream. appropriate orientation helped to minimise heat loss in the winter months and reduce heating energy by almost 35% compared to the base case building which impressively improves the overall thermal performance. the effect of orientation on the overall thermal performance of buildings should not be neglected and can be used as a simple measure and budget friendly option to improve the thermal performance of the building and reducing the mechanical heating and cooling required to sustain the occupants thermal comfort. the site limitation may limit the capability of applying the appropriate orientation but these techniques can be applied wherever possible to reduce the amount of heating and cooling required. pg. 68 albatayneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 5. acknowledgements the authors acknowledge the financial support of the deanship of scientific research at the german jordanian university for the presented work in this paper. references 1. albatayneh, a., alterman, d., page, a. w., & moghtaderi, b. (2016). warming issues associated with the long term simulation of housing using cfd analysis. journal of green building, 11(2), 57-74. 2. albatayneh, a., alterman, d., page, a., & moghtaderi, b. (2015). the significance of time step size in simulating the thermal performance of buildings. advances in research, 5(6), 2348-0394. 3. albatayneh, a., alterman, d., page, a., & moghtaderi, b. (2016). assessment of the thermal performance of complete buildings using adaptive thermal comfort. procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 216, 655661. 4. albatayneh, a., alterman, d., page, a., & moghtaderi, b. (2017). the significance of temperature based approach over the energy based approaches in the buildings thermal assessment. environmental and climate technologies, 19(1), 39-50. 5. albatayneh, a., alterman, d., page, a., & moghtaderi, b. (2017). thermal assessment of buildings based on occupants behavior and the adaptive thermal comfort approach. energy procedia, 115, 265-271. 6. albatayneh, a., alterman, d., page, a., & moghtaderi, b. (2017). discrepancies in peak temperature times using prolonged cfd simulations of housing thermal performance. energy procedia, 115, 253-264. 7. florides, g. a., tassou, s. a., kalogirou, s. a., & wrobel, l. c. (2002). measures used to lower building energy consumption and their cost effectiveness. applied energy, 73(3-4), 299-328. 8. gerber, m. (2014). energyplus energy simulation software. 9. holmes, m. j., & hacker, j. n. (2007). climate change, thermal comfort and energy: meeting the design challenges of the 21st century. energy and buildings, 39(7), 802-814. 10. jordan ministry of energy and mineral resources, (jmemr). (2013). petroleum and oil shale projects. retrieved from http://www.memr.gov.jo/pages/viewpage.aspx?pageid=202 11. laustsen, j. (2008). energy efficiency requirements in building codes, energy efficiency policies for new buildings. international energy agency (iea), 2(8), 477-488. 12. mohammad, s., & shea, a. (2013). performance evaluation of modern building thermal envelope designs in the semi-arid continental climate of tehran. buildings, 3(4), 674-688. 13. morrissey, j., moore, t., & horne, r. e. (2011). affordable passive solar design in a temperate climate: an experiment in residential building orientation. renewable energy, 36(2), 568-577. 14. pearlmutter, d., & meir, i. a. (1995). assessing the climatic implications of lightweight housing in a peripheral arid region. building and environment, 30(3), 441-451. 15. spanos, i., simons, m., & holmes, k. l. (2005). cost savings by application of passive solar heating. structural survey, 23(2), 111-130. 16. united nations environment programme (unep). (2009). buildings us, construction initiative. common carbon metric for measuring energy use & reporting greenhouse gas emissions from building operations. pg. 69 introduction methodology results and discussion conclusions acknowledgements http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i2.558 the sinkhole occurrence risk mitigation in urban areas for the historic salt mine agnieszka malinowska1, ryszard hejmanowski1, artur guzy1, andrzej kwinta2, paweł ulmaniec3 1faculty of mining surveying and environmental engineering, university of science and technology, cracow, poland 2agriculture university, cracow, poland 3wieliczka salt mine, wieliczka, poland abstract the present research focuses on the definition of a novel methodology for sinkhole risk assessment above shallow salt mines. the research were carried out on the area above the wieliczka salt mine, a world heritage site. the study of vertical stresses on the basis of a theoretical state of rock mass deformation in the area of test chambers was performed. furthermore, the risk of chamber collapse due to ventricular stress exceeding the limit specified in the zone were calculated based on the arch pressure theory. the final stage of the research consists of spatial analysis that leading to the identification of chambers potentially influenced by other risk factors. the research shown in the article strongly suggests that combined spatial analysis with geotechnical analysis may lead to reliable sinkhole risk assessment methodology. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords salt deposit; sinkhole; risk management; convergence; gis 1. introduction 1.1. background in 1960 a sinkhole of ca. 100 m diameter was formed as a consequence of a goaf in the schmidt salt chamber at the wieliczka salt mine. within 15 minutes, the terrain had subsided and as a result, two houses collapsed. similar events have occurred in other parts of the world, frequently causing serious damage. the problem of sinkholeprone chambers is extremely complex and, despite many years of re-search, is not yet fully understood. it is known that old and shallow workings have to be backfilled. moreover, some mines such as the one found in wieliczka, are unesco world heritage site, and therefore their preservation and maintenance for fu-ture generations is a priority. regardless, safety measures must be implemented to provide assurance for the citizens of wieliczka, as the oldest part of the mine rests under the town center. the course of the deformation process in the saline rock mass is pg. 85 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i2.558&domain=press.ierek.com malinowska / environmental science and sustainable development, essd influenced by the geomechanical properties of various types of salt present in the wieliczka salt mine. it is also caused by a number of mining and geological factors which lead to sink-hole-formation (çanakcı, güllü, 2009; kleczkowski, 1993; przybyło, 1980). the studies presented in this paper focus on determining the most important risk factors responsible for the formation of weaker zones in the rock mass and, consequently, which en-courage the formation of caving collapse process. in the past, most evaluations on the risk of sinkhole formation concentrated on empirical solutions or numerical geomechanical calculations (ryncarz, 1993). however, those methods turned out be unreliable for a number of reasons. it is the critical evaluations of previous methods of estimating the sinkhole risk that have led to the concepts presented in this paper. widely agreed upon approaches that the sinkhole risk evaluation methods should be principally based on a spatial analysis en-compassing the present technical state of the chambers, mutual bedding, applied exploitation systems and interrelations between the chambers. 1.2. geology of the study area wieliczka is located in the south-east of poland. the saliferous formation is as a narrow strip covering an area of 7 km to the east-west and 0.9 km to the north-south. the depth of the extracted deposit reaches 370 meters. underground mining activity in this region first took place in the 16th century. salt mining has been carried out in about 2000 chambers on 9 levels, an area which amounts to 7.5x106 m3. the most intensely developed part of the town itself, which has a population of 20,000, is located directly above the oldest and shallowest part of the mine. because of complex and diverse geological conditions, various salt extraction methods have had to be used in this region. the salt deposit is divided into two strata. the lower strata are strongly inclined with a 15◦-70◦ inclination, and are folded. the upper layer consists of loams and salt solids and has been strongly dispersed by tectonic movements. five types of salt have been recorded in the analyzed area (kleczkowski, 1993; przybylo, 1980): 1. beds of green salt, 2. solids of green salt, 3. shaft-salt, 4. “spiz”-salt, 5. solids of “zuber”-salt located in the loam bed. various exploitation methods were applied with regard to the salt-type, as well as to the geological and hydrogeological conditions. the salt strata were isolated from water infiltration by a marl and loam bed. above the loam and marl bed sandy loams formed, thanks to which water infiltration was able to take place. in those areas, quicksand beds formed. the northern part of the salt was strongly distributed and cracked, thereby allowing water infiltration to the chambers in this area was possible. 1.3. sinkhole risk mitigation in urban areas at the first stage of the investigation was to design the architecture of functional database. currently, geographical it has been repeatedly shown after many years of research and observation that the main factors which can be significantly attributed to the formation of sinkholes are: (mancini et al., 2009; ryncarz, 1993; saustowicz, 1955; whittaker, reddish, 1989). – height of the chambers pg. 86 malinowska / environmental science and sustainable development, essd global studies and also events in poland show that the height of the chambers is one of the most important factors in causing the development of sinkholes. the height of the chambers in the wieliczka salt mine ranges between 4 and 50 meters. – thickness of the roof ledge the thickness of the roof ledge is defined as the difference of the terrain surface datum and workings’ roof datum. the thicknesses of the roof ledge in the study area vary depending on the depth (the roof ledge for the chambers on the first level ranges between 23 and 300 meters). – quaternary sediments and strata overlaying loam beds quaternary strata can be a factor which increases the probability in the occurrence of a sinkhole through the possible infiltration of water to the chamber when the continuity of the strata has been disrupted. the quaternary strata in the research area are thick with inserts and water-bearing lenses. water infiltrates through fractures formed as a result of rock mass relaxation, and do so along vertical workings. – type of chambers the salt exploitation mode is directly connected with the type of salt and the way it is deposited. salt exploitation in the wieliczka area was carried out employing various methods. generally the chambers can be divided into those which are made in a block of salt, those which were made in a salt bed, those which are leached, and finally, holed chambers. most sinkhole-prone chambers are the shallowest chambers of irregular shape and varying thickness of salt cover, insulating against water influxes. – distribution of chambers with regards their interrelations the interrelation of the chambers is the most complex issue, requiring advanced computer applications for analyzing spatial interrelations between the chambers. the most hazardous are the complexes of chambers on neighboring horizons, especially when the size of the chambers is considerable. the afore mentioned factors will be the criterion of the final selection of sinkhole-prone chambers.3.1. risk map development. 2. methods for assessing the risk of sinkhole occurrence 2.1. assumptions and general scheme of research at the beginning of the study was obvious that the complicated geological conditions in the rock mass and historical excavations do not allow the use of any classical numerical calculation methodology to assess the sinkhole occurrence. the goal of the research was to combine the empirical approach for subsidence prediction with the geomechanical method for strain calculation and with geographical information system (gis). those general assumption allowed to create an own, original method for sinkhole occurrence above the historical salt mine. the present research result consists of four stages (fig.1). the first stage consists of the rock mass deformation analysis in the area of the shallowest salt chambers using knothe’s generalized geometrical-integral model (knothe, 1953)(fig.1a). the results of those calculations made it possible to find vertical movement s and strains εx, εy, εz caused by the convergence of chamber workings in the deeper horizons of the mine. pg. 87 malinowska / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 1. scheme of research methodology the second stage of the research facilitated the estimation of deformations and vertical stresses in the area of walls in shallow chambers (fig. 1b). with those calculations it was possible to separate chambers for which vertical stresses were similar or exceed the average tensile stress and compressive stress values, and those which were regarded as critical. depending on the risk of the exceeding critical values, categories of differing risk have been determined. the third stage of the research evaluates the range of the cracking zone above chambers with pressure arch theory (fig.1c). depending on the depth which could be reached by the cracking zone, four sinkhole-prone zones were found. the forth step was the gis integration of the analytical results with risk factors which could not be analyzed due to their qualitative characteristics (fig. 1 d). finally, the chambers which generate a potential risk of sinkhole occurrence on the surface have been selected. 2.2. predicted deformations in the vertical plane deformations in the vertical plane were predicted using knothe’s theory. according to this theory the exploitation of an elementary volume of deposit, dv and horizontal plane, dp generate an elementary subsidence at point a. this subsidence can be described as: dsa = f (x,y)dp (1) where: -dsis the elementary subsidence at point a, -f(x,y) is the influence function, -dp is the area of an element of the chamber. employing the principle of superposition it has been assumed that vertical displacement at point a, as denoted by sa is the sum of elementary subsidence coming from all elementary volumes in the exploitation field area: sa = ∫∫ p f (x,y)dp (2) pg. 88 malinowska / environmental science and sustainable development, essd assuming various forms of the influence function f(x,y), we can define various prediction models for displacements and deformations. in knothe’s theory (knothe 1953), the following generalized influence function for a flat state of displacements is assumed: f (x) = smax h√ 2π exp(−h2x2) (3) where: -smax= a g is the maximum final subsidence [m], -a is the exploitation coefficient, depending on the way the post-exploitation void has been filled out, -g is the thickness of exploitation, -h is the parameter of the influences dispersion. following a parametrization of the influence function, i.e. assuming the limited range of the influence of the exploitation and introduction of parameter r, the function (3) can assume the form (4): f (x) = smax 1 r exp(−π x2 r2 ) (4) the parameter r is the radius of the influences dispersion, also called the range of the main influence. this parameter is connected with the strength characteristic of the rock mass, through the dependence (5): tgβ = h r (5) where: -h is the depth of exploitation [m], -tgβ is the parameter of rock mass corresponding to strength properties of rocks. knothe’s classic theory only enables us to predict deformations in a vertical plane. for the sake of practicality, the theory had to be supplemented by theoretical calculations in a horizontal plane. studies by budryk (budryk, 1953) turned out to be crucial for predicting horizontal displacements and strains in poland. for the sake of the presented method, it was necessary to determine the state of strains at points of the salt panel sidewalls. those strains for all panels were calculated from the relation (6): εx = ∂ux ∂x , εy = ∂uy ∂y , εz = ∂uz ∂ z (6) where ux, uy, uz=s, are the respective horizontal movements (budryk, 1953). knothe’s principles (see model above) were somewhat generalized for the saline rock mass. each panel localized at 9 levels of the wieliczka salt mine was numerically introduced by its geometrical simplification. in the process of convergence, specific elements of all panels were generating displacements and deformations at the analyzed points of the sidewalls in other panels. in this way, it was possible to determine definitely the state of strains for each sidewall of the salt panel. 2.3. determining the stresses in vertical plane in determining the risk of panel stability loss under the influence of deformation of other panels on the basis of strains determined from knothe’s general theory, the stresses were defined with the hook’s general law. on the basis of deformations and parameters of rocks making up the rock mass, the stresses can be calculated from the dependence: σx = 2g 1−2ν [(1−ν)εx +ν (εy + εz)] σy = 2g 1−2ν [(1−ν)εy +ν (εx + εz)] σz = 2g 1−2ν [(1−ν)εz +ν (εy + εx)] (7) pg. 89 malinowska / environmental science and sustainable development, essd where: -g is the shear modulus, -v is the poisson number. as vertical stresses have the biggest influence on the stability of sidewalls, further analyses were focused only on those stress values. due to the fact that all panels stay within the influence of the lower panels, they needed to be grouped according to the vertical stress. it should be emphasized that these are stresses are exclusively caused by the deformation of the rock mass coming from the contraction of other panels with respect to those analyzed. this categorization was introduced for the needs of the saline rock mass analyses presented in this paper. this was the author’s solution. the following (risk) categories for vertical stresses were proposed: ->category 1 – deformation stresses within the critical value limits, ->category 2 – stresses exceed critical values less than twice, -> category 3 – stresses exceed critical values twice, ->category 4 – stresses exceed critical values three times, ->category 5 – stresses exceed critical values four times. in total, 283 panels met the criteria assumed for the vertical stress analyses. the results obtained reveal that a relatively large number of panels could be subjected to the negative impact of deformations caused by other, deeper-located panels. it should be stressed that the selected panels could have been back-filled or protected otherwise in view of the expected deformations. this would confirm the assumed stress analysis methods used in this paper. 2.4. determining the range of the cracking zone determining the feasibility of discontinuous deformation occurrence on the terrain surface over the exploitation panels is related with defining the range of the direct impact of the cracking zone on the near-surface rock mass layers. in a given situation, the rock mass in the near-surface zone consists of a few layers of varying geomechanical properties and it is important to indicate which layers will house the cracking zone. immediately under the ground surface we have a clayey sand layer with a sliding tendency. thus, if the cracking zone reaches that layer, discontinuous deformations in the form of cones will appear on the surface. then, a clay-gypsum layer follows in the geological profile. if the cracking zone reaches that layer, its water tightness will be disturbed and a massive water influx can occur, causing a washing off the sands. in this case, various fractures may be formed. a further risk analysis of 283 preselected panels lies in using the pressure arch theory. in this way, panels which are a potential source of discontinuous deformation on the terrain surface could be selected from among the panels in danger of vertical stress higher than the strength of the rocks. taking into account the similar character of data illustrating the geometry of the workings, as well as the build and geomechanical properties of the rock mass, sałustowicz’s simplified model was applied (sałustowicz, 1955). in this model, also referred to as the pressure arch theory, the assumption was made that the cracking zone takes the form of an ellipse in the vertical cross-section. the size of the semi-axis of that ellipse depends on the dimension of the working and the properties of the neighboring rocks. when rocks are made up of a low tensile strength rock mass, the tensile stresses will have a decisive significance on the range of the cracking zone. an example scheme presented in fig. 2 was analyzed. the depleted panel had the following dimensions: radius r, height ge the semi-axes of the ellipse were denoted as a and b. there were additionally marked with the height coordinates pg. 90 malinowska / environmental science and sustainable development, essd of the terrain surface zpow , the top of the cracking zone zsp, the roof of the panel zst and the floor of the analyzed panel z0. as already mentioned, the prerequisite of cracking zone formation is to exceed the tensile strength of value rr by stressing the level of layers making up the panel roof. this condition can be written as follows: −pz + ( 1+2 a b ) px ≥ rr (8) where pz and px are primary stresses on the top node of the ellipse. after substituting the dependence of horizontal vs. vertical pressures and determining the boundary value from (8), the dependence for the semi-axes has been obtained in the form below: a b = rr(1−ν)− pz(2ν−1) 2pzν (9) the primary vertical pressure at the height of the panel roof was determined from the dependence: pz =−γ(zpow−zst) (10) figure 2. estimating the range of cracking zone over the salt chamber where: -g is the average specific weight of the deposited over chamber rock mass. in line with fig. 2, the ellipse equation was introduced. in the assumed coordinates system it has the following form (11): ( x b )2 + ( z a )2 = 1 (10) after substituting the coordinates of point p (from fig. 2) to (11) and after transforming it, we get: a = √ 4 (a b )2 r2 +g2 e (12) taking into account (9) we have: a = √ 4 ( rr(1−ν)− pz(2ν−1) 2pzν )2 r2 +g2 e (13) pg. 91 malinowska / environmental science and sustainable development, essd thus, the vertical coordinate of the cracking zone top node can be ultimately obtained from the dependence (14): zsp = z0 + ge 2 +a = z0 + ge 2 + √ 4 ( rr(1−ν)− pz(2ν−1) 2pzν )2 r2 +g2 e (14) according to the above dependence, the vertical coordinate of the cracking zone for the 283 previously selected and potentially endangered panels, was determined. 2.5. determining of the cracking zone in compliance with the theoretical assumptions presented in the previous sub chapter, the top node of the cracking zone was calculated. for doing so it was necessary to determine the required geometrical and geomechanical parameters. the assumption was made that the rock mass was layered; the parameters of each layer were assumed experimentally and on the basis of literature data (hwalek, 1971). based on the theoretical dependencies obtained, the location of the top node of the cracking zone was determined over each of the analyzed panels. prior to determining its degree, the risk of discontinuous deformations occurrence on the surface should first be classified. the principle, according to which the risk zones were grouped, has been graphically presented in fig. 3. figure 3. the classification of hazard zones due to location of cracks zone apex the analysis of the obtained results reveals that most of the analyzed panels belong to risk zone one, and only two cases to category four. on the basis of the obtained results relating to the formation of a cracking zone and with the results defining the potential risk of stability loss, it is possible to determine the shallow exploitation panels which can hypothetically generate discontinuous deformations in the terrain surface. the below table (scheme 1) cross-juxtaposes the number of panels grouped in specific risk categories of stability loss, (as a result of vertical stresses) with the risk categories of discontinuous deformations (resulting from the localization of the top node of the cracking arch). in this way fifty-five sinkhole-prone chambers have been distinguished. scheme 1: analysis of the number of salt panels with respect to risk categories and cracks zones it can be concluded from the above table that dozens of panels require more detailed analyses. panels belonging to hazard zone ii can generate discontinuous deformations in the terrain surface mostly in the form of fractures, whereas the cracking zones over such panels may bring about significant consequences for the safety of the mine’s pg. 92 malinowska / environmental science and sustainable development, essd operation. breaking the continuity of water-bearing horizons may result in an uncontrollable influx of water to the mine. three exploitation panels require special attention. they belong to risk zones three and four as discontinuous deformations in the form of cones could appear above them. 2.6. gis analysis the next step was to match the theoretical results with mining and geological risk factors which were discussed in chapter three. global research devoted to the estimation of mining risks, has proven that geographical information systems are an optimal tool for integration and the analysis of varying geological and mining factors (malinowska, hejmanowski, 2010; mancini et al., 2009) for this purpose, the selected risk factors were integrated using gis. the spatial analyses were mainly based on dependencies stemming from the boolean logic. as a result of the analysis performed, 15 chambers were selected as potential sinkhole risks for the terrain surface (fig. 4). figure 4. map of sinkhole hazard occurrence 3. results and discussion the author’s method assess the risk of discontinuous deformations on the terrain surface. this has been done by modeling the vertical stresses on the basis of the theoretical state of rock mass deformation in the area of the studied chambers is presented in the paper. for chambers potentially at risk of stresses over the boundary values, the cracking zone was established using the pressure arch theory. consequently, the number of chambers was narrowed down to 55 chambers, which were potentially at risk of discontinuous deformations of the surface. by supplementing theoretical analyses with results of additional studies of mining and geological factors, 15 sinkholeprone chambers were eventually selected. the final stage of the studies was conducted using spatial analyses, from which chambers, in danger of being influenced by other risk factors were able to be distinguished. 4. acknowledgments this research has been financed by the national sciene center, grant no.umo-2014/15/b/st10/04892. pg. 93 malinowska / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 5. references 1. brudnik k. (2010). the complex hydrogeology of the unique wieliczka salt mine. polish geological review 58, 787–796 (in polish). 2. delle rose m., federico a., parise m. (2004). sinkhole genesis and evolution in apulia, and their interrelations with the anthropogenic environment.nat hazard earth sys,4, 747–755. 3. malinowska, a., & hejmanowski, r. (2010). building damage risk assessment on mining terrains in poland with gis application. international journal of rock mechanics and mining sciences,47(2), 238-245. 4. kleczkowski a. (1993). groundwater in the vicinity of cracow – potential and threats. archives of the faculty of hydrogeology and geological engineering of agh university of science and technology, 11, 35–38 (in polish). 5. malinowska, a. a., & dziarek, k. (2014). modelling of cave-in occurrence using ahp and gis. natural hazards and earth system sciences,14(8), 1945-1951. 6. malinowska a.a., matonóg a. (2016). spatial analysis of mining-geological factors connected with discontinuous deformation occurrence. acta geodyn geomater,14, 159–172. 7. malinowska a.a., misa, r., tajduś, k. (2018). geomechanical modeling of subsidence related strains causing earth fissures. acta geod geomater, 15, 197–204. 8. malinowska, a. (2011). a fuzzy inference-based approach for building damage risk assessment on mining terrains. engineering structures,33(1), 163-170. 9. mancini, f., stecchi, f., & gabbianelli, g. (2009). gis-based assessment of risk due to salt mining activities at tuzla (bosnia and herzegovina). engineering geology,109(3-4), 170-182. 10. ryncarz, t. (1978). analysis of the impact of filling ventricle excavations at levels i-iii of the wieliczka salt mine on surface deformation and stability of lower-lying cavern subject to protection. cracow: agh university of science and technology (in polish). 11. ryncarz, t. (1993). outline of rock mass physics. katowice: silesian technical publisher (in polish). 12. saaty, t. l. (1980). the analytic hierarchy process. new york: mcgraw-hill. 13. wieworka, p., prunier-leparmentier, a., lembezat, c., vanoudheusden, e., & vernoux, j. (2009). 3d geological modelling at urban scale and mapping of ground movement susceptibility from gypsum dissolution: the paris example (france). engineering geology,105(1-2), 51-64. 14. wieworka, w., o’byrn, k. (2012). selection of backfilling technology works in the ksawer caverns complex of the wieliczka salt mine.agh journal of mining and geoengineering,36, 107–115 (in polish). 15. yilmaz, i. (2007). gis based susceptibility mapping of karst depression in gypsum: a case study from sivas basin (turkey). engineering geology,90(1-2), 89-103. pg. 94 introduction background geology of the study area sinkhole risk mitigation in urban areas methods for assessing the risk of sinkhole occurrence assumptions and general scheme of research predicted deformations in the vertical plane determining the stresses in vertical plane determining the range of the cracking zone determining of the cracking zone gis analysis results and discussion acknowledgments references http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i2.173 date palm rachis as a local and renewable structural material for rural communities in egypt eman a. darwish1, yasser m. mansour1, hamed elmously2 1department of architecture, faculty of engineering, ain shams university 2department of production and design, faculty of architecture, ain shams university abstract date palm rachis has been widely used in sheathing of houses in the rural communities in egypt and the middle east, as a local and cheap material that naturally resists direct solar radiation and humidity. lately, researchers around the world began to build complete structures using date palm rachis to take advantage of its abundance and natural resistance. however, due to the lack of the required mechanical properties for structural analytical modeling, mock ups are used to assess the structural properties of date palm rachis. this tool of assessment is insufficient in the consideration of wind or temporary and unforeseen loads. this paper introduces the closest estimations of the complicated mechanical properties required for structural analytical modeling, according to the available equipment and the variable nature of date palm rachis. the results showed that date palm rachis is a promising structural material with structural properties that are competitive to that of imported timbers in egypt. this paper invites researches and builders to exploit the potentials of palm rachis as a structural material for rural communities. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords date palm rachis; mechanical properties; natural structural material 1. introduction the increasing costs of the conventional building materials, such as concrete and steel, led to the dependence on junk and scrap to build houses in poor communities in egypt. the governmental efforts to solve the problem of this informal construction trend require long-term financial support that is not guaranteed under the circumstances of the high inflation rate and the global economic crisis. exploring natural building materials and local building materials in a society provides a new chance in the local development that is driven from the inside. mudbrick is one of the common building materials used to build houses in the rural communities, and famous architects have tried to revive this history (fathy, 1993). lately, more attention has been paid to agricultural residues to be the new building material that solves the problem of the decrease of the soil fertility that is required to make the mudbricks (kennedy, 2004). one of the most abundant residues in egypt and the middle east is date palm rachis (elmously, 2005). the dried date palm parts and the date palm main components are illustrated in figure 1 and 2. pg. 115 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i2.173&domain=press.ierek.com darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd date palm rachis has been used as a building material in rural areas in egypt and the middle east. this technical heritage has accumulated over centuries due to the abundance of the highly renewable date palm rachis, as date palm rachis is the most available pruning residues of date palm trees that cover the vast area of the deserts, oases and the nile valley, as shown in table 1 (elmously, 2005). table 1. statistics of date palm pruning residuesin egypt (elmously, 2005) quantity available annually (air dry palm palm stem coir petiole total weight-10% moisture content rachis leaflet (ton/year) per palm, kg (mature female) 9.75 8.00 7.00 1.25 4.4 30.4 total in egypt, thousand tons 105.3 86.4 75.6 13.5 86.4 328.3 traditionally, rural houses, eco-lodges and public places combined date palm rachis and date palm trunks to build roofs. in sinai, date palm rachis is accumulated in layers to make exterior sheathing for the roofs with thicknesses that exceeds 20 cm to shield the houses from the direct sunlight, as illustrated in figure 3 (ibrahim, 2010). in siwa and the western oases, date palm trunks are halved and used as ceiling beams, where date palm rachis is used as a sheathing material that will enhance the interior design of the ceiling, as illustrated in figure 4 (alamuddine, 2001). in temporary structures in the nile valley such as shades, date palm rachis is threaded to make walls and roofs that are fastened to small tree stems which work as columns and beams in the corners (elmously, 2001). figure 1. dried date palm main parts (mahdavi, 2010) figure 2. date palm main components figure 3. palm trunk beams used for traditional roofing in sinai (ibrahim, 2010) pg. 116 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 4. roofing by palm rachis adrere amellal eco-lodge (alamuddin, 2001) figure 5. date palm rachis walls in arish house (piesik, 2012) figure 6. date palm rachis walls and roofs in arish house (piesik, 2012) pg. 117 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd this increasing dependence on date palm rachis as a structural material led to previous research that push the limits of date palm rachis as an independent structural material to build cheap and fast shades. these experiments depended solely on building full scale mock-ups of the proposed shades due to the lack of mechanical properties of palm rachis that are required for the structural analysis, although this could help to expect static loads, wind, seismic loads and the limits of the spans of the proposed structures. the first pioneering experiment was based on a proposal of gathering date palm rachis as bundles that are formed as arches. those arches were planted in the wet soil at spacing of 5m, while covering a span of 13m. as revolutionary as it sounds, the structure succeeded in covering the span, but only after using palm trunks as intermediate columns along every arch on intervals of 3.25 m. hence, the onsite decision led to construct a shade with a span that is actually only 3.25 m (piesik, 2012). figure 7 pictures the vault during construction, while figure 8 illustrates the interior columns that were closely spaced. the connection used was rope-based connection (figure 9). figure 7. the vault during construction (piesik, 2012) figure 8. interior columns (piesik, 2012) figure 9. rope based connections (piesik, 2012) another experiment using date palm rachis to build shades was based on the structural concept of ring beams. pg. 118 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd date palm rachis were gathered to make curved bundles that are planted along the parameter of the proposed circle to cover. then, a plywood ring was made to attach the edges of the curved bundles. however, the height of the structure decreased due to the deflection that happened under the weight of the final sheathing, as illustrated in figures 10 to 12 (”turn over a new leaf”, 2013). figure 10. ring beam in structure (boisbushet, 2013) figure 11. structure after completion (”turn over a new leaf”, 2013) figure 12. deformation after sheathing (”turn over a new leaf”, 2013) therefore, it can be concluded from the previous literature review, that building shades using date palm rachis while depending solely on building real mock-ups is not sufficient to predict onsite behavior and unexpected loads such as sheathing weight, wind and seismic loads. therefore, this paper aims to introduce the closest estimation of the mechanical properties of date palm rachis, according to the natural variations of date palm rachis and the available equipment in the laboratories of faculty of engineering, ain shams university. pg. 119 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 2. material and methodology previous research showed that the properties of date palm rachis are competitive to imported wood species, specifically those of spruce wood (elmously, 2001). however, due to the complexity of the variable nature of date palm rachis, those previous studies only measured some of the longitudinal properties for the whole date palm rachis regardless of the other two dimensions, as date palm rachis is considered an anisotropic material (figure 13). figure 13. comparison between the mechanical properties of palm rachis and imported wood and their standard values in astm d2555-88 (elmously, 2001) in nature, materials are classified into isotropic, orthotropic, and anisotropic materials. isotropic materials are the materials where the mechanical properties are identical in all directions, such as glass and metals. on the other hand, the properties of fibrous materials such as timber vary according to the fiberds’ direction, which makes them anisotropic materials (mascia, & lahr, 2006). however, in engineering elastic models timber is considered an orthotropic material. the linear orthotropic model suggests three planes of symmetry in the following three directions: longitudinal, radial and tangential, which are coincident with the three cartesian directions: x, y and z. where longitudinal direction of timber is parallel to the fibers, the radial direction is perpendicular to the fibers and the growth rings and the tangential direction is perpendicular to the fibers and tangential to the growth rings (green, winandy, & kretschmann, 2010). accordingly, if date palm rachis is to be defined as an orthotropic material, the properties in the tangential and radial directions are identical due to the lack of growth rings in date palm rachis, as illustrated in figure 14 (mansour, elmously, & darwish, 2017). figure 14. axes of material in timber and date palm rachis (yasser et al., 2017) the considered properties to be measured are: tension stress, longitudinal modulus of elasticity, radial/tangential modulus of elasticity, longitudinal-radial/tangential shear modulus. these properties were considered according to the required properties for structural analysis for orthotropic materials in sap2000; the most widely used software for structural analysis. the rest of the properties are to be measured in the upcoming papers. pg. 120 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 15. material property interface in sap2000 (author’s own, n.d.) 3. discussion the following properties were measured for ”baladi” species of date palm trees in minya governorate along the nile valley in the metalloids laboratory and polymers laboratory in the faculty of engineering, ain shams university. the properties are carried out on the middle portion of the rachis using din en 408-2004 standards with 12% moisture content. 3.1. tensile stress the tensile stress was measured through the stress-strain curve of tension. the yield stress is the stress at the end of the elastic zone, while the ultimate stress is the highest stress before the failure. the ultimate tensile stress has been measured for the whole date palm rachis from three species in egypt and showed a mean value of 80 mpa. new measurement took place in the polymers labs in the faculty of engineering using precast epoxy grips. the experiment was evaluated on three specimens to validate the results according to previous studies. the nominal dimensions of the specimens are illustrated in figure 16. each specimen was inserted in the ends in hollow pvc tubes and with a length of 10 cm and epoxy sikadur was poured inside, then the tubes were sewn off using lathe. the testing was made on 3 samples of baladi species (figure 17), by lloyd 300k capacity testing machine, with a rate of 2 mm/min. according to din en 408-2004 (figure 18). figure 16. specimen dimension (author’s own, n.d.) the failure of each specimen was marked when the first crack in the epoxy appeared, as the crack happens due to the unique behavior of the palm rachis under tension, where the fibers tend to loosen, leading to the cracking of the brittle epoxy around (figure 19). this can be noticed after the epoxy could be easily removed, revealing longitudinal cracks between the loose fibers in the specimen underneath, which indicates the failure of the specimen (figure 20). the stress-strain curves of the three specimens showed considerable variations, which was expected as the specimen were not taken from the same rachis (figure 21). the stress-strain curves showed the following: pg. 121 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – it was found to be relatively close to that of white spruce in terms of the acute inclination of the curve in the elastic zone. – the minimum yield stress was found to be 40 n/mm2. – the mean of minimum tensile stress was found to be 65 n/mm2. – the mean of yield stress was found to be 55n/mm2. – the mean of the tensile stress was found to be 75 n/mm2. these values were considerably close to those of previous research (elmously, 2001). figure 17. the tension specimens before testing (author’s own, n.d.) figure 18. the tension procedures in the testing machine (author’s own, n.d.) figure 19. longitudinal cracks in epoxy and specimen (author’s own, n.d.) figure 20. zoom in on the longitudinal cracks under the epoxy (author’s own, n.d.) pg. 122 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 21. tensile stress-strain curves of the 3 specimens 3.2. longitudinal modulus of elasticity the longitudinal modulus of elasticity is often obtained by bending for rough and natural materials like bamboo and palm rachis, as the preparation procedures for tension were found to be complicated as shown in the previous section. the longitudinal modulus of elasticity included an effect of shear deflection. therefore, the shear-free elasticity modulus is calculated by increasing the apparent modulus of elasticity by 10% (green et al., 2010). the measurements were made for 5 specimens that were dried for 12% moisture content or less. the bending measurement was over a span of 360 mm in relative to the specimen dimension, as illustrated in figure 22, according to din en 408-2004 by lloyd 300k capacity testing machine, with a rate of 2 mm/min (figure 23). figure 22. dimensions of the bending specimen (author’s own, n.d.) the failure of each specimen was automatically identified by the machine when no more resistance was received. the failure of the specimen had a sharp breaking point, with longitudinal cracking as the fibers loosen from the load once it exceeded the ultimate limits of the material (figures 24 and 25). according to din en 408-2004, the apparent modulus of elasticity is calculated using load, displacement and the pg. 123 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd moment of inertia, by the following equation: eapp = l3 i (f2−f1) 48i (w2−w1) (1) where – f2-f1 is an increment of load on the straight line portion of the load-deformation curve in newtons. – w2-w1 is the increment of deformation corresponding to f2-f1 in millimeters. – li is the span between supporters in millimeters. – i is the second moment of area, in millimeters to the fourth power. therefore, the testing results needed are load-machine extension curves (figure 26). thus, according to equation 1, the mean eapp of the 5 specimen was found to be 9532.5 n/mm2, and by excluding the shear effect, the actual el is 10287 n/mm2. this result was considerably close to those of previous research (elmously, 2001). figure 23. the bending procedures in the testing machineb (author’s own, n.d.) figure 24. the failure pattern in the specimens (author’s own, n.d.) figure 25. the longitudinal cracking in a specimen (author’s own, n.d.) pg. 124 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 26. load-extension curves of the 5 specimen in theapparent modulus of elasticity (authors) 3.3. radial/tangentialmodulus of elasticity e r/t due to the natural long shape of palm rachis that is unable to be formed into specimen that can be tested for tension or bending perpendicular to fibers, a compression test was used to calculate the radial/tangential modulus of elasticity that is perpendicular to fibers. the palm rachis were dried to 12% moisture content, shaped into 5 specimens and tested by lloyd 50k capacity machine, with a rate of 1.5 mm/min (figures 27 to 29). figure 27. dimensions of the specimen of compression (author’s own, n.d.) figure 28. the compression procedures in the testing machine (author’s own, n.d.) the failure of each specimen was automatically identified by the machine when no more resistance was received. the specimens suffered buckling under compression, in addition, cracks were originated between the fibers that tend to loosen from the load once it exceeded the ultimate limits of the material. according to din-en 408-2004, the compression modulus of elasticity is calculated using load, displacement and the dimensions, by the following equation: ec = ho(f2−f1) bl(w2−w1) (2) pg. 125 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 29. the failure patterns of the compression specimens (author’s own, n.d.) where – f2-f1is an increment of load on the straight line portion of the load-deformation curve in newtons. – w2-w1 is the increment of deformation corresponding to f2-f1 in millimeters. – h0 is the height of the sample. – b is the width of the cross section of the sample. – l is the thickness of the cross section sample. therefore, the testing results needed are load-machine extension curves, which are illustrated in figure 30. figure 30. load-machine extension curves of the 5 specimenin the compressive modulus of elasticity (author’s own, n.d.) 3.4. longitudinal-radial/tangentialshear modulus glr/t no previous researches assigned shear modulus of date palm rachis. the shear modulus induced from bending measures the ratio of the stress and strain resulting from the shear deflection. the resultant shear modulus is based on shear strain parallel to fibers and shear stress perpendicular to fibers. din en 408-2004 contains a sector that is specified to measure the shear modulus through the variable span method; where the apparent modulus of pg. 126 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd elasticity is measured using bending testing over 3 variable spans that are chosen based on the rules of din en 408-2004, then the sum of the reciprocal of the values of the 3 spans is used in the following equation: g = kg k1 , k1 = 4 1 eapp 4 ( h l )2 (3) where kg is 1.2 for rectangular or square cross sections, and k1 is the slope of the graph of the reciprocal of the 3 spans eapp and the squared ratio of sample height to span between supports. the testing procedure is illustrated in figures 31 through 35. figure 31. dimensions of the bending specimen (author’s own, n.d.) figure 32. the bending procedures in the testing machine for span 220 mm (author’s own, n.d.) figure 33. the bending procedures in the testing machine for span 280 mm (author’s own, n.d.) the failure patterns were found to be more acute as the span increased. the failure pattern in the specimens of the 220 mm span testing was a mild deflection, while deep longitudinal cracks and stronger deflection occurred to the specimens of the 280 mm span testing. however, the specimens of the 400 mm span testing suffered sharp breakage points at the middle of each specimen. the results of the tests are illustrated in figures 36-39. the final results of the testing showed that glr/t was 109.2 mpa according to equation 3, which lies within the 50-150 mpa limits of shear modulus of softwoods under the same moisture content (green et al., 2010). pg. 127 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 34. the bending procedures in the testing machine for span 400 mm (author’s own, n.d.) figure 35. the failure patterns of the variable span method specimens (author’s own, n.d.) figure 36. graphs of the apparent modulus of elasticity of span 220 mm (author’s own, n.d.) figure 37. graphs of the apparent modulus of elasticity of span 280 mm (author’s own, n.d.) pg. 128 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 38. graphs of the apparent modulus of elasticity of span 280 mm (author’s own, n.d.) figure 39. the slope of k1 (author’s own, n.d.) 3.5. calculation of radial-tangential shear modulus grt as noticed from the previous testing, shear modulus was entirely based on the measurement of longitudinal apparent modulus of elasticity. however, most of the previous research have not indicated how to measure the radial-tangential shear modulus that is entirely perpendicular to fibers as it can be negligible relative to the much higher values of the properties in the direction of fibers, specially for naturally long-shaped elements like date palm rachis. the same applies for poisson ratio measurements. therefore, by assuming poisson ratios with reference to the properties to spruce wood as 0.30, grt can be calculated by the following equation (racero, nieto, & ávila, 2015): ∴ grt = 0.5 ( et 1+µrt ) = 0.5 ( 105.45 1+0.30 ) = 40.55 n/mm2 (4) 4. conclusion date palm rachis has been used for traditional construction using the pure instinct and experience of the rural builders in the rural areas in egypt and the middle east. however, the pre-construction structural analysis could help to make the date palm rachis-based structures more resistant to unpredictable forces like winds, seismic loads and onsite behaviors. this paper introduced the closest estimations of the mechanical properties of whole date palm rachis using the available equipment in the laboratories of the faculty of engineering, ain shams university. although date palm rachis is considered an anisotropic material, the linear orthotropic model was used to identify the axes of the material where the properties are to be measured. it was found that the properties of date palm rachis in the linear orthotropic model are supposed to be identical in the radial and tangential directions. the proposed date palm rachis properties are summarized in table 2. these properties cover most of the required properties to define date palm rachis into structural analysis software like sap2000. these findings prove that date palm rachis is competitive to imported wood species in egypt. this opens the door for further researches to structurally evaluate the potentials of date palm rachis as a versatile building material that can be used as a substitute to expensive imported wood in egypt. pg. 129 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 2. the mechanical properties of date palm rachis baladi species mechanical property property symbol in sap2000 value (n/mmm) minimum yield stress fy 40 minimum tensile stress fu 65 effective yield stress fye 55 effective tensile stress fue 75 longitudinal modulus of elasticity el e1 10287 radial & tangential modulus of elasticity er, et e2, e3 105.45 longitudinal-tangential shear modulus glt , g12, g13 109.2 longitudinal-radial shear modulus glr radial-tangential shear modulus grt g23 40.55 5. acknowledgments special thanks for prof. nahed abdel salam, the professor of the metalloids laboratory in the faculty of engineering, ain shams university, for facilitating the procedures of the measurements. the authors would like to acknowledge ”sika egypt” for donating the epoxy used in the experiments. references 1. elmously, h. (2001). ’the industrial use of the date palm residues n eloquent example of sustainable development. in international conference on date palms (2nd ed., pp. 866-886). cairo, egypt: united arab emirates university. 2. elmously, h. (2005). the palm fibers for the reinforcement of polymer composites: prospects and challenges. in the first ain shams international conference on environmental engineering (pp. 866-886). cairo, egypt: ain shams university. 3. fathy, h. (1993). architecture for the poor: an experiment in rural egypt. illinois, usa: university of chicago press. 4. green, d., winandy, j., & kretschmann, d. (2010). mechanical properties of wood. in wood handbook: wood as an engineering material (100th ed., pp. 100-145). wisconsin: united states department of agriculture. 5. ibrahim, n. (2010). appropriate building patterns for saint catherine, egypt. cairo, egypt: centre of building crafts, st. catherine. egyptian earth construction association. 6. kennedy, j. f. (2004). building without borders: sustainable construction for the global village. gabriola, b.c., canada: new society publishers. 7. mansour, y., elmously, h., & darwish, e. a. (2017). utilizing palm rachis for eco-friendly and flexible construction in egypt. in world sustainable built environment conference 2017 hong kong (pp. 28242833). hong kong: construction industry council and hong kong green building council limited. 8. mascia, n. t., & lahr, f. a. (2006). remarks on orthotropic elastic models applied to wood. materials research, 9 (3), 301-310. pg. 130 darwish / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 9. turn over a new leaf. (2013, september 13). retrieved from http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/wanm obile/mobile/article/23324 10. piesik, s. (2012). arish: palm-leaf architecture (2nd ed.). london, uk: thames & hudson. 11. racero, c. s., nieto, b. i., & ávila, j. r. (2015). physical and mechanical properties of the wood used in indigenous housing of the tuchı́n township, department of cordoba, colombia. inge cuc, 11(1), 99-108. pg. 131 introduction material and methodology discussion tensile stress longitudinal modulus of elasticity radial/tangentialmodulus of elasticity e r/t longitudinal-radial/tangentialshear modulus glr/t calculation of radial-tangential shear modulus grt conclusion acknowledgments http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i1.39 numerical simulation of the influence of platform pitch motion on power generation steadiness in floating offshore wind turbines yehezkiel tumewu1, crescenzo petrone2, mettupalayam v. sivaselvan3 1environmental engineering, engineering, university, 212 ketter hall, buffalo, ny 14260, usa, email: yehezkie@buffalo.edu 2department of civil, environmental & geomatic engineering, university college london, 120 chadwick building ucl, london, wc1e 6bt, uk., email: c.petrone@ucl.ac.uk 3department of civil, structural & environmental engineering, university at buffalo, 212 ketter hall, buffalo, ny 14260, usa, email: mvs@buffalo.edu abstract offshore wind energy is a valuable renewable resource that is inexhaustible, strong, and consistent. to reduce cost and improve energy production efficiency, future trends are moving towards wind turbines in deep water, which use floating platforms such as tension leg platforms, barges, and semi-submersible designs. compared to fixed based substructures, these floating platforms are in a state of constant motion which affects the power generation steadiness. the resulting complex dynamic behavior might compromise their efficiency and reduce their nominal life. the complex analysis of floating wind turbines requires computer tools that couple all the different components to represent the complete dynamic response. one such tool, developed by the national renewable energy laboratory, is the aero-hydro-servo-elastic tool fast. in this work, simplified models are used for three platform types, and the results are compared with fast as a way of understanding the essential dynamics. secondly, using fast, the influence of platform pitch motion on the steadiness of power generation is examined. this analysis is done for all three platforms for a constant above rated wind speed and above average wave load. results demonstrate that the power output fluctuation depends on the platform type and blade pitch motion. the effect of platform pitch on the steadiness of power output is only apparent under large oscillating pitch motion, where recurring power drops are observed. the semi-submersible design performs well with relatively steady power output, while the barge design has the most unsteady output, as a result of its susceptibility to typical wave loads. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords fast; floating platform; platform pitch; wind turbine; power output 1. introduction renewable resources such as wind energy have shown great potential to address increasing energy demands. it reduces dependency on fossil fuel, produces no harmful emission and is also inexhaustible. wind turbines have pg. 92 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i1.39&domain=press.ierek.com tumewu / environmental science and sustainable development, essd been predominantly land-based. however, development has been impeded by several difficulties such as limited unused land area, relatively low wind velocities, and significant environmental and noise impact. to solve these problems, wind turbines might be installed offshore. the key component of an offshore wind turbine (owt) is the support structure or substructure, which are classified by water depth: shallow (< 30m), transitional (30 – 60 m), and deep water (> 60m), see figure 1. figure 1. figure 1 owt water depth classification (jonkman, & buhl, 2005) for shallow and transitional depth, the turbine tower is fixed rigidly to the seafloor using fixed-bottom foundations. for deep water case, this type of substructure is economically impractical, due to the large amount of material, added complexity of design, fabrication and installation costs. floating platforms are then used as an alternative wind turbine substructure, drawing from related experience from the offshore oil and gas industry, in the associated tank, ballast, and mooring systems. based on the method to achieve stability, floating platforms are categorized into three types: spar-buoy that utilizes a ballast weight to provide a restoring moment for motion resistance, tension leg platform (tlp) that relies on the tension in its taut mooring lines, and barge that stabilizes the motion through a distributed buoyancy platform with large water-plane area (figure 2). figure 2. floating platform concepts for owt (jonkman, & buhl, 2005). spar-buoy and semi-submersible platforms have reached full-scale operational stage in europe. in september 2009, the first floating offshore wind turbine (fowt), statoil’s hywind, was deployed in the north sea of norway. hywind has a rated power of 2.3mw and utilizes a single spar-buoy platform moored with three catenary lines (hywind the world’s first full-scale floating wind, 2014). in october 2011, the second full scale fowt, principle power’s windfloat with 2mw rated power, was installed in portugal. windfloat utilizes a semisubmersible floating platform that is moored with four catenary lines (roddier, cermelli, aubault, & weinstein, 2010). in united states, umaine developed a prototype semi-submersible floating wind turbine called volturnus 1:8, based on the oc4 deepcwind (robertson, jonkman, musial, vorpahl, & popko, 2013). pg. 93 tumewu / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 3. nrel 5 mw wind turbine on (left to right) themit/nrel tlp, iti energy barge (matlab and statistics toolbox release, 2014), and oc4 deepcwind semi-submersible (tumewu, 2016). another fowt prototype is the 80kw tlp developed by blue-h technology with an ongoing scaled testing (arapogianni, genachte, manzanas, vergara, castell, tsouroukdissian, korbijn, bolleman, huera-huarte, schuon, ugart, sandberg, laleu, maciel, tunbjer, roth, gueriviere, coulombeau, jedrec, philippe, voutsinas, vita, byklum, hurley, & grubel, 2013). hybrid platforms that combine these stabilization methods also exist, for example, the semi-submersible platform. however, compared to fixed based substructures, the floating platforms are in a state of constant motion which affects the power generation steadiness. dynamic analysis must be performed to determine the extent of the platform motion effect on the fowt performance. the complex nature of fowt, i.e. combined environmental excitations, system coupling, and dynamic response, requires the system to be designed and analyzed with a computer-aided engineering (cae) tool. the tool used in this research is fast (fatigue, aerodynamic, structures, and turbulence), developed by nrel (national renewable energy laboratory), (jonkman, & buhl, 2005). the latest version, fastv8, is built as a modular framework to analyze the wind turbine system with aero-hydro-servo-elastic coupling. the goals of this work are, firstly, to understand the essential fowt dynamics by comparing results from a simplified (limited degree-of-freedom) model with fast simulations, and secondly, to examine the influence of platform motion on the steadiness of wind turbine power output. specifically, the tlp, barge, and semi-submersible platforms are analyzed under wind and wave excitation. 2. floating offshore wind turbine system characteristics in order to obtain useful information and realistic results, standardized fowt designs and load characteristics provided by nrel are used. the input data includes the nrel 5mw baseline wind turbine mounted on three different platforms: mit/nrel tlp, iti energy barge, and oc4 deepcwind semi-submersible platform. the three platforms (figure 3) are compared herein as being alternative solutions to accommodate the same wind turbine. gross properties of the nrel 5mw wind turbine and the floating platforms are provided in table 1 and 2 respectively. table 1. nrel 5mw baseline wind turbine gross properties wind turbine properties rating 5 mw configuration upwind, 3 blades control variable speed, collective blade pitch rotor, hub diameter 126 m, 3 m hub height 90 m cut-in, rated, cut-out wind speed 3 m/s, 11.4 m/s, 25 m/s rotor mass rotor mass continued on next page pg. 94 tumewu / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1 continued nacelle mass 240,000 kg tower mass 374,500 kg tower diameter bottom, top 6.5 m, 3.87 m tower cog coordinate (-0.2 m, 0.0 m , 64.0 m) table 2. nrel tlp, barge (jonkman, butterfield, musial, & scott, 2009), and semi-submersible platform properties (matlab and statistics toolbox release, 2014). floating platform properties floating platform properties iti energy barge oc4 deepcwind semi-submersible platform dimension 18 m 40 m x 40 m x 10 m 6.5 m, 3x12 m, 3x24 m platform draft -47.89 m -4 m -20 m water displacement 12,180 m3 6,000 m3 13,917 m3 platform mass, including ballast 8,600,041 kg 5,452,000 kg 13,473,000 kg platform cm -40.61 m -0.2818 m -13.46 m pitch inertia about cm 571,600,000 kg m2 726,900,000 kg m2 6,827,000,000 kg m2 number of mooring lines 8 (4 pairs) 8 3 depth to fairleads, anchors -47.89 m, -200 m -4 m, -150 m -14 m, -200 m radius to fairleads, anchors 27 m, 27 m 28.28 m, 423.4 m 40.868 m, 837.6 m un-stretched line length 151.7 m 473.3 m 835.5 m line diameter 0.127 m 0.0809 m 0.0766 m line mass density 116 kg m−1 130.4 kg m−1 108.63 kg m−1 line extensional stiffness 1,500,000,000 n 589,000,000 n 753,600,000 n 3. limited degree-of-freedom model and comparison with fast to understand the main features of fowt dynamics, a representative simplified limited degree-of-freedom model of the floating wind turbine is developed. the simplifications include: representing the combined wind turbine and floating platform as a rigid body, neglecting structural deflection, and considering only the three planar degrees of freedom (dof): horizontal displacement or surge (u1), vertical displacement or heave (u2), and rotation or pitch (u3). the simplified model follows the same coordinate representation as fast. the global coordinate system is located at the intersection of the structure centerline and seawater level (swl). positive x-axis is defined as a horizontal line from origin point in the direction of wave propagation, while positive z-axis is defined as a vertical line from origin point in upwards direction. positive u1 is along positive x-axis, positive u2 is along positive z-axis, and positive u3 is a clockwise rotation. a clear description of the dof and sign convention can be seen in figure 4. from the gross properties of each fowt, both the stiffness and mass components are calculated. the stiffness matrix comprises two parts: linear mooring lines stiffness and floater hydrostatic stiffness. the linear mooring lines stiffness is obtained from the tension force for taut mooring lines, and utilizing a matlab code based on previous work in (petrone, oliveto, & sivaselvan, 2016) for catenary mooring lines. the floater hydrostatic stiffness on the other hand is obtained from the volume of displaced water due to the submerged platform. the mass matrix also has two contributions: structural mass and hydrodynamic added mass. the former is calculated utilizing a lumped mass model and parallel axis theorem to obtain the structural mass and moment of inertia, while the latter is obtained from wave analysis of mit (wamit) that takes into account the oscillating motion pg. 95 tumewu / environmental science and sustainable development, essd of the submerged platform. from the stiffness and mass matrices, eigenvalue analyses are performed using matlab and statistics toolbox release (2014) code for all three floating platforms to acquire the natural frequency for surge, heave, and pitch dofs. results from the simplified model are compared with fast as presented in table 3. details of the computation may be found in tumewu (2016). table 3. eigenvalue result comparison of three platforms wind turbine platforms surge frequency (hz) heave frequency (hz) pitch frequency (hz) ldof fast ldof fast ldof fast mit/nrel tlp 0.017 0.016 0.438 0.439 0.273 0.239 iti energy barge 0.008 0.008 0.128 0.132 0.09 0.08 oc4 deepcwind semisubmersible 0.009 0.010 0.053 0.054 0.047 0.039 from table 3, it is observed that the results from fast and matlab limited dof model exhibit a good agreement, with differences in the order of 3% – 15%. the discrepancies are tolerable since the simplified model assumes the wind turbine tower and platform are a rigid body. it is concluded that the simplified model captures the main features of fowt dynamics. from this verification process, it can also be concluded that low frequency range will govern the dynamics of fowt, which is a typical wave loads characteristic with natural frequencies between 0.06 – 0.21 hz (robertson, jonkman, masciola, song, goupee, coulling, & luan, 2014). figure 4. limited dof model of nrel 5mw wind turbine on (from left to right) the mit/nrel tlp, iti energy barge, and oc4 deepcwind semi-submersible. pg. 96 tumewu / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 4. influence of platform motion on fowt performance wind and wave loads out in the water excite the floating wind turbine, resulting in a constantly oscillating platform motion, in particular pitch rotation (u3 in figure 4). such pitching motion clearly distinguishes a fowt from a wind turbine with fixed base. in this section of the paper, the influence of platform pitch motion on wind turbine performance is examined. based on previous work in (grogg, 2005), the wind turbine generated power can be expressed as: p = 1 2 ρau3cp (1) where: u = wind speed (m/s); cp = performance power coefficient p= power output (w); p= air density (kg/m3); a= πr2 = rotor swept area (m2); for a lift-based wind turbine such as the nrel 5mw baseline wind turbine, the rotor blades have airfoil shapes. the airfoil experiences lift and drag force from the incoming wind. the two airfoil forces are highly dependent on the angle of attack (α). increasing the angle of attack will consequently result in increased lift but also drag. therefore, an optimized angle of attack that would result in large lift with small drag is desirable. figure 5. lift and dragforce of wind turbine airfoil for a given airfoil, the lift and drag coefficient may be derived from theoretical or empirical test results where the coefficients formula are given as: cl = l 1 2 ρau2 1 (2) and cd = d 1 2 ρau2 1 (3) hercl and cd correspond to lift and drag coefficients respectively, while l and d denote lift and drag forces. from these coefficients, the performance power coefficients may be computed: cp =cl √ 1+λ2 (λ− γ2) (4) wλ = w u andγ = cd cl denotes the blade tip speed which is the product of the blade radius and rotational speed. in addition to these equations, the nrel 5mw baseline wind turbine has the ability to change the angle of attack of the airfoils over a range of limited positive pitch values (pitch-to-feather). this pitch control is especially useful for fowt, as the blade pitch counteracts the platform pitch, thus retaining the overall angle of attack. combining pg. 97 tumewu / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the aforementioned facts, a series of parameter relationships can be drawn: platform pitch — blade pitch (angle of attack) — lift and drag coefficients power coefficient — power output. to examine and isolate the platform pitch effect alone on the power output, the wind and wave loading parameters are set as: wind load is set to be constant with wind speed of 12 m/s, above the rated speed of 11.4 m/s (see table 1). this ensures the turbine has reached the maximum generated power capacity of 5mw. since low frequency range governs the dynamics of fowt, wave loads are divided into 3 different cases: (a) still water or no wave, (b) periodic wave, and (c) stochastic wave. the latter two conditions follow a “very rough” sea state condition, based on world meteorogical organization (wmo) sea states code 6 (tumewu, 2016). both wave profiles are chosen as a representative for above average wave condition with t = 11.3 sec and h = 5.49 m. mit/nrel tlp, iti energy barge and oc4 deepcwind semi-submersible (ss) are first analyzed in fast for still water condition with the following parameters: undeformed initial conditions in elastodyn, which computes structural dynamics of tower and platform. wind load is set to a constant wind speed of 12 m/s in aerodyn and inflow, for aerodynamic loads and inflow. a default bladed-style dll is chosen for the pitch control, and the blade pitch rate is set to 2 deg/s for all platforms in servodyn. future studies will investigate more refined pitch control systems. wave load model is set to still water condition and current is neglected in hydrodyn, which calculates hydrodynamic loads. the mooring analysis program map++ module, built-in the fast software, is selected for all platforms in compmooring for mooring system computation. total run time is set to 300 sec, with default time step 0.025 sec. platform pitch and blade pitch computed using fast for all three platforms, along with the corresponding generated power for still water case are provided in figure 6. as expected, the generated power from all three platforms is relatively steady since there are no wave loads that excite the platform. small power drops are observed for the barge platform case. comparing blade and platform pitch, an overall larger blade pitch rotation can be seen for all three cases, in particular for barge platform. figure 6. platform vs blade pitch responses (left) and thepower output (right) for still water case for the periodic wave case, the three configurations are analyzed with the same parameters as the still water case, except for hydrodyn module input parameters: airy wave is selected as wave load with period t = 11.3 sec and amplitude h = 5.49 m. significant and recurring power drops are observed for the tlp and barge platform (figure 7), where the power outputs fluctuate and reduce to approximately half of the full 5mw capacity. these trends coincide with the larger pg. 98 tumewu / environmental science and sustainable development, essd blade and platform pitch rotation of both the floating platforms. the semi-submersible platform performs the best with relatively steady power output and a smaller blade pitch oscillation. for the stochastic wave case, the hydrodyn wave load follows an irregular wave model based on the jonswap/pierson–moskowitz spectrum, with period t = 11.3 sec and amplitude h = 5.49 m. the generated power exhibits trends similar to the periodic wave case (figure 8), as well as the platform and blade pitches. the following conclusions can be drawn comparing the response of the different platforms under different wave loadings: – small oscillation, i.e. below 1 deg, in platform pitch does not necessarily guarantee a steady power output. this conclusion is valid, for both regular and irregular wave cases. – the power output is heavily dependent on the blade pitch control. the effect is most apparent for periodic and stochastic wave loads in tlp and barge platforms, where the power output exhibits a trend similar to blade pitch. – although the semi-submersible is not the most stable in terms of platform pitch, the generated power is relatively the steadiest for both periodic and stochastic wave loads. this is due to the small oscillation in blade pitch caused by the platform rotation. figure 7. platform vs blade pitch responses (left) and the power output (right) for periodic wave case figure 8. platform vs blade pitchresponses (left) and the power output (right) for stochastic wave case pg. 99 tumewu / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – comparing the results of the three platforms, it can be concluded that the barge is the most susceptible to typical wave loads. this susceptibility translates to significant power fluctuation, where the power output repeatedly drops from full to almost half the capacity. thus, further studies to control platform pitch by using semi-active and passive devices are recommended in order to utilize barge in full-scale floating platform. 5. conclusion the main goal of this research is to gain an understanding of the dynamic behavior and its relationship with the power performance of three different floating offshore wind turbines. for this purpose, a wind turbine simulation tool, fast, is utilized. before performing dynamic analyses of floating offshore wind turbines with fast, the essential dynamics are identified by performing eigenvalue analysis using a limited dof model for three floating platforms (tlp, barge and semi-submersible), and comparing with results from fast simulations. in addition, it is established that low frequency oscillation, whose frequencies align with typical wave loads characteristics, will govern the dynamics of fowt. using fast, the influence of platform pitch motion on the wind turbine power output steadiness is examined. to isolate and examine the platform pitch effect on the power output, analyses are performed for the three platforms under defined loads of above rated wind speed of 12m/s and an above average wave load with t = 11.3 sec and h = 5.49. from the results, it is concluded that the power output fluctuation depends on the platform type and blade pitch. the effect of platform pitch on the steadiness of power output is only apparent in a large oscillating pitch motion, where recurring power drops are found. the semi-submersible platform type performs the best with relatively steady power output. the downside of this platform is the large amount of material and high construction cost. tlp is a viable choice as well, with the lowest platform pitch motion. the main reason for this is the pre-tensioned mooring lines that increase the stiffness. these pre-tensioned lines are more prone to failure, especially during critical events. since the tlp heavily relies on its mooring lines for stability, environmental effects such as corrosion and anchor design, become an important factor. the barge platform is found to be the most susceptible to wave loads, which ultimately result in least steady power output. another problem that arises from the large blade pitch oscillation is the reduced fatigue life of the blades and the wind turbine tower. these detrimental effects are amplified in turbulent wind that affects the generated power fluctuation even more than constant wind. the barge platform design has an advantage in its lower construction and installation cost compared to the other floating platforms. therefore, solutions that address the problems would increase the reliability of barge platform for full-scale offshore wind turbines. 6. acknowledgments this research was supported by the fulbright ms f.i.r.s.t. scholarship at the university at buffalo (ub). we thank our colleagues at ub who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted the research. we would also like to show our gratitude to the nrel–nwtc forum and dr. jonkman for comments and inputs regarding fast tool. references 1. arapogianni, a., genachte, a., manzanas, r., vergara, j., castell, c., tsouroukdissian, a.r., korbijn, j., bolleman, huera-huarte, f.j., schuon, f., ugart, a., sandberg, j., de laleu, v., maciel, j., tunbjer, a., roth, r., de la gueriviere, p., coulombeau, p., jedrec, s., philippe, c., voutsinas, s. g., vita, l., byklum, e., hurley, w.l. & grubel, h. (2013). deep water; the next step for offshore wind energy. in ewea offshore 2013. frankfurt, germany. 2. grogg, k. (2005). harvesting the wind: the physics of wind turbines. physics and astronomy comps pg. 100 tumewu / environmental science and sustainable development, essd papers,7. 3. hywind the world’s first full-scale floating wind. (2014). retrieved from: http://www.statoil.com/en /technology innovation/newenergy/renewablepowerproduction/offshore/hywind/pages/ hywindputtingwindpowertothetest.aspx. 4. jonkman, j. m. (2007). dynamics modeling and loads analysis of an offshore floating wind turbine(rep. no. nrel/tp-500-41958). colorado: national renewable energy laboratory. 5. jonkman, j. m., & buhl, m. l. (2005). fast user’s guide. 6. jonkman, j. m., & matha, d. (2011). dynamics of offshore floating wind turbines-analysis of three concepts. wind energy,14(4), 557-569. 7. jonkman, j., butterfield, s., musial, w., & scott, g. (2009). definition of a 5-mw reference wind turbine for offshore system development(rep. no. nrel/tp-500-38060). colorado: national renewable energy laboratory. 8. matlab and statistics toolbox release (2014), the mathworks, inc., natick, massachusetts, united states. 9. petrone, c., oliveto, n. d., & sivaselvan, m. v. (2016). dynamic analysis of mooring cables with application to floating offshore wind turbines. journal of engineering mechanics,142(3), 04015101. 10. robertson, a., jonkman, j., masciola, m., song, h., goupee, a., coulling, a., & luan, c. (2014). definition of the semisubmersible floating system for phase ii of oc4. offshore code comparison collaboration continuation (oc4) for iea task,30. 11. robertson, a., jonkman, j., musial, w., vorpahl, f., & popko, w. (2013). offshore code comparison collaboration, continuation: phase ii results of a floating semisubmersible wind system. in ewea offshore 2013. frankfurt, germany. 12. roddier, d., cermelli, c., aubault, a., & weinstein, a. (2010). windfloat: a floating foundation for offshore wind turbines. journal of renewable and sustainable energy, 2(3), 033104. 13. tumewu, y. (2016). dynamic analysis of floating offshore wind turbine using the fast simulation tool(master’s thesis, university at buffalo). buffalo. pg. 101 introduction floating offshore wind turbine system characteristics limited degree-of-freedom model and comparison with fast influence of platform motion on fowt performance conclusion acknowledgments http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v3iss1.188 a territorial approach to the production of urban and rural landscape f. trapani1, r. savarese2, f. safonte3 1dipartimento di architettura, università degli studi di palermo, italy 2circolo istrice, palermo, italy 3istituto di ricerca e promozione delle aree interne della sicilia, caltanissetta, italy abstract the authors, starting from the examination of the historic data of palermo landscapes on the south-east side, draw up an analysis of the landscape by illustrating the environmental characteristics and the intervention of man in its transformations. therefore, determined by a certain point to refer to, the author, based on archival, literary, and existing graphic documentation, has therefore sought to illustrate the evolution of the landscape in the geographical area of mare dolce while still present relations with the territory of palermo. examining the diaries and the end of the eighteenth century with the help of the water colored planks of the sites considering the great patrimony left by landscape painters of the period brought a great deal of information. in this sense, it is possible to evaluate the transformation of maredolce from swampy and abandoned land of the last seventeenth century (end of sugary activity) to that of new irrigation agriculture. transformation is common to the entire territory of palermo with which numerous comparisons are also carried out based on archival documentation. the introduction of the industrial economy of the citrus which has wiped out any past historical stratification before being swept by the cementation of the ‘conca d’oro’ that still lasts and of which maredolce (historic palace and its garden) is the last environmental and cultural heritage as a holistic ecosystem that should absolutely be saved by using integrated urban planning with responsible architectonic restoration approaches. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords urban planning; cultural landscape; integrated urban regeneration; architectural restoration; territo-rialist approach; rural studies; rural economy; landscape geography 1. introduction 1.1. methodology in this contribution, through a multidisciplinary approach, we intend to investigate the hypothesis that there is an analogy between: a) regeneration as a subject on the background of the humanistic approach to sustainable development in the analytical, interpretative and evaluative key of territorialists (sdt, 2011; safonte, 2014; 2015) and b) the urban regeneration (haddock & moulaert, 2009; maccallum, moulaert, hillier & vicari, 2009; trapani, 2016) could be summarized as the culture of the project. both approaches are applied to the theme of sustainpg. 70 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v3iss1.188&domain=press.ierek.com trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd able development, particularly the enhancement of the resources of agricultural production and cultural heritage. agriculture and heritage are usually considered as the primary tools of intervention policies in weak areas such as inland areas in italy. in this contribution, regeneration in the economic-social application of urban and territorial planning and planning related to the arguments (a) and (b) is different from retraining and recovery in terms of simple reuse and even more from recycling. this is because a given regeneration policy tends to include them or better integrate them all because it must necessarily provide both analytical, interpretative, evaluative and operative approaches directly to the physical and environmental contexts as well as the social and economic policies and programs. regeneration, in its constituent nature of toolkits of differentiated instrumentation of analysis and intervention, qualifies more and more as a mode of approach used. in (a) and (b), the issues of strong ambiguity and difficulty in the definition of regeneration have been highlighted. additionally, evaluation of regenerative experiences has highlighted the limits of effectiveness and real possibilities of action against the structural causes of social and economic criticality in the correction/qualification of local development policies and urban-scale intervention practices that determine strong impacts on the human settlements system both in terms of identity (cultural impact) and the environment (impacts on natural ecosystem components). even though the literature in the field revolves around the term “regeneration”, it is merely a defensive wall used to repel haphazard building and design strategies employed by indifferent operators. it doesn’t seem like it’s the time to completely abandon the use of regeneration as some case studies are currently interconnected and even inspiring. in this regard, we see the possibility of supporting the concept of regeneration and realizing its importance on the condition that some principles, criteria and indicators must be solid and scientifically recognized and duly dialectised as the theories of territorialists (sdt, 2013) and those in the field of planning and urban and architectural design, especially in cases of comparison with the existing cultural, economic, social and environmental heritage to be protected and valorized. territorial regeneration now has features that can be considered as an opportunity to redeliver the social and economic peripheries of the weak territories for raising the quality of life. trying to link functional different approaches such as regeneration into the concept of urban planning/urban planning and territorial approaches can serve to provide a meaningful basis not only for defining but, above all, for the implementation of sustainable local development policies and interventions. territorial approaches seeking to find a balance in the engagement between critical thinking based on the knowledge of real resources at stake and tactics and design intervention strategies need a clever combination of analysis and attribution of royal rooting values in humans. this is to define both urban and extra-urban landscapes so as to re-elaborate and contextualize the new uses and the flexibility that often depart from the ways in which traditions of reuse, recovery, and retraining have traditionally been entrusted to historical, architectural and landscape heritage. in the territorialist key, regeneration can be identified in the third principle of territoriality, for ”knowledge and values expressed by the local population are the basis for the development of a vital territory capable of selfgenerating. to this end, it is the primary task of research and territorial action to investigate the many local cognitive and value frameworks present locally and translate them to construct a connective infra-language that can express common local projects ” (sdt, 2011). in the spatial design sphere, another aspect is the indispensable bond that, according to the european charter for architectural heritage (council of europe, 1975), must be present between conservation and planning: this link today is essential to portray the implicit link between the project culture and the planning culture. this approach to the culture of the project can best be distinguished by the reference to three ways of thinking and acting which together could form the basis of a theory based on that culture: 1. best preservation is transformation (samonà, 1980; collovà, 2012); 2. there is no urban transformation without urban conservation (pracchi, 2017; prescia, 2016); 3. there is no innovative urban planning without social innovation (tyrwhitt, 1947; mumford, 1961; concilio et al., 2012; marsh, molinari & trapani, 2013). pg. 71 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the hypothesis of this paper is that the study for the understanding of urban and extra-urban historical dynamics aims to intervene in the production of urban landscapes on individual artifacts, continuously receiving stimuli from these three different approaches to conservation and the urban/territorial regeneration: the first affirms the culture of the project as the basis of the possibility and sustainability of transformation, the second argument affirms the need for integration between planning and conservation while the third recaptures the notion of centrality of the human dimension in every type of transformation of the space of cities and of territories. 1.2. on the landscape concept the themes pertaining to the landscape-environmental sphere must be faced in a multidisciplinary manner, being endowed with such complexity that the approaches that concern them often diverge so much that they have very little in common. if a bias towards considering natural landscapes as worthy of protection is evident in historical, cultural, and judicial literature, that is because of certain cultural reason. in that regard, we can refer to the material dimension (objective) formed by the set of material elements that make up both the intangible dimension (subjective) as an intangible image that is a result of the encounter between those elements themselves and the subject that perceives and interprets them according to their own cognitive and emotional patterns. it is a point of view according to which the set of elements that generate a landscape become an object of interest not because they refer to natural and anthropic processes whose operating rules are to be explained, but as a tangible representation of the universe of symbolic values and cultural activities that animate the actions of society. the polysemy of the landscape (socco, 2000) also refers to the different way in which it is understood, on the one hand, by common sense and, on the other, by the disciplines that deal with it, which have always understood it according to the conception. it is also embraced by the european landscape convention (cep, 2000), for which it is the tangible expression of the interactions between the population and its environment, the result of precise territorial evolutionary dynamics, locally endowed with cultural depth. in the cep it is defined as ”a certain part of the territory, as it is perceived by the populations, whose character derives from the action of natural and/or human factors and their interrelations”; in this way, the landscape is distinguished from other geographical concepts, first of all, that of the territory, precisely highlighting the nature of ”perceived object”. if the territory is, in fact, the ”space organized by man”, the landscape is the ”subjective projection of the territory or the corresponding mental and sentimental projection of the territory acted [...]” (turri, 2003). alternatively, according to common sense, the landscape is far from assuming this connotation of ”empirical manifestation of territoriality” (turco, 2002), it is rather associated with the panorama, or with something worth stopping to watch for the beauty or for the natural or cultural value that is for the relative characters of exceptionality. in this context, it is interesting to underline how the population-landscape relationship can be observed according to two different perspectives: the former focuses on individual perceptions and focuses its attention on the preferences accorded by individuals to certain types or to certain landscape transformations. the latter investigates the social representations understood as collective constructions whose value (cultural and symbolic) is shared as a whole, thus strongly contributing to the strengthening of the identity ties between individuals and their territory (dematteis & ferlaino, 2003; dematteis & governa, 2005; dematteis, 1985, 1989, 1995; castiglioni & de marchi, 2009). particularly, these links originate from a dialectical process of continuous negotiation built on otherness, which makes identity itself a mutable and evolutionary construct which, by its social nature, causes it to be decomposed into many different facets, as is the subject, configuring it as an entity that is anything but monolithic. through the same, the individual tries to give coherence and continuity to his own existence, finding and reconstructing his own equilibrium over time and through the changes he is called to face. in this sense, personal identity acquires, on the one hand, the locative function which places the subject in a system of relationships by tracing boundaries pg. 72 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd and, on the other, the integrative function, which allows not only a discontinuity with other individuals, but also a continuity with oneself, thus giving coherence to one’s existential path (sciolla, 2002). these functions are valid not only for individual identity but also for that of social groups that give their own collective identity. in this case, the locative function is given by territorial or symbolic boundaries (magnaghi, 2003). alternatively, identity refers to a process that is, in part, consciousness of self-recognition through which the individual or the community, in general, take possession of elements of a given culture, sometimes modifying and re-elaborating them consistently (la cecla, 1998, 2004; strauss, 1986). on the other hand, cultural identity refers to processes that are often unconscious and linked to the set of activities, habits, customs, ways of life and values that a certain human group characterized by strong social relations within it and established in a territory for which it has a strong sense of rooting uses as a key to understanding reality, passing it down from generation to generation (vallega, 2003, 2008; turco, 2002, 2003; turri, 1974, 1990, 1998, 2000, 2003). 1.3. maredolce: a case study of urban-rural landscape regeneration the landscape of the old conca d’oro (mandalà, 2017; barbera, 2012), wherein palermo is enclosed, evolved throughout the centuries from a swampy ensemble where dwarf elephants and, perhaps, humans lived to the modern, tragic cementation which still takes place today at a sustained pace. periodically, the design of the landscape underwent changes that resulted in the apotheosis of the citrus-fruit gardens and the fragrance of their flowers. this phase marked a time of great wealth for the city, or rather for its ruling class in a context of international trade development. in truth, the palermo of “lemons and mandarins” was a rather brief period in the history of the land. however, due to human “short memory,” the ancient ‘conca d’oro’ ended up characterizing the city and its inhabitants. nevertheless, it’s still possible to learn of one’s past if one wishes to do so. as it’s known, there are a few fundamental elements that make up a landscape: its orography and geology, the climate and human intervention. 2. maredolce and the city of palermo 2.1. the urban-rural landscape context of the ancient garden of maredolce palermo is defined by a ring of mountains (dolomite limestones), over 1,000 meters tall, and by a corrugated plain that extends towards the sea. the ladder is engraved by various waterways that have heavily marked the landscape, such as the oreto or abbas rivers, as well as the two rivulets of the old town: papireto and cannizzaro (scinà, 1818; todaro, 2014). the plain presents a fertile mantle, usually a thin one, underneath which calcarenite benches of varying degrees of power can be found. within these benches are innumerous sources and streams of water. there are also underground basins that are more or less extensive (fabiani, 1931; floridia, 1951), where the population has always drawn water from as demonstrated by both archeological excavations and literary documents. it’s a fact that the city has always been rich in water, which was carried all the way to the residencies of the wealthy using forced conduits. scholars have alwathe themes pertaining to the landscape-environmental sphere must be faced in a multidisciplinary manner, being endowed with such complexity that the approaches that concern them often diverge so much that they have very little in common. if a bias towards considering natural landscapes as worthy of protection is evident in historical, cultural, and judicial literature, that is because of certain cultural reason. in that regard, we can refer to the material dimension (objective) formed by the set of material elements that make up both the intangible dimension (subjective) as an intangible image that is a result of the encounter between those elements themselves and the subject that perceives and interprets them according to their own cognitive and emotional patterns. it is a point of view according to which the set of elements that generate a landscape become an object of interest not because they refer to natural pg. 73 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd and anthropic processes whose operating rules are to be explained, but as a tangible representation of the universe of symbolic values and cultural activities that animate the actions of society. the polysemy of the landscape (socco, 2000) also refers to the different way in which it is understood, on the one hand, by common sense and, on the other, by the disciplines that deal with it, which have always understood it according to the conception. it is also embraced by the european landscape convention (cep, 2000), for which it is the tangible expression of the interactions between the population and its environment, the result of precise territorial evolutionary dynamics, locally endowed with cultural depth. in the cep it is defined as ”a certain part of the territory, as it is perceived by the populations, whose character derives from the action of natural and/or human factors and their interrelations”; in this way, the landscape is distinguished from other geographical concepts, first of all, that of the territory, precisely highlighting the nature of ”perceived object”. if the territory is, in fact, the ”space organized by man”, the landscape is the ”subjective projection of the territory or the corresponding mental and sentimental projection of the territory acted (...)” (turri, 2003: 23). alternatively, according to common sense, the landscape is far from assuming this connotation of ”empirical manifestation of territoriality” (turco, 2002: 39), it is rather associated with the panorama, or with something worth stopping to watch for the beauty or for the natural or cultural value that is for the relative characters of exceptionality. in this context, it is interesting to underline how the population-landscape relationship can be observed according to two different perspectives: the former focuses on individual perceptions and focuses its attention on the preferences accorded by individuals to certain types or to certain landscape transformations. the latter investigates the social representations understood as collective constructions whose value (cultural and symbolic) is shared as a whole, thus strongly contributing to the strengthening of the identity ties between individuals and their territory (dematteis& ferlaino, 2003; dematteis & governa, 2005; dematteis, 1985, 1989a, 1989b, 1995; castiglioni & de marchi, 2009). particularly, these links originate from a dialectical process of continuous negotiation built on otherness, which makes identity itself a mutable and evolutionary construct which, by its social nature, causes it to be decomposed into many different facets, as is the subject, configuring it as an entity that is anything but monolithic. through the same, the individual tries to give coherence and continuity to his own existence, finding and reconstructing his own equilibrium over time and through the changes he is called to face. in this sense, personal identity acquires, on the one hand, the locative function which places the subject in a system of relationships by tracing boundaries and, on the other, the integrative function, which allows not only a discontinuity with other individuals, but also a continuity with oneself, thus giving coherence to one’s existential path (sciolla, 2002: 144-145). these functions are valid not only for individual identity but also for that of social groups that give their own collective identity. in this case, the locative function is given by territorial or symbolic boundaries (magnaghi, 2003). alternatively, identity refers to a process that is, in part, consciousness of self-recognition through which the individual or the community, in general, take possession of elements of a given culture, sometimes modifying and re-elaborating them consistently (la cecla, 1998, 2004; levi strauss, 1986). on the other hand, cultural identity refers to processes that are often unconscious and linked to the set of activities, habits, customs, ways of life and values that a certain human group characterized by strong social relations within it and established in a territory for which it has a strong sense of rooting uses as a key to understanding reality, passing it down from generation to generation (vallega, 2003, 2008; turco, 2002, 2003; turri, 1974, 1990, 1998, 2000, 2003). ys been captivated by the image that we get from the cartographers of the 1500s of the plain being largely, but not completely, cultivated and surrounded by bare mountains (fig.1 & fig.3). the countryside, on the other hand, given its many houses and huts, seemed considerably anthropized. pg. 74 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 1. map of palermo and of conca d’oro by m.f. cartari – rome 1581. right: the maredolce’s site, thebridge ‘of the admiral’ (ponte dell’ammiraglio) and ‘conca d’oro’ limits. this image coincides, if only in part, with the descriptions given by arab and medieval geographers. it also coincides with the activity of norman, suebi and aragon kings who paid great attention to the use and maintenance of woods and forests. even in the first cartographic representation (pietro da eboli, n.d., rep. 1994) the royal gardens — iconographically represented in a single quadrant — are illustrated with flowers, rare plants and predatory animals (lynx). figure 2. funerals of william ii. neighborhoods of the ancient palermo during normans. liberad honorem augusti di pietro da eboli, berna biblioteca civica. at this time, our main interest is the territory known as maredolce, meaning the territory of the ancient royal palace of the fawarah. today, it’s reduced merely to the basin of an artificial lake with oriental and meridional banks given to monte grifone and the last remains of citrus-fruit plantation-fruit gardens belonging to count federico and count ciaculli. monte grifone itself, with its “nose”, pizzo sferrovecchio, has protruding marks that highlight the first identification of the conca d’oro and is the fundamental element of the context, “the nose of the great mountain” from which, “desert wind blows”. the nose itself is characterized by a system of caves, (named in italian as “ingrottati”), that will be named ‘grotta dei giganti’ (lit. giants’ cave), and it is from the nose that the springs of the grande fawarah come out, “di li pirtusi.” the normans supposedly used those springs to create the lake and, probably, to provide water to the hospital of san giovanni de’ leprosi. at that time, the pg. 75 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd woods, forests and the macchia (mediterranean shrubland) probably occupied most of the territory. in fact, it’s important to specify that we don’t know the exact borders of the “old park” even though we do know that beyond the eleuterio river laid the rebuttone feud. more to the west, on the moarda coast, was the palace of altofonte. it had two streams, which still exist today, and was surrounded by forests and/or shrublands that reached all the way to, and comprised, the territory adjacent to partinico. it is now necessary to establish a point of reference to deepen our excursion and this could be represented by the map drawn by orazio maiocco of which we know the edition published by marco duchetto in 1580/1602 (fig.3). figure 3. the arcs of saint ciro. the authors refer to the date printed in the map and mention that the most known among the geographers, mario cartari (fig.1), was the testamentary curator of duchetto’s company and that duchetto’s uncle, lafrery, came to sicily a few years before its termination in the late 1570s. this suffices to assume that the planimetry by maiocco was made before 1580 and that cartari somehow came in possession of the copper. this is basically the only map with the geographic and topographic identification of maredolce (beyond cartari) because later, cartographers identified the oreto river as the territorial limit of palermo. instead, they expanded northward where the aristocrats and great bureaucrats built their country houses, predominantly (barbera-azzarello, 2008). the map (flight of prospective bird) drawn by maiocco shows down to the left the start of the territory of maredolce with sferrovecchio (today borgo paradiso) or the “mountain’s nose” which detaches from monte grifone and the following mountain chain west that includes the “park”: that is altofonte. we can now form a first image of the landscape in our minds with the peaks and the sides of the mountains (grifone, sferrovecchio, etc.) with shades typical of the dolostones that were immortalized years later by francesco lojacono and by german, french and english landscape painters from a few years earlier and later (barbera-azzarello, 2008). the biggest difference can be found on the mountain slopes where citrus-fruit plantation are not yet present but which are instead still domain of the “ddisa” (ampelodesmos vitis), of the “piraini” (pyrus pyraster), of selvatic olive trees and, probably, remains of ‘lecci’ (quercus ilex) from the ancient shrubland or woods. this means that shades of yellow are prevalent only in the late summer (given the exposure to the northern wind), and the greens, more or less vivid, are prevalent only in winter and spring. dominants are the grey and pink shades of the mountain crests and sides. the only exception are the occasional patches of ‘lecci’ which are evergreen. pg. 76 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 4. reconstruction of the monumental system undergrifone mountain: the church of saint ciro, the arcs and the caverns with restsfrom neolithic era (turnbull, 1831) the road that crossed the original riverbed of the oreto river on the ponte dell’ammiraglio (lit. admiral’s bridge), is evidently restricted along its oriental perimeter by the territories of san giovanni dei lebbrosi of which one can still see the portico from the 1400s. the bridge is strong evidence of a landscape design which suggests a need to manage power rather than make an economical use of the country. maredolce (fawarah) was in fact the winter and spring residency of the royal family. the summer residence was in altofonte instead (de simone, 2014). even in the context of the geographical schematizations of the map, it is possible to sense the presence of crops and uncultivated areas that correspond to the alluvial areas and the oreto river’s mouth of which the different branches and crossings were marked. there we find the ponte dell’ammiraglio, “lo ponti del miraglia”, along with a small nameless bridge on the second river branch caused by inundations. these inundations will characterize the city in many ways from the second half of the 1500s to today. it wasn’t possible to cross the river by the seashore. it would only be possible after the construction of ponte di mare (xviii century) that will change the transportation system both from and to the city and will also change the perception of the landscape (ajmard, 1993). another important element that marked the difference between the medieval landscape and that of the 1500s, was described by marina scarlata (1988: 28) as follows: “the countryside, especially its crops and trading spots, are safe from the unknown thanks the system of watchtowers, which purpose is to watch out for the enemy and to transmit help requests [. . . ] ruins, new edifications and fortified cities; the coast is as far as ever from its sea due to this defensive line that reminds the urban city walls”. this picture, between the medieval palermo and the early 1500s one allows us to ask ourselves what the landscape and environment were like in previous years. 2.2. maredolce in the prehistory way before the romans, in prehistory, the landscape was strongly defined by a series of peninsulas and headlands constituted by the crests of the current mountains: monte grifone and the other mountains of the conca d’oro. with regards to monte grifone, the level of the water can be estimated not only through the different lines on the side where waves crashed, but also in the perforations of the lithodomes that can be recognized also in the ‘grotta dei giganti’ (burgio et al., 2002; turnbull, 1831), thus indicating that they were only partially filled with water. thus, the best hypothesis to explain the piling of bones was the movement of the backwash. however, nino mannino found some incisions at the entrance of one of the smaller caves on the northern mountain side of pizzo sferrovecchio, which can be dated to the neolithic. mannino complains about the destruction of some incisions on the southern side of the mountain due to some impending quarry, luckily closed today. the smaller caves are at a higher altitude than the grotta dei giganti, but almost at the same altitude as the site where waves crash into the mountain (fig.4). to us, today, the extraordinary impact of these caves and mountains on the landscape is fundamental to the pg. 77 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd aqueduct of scillato, which façade was carved in the mountainside since the 1800’s. below, there’s the interception system and the church of san ciro which elevates alongside the highway which today links together the mountain and the lake. it’s a send back to the observations and drawings by: scinà (1831) and by turnbull (1831). studies of today: burgio et al. (2002); mannino (1964, 2008), tusa (2002), vassallo (2012, 2015), canzoneri & vassallo (2014) and battaglia (2014). 2.3. maredolce during normans hunting was an “aristocratic” activity because it requires being able to ride on a horse and required the courage and skill to kill. one didn’t hunt the calm and quiet rabbit. the pray had to be bigger, more suited to wildlife, capable of attacking and defending itself. so, animals like deer, bucks, boars and some predators such as wolves, lynxes, wild cats and foxes were employed. the first ones need woods other than forests. the second ones look for ravines to rest and for peaks to scan the landscape. we can hypothesize an extension till bagheria since the barony of solanto sprouted like a mushroom from the legal and territorial void in the 14th century firstly with the grant of the tonnara (silvestri, 1985) and to manfredi ‘la sciabica’ in the 1365 and afterwards with the progressive occupancy of the feud in the 1392 (barberi, 1888). it’s a fact that bagheria had a huge royal forest (falkenhausen, 1980) with security guards. the forest is now lost due to turmoil in the 1300s. it’s plausible that its eastern limit was the actual ‘corso dei mille’ and that san giovanni, along with the neighboring feuds (scillata, allegranza, etc.) was already independent as a religious establishment (lo piccolo, 1995). 2.4. the rural transformation we now move on from the normans’ hunting grounds to the agricultural landscape, which was originally designed for zoo technical activities mainly focused on pigs (notary’s document dark side) which fattening process is helped by eating the brushwood and acorns. the woods’ progressive thinning will lead firstly to the abandonment of these pig farms and the subsequent growth of bovines farming; and then, bovines’ farming will decline to the level of growth of ovine farming. these are phenomena that we can see both in the change of income and on the export balance. as an intermediate stage, we can think of the scrubland (as a visual reference) that exists above cinisi, as a spotted landscape in which little cultivated properties started to arise. from emperor federico’s epistolary (frederick ii of hohenstaufen, s. d.) we can pull data regarding some jobs done in the norman park, like the installment of dates plantations (phoenix dactylifera) and the re-initialization of the sugar cane. however, the tipping point was represented by both the angioino-aragonese wars (which destroyed the dates plantation) and that led to the destruction of palermo’s landscape. it was also represented by “l’avventura dello zucchero” (trasselli, 1982) that lasted until the 1600s in palermo and until the 1700s in the rest of sicily. a midterm stage exists then (xiv cen.) in which the landscape is characterized by the effects of wildfires and the cropping of the vineyards. a fine example of that is maredolce, although we must remember that its cultivation, as it’s described in the archival documents, were mainly focused in the northern area towards the oreto where once we could find the dates plantations that were cut down and given to the chiaramonte family who will build upon it “torre dei diavoli”. due to its easy irrigation, falso miele’s plain saw great opportunity in the cultivation of sugarcane (trasselli, 1967, 1982). the sugarcane, which lifespan is at least two years, covers almost every unused plain and irrigable spot and it must be preserved with fences (drywalls). consequently, few changes took place to coercively install irrigation channels as in ordinance of 14, july 1418, that will last till the cementation of the conca d’oro. the biggest issue is derived from the vineyards’ existence because the channels had to be built along the perimeter. the landscape drastically changed after the experience of urban gardens (bresc, 1972) with properties that can be pg. 78 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd recognized through their walls and sugarcane will now cover its field for at least 2-3 years and flatter its asperity. where the terrain is no longer irrigable, cereals and vineyards will show up in place of the scrubland (fazello, 1573). it’s noteworthy that wine’s consumption was a sanitary necessity due to the easily polluted drinking water in the urban area. thus, the vineyards were highly developed and found a suitable and specialized environment in the countryside of bagheria. this is the time when fawarah changed its name to maredolce (auria, 1625). due to lack of royal control, people started to enter the park and discovered its lake and “the giants”. the concession of the royal complex to the magione will lead to its private exploitation. maybe it’s not a coincidence that a few years after the concession of the norman park, chiaramonte, who had ordered the concession of the royal complex to the magione in the name of the king, obtained the big olive-tree plantation and the guadagna. false truths of history: it’s told that the concession to magione took place due to the damages done to a garden found in palermo, while it’s correct to say that it was found in messina. the concession of the fawarah will lead to the full-time sale of water, while the building complex will be changed into a “hospital” that placed a heavy focus on thermal baths. water sales led to the irrigation of feuds both under the current via conte federico and the original hospital properties of san giovanni and to the distribution for mills (pergole) and “trappeti”. the only remains found are those of pollastra on the way to brancaccio. so, the wide landscape that can be found north-west of the “strada del buon riposo” (the good rest road) is now irrigated. in the mid-1500s (fazello, 1573) the basin is basically split into two parts of which one will remain swampy until the 1700s and the other is constricted in the area in front of the dam as tell us fazello (mortillaro, 1858): “further ahead, about a mile from here, we can find an abundant spring known as «favara di san filippo», where king ruggero built a palace that will be an amusing place for the king and it will take the spring’s name as we are told by a privilege king federico ii gave to messino in 28 june 1307. less than 400 footsteps from stratum of another mountain there’s another spring called maredolce where we can see the remains of a royal pool. above this spring there’s a grotto where it was found a very tall corpse”. we know that favara is now used to name the second spring that can be found in villabate. also, we know that in an uncertain period we could find another spring in the north-western side of the island. at last we know that on sferrovecchio’s edges it exists a fortification of which could see the tower along the 1600s. we also know that the fences within the second favara was characterized by iron doors that named the area and left base to gain a title of nobility. the matches between san domenico’s picture in the archive of state in palermo (asp) and the drawings made by auria (1625) give us some ideas of that landscape, if not some certainties. we must make clarify that the authors’ cognition of space and viability which is far different from ours. the great works of collection that can be seen in arches of san ciro are described by maja (1680) and sketched by auria. it was also illustrated in a later work found in the convent of san domenico, who took possession of the southern side of the lake almost until ciaculli. on the north-western side of the mountain we can see some fortifications that were probably dismissed later to build the church, which will be incorporated in the modern san ciro. other jobs of water containment can be found in the valley. 2.5. the comeback of agriculture in the 1700s the evolution of the marketplace, where an internal factor exists in the increase of the population, another one is the progressive debt of the aristocrats who will be substituted by another emerging class, bourgeois and bureaucrats, will lead to a new urbanization of the countryside which leads to a renewed interest in its fields and its exploitation. at the international level there may be a greater interest in the trade of gains due to an increase in the population. culturally, there’s an increased interest for agricultural experimentation and for a rational agriculture (nicosia, 1735). however, the evolutionary processes of maredolce are slow due to both the raging malaria and the economic interests that are born during the abandonment period. during the final quarter of the century the economic formula introduced by agraz and pastore contemplates the complete exploitation of the fund, including the renovation of the palace. pg. 79 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the renovation of the royal palace, intended to use the land for agricultural purposes, foresees the enlargement of the main gate and the toughening of anything that hadn’t collapsed. the pre-renovation status of the palace is illustrated in the maps by the royal architect chenchi (barbera, boschiero, latini, & ricerche, 2015), which can be confronted with the map done a few years before by pigonati (1767, see barbera et al. 2015: 78, fig.11). next to maredolce’s basin there’s an agricultural complex. once property of san domenico, the complex was taken over by federico earls who expanded it and turned it into a country residence. today, the complex is divided up among countless owners and the expansion of the church has caused grave damages to the beam where, originally, the key element was a tower. formerly, the fund, property of the magione, was registered to the convent of san domenico and later to the counts of san giorgio (federico) who had also obtained the exploitation of the waterways of maredolce or the “scomunica”. from the study of archival data, we can observe the presence of many agricultural entrepreneurs who focused solely on those crops that brought water from count federico. in a map which was once available, now stolen, one can notice mulberries on the northern side of the plain. this suggests that silk was being produced. farming and productions should have had a certain impact even on palermo’s economy, even if as niche market for the economy in the ancient sicily. mulberries surrounded the vineyards. however, vineyards are usually mixed with olive-tree plantations. from the boards attached by lo piccolo (1995), starting from oreto river till gibilrossa, we can find almost 50 churches and chapels. from this fact we can hypothesize not only the urbanization of the land, but also its peopling. it’s a new sensibility of the space that coexist with the old culture of which can be an example ‘baglio’ counts federico, that never became a villa. the making of villas and houses revolves around genteel architectures, more or less large areas repurposed into vegetable gardens and fruit orchards of family dimension. properties that are strictly irrigable are so compatible with the lands of ciaciulli, maredolce, santa maria di gesù, falsomiele while horticultural plantations increase in lands under maredolce conte federico (plantations of beans and legumes). obviously, vineyards increase as well. mainly in the northern lands of the city (generally not easy to irrigate) private hunting properties become popular (malaspina, resuttano, etc.), generally acknowledged as ‘conigliere’. at the end of the century the one belonging to malaspina, the richest prince of palagonia, will have a buck population as it’s recorded in the hunting reports of the borbonic king (de simone, 1968, 1974). 2.6. crops and the changing landscape the ancient landscape characterized by centuries old olive trees at the borders of the estates and vineyards that are more or less developed changed all of a sudden. this was due firstly to the introduction of the ‘bindoli’ or norie alla gateau (belidor, 1835; alfonso-spagna, 1875), which allowed each owner or leaser of a fund to change it from a managed fund to an irrigated one. secondly, the change that took place since the trade of lemons and other citrus-fruit plantations, even on an international level, was first aided and then surpassed by the industrial use of citrus-fruit plantation for the extraction of citric acid. wherever possible, progressively, citrusfruit plantations were grown with a predominance of lemons and mandarins (barbera, 2012). all of palermo’s countryside except for the urban orchards, which had economic viability with a stock of three crops as scillata or allegranzia (villabianca, 1777-1789; cancila, 1984) was shaping, fighting over every square decimeter of land for other usage (villa campofiorito, castelnuovo institute). there are some historic photos (morello, 1999) shows the countryside crawling with mandarins. we can also see the orchards mainly located on the sea facade. here, another feature of the making of the landscape is highlighted: the barriers of ‘canne vive’ (reeds) (alfonso-spagna, 1875). these barriers used to protect the gardens from the sea winds. the old street ‘via messina’, through the marine from torre dei corsari, in palermo, was one long line of reeds interrupted only by the villages. citrus-fruit plantations, instead, especially in the piana dei colli, are progressively shielded by rows of cypresses which delimited the fields, helped by some walls. the “firriati” became unbeatable barriers reaching and surpassing two meters in height. ultimately, by natural means (cypresses and reeds) or artificial means (firriati) the landscape became more and more defined by a grid of fields. the grid was included in that of rural, neighboring pg. 80 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd and municipal roads. the first victims of this new development will be, obviously, “wild trees”, since the ‘noria alla gateau’ (belidor, 1835; alfonso-spagna, 1875) will be put in place mainly with steam engines powered by wood. even when a new way will be found, the community will proceed to eliminate the remaining forests that the aristocrats privatized, taking it away from the local farmers (giuffrida et al., 1996). in maredolce, the very tall chimneys that characterize bagheria’s, carini’s and dei colli’s countryside were only a small number due to the great presence of springs (de simone, 1974). what changes is the perception: the man is now smaller and is dominated by “firriati” that closes the panorama. only by going up the foothills can you dominate the landscape (grifone, santa maria di gesù, monte pellegrino, caputo, ecc.). the fence wall now blocks every sight (extreme defense of private property) and it preludes, or foretells, the period of great death in which people are killed with the “lupara”. before changing this subject, it’s worth to remember a fact that has always intrigued historians from the garibaldin’s epopee. the question is: why did garibaldi change route instead of going down gibilrossa through maredolce, take a terrible road and proceed through corso dei mille before reaching maredolce? the reason is simple. san ciro’s church, with monte grifone provides an unattainable limit on the western side; water receptacles (swamp and anchovies farming) provide an unattainable limit on the eastern side. therefore, a little detachment of soldiers could have blocked anybody in a tremendous massacre. this gives us a new element to evaluate this area. many painters have abundantly drawn these elements. only one thing is left to mention. the citrus-fruit plantation swarm into every field except orchards and olive-tree plantations which are maintained by the intercropping. it will last about 50 years and it will end with the loss of the intercultural olive tree because local olive trees cannot stand irrigation. citrus-fruit plantations will never be taller than 2.5 meters height. 2.7. the making of the landscape a law of 1939 prepared at the end of the fascist regime and declared obsolete establishes some rules to protect the landscape: 1. the landscape that one can enjoy from the monument, 2. the landscape that one can enjoy looking at the monument, figure 5. francesco lojacono (palermo, 16 maggio 1838 –palermo, 28 febbraio 1915), ph.: muesse galleria d’arte moderna(palermo-italy). youcan see the centenarian olive tree on the right. the poplars on the left. inthe background the dark green of the first citrus groves. pg. 81 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3. the landscape as an element that one can enjoy through time and space. these are the fundamental, 100 percent modern needs we would say even contemporary, even if by now they are brutalized and reduced to a mediatic virtualism from the cultural changes of our society. here we must underline the importance of the norman interventions. the making of the lake, through the construction of the dam and the cut of the great southern channel with the water-collection system, is a key element implemented by the normans, or the previous muslim regime, under the “nose of the mountain”. we can get a pretty good picture from auria’s sketch (1625), today damaged and almost illegible due to the renovation. another element that can’t be ignored is the finish of the royal palace: white stucco. this is certain because until the progressive renovation of the palace won’t scrape away the last layer of plaster, it’ll be possible to imagine the external appearance of the building. it’s therefore possible to observe that maredolce was also covered in white stucco, as was altofonte. the city still has a wall today that, until a few years ago, shined because of the bright white finely decorated with ‘conci’ (meli, 1990). the big building complex, being the king’s private property, was not open to the public. figure 6. drawn by dufourny from original by raffaelloajola castello saraceno di maredolce in palermo. gabinetto disegni e stampe,palazzo abatellis regional gallery, palermo, n. d313.@ therefore, the palace is a strong element of the landscape which stands out in front of the lake and in relations to the woods. it is, however, less visible from the outside both because of the fences and for the system of internal courtyards. today, we have mere traces of the ladder in piazza giafar and in a drawing by leon dufourn made in naples by raffaele aloja (fig.6). in this drawing one can see the remains of a fence and of the vaulted roofs. 2.8. the period of sugar with the acquisition by the magione of the good, at the beginning of the aragonese period, the possibility of exploitation of the fund was discovered. consequently, pressures to foster alienation began. chiaramonte and the emerging bourgeoisie of palermo participated, led by the bologna which obtained rights to the management of the palace and the goods that surrounded it. since water become a huge source of income, it’s possible that the first projects downriver were done in that period and their successive abandonment will be the cause of the waterlogging with the following works taking place at the end of 1700s. both in auria’s picture as well as in the later one of san domenico we find some elements which are worth analyzing although they are posterior to the period concerned. pg. 82 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3. maredolce today. resources and other urban problems 3.1. the actual components of the landscape we can define it as a triangle with san ciro as its summit and gibilrossa and maria di gesù as its extremities. the fundamental elements of the landscape will be pizzo sferrovecchio with caves and springs and the peak of monte grifone (maja, 1680). conventionally, we can say that the fundamental element that makes up the landscape is the interaction between the lake and the mountain. in fact, the mountain is the source of all the waterways and their extraordinary range (villabianca, 1777-1789). their vastness, their existence in orthogonal planes, their colors and their seasonal change are elements that alone characterized the landscape and that can’t be ignored. and their river basin is autonomous against the rivers oreto and eleuterio. the emotions that these elements provide and that allow us to abstract ourselves from the tragic and impending city, entering a fantastic dream in which can live with fantasy and history for thousands of years cannot be ignored. this includes the collections of the university museum “gemmellaro” and remembering that san ciro’s church in the fossils bank of the quaternario (mannino, 1964). from the water tower made by the “gebbia”, which was built on the western side of the island, we can easily comprehend the aforementioned fact. from this side, we can observe the mountain in all its power marked downward by san ciro’s church and by the thin line of the highway. to the right, we can see the arches and the remains of the water-collection system. we can only imagine the sparkling of the lake underneath, which waters crush on the western seashore. on the opposite side, over the citrus-fruit plantations, we can see the more or less abusive buildings standing up with violence and desperation on the edge of via conte federico, an old rural lade which today is an urban street. it’s not too hard to hide those urban disasters using rapidly grown plants and trees with a slower growth rate. the urban side (piazza giafar) of the complex presents similar if not more difficult problems, both for the existing buildings and because some of the areas of relevance became roads etc. it would be useful to approximately identify the areas of relevance to the palace, the hot springs can be used because the space in front of the palace can be salvaged and a photographic memory of the early 1900’s can be recalled. however, a citrus-fruit plantation has no impact on the monumental context. it’s not fundamental that the front be immediately visible. however, it’s preferable that the vegetation screen mediate the impact of the city, providing a surprise effect that was surely more in tune with what the old building felt like. the main opening of the complex is towards the mountain side, which is the original opening of the complex and it portrays the environment, which is fundamental in protecting the historical complex of maredolce. in its current conformation, the highway becomes an element that allows to experience the park in an internal dimension of movement, as it ties together the mountain side on one end and the beginning of the lake with the sea at the background on the other. it’s necessary to take advantage of the fact that the highway is built on pillars (already known hideout place for mafia’s weapons). in other words, it’s possible to rebuild on the sediment the viable vessel between the environmental parts. while on a visual level, we must think beyond the highway we, about the ‘grotta dei giganti’ (giants cavern) and the “archi” (arcs). the landscape towards gibilrossa -to the west of the city centerconsists of residual citrus-fruit plantation of croce verde and the following ones of ciaculli. moving away from the unattainable desire of a wider environmental preservation (rebuttone), we can take as a reference point the garibaldian obelisk made by giovanbattista basile (opening on april 4th, 1882). towards the sea we can see villa baglio federico, regia corte, vignivalles, sant’anna, saverio cavallari’s school, villa palme koenig. close by, the bathroom of queen constance, a tasteful pastiche of the 1800s realized by changing around a “camera dello scirocco”. pg. 83 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd heading north, we can note the two hamlets of brancaccio (torre pollastra) and torrelunga, with orfeo’s music. below that there’s the mill ‘mulino delle pergole’, the church of san giovanni dei lebbrosi, the three bridges: ponte dell’ammiraglio, ponte delle teste (fatta, 2015), ponte di mare. finally, we can note the landscape barriers: the highway band (see above), the railroad, the double line and the railway stations. 3.2. the most important phases of actual transformations from the country to rural-urban areas the first (fundamental) scientific contribution to the knowledge of the castle/palace maredolce was made by goldsmitd (goldsmidt, 1895; di stefano, 1955; prescia, 2012). the maredolce area was influenced by a long and slow process of abandoning the peripheral areas located on the eastern side of the city. while the countries of ciaculli and croceverde giardini will maintain until now the agricultural productive activities based on the cultivation of the citrus fruit, the actions of expansion and urban qualification anticipated from the plan of post war reconstruction and after from the masterplan of 1959-1962, will never be realized. this masterplan is known as the mafia’s plan (cannarozzo, 2011) because its effects to the city were mainly related to the buildings growth without limits, apparently. but new studies demonstrate that authors of the original masterplan of palermo, see in particular the role and the cultural effort of edoardo caracciolo, had good targets and visions (cannarozzo, 2016) but their approach was totally ignored and mystified by local leaders of the municipality governments after the planning presentations and approvals. the consequence of these lack of masterplan previsions is that the whole of this area on the east side of palermo has been left to socially and economically degrade and become marginalized. from the end of the second war until now all the municipality governments of palermo tried to realize the planning previsions and the economic initiatives to supply the agricultural activities of the east part of the ‘conca d’oro’. the palermo’s first masterplan (1959) was elaborated together a metropolitan plan oriented to the industrial development with the empowerment of the infrastructure of urban & regional transit. the first masterplan changed the first perspectives of sophisticated urban futures with new productive zones and important social services. the most important urban transformations of the ‘future’ palermo are planned for the east side zone including a new football stadium with new sports zones, a new railway station and logistic gateway, a new coastal touristic waterfront (etc.), and, above all, the planned destination for the new park of oreto river with the exception of the river inlet area (gulı̀, 1980). unfortunately, all these initiatives were not successful. one reason for these failures was probably some planning errors in implementing the public destinations, services and infrastructures. but another cause, starting at the end of 60’s until 90’s, was the strong presence of the organized criminality well known as ‘mafia’ that here have the power control of all legal work activities and of criminal drug markets at the maximum level (deliziosi, 2013; lupo, 1993; renda, 1997; marino, 1998). the development of the tied up criminal activities to the social and economic activities related to the drug processing has determined particularly a further accentuation of the phenomena of economic and the social marginalization of the zones of the brancaccio and settecannoli urban neighborhoods. these two neighborhoods derive from the historical villages of the end of the xix century and represent today part of the second town area where over seventy thousand inhabitants live (d’anneo, 2014). the urban planning vision of edoardo caracciolo was centered on the realization of the high mobility with large green insertions: monte pellegrino and the park of favorita, the ‘ring’ starting from the actual prison ‘ucciardone’ (next museum or another kind of cultural ‘farm’) crossing several historic urban gardens (giardino inglese, giardino garibaldi, villa trabia, piazza lolli, villa malfitano e villino florio, piazza principe di camporeale, villa gulı̀ alla noce, zisa, historic cemetery of ‘beati paoli’, the ‘vignicella’, historic psychiatric hospital) and finally connecting this green system with the oreto river park. but in italy and, in particular, in sicily, until the 50’s, the culture of eco-sustainability and, above all, the safeguard of the historic gardens/landscapes and of their role in forming the urban morphology was only at the beginning. the specific area of maredolce landscape in the vision of the first masterplan was safeguarded against concreting pg. 84 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd over only for a single little area (the castle with a little free space as ‘urban park’) while the rest of the old garden of maredolce was separated in destination as touristic (related to the castle of maredolce) and another part (near the mount grifone with the church of saint ciro, the arcs and the caverns of neolithic era) to the rural destination. the masterplan determines the ultimate separation of the castle and the artificial lake with the central little isle from the mountain system of historic resources. with the construction of the highway (‘circumvallation’ or ‘viale della regione siciliana’) the landscape of maredolce was corrupt because the separation of the castle/palace from the mountain and its water sources. the culture of the project in sicily during the 50’s was strongly limited at the city growth issues and consequent targets of economic and financial development. there wasn’t a sustainable approach to the urban & landscape design/planning. that was the problem that is the same until now in terms of concrete implementation in the programming policies of all the municipal institutions. then the victim of this cultural landscape ignorance was not only the city-area but the whole of the ‘conca d’oro’ (barbera, 2012). the golden basin, or in italian ‘conca d’oro’, is a term that is referred to the most important historic period of norman domination when the actual historic center of palermo was only partially built, and the rest were gardens and/or natural zones. the second district is made up of several neighborhoods including ‘brancaccio’ that is called like so because of the name of monreale’s governor: don antonio brancaccio, coming from a family with origins in naples who wanted the church of saint anna in the 1747 (now named as saint gaetano from thiene). but nobody knows this history and very few people know and frequently use the castle/palace of maredolce that is certainly the principal cultural resource of brancaccio with the bridge ‘ponte dell’ammiraglio’. people in italy know very well the brancaccio’s name as the mafia’s neighborhood because that’s where the priest ‘padre pino puglisi’ (also called ‘3p’) was killed in the september the 15th 1993: the day of his 56th birthday (deliziosi, 2013). puglisi was beatified by the roman catholic church in the 2013 and venerated. a new church will be built in a free area very close to the castle/palace of maredolce and, probably, this new building will change the landscape of this part of the city. today, in the second district (that has no name), are living citizens who belong to different social classes and each ghetto area is different compared to all the other peripheral areas (i.e. zen 2, marinella, borgo nuovo, bonagia, etc.). very poor and middle-class people are living together with several problems in terms of social security but not in the sense of social inclusion (next, 2008). social studies have not been updated after the global financial crisis of 2008. the economic situation of brancaccio’s citizens is surely augmented, but we need new social data and elaborated societal scenarios for a good representation of the social and cultural situation. now the landscape of brancaccio (mainly urban neighborhood) and ciaculli (mainly rural neighborhood) is characterized by the completion missed of the freeway overpass (roccella) and the new realization of the biggest mall in palermo in the same area (forum center info: http://multi.eu/portfolio/forum-palermo-palermo-italy/ ) occupying 49,000m2, having six cinema theatre (multisala) and attracting about 8 million of people per year. many people are aware of the forum center and only a few people know about maredolce. this poses a problem when it comes to its restoration and regeneration as the bases of its chances are promoting an equilibrate and harmonious program of new sustainable/balanced use of a very particular cultural landscape in the mediterranean basin similar to the whl unesco context in the world. 3.3. trip of social regeneration considering the societal mix of the people living in the second district, it’s not difficult to highlight the sequence of participating experiences that animated this urban-rural context despite the presence of local criminality and the low level of urban centrality. the mobilization of citizens started at the beginning of the 70’s in the restoration of the bridge ‘ponte dell’ammiraglio’ when a free association of the brancaccio neighborhood proposed to the major and the regional government that they’d like to rebuild the monument. they fought against the indifference of the decision makers and the same tendencies of the local people to damage the cultural resources that are not employed to gain social advantages. the same kind of social mobilization was for the restoration (and discovery) of maredolce supporting the safeguard activity of the cultural heritage regional authority (quartarone, 2016). pg. 85 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd this regional institution was involved in the process of recovery and restoration not only for architectonic resources (abbadessa & piazza, 2015) but also because its institutional competence, especially regarding the expropriation of the castle (savarese, 1984, 2016) and of the original lake’s entire area to the mount grifone. from the 80’s to the 2010, the regional authority, with the strong support of some schools (teacher, students and families of the neighborhood) and several local spontaneous cultural associations, together started the regeneration process for maredolce and its image for the (new positive) identity of the neighborhood. for seven years, the situation was dangerous for the destination of the castle and the park of maredolce because one of the most important criminals, totuccio contorno, did choose this monument to be his own house. the first public intervention to defend the rural landscape that survived cementation was the project “life” centered around the opening of a new rural park in the area of ciaculli croceverde giardina to promote the agriculture of a citrus farm (life, 1997). the municipality closed the new masterplan process between 1994-2004. this new masterplan inspired by the advice of pierluigi cervellati was based on the conservative approach and had two main visions: a) palermo must be a city of several cities (where maredolce will be the center of a new district with the same name) and b) the importance of the water and water sources for the design of the city in the future. with the masterplan of cervellati, the entire land of palermo can be used (not consumed) for the first time by a tool shared like a social contract oriented to the integral conservation of the environmental and cultural landscape. the public interest with the social security in brancaccio pushed the national government to finance a survey (next, 2008) to highlight the nodes to solve the social and economic development dilemma of the neighborhood; this is the starting point of every kind of cultural heritage policy. in 2010, the slow and gradual process of partial opening of the palace and park in maredolce are consolidated with the manifestation of italy’s environment fund (fondo ambiente italiano) that, in two days of extraordinary opening to the public, reported more than twenty thousand visitors. between 2010 and 2012, the university of palermo, thanks to a project of the initiative of the european commission and by establishing an international partnership led by the tuscany region, experienced innovative participatory practices using ict equipment that involved the whole of the second municipal district. the intention of the participants in the project of community initiative parterre was to start a gradual process of awareness of problems and resources of the district’s territory to build a shared agenda of practical projects and real actions to implement with the aim to ensure the desirable future by citizenship. the parterre project allowed for the organization of the first town meeting, which was an electronic town meeting (etm) that took place in february 2012. it was necessary that the etm be prepared with traditional methods of participatory planning (focus groups, neighborhood walks and planning for real) lasted four months. (marsh et al., 2013) with the approach of territorial living lab (de bonis & trapani, 2017). in 2012, the municipality of palermo participated in the ministry’s infrastructure program for urban regeneration to propone the urban renewal which covers a range of projects throughout the second district and, for the area of maredolce, calls for collaboration with the cultural heritage authority. in this important phase, the institutional agencies involved found a financial agreement with the owners of the building who insist on the square in front of the building making it impossible for its overview. with this agreement for the expropriation of the buildings in front of the castle, it could have been a monumental new plaza in the center of a degraded neighborhood. other important interventions were the construction of the tram and especially the decision on an urban destination for the new church dedicated to ‘padre pino puglisi’ (priest of brancaccio, killed by mafia on 15 september 1993 and then beatified on 25 may 2013) in a place very close to maredolce and some public schools. a new project was prepared by the municipality to upgrade the railway bridge on via giafar of great importance to find spaces for tour buses connected to future visits to the park and to the church. unfortunately, the program was not funded by the state at that time. despite the lack of funding, the cultural heritage authority may promote the integrated project again with the changes that will be required by the state or by the european commission. pg. 86 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd in 2016, the benetton foundation researched and studied treviso with its international scientific committee and decided to honor the historical park of maredolce with the international carlo scarpa award. the benetton foundation recognized the distinctive characteristics of the historical landscape by safeguarding and entrusting this task to the cultural heritage authority of palermo and then the sicilian region (barbera et al., 2015). in the meantime, a number of other measures were also in place to animate people of brancaccio, particularly significant was the involvement of pupils from different schools of the neighborhood from the center of the sicilian region (metalli, 2015) pointing to the training given to awareness of archaeological resources and cultural heritage for residents. between 2012 and 2015, the municipality of palermo started changing the planning scheme with the guidelines of the masterplan (2013) that is a city council policy document drawn up on the basis of the technical analysis of the municipal office. the general view of the preliminary masterplan assigned to maredolce is monumentally based on the presence of the countryside. the land use destination by the masterplan is related to the citrus gardens of the ‘baglio conti federico’. while the definition of urban park, that still weighs heavily on geological constraint (flood risk), will be clarified in the final version of the plan. even so, given the presence of the circumvallation (viale della regione siciliana), you may notice the lack of landscape relationship at least between the park and the foothills system of mount grifone with the church and the arches of st. ciro. today, we know that the idea of getting the public property on the entire area is a very far or very difficult accomplishment. the debate regarding the restoration of the monuments and of the cultural landscape of maredolce point to the creation of a strategy for the protection and promotion shared with the owners that would remain for much longer and that may make profits or tax benefits. certain tools and strategies may be employed to decrease land use and apply the future plan to increase the volume of buildings. we could reach financial economics solutions for the quantization of non-exploitative projects and agree on settlements that serve public interests in terms of developing an urban landscape project in the most degraded part of the city creating a sort of protected paradise for local people. once there is full accessibility to the area with minimal renovation requirements, it will be possible to propose that the park be included in the unesco world heritage list. based on the studies and research, the evidence is still missing unitary project of restoration of the palace in relationship with the entire monumental system of the park maredolce, monte grifone and the ancient thermal baths. in debates organized and promoted by the cultural heritage authority of palermo, the urban definition that protects the park of maredolce from improper to public park without there being a landscape project qualified as a guide of the private interventions was unclear. without the necessary safeguards, it may be possible for private owners to create an artificial lake as a thematic water park or amusement park and make it suitable even for bathing or for the arrangement of spaces for entertainment or entrusting experts in wedding planning. without a shared vision of sustainable landscape use for the monumental system of the park of maredolce, the risk of loss of cultural value of the area could remain very high. 4. discussion this contribution has investigated a place, its history, and the main aspects of its physical and spatial changes. we haven’t focused on other important aspects; however, we are well aware of all the studies concerning the agricultural specialties to which we refer. we cited other studies and other subsidies that have investigated many other kinds of human actions (archival history, history and criticism of urban planning, restoration, etc.) that this synthetic contribution refers to. we should resume the methodological premises relating to not what has been done but, rather, what must be done. we referred only to the first principle of the theory of regeneration inserted at the beginning of this contribution: the interventions on the cultural heritage are only possible when the actors of change have full knowledge and awareness of all the elements that compose the unitary system of the interventions. that action is needed to avoid the loss, not only of the historic memory, but also of the possible bases for reestablishing new identity processes. pg. 87 trapani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the cultural resources could become new urban community roots and replace the current consociation phenomena that make people atomized, in conflict, and increasingly isolated. in ancient times, it was a human characteristic to pass down your culture and traditions. it is noticeable that this is represented in key figures who were photographed wearing the clothes of ancient roman noblemen. so, we tend to refer to previous eras when it comes to our latest knowledge of the conca d’oro imagining that there always were lemons and tangerines and scents of orange blossoms. but, as we have seen, it didn’t happen: the history can be used, or consumed, as crutch to design the future urban cultural landscape without free contemporary solutions. the project of integrated regeneration of a given urban landscape covered or deprived of monuments will have to be contemporary because it will always be part of the inhabitants and users over time. every new cultural intervention must become ’tradition’. tradition and belonging to the living environment become, in turn, the basis of the cultural identity of the community, providing its members with cohesion and a sense of continuity with the past. these are important existential references, the intensity of which may persist over time even if changes in the social structure occur or new value systems are established through which to give meaning to reality. references 1. abbadessa, a. & piazza, e. 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(1986). la fontanagrafia oretea (le acque di palermo). edizioni giada. pg. 93 introduction methodology on the landscape concept maredolce: a case study of urban-rural landscape regeneration maredolce and the city of palermo the urban-rural landscape context of the ancient garden of maredolce maredolce in the prehistory maredolce during normans the rural transformation the comeback of agriculture in the 1700s crops and the changing landscape the making of the landscape the period of sugar maredolce today. resources and other urban problems the actual components of the landscape the most important phases of actual transformations from the country to rural-urban areas trip of social regeneration discussion http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i2.169 vision and methodology to support sustainable architecture through building technology in the digital era merhan mohammed m. shahda1 1lecturer in the architecture and urban design, department faculty of engineering, port said university abstract the last decades have witnessed countless, progressive, and rapid advances in the field of building technology, which has a strong impact on the construction industry. consequently, employing these techniques to support sustainable architecture has become a pivotal issue. since architecture is a product of the available technology era, building technology could be a contributing factor to reinforce sustainable architecture, where it could promote raising the efficiency of the environmental performance of the architectural product. this paper introduces a methodological framework to support sustainable architecture through building technology in the digital era through an analytical study of the interactions between building technology and sustainable architecture. in addition, this paper analyzes the influence of the technological revolution in the digital era on the axes of building technology (implementation methods, construction systems, construction materials) from the sustainability perspective so as to conserve natural resources for future generations. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords building technology; sustainable architecture; digital era 1. introduction sustainability is not only an optimal option for our future, but it is also perceived as an essential alternative, therefore, architects need to adopt eco-friendly practices and materials that reduce the impact of the building industry on the environment. alternative ways to construct buildings are required using green, renewable energy resources as well as technology that entails recycling and reuse. the architectural product is a product of the available technology. building technology plays a significant role in supporting sustainable architecture, wherein it can contribute to enhancing the efficiency of the environmental performance of the architectural product. supporting building technology for sustainable architecture has become imperative to preserve the rights of future generations and to conserve natural resources for them as well. attempts are being made to use building technology to achieve sustainability, but the problem remains in the lack of understanding of how to approach modern techniques in the field of building technology and the solutions that can be offered to achieve sustainable technological architecture. hence, sustainability and building technology must be used as the basic and important alternatives in architectural design, not as architectural fashion. thus, the research problem relates to the use of modern building technology in the digital era and the evolution and development in a wide vision in proportion to the environmental conditions pg. 54 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i2.169&domain=press.ierek.com shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd to achieve sustainability in its comprehensive concept. in this context, this paper presents the following questions and tries to answer them: how can building technology support sustainable architecture? which axis of building technology can support sustainability to a greater extent? accordingly, this paper assumes that the success of sustainable architecture lies in achieving the integration between the sustainability objectives and the available technologies in this era. in addition, it aims to understand the interrelationships between building technology and sustainable architecture. moreover, it also aims to create a methodological vision to use modern building technology in the era of the digital revolution within the framework of sustainability considerations. thus, reaching the foundations of a sustainable architectural product that depends on modern building technology techniques and innovating an architectural product that is compatible with the environment to achieve sustainable architecture. 2. research methodology this paper deals with an analytical study of the interactions of building technology and sustainable architecture and analyzes the impact of building technology on supporting sustainable architecture. furthermore, the research presents an analysis of three contemporary projects of the digital revolution era for each axis within building technology and evaluates the success of each axis in achieving sustainability assessment elements. finally, the evaluation results are used as a guide in selecting appropriate technologies for each standard of the criteria for supporting sustainability which is proposed by the research. accordingly, these reviews are used to propose a methodological framework that supports environmental sustainability through building technology in the digital era. 3. basic concepts: sustainable architecture, building technology in the digital era technology: ”science of craft” is the collection of techniques, skills, methods and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives. technology is a way to solve problems and a way of thinking; it is a mean not a result. technology is the best procedure to employ resources which are used to achieve human well-being (welfare). building technology: building or construction technology are the tools and techniques, using precise and advanced sciences in the field of building and construction, for the creation of buildings or places for people to escape the natural elements. moreover, it refers to how to convert buildings into an industrial process including mechanization, administration, employment, production rates and building materials. the field of building technology is divided into three axes which are construction materials, construction systems and implementation methods. architectural technology: is architecture that applies available modern technologies in the preparation of designs and models or in the ways and methods of implementation and construction. another definition is “the ability to analyze, synthesize and evaluate building design factors in order to produce efficient and effective technical design solutions which satisfy performance, production and procurement criteria” (architectural technology bsc (hons), 2012). an example for architectural technology in the digital era is the walt disney concert hall by architect frank gerry who used modern techniques of digital design and operations executively in designing the building and the external coatings, which were designed and implemented using a software that was specially prepared and developed by frank gerry’s technology institution, figure 1. sustainable architecture seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by improving efficiency and being moderate in the use of materials, energy, and development space. sustainable architecture uses a conscious approach to energy and ecological conservation in the design of the built environment (sustainable pg. 55 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 1. the walt disney concert hall in l.a. architecture and simulation modelling). the idea of sustainability, or ecological design, is to ensure that our actions and decisions today do not inhibit the opportunities of future generations (doerr architecture, definition of sustainability and the impacts of buildings). consequently, sustainable architecture includes the following principles: – reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources. – beautify the natural environment. – remove or reduce the use of toxic materials. sustainable buildings can be defined as those buildings that have minimal adverse impacts on the built and natural environment in terms of the buildings themselves, their immediate surroundings and the broader regional and global settings (liliana beltrán, ph. d lecture 1., environmental systems). subsequently, the five objectives for sustainable buildings can be defined as: resource efficiency. – energy efficiency (including greenhouse gas emissions reduction). – pollution prevention (including indoor air quality and noise abatement). – harmonization with the environment (including environmental assessment). – integrated and systematic approaches (including environmental management system). there are other issues which should be considered in order to address sustainable construction. this includes energy efficiency during the construction and post-construction period of a facility. in addition, minimization of greenhouse gas emissions. also, design and construction of the facility are done in such a way that encourages green transport and water conservation. moreover, waste minimization and management during the construction and at the time of demolition in addition to the consideration given to the wildlife and local nuisance during the design and construction phases. hence, these are six basic issues that affect sustainable architecture and sustainable building, figure 2. many global institutions that are specialized in the field of environmental sustainability have established standards and ways for assessing and classifying the buildings around the world. subsequently, the research deals with the leed “leadership in energy and environmental design “standard, since it is the most crucial and prominent pg. 56 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 2. outlinessix issues for the sustainable architecture andsustainable building. figure 3. leedcategories as % of total points (69). of these standards. thus, the certificate of (leed) is presented to the outstanding projects, (leed) includes 69 points divided as follows, see figure 3. as shown in figure 4, in the search for criteria to evaluate the support of building technology for sustainable architecture, the most important elements can be a guide to creating a research checklist. through all of the above, the checklist is divided into eight elements for evaluation, see table 1. use of renewable energies. use of available resources. comfortable indoor environment. reduce energy and resource consumption. harmony with the environment. reduce costs. pg. 57 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 4. guide elements for the search about checklist. innovative design. beautiful design. table 1. proposal checklist to evaluation checklist to evaluate the support of building technology for sustainable architecture project: sustainability found efficiently found 2 point 1 point use of renewable energies use of available resources comfortable indoor environment reduce energy and resource consumption harmony with environment reduce costs innovative design beautiful design final score: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. building technology for supporting ssustainability in the digital era the digital revolution has produced many new terms each of which reflects a new aspect of change that has become abundantly clear in our contemporary lives. these terms include artificial intelligence (ai), digital forms, virtual reality (vr), and cyberspace. figure 5 illustrates the impact of the digital revolution on architecture. eco-tech is a term that summarizes the relationship between building technology and sustainability. eco-tech: is the term given to architecture in the fields of environment and new technologies in architecture. it is nowadays one of the leading fields of architecture in the modern era. the concerns of this field pour into the area of sustainable architecture and high technology. the pioneers of the field are renzo piano, richard rogers, and norman foster. this term symbolizes a shortcut to the two words: pg. 58 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 5. theimpact of digital revolution on architecture. eco=ecology: means the science dealing with the relationships of organisms with their environment and with each other. tech=technology: means technology, the best use of the knowledge, resources and adapted to achieve human well-being. the impact of the technological revolution in the digital era (structural side): the influence of the digital revolution has extended to the structural component of architecture in the field of building technology. the fact is that it is noticeably represented in the accelerated development for each of the methods and equipment of implementation or through building materials where computer and technical revolution techniques have been capable of shortening the time required for the implementation of any building in addition to the assistance in the manufacturing process and the implementation of any project. regardless of how difficult in their composition or their spatial dimension, the following is a presentation of the effects of the technological revolution in the digital era on building technology axes from the sustainability perspective. 4.1. building materials in supporting sustainability in the digital era the digital revolution has generated a boom in building materials. it has produced many modern and developed building materials, whether basic building materials or complementary building materials. in the digital revolution, the computer plays a major role whether it is a direct role through different softwares or indirectly through manufacturing and testing processes. as shown in figure 6, the methodology of the digital revolution impacts building materials. figure 6. the impact of digitalrevolution on architecture. consequently, the development of building materials is regarded as one of the most important axes that should be taken into consideration when considering supporting sustainability. this is because the material used in the construction plays a significant role in determining the type of the required technology for manufacturing and subsequently, the quality and the amount of energy expendable whether in the stage of construction, operation or occupancy. the following are examples of building material of the technical revolution era in the twenty-first century and the extent of its support for the sustainability principles. pg. 59 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 4.1.1. example 1 for (building materials): guggenheim museum, prefabricated facade systems basic information: the guggenheim museum bilbao designed by architect frank gehry is located in bilbao, spain. guggenheim museum is considered as one of the most impressive works of contemporary architecture because it represents ”one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something.” (tyrnauer, 2010). in the 2010 world architecture survey that was conducted among architecture experts estimated that the museum was nominated as the most important piece of architecture in the period from 1980 until 2010. project description: frank gehry used three different elements to form the building façade of the museum. the interconnecting shapes of stone, glass, and titanium unfold on a 32,500-square-meter site along the nervión river (muschamp1997), the greatest number of difficulties arose when intersections formed by two or three different materials meeting in peculiar points, see figure 7. therefore, the exterior cladding of the building that assigns its signature shape was very difficult to design and construct. frank gehry said in an interview in harvard design magazine that the building was constructed on time and budget, which is rare for the architecture of this type. subsequently, he elaborated on how he executed it. he added that he used computer visualizations produced by his own digital project software (ragheb, 2001), (guggenheim museum bilbao). supporting sustainability principles through building materials in the digital era the exterior of the building has a very unusual shape, from plates and irregular forms, which was designed and constructed by prefabricated techniques by the digital revolution. the fact that provided a chance to cut the huge number of pieces of small metal, that are characterized by different forms and dimensions. the computer was programmed to cut all of these needed forms into parts very quickly and free from the constraints of the principle of standardization. both catia and bocad (a steel detailing program) were used in the creation of the building. catia significantly upgraded the level of complex forms that could be realized by frank gehry. this allowed more freedom in his designs and “simplified construction by providing digital data that could be employed in the manufacturing process, thus controlling costs” (“frank gehry, architect, 2001; ragheb, 2001; “digital gehry material resistance digital construction, 2001). 4.1.2. example 2 (building materials): cellophane house, smart wrap, facade pane basic information: smart wrap appeared at the cooper hewitt fair in 2003. smart wrap is a thin plastic film designed to cover a building as a multi-tasking and intelligent wall. the basic concept for smart wrap was refined and advanced through the design of cellophane house, in 2008, see figure 8 the outer walls of cellophane house are formed out of seventy-four smart wrap panels, each containing photovoltaic film adhered to pet and layers of ultraviolet blocking film (kieran, 2011). project description: the smart wrap wall assembly consists of four functioning layers fixed on an aluminum frame. each wall panel included an outer transparent pet weather barrier, an inner pet layer with thin-film photovoltaic cells, an inner layer of solar heat and uv blocking film, and an interior layer of pet. the sensors on the west facade of the house collected thermal data. a vented cavity between the pet layers was used to hold heat in the winter and vent it in the summer, reducing the amount of energy required to heat and cool the house. supporting sustainability principles through building materials in the digital era casing material intelligent (smartwrap) is a very thin material in fish-based polymer. this film has the ability to change color and appearance. in addition to energy conservation, it also improves the indoor climate, lighting, and electricity. based formulations of this smart cover do not require traditional windows to allow light to enter. this is due to the ability to form windows and places that could be easily modified by controlling the degree of transparency of the atmosphere (robert, 2007). pg. 60 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 7. guggenheim museum source (bilbao, guggenheim museum bilbao) smartwrap has revolutionized the building industry because this material includes all the regular wall functionality such as insulation, protection, electricity, and windows. however, it is compressed into a material that is only a few millimetres thick. moreover, the features of intelligent cover smartwrap include: the ability to change the color and appearance. lightweight. internal climate control and lighting. execution speed and high quality. can be transported and installed very quickly. provides insulation, passive ventilation, uv protection, and renewable energy. easily disassembled and fed into a recycling stream. 4.1.3. example 3(building materials): jubilee church, nanotechnology basic information: the jubilee church was designed by architect richard meier, figure 9. jubilee church is a landmark when it comes to the use of nanotechnology in building materials. jubilee church was constructed in 2003 and its white concrete shows no signs of darkening even years later. its white color is still as bright as the day it was constructed (halford, 2011). project description: jubilee church walls contain titanium dioxide particles to keep the appearance of the church white. under the influence of (uv)-light and water (humidity), nanoscale titanium dioxide quickens chemical reactions, this is process that breaks down and decomposes organic material. this process, known as photocatalysis, is applied to the construction industry and architecture to create “self-cleaning” building materials and to break down air pollutants (nanotechnology in construction, 2012). supporting sustainability principles through building materials in the digital era nanotechnology increases the building performance, energy efficiency, environmental sensing, and sustainability, pg. 61 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 8. cellophane house, smart wrap, facade pane source (kieran, 2011). uv protection, corrosion resistance and waterproofing. nanotechnology removes and renders benign pollutants from a building’s surrounding atmosphere (intersecting of nanotechnology materials for green buildings). it is predicted that nanotechnology offers many environmental performance benefits including improvements in solar insulation and coatings, advances in water, air infiltration and solar technology. 4.2. construction systems in supporting sustainability the technological revolution has brought a boom in construction methods. the fact that facilitates the possibility of creating any blocks, no matter how seemingly impossible the implementation and design of the façades with their vertical and horizontal sections may be. it was impossible to imagine the complex designs through a simulation software and three-dimensional modelling. additionally, it now calculates the expected loads, external influences such as wind, earthquakes, and hurricanes according to the nature of the environment in which the building would be built. accordingly, all the above support sustainability principles in terms of saving time and energy. the following figure shows the impact of the technological revolution system on construction systems from the sustainability perspective, figure 10. pg. 62 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 9. thejubilee church built with photo-catalytically active, “self-cleaning” figure 10. direct impact ofdigital revolution on structural systems 4.2.1. example 1 (construction systems): water cube national swimming centre basic information: the beijing national aquatics center, also officially known as the national aquatics center and colloquially known as the water cube, is an aquatic center that was built alongside beijing national stadium in the olympic green for the swimming competitions of the 2008 summer olympics, see figure11. despite its nickname, the building is not an actual cube, but a cuboid (beijing cubism, etfe revolutionized the bubble). project description: the idea of the project is based on soap bubbles. the architects emulated the random appearance of clinging soap bubbles with each other by making organized models taking the form of cells with 12 through 14 facets. the project consists of 100,000 m of etfe bubbles. the fluoropolymer is a plastic material which has several advantages: it weighs one-tenth of glass. it is more flexible and transparent. it allows passing a larger amount of light. it is an excellent insulator, so it saves more than 50% of lighting costs. supporting sustainability principles: simulating the form and clinging bubbles with each other enriched the architectural form of the building which bestowed aesthetic values. the up-to-date technology and computer technology, which was used in manufacturing and cutting etfe did not waste time, manufacture costs, or materials. they could cut 3500 pads to fit their place well, and they had to make just one pad. simulation bubbles’ transparent appearance with the use of the transparent etfe with its advantages saved the pg. 63 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd costs of lightning and helped with the rationalization of energy. figure 11. watercube national swimming centre structure system, interior. 4.2.2. example 2 (construction systems): bird’s nest stadium in china basic information: the swiss office ”her zog et de mevron” developed the bird’s nest stadium together with the chinese government in 2008 in beijing china. project description: the stadium was given this name because the iron bars are similar to a bird’s nest. it was designed by simulating birds’ shelters which consist of organic material such as branches and grass. the structure of the bird’s nest is innovated on the grounds of structural systems and the way of how to distribute loads. designers of the bird’s nest used dp. digital project (dp) is a 3d building information modelling (bim) system which uses catia as a core engine and also used the simulation technique (cfd) so as to simulate temperatures, wind power, and humidity inside the structure of birds’ nests in addition to giving the audience the opportunity to enjoy light, see figure 12. supporting sustainability principles: the use of simulation in designing the bird’s nest is to develop a strong structural system. unique architectural formation has aesthetic values. moreover, the simulating natural ventilation and the lighting systems help to rationalize energy. this, in turn, helps in reducing operating costs. it also reduces pollution emitted from the building as a result of the rationalization of energy consumption. 4.2.3. example 3 (construction systems): swiss re headquarters basic information: swiss re headquarters, designed by foster and partners, is remarkably similar in its structure to the skeleton of a sea creature known as a ”glass sponge.” london, 1997 2004. project description: using a series of geometric shapes on the exterior similar to those of a glass sponge makes the structure stiff enough to resist structural loads without extra reinforcements. in the same way that the glass sponge takes in nutrients from the water by sucking water from its base and expelling it through the holes its top, the building ventilates air in a similar fashion, see figure 13. supporting sustainability principles: pg. 64 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 12. bird’snest stadium n china, exterior. figure 13. (swiss re headquarters) under construction pg. 65 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the tower’s window opens for natural ventilation and is backed by spiraling light wells; these features were designed to cut energy consumption by half thus, reducing the impact of industrial air conditioners on the environment. the new structure, which is inspired by the glass sponge, gave the durability and flexibility of the structure and the beauty of the design (a gherkin to suit all tastes, magazine features). 4.3. implementation methods for supporting sustainability building technology has conceded at a myriad phase throughout the ages. consequently, building production technology can be divided into three phases. firstly, the period of dependence on the muscle strength of man. secondly, the period of using machines as helping tools. and finally, the period of full replacement of machines instead of human forces. accordingly, with the advent of the digital revolution, the techniques used in the implementation process have evolved. for instance, manufacturing processes, supervision, follow-up implementation and the use of automated construction equipment that are remotely controlled. this equipment are remote-controlled both in the drilling equipment, lifting, or even to transfer and install where the equipment is supplied by softwares including site data, speed, weights and wind each implementation. moreover, remote-control of location variables and ensuring that no obstacles or collision occurs and avoiding all risks. as a result, all the above support sustainability principles from being cost-effective to educing time-consumption as well as increasing the quality of the architectural product. on the other hand, fourth dimension 4d applications also appeared and are considered as a creative, strong surge in implementation. it means adding the fourth dimension (time element), which helps to analyze the implementation timeline that leads to avoiding difficulties or problems that may arise during the implementation process, figure 14. figure 14. implementationmethods in supporting sustainability. sourcebythe researcher. 4d technology: 4d simulation software is capable of generating visualizations which illustrate construction processes along the timeline. in order to create a 4d simulation, a three-dimensional bim model is required, followed by the time-consuming task to link 3d objects of a building to the tasks in a time schedule, which helps to reduce errors. 4d simulation can improve communication among project members and help to avoid planning failures. the 4d simulation system consists of four distinct parts: (1) 3d model of a building, (2) time schedule, (3) 4d simulation, (4) productivity modification. (building information modeling bim, 2016; interactive 4d-cad; kathleen, 2012; enhancement of availability of 4d simulation based on building information model technology). automation of construction equipment is characterized by artificial intelligence where it can implement very complex buildings, interact, and carry out instructions from a distance and install building components precisely and quickly. furthermore, the automation of production blocks, standards, and the prefabrication of various building components may lead to converting the design of buildings into a process of selecting parts. these techniques have also led to reducing the cost, the time of execution of major projects, and energy efficiency. figure 15 shows the multi-functional building unit used to raise and enter the components of prefabricated houses into a supporting structure. however, these standard components have a multi-variable distribution to allow for maximum individual expression in interior design and decoration. pg. 66 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 4.3.1. example 1(implementation methods): phoenix international media center basic information: phoenix international media center is in beijing and designed by the beijing institute for architecture design (biad) with shao weiping. phoenix international media center is a steel torus of a structure enclosed with 3,800 glass panels, each differently sized and detailed see, figure 16. this project puts 3d digital design into practice (giovannini, 2014). figure 15. multi-function unit. source (fresco, 2007) figure 16. phoenix internationalmedia center. source (”phoenix international media center”, 2011) project description: the phoenix international media center is the first locally design-built parametric project by chinese architects and engineers. the building area is 65,000 square meters and the building has a height of 55 meters. the techniques that are used in the project are an integration of bim and parametric design processes in the workflow. moreover, the techniques used for fixing the axes and a series of loops, in the plan, from which they generated the geometry for the surface of the torus. the complexity of the building’s latticed façade with its differently stretched web of steel implies the complexities of parametric modeling, wherefore, the project represents an pg. 67 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd up-to-date approach to design and building. shao says that the latest 3d modeling software enables the architects to conceive and execute the project, which requires a high degree of precision (weiping, 2012; zewo, 2012). other features of the design are the steel ribs which channel water into a collection tank that will then be filtered and distributed into the surrounding water features and landscapes. additionally, the double skin facade will reduce energy consumption and maintain comfortable temperatures within the building in the winter and summer. supporting sustainability principles: – in spite of the complexity of the building’s latticed façade and the complexities of parametric modeling, – the project was implemented without wasting time or costs due to the integration of bim and parametric design processes. 4.3.2. example 2 (implementation methods): the yas viceroy abu dhabi hotel basic information: the yas viceroy abu dhabi hotel is known as one of the icons of abu dhabi, uae. it was designed by hani rashid and lise anne couture. the project was initiated as one of the most rapid projects in performance and incompatibility with the schedule as much as possible -440 days from concept design to the opening day of the grand prix. no schedule delays were possible (the big picture: the yas hotel, 2009; the yas hotel / asymptote, 2009). project description: the hotel consists of two twelve store hotel towers, one placed in the marina and another set within the race circuit. they are linked together by a monocoque steel and glass bridge and grid shell structure that both crosses above and over the yas marina circuit f1 race track. many of the automation and optimization processes were developed by gehry technologies (gt) for detailed design of the gridshell, allowing for a constantly updateable process where changes in design were rapidly populated to full construction details. gt staff was able to rapidly populate the digital model with all of the temporary structures that would be required throughout the construction phase. moreover, spatial issues and safety concerns for workers in the areas were analyzed in the model which were most congested with temporary structures, figure 17. otherwise, by working closely with the contractors and workers, steel fabricators and installers, each of the 172 “ladders” that executed the grid shell, were incorporated into the building information model and embedded with the necessary data to allow the instantaneous extraction of important information including construction sequences, welding sequences, coordinates of attachment points, and lighting installation data and glass panel (gehry technologies yas viceroy abu dhabi hotel). supporting sustainability principles: – the designers and implementers succeeded in achieving their goal of opening the building by the specified time of the race within 440 days from idea to implementation by using bim techniques. – avoid any difficulties during implementation such as increased equipment and temporary installations by incorporating the digital model into the implementation schedule. 4.3.3. example 3 (implementation methods): galaxy soho basic information: galaxy soho, beijing is a 330 000m2 office, retail, and entertainment complex, designed by zaha hadid. the 330,000 sqm mixed-use develop covers 18 floors, three of which are underground and the offices occupying levels four to fifteen. project description: the project is composed of five independent concrete volumes wrapped in insulated aluminum panels and linked by a series of stretched bridges. these volumes are adapted to each other in all directions, generating a panoramic architecture without corners or abrupt transitions (galaxy-soho). non-traditional facades and the use of glass, steel, and composites in new structural ways requires unique techniques and special pg. 68 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd methodologies, see figure 18. this has been achieved using many techniques that were used in the galaxy soho project including (dp, bim). digital project is a 3d building information modelling (bim) system developed by gehry technologies, which uses catia as the primary engine. zaha hadid said about using bim system “we explore a range of solutions from the primary gesture through the use of digital tools within the overall creative process. on projects of this scale and complexity, accuracy is as crucial as flexibility and speed, as the 3d data is a critical component of project execution.” (zaha hadid architects develops visionary buildings with software from dassault systèmes partner gehry technologies, 2009). figure 17. the yas viceroy abu dhabi hotel. figure 18. galaxy soho. zaha hadid: soho galaxy in process, design boom supportin g sustainability principles: – accuracy, speed of implementation and no matter how complex configuration is being realized through the availability of the high fidelity digital 3d information that dp provides. 5. evaluate the support of building technology for sustainable architecture it has been analyzed how the success of building technology axes in the digital era in supporting sustainable architecture through some of the architectural projects that were designed based on the building technology in pg. 69 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the digital era. the first axis is building materials, the second axis is the construction systems, the third axis is the methods of implementation. the following is a compilation of data that have been extracted from the analysis of each project. in order to reach the best technologies that support sustainability, the best techniques that achieve rationalization in the consumption of energies and resources, and help to achieve aesthetic values. the best technologies that support innovation in design in addition to reducing costs, either construction or maintenance cost. as well as many important results as a guide to the efficient utilization of building technology axes, see table 2, figure 19. 6. conclusion the above analysis demonstrates the superiority of the building materials. in addition, it elaborates that most of the projects which have used these techniques were able to reap the highest points to support sustainability. most of the projects in this evaluation have shown significance in these two elements ”innovative design and beautiful design”. hence, projects that have employed the techniques of building technology in the digital era have an innovative design and high aesthetic values. the use of digital techniques in implementation methods has helped to a great extent to achieve the site safety precautions. the use of digital techniques in building materials has assisted in reducing energy and resource consumption. the use of digital technologies in building technology axes (building materials, construction systems) has facilitated achieving a comfortable internal environment, and the implementation methods have not affected attaining a pg. 70 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd comfortable environment for users. the use of digital techniques in implementation methods has helped to decrease the implementation costs and the use of building materials influenced by the digital revolution which has led to reducing the operating costs. the results show that the first axis of building technology gets the highest points in support of sustainability with a simple difference with the other axes. the fact which confirms that the conscious use of modern techniques can aid to support sustainability figure 19. the result of the evaluation.source:researcher references 1. ragheb, j. f., gehry, f. o., cohen, j., & friedman, m. s. (2001). frank gehry, architect. new york: guggenheim museum publications. 2. lindsey, b., & saggio, a. (2001). digital gehry: material resistance/digital construction. basel: birkhäuser. 3. kieran, s., & timberlake, j. (2011). cellophane house: kierantimberlake. philadelphia: kierantimberlake. 4. kronenburg, r. (2007). flexible: architecture that responds to change. london: laurence king. 5. halford, b. (2011). building small. chemical & engineering news archive, 89(24), 12-17. doi:10.1021/cenv089n024.p012 6. cathryn bang partners healthcare architecture planning interiors. (n.d.). integration of nanotechnology f materials for green building (i) impacting design and construction(rep.). new york, la, seoul. retrieved june, 2017, from http://www.cbparch.com/nanotech materials for green building cathryn bang partners.pdf 7. zewo, z. (2012). digital design and construction in phoenix international media center. journal of information technology in civilengineering and architecture, 4, 016. 8. © adrian greeman. (n.d.). the gherkin (swiss re headquarters) under construction.[photograph]. retrieved may, 2016. 9. mckinney, k., kim, j., fischer, m., & howard, c. (n.d.). interactive 4d-cad. retrieved may, 2017, from https://web.stanford.edu/group/4d/workspace/papers/asce-96.pdf. pg. 71 shahda / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 10. enhancement of availability of 4d simulation based on building information model technology. (n.d.). the 3rd international conference on construction engineering and management, the 6th international conference on construction project management(iccem/iccpm 2009)(pp. 579-5864). 11. fresco, j. (2007). designing the future. venus, fl.: the venus project. 12. zaha hadid architects. (2012). http://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/galaxy-soho/. retrieved from http ://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/galaxy-soho/ 13. weiping, s. h. a. o. (2012). towards a’digital’aesthetic of architecture phoenix international media center, beijing [j]. timearchitecture, 5, 019. 14. muschamp, h. (1997, september 28). the miracle in bilbao. the new york times, 54-59. retrieved september, from https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/28/magazine/l-the-miracle-in-bilbao-249564.html 15. pilloton, e. (2007, march 07). beijing’s olympic stadium by herzog and demeuron. retrieved from https://inhabitat.com/beijings-olympic-stadium-by-herzog-and-demeuron/ 16. spring, m., & m. (2008, april 25). 30 st mary axe: a gherkin to suit all tastes. retrieved from https://ww w.building.co.uk/30-st-mary-axe-a-gherkin-to-suit-all-tastes/3111783.article 17. archinet. (2008, august 29). beijing cubism: how etfe revolutionized the bubble. retrieved from https ://archinect.com/features/article/79033/beijing-cubism-how-etfe-revolutionized-the-bubble 18. dassault systems. (2009, november 17). zaha hadid architects develops visionary buildings with software from dassault systèmes partner gehry technologies. retrieved from https://www.3ds.com/press-relea ses/single/zaha-hadid-architects-develops-visionary-buildings-with-software-from-dassault-systemes-partne r-geh/ 19. tyrnauer, matt (june 30, 2010). ”architecture in the age of gehry”. vanity fair. retrieved july 22, 2010. 20. the yas hotel / asymptote architecture. (2010, december 10). archdaily. retrieved may, 2017, from http s://www.archdaily.com/43336/the-yas-hotel-asymptote 21. nanotechnology in construction. (2012, september 13). retrieved from https://www.nanowerk.com/spotlig ht/spotid=26700.php 22. giovannini, j. (2014, july 14). phoenix international media center, designed by biad. retrieved from htt ps://www.architectmagazine.com/design/buildings/phoenix-international-media-center-designed-by-biad o pg. 72 introduction research methodology basic concepts: sustainable architecture, building technology in the digital era building technology for supporting ssustainability in the digital era building materials in supporting sustainability in the digital era example 1 for (building materials): guggenheim museum, prefabricated facade systems example 2 (building materials): cellophane house, smart wrap, facade pane example 3(building materials): jubilee church, nanotechnology construction systems in supporting sustainability example 1 (construction systems): water cube national swimming centre example 2 (construction systems): bird's nest stadium in china example 3 (construction systems): swiss re headquarters implementation methods for supporting sustainability example 1(implementation methods): phoenix international media center example 2 (implementation methods): the yas viceroy abu dhabi hotel example 3 (implementation methods): galaxy soho evaluate the support of building technology for sustainable architecture conclusion http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v1i1.16 comparative study of solar radiation availability in dry climate urban environment forested areas in mendoza, argentina arboit, m.1, betman, e.2 1instituto de ciencias humanas, sociales y ambientales. (incihusa – conicet) 2instituto de ambiente, hábitat y energı́a. (inahe – conicet) av. adrián ruiz leal s/n parque general san martı́n. (5500) mendoza, argentina abstract the study proposes determining the potential of solar collection in urban environments, considering urban building different morphological variables corresponding to representative urban settings in the mendoza metropolitan area (amm), argentina. the methodology involves monitoring the global solar irradiance on the vertical plane in north facades, completely and partly sunny, affected by solid masking and masking woodland. results obtained so far indicate that solar masking is critical for vertical surfaces, with a reduction of the available solar energy between 2% and 66% in the winter season, depending on the type of trees and the building morphology. in the summer season, the measured solar masking values range from a maximum of 83% and a minimum of 10% influence of surface shaded by the neighboring buildings and trees. the results demonstrate the impact of the main variables that determine access to the sun in an urban environment (urban tree canopy, building morphology, building height, urban street width). the study will allow for future reform and progressive updating of urban and building codes to implement higher levels of energy efficiency and minimum environmental impact by urban buildings, considering the principal urban building variables. © 2018 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords sustainable urban development; urban morphology; solar potential; forested urban environments 1. introduction the study of morphological variables of urban buildings and urban tree canopy cover is essential for sustainable urban development in arid areas. access or masking of solar radiation in highly forested urban environments with dry climates and their interrelationships influence energy consumption and environmental conditions. the problems of the environment and energy have been debated intensely by scientific sectors, and much has been discussed about the relationship between energy consumption and urban morphology (givoni, 1998; breheny, 1996; oke, 1987; garcia, 1993). pg. 14 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v1i1.16&domain=press.ierek.com arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd on the level of urban configurations, urban green spaces provide great social and environmental benefits that benefit the quality of life in cities. the contribution of urban trees in improving the microclimate, air quality, and living in cities is well-documented (bernatzky, 1982; rowntree, 1986; mcpherson, simpson, & livingston 1989; mcpherson, 1992; mcpherson, simpson, xiao, & wu, 2011; simpson & mcpherson, 1998; scudo & ochoa de la torre, 2003; santamouris, synnefa, & karlessi, 2011; santamouris, papanikolaou, livada, koronakis, georgakis, argiriou, & assimakopoulos, 2001; mascaró, 1996). urban trees improve air temperature and humidity, evapotranspiration, absorption of pollutants, and wind speed (akbari & konopacki, 2005; block, livesley, & williams, 2012; simpson, 2002; tooke, coops, christen, gurtuna, & prévot, 2012; tooke, coops, goodwin, & voogt, 2009; tooke, coops, & meitner, 2011; armson, stringer, & ennos, 2012; hamada & ohta, 2010; loughner, 2012; morakinyo, balogun, & adegun, 2013; shashua-bar & hoffman, 2000; shashua-bar, pearlmutter, & erell, 2009). some authors have evaluated the reduction of solar radiation on horizontal surfaces (gómez-muñoz, porta-gándara & fernández, 2010; heisler, 1986) and on the surrounding surfaces that radiate heat (parker, 1983; papadakis, tsamis & kyritsis, 2001). to date, some studies have focused on the ceiling masking woodland, (tooke et al., 2009, 2011, 2012; wang, chang, merrick, & amati, 2016) but the shading trees’ effect on the walls and windows has been unevaluated. the present work-studies available regarding solar radiation on the north facades of highly forested urban environments typical of the mendoza metropolitan area (amm), argentina. this is part of the environmental and energysustainable development issues regarding the construction industry in cities of the arid sub-andean mesothermal region of the west-central argentina. its population is about one million inhabitants, and its geographical coordinates are latitude -32.85, longitude 63.85 and altitude 746 m. the main climatic characteristics are the following: in comfort for 21.5% of yearly hours, heating needed for 70% of yearly hours, and cooling needed for 8.5% of yearly hours. heating dd (base 18◦c) is 1384 and cooling dd (base 23◦c) is 163. yearly mean horizontal global solar radiation is 18.06 mj/m2 day. the amm is no stranger to the intense population growth of cities in developing countries and the unsustainability of current development has inexorably deteriorated through time due to a lack of knowledge, management and planning actions. given this scenario, the following question arises: what are the impacts of both urban-building morphologies and the different tree species that predominate in the urban environment in the availability of the solar energy resource? in the amm, several specific studies have been developed, considering the representative groups of the urbanbuilding morphology, which were determined by the solar potential in low and high density environments, highlyforested areas and its foreseeable evolution (de rosa et al., 1988 ; córica & de rosa, 2004 ; fernández, basso, córica, & de rosa, 2003; mesa, de rosa, 2010 ; basso, fernández, mesa, córica & de rosa, 2003 ; arboit, 2013 ; mesa, arboit, & rosa, 2010). studies have been developed with the objectives of: i. preserving the physiognomy of the forested city, maintaining the scale and homogeneity of the constructions and the aesthetic contribution and environmental services of urban forest; ii. enabling the maximum use of solar resource for space and sanitary water heating, through the control of urban morphology and of the forest; iii. improving habitability conditions of the building area; iv. contributing to the sustainability of local development, by enabling the recycling of existing constructions that were well maintained and of good quality. in this way, extractive processes and solid waste emission (rubble) in the ecosystem are reduced. in order to complete these studies, a solar irradiance measurement was performed on the north facades of seven selected cases, according to previous results. the intention of the study was to offer a contribution, both conceptual and operative, so that, through the transfer channel in the future, the official sector will become aware of the seriousness of the situation and soon begin to implement new urban and building norms. these could also reduce the consumption of natural gas and other non-renewable energy in urban buildings. pg. 15 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 2. methodology in previous work (arboit, diblasi, fernández, & de rosa, 2008), the mean insolation factor (mif) indicator has been defined. the mean insolation factor (mif) provides a measure of the potentially collecting north facing walls, not masked by neighboring buildings and trees, calculated as: the ratio of the sum of insolated collecting areas of north facing walls, times the sum of the energy received at each considered hour, during a heating season, to the sum of the total areas of the same surfaces, free of all masking, times the sum of the hourly impinging radiation during the considered heating season, as a percentage. it is defined in fig. 1. tpca: total potential collecting area of the north facade (m2) sma: solid masking area (constructions): potential collecting facade affected by shade projected by constructions of close buildings (m2). (fig. 1) tma: transmissible masking area (trees): potential collecting facade affected by shade projected by urban trees (w/m2). p: monthly transmissibility factor. solar transmissibility percentages of each vegetable species and for each month of the heating season (%).42 r(m-d-h): energy by surface unit available in the north facades for each hour, day and month of the heating season (wh/m2). hourly impinging radiation on north facing walls for each month (wh/m2). sub-indicators: m: month of heating. it varies between april and september. number of months to which the heating season is extended (n). d. day of the month. it varies between 1and 30. h: hour. it varies between 9:00am and 6:00pm. figure 1. descriptive diagrams of tpca, sma, tma and nia mif = 08 ∑ m:4 30 ∑ d:1 14:30 ∑ h:9:30 [t pca− (smam−d−h +(t mam−d−h · (1−t ))) ·rm−d−h] nfa · 08 ∑ m:4 30 ∑ d:1 14:30 ∑ h:9:30 rm−d−h ·100 = (1) pg. 16 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd mif = [exp(4.1969−0.148 st.wi−0.0127f.tress+0.8547 b. morp−0.4721 tof)] [1+ exp(4.1969−0.1486 st.wi−0.0127f.tress+0.8547 b. morp−0.4721 tof)] (2) considering the mean insolation factor (mif) on north facades and using a multiple linear regression model, the main variables that influence the access of the sun were determined (arboit et al., 2008). these variables are: building morphology (b. morp.), street width between construction lines (st. wi), fullness of trees (f. trees) relationship of the existing (healthy) trees around a city block to the total number of trees that could fit around the city block, considering the dominant species and their corresponding distance between individuals, as percentagesand total occupation factor (tof)-total built-up area to total buildable area of corresponding parcels, as percentages-. (eq.2). the easiest way to note the influence of the urban-building variables with access to the sun is by measuring global solar irradiance over the vertical plane of the completely sunny north facade and measuring the same variable of the facade that is partially sunny. the latter is affected by the urban-building morphology (building morphology, street width, fullness of trees, and building height). the measurements were carried out with portable irradiance data-measuring systems, equipped with eppley 8-48 pyranometers. the measurement period was established according to the latitude and longitude of the place of study, for a given day. considering the local time, the solar noon was defined (» 1:30pm), and four and a half hours before and after the solar noon were taken into consideration. this approach left nine definite solar hours to measure from 9am-6pm. data was registered every minute during the autumn-winter and spring-summer seasons. based on what has been presented, the corresponding measurements were selected during a clear day for each urban environment. clear sky conditions allow the evaluation, in its complete magnitude, of the influence of the trees and the urban morphology. selection of case studies for the monitoring of global solar irradiance on north facades affected by solid and tree masking, seven cases were selected, in which different measuring conditions were present. for the selection of case studies, the urbanbuilding and forest morphology of the mma urban environments were considered based on the mean insolation factor (mif). in table 1, the case studies and the characteristics of urban and building variables can be observed. table 1. list of urban and building variable values of the sample. cases urban variables building variables n◦ blocks street width urban forest morphology front setbacks (m) building height density orientation (◦) (m) tree magnitude tree species fullness of trees 1 high 13 30.00 2a morus alba several pairings regular 0 3rd 2 low 4 13.40 2a & 1a morus alba y fxaxinius excelsior 2 individuals irregular 5 1st 3 high 13 30.00 2a morus alba several pairings regular 0 2nd continued on next page pg. 17 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd cases urban variables building variables 4 low 5 16.40 2a & 2a melia azedarach y morus alba 2 pairings/ young regular 0 1st 5 mid 5 16.40 2a morus alba individual irregular 3 2nd 6 high 8 30.00 2a cupressus sempervirens individual irregular 2 1st 7 mid 7 14.20 2a & 1a morus alba y platanus acerifolia several pairings irregular 0 2nd 3. results figures 2 and 3 show the diversity of energy situations according to the analyzed urban environment, and they show a preponderance of each of the variables in equation 1. measurements of shaded surfaces registered a reduction in the autumn-winter season from 2% to 66% of the total energy received on the plain sunlight sections, and in the spring-summer season from 10% to 83%. figure 2. total energy %. figure 3. total energy %. pg. 18 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd this said percentage is dependent on the urban building environment. cases 3, 4 and 5 are those with the most favorable ratio between maximum insolation in winter and maximum masking in summer. the irradiance measured on the vertical plane and oriented towards the north of case 3, in partial sunlight condition, presents a relationship for the summer months of a masking effect of 68%, and for the winter months of an available net energy of 78%. while in case 1 the percentage of net energy available on north facades in winter is 98% (favorable from the point of view of the solar energy use), in summer, the energy masked is 10% (the lowest value of solar masking of the cases analyzed). the environment involved has a street width of 30 meters and homogeneous building morphologies at a height of 10mts (with scarce influence of forest at the crown canopy level and little influence on surfaces shaded by neighboring buildings). in the autumn-winter season, the maximum reduction percentage, 66%, corresponds to case 7, which is characterized by a wide street channel of 14.20 m, and the measurement surface is partially shaded by trees at a second magnitude morus alba and first magnitude platanus acerifolia, with the consequential reduction of the available energy. in the spring-summer season, the maximum reduction percentage, 83%, corresponds to case 2, which is characterized by the influence of two different species, morus alba and fxaxinius excelsior. in winter, masking for the same case study is 55% resulting from the urban forest, a variable first order masking solar resource in highly forested urban environments. cases 1 and 3 for detailed study are compared in the first instance, as they represent the extreme conditions, through the ratio between maximum sunlight in winter and maximum masking in summer. in this way, the variables of street width, tree canopy cover, and building height and morphology will be analyzed. how both will influence the quantity of the received solar energy on north facades will be observed. 3.1. influence of building height in order to analyze the impact of urban building morphology in relation to building height, measurements have been made by vertically displacing the sensor that measures the partially shaded zone of the façade. see figs.4–6. in case 1, the results indicate that the maximum incident radiation was on the north side captured in autumn-winter season (98%), in contrast to the minimum masking incident solar radiation in spring-summer (10%). this case is representative of the situation in an urban environment without the presence of urban trees, and without considering design strategies above the treetops or wood species that do not accompany the building height. case 3 presents an optimal relation between the scenarios analyzed, considering both seasons. with the sensor that measures the partially sunny area located on the second floor, values indicate that 78% of the total irradiance were available in winter. while, for the spring-summer season, the measured values indicate masking of 68% from the resource. the difference between the values of masking solar radiation, 2% and 22% in the autumn-winter season and 10% and 68% in spring-summer season, in cases 1 and 3 (figs.7–10), can be explained by the maximum development of the crown canopy of the existing trees of the north facade that reached a mean altitude of 10 m (figs.5 and 6). the data, measured by moving the sensor in a vertical direction on the same facade, gives us information to elaborate strategies that consider the conditions above and below the crown canopy of trees, in order to maximize the use of the available solar resource in urban environments. the building height and the different levels of construction allow defining desirable situations in the conservation and full access to solar resource. pg. 19 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 4. hemispherical photographs of the environment, taken from the sensor location. facade zone with full insolation. terrace. pg. 20 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 5. hemispherical photographs of the environment, taken from the sensor location.case 1. facade zone with partial insolation. third floor. pg. 21 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 6. hemispherical photographs of the environment, taken from the sensor location case 3. facade zone with partial insolation. second floor. pg. 22 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 7. irradiance measurement in the autumn-winter season of the n facade, case n◦1 (third floor, approximately 7m of height). figure 8. irradiance measurement in the autumn-winter season of the n facade, case n◦3 (second floor, approximately 4.5m of height). figure 9. irradiance measurement in the spring-summer season of the n facade, case n◦1 (third floor, approximately 7m of height). figure 10. irradiance measurement in the spring-summer season of the n facade, case n◦3 (second floor, approximately 4.5m of height). pg. 23 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 11. photographs of case study 3 3.2. influence of heterogeneous building morphology the solar potential in selected urban environments is determined by the aspects of the urban and building morphology, with different possibilities of interaction between volume and access to solar radiation, and this can be analyzed in case 6. in this scenario, 64% of incident radiation on the north facade is captured in the autumn-winter season, with masking of the incident radiation in summer 37%. this is principally to the surrounding building morphology that gives shade to potential collecting areas, and to the transmissible masking that the trees provide. with the goal of evaluating solid masking separately, fig. 13 depicts a graph. in the early hours of the morning and the afternoon, there is fairly small access to the available solar energy, 22%, and the contribution is exclusively due to the diffused and reflected solar radiation components. figure 12. irradiance measurement of the n facade, case n◦6. figure 13. irradiance measurement of the n facade, case n◦6 (solid masking evaluation) when separately comparing the morning (16%) and afternoon (34%) availability, one observes that, in the afternoon hours, the reflected radiation has a greater impact due to the deviation of the urban outline’s orientation with respect to the north (8◦ towards the east). it should be kept in mind that the important reduction of solar resource that this case presents would be much greater if the building morphology affects the access of solar radiation in the middle hours of the day. pg. 24 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 14. irradiance measurement, in the summer season, on the vertical plane and facing north tofull sunlight and condition of partial sunlight. figure 15. hemispherical photograph of the environment, taken from the sensor location. pg. 25 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd for the summer season, the incident radiation is 63% with a zero masking woodland (due to the morphology of the species, its planting distance relative to the façade, and the solar angle on the day of the analyzed season). masking occurs through the surrounding building morphology, principally in the morning until 12:30pm, and from 3: 30pm, due to the orientation of the facade in the north. full access to solar resource in the middle of the day impacts on maximum availability of net energy values received in the summer season and is an example of city design that considers only the heterogeneous building morphology, with planting strategies of species of urban trees not suitable for a model city oasis. 3.3. influence of the street width case 7 shows that, in winter, the percentage of maximum reduction of 66% solar resource reached in this work, and 76% of masking solar radiation in the spring-summer. both the street width and its orientation determine the solar potential of urban buildings. in this case, although the direction e-w is the best orientation of the facade, and consequently, its best sunlight and maximum energy efficiency. the width of the 14.20 m street channel seriously affected the mentioned advantages. a narrow urban canyon, when combined with the urban forest of first magnitude, has a first order incidence in solar potential. case 7 results indicate a maximum reduction of the available solar energy in autumn-winter season, even with the leafless branches of the urban forest. masking produced by the leafless branches can be considerable in autumnwinter, especially with species of considerable size (1st and 2nd magnitude and narrow street channels from13m to 16m). in the spring-summer season, the net energy available is 24%, which is a significant masking of the solar energy for the presence of urban trees and urban building morphology. in this case, it is observed (figs.19 and 20) that the transmissibility of the solar radiation offered by the trees in the narrow urban channels present great variations according to the position of the sun. figure 16. views of the facade in autumn-winter season. figure 17. views of the facade in autumn-winter season. 3.4. influence of trees case 2 results express the percentage of maximum reduction of solar radiation in spring-summer to be 83%. in the autumn-winter season, in masking walls facing north and for days studied, it is 55% (figs. 28 and 29). pg. 26 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 18. treesseen from the sensor. figure 19. measured irradiance of n facade, autumn-winter season, case n◦7. figure 20. measured irradiance, in the summer season, of the vertical plane and oriented north tofull sunlight and insolation condition. figure 21. views of the studied facade. summer. case 7. pg. 27 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 22. views of the studied facade. summer. case 7. figure 23. frontal photograph of the facade. in the autumn-winter season, in order to study how trees condition the access of the sun, we have selected a case that presents the influence of the leaves of two different deciduous species. when analyzing fig. 28, it is seen that, in this case, the reduction of available energy is 55%, and that the influence of each species is very noticeable. in morning and mid-day hours, the reduction of the availability of the solar resource is 39% (fig. 30). this value corresponds to the morus alba (species 1) bare foliage obstruction. comparatively, in the afternoon hours, the resource reduction is 85% due to the high density of leafless branches that fxaxinius excelsior (species 2) presents (fig. 31). if only species no. 1 (morus alba) is used, combined with an urban morphology characterized by: frontal building shelters, good orientation of the urban layout, height and building morphology, it would be possible to obtain maximum solar obstruction in summer of 89% and considerable access to the sun in winter of 61%, and it would be possible to achieve an optimal ratio considering both seasons of the year, between the maximum incident radiation on the north facade captured in winter and the maximum masking of the incident solar radiation in summer. pg. 28 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 24. hemispherical photograph of the environment taken from the sensor location. figure 25. wide angle photograph, taken from the sensor location. pg. 29 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 26. frontal photographs of the facade. figure 27. wide angle photograph, taken from the sensor location. pg. 30 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 28. irradiance measurement on the north facade, autumn-winter season, case n◦2. figure 29. irradiance measured on the vertical plane and oriented north to full sunlight andcondition of partial insolation. figure 30. irradiance measurement on the n facade, case n◦2 (influence of morus alba, species) figure 31. irradiance measurement on the n facade, case n◦2 (influence of fxaxinius excelsior, species 2). pg. 31 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3.5. influence of urban canyon width and trees cases 4 and 5 show the second and third best ratio between the maximum insolation in winter and the maximum obstruction in summer. the energy available in winter is 68% for case 4 and 61% for case 5. the masking of the radiation incident on the north facade captured in summer is 72% and 75%, respectively. in both cases, the variables that result in the most influence are the narrowness of the urban canyon width (16.40mts) and the tree species of 2nd magnitude with its planting characteristics: white cedar (melia azedarach, also known as chinaberry); mulberry (morus alba) in case 4; and mulberry (morus alba) in case 5. figure 32. case 4, winter, (in the photograph, the shadow cast by bare branches on the north facade can be observed) and an appropriate value of svf (tree top shadow partially occupies the surface of the street). figure 33. irradiance measured on the vertical plane and oriented north to full sunlight and condition of partial insolation, winter. figure 34. irradiance measured on the vertical plane and oriented north to full sunlight and condition of partial insolation, summer. furthermore, in both cases, homogeneous urban-building morphology (without entry or exit) allows full access to solar radiation in winter. tree location, its planting distance in relation to the facade, and the magnitude in relation to building height all enable a good ratio between the maximum sunlight in winter and the maximum obstruction in summer. a suitable value of svf (sky view factor), from the axis of the street (case 4), allows good convective cooling at night in summer. pg. 32 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 35. irradiance measured on the vertical plane and oriented north to full sunlight and condition of partial insolation, winter. figure 36. irradiance measured on the vertical plane and oriented north to full sunlight and condition of partial insolation, summer figure 37. case 5 pg. 33 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 38. hemispherical photograph of the environment taken from the sensor location, winter. figure 39. hemispherical photograph of the environment taken from the sensor location, summer. pg. 34 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 4. conclusion the obtained results provide evidence of the impact of the principal variables that condition the access of the sun in a highly forested urban environment. the seven urban configurations that were studied in the mendoza metropolitan area (amm) present differential characteristics with respect to the urban and building variables. in forested urban public spaces, it is necessary to consider the benefits provided by trees in summer. when planning urban environments, proper choice of species seems essential to balance the positive and negative contributions of trees. the following should be considered: 1. tree species of magnitudes consistent with the building height (1st high-magnitude density, 2nd medium-density magnitude, and 3rd low-magnitude density); 2. deciduous species (with maximum transmissivity values in winter, and minimum in summer); and 3. planting distance between chosen species (study of the position of and distance between the trees of each species). the important influence that bare foliage presents in the autumn-winter season has been demonstrated. these characteristics can be accentuated in certain forested conditions and under determined solar positions, as is demonstrated by the measured values in case study 2, where afternoon hours recorded a resource availability of only 15%. however, case 2 presents the most favorable solar masking (83%) in the summer season. these results show that urban trees result in a first-order variable when capturing a solar resource in highly forested urban environments, and the choice of the optimal tree species at the moment of urban planning should be structurally considered when contemplating future design strategies. in addition, the choice of tree species is also important in the consideration of combining high transmissivity values in winter and low values in summer. moreover, it is necessary to reinforce the conclusion that the environmental and energy benefits of urban trees in a city with a desert climate and warm-dry summers, such as the amm, should be considered as a first priority at the time of planning, designing and building any type of construction project, of any building density in a city. the analysis of building height variable demonstrates the importance of establishing design strategies and legislation in accordance with a highly forested city that generates unique conditions above and below the trees. furthermore, the influence of the surrounding buildings decreases when we consider greater building heights, as this combination of effects allows a measurement in winter uptake of solar energy of 98% of full sunlight condition in case 1, and 90% in the summer. heterogeneous building morphology strongly conditions the possibilities of access to the sun, which has been demonstrated in case study 6, where during the heating season, a building with entrances and exits produces a solid masking up to 84% in the morning hours on its applicable north-facing facade. in the summer season, solar masking values of 44% were recorded. as for the vegetative presence of cyprus (cupressus sempervirens), its morphology and planting distance nullify the influence of the urban tree variable, when the results of case 6 in both seasons are considered. building morphology has been considered in this analysis in terms of heterogeneity that is generated by front and rear overhangs, which produces solid masking and compromises access to the sun. these types of heterogeneous morphologies are difficult to recover when implementing building recycling. in the same way, when planning and designing new complexes, homogeneity is a basic condition for assuring full sunlight in the winter season. in the summer season, measures for building-technology recycling, protection design, and green design could improve the present situation. the analyzed urban determinants for solar energy collection on north facades (trees, building morphology and building height), have greater intensity when they are combined with a narrow street channel. this situation corresponds to case 7, where the minimum received solar radiation values are produced when considering all the hours of measurement. this demonstrates that the strategies recommended for narrow urban canyons should be demanding, concerning the type of permitted tree species, to the maximum height and the shape of buildings, and to the setback from the street. in the spring-summer season, masking produced by green mass of trees generates multiple benefits: controlling pg. 35 arboit / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the intensity of the urban heat island, the urban micro climate, the absorption of pollutants, the cooling and humidifying of the air through evapotranspiration and the reducing of thermal loads of buildings. benefits also include improving the occupancy of public open spaces and making an invaluable contribution to the urban aesthetic. the achieved results go towards contributing to the progressive reforming and updating of urban and building codes, in order to implement the highest levels of energy efficiency and to 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(2016). assessment of solar radiation reduction from urban forests on buildings along highway corridors in sydney. urban forestry & urban greening,15, 225235. pg. 38 introduction methodology results influence of building height influence of heterogeneous building morphology influence of the street width influence of trees influence of urban canyon width and trees conclusion http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i2.172 architectural environmental compatibility as an approach to conserve the identity of heritage cities in egypt case study: rosetta city mai wahba mohamed madkour1,2 1lecturer architectural engineering department, tanta university, egypt 2general manager – environmental architectural engineering program, faculty of engineering, tanta university, egypt abstract heritage is considered to be cultural wealth representing people’s values, ideas, beliefs, customs, and traditions, and since heritage represents the nation’s identity, it has its originality and maintains it. egypt is one of the riches countries with the cities of cultural value. this abundance has created the problem of conservation that wealth and highlighting the artistic and historical aspects of the cities that face a lot of neglecting and abusing. at the same time reforming and conservation, this wealth requires very high significant potential. the egyptian heritage suffers from many problems such as economic, political, cultural and social reality, including the associated concepts of conservation operations. this research aims to study the effect of environmental compatibility on conservation of the identity and the sustainability of the heritage cities through: monitoring the value and importance of heritage cities in egypt. reviewing the environmental directions and various approaches to dealing with architectural heritage and emphasizing the importance of improving the environmental effect in order to conserve the identity and sustainability of heritage cities. this research focuses on studying the identity of rosetta city and its urban and architectural development through history, and studying the strategies in the process of rehabilitation and reuse of its buildings, taking in mind the environmental influence of the buildings of heritage value. studying the environmental compliance of the rehabilitated buildings of heritage value in terms of the efficiency of internal environment and the efficiency of environmental suitability. the conclusion drawn from this research suggests an important relationship between heritage cities identity and sustainability behavior that is suggested for future research. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords environmental compatibility; heritage cities; city identity; sustainability pg. 16 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i2.172&domain=press.ierek.com madkour / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 1. introduction natural and cultural heritage are main sources that identify community’s identity all over the world. heritage is the true mirror of any civilization it is considered as the cultural wealth, which represents people’s ideas, beliefs, values, and traditions. it reflects man’s identity through his religious, social, cultural and political aspects. it is the richness and diversity of the past. heritage buildings are the spaces that our ancestors lived and worked in. they tell the story of their lifestyle patterns and events. adaptive reuse of buildings is the way to save the historic and aesthetic values (”heritage department”, 2012). the built heritage consists of craftsmen hard artistic works. nowadays, these artistic achievements may be recognized only when threatened and lost. sympathetic maintenance, adaptation, and re-use can allow the architectural heritage to yield aesthetic, environmental and economic benefits. the conservation of any built environment contributes to the attractiveness of its country that others always enjoy visiting it. egypt as the main old civilization of the world, it has a unique historical treasure of heritage buildings and sites that need to be conserved. egypt is also one of the countries rich with cities of cultural value and has problems of building conservation that faces a lot of neglecting and abusing. egyptian heritage suffers from many problems associated with economic, political, cultural and social reality, including the associated concepts of conservation operations. some people treat valuable buildings as ordinary and restore their architectural and decorative aspects, and some people reuse buildings to meet the requirements of their new function without paying any attention to its historical and heritage significance. 2. research objective this research aims to study the effect of environmental compatibility on conservation of the identity and the sustainability of the heritage cities through: – monitoring the value and importance of heritage cities in egypt. – reviewing the environmental directions and various approaches to dealing with architectural heritage and emphasizing the importance of improving the environmental effect to conserve heritage cities. – this research focuses on studying rosetta city identity and its urban and architectural development through history and studying the strategies in the process of rehabilitation and reuse of its buildings, taking in mind the environmental influence of the buildings of heritage value. – studying the environmental compliance of the rehabilitated buildings of heritage value in terms of the efficiency of internal environment and the efficiency of environmental suitability. 3. research hypothesis one of the most important methods of conservation buildings of heritage value is their rehabilitation and using them to perform a new function appropriate to their facilities and age, as well as being compatible with environmental sustainability in order to keep their historical, cultural and artistic value. 4. historical conservation historical conservation preserves conserve and protect buildings, monuments, landscapes, and other artifacts that have any historical significance. pg. 17 madkour / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 5. architectural conservation according to australia icomos incorporated (2000), conservation is all the processes of looking after a place to retain its cultural and natural significance. it describes mankind’s built heritage through the material historically and deals with architectural character and integrity. 6. preservation and rehabilitation of historic districts preservation is defined as place’s fabric maintaining in its existing state. preservation is set to be one of heritage conservation. thus, the term ‘conservation’ holds a wider notion than ‘preservation’, as it just not means to maintain and freeze the existing state of a place, but also to take the necessary measures to sustain its value and the cultural messages it beholds. it has great architectural, planning, economic, and social effects. the building can be registered as a historical monument when its rehabilitation preserves its architectural and functional use in its site regarding contemporary technologies and renewable social uses the importance of rehabilitation problem is stated by its majority to governments that are trying to save the historical heritage of its country and to preserve and rehabilitate it’s architectural. 7. sustainability in historical context heritage manifests human ingenuity and history. heritage buildings cannot be reconstituted once they have been destroyed. unfortunately, sustainable heritage conservation is widely ignored all over the world. heritage conservation has a great importance to improve the quality of communities’ life, improve and understand our past and its contribution to our culture (coleman, 2004). the concept of sustainability is always associated with new buildings. conservation and sustainability share the same generative basics. the first and basic concept of sustainability is to use what already exists. similarly, the basic concept of conservation is to protect what we already have. from the conceptual point of view, there is neither conflict nor contradiction between conservation and sustainability (rodwell, 2007). conservation, as a tool for heritage management, is a key to sustainability. the principles of sustainable heritage development are very important to deal with heritage conservation and management (coleman, 2004). sustainability of heritage sites is maintaining them to meet the current and future needs. that means the maximum economic and social utilization of the cultural heritage resources, without the deterioration and destruction of these resources or their environmental system. the city is as an active and changeable organism, that its buildings need maintenance to respond to the increased needs and the changeable requirements. it also reflects the present features, that respect cities heritage fabric that had been formed through history. the sustainable development strategy for heritage sites includes its (buildings, spaces, squares, pathways, etc.) (williamson, radford, & bennetts, 2003). conservation core concept is to maintain, preserve and protect both the tangible and intangible heritage. this resource is non-renewable and irreplaceable. a demolished building cannot be retrieved or recreated. this means that a part of history is permanently lost. a folkloric tradition or ritual is indispensable to the local culture. therefore, heritage is perceived as a cultural resource that must be perceived in the same way as other nonrenewable resources. from this basic notion, the core of conservation is to keep heritage protected and to hand it to future generations. therefore, keeping historic buildings intact requires some sort of a sustainability process (rodwell, 2007). conservation avoids the unnecessary use of finite resources such as materials and fossil fuels, as well as the generpg. 18 madkour / environmental science and sustainable development, essd ation of waste and pollution. heritage conservation can be considered an integral part of sustainable development in terms of (aref, 2009). – there are environmental, social, and economic benefits, for using heritage buildings are the main three dimensions of sustainability. – heritage buildings rehabilitation conserves energy, and reduces waste. – process, manufacture and transport building materials need an initial energy also to construct buildings. – the energy needed in maintaining and repairing buildings. – the energy needed for heating, cooling, ventilating, and lighting buildings. – the energy needed for demolishing and disposing of buildings. – the social & cultural values for heritage buildings are non-renewable resources. heritage conservation is playing an important role in sustainable urban development for cities. it also uses renewable resources of energy. cultural heritage is also important for community’s quality of life. it helps in preventing cultural globalization and has positively affected economic development (keiner, 2006). 8. importance of sustainability there is no doubt that heritage context must be sustainable. the importance of sustainability as a concept needed for heritage legislation, policies and guidance are most likely due to the fact that ‘heritage assets’. nowadays economic climate, heritage supports itself not sustainability, and there is an emphasizing on finding alternative sources of funding (”heritage lottery fund”, n.d.). in the last decades, a paradigm shift is presented, as people felt more engaged with the past (smith & waterton, 2009). as a result, the voluntary sector has expanded over the last decade due to the support from organizations such as the national trust and english heritage. with recent cuts to government spending on heritage, the last five years has seen the rise of projects that build up the capacity and commitment of local communities to champion the conservation and enhancement of their own local heritage (”english heritage”, 2009). heritage cultural and social value has been set as a powerful tool in sustainable development. 9. architectural heritage of egypt many egyptian cities have a modern center contrasting sharply with the old medieval ages it has a unique architecture that have combination between european styles and local influences. heritage public awareness isn’t yet fully formed. that is why there is a must for documenting, protecting, and restoring sites for future generations (”cultnat”, n.d.). many egyptian cities historical centers managed to survive as living cities in spite of physical decline and economic depression. their fabric carries out the spiritual and cultural messages that communicate with their present citizens. historical city centers’ heritage is more than a material character as they must meet the needs of citizens with sustainability transformations. the challenge is not how to preserve, but how to create dynamic living spaces and places that produce richness in cultural traditions that lead organically from the past to the future. the research will analyze the historic center of rosetta ”rashid”. pg. 19 madkour / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 10. case study rosetta city 11. rosetta location rosetta city lies in the north of egypt. it is an old port. it is found 12 km away from the mouth of the rosetta branch of river nile, along with its western side that flows into in the mediterranean sea. its area is approximately 8 400 000 m2 with “estimated population” in 2010 about 400,000. rosetta’s master plan sets guidelines until 2022 that focuses on tourism. it shows different places for activities in the city (”un habitat”, 2006). figure 1. rosetta location source: google earth. rosetta lies 65 km east of alexandria and 55 km away from damanhour. its location has been of great strategic importance since the most ancient paranoiac periods. in 1517 ad, when the ottoman empire conquered egypt, rosetta became its most important harbor, reaching the acme of its architectural prosperity thanks to the mosques, houses, bathhouses, mills, citadels, and gates built there. pg. 20 madkour / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 2. rosetta 1779 12. historical background many details about rosetta’s earliest history are uncertain due to a lack of reliable sources. remains of ancient settlements have been found all over the region and on tall abu mandur 1 . in addition, ancient texts talk about a temple called bulbitinum, possibly dedicated to cleopatra, which existed in the area in the ptolemaic period, but its exact location is still unknown. similarly, some sources suggest that around 270 a.d., the roman emperor aurelian built a fortress, apparently to defend the area against attacks by queen zinubiya’s army. remains of an early fortress have been discovered on tall abu mandur, but it cannot be established with certainty that it is that of emperor aurelian. excavations on the tall have also uncovered the remains of a 5th 6th-century wall, which was constructed around the town, presumably to protect it from persian and nubian attacks, apparently frequent during the byzantine period. other remains from this era include a basilica and several vessels stamped with the image of the coptic saint abu mina (”egyptian antiquities information system”, 2008). the town was relatively prosperous in the 12th century when it was possible to pass through rosetta on the way to alexandria via the khabur canal, which was later neglected and was completely sanded by the end of the 14th century. although rosetta may have lost some of its commercial aspects upon the obstruction of this route, it remained an important military outpost. during the mameluke rule of egypt, turkish merchants settled in rosetta in large numbers and built houses, wikalahs, and mosques. after thriving as a point of transition for merchandise from the northern mediterranean destined for the silk road or the red sea, commercial activities in rosetta and the mediterranean were hampered by the discovery of cape of good hope by the portuguese in 1488 (al-sadeq, ismail, & al-kady, 1999). sultan qayitbay after building his citadel in alexandria in 1479, he turned to rashid where he built a fort which now stands at the border of ’izbat ai-burg village, on the northern edge of rosetta. as the ottomans invasion continued to threaten egypt, around 1515 sultan “al-churi” expanded and repaired the castle of qayitbay also built walls around rosetta. but this did not spare the city from the ottoman invasion in 1517. at an early stage, the ottoman conquest of egypt brought no major changes to the country as the mamelukes stayed in power and the trading pattern of the city was not affected. moreover, rosetta became egypt’s closest port to istanbul and all ships with merchandise from turkey landed here, egypt being the empire’s main supplier of rice, grain and other vital products (al-sadeq, ismail, & al-kady, 1999). in 1798, napoleon and his army invaded egypt, launching the expedition d’egypte. a year later, as napoleon’s soldiers took up residence in qayitbay’s fort, the most important egyptological find of all times was made in one of its walls: the rosetta stone which became the key to the deciphering of the hieroglyphic script. the french presence in egypt was short-lived but led to a boost in trade for rosetta as french merchants had free passage to the port. however, napoleon’s adventure ended with the british intervention. their navy launched attacks on egypt and together with their ottoman ally, defeated napoleon in 1801. mohammed ali took the throne of egypt in 1805 and two years later, he defeated the british general fraser’s forces in battles within and around rosetta. shortly after, muhammad’ ali initiated extensive projects in an attempt to modernize egypt. consequently, railroads were constructed, industries were built up and the road network was improved. as a result, overland transport pg. 21 madkour / environmental science and sustainable development, essd became both more efficient and much cheaper than transport on the river. muhammad ali also seemed to favor the development of alexandria over rosetta, which was not connected with cairo on a direct railroad. the city was further bypassed by the construction of the al-mahmdiyyah canal in 1819-20. the new canal connected alexandria directly with the nile, ensuring that boats no longer had to stop in rosetta on their way to the mediterranean. with this development, rosetta’s days as the principal harbor of egypt were over and a century later, it had fallen almost completely into oblivion to the outside world (”egyptian antiquities information system”, 2008). rosetta is considered as a large open-air museum of islamic architecture for its religious and civil buildings (houses and mosques). the site has undergone an unfortunate process of transformation and is felt to be losing its characteristic traditional architecture and the style and spirit of tradition. 13. rosetta identity through heritage areas rosetta is set to be the second city after cairo regarding the quantity of its islamic buildings and houses, it has a unique group of islamic buildings (there were 54 monuments in 1963 “gates, mosques, wakala, mill, bath, and 39 houses”). figure 3. some ancient postcards of rosetta houses (”cultnat”, n.d.). the number of heritage buildings in rosetta had decreased from 52 in 1963 to 37 in 2006 (”organization for urban harmony”, 1985). rosetta’s famous piece of heritage is “rosetta stone” that led to understaning hieroglyphs. the fortress of qaitbay on the west side of river nile, its place is directly connected to the rosetta stone, which was discovered in 1799. mill abo-shahen: this mill dates back to the second half of the 18th century; it was built by uthman agha attubgi (al-amasyali) who also built the two adjacent houses in the early 19th century. azzuz bath: this public bath was built by abd ar-rahman ibn al-hagg higazi in the 19th century, it is the only bath remaining in rosetta (”organization for urban harmony”, 1985). 14. rosetta’s heritage development the historical area in rosetta has basic urban services except for sanitation network, which made the groundwater level increase, and therefore had a direct effect on historical buildings. for example, the zaghloul mosque “which is considered to be the second largest mosque in egypt”, is undergoing a major preservation project to raise the mosque foundation level to one meter above ground after its floor was submerged in rising groundwater. pg. 22 madkour / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – rosetta suffers from severe air pollution; it also suffers from the vibrations that affect structural elements of historical buildings. – there is no authority from local government on rosetta’s center’s operations that is supervised by ministries and central institutions. – rosetta suffers from the shortage of conservation trained and expert workers. – its public community has shortage in knowledge of the awareness of cultural heritage resources and their significance. – signs for public streets has been provided by tourism development agencies. figure 4. al-amasyali figure 5. ismail ramadan pg. 23 madkour / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 6. al-qanadili figure 7. mosque zaghlul (1577) figure 8. mosque saleh agha dumaqsis (1704-1721) 15. swot analysis for heritage historic areas in rosetta 15.1. strengths – rosetta heritage is considered to be the second city in egypt after cairo rich in historical islamic heritage buildings. – rosetta stone which was discovered is very important. – rosetta is uniquely located on the nile near the mediterranean. pg. 24 madkour / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – previous projects have restored most of the historic houses in rosetta. – national policies support the upgrading of heritage cities. 15.2. weaknesses – the lack of coordination among different authorities responsible for historic buildings. – insufficient public transportation and railway tracks. – inadequate resources for historic building conservation. – deficiency of data related to historic buildings. – its public community has shortage knowledge awareness of cultural heritage resources. – restoration of monuments without upgrading the whole city historic area. – the absence of tourism agencies and touristic services in the whole city. – small number of agencies help in funding rosetta heritage conservation. figure 9. mosque al-mahalli figure 10. zaghloul mosque figure 11. rosetta buildings pg. 25 madkour / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – there is no clear plan for developing historic buildings and historic city center. – sanitation problems which harms the heritage buildings. 15.3. opportunities – adding rosetta to the list of historical heritage cities in egypt. – adding rosetta to the unesco world heritage sites list. 15.4. threats – the national drainage project will be delayed due to the negative impact of the city’s historical heritage buildings. – loosing its unique identity due to continuous transgression. from the above swot analysis, it is necessary to establish an office that is responsible for tourism development as a main priority to help in adding rosetta to the unesco world heritage site list. 16. problems facing the identity of heritage areas of rosetta 16.1. the conflict between local authorities in rosetta there is a conflict between the authorities responsible for rosetta and its heritage: – al-beheira governorate: its major responsibility is to state license issues before building any new building in rosetta and how to deal with exited heritage buildings. – the ministry of endowments: its responsibility is to offer full services to all the historical mosques. – the supreme council for antiquities: its responsibility is to offer full maintenance and restoration for heritage buildings. the lack of coordination led to the decline of the identity of heritage areas in rosetta. 16.1.1. underground water level and sewage the preservation of rosetta’s historic buildings is faced by a persistent problem, largely due to its location on the nile so close to where it flows into the mediterranean. in addition, rosetta has no effective system to dispose of sewage water and wastes that cause serious damage to the historic building in its historic areas. 16.1.2. monuments restoration without any sustainable development program most of the monument buildings and other historic merchant houses have been the subject of many restoration projects over the past 20 years, but many of them have been regularly re-damaged by water and humidity and are now being re-restored. unfortunately, few of them have even collapsed or had to be demolished. proper conservation, coupled with regulated reuse of buildings is paramount to their preservation. for example, there are some plans to reuse the ottoman houses in activities that assure their constant and proper maintenance. also, ”arab khulli house” has already been turned into the national museum of rosetta and ”ai-baqirawalli house” is used as an office for the local inspectors. ideally, two or three houses could remain ”show houses” while the rest could be allocated to customized activities or ”adaptive reuse” but there is not any holistic program to conserve and manage the historical areas in the city as a whole. pg. 26 madkour / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 12. arab khulli house figure 13. current sutiation of the historical residential building in rosetta. 17. conclusions this research concludes that sustainable development programs for improving the identification of heritage cities in historic areas of small and medium-sized cities may help its opportunities to survive against modern urbanization, and monuments restoration projects alone without upgrading the whole context may be useless. restoration is the first step but it should be accompanied by a long-term developing program to create a sustainable system and increase the knowledge of the surrounded community and local authorities mentioning the importance of heritage cities identity and how to benefit from it. the conflict between local authorities in egypt is the worst problem that faces cultural heritage conservation and historical areas development, after initiating the organization for urban harmony (1985). rosetta, like most of the egyptian medium and small cities suffers from neglecting and need to be inserted in the touristic map of egypt, by developing the traditional activities and upgrading the city infrastructure. this is to help in giving an economic impact on the city from its heritage identity and that will preserve monument and all the historic areas as a living sustainable place. sustainable conservation in small historic city areas should start from the wide base that is the inhabitant and their houses this should be parallel to upgrading the infrastructure, as well as main services and training programs for user’s local authorities finally any restoration project starts when there is enough fund. pg. 27 madkour / environmental science and sustainable development, essd governmental and non-governmental organization and private agencies are all involved in the conservation of urban heritage in the egyptian context. rehabilitation of the city inner areas must give priority to the social aspects. the concentration of historic heritage buildings in rosetta needs certain important actions to sustaining and improving the urban heritage. by achieving the above steps, this will lead to achieving environmental compatibility as an approach to conserve the identity of rosetta city. references 1. al-sadeq, d. t., ismail, h., & al-kady, g. (1999). rachid, beginning development and decline. dar alafaq al-arabia, cairo. 2. aref, y. g. (2009). the conservation of heritage as a means for sustainability. in technology & sustainability in the built environment(p. 221). riyadh, ksa: king saud university. 3. australia icomos incorporated[the australia icomos charter for places of cultural significance with associated guidelines and code on the ethics of co-existence]. (2000). australia. 4. coleman, v. (2004, january). heritage & sustainability. retrieved from nsw heritage office and heritage council of nsw. 5. egyptian antiquities information system. (2008). retrieved from http://www.eais.org.eg/ 6. cultnat center for documentation of cultural and natural heritage. (n.d.). retrieved from http://www .cultnat.org/ 7. english heritage, capacity building for the voluntary sector. (2009). retrieved from: http://www.englishh eritage.org.uk/professional/funding/grants/grants-available/capacity-building-for-the-voluntary-sector. 8. heritage department. (2012). practice guidebook on compliance with building safety and health requirements under the buildings ordinance for adaptive re-use of and alteration and addition works to heritage buildings. hong kong: buildings department of hong kong. 9. heritage lottery fund. (n.d.). retrieved from: http://www.hlf.org.uk/aboutus/pages/aboutus. 10. keiner, m. (ed.). (2006). the future of sustainability(1st ed.). netherlands: springer netherlands. 11. organization for urban harmony egyptian ministry of culture. (1985). retrieved from www.urbanharm ony.org 12. rodwell, d. (2007). conservation and sustainability in historic cities. oxford: blackwell publishing. 13. smith, l., & waterton, e. (2009). heritage, communities and archaeology. london: gerald duckworth & co. ltd. 14. un habitat. (2006). rapid urban sector profiling for sustainability(rep.). nairobi, kenya: un habitat. 15. williamson, t. j., radford, a., & bennetts, h. (2003). understanding sustainable architecture. london: spon press. taylor & francis. pg. 28 introduction research objective research hypothesis historical conservation architectural conservation preservation and rehabilitation of historic districts sustainability in historical context importance of sustainability architectural heritage of egypt case study rosetta city rosetta location historical background rosetta identity through heritage areas rosetta's heritage development swot analysis for heritage historic areas in rosetta strengths weaknesses opportunities threats problems facing the identity of heritage areas of rosetta the conflict between local authorities in rosetta underground water level and sewage monuments restoration without any sustainable development program conclusions http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i2.556 in search of a tool to support planning inside large cities: the sustain-led model giuseppe umberto cantafio1, petros ieromonachou2 1business, university of sunderland in london, 197 marsh wall docklands, london, e14 9sg, london, united kingdom 2business school, the university of greenwich abstract the aim of the present study is to investigate the linkages between local economic development, innovation, and environmental sustainability inside urban areas. can innovation affect the improvement of the quality of life inside urban areas? this research question comes from the consideration that usually innovation and growth in general are considered sources of conflict in affecting the livability of large cities. the objective of the paper is to design a model — the “sustain-led” to connect levels of environmental sustainability, quality of life, and economic development inside metropolitan areas, taking into account also innovation processes, activated by the innovation policies and by the knowledge economy. the study takes in consideration the 53 largest united states metropolitan areas with a population over 1 million, with a time series from the years 2000 through 2015. this has been done because of a two-fold reason: (1) the us among high-income countries is the one with the highest number of universities, patents, and citations; (2) several studies have shown that innovation occurs in large cities. the first part of the present study has carried out the identification of the variables to represent and significantly explain the phenomena – local economic development, innovation, and environmental sustainability – linked to the design of the sustain-led model. environmental sustainability in urban areas in this paper is represented by means of the air quality index (aqi), while the number of workers synthetically quantifies local economic development. correlation and multiple regression analyses are conducted in order to examine the relationship between the three main indicators. the multiple regressions for the year 2015 produced a low p-value, indicating that the predictors are significant in the regression analysis. similar results of p-value are shown in all the years from 2000 to 2013. for 2015, the results showed that part of the variance in the measure of total workers of the metropolitan areas could be predicted by measures of innovation and air quality. higher r2 values have been registered for the years from 2000 through 2013. the development of the sustain-led model could be utilized in urban regeneration processes to help in the design of new urban planning policies inside large cities by means of a better comprehension of environmental and economic implications caused by the implementation of innovation policies. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. pg. 61 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i2.556&domain=press.ierek.com cantafio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd keywords sustain-led model; sustainability; sustainable development; city planning 1. introduction over half of the global population lives in cities. the trend toward urbanization all over the world is a key challenge that suggests the need for developing models regarding urban organization and sustainable development. while economic development is essential, other factors control the urban areas’ overall sustainability, competitiveness, and growth, including its innovation ecosystem, the quality of the environment, and the quality of life. these factors not only represent an advantage for urban areas in order to achieve economic growth, but also generate a stable economic and social environment. the aim of the present study is to find out whether or not a relationship exists within local economic development and innovation, driven by sustainability, within urban areas. this will be carried out by means of the objective represented by the sustain-led model, developed in order to capture and connect standards of sustainability, innovation, and economic development. the success of a city does occur because of several factors. many of them are localization factors, depending on different reasons. the term “success” can be translated with the use of different criteria that will be utilized in the present study, for measuring the sustainability, innovation, and economic development within urban areas. today, people are attracted to urban areas that offer them not only decent jobs, but also a high standard of living. different studies have highlighted the importance of sustainability and sustainable planning within the cities, not only in the us, but also in most developed countries. as an example, a study made in portland, or (usa) analysed the role of the local government during the creation of green cluster and city development strategies for the transition to a green urban economy (zimmerman, 2013). other studies showed models developed for the application of sustainability to cities (newman, 1999) or regarding growth and innovation inside cities (bettencourt et al., 2007) or others more recently investigated the role of knowledge in urban areas for achieving sustainable and more equitable growth (pastor & benner, 2015). this study takes into account the united states metropolitan areas because among high-income countries, the usa is the one with the highest level of innovation, with the highest number of universities, patents and citations. this selection has been done because several studies have shown that innovation occurs in large cities (sedgley & elmslie, 2011; lee & rodriguez-pose, 2014). other studies provided insightful examinations of how innovation occurs in cities. some other studies endorsed the notion that cities are places of innovation and creativeness (florida, 2010; bettencourt & west, 2010; shearmur, 2012; glaeser, 2014). this is mainly due to three kinds of inputs: human capital, financial resources, and knowledge sharing. for instance, research labs pay experts and engineers to generate valuable new ideas. a recent study points out that cities generate also more unconventional innovation (gaetani & berkes, 2015). this research in the future could help in the decision-making process for the implementation of innovation policies in urban areas, trying to draw possible elements that can be transferred and less positive elements that should be analyzed more in depth before being transferred to other regions. moreover, it could be used as an effective tool for evaluating how urban areas can achieve higher standards of sustainability, innovation and economic development. a better planning of cities could result in different outcomes, such as job creation. in turn, this could result, under a keynesian point of view, in an increase of consumption and tax revenues for the area, which could raise the quality of the services, the gdp of the region and other parameters for achieving a better quality of life. 2. methodology extensive and repeated visits over the last years have formed a knowledge base about many aspects of urban areas in the usa and europe. research during my doctorate as a phd generated quantitative and qualitative data for this study. as an exploratory study the results of the research were not expected at the beginning of the investigation. pg. 62 cantafio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 2.1. the scope of study there was a time where cities were delimited by their political boundaries. in recent decades urban settlements have been rapidly growing into larger urban areas or metropolitan areas, with the city center as the nucleus of these urban entities. for instance, new york city in 2013 had an estimated population of circa 8m of people, whereas 20m lived in the new yorknewark-jersey city metropolitan area. the broad definition of metropolitan area is that of a core area comprising a large population nucleus, together with adjacent communities that have a high degree of economic and social integration with that core. more specifically, in the united states a metropolitan statistical area consists of one or more counties that contain at least one urbanized area that has a population of at least 50,000 or more inhabitants (2010 census summary file). the present study has considered usa metropolitan areas with a population larger than 1 million. the reasons for this choice are explained in the introduction section; this is supported also by the reason that in terms of innovation larger cities have more advantages than smaller cities, not only because of the larger number of people, but also because of more networks, as new ideas come from the combination of existing ideas. furthermore, in larger cities there is more information spillover; the connections are more varied in larger cities, as there is more possibility to meet diverse people that eventually make something innovative happening more likely, in comparison with smaller cities (johnson, 2011). the us metropolitan areas analyzed in the present study are listed in table 1. the metropolitan areas are listed in alphabetical order. 2.2. the database and indicators for the present study it has been collected a multifaceted database, looking across various aspects of sustainability, technological innovation, and economic development, to get the full picture. the sustainability-innovation-local economic development model (sustain-led model) assesses three parameters: air quality, jobs, and technological innovation. regression analyses within each parameter are carried out in the study. in the following table are clarified the indicators relative to the three main topics included in the development of the sustain-led model. table 2. indicators chosen for the sustain-led model topic indicator units source geographic scale description of indicator inputs environmental sustainability air quality median air quality index environmental protection agency metropolitan areas with population greater than 1 million the aqi is based on the five ”criteria” pollutants regulated under the clean air act: ground-level ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. innovation utility patents utility patents per 100 workers us patent and trademark office patent technology monitoring team (ptmt) utility patents originated during 2015 (patent origin is determined by the residence of the first-named inventor) continued on next page pg. 63 cantafio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 2 continued local economic development employment employment rate over population us bureau of labor statistics and american community 2015 survey 1-year estimates employment / population rate (16 years and over) the reasons for the choice of the three indicators shown in table 2, representing the three main topics of the present study, are now explained: – to represent local economic development, several indicators have been analyzed: total employment, number of jobs of local clusters, wage, specialization (as national employment share), and active population (16 years old). as an outcome of this phase, total employment has been selected as the most appropriate indicator for the research. it is a better fit than employment of local clusters because it comprises all the types of jobs within economy, including the ones related to exporting industry. the total employment helps to explain more and it makes more sense for this investigation. it also represents broader facts affecting the community. – regarding the choice of the parameter representing innovation, there are two separate schools of thought for analyzing innovation at a broad scale. many academics in their studies have utilized patent data (feldman & lendl, 2010; sedgley & elmslie, 2011). another body of researchers believes that the best measure for innovation is represented by surveys. however, a study conducted by (acs, anselin & varga, 2002) determined that patents deliver a reasonably precise evaluation of the geography of product innovation throughout us metropolitan areas (msas), but patents do not control their legitimacy in smaller town or non-urban areas, nor for other types of economic innovation, like for instance non-scientific fields or more humanistic areas. the latter does not represent an issue, since the present study has been carried out with data of large metropolitan areas, with a population of over 1 million. – for environmental sustainability, the median value of the aqi of the metropolitan area has been utilized. the reason that lay behind is that high amounts of air pollution are connected with frequent adverse health effects for example increased risk for heart disease and lung illnesses. the air quality is a measure of the tendency for the adverse health consequences related with air pollution. in this study air quality is quantified utilizing data from the environmental protection agency (epa) through air quality index (aqi). the data provided tells how polluted the air is. an aqi measure of 100 usually corresponds to the national air quality standard for the pollutant, which is the level that epa has fixed to defend public health. the model used for multiple linear regression, given the observations, is: y1 = α | β1x1,1 | β2x2,2 (1) it is useful to recall which variables are taken into account for the study at this level: – dependent variable: number of workers in the american metropolitan areas; y1 in the equation (1) – independent variable no.1: number of patents in the american metropolitan areas; x2,1 in the equation (1) – independent variable no.2: air quality index in the american metropolitan areas; x2,2 in the equation (1) pg. 64 cantafio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1. us metropolitan areas studied in the sustain-led listed by population 1 new york-newark-jersey city, ny-nj-pa 2 los angeles-long beach-anaheim, ca 3 chicago-naperville-elgin, il-in-wi 4 dallas-fort worth-arlington, tx 5 houston-the woodlands-sugar land, tx 6 washington-arlington-alexandria, dc-vamd-wv 7 philadelphia-camden-wilmington, pa-njde-md 8 miami-fort lauderdale-west palm beach, fl 9 atlanta-sandy springs-roswell, ga 10 boston-cambridge-newton, ma-nh 11 san francisco–oakland–hayward, ca 12 phoenix-mesa-scottsdale, az 13 riverside-san bernardino-ontario, ca 14 detroit-warren-dearborn, mi 15 seattle-tacoma-bellevue, wa 16 minneapolis-st. paul-bloomington, mn-wi 17 san diego-carlsbad, ca 18 tampa-st. petersburg-clearwater, fl 19 denver-aurora-lakewood, co 20 st. louis, mo-il 21 baltimore-columbia-towson, md 22 charlotte-concord-gastonia, nc-sc 23 portland-vancouver-hillsboro, or-wa 24 orlando-kissimmee-sanford, fl 25 san antonio-new braunfels, tx 26 pittsburgh, pa 27 sacramento–roseville–arden-arcade, ca 28 cincinnati, oh-ky-in 29 las vegas-henderson-paradise, nv 30 kansas city, mo-ks 31 cleveland-elyria, oh 32 columbus, oh 33 austin-round rock, tx 34 indianapolis-carmel-anderson, in 35 san jose-sunnyvale-santa clara, ca 36 nashville-davidson–murfreesboro–franklin, tn 37 virginia beach-norfolk-newport news, vanc 38 providence-warwick, ri-ma 39 milwaukee-waukesha-west allis, wi 40 jacksonville, fl 41 oklahoma city, ok 42 memphis, tn-ms-ar 43 louisville/jefferson county, ky-in 44 raleigh, nc 45 richmond, va 46 new orleans-metairie, la 47 hartford-west hartford-east hartford, ct 48 salt lake city, ut 49 birmingham-hoover, al 50 buffalo-cheektowaga-niagara falls, ny 51 rochester, ny 52 grand rapids-wyoming, mi 53 tucson, az 3. results and discussion this section shows the results of the linear regression that has been carried out to investigate the linkages between economic development, economic clusters and environmental sustainability inside urban areas. the results have been drawn with the support of the software microsoft excel and stata. data from 2013 have been used for running the first linear regression. the rationale behind it is that local patents and air quality index (independent variables) do have an effect on the total number of workers in the metropolitan area (dependent variable). table 3. summary statistics variable observations obs. with missing data obs. without missing data min. max. mean std. deviation y 53 0 53 305393 7870219 1322172.92 1309411.907 aqi 53 0 53 36 97 50.547 10.5 tot. patents 53 0 53 92 12899 1886.491 2504.574 pg. 65 cantafio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd correlation matrix: aqi tot. patents y aqi 1 0.146 0.291 tot. patents 0.146 1 0.569 y 0.291 0.569 1 regression of variable y: goodness of fit statistics (y): observations 53.000 sum of weights 53.000 df 50.000 r2 0.368 adjusted r2 0.342 mse 1127512333648.42 rmse 1061843.837 mape 49.542 dw 1.837 cp 3.000 aic 1473.717 sbc 1479.627 pc 0.708 analysis of variance (y): source df sum of squares mean squares f pr > f model 2 32781479498312.6 16390739749156.3 14.537 < 0.0001 error 50 56375616682421.1 1127512333648.42 corrected total 52 89157096180733.7 as a double-check, the data have been analyzed also using another software, stata 13.0. the robustness check after an ols regression is performed to see if none of the ordinary least squares (ols) assumptions are violated. the ols is a method for estimating the unknown parameters in a linear regression model, with the goal of minimizing the sum of the squares of the differences between the observed responses in the given dataset and those predicted by a linear function of a set of explanatory variables. for the year 2013, the process has shown results as an r-squared for the multivariate correlation a value of 0.368, meaning that almost 40% of the dependent variable can be explained by the independent variables (number of patents and environmental pollution). other results for the r-squared value show a value of 0.569 between the variables y and total patents, meaning that almost the 57% of the number of jobs (taken as a measure of economic development) in the largest us metro areas can be explained by the number of patents (assumed as a measure of technological innovation). the f-ratio tests output, analyzing whether the overall regression model is a good fit for the data, shows that the independent variables statistically and significantly predict the dependent variable, f (2, 50) = 14.537 and p 0.0001<0.0005. this means that the regression model is a good fit of the data. a small p (≤ 0.05), rejects the null hypothesis. this is strong evidence that the null hypothesis is invalid. the analysis of variance single factor (anova) test, for the year 2015 has been performed between the three variables y, total patents and aqi, namely employment, total patents and air quality index in the metro areas. as shown in table 4, the analysis gives an f-value greater than f-critical, being 55.61>3.05. similar results have been obtained for the other years of the time series: in 2013, 2011, 2008, 2005, 2002, and 2000 the f-value obtained was always greater than f-critical in the anova test, therefore the null hypothesis can be rejected. pg. 66 cantafio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 4. anova test with three variables for the year 2015 anova: single factor summary groups count sum average variance total workers 53 86068566 1623935 2.50995e+12 aqi 53 2708 51.09434 105.202 tot. patents 53 105903 1998.17 7527260.528 anova source of variation df ms f p-value f crit between groups 9.31e+13 2 4.65e+13 55.615 5.84022e-19 3.054 within groups 1.31e+14 156 8.37e+11 total 2.24e+14 158 table 5. anova test with two variables y and aqi for the year 2013 anova: single factor summary groups count sum average variance y 53 86068566 1623935.208 2.50995e+12 aqi 53 2708 51.094 105.202 anova source of variation df ms f p-value f crit between groups 6.98805e+13 1 6.98805e+13 55.682 2.69221e-11 3.932 within groups 1.30517e+14 104 1.25497e+12 total 2.00398e+14 105 the anova test for the year 2015, between the variables y and aqi, namely employment and air pollution, gives an f-value greater than f-critical, being 55.68>3.93 (as shown in the table above). an f-statistic value greater than the critical value is equivalent to a p-value less than alpha and both mean that the null hypothesis can be rejected. similarly, the anova test for 2015 performed for the variables y and tot. patents gives f-value>f-critical, with 55.54>3.93. for the year 2013, the anova tests performed between y and aqi present f-value>f-critical, being 54.03>5.93 and between y and total patents an f-value>f-critical, with 53.88>3.93. therefore, also for the year 2013, the null hypothesis can be rejected. given these analyses, the results of the regression from the data can be considered robust. 3.1. interpretation of the results the f-ratio tests whether the overall regression model is a good fit for the data. the output shows that the independent variables statistically and significantly predict the dependent variable f (2, 50) = 24.56 and p 0.0000< 0.0005 (i.e., the regression model is a good fit of the data). the results show an r-squared value of 0.495, meaning that the independent variables (aqi and i, namely air quality and innovation) explain 49.5% of the variability of our dependent variable y (total employment of the metropolitan area). the same model has been applied for the years: 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2013, and 2015. for each year all the indicators listed in table 1 have been collected. with the data collected before 2007/2008, we have the opportunity to have information before and after the economic crisis of 2007/2008. in the following chart the r-squared values of the years 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2015 are shown. from the following table can be seen that the maximum r-squared value is in 2000, while the minimum is reached in 2015, with a progressive decrease of this value. this means that the correlation among the selected variables has diminished over the years. the variance in the measure of total workers in metro areas predicted by measures of pg. 67 cantafio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd innovation and air quality has shrunk from more than 60% in 2000 to about 36% in 2015, as shown in the following table 6. table 6. r-squared results sustain-led model for the years 2000:2015 year r-squared 2000 0.611 2002 0.473 2005 0.442 2008 0.420 2011 0.400 2013 0.368 2015 0.359 figure 1. r-squared coefficient from the linear regressions of the sustain-led model in the years 2000-2015 it is probable that the negative trend phenomenon can be explained with the various economic crises that happened during the years taken into account in the study. in the 2000s an energy crisis swept the western world, known as the 2000s energy crisis since 2003, a rise in prices was produced by continuous global rises in petroleum demand combined with production stagnation, the falling value of the us dollar, and a multitude of other minor causes. another crisis was in 2000–2001, the california electricity crisis, caused by market manipulation by enron and failed deregulation; this resulted in multiple largescale power outages. last but not least, another reason that can explain the results is the financial crisis of 2007–09, also identified as the global financial crisis and the 2008-09 financial crisis, considered by numerous economists to be the worst financial crisis that has happened since the great depression of the 1930s. all these crises had an impact on various sectors of the economy, starting with the financial market, with a drop of various stock market indexes, e.g. in june 2008 the dow jones industrial average (djia) had fallen 20% from its october 11, 2007 high. also, the standard and poor’s stock market index (s&p) 500 lost approximately 50% of its value in the period 2007-2009. other effects of these crises have been seen on the global economy as a whole and on the us domestic economy, with a drop of the gross domestic product with an annual rate of the 6% until 2009, and impacts on the distribution of the wealth. 77% of the richest families had a decrease in total wealth. it is difficult to say which is the cause and which is the consequence in these cases, but we can say that there is a relation among the economic and energy crises of the 2000s. a reason for the job losses from 2008 on lays behind the fact that during the economic crisis period, as the nobel prize in economic sciences paul krugman wrote, “countries faced with economic crisis were urged by washington to raise interest rates, cut public spending and increase taxes”. as a result to the increase in interest rates and taxes, firms stopped investing and hiring workers, pg. 68 cantafio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd “as in past periods of depression, the decline in the rate of profit reduced business investment, which in turn resulted in slower growth and higher rates of unemployment” (moseley, 2009). as a result of the cut in public spending, public spending in initiatives for social well-being, such as pollution remediation and sustainability measures decreased after the period of economic crisis. the drop of the r-squared value, representing the variance in the measure of total workers in metro areas predicted by measures of innovation and air quality, as shown in the previous figure, can be explained by the economics and social facts aforementioned. in 2015, the unadjusted multiple r = 0.359, but that the adjusted multiple r is 0.334. this rather small change is due to the fact that a relatively large number of observations are being predicted with a relatively small number of variables. 3.2. linkages between the dependant variable and one independent variable after having analyzed the multivariate function, it is interesting to separately explore the linkages between the dependent variable and one of the two independent variables. the relation between the number of workers and the number of patents has been analyzed, as well as the relation between the number of workers and the air quality. the results of these analyses are interesting for determining the changes over the year of the correlation between innovation and local economic development, and the correlation between environmental sustainability and economic development. the series of data going from 2000 to 2015 shows a negative trend of the r-squared coefficient, namely a diminishing linkage among the dependent variable (number of workers in the metro areas) and the independent variable (number of patents registered in the metro areas). the r-squared value decreased from a maximum value of 0.542 in 2000 to a minimum of 0.254 in 2015. the negative trend of the coefficient of determination could mean that the model was more robust in the first years taken into account for the model, while in the meantime, some other variables could have affected the dependent variables (number of workers). among these variables there could be the 9/11 factor, happened in 2001, and the financial crisis of 2007-2008. these events have shaken the market and could have affected the relationship hypothesized in the model, among innovation and economic development in the american metro areas. figure 2. coefficient of determination (r-squared) patents-workers for us metro areas from 2000-2015 higher results for the r-squared value are provided if two outliers are excluded: the metropolitan area of san jose, because of the presence of silicon valley, which represents a unique case in all the world, given the world-class high-tech companies located in its metro area, and the metropolitan area of detroit, exposed to an economic crisis pg. 69 cantafio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd in the automotive industry, the main source of jobs for the workers of the area. figure 3. coefficient of determination trend from 2000 to 2015 between patents and workers for us metro areas with and without outliers. analyzing the relation between the number of workers and the air quality, it has been discovered that there is a weak correlation among these indicators. the r-squared of the regression among these indicators is about 0.09 for the year 2000, while for 2015, the r-square is around 0.15, indicating a rather low correlation. figure 4. r-squared between aqi-workers for the us metro areas in the period 2000-2015 moreover, a positive correlation between air pollution and the number of workers, in this case, represents that the more polluted is the metro area, the more workers are present in the metro area, therefore the hypothesis advocated at the beginning of the study of a relationship between environmental sustainability and economic development cannot be depicted by the indicator of air quality index. pg. 70 cantafio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3.3. alternative fit to the data the usual correlation between two variables is represented by a straight line. namely, if we increase the predictor by 1 unit, the response always rises by x units. however, not all data have a linear relationship, and the model must be fitting to the curves present in the data. among all the non-linear curves, the one that fits the data collected best is the power function. for instance, the following charts display the number of patents produced and the number of workers per us metro areas in 2005. it can be seen that a power regression is a better fit than the linear regression for the distribution, with an r-squared value of 0.517 instead of 0.344. figure 5. linear and power regression patents workers 2005 figure 6. linear and polynomial regression without two outliers. pg. 71 cantafio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd if we keep on exploring at this relationship, eliminating two outliers from the data set, that are the cities of detroit and san jose, we can see from figure 6 that the correlation is even stronger (r2 from 0.344 to 0.637). a better indicator for depicting the quality of environmental sustainability within urban areas is provided by wallet hub, which calculated the “greenest cities in america” (bernardo, 2016). another useful indicator for this purpose could be the one provided by siemens and the economist intelligence unit (unit ei, 2009). in order to define the greenest cities in america, wallet hub’s analysts studied the 100 most populated cities in the united states throughout four main dimensions: environment, transportation, energy sources and lifestyle & policy. some examples of indicators within the gci: median air quality index (aqi), greenhouse-gas emissions per capita, green spaces (percentage of parkland), and water quality. the cons of the study are represented by the fact that the data have been collected at the city level, hence if we want to compare the greenest cities in america with the indicators collected in the sustain-led database, we have to considerate the proxy that the rest of the indicators are gathered at the metropolitan area level (bernardo, 2016). the greenest cities in america for 2016 are somewhat correlated with the number of workers in the metro area, with an r-squared value of the linear regression of 0.0727. if we hypothesize a power regression instead of a linear regression, we can appreciate an r-squared value increased to 0.101. it is interesting also to look at the relationship between the number of patents inside the metro area and the greenest cities in america for 2016, by looking at the following chart (fig. 7). figure 7. regression between patents and green city index for us metro areas in this case, the rationale is slightly different from the one originally hypothesized in the model. in this circumstance, the present study explores if innovation has an impact on environmental sustainability within metropolitan areas. from the data analyzed, it seems that there is a relation among innovation and sustainability. this has been done by utilizing utility patents and the green city index, and more than 41% of the variable of the greenest cities in america for 2016 can be explained by the variance of the number of patents registered in the metro area in 2015, as if there was a cause-effect relationship. if we use a power relation instead of a linear one as a fit to the data, the coefficient of determination goes from 41% to 43.5%, therefore representing a better fit to the data. if we keep on exploring at this relation, eliminating two outliers from the data set, that are the cities of detroit and new orleans, we can see that the relationship is even stronger. the city of detroit, in 2013, filed the largest municipal bankruptcy case in us history, which it successfully exited on december 10, 2014. however, poverty, crime, and urban blight continue to be ongoing difficulties in the urban pg. 72 cantafio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd area. the city of new orleans, hit by hurricane katrina in 2005, had devastating effects also on the industrial sector and on the production of patents and trademarks; the average of patents produced in the period 2000-2004 was 145 per year, while in the period 2005-2015 the average fell to 104 patents per year. with the pondered exclusion of the two outliers, the relation between innovation and sustainability is even stronger. the coefficient of determination rises from 0.413 to 0.439, meaning that 43.9% of the variance in the dependent variable (tot. patents in the metro area in 2015) is explained by the independent variable. if a polynomial relation as a fit to the data is hypothesized, the r-squared value rises to 0.474 (without the exclusion of the outliers the value was 0.435). 4. conclusions the aim of the present study has been to find out whether or not a relationship exists within local economic development and clusters, driven by sustainability, in urban areas. nowadays, cities in the world are dealing with sustainability issues. it has become a central topic of discussion in every single decision that has to be made concerning everybody’s life and affecting the livability of urban areas. with regards to local economic development, in this study it has not been intended as mere economic growth. it rather encompasses environmental planning, business development, infrastructure provision, real estate development, and finance. these themes are analyzed in the present research, as the attempt of the present study to merge the three main topics of local economic development, innovation, and environmental sustainability, which at first can seem as distant concepts, but are actually intertwined topics, and they all concur to the development and support contemporary urban areas, helping them to be competitive, inclusive, and economically strong. the present study has carried out an econometric model to find out the significance of the correlation between the three main topics aforementioned. this has been accomplished with a time series from the years 2000 through 2015 in american metropolitan areas with a population larger than 1 million. the results of the year 2015 showed that 35.9% of the variance in the measure of total workers in metro areas can be predicted by measures of innovation and air quality. higher r2 values have been registered for the years 2000 through 2013. the highest r2 value has been scored in 2000, with a r2 value of 0.611, meaning that the 61.1% of the variance in the measure of total workers can be predicted by innovation and air quality. a more consistent correlation that has been found is the one between two variables: the number of patents and workers in metropolitan areas of the us, excluding two outliers. the highest coefficient of determination from the database, excluding two outliers, was 0.76 in the year 2000. concerning the limitations of the model, an improved database and data-retrieval will help to collect more significant data. in the future, we can consider two possible scenarios. will it be more efficient to collect more data, improving the database and utilizing the current indicators? will it be better to choose different indicators in the study? a first attempt has shown that substituting the indicator of air quality index (aqi), representing the topic of environmental sustainability, has produced better results in terms of r2 (coefficient of determination). the problem presented in the results of the negative correlation between sustainability and economic development has been partly solved by using a new indicator representing environmental sustainability, namely the greenest cities in america or another like the green city index (gci). more work has to be done to improve the results of the multivariate regression, by inserting the greenest cities in america inside the sustain-led model and verifying if there is a higher correlation, inserting the data about patents of 2016, that still have to be released by the united states patent and trademark office in their annual report. some potential future work could be the application of the sustain-led model to european urban areas. it could represent an important tool for policymakers, offering a comprehensive picture with the possible implementation pg. 73 cantafio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd of a visual tool like a gis platform for visualizing the parameters taken into account in the present research and that could help policymakers decide which policies need to be implemented to improve the quality of life inside urban areas. 5. references 1. 2010 census summary file 1. (2012). retrieved from https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/doc/sf1.pdf 2. acs, z. j., anselin, l., & varga, a. (2002). patents and innovation counts as measures of regional production of new knowledge. research policy,31(7), 1069-1085. doi:10.1016/s0048-7333(01)00184-6 3. pastor, m. and benner, c. (2015). equity, growth, and community: what the nation can learn from america’s metro areas. california: university of california press. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.6 4. bernardo r. (2018). 2017’s greenest cities in america (wallethub). retrieved from https://wallethub.com /edu/most-least-green-cities/16246/#methodology 5. bettencourt, l., lobo, j., helbing, d., kuhnert, c., & west, g. (2007). growth, innovation, scaling, and the pace of life in cities. proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 104(17), 7301-7306. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0610172104 6. bettencourt, l., & west, g. (2010). a unified theory of urban living. nature, 467(7318), 912-913. doi: 10.1038/467912a 7. feldman, m., & lendel, i. (2010). under the lens: the geography of optical science as an emerging industry. economic geography, 86(2), 147-171. doi: 10.1111/j.1944-8287.2010.01068.x. 8. florida, r. (2009). who’s your city?. new york: basic books. 9. gaetani, r., & berkes, e. (2015). the geography of unconventional innovation. 2015 meeting papers, society for economic dynamics, (896). 10. glaeser, e. (2014). triumph of the city. new york: penguin books. 11. johnson, s. (2011). where good ideas come from: the natural history of innovation. choice reviews online, 48(10), 48-5785-48-5785. doi: 10.5860/choice.48-5785 12. lee, n., & rodrı́guez-pose, a. (2014). creativity, cities, and innovation. environment and planning a: economy and space, 46(5), 1139-1159. doi: 10.1068/a46202 . 13. newman, p. (1999). sustainability and cities: extending the metabolism model. landscape and urban planning, 44(4), 219-226. doi: 10.1016/s0169-2046(99)00009-2 . 14. sedgley, n., & elmslie, b. (2011). do we still need cities? evidence on rates of innovation from count data models of metropolitan statistical area patents. american journal of economics and sociology, 70(1), 86-108. doi: 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2010.00764.x . 15. shearmur, r. (2012). are cities the font of innovation? a critical review of the literature on cities and innovation. cities, 29, s9-s18. doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2012.06.008. 16. unit ei, siemens ag. (2009). european green city index (p. 51). munich: siemens ag. u.s. patent and trademark office. (2000). . 17. united states patent grants by state, county, and metropolitan area (utility patents, 1990 1999). office for patent and trademark information washington, dc 20231. 18. zimmermann, m. (2013). the economy of green cities. springer. pg. 74 introduction methodology the scope of study the database and indicators results and discussion interpretation of the results linkages between the dependant variable and one independent variable alternative fit to the data conclusions references http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v3iss1.279 rebuilding cultural identity nubian rehabilitation along the shore of lake nasser mourad s. amer1 1phd, architect & ceo of ierek for research enrichment and knowledge exchange abstract ever since the completion of the high dam in 1964, nubians have lost their culture and heritage as a result of sacrificing their land to flooding. eventually, they became dispersed all over sudan and egypt with some ending up in different parts of the world and struggling to return to the shores of lake nasser. with short-lived success, nubians managed to make a resurrection of wade half and re-locate in sudanese towns. this paper aims to conserve the nubian identity, which has been abandoned throughout the people’s emigration process. this paper presents a proposal of rehabilitation to the nubians and their homeland along the shore of lake nasser. this paper provides recommendations for methods to repairing the damage caused to the nubian population following their relocation and construction of the aswan dam. the main idea behind this proposal is to relink the nubians to a life they loved and violated in terms of their association with the nile river. it is an attempt to restore their favorite urban spaces and architectural elements. without a doubt, the proposal encompasses recommendations to producing new designs to the nubian house conforming to their identity, cultural heritage and modern-day civilization as a way of rehabilitation. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords rehabilitation; cultural heritage; resilience 1. introduction nubians are native people who live along the shore of the nile river, from aswan in southern egypt extending to the south of khartoum, sudan. before the construction of the high dam, nubians had a unique heritage, spoke two languages and had a distinct social practices, a unique and private culture. historically, the importance of nubia stems from its location and role of being egypt’s gate or road to africa. in spite of a troublesome past, war times and slavery occurrences, nubians have preserved one of the richest traditions and cultures. such maintenance of their heritage and conservation of identity could be attributed as well to nubian women. the role of women could be summarized providing consistency and stability; a permanent and durable force in society passing on tradition to the young. pg. 17 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v3iss1.279&domain=press.ierek.com amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 1.1. history and cultural heritage as for the history of nubian architecture and urban development in this area, large cities and monumental architecture has been discovered. temples, museums and antiquities narrated the nubian civilization. these narrations told of the history of nubian farmers as administrators at the court of pharaoh, priests and priestesses in egyptian temples (el-hakim, 1993). over time, it became apparent that egypt and nubia were inversely correlated in the sense that when one prospered, the other experienced its weakest periods and vice versa (bruce, 1976). one of the mentioned weakest periods had led general amr ibn el-as to send a force of 20,000 men to nubia, after which dongola, the capital of the state of northern in sudan, was penetrated and a truce negotiated between both parties. this truce has helped facilitate trade between nubia and lower egypt, led to the settlement of individual arab traders in northern nubia and the vicinity of aswan in egypt, as well as their intermarriage through the years. as a result, a new formation of nomads named ababda, relating to genealogy of abe abida ben el-graah, was generated. moreover, nubia had ignored the religion of islam for as long as 600 years until it was introduced due to intermarriage, muslim invaders and arab traders who took nubian women for wives. this narrative mentioned helped islam to present itself in nubia as well as helped nubians in maintaining their own culture, language and traditions by virtue of nubian women and their passing on of tradition to the following generations (anne, 1995). narrations told of the history of nubian farmers as administrators at the court of pharaoh, priests and priestesses in egyptian temples (el-hakim, 1993). over time, it became apparent that egypt and nubia were inversely correlated in the sense that when one prospered, the other experienced its weakest periods and vice versa (bruce, 1976). one of the mentioned weakest periods had led general amr ibn el-as to send a force of 20,000 men to nubia, after which dongola, the capital of the state of northern in sudan, was penetrated and a truce negotiated between both parties. this truce has helped facilitate trade between nubia and lower egypt, led to the settlement of individual arab traders in northern nubia and the vicinity of aswan in egypt, as well as their intermarriage through the years. as a result, a new formation of nomads named ababda, relating to genealogy of abe abida ben el-graah, was generated. moreover, nubia had ignored the religion of islam for as long as 600 years until it was introduced due to intermarriage, muslim invaders and arab traders who took nubian women for wives. this narrative mentioned helped islam to present itself in nubia as well as helped nubians in maintaining their own culture, language and traditions by virtue of nubian women and their passing on of tradition to the following generations (anne, 1995). 1.2. the nubian exodus when the high dam had been constructed and as soon as it began operating in 1970, lake nasser was formed and known to be the largest man-made lake in the world. as a result, egypt gained many benefits from the high dam such as providing electric power to all governorates, systemizing and maintaining the water and providing the process of nile navigation with more safety. however, the high dam’s construction still had downfalls such as preventing millions of silt, which could have enriched the surrounding agricultural lands shown in figure 1. one of the major influences, or rather dramatic effects, enforced by the construction of the high dam and creation of lake nasser was a flood over lower nubia. villages were completely submerged by the floods and heritage sites relocated. the damage was not only inflicted upon egyptian-nubian populations but also flooded approximately 30% of sudanese-nubian villages (see figure 2). consequently, the exodus of all egyptian and sudanese nubians became a reality and not a choice. in egypt, almost all of the nubian population departed to the north at kom ombo and edna and some of them to the countryside, in different cities or around the world. and thus, the paradise was lost (zohry & harrell-bond, 2003). nubians are an ethnic group that make up a total of nearly 120,000 people. a number that represented, at the pg. 18 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd time of exodus in 1963, almost 0.29% of the egyptian population. most of the people at this time were kenuzi; a attribution given to those who settled near the wadi kenuz. women began escaping with their children and old men to cities and the countryside. by 1950, approximately 70,000 persons, females and males, had left nubia to settle in cities (zohry & harrell-bond, 2003). lost nubian villages were growing along the nile in quest of the water because of an economy that hugely depended on farming, animal agriculture and production of dates. the importance of the nile shore for the nubian people, regardless of the moral aspect, is summarized in its use as a method to trading goods and exporting products such as dates (el-hakim, 1993). 1.3. the emigration to kom ombo: nubians were left with no choice except one that leads to leaving their homeland and emigrating to search for another. the ministry of social affairs, a governmental department, provides an illustration of the plan set out for their emigration. the nubians were regulated to: – rapidly starting to register the injured nubian population in this disaster. – creating proposals of new villages and administrative organizations to make the emigratio integral to the community. – studying and putting principles for rehabilitation to educate the nubian people before emigration. – subventions and contributions directive for emigration allowing them to move towards new communities (see figure 3, 4). figure 1. a. depicts the limitation of nubia. figure 1b. depictsthe location of the high dam and lake nasser (google maps, 2018) figure 2. the figure depicts some picture of flooding of the old nubian’ s villages. pg. 19 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – preparation and reclamation of land to be as compensational and replace flooded agricultural land (anne, 1995). all studies corroborated that nubians had been razed socially, geographically, culturally and architecturally. subventions lead up to changing centralization of relations of the society due to some nubian precedence to indemnity with land and others money. moreover, and due to agricultural land in kom ombo, it was not sufficient to nubians who favored land hence the government’s coercion to distribute land in sites such as edna, tommas and afia. the emigration to kom ombo took place, firstly, by river transport to shellal, a port in aswan, and then by land to their emigration site. naturally, both methods resulted in excessive nubian movement. moreover, nubians who emigrated from nubia before this plan became deficient of any subventions or land regardless of previously having owned and lost in old nubia. unfortunately, implementation did not match the planning stages; many notes could be abstracted in the following (zohry & harrell-bond, 2003): – the old nubian villages, before the construction of the high dam, were spread out accurately along the shore of the nile with wide site. on the other hand, new villages in kom ombo were closed, clustered and crowded with house units, thus, contradicted the demands of the nubian liaison with the nile and their idiosyncratic nature. – the house design was economical in terms of area and content as they were connected and cleaved together. a design nubians rejected and considered a psychogenetic side to their nature. – the location of water closets in new emigration houses had been badly located. located near the main entrance and guest room, they were not viable for use by inhabitants since they were exposed. figure 3. depicts the planning nubian villages and the nubianhouse designed by the ministry of social affairs figure 4. depicts the emigration of nubians and the nubianhousing in the new nasser village pg. 20 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – as for materials used, the walls were of stone and rubble stone and the roofs were of reinforced concrete. direct thermal transfer into the houses were then made possible through the roof. – the emigration project of the nubians was incorporated into a governmental plan of egyptian rejuvenation. consequently, the nubians found themselves within a huge society. it became essential that they lived and embraced new and different traditions and cultures, which led to the loss of own culture, heritage and identity. – nubian unique architecture was then lost to a new concrete world and to this standardized dwelling; abandoned was their innovation. 2. vocabularies of nubian vernacular architecture description of the village: a village in old nubia consists of nugu, a village that is located in parallel to the nile’s shore. there existed three kinds of nubians in old nubia: the kenuzi from the north, the arab and the mahas from the south of the kenuzi villages. all villages contain in their center (1) a main mosque, (2) a social center, (3) a post office and (4) a few shops. see figure 5. the nubian houses took a linear form and were ordered in rows that faced the nile. the linearity always occurred due to the natural contours and geographical aspects involved. facing the nile river generated the interaction and intermixing between nubian dwellings and nature, which generated a unique and natural fabric for villages in old nubia (el-hakim, 1993). in larger communities, other communal amenities were included such as a village guesthouse, a fountain, or a mosque, as in the arab district, which had a public water tap and adjoining toilet facilities. the mosque has been subject to the main adaptation. its original courtyard was covered with a vault to increase space and at the same time two new courtyards were added. the first form of the entrance to the mosque, alongside another at the back, is very large and has at one end a guestroom, a loggia and the washing area. before and after modification, the mosque remained a complete entity and retained its sacred atmosphere. the whole village resembled a living organism, constantly growing and changing (el-hakim, 1993). house locations: all houses in nubia, and their main entrances, were located as to face the nile river without obligations to geographic directions. house doorways: doorways were heavily decorated and demonstrated nubian heritage. they were the main feature of adornment, which would be carried out starting with the entrance and continued to the rest of the house. nubian families believed that their highly decorated and colorful doorway was an example of reverence towards the nile as shown in figure 5. additionally, there was a side or rear entrance to the house, often used by women for daily chores. this type of additional entrance was used in linear extended houses depending on a need for direct access from the courtyard to the whole of the house. arrangement of the house: the open courtyard is the main focus of the house in which it could be accessed easily from the entrance as well as rooms adjacent. in the kenuzi and mahas districts, “houses were structured along the lines of the extended family and were generally built in semi-detached terraces” (safwat, 2004). similarly, single residences existed, especially in the arab and mahas districts, where the houses were built with a square or rectangular shaped courtyard surrounded by a perimeter wall. extra space in the courtyard was used to later allow for house expansions. the extended family simply expanded within the complex, adding rooms and storage as the family needed to grow. the arrangement of a nubian house was especially apparent in the courtyard. the courtyard was the central part of the house and despite its proximity to the main entrance, it remained private, sheltered and detached for members of the family as well as visitors. it was equipped with ‘mastabat’, raised seats of stone or brick, along the walls, which made it flexible for most activities such as cooking, washing, sitting and even for sleeping during the hot pg. 21 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd summer nights. nubians houses were sometimes divided into two-storey structures connected via staircases located by a corner of the courtyard, which would be found in north nubia. in some village specially kenuzi and mahas, houses had another courtyard, the rear courtyard was separated from the main entrance, it served the farmer who owned animals, it was directly connected with rear entrance which was easily for women to move through the house and from out to into the house. the living room and khayma: living rooms were either open to the courtyards while some rooms had high wallto-wall openings above the door. there existed flat roofed spaces, facing living rooms such as tents, known as a “khayma”, that were covered with palm branches and stems (el-hakim, 1999). more like a loggia, it was a covered sitting area along the open courtyard, which had higher end walls, and consequently a higher roofline, raised by brick columns that are as high as one meter. this resulted in an improved air circulation and maintenance of the space to cool during summers. guest room and the mandara: nubians were friendly people and displayed their affability by caring for the guest rooms as they considered it to be an important part of the house. the guest rooms usually had separate entrances to allow the guests some freedom in movement as well as maintain the privacy of the inner family quarters. roofs: the nubians of the mahas and arab districts used split palm trunks to construct their roofs and wood beams made of acacias. palm reed thatch and woven palm fronds covered the beams. in the kenuzi district, however, roofs were constructed as centenary vaults and domes (figure 5). figure 5. the vocabularies of old nubian architecture doors and windows: the nubians supported for the windows were placed in the walls during construction, and the doors and windows were shaped reaching of the walls. in order to provide privacy and reduce the area exposed to the heat and glare of the sun, the windows were built as narrow slits located just below the roof. external plastering: especially in the kenuzi and arab districts, houses were generally whitewashed. the exteriors of the houses were plastered with a mixture of mud, clay and rock salt from the adjoining rises. the shapes of kenuzi houses were special. the women and children of the family plastered and decorated the interiors and the exteriors of their homes with bright, bold and colorful designs using paints made of calicoes, ferrous and bauxite compounds available in the area. the designs often symbolized the arts of nubians they draw many objects such as plants, trees, cars, and airplanes or sometimes described the nubians people when the hajj returning from the holy city of makkah. ventilation: the courtyard allows fresh air and sunlight to circulate through and move into was the internal part of the dwelling via internal openings such as doorways and sometimes medium sized windows covered with wood shuttering. this acted as a ventilating device and a ”private piece of sky” for the benefit of the family. glass was pg. 22 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd very rarely used since it had to be brought from aswan. the very small windows lying just below the rafters or vaulted roofing allowed hot air, rising from within a room, to escape and fresh air to enter from the courtyard (el-hakim, 1993). catenaries vaulting: the vaults were made of roofing that is used today in many parts of the mediterranean, the african continent and latin america. the earliest recorded evidence of mud brick construction using a catenaries roof was found in egyptian nubia at the fortress of kuban, a little south of el-dakka on the east bank of the nile as shown in figure 6. figure 6. depicts the roofing methods using the vaults the bricks used for vaults had special dimensions of 25*15*5 cm and contained more straw than usual to allow for improved lightness and strength. without scaffolding or centering, the mason roughly outlined the parabolic form of the vault in mud on the end wall of the room, which was raised higher than the rest (el-hakim, 1993). 3. nubians economics the economics in nubia is dependent on the export of dates as it were the basic source of income for all of nubia before the building of the aswan high dam. since then, trade had prospered in parallel with the consecutive enhancement of the dam and nubian flooded date palm orchards. see figure 7. between the closing and opening of the dam; the floods of the lake, increase and decrease of the nile, cultivation became legalized along a narrow strip of land for only four months of the year. major year-round agriculture was incomplete to the southern district of the mahas, where the dam reservoir did not greatly affect the agricultural land. figure 7. depicts some images of nubian industries although the nubian was completely close to the nile’s shore, fishing never became an important source of income or nutrition in nubia. livestock, however, existed in large quantities during the summer when the nomadic tribes of the eastern desert would graze their camels, sheep and goats along the banks of the river before traveling north at the end of the summer to souks in aswan. similarly, textiles in nubia was an irregular industry but was particularly taken for a practice in houses or in small shops to sell in small and close villages (robert a. et al, 1973). nubia has a great potential in maintain a sustainable economy by being a main center for the exchange of commodities with different cities in africa. its location make sit eligible to contain a dry port that can promote nubia as a global hub for trade (amer, 2018). pg. 23 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3.1. nubian traditions believed to be the first human race to roam the earth, nubians are known to have passed down their customs and traditions to ancient egyptians. they are people known for their artistic nature, sheer honesty and simplicity. known to the greek as ethiopians and their land ‘the land of punts’, they find comfort in living by the bank of the nile. as for family, a nubian prefers to marry from the family such as a cousin and celebrate with a ceremony that could last for up to 40 days allowing a proper practice of rituals. for instance, one of the understood rituals include the purchase of garments and several gifts by the groom for the bride, her mother and sisters as shown in a series of images in figure 8. figure 8. depicts some picture of nubian traditions. according to thomas , “these presents are boarded on a camel and adorned with decorations such as colorful silk fabrics and jewelry. during the wedding ceremony the groom is well-dressed, holding a sword and a whip” (2015). known for their peacefulness, nubians have displayed evidence of their brilliance and serene existence that has added to the tribe. as a result, indicated was a fact that they were not pretenders or slaves. moreover, jewelry was a nubian women’s favorite form of decoration as they normally covered their bodies by accessorizing. women often wear necklaces around the neck topped by two lines of jewelry bearing the divine name of allah (thomas, 2015). 4. return to the homeland the difference between the architecture of new nubia planned by the egyptian government as and that of old nubia has had a dramatic effect on the identity and consciousness of nubians. nubians who relocated at kom ombo and edna had begun to voice dissatisfaction with their treatment and began to form cooperatives to rebuild their homes on the shores of lake nasser. the nubians of kom-ombo lined themselves to create a cooperative and decided to return immediately after a government decree was issued allowing them to return to old nubia. other cooperatives were formed at abu simbel, sadat, wadi alaqui, qustul and adindan, these townships were the first to return to old nubia in 1977. it is the migration of this last community, consisting of qustul and adindan township (obluski, 2006). some nubians started to, single-handedly, build houses in different locations in the western artery of the nile in aswan. building them how and where they needed, now one of these areas is named western aswan village, one of the largest filled with nubian inhabitants. during the process of their emigration, nubians established groups and designed websites to promote their cause, in all governorates, to challenge the government to help them in returning to their homeland. successfully, the united nations provided its support in 1987 and recommended, after the lake of the high dam was closely located, to rehabilitate the nubians along the shore of lake nasser. pg. 24 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 4.1. geographical limits of old nubian villages old nubia was located between the first and sixth cataracts of the nile river. the first bounded the land of nubia from the north and the latter bounded it from the far south, which was located north of modern khartoum. tribes living in the area, at different periods, consisted of diverse ethnic groups at times and politically complex kingdoms at others. furthermore, egypt bordered nubian from the south and its close proximity resulted in its frequent domination of the area. however, nubia still flourished and prospered during the times it was free of the egyptian state. their peak, economic independence, and formulation of kingdoms of great dynamism took place during those times (3050 bc) and onward. (obluski, 2006). 4.2. lake nasser as established, the construction of the high dam of aswan took place in the 1960s. known as the largest manmade lake in the world, it plays a huge role in supporting industries of egypt. one of its most affected is fishing as it yields from 15,000 to 25,000 tons per annum. on another hand, hopes that the lake would then provide agricultural support remain. moreover, the dam is 298 miles long, 10 miles wide and could hold a water capacity of up to 130 million acre-feet. 24 million of the 130 are “dead storage for sediment and 73 million acre-feet as live storage” according to the (britannica encyclopaedia, 2017). according to the source, about one-quarter of the nile flowing into the lake is then lost to evaporation and leakage. 4.3. climate the nubian area enjoys a dry, mild desert climate. without too much humidity, comfort is mostly sensed. during winter months, the area does not suffer heavy rain but experiences it in light and rare episodes. nubia experiences wind during winter months, usually from december and until the end of february, and rarely ever during summer time. the area’s temperature varies during each month: from october to april, the weather reach a slow as 8 degrees celsius while from june to september it would be hot and dry. however, the hottest months are known to be august and september as it could reach 40°c. during the day, the average temperature ranges from 30 to 35 degrees celsius and often reaches lower numbers by the nasser lake due to the water’s cooling effect (climate: aswan, 2015). 5. proposal: rehabilitation of nubian settlement along the shore of lake nasser the idea to rehabilitate the nubian area stems from a notion of relocating lost nubian villages and moving flooded sites along the shore of lake nasser and parallel to the old site using the same old names. the location of the nubian village must be near the nile shore that will identify with hypostasis of the nubian people and provide them with the chance to reclaim their wealth. see figure 9a. the village of new kalabsha in the west bank of nile awaits in-depth studies, plans and design proposals. accordingly, other villages will undergo rehabilitation alongside proposals for new kalabsha. see figure 9b, table 1. pg. 25 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 9. a (right): depicts the relocation of all nubian villages along the shore of lake nasser. b (left): depicts the new location of the kalabsha village. 5.1. site potential and available resources this area provides a high potential for foreshore agriculture. however, environmental, ecological and economical aspects must be considered within this development. there is also a high potential for upland agriculture. the main criteria for potential areas are the soil quality, the distance to the lake and the altitude. other important resource in table 1. depicts the context of the chosen site and itsaccessibility as well as the requirements that maybe added to the site fordevelopment. site roadways waterways railways airways main roads links there is only one abu simbel. this well paved road in the region; it connects aswan and road is also of great importance in view of the tushka development. linking roads road. connect the main road to the aswan airport there is no to other cities proper transportation of products by ships except to aswan. na an airport near aswan and one in abu simbel requirements the main connection should be extended to cairo and the nile valley the costal track should be constructed as to link kalabsha and east tushka. the boat lines should be improved but more for tourist purpose than for other transportation. parallel to the main road, a new railway line between aswan and abu simbel should be erected the market access through airways is an important feature and both airports should be improved pg. 26 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd all nubian areas that is cultural tourism, kalabsha city will be as a model for all nubia; this will be a good resource to fund development of nubia 5.2. contemporary nubian architecture regarding the previous study about nubian architecture, the new vision for nubian residences should incorporate a shared and main concept that highlights the nubian culture and heritage. additionally, and alongside the rapid and over-development in the life of the nubian, the house should combine the generic concept of house designing and the new needs for current and civilized generations. – all of the houses and its entrances should face the shore of the nile to enhance the relation between the people the nile. – the houses must be divided according to nubian ethics and traditions while considering climatic treatments as shown in figure 10 below. – the streets should be narrow and winding to increase shadows along streets and to increase the specialty. – the site topography should be maintained according to use and distribution as to formalize the urban fabric of the village. the village should contain a variation of resources of sustenance such as commercial, industrial, agricultural, fishery, managerial or educational. see figure 11. figure 10. a (left): depicts the street spaces and design that give more shade to pedestrians. b (right): depicts the fabric of the village and provides nubians with an experience similar to those of their original homes. figure 11. depicts the diagram of the new nubian house and twoalternative samples – alongside the contents of nubian houses, the supplementation of new content will be fulfilled in a way as to meet needs of civilized nubians. added elements include: one more toilet, bath room or guest room. other additions may encompass separate entrances for guests or replacing other bedrooms with guest rooms. pg. 27 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – the courtyard should be developed and may be divided into two parts; one for family and another that is semi-closed to contain the mandara. the division of the courtyard may increase the shadows and increase the specialty. – modern needs such as television or internet access and modern fashion of decoration or furniture will be considered without neglecting culture or identity. – the local materials for walls and roofs should be used in new villages. – the same style of building or finishing should be adopted, with minor developments yet identical characteristics, in service of construction techniques. for example, the vault may now be built easily as opposed to earlier times. with acknowledgment to modern techniques and experienced workers, the vault may be built in two directions to create a better flow of air. – in summary, the needs of the nubian people should be considered in this process of rehabilitation to help them in rebuilding and maintaining their identity and heritage. 5.2.1. developing the vault the vaults in new kalabsha will develop to increase air flow inside the house; the idea will take original construction methods for ease, however reposition the vaults in opposing or crossing directions to catch the air if the wind direction is changed as shown in figure 12. figure 12. a, b (left and middle): depicts the new type of crossed vaults. c (right): depicts the new two-level vaults. the vaults also take other shapes as they may be in two levels to increase the area of small openings in vaults towards the wind. in this case, high levels of vaults will create a wind-catcher effect known as a malqaf as shown in figure 13. figure 13. depicts the natural ventilation using the vaults pg. 28 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 5.2.2. settlement distribution proposal of kalabsha city will divide to mother village, and two cluster villages, the cluster villages will locate near the shore because of three main reasons. the first reason is foreshore agriculture, best suitable up to a lake shore altitude, while the second is potential highland agriculture. the third and final reason is to maintain nubian culture, identity and quality. figure 14 below, accordingly, presents the proposal of kalabsha village visually on a map. figure 14. the proposal of kalabsha village. to reach sustainability, settlements should not rely on a single economic factor such as upland and foreshore agriculture. the mother village in the center concentrates on upland agriculture and the services it provides. the distribution must include direct links connecting to the clusters. providing connection between the clusters is important for the exchange, trade and transportation of goods, products, specialized services, employment opportunities, communication, and establishment of rapid access. the clusters connected with a direct link to the mother village and to the main existing road help clusters in further developments. 5.3. sustainability and future growth of the new kalabsha although the ecological resources assist in the sustenance and development of kalabsha, the design of the city should consider sustainability and the city’s future growth. the alternatives to funds and resources such as agriculture, fishing, trade, and tourism must be found as they are necessary for city growth. the artery of the nile and the connections between clusters, the mother village and the main roads will define the city’s future growth. the growth will continue as to reach the main border through the growth of clusters and their attachment to the mother village. pg. 29 amer / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 6. recommendations the rehabilitation of nubia is needed since the stability is possible by lake nasser. nubian rights to return back to their homeland will help in the development of southern egypt instead of their scattering in many different cities. participation of the public is also necessary to develop further rehabilitation plans and benefit from different ideas and opinions. this process has been ongoing in egypt for many purposes; it assists decision makers receiving the feedback of citizens in projects before acted as to ensure a successful future (amer & aly, 2011). this specific gap was noticeably present in the emigration project; therefore, this paper recommends that decision makers consider this process in order to achieve just results. the paper also encourages nubians to uphold their traditions and pass on their culture to following generations. references 1. aly, s. s. a., & amer, m. s. e. (2011). public involvement in sustainable development: a public participation process in the sidi gaber railway station development project, alexandria, egypt. wit transactions on ecology and the environment, 150, 537-552. 2. amer, m. (2018). the dry port as a holistic approach for the relocation of city gateways. the international journal of environmental science & sustainable development, 2(1), 1-11. doi:10.21625/essd.v2i1.168.g70 3. climate: aswan. (2015, august 09). retrieved april, 2018, from https://en.climate-data.org/location/6 344/ 4. el-hakim, o. m. (1993). nubian architecture: the egyptian vernacular experience. zamalek, cairo: palm press. 5. el-hakim, o. m. (1999). nubian architecture: the egyptian vernacular experience. cairo, egypt: palm press. 6. encyclopædia britannica. (2017). lake nasser. in encyclopædia britannica. 7. fernea, r. a. (1973). nubians in egypt: peaceful people (1st ed.). austin: university of texas press. 8. jennings, a. m. (1995). the nubians of west aswan: village women in the midst of change. boulder: l. rienner. 9. obłuski, a. (2006). the formation of the nobadian state. social changes in lower nubia in late antiquity. retrieved april, 2018, from http://www.academia.edu/462097/the formation of the nobadian state. soci al changes in lower nubia in late antiquity 10. safwat, a. (2004). solar architecture & computer: the effect of nature on the shaping of residential buildings at nasser lake zone. (unpublished master’s thesis). ain shams university in cairo. retrieved april, 2018, from http://www.cpas-egypt.com/pdf/ahmed safwat/m.sc/001 introducation.pdf 11. thomas, i. (2015, december 3). nubia and the noba people. retrieved april, 2018, from http://www.black historymonth.org.uk/article/section/pre-colonial-history/nubia-and-the-noba-people/ 12. trigger, b. g. (1976). nubia under the pharaohs. london: thames and hudson. 13. zohry, a., & harrell-bond, b. (2003). contemporary egyptian migration: an overview of voluntary and forced migration. manuscript in preparation, american university in cairo. retrieved april, 2018, from http://www.migrationdrc.org/publications/working papers/wp-c3.pdf pg. 30 introduction history and cultural heritage the nubian exodus the emigration to kom ombo: vocabularies of nubian vernacular architecture nubians economics nubian traditions return to the homeland geographical limits of old nubian villages lake nasser climate proposal: rehabilitation of nubian settlement along the shore of lake nasser site potential and available resources contemporary nubian architecture developing the vault settlement distribution sustainability and future growth of the new kalabsha recommendations http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 68 doi: 10.21625/essd.v5i1.718 adaptive reuse and interventions of chinese architectural heritage in the city of lasem, indonesia timoticin kwanda 1 1department of architecture, petra christian university, indonesia abstract in indonesia, lasem identities as a china town are constructed and developed over time, and chinese architectural heritage is one of the main qualities and identity of the city. recently, these unique chinese architectural heritages have been transformed for tourism needs. this paper aims to document the transformation of functions or adaptive reuse, and its impact to forms and meanings of the chinese architectural heritage of the city, and focuses on whether the interventions occurred was by the principles of architectural conservation. in april 2019, the study surveyed and documented five chinese historic buildings in karangturi area in lasem to understand how the architectural heritage has transformed. the result shows that tourism has a direct influence on changes in the building functions in lasem, such as the oei house and little china that have changed from residences to homestays to accommodate the needs of tourists lodgings. the other two buildings, namely house of nyah giok and nyah lasem museum have also changed their functions from residences to a batik home industry and a museum related to tourism attractions. interventions on the four buildings with sensitive uses are following the principle of minimum intervention that preserved the original main buildings and changed only in the wings buildings, and new buildings for lodgings were infilled in vacant land of the site for the oei house case. for one building, however, tourism has no direct influence on changes in the building functions, it has changed from a residence to an islamic boarding school for the development of islamic education that had nothing to do with preserving chinese culture. indirectly, the building remains a tourist destination because of its unique chinese architectural features. findings shows that for the four chinese owners, the meaning or significance for the adaptation of the building is preserving historic values of the chinese architecture, and economic values as well by developing commercial spaces and historic areas for tourist attractions. © 2020 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords lasem; adaptation; interventions; chinese architectural heritage 1. introduction lasem is a small town located in central java, also known as petit chinois, has various objects as tourist destinations, especially architectural heritage with typical chinese architecture in three chinese areas, such as little china village in karangturi quarter, the batik industry center in babagan area, the ancient chu anh kiong temple, and the well-known lawang ombo or opium house in dasun area. the opium house was even used as a setting for the 2002 romantic drama film ca bau kan (the courtesan), relates an indonesian woman who returns to indonesia from the netherlands in search of her roots, her mother, a village woman known as ‘ca bau kan’ or courtesan in colonial indonesia. based on this potential, in 2017, the rembang regency government in central java http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v5i1.718&domain=press.ierek.com kwanda/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 69 has developed an urban design guidelines for three conservation areas (62 ha) in lasem to create new tourism attractions, such as (1) the mosque, the city square, karangturi chinese area, little china heritage, and po an kiong temple (25 ha); (2) the opium house, tjoe an kiong temple, islamic boarding school (17.5 ha); and (3) lasem batik area, and gedongmulyo chinese area (19.5 ha). recently, however, in 2019 the rapid growth of the tourism sector in the city will pose a threat to the transformation of the shape and meaning of chinese architectural heritage. for this reason, conservation efforts are needed, namely through preservation, protection, development and appropriate use to reduce the threat of physical interventions that are not following the principles of conservation (kwanda, 2013 & 2015). this study aims to document the building transformation of functions, and its impact on forms and meanings that occur in the heritage buildings in lasem to support tourist needs, and to identify the physical intervention on the heritage buildings that under conservation principles. the study seeks to enrich and fill the existing knowledge gaps in building conservation disciplines, especially in the adaptation of chinese architectural culture in the city of lasem. later on, it is hoped that the conservation guidelines especially for adaptive reuse will be proposed based on the conservation principles for cultural heritage buildings in the city. 2. adaptation and interventions the term conservation was firstly mentioned in the venice charter 1964, however, no description for the term. afterward, the term is described in many charters, such as in the burra charter 2013 an internationally known for its comprehensive and detailed contents. in this charter article 1.4, conservation means ‘all the process of looking after a place to retain its cultural significance’. for feilden (2003), conservation is defined as ‘the action taken to prevent decay and manage change dynamically’, and all of these acts are to ‘prolong the life of our cultural and natural heritage’. lastly, to revise the outdated existing principles with the new notion of values advocated by the burra charter, english heritage (2008) produced the conservation principles, policies and guidance for the sustainable management of the historic environment, and conservation is defined in principle 4.2 as ‘the process of managing change to a significant place in its setting in ways that will best sustain its heritage values, while recognising opportunities to reveal and reinforce those values for present and future generations’. substantially, the above definitions are all alike that have come to see conservation as the management of change, seeking to retain what people value about places extending the concept of conservation from mere preservation to embrace enhancement or positive change. thus, conservation can be defined as managing change in which actions taken or process of looking after a place is to prevent decay and retain or sustain cultural significance or values. the action taken or intervention may include a combination one or more of the ascending degrees of intervention: (1) prevention of deterioration or maintenance, preferred as the best representing the minimum intervention principle, (2) preservation of the existing state, (3) consolidation of the fabric, (4) restoration, (5) rehabilitation, (6) reproduction, (7) reconstruction, (8) adaptation. response to the adaptation of chinese architectural heritage in lasem, the interventions of forms must be by the principles of architectural conservation. as a reference for the study, three conservation principles were taken according to orbasli (2008), firstly, historic values in buildings or historic sites, namely architecture and history, if it is lost will reduce its value. secondly, historical integrity whereas historic buildings are relics of the past that hold kwanda/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 70 details and information about the past; and thirdly authenticity that does not mean returning the building to its original form but all changes that occur honestly (authentic) must be disclosed. for adaptation or new functions, the heritage buildings must be related to the environment and surrounding communities, namely meeting the needs of the community as a place to work, live and play (rozov, 2013). in terms of meaning or reasons for adaptation, agustiananda (2012) argues that motivation for the adaptation of buildings is economic potential by developing commercial spaces for tourist attractions, and sustainable and commercial building functions can make historic areas become lively tourist attractions (yıldırım & turan, 2012). 3. methods the first stage of the study is data collection through a field survey done in april 2019 in the city of lasem. five chinese architectural heritages have been chosen in the karangturi area as the largest chinese settlement where tourism is growing rapidly, namely, the oei house, little china also well known as the red house, batik house of nyah kiok, nyah lasem museum, and kauman islamic boarding school. the buildings were chosen because they have changed the original function, such as from the original function as a residence to a homestay, to a museum, to a batik home industry, and a school. the buildings were documented through field surveys to identify the physical change through photographs, measuring, and interviewed with the owners or occupants. based on the result of documentation, drawings were made to show changes in the existing physical condition of the buildings. to examine the extent to which adaptation and transformation of form have occurred, a comparison is made between the drawings of the existing condition of the buildings and the basic typologies of similar architecture. the typology of the building used about the object of study selected is the typology of a traditional chinese house with a courtyard (fig. 1). chinese architecture of shelter in lasem in particular also demonstrates this chinese architectural style, such as produce a basic plan of the si-he-yuan courtyard with the main axis of the symmetrical building, symbolizing the axis of the universe connecting the earth (axis mundi) and the fixed point of the northern star. the orientation of facing north-south is also identified with the seat of the king who is considered the son of the sky facing south, supported by the north star which is considered the center of the universe and the seat of the ruler of the sky tian or gods (kustedja, sudikno & salura, 2012). this is then widely imitated by the community, although there is freedom to build in the other direction according to the feng-shui analysis by linking the time of birth of the building owner. figure 1. typology of traditional chinese house with courtyards. source: wang, 2012. besides, the shape of a rectangular floor plan found also in lasem is a visualization of the division of space into 4 segments that follows the theory of cosmology coupled with the philosophy of yin-yang, the five phases and season, and four 4 mythological animals ruling the sky. facing the four wind directions, south symbolizes warmth, growth, fire phases or summer and the red bird; east side towards the sun as the symbol of birth, wood phase or spring, and the green-blue dragon; west side as a symbol of the end of the day or life, metal phase or autumn and the white tiger; and the north side is the worst direction facing the cold wind, dark region direction, water phase or winter and the snake and black turtles; and the ground phase is human as the midpoint of a cosmological map (knapp, 1992). similar to ancient chinese architecture, wood is the main material and most of the buildings are in the wood frame structure of chinese architecture in lasem. some typical features of chinese architecture found in lasem are gable walls retaining fire which are built to exceed the height of the roof that aims at preventing the spread of fire; an kwanda/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 71 exposed roof construction frame inside of the building where the entire frame beam is visible; a queen post is a short pole on the roof construction, this pole rests on the beam, to bear the purlin beam on it; and dou gong, a wood construction that combined of dou (a bearer beam for a short beam rests on it) with gong system of architectural style (a beam bearing an arc sitting on a column) of the qing dynasty (guo, 2002). 4. the chinese settlements in lasem chinese immigrants to southeast asia have primarily come from only three of the southernmost provinces, which are hainan, guangdong, and fujian. chinese immigrants came to indonesia in several waves. while some date the earliest immigration of chinese to indonesia as far back as the fourth century, however, some argue that the first chinese immigrants which predominantly hokkien traders from fujian province in indonesia in 800–900 ad (lim & mead, 2011). it was not until the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century, however, that large numbers of immigrants from the southern provinces began arriving, especially at the ports in java. the motivating force behind immigration appears to have been adversity at home, political oppression under the manchurian qing dynasty, and economic hardships following the opium wars (jones, 2009). figure 2. the chinese settlements and architectural heritage in lasem the transformation of the city of lasem has also influenced by several immigration waves in the city. lasem city is a subdistrict city on the north coast of java in the regency of rembang. since the 16th century, many chinese residents have settled in lasem city, and they are acculturated with the indigenous people, this is evidenced by the existence of the chinese residential areas that grew side by side with the local community. the first of the chinese kwanda/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 72 settlement in lasem was originally located only around the pier on the edge of lasem river with the center of the settlement at the tjoe an kiong temple in dasun district (fig. 2). after 1600, there was a great deal of chinese immigration, especially from fujian province to lasem, because it was felt that many relatives and friends had lived there. so chinese settlements in lasem develop towards the south of the highway (the daendels road), on the edge of lasem river. this new settlement is called karangturi, and soon after, a new temple was founded called poo an bio temple in the area, and followed by another new chinese settlement in babagan area developed towards the west of karangturi with another new temple called gie yong bio (figure 2). the dutch (voc) took control of lasem in 1679. the center of power in the palace in front of the city square began under the control of dutch power and established their fortress in the tulis area. in 1750, the dutch fort was moved to rembang, 13 km west from lasem, and in the following year lasem was downgraded from the regency town to the subdistrict town until now. the government center in front of the city square then turned into a trading center. consequently, in the 19th century, the peak of lasem city's glory was at the end. at the same time, a new residential area is called gedongmulyo was developed towards the west of lasem river and to the north of the highway. in this new area, temples were not established, and gedungmulyo settlement is the last chinese settlement in lasem. 5. adaptation and interventions of the chinese architectural heritage in general, a survey was done by aini, antariksa and turniningtyas (2016) shows that there are 239 historic buildings in five districts of lasem, and more than half of the buildings are chinese architecture that comprises of 121 chinese architecture styles (51%), 87 buildings of the dutch indies styles (36%), 13 buildings of chinese indies styles (5.4%), and 15 javanese raised timber floor houses styles or gladak style (6.3%), 2 buildings of chinese javanese styles (0.85 %), and 1 building of javanese-indies style (0.45%). most of the physical condition of these buildings are in poor condition without maintenance (43%), and with maintenance that carried out only by repairing damaged ornaments, and some buildings have been damaged and left unoccupied. the five historic buildings in karangturi chinese area were surveyed and documented in april 2019 to understand the physical changes to the buildings as follows. 5.1. the oei house (roemah oei) in 1823, oei am migrated from fujian to lasem, and in 1818 he built as a residence. later on, his son, oei thian ho, used the building for tapioca and black sticky rice trading place. a batik production house. the third generation of the family used the building for a horse-drawn carriage. in 2016, according to oei ling hiem, the seventh generation of the family, the main building was restored by the oei family museum. the main building is a typical chinese architecture with a rectangular floor plan and a strong symmetrical axis with the main gate in the middle of the wall (fig. 3). wood is the main material especially for the floor and wood frame structure for the roof, and an exposed roof construction frame inside of the building where the entire frame beam is visible, usually decorated beautifully (fig. 4). in 2018, a two-story new building with chinese architecture style was built at the backyard functioned as a homestay of 15 rooms named as wisma pamilie, and a café was opened using the terrace at the front section of the house (fig. 5). despite the changes in the function, the new buildings do not disturb the original main building that is still intact. it has a strong cultural tourist attraction with this unaltered form, which is one of the most popular tourism objects in lasem. kwanda/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 73 figure 3. the transformation of the oei house: (a) the site plan of the existing condition, (b) the floor plan of the existing condition, and (c) the floor plan of the original condition figure 4. the original main building of the oei house: (a) the main gate, (b) the exposed roof construction frame, (c) the main hall in the main building, (d) the front terrace functions as a café, and (e) the oei family museum g f e d b c b a. the main gate b. kios/new buildings c. d. e. f. g. a b c a b c d e a kwanda/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 74 figure 5. the new two-story building for homestay: (a) the gate to the homestay called wisma pamilie, (b) the front façade of the new two-story building for homestay, and (c) the backside of the new oen and two-story building for homestay 5.2. little china (tiongkok kecil) little china is also well known as red house as it is painted with red color. in the 1800s, it was used as an opium house, and later on it was used for a swallow's nest. in 2017, the building on the left side was restored and used for a homestay of only four rooms, a batik store on the middle building, a café, and parking area were added at a vacant land next to the batik store (fig. 6). currently, as a response to increasing demand on bedrooms requests, the owner plans to extend the complex to the land next to it. the building is a typical chinese architecture with a rectangular floor plan and a strong symmetrical axis with the main gate in the center of the homestay building; wood is the main material especially for the floor and wood frame structure for the roof. it is a hybrid of chinese and the dutch indies style with a neo-classic column at the front terrace (fig. 7). despite the changes in the function, the owner maintained the original form of the buildings. little china has a strong cultural tourist attraction with this unaltered form, both of which are quite popular tourism objects in lasem. figure 6. little china is a large complex with three main buildings: (b) a homestay, (c) a batik store, (d) a new building for café and parking at a vacant land, and (e) the residence a. b. c. d. e. a b c b e kwanda/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 75 figure 7. the three main buildings of little china: (a) the main gate to the homestay building, (b) the entrance of the homestay, (c) the façade of the batik store, (d) the owner’s residence at the backside of the batik store, and (e) the new building for café and parking area 5.3. the nyah kiok batik house it was built in the 1900s as a residence for the kiok family with a main building and two wings, and since 1973 it has been used for batik home industry. the building is a typical chinese architecture with a rectangular floor plan and a strong symmetrical axis with the main gate in the center of the boundary wall, and gable wall (fig. 8). figure 8. the floor plan showing changes of functions and forms at the nyah kiok house wood is the main material especially for the wall, floor, and ceiling. it has a wood frame structure for the roof with an exposed roof construction frame inside of the building where the entire frame beam is visible, a queen post to bear the purlin beam on it, and dou gong wood construction system of chinese architectural style (fig. 9). the a b e e e d c a. main gate b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l. b a c j kwanda/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 76 main building of the nyah kiok batik house although functioned as a working place for batik artisans has not been changed at all considering that it has the historical and cultural significance of batik in lasem, therefore the batik house has become one of the important tourist destinations. the wing buildings on the left and right have changed a lot, on the left side a new room for the residence was built. figure 9. the chinese architectural features: (a) the main gate with the gable wall, (b) the verandah with wood frame structure, (c) the addition of new building for residence, (d) dou gong wood construction system at the verandah, and (e) the gable wall of the main gate 5.4. the nyah lasem museum it was built in the 1850s as a residence with a main building with a chinese style and one wing on the left side built in the 1900s with the dutch colonial style. since the 1880s it has been used for batik production, and today it is used for a museum of private collections, and accommodation for backpackers at the left-wing building. the main building is a typical chinese architecture with a rectangular floor plan and a strong symmetrical axis with the main gate in the center of the boundary wall, and gable wall (fig. 10). figure 10. the floor plan showing the transformation of the main building and the left wing of the museum, (g) the exposed roof construction frame, (h) the left wing with the dutch colonial style, (i) the verandah with wood frame structure, (j) dou gong wood construction system, and (k) the museum room with the collections a d c b e a. b. the verandah c. d. e. f. f c a d e b g kh j i kwanda/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 77 wood is the main material especially for the wall, floor, and ceiling. it has a wood frame structure for the roof with an exposed roof construction frame inside of the building where the entire frame beam is visible, a queen post to bear the purlin beam on it, and dou gong chinese wood construction system (fig. 10). the deteriorated condition of the main building is more due to the owner having no management power, hence the original building of this museum tends to be vulnerable to damage. 5.5. kauman islamic boarding school it was built as a residence, and in 2001 it was bought by an islamic cleric that changed it in 2005 for an islamic boarding school. the original building has changed a lot, in 2007 a new two-story building was built at the front section that used to the main gate and boundary wall, and new structures at the left and right wings including the backside of the building (fig. 11). as with the kauman islamic boarding school, the allocation of functions to an islamic boarding school made the owner changed many parts of his house. the interesting thing about the main building of this boarding school is the cultural acculturation trail that is seen from the style of the main boarding house which is a mixture of colonial and chinese architecture styles. for this reason, tourists visited the boarding school to see its unique architectural style. currently, some bedrooms of the building are also used to accommodate tourists, and a batik store is opened for tourists. figure 11. the first and second floor showing the transformation of the building for schools, (h) the entrance through the first floor of the new building, (i) the terrace of the main building, (j) a prayer room on the first floor of the new building, (k) the lobby of the main building seen from inside, and (l) the new structure for prayer room and classroom f c g f c c k j i l h first floor second floor kwanda/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 78 6. analysis and discussion von meiss (1990) states that identification of changes in function and form by looking at architectural elements can interpret the experience of space and architectural forms that generate memory and affect the ambiance of an architectural work. the results of architectural elements identification of the cases show that the changes in shape that occur due to the changes in function, from residences to lodgings as shown in the oei house and little china. despite the changes in the function, the owner maintained the original form of their main buildings to keep the historic values of chinese architecture (fig. 3-10). subsequently, the oei house (fig. 3-5) and little china (fig. 6-7) have a strong cultural tourist attraction with this unaltered form, both of which are popular objects in lasem. the main building of the nyah kiok batik house although functioned as a place of work for batik artisans has not been changed at all considering that it has the historical and cultural significance of batik in lasem, in such a manner the batik house has become one of the important tourist destinations (fig. 8-9). while the changes in the original form of the traditional chinese houses in the nyah lasem museum is more due to the owner having no funding to maintain, consequently the original timber building of this museum tends to be vulnerable to damage (fig. 10). as with the kauman islamic boarding school, the changes in functions from a residence to an islamic boarding school made the owner change many parts of the house (fig. 11). the interesting thing about the main building of this boarding school is the cultural acculturation trail that is seen from the style of the main house that is a mixture of colonial and chinese architectural styles. looking at the cases in lasem, it can be concluded that adaptive reuse or the changes in the function of a building should be based on cultural association to keep the historic value of chinese architecture. otherwise, the adaptive reuse of the traditional chinese house that has no cultural context to chinese architecture such as the islamic boarding school, the interventions made were quite enormous and the minimum intervention principle was ignored. meanwhile, the significance to retain the original form of the buildings are both the historical values by maintaining its original form of the building that has created a high cultural attraction, and the economic interest of the distinctive chinese architectural heritage for tourism. the tug of war between the interests of conservation to conserve the shape and meaning of the chinese architectural heritage in lasem with the interests of the tourism industry that prioritizes functional and economic aspects becomes an issue of the city losing its character as a china town. for this reason, it is necessary to develop guidelines for physical interventions on the site such as a proper infill design, and on these historic buildings (kwanda, 2004). 7. conclusion it could be concluded that chinese historic architecture in lasem is a worthy heritage that has to be conserved for its historic chinese architecture values. despite the recent conservation interventions done by the building owners, the issue of buildings decaying is particularly vital since their condition in the last decades has deteriorated immensely and evidently. the community, activists and authorities alike should address this issue. this research is simply an effort to shed light on the value and historical importance of these chinese architectures, and to highlight the function and physical changes of these buildings for tourism and other uses. in conservation, the changes of these chinese heritage buildings are unavoidable which has to be managed. to manage change in conservation is critical to identify appropriate new uses, such as adaptive reuse from the original use of a residence to a homestay, to minimize the need for change to the existing fabric. while adapting to new uses, it requires sensitivity in handling change and making minimum intervention to preserve the original form of the historic fabric. indeed, it is accepted that heritage buildings should continue to retain their cultural significance and be prominence with adaptive reuse. acknowledgements i gratefully acknowledge the financial support for presenting and publishing this paper from the ministry of research, technology, and higher education of the republic of indonesia. kwanda/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 79 references agustiananda, p. a. 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(1990). elements of architecture: from form to place. van nostrand reinhold. wang, yuwei (2012). persistence of the collective urban model in beijing. http://projectivecities. aaschool.ac.uk/portfolio/yuwei-wang-beijingcollective/ yıldırım, m. & turan, g. (2012). sustainable development in historic areas: adaptive reuse challenges in traditional houses in sanliurfa, turkey. habitat international 36, 493-503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2012.05.005. http://www/ https://doi.org/10.26593/mel.v28i1.289.61-89 https://doi.org/10.9744/dimensi.32.2. https://doi.org/10.9744/dimensi.40.1.39-52 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2015.11.104 https://www.sil.org/system/files/ https://hdl.handle.net/10652/2467 http://projectivecities/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2012.05.005 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i1.87 understanding localness of built form at the urban scale: case of karachi, pakistan suneela ahmed1 1department of architecture and planning, ned university of engineering and technology, karachi abstract many cities in the developing world aspire to imitate cities of the west in their built form since for them this represents ‘modernism’ and the future. pakistan is a young country and the contribution of a new generation of architects and planners has been inspired by the west, in the post-modern traditions and not informed by the local cultural, social and physical aspects of the society. karachi, within pakistan, has recently seen the construction of a number of buildings and urban design projects that conform to the international concepts of entrepreneurship and innovation and are a response to the desire of politicians to create a global image for the city. using the urdu word maqamiat in relation to the built form, this research assesses what it means for a city to be local in the context of karachi, being specific, having particular variables impacting the built form, but dealing with similar issues of identity crises as other formally colonized nations. a combination of deductive and inductive research approach that arch over mixed methods are used, in order to reveal the nature and value of maqamiat of built form. semi-structured interviews, focus groups, urban morphological documentation, archive review and personal observation methods have been used for data collecting. content, narrative and focus group analyses are used to interpret data. this research is part of a ph.d. that was undertaken at oxford brookes university from 2012-2016. the research postulates lessons from its study of local processes of built form production, the value given to local places by indigenous communities and the impact of global forces through imageability, aesthetics, and style. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords global; indigenous; local; urban morphologies; karachi 1. introduction karachi has recently seen the construction of a number of architecturally distinctive buildings that conform to the international concepts of entrepreneurship and innovation and are a response to a global image (mumtaz, 1999). karachi, a mega city of 15 million residents and the main seaport of pakistan, has a rich collection of buildings and structures of varied architectural styles ranging from 20th-century architecture to neo-classical buildings and classical british architecture. there is also the presence of indo-gothic buildings, neo-renaissance and hindu architecture. a new generation of architects and planners, mostly trained in the western institutions of planning and design, has been engaged with the recent building activity in the city. their contribution to the cityscape has pg. 39 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i1.87&domain=press.ierek.com ahmed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd been the introduction of some form of ornamentation and cladding on the building facades and designing of urban spaces in the post-modern traditions (mumtaz, 1999). these built forms do not use the architectural and urban design elements existing previously in the city and are not the best climatic or responsive solutions. furthermore, professionals do not understand the way communities associate with local spaces and thus these spaces are not considered important enough to be included in the design of newer housing. these urban spaces, which have certain meaning associated with them, and certain words, are used to describe them, and cannot be translated into other languages without losing their meaning, are documented and analyzed in this paper. the paper is divided into four sections with the first section providing a synthesis of the literature reviewed and explains the meaning of maqamiat, the second section documents and analyzes the case study area of clifton in terms of urban morphological evolution, the third section analyzes the case study area in terms of local tangible and intangible aspects of the built form and the meaning people associate with the built form, and the fourth section presents a conclusion to the research findings and analysis. 2. literature review recent literature (davoudi and madanipour, 2015; hirt, 2012; peterson, 2010; sheppard and mcmaster, 2003; marston et al., 2005; low and lawrence, 2003) addresses the role of designers and architects in design and development of newer localities within cities of the developing world. this literature focuses on the debate about how can cities modernize and develop and yet retain their identities and localness as the indigenous spaces of the cities and the meaning people attach to them are not always valued in the newer developments because of which they are being lost. thus, the question, about the role of understanding the indigenous places and communities and the requirement of feeding the lessons learned therein, into new developments within a city arises. the literature review of works of urban anthropologist (low, 2009; marston et.al, 2005; holtzman, 2004; sheppard and mcmaster, 2003; low and lawrence, 2003) details the requirement to analyse places at diverse global and local scales, and to understand that the global models get incorporated in the local contexts, but, these spatial models are contextual rather than universal. the importance given to an indigenous language does not always have to be in a physical form (street names written in an indigenous language); it can take ideological roles too (baloy, 2011; low, 2009; oliver 1997). the acknowledgment of a certain local word used to describe an urban space and the inability to translate it into any other language (e.g. english, which is the de facto official language of planners and architects) is a recognition of certain types of urban places in a context, which is lost in newer developments. thus, local urban spaces and practices, which cannot be linguistically translated into english, represent spaces, which are not always valued by professionals designing newer areas in a city. these professionals are mostly trained in western planning and design schools and have little analysis of the local urban spaces and the value communities give to them. professionals use different terminologies, which represents modern spaces, which are the result of the globalization phenomena. steger and mcnevin (2010) point out the many new metaphors and similes used to define the changing urban space as a result of globalization: ‘networks’, ‘nodes’, ‘cells’. metaphors are not only meant to capture in ‘words and sentiments what already exists in space’ space’ (steger and mcnevin, 2010), but also drive the development of cities in a particular direction. for instance, in the case of karachi, politicians talk about ‘making it like dubai’, which results in the design and development of tall buildings clad in glass and steel responding to a certain aesthetics preferences of politicians. thus, the study of figure of speech, within the language used in planning and policy documents to describe the vision for the city might lead to an explanation of the type of built form being produced in the city as ‘language transforms space just as space transforms language’ space’ (steger and mcnevin, 2010). pg. 40 ahmed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3. urban morphological evolution of kehkashan, clifton part of kehkashan clifton in karachi (called clifton in short) was developed by the british. this area still exists with a few landmark buildings and retains its urban morphology, although the land use of the majority of the buildings has changed from residential to commercial. the british had developed what is known today as old clifton to house their top ranking government officials in bungalows as they believed the sea had healing powers and provided pleasant environmental conditions away from the congested parts of the city (figure 1). thus, the inception of this case study area was in its elitist background, and it still continues to be a locality within the city housing the elite. although there are many pockets of informal settlements, which have sprung up over the years to house the domestic worker serving the elite, but the dominant face of clifton remains elitist. figure 1. 18thcentury map of karachi drawn by the british showing clifton and its connection to cantonment and old town. the locality houses, the mausoleum of abdullah shah ghazi, a saint who is venerated throughout the subcontinent, and attracts thousands of visitors daily (figure 2). this shrine dates from the 9th century, and has acquired a landmark status over the years. there is also a temple next to the mausoleum named maha dev temple, which is equally venerated by hindus and is believed to be a hundred and fifty-year-old structure (figure 3). both the shrine and the temple have been a part of the indigenous settlement of karachi and have continued to be a major part of its history. figure 2. the new face of the mausoleum of abdullah shah ghazi there is also a beach in clifton, which attracts visitors from all of pakistan because of its easy access and supporting facilities. the presence of the clifton beach has always given importance to the development of the locality. as mentioned previously, the roots for the development of its urban morphology were laid during colonial times and some important landmark recreational buildings came into existence in the early 19th century like the band stand pg. 41 ahmed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd and the lady lloyd pier which was originally a pier but with the receding sea today it has become a walkway (figures 4 and 5). kehkashan clifton covers an area of 1,950 acres and was sanctioned by the government of pakistan in october 1964. this scheme was meant as a recreational-cum-high income residential scheme for bungalows and multistoried flats on plots varying from 600 to 4,500 square yards. this scheme was meant to extend the city right up to the sea eliminating marshes and sandy wastes providing space for a population of 150,000 (kda, 1969) (figure 6). it had to grapple with many technical issues, the most important being land consolidation and reclamation. a well-established network of main streets, service lanes, pedestrian paths and connector roads were inherent characteristic of the scheme. figure 3. mahadev temple in clifton figure 4. the band stand as seen in 19thcentury figure 5. the band stand as seen today pg. 42 ahmed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 6. layout plan of kehkashan clifton karachi the idea behind the launch of clifton kehkashan was to develop residential zones along the beach and provide multi-storied high-density housing on the pattern of similar beaches in other parts of the world. it was also meant to provide accommodation for various foreign diplomatic missions in karachi. the boating basin was to develop, as a recreational zone within clifton, catering to the locality and to the rest of the city as well. kehkashan clifton was thinly populated until the 1970s but with the ethnic violence erupting in the city in the 1980s and with migrant pathans settling in the northern and central parts of the city (which was the location of the ethnic clashes), the wealthy and elite started shifting to the southern parts of the city, including clifton. as clifton had initially developed as a locality catering to the elite, it suited the requirements of these people moving from the north of the city with big plot sizes, the presence of many parks and recreational areas. the beach also acted as a leisure point. the physical distance of clifton from the rest of the city has also led to social and cultural distances as residents of clifton only interact with people of common backgrounds and interests and the poorer sections of the city and the elite never come in contact with each other except as domestic workers in the houses of the rich. the elite enjoy going to hotels, clubs, parks, malls, cinemas and expensive restaurants dotting kehkashan clifton and adjoining the elite locality of defense housing society, whilst the poorer sections of society visit the beach, play land, fun land and some parks for recreation. the majority of the private schools and colleges are also located within the elitist neighbourhood. recently, the city has also been experiencing the shifting of offices from the central business district (cbd) to clifton. this change in the land use with the relocation of head offices of a number of banks and financial institutions to clifton has resulted in an increase in the real estate value of the locality and it is envisaged by the city planners that with efficient transport connections, housing mixed land use, with residences for the elite and proximity to the harbour, clifton has the potential of developing into a cbd for the city. the downside of this consolidation of land use in clifton is the decline of the building stock in adjoining areas of saddar and ii chundrigarh where property owners are finding it difficult to find a tenant for their properties as the locality of clifton is preferred. the clifton commercial area has, over the years, emerged as a sub-metropolitan centre. besides retail activities, pg. 43 ahmed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd it also has a large percentage of offices and institutional uses. being amongst the early schemes planned and developed by kda, clifton has served as a reference scheme for other similar development initiatives within the city. clifton has, over the past ten years, experienced a rapid change in its land use with the change in the floor area ratios (far) for the main arteries and the land use regulations for the locality. the single storey houses and residential complexes facing the primary roads have been replaced by high-rise real estate, mixed use development, incorporating offices, schools, shopping malls, apartments and other non-residential uses. the trend in the change of the land use continues in the secondary lanes where schools or offices causing traffic chaos have replaced the residences. recently clifton has seen the construction of a number of shopping malls, parks and educational institution facilities and projects by private developers. the area to date has retained its elite and high profile ambience. the extroverted colonial bungalow has been an intrinsic part of the urban morphology of clifton. until today, the bungalow style development dominates the urban morphology of the locality, although the sub division of plots has reduced the sizes of these bungalows and many of the colonial bungalows have seen a change in land use from residential to commercial. the bungalow, which was part of the initial development of the clifton cantonment by the british, is a hybrid built form that was introduced as a foreign element but was adopted by locals and eventually became part of the indigenous landscape. in studying the evolution of this typology, lessons can be drawn with respect to urban morphology, sense of aesthetics, climatic response, use of technology, respect for traditionalism versus modernism and response to global imagery. 4. local tangibles the case study area comprises of a gridded urban street pattern with low density and mixed land use. according to the interviews conducted in the case study area, the residents of the low income area within clifton perceive the boundaries of their neighbourhood according to the bus stops in the vicinity, although the locality has street numbers and road names. these are secondary in their association about the boundaries of the neighbourhood. the residents of high-income areas within clifton are related to the boundaries of the neighbourhood via the landmarks in the area, these landmarks could be a school, a restaurant or a historical recreational building. very few respondents (two out of fifteen) identified the limits of the neighbourhood with the current governance structure. generalabad colony, within clifton, is a low income housing settlement, with residential land use dominating the locality. it has a gridded urban street layout, with all streets leading to the railway tracks at the rear. the streets are narrow with no vehicular access. the street is an extension of the house, and is utilized for socializing by men and by children playing. the locality is a pathan dominant area, thus women socializing on the streets are not seen. women stay indoors and are rarely seen outside their homes as this is a requirement of the cultural norms of the community. the majority of the residential buildings are ground plus one (figure 7). a trend is however seen of going higher (up to ground plus five) with the new structures coming up on the primary roads of the locality. the residential typology of apartments is also being introduced along with a new language for the facades, which are being clad in materials like tiles and make use of pre-fabricated screens (figure 8). the area around the railway lines serves as the open space for the locality and many men can often been seen socializing there. the railway tracks are only used twice a day by local trains thus, during the rest of the day, the area is safe for the children to play around (figure 9). the open ground of the railway lines is also used for informal parking by transporters and many informal grocery shops serving the locality have sprung up (figure 9). as the high income locality within clifton is dominated by large plots, the residents are not seen socializing on the streets because all these houses have lawns within their plots and elders mostly socialize there in the evenings (figure 10). pg. 44 ahmed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 7. the ground plus one residential development in generalabad figure 8. newer building in the locality of generalabad figure 9. railway lines in generalabad pg. 45 ahmed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 10. the houses in clifton block 5 figure 11. the parks of clifton block 5 pg. 46 ahmed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd children play within their houses or in the nearby parks. the area is dotted with trees, which adds to the aesthetic quality of the locality along with the presence of the parks (figure 11). these parks were previously open grounds (in 2010), which were used by young men for playing ball games as they were freely accessible. with the development of these grounds into designed parks, the users have changed from children and teenagers to the elderly. the entry to the parks is restricted to families, and they have entrance fees and ball games are not allowed. the primary roads of block 5 clifton house have many cafes and restaurants, some of these serve at the city level and have, over time, acquired the image of landmarks for the locality. many schools dot block 5 clifton. most of these are housed within bungalows and only a couple of them have purpose built campuses. land use controls are weak within the locality, thus, these ad hoc land uses spring up in bungalows but the control over height restrictions are strong and the bungalows located along secondary roads are not allowed to go beyond ground plus one, no matter what their land use is. for the residents of generalabad, different spaces within the neighbourhood were important (according to the qualitative interviews conducted in the area). these vary from the railway lines to the government school to the beach. the reason for giving importance to these areas is either because they serve as social gathering spaces for the community (space around railways lines, jirgah, park, beach) or as landmarks that are used to define the limits of the locality (ziauddin hospital, railway line). there is a custom within the locality of generalabad that a committee based on the elders gets together regularly to decide on important matters related to the neighbourhood. these elders (men only) meet regularly, or as and when required. they have designated an area along the railway lines where they meet, and the area is defined by a few benches (figure 12). this is known as the jirgah and is an informal system of decision-making but is acknowledged and respected by formal governance structures. a jirgah is a traditional assembly of the leaders that make decisions by consensus according to the teachings of islam and is a cultural and ethnic practice taking place in the khyber pakhtunkhawa (kpk) province from where the residents of generalabad originate. the decisions taken in a jirgah range from urban infrastructure to family feuds to inheritance to marriages to adultery. the jirgah is very traditional in its outlook and women are not allowed to participate. they are considered not knowledgeable enough as they live a segregated life staying mostly indoors. any issue that a member of the community faces is discussed and decided in the jirgah, which cannot be challenged by the community or by any formal system of governance. only the people belonging to the same ethnicity can be a part of this informal decision making process. since the jirgah is an ethnically and religiously unified group of people, social aspects of maqamiat in the form of community empowerment and mobilization are an inherent part of it. decisions about the provision of sewerage and water lines through community mobilization are taken by the jirgah in generalabad and followed up successfully with the government. the jirgah appoints people from within the community to liaison and follow up with the government. figure 12. jirgah alongthe railway lines the residents feel that the particularity of the neighborhood stems from the fact that the locality is in close proximity pg. 47 ahmed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd to porch areas and is well served via public transport offering the area particularity in terms of real estate values. this is complemented by the fact that the majority of the area is leased, unlike other low-income settlements in the city. yet another particularity is offered by the fact that the locality has block and street numbers giving a sense of ownership and belonging to the residents. this is not the norm in the rest of the city where low-income settlements may not always have street names and house numbers, especially if they are neighborhoods, which have not been issued property lease by the official bodies. as generalabad is a low-income settlement, the implementation of building controls is weak. this gives the residents the possibility of adapting their structures to their social and economic requirements. the houses expand vertically in an incremental manner. the individual houses allow the possibility of adaptability to accommodate the increasing household sizes and more than one household. the weak controls also result in adaptation of public spaces for purposes they are not meant for, for instance, the open space around railway lines is being used for socializing and as a playing area for adults and children respectively. on one hand, the residents see the proximity of the settlement to the elite neighborhoods and developed areas as having potential, and on the other hand, it is also seen as a threat, as the builders and developers eye the locality for upscale development. the threat is increased by the accessibility the settlement offers. the proximity to the beach offers another threat to the area as there is a general trend of developing localities close to the beach as upscale housing schemes in order to promote a global image of the city. with the development of the china port along the beach right across generalabad, residents fear the conversion of their settlement into a high-income residential area in the future. as mentioned previously, the elders are skeptical of the rapid infrastructure development happening within the vicinity. 5. local social processes the intangibles that help explain maqamiat of the built form is the structure of the society in terms of its ethnicity and demographics. this section analyses the reading and interpretation of the built form with respect to social responsiveness and is largely based on the data obtained via stakeholder interviews and focus group discussions. the role of the built form in the co-existence of the communities, the social meanings associated with the built form and ideas about place attachment are reviewed here. the planned area within clifton has mixed ethnicities and mixed political allegiance. the unplanned areas are mostly ethnically homogenous. the development of low-income areas in the city follows a certain process where one family coming from a rural area settles in the city and then asks other members of the same ethnicity to join them. the low-income settlements are usually supported via political patronage. this support gives them economic and political security as when the locality has consolidated over a number of years the settlers can apply for regularization and lease documents. according to the focus group conducted in the low income area of clifton, the political and ethnic homogeneity helps the residents approach the local government and lobby for issues like lease of plots, provision of infrastructure, and preparation of plans for their localities as ethnicity is a common bond between them, and they are able to operate as one force. generally, because of the presence of the beach, people from the entire city associate with clifton. the middle income and the low-income groups are the major users of the beach, although a smaller percentage of the highincome groups also frequent the beach. the citizens do not talk about going to the beach; they talk about picnicking in clifton. the recreation opportunities like fun land, the presence of the mausoleum and the temple, and the recently constructed dolmen mall add to the experience of the picnickers. stakeholders along the beach of karachi vary from hawkers, restaurants owners, visitors, vendors, residents and shop owners. these stakeholders have different types of interest in the area, which are not necessarily being addressed in the current development of the area as envisaged by politicians and developers. their focus is more on upscale, enclosed development in the form of malls, cinemas and shopping complexes, which is disconnected with the reality of the stakeholders using the beach on a daily basis. the activities taking place on the beach include kite flying, children playing, camel and pg. 48 ahmed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd horse riding, riding beach buggies and morning and evening walks. the festive and spiritual activities of abdullah shah ghazi’s mausoleum start on thursday after dark and end on sunday. this activity attracts thousands of people on a daily basis from within the city and the rest of the country. these people visit the shrine to pay offerings and niyaz (offering food in the name of said). the pilgrims visit the beach in the vicinity. the traditional route adopted by the pilgrims to reach the beach has become a heritage walk in itself. as the upscale developments are aimed towards gaining maximum profit, the local stakeholders, vendors and hawkers are being removed or minimized, with their replacement of newly built kiosks and restaurants. the stakeholders that are still present on the beach pay bhatta (bribes) to the police that affect their daily income. in the low-income settlement of clifton, which is located in close proximity to the clifton beach, the impacts of these upscale developments are enormous as there is a threat of eviction despite the fact that the locality is a leased settlement. the security of ownership is important for the residents and they take pride in the fact that they are the first residents of the area and have managed to get 80% of the houses leased. they also take pride in the fact that the locality has a homogenous ethnicity living in close proximity to people belonging to other ethnicities, (there is a christian colony in the neighbourhood) peacefully in a city that is generally troubled by ethnic rivalry. in generalabad, the open land around the railway track has been adapted for social purposes by elders and children. the streets have also been adapted for social and recreational purposes by children. this is possible because the narrow streets do not allow any vehicular traffic. this possibility of adaptation of the open land to the social requirement gives the area residents a sense of belonging to the locality. the open area around the railway lines provides opportunities for different types of economic activities to spring up informally, which cater to the locality of generalabad. activities like grocery shops and gaming areas are seen along the railway lines. the gaming area around the snooker table (called dubbo locally) (figure 15) is an important socializing area for the residents too, especially men and young boys but not women because women stay indoor due to social and cultural norms. figure 13. economic (left) and entertainment (right) activities along the railway lines in generalabad the weak regulation controls of the built form allow it to be adapted to household economic needs as well. this is appreciated by the residents of the area who belong to low income groups and feel the need to accommodate economic activities like religious schools, tuition centres and cottage industries within their household to earn extra income. the participants of focus group in generalabad defined the edge of the locality as the railway lines and the main road. the open area around the railway lines and the local mosque were pointed out as important social nodes. the streets double up as social/recreational spaces for children and the railway line doubles up as an edge where children play. the church, the lumberyard, the local park and the government school were pointed out as important pg. 49 ahmed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd landmarks which have existed since the inception of the neighbourhood and with which residents associate some meaning. these structures give the residents a sense of continuity, spatially and temporally. the residents feel that the particularity of the neighbourhood stems from the fact that the locality is in close proximity to porch areas and is well served via public transport offering the area particularity in terms of real estate values. this is complemented by the fact that the majority of the area is leased, unlike other low-income settlements in the city. yet another particularity is offered by the fact that the locality has block and street numbers giving a sense of ownership and belonging to the residents. this is not the norm in the rest of the city where lowincome settlements may not always have street names and house numbers, especially if they are neighbourhoods, which have not been issued property lease by the official bodies. 6. conclusion it can be concluded that there is a discrepancy between how the politicians and government representatives perceive the development of kehkashan clifton and how the residents want it to be developed. the government envisages the locality as an upscale residential development located on a beachfront, whereas the residents perceive it largely as a residential area and are more concerned about adequate infrastructure and water provision than seeing the locality changing with time because of global influences. the section on the tangible aspects of maqamiat aimed to explore the meaning and multiplicity that the residents and shop owners attach to the environmental responsiveness of the built form. the historical evolution of the case study area from a remote place connected via a dirt road to the main city during the colonial times to the thriving city centre today housing malls, hotels, embassies, parks, cinemas, retail and housing facility, located on the beach front, points towards the economic potential of the area. in terms of the intangible aspects of maqamiat, the sense of social attachment is strong amongst the low income neighbourhoods where the streets and open spaces, like the railway lines, are used as a space for socializing by residents and gives them a sense of security and belonging. the major conclusions point towards the meaning of space that, as perceived by communities, is not always bound by physical form. references 1. baloy, n. j. (2011). “we can’t feel our language”: making places in the city for aboriginal language revitalization. american indian quarterly, 35(4), 515-548. 2. davoudi, s. and a. madanipour, eds. (2015). reconsidering localism. new york, routledge royal town planning institute. 3. hirt, s., & zahm, d. (eds.). (2012). the urban wisdom of jane jacobs. routledge. 4. holtzman, j., englund, h., fratkin, e., schlee, g., spencer, p., & holtzman, j. (2004). the local in the local: models of time and space in samburu district, northern kenya. current anthropology, 45(1), 61-84. 5. kda (1969). a note on development of kehkashan (clifton): kda scheme no.5’. karachi. 6. khuhro, h., & mooraj, a. (2010). karachi: megacity of our times. oxford university press. 7. low, s. and d. lawrence-zúñiga, eds. (2003). the anthropology of space and place: locating culture. oxford, blackwell. 8. low, s. m. (2009). towards an anthropological theory of space and place. semiotica, 2009(175), 21-37. 9. marston, s. a., jones iii, j. p., & woodward, k. (2005). human geography without scale. transactions of the institute of british geographers, 30(4), 416-432. pg. 50 ahmed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 10. mumtaz, k. k. (1999). modernity and tradition: contemporary architecture in pakistan. oxford university press, usa. 11. oliver, p. (ed.). (1997). encyclopedia of vernacular architecture of the world (vol. 3). cambridge: cambridge university press. 12. peterson, m. (2012). sound, space, and the city: civic performance in downtown los angeles. university of pennsylvania press. 13. sepe, m., & pitt, m. (2014). the characters of place in urban design. urban design international, 19(3), 215-227. 14. sheppard, e., & mcmaster, r. b. (eds.). (2008). scale and geographic inquiry: nature, society, and method. john wiley & sons. 15. steger, m. b., & mcnevin, a. (2010). global ideologies and urban landscapes: introduction to the special issue. globalizations, 7(3), 319-326. pg. 51 introduction literature review urban morphological evolution of kehkashan, clifton local tangibles local social processes conclusion http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i1.26 evaluation of basement’s thermal performance against thermal comfort model at hot-arid climates, case study (egypt) heba hassan kamel1,2, daisuke sumiyoshi2 1department of civil and architecture technology, beni suef university, egypt 2department of urban planning, graduate school of human environment studies, kyushu university, japan abstract reaching thermal comfort levels in hot-arid climates is becoming more difficult nowadays without the use of high energy consuming mechanical systems. therefore, the need to use effective passive energy design techniques, such as earth-sheltered buildings, is becoming greater. this paper describes research, that uses monitoring and simulations, to evaluate basements’ thermal performance, which reached thermal comfort levels without active air-conditioning systems, despite the harsh climate conditions. the case study was conducted in al minya city, egypt, which is known for its high diurnal range. the study calibrated a non-conditioned basement simulation model versus the monitored data to simulate its thermal performance. the greatest challenge was to calculate the ground temperature. to do this successfully, we used an iterative approach between packages of the basement preprocessor and energyplus/designbuilder until reaching a convergence. the iterative method results showed significant agreement, between the measured and modeled data, with a correlation of 98 percent, and errors with mean bias error and normalized root mean square error of -1.0 and 7.6 percent, respectively. on the other hand, the energyplus method, integrating the xing approach, showed significantly divergent results between the simulated models versus the measured data. the calibrated model analysis evaluation, using the fanger’s thermal comfort model, showed satisfactory results within the thermal comfort sensation range. the research results significance indicates that the precise customized detailed iterative method is essential to create the needed inputs which subsequently lead to near-to-actual outputs compared with other ground-contact simulation methods. in fact, the precise customized detailed iterative method approach may be used as a benchmark for simulators for easy and precise ground temperatures’ calculations and earth-sheltered buildings’ simulations. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords thermal comfort; basements’ evaluation; ground temperature calculation; hot-arid climates 1. introduction earth shelters can be defined as: “structures built with the use of earth mass against building walls as external thermal mass, which reduces heat loss and maintains a steady indoor air temperature throughout the seasons” (anselm pg. 24 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i1.26&domain=press.ierek.com kamel / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 2012). with regards to that principle, we might consider the basements as one kind of the earth sheltering technique (hassan and sumiyoshi, 2017; heba, 2012; ismail, heba, arima, ahmed & akashi, 2013). carmody and sterling analyzed the effect of earth integration on heating and cooling in a conceptual way, for winter and summer performance. moreover, providing regional design approaches based on different climate conditions (carmody and sterling 1985). regarding the ground temperature profile variation with depth, many researchers developed their own numerical expression models to predict the heat flow inside the ground (al-temeemi and harris, 2003; derradji and aiche, 2014; el-din 1999; janssen, carmeliet, and hens 2004; lazzarin, castellotti, and busato 2005; serageldin et al. 2015; maja staniec and nowak, 2016). in terms of thermal comfort in underground spaces, some researchers developed a mathematical model for calculating the heat transfer, then calculated the thermal comfort improvements using predicted mean vote (pmv). however, it was only a hypothetical model without actual measurements (szabó and kajtár, 2016). anselm used fluid dynamics simulation program (phonics-vr) to predict the energy savings in the earth-sheltered model as a whole building simulation (anselm 2008). later on, 2009 ip and miller monitored the thermal performance of an earth ship, as a kind of earth-sheltered buildings (ip and miller 2009). however, simulations only or monitoring only is not enough for a complete vision of the issue, one should integrate both into a valuable research. the most innovative pieces of research performed a comparison between the measured and simulated data, using simulation programs with and/or without mathematical models to predict the boundary condition temperature, and simulate the whole building performance (andolsun et al. 2011; freney, soebarto, and williamson 2012; kharrufa 2008; kumar, sachdeva, and kaushik 2007; m. staniec and nowak 2011). the state of the art of this technique is retrieved from kruis and krarti’s research, they developed a numerical framework to improve foundation heat transfer calculations although it only simulates quadrilateral walls (kivatm) (kruis and krarti 2016). this study proves that the iterative approach between the energyplus and the basement preprocessor packages, is more accurate and gives diverse options for simulating the building shape and volume, especially in the hot-arid climates like egypt, although it still consumes a large amount of time in the simulation process. regarding the chosen hot-arid climate, it is recommended to use the earth-contact effect with buildings above ground. besides, it could be integrated with the stack effect architectural means to improve the natural ventilation and air quality as a potential development of this technique. regarding the direct solar gain effect, the under-roof rooms are the most to obtain radiant heat gain from the concrete roof directed to the sun. therefore, we considered it as the worst case to compare it with the effect of the earth-contact. after the basement calibration, the researcher conducted comparisons between two hypothetical living zones using the same calibrated inputs; one on the roof level and the other one on the underground level, exactly the same as the previously calibrated basement (hassan et al., 2014). nomenclature cp specific heat capacity of each layer, j/(kgºk) tav average monthly temperature, ◦c. k thermal conductivity of each layer per unit area, w/(m-ºk). tn neutrality temperature (tneutrality), ◦c. l thickness of each layer, m. v volume of each layer per unit area, m3. m mass of each layer, kg. greek letters r resistivity of each layer, ºk/w. ρ density of each layer per unit area, kg./m3. pg. 25 kamel / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 2. climate analysis of the selected city in egypt the research is focusing on the scope of egypt’s climate zone as one of the hot arid climates. the dilemma was to choose the suitable city for the best earth-sheltered buildings’ application. after numerous weather data analysis using the (climate consultant 5.4) software, as shown in (figs. 1, 2), the researcher found that al minya city has the highest temperature differences between day and night, and is one of the cities that has the highest temperature differences between winter and summer. as known, the most significant value of this technique is the energy preservation potential for the earth. that is due to the natural principles of annual heat storage, large temperature differences between the internal ground temperatures and the corresponding outdoor air temperatures, and the good insulation form direct solar radiation. under extreme conditions, the temperature difference between the outside air and the required comfort conditions for the interior environment, could reach 32◦c (anselm 2012). making the best use from the daily and seasonal fluctuations underground, therefore, the deeper the building is located, the less severe will be the variation. because of the thermal storage potential of the soil which moderates the extreme daily and seasonal temperature variations, wherein energy from a day is transferred to night, and energy from one season is transferred to the next, as in the natural principle of annual heat storage (pahs). for the previously mentioned explanation, choosing an extreme climate as a case study would show the great significance of this technique to save energy and to reach the thermal comfort limits easily without the use of any air-conditioning systems. therefore, we chose al minya city with the most extreme climate in egypt as a case study. analyzing the thermal comfort with the psychrometric chart using the ecotect weather tool, the research finds that it is recommended for the design to have an exposed mass plus night purge ventilation, as shown in (fig. 3) this will expand the comfort area to cover most of the measured temperatures (h hassan et al. 2014). therefore, it is expected that using the earth sheltering technique, will cover more comfort range at the chart. going a step further with testing the ground temperatures at different depths (0.5, 2.0, 4.0 m.); if the earth-sheltered concept is used; we can gain much higher thermal comfort and stable conditions, as shown in (fig. 4). figure 1. comparison between al minya and cairo cities of the dry bulb temp. avg. monthly. al-minya has the highest differences between summer and winter. figure 2. daily dry bulb temp showing the hottest and coldest day. pg. 26 kamel / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 3. psychometric analysis for al minya city, showing hourly weather data and the small comfort area, and extreme high and low temperatures. the exposed mass + night purge ventilation will expand the comfort area to a wider range. other actions have lower effects on covering the discomfort range. figure 4. predicting temperatures under the ground surface, at depths of 0.5, 2.0, 4.0 m. the stable thermal comfort conditions are high with more depths under a ground cover. 3. method in this section, we described the measurements’ details with sensors, and the weather file compared with the outdoor measurements, then how we calculated the ground temperature and the basement’s calibration process, followed by the inputs at both basement preprocessor and the designbuilder/energyplus. 3.1. measurements the research conducted measurements of temperatures and humidity outside and inside the building during three winter and three summer months from 1st. january to 27th. march, and from 1st. august to 25th. october, using (rh) sensors by the increment of (30 minutes) resolution (kn 2010). measurements were adapted to the resolution of (1 hour) for the comparison purpose with the simulated models’ zone temperatures outputs. measurements were taken at unconditioned basement gym, and at the last floor of the same building at a residential apartment, at an unconditioned living zone, and at a conditioned bedroom zone. sensors were located at the height of (1.1 m.) from the slab level of both the basement and the last floor. the basement’s slab was located at (-2.7 m.) under zero level of the street. 3.2. weather file we compared between the measured outdoor temperatures for the year of 2014; the year when the research was done; and the typical year weather file egyptian typical meteorological year (etmy), which was developed for pg. 27 kamel / environmental science and sustainable development, essd standards development and energy simulation by joe huang from data provided by u.s. national climatic data center for periods of record from 12 to 21 years, all ending in 2003. joe huang and associates, moraga, california, usa. the location of the study is (al minya 623870). we found very slight differences between them at the study period. therefore, we used the typical weather file for the simulation input and we used the measured temperatures of the six winter and summer months at the year of 2014 for comparison purpose only. figure 5 shows a comparison at the measured periods (fig. 5). figure 5. a comparison between the typical year weather file, and the actual measurements’ temperatures for the year of 2014. the previous approach supports what wasilowski and reinhart had concluded from their research as they discovered that differences were very slight between the typical weather file and the measured data, and their sensitivity analysis about the inputs proved that it was not worth the big effort that was exerted to create a custom year weather file (wasilowski and reinhart 2009). 3.2.1. ground temperature calculation and basement calibration process starting to calibrate the basement, the most important problem was to find the best curve of the ground temperature, which is located at the boundary between the ground and the soil. and it is coming more complicated because the basement was not a conditioned space. we could describe the center of the problem as follows: the building affects the ground temperatures beneath it, and the ground temperatures affect temperatures inside the building. the less insulated the basement is, the greater reciprocal affectation we get. in terms of simulations (if we are using designbuilder/energyplus and basement preprocessor), it means a paradox; to calculate ground temperatures (basement preprocessor), we need to know building internal temperatures, to calculate building internal temperatures (designbuilder/energyplus) we should know ground temperatures. if we have a permanently conditioned building the problem is solved, as we already know reasonably building internal temperatures. however, the problem begins when we have a building that is conditioned just for certain periods and becomes significant when the building is not conditioned. we used an iterative approach that implies a series of iterations between packages: (andolsun et al. 2011), (m. staniec and nowak 2011). 1. run a first basement simulation using comfort conditioning temperatures as internal building temperatures. we used theoretical comfort temperatures for each month calculated with the neutrality temperature tn (eq. 1), which provides the center point for a comfort zone (takkanon, 2006). tn = 17.6+(0.31xtav) (1) where tav is the mean outdoor temperature of the month. 2. run a first designbuilder simulation using obtained ground temperatures. 3. run a second basement preprocessor simulation using monthly internal temperatures obtained within designbuilder. 4. run a second designbuilder simulation using previously obtained ground temperatures. 5. run a third basement preprocessor simulation using previously internal temperatures obtained within designbuilder. after point 5, differences were very slight, but we continued until 5 iterations for each of the designbuilder and pg. 28 kamel / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the basement preprocessor. as shown in the chart, (fig. 6). the most sensitive parameter for the basement’s calibration was the ground temperature. after reaching a reliable ground temperature as an input, we continued to simulate the basement model changing some other uncertain different parameters until reaching a visually near-to-actual zone temperature. accordingly, we chose the best curve after measuring the normalized mean bias error (nmbe), and the correlation coefficient compared with the real actual measurements by the sensors. 3.2.2. inputs for the basement preprocessor using ground temperatures with basements, the basement routine is used to calculate the face (surface) temperatures on the outside of the basement wall or the floor slab. the output of basement preprocessor was the ground temperature, which was applied to the outer surface of every surface has a ground adjacency. (fig. 7) shows the zone of the basement and its adjacencies conditions. the construction of the basement’s wall: cement/plaster 3cm. limestone 20cm. moisture insulation (bitumen) 2cm. and the soil, from inside to outside respectively, with a total thickness of 25cm. the construction of the basement’s slab: ceramic tiles 2cm., cement/mortar 2cm., sand 4 cm., moisture insulation (bitumen) 2cm., aerated concrete 15cm., and the soil, from inside to outside respectively, with a total thickness of 25cm. as shown in (fig. 8). we tried to localize the inputs of the basement preprocessor as much as possible as shown in table 1, in order to reach (close to the real) ground temperature, as an output (energyplus 2015). for the ground thermal effect on buildings, a key element are the thermal bridges, which will depend on the ratio of building area and building perimeter, we considered it under the (equivslab) object in the table 1 below. this object provides the information needed to do the simulation as an equivalent square geometry by utilizing the area to perimeter ratio. this procedure was shown to be accurate by cogil (cogil, a. 1998; energyplus 2015). however, we did not change all the inputs, some of them were kept as the defaults. table 1. localized inputs for the basement preprocessor, for the egyptian local building material properties basement ght.idd object category input source matlprops density (kg/m3) density for foundation wall 1575 calculated* density for floor slab 2108 calculated* density for soil 1960 designbuilder, alluvial clay 40% sand density for gravel 1840 designbuilder, gravel specific heat capacity (j/kg-k) specific heat for foundation wall 979 calculated** specific heat for floor slab 951 calculated** specific heat for soil 840 designbuilder, alluvial clay 40% sand specific heat for gravel 840 designbuilder, gravel continued on next page pg. 29 kamel / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1 continued basement ght.idd thermal conductivity (w/m-k) thermal conductivity for foundation wall 0.63 calculated*** thermal conductivity for floor slab 0.7 calculated*** thermal conductivity for soil 1.21 designbuilder, alluvial clay 40% sand thermal conductivity for gravel 0.36 designbuilder, gravel insulation r-value (m2-k/w) r-value of any exterior insulation 0.01 flag: is the wall fully insulated? (false) surfaceprops albedo surface albedo for no snow conditions 0.3 for “asphalt” (t.r. 2015) epsln surface emissivity no snow 0.95 for “asphalt” (t.r. 2015) veght (cm.) surface roughness no snow conditions 0.032 for “asphalt” bldgdata dwall (m.) basement wall thickness 0.25 the model dslab (m.) the thickness of the floor slab 0.25 the model combldg every month’s average air temperature specifies the 12 monthly average basement temperatures (air temperature) (c) first, calculated by the formula (eq.1) using tav. for each month. then, the zone temp. output from energyplus. equivslab apratio (m.) the area to perimeter (a/p) ratio for the slab (63.9533/36.1396) =1.023 m. the model. equivsizing flag (false) the dimensions will be input directly autogrid slabx (m.) x dimension of the building slab 7 the model slaby (m.) y dimension of the building slab 13.5 the model concagheight height of the fndn wall above grade 0.0 slabdepth (m) thickness of the floor slab 0.25 the model basedepth (m) depth of the basement wall below grade 2.4 the model * density: calculate the mass of each layer. then, sum. of masses and sum. of volumes, to calculate the density of the assembly (eq. 2). ** specific heat capacity: a mass-weighted addition of the parts (eq. 3). *** thermal conductivity: to obtain the r-value of each layer, according to its thickness, per unit area. then, pg. 30 kamel / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 6. a flow chart describing the ground temperature and basement’s calibration process. pg. 31 kamel / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 7. the basement zone’s adjacencies conditions. figure 8. cross-section of the calibrated basement floor and slab layers sum. of r. finally, calculate the total thermal conductivity according to the total thickness and sum. of r-values, (eq. 4). to calculate the wall’s and slab’s thermal properties, we used the cross-section at (fig. 8) and equations (eq. 2 4). ρtotal = ∑(m) ∑(v) (2) ∑cp = m1 ∑m xcp1 + m2 ∑m × cp2 + m3 ∑m × cp3 + · · ·... etc. (3) ktotal = ∑(l) ∑(r) (4) pg. 32 kamel / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the inputs for the site:grounddomain:basement, xing approach was for the al minya city table 2, (xing 2014). table 2. constant values for the site:grounddomain:basement, xing approach inputs (xing 2014), p158. region country station latitude longitude ts, avg. ts, amplitude,1 ts, amplitude,2 pl1 pl2 1 egy al minya 28.08 30.73 24.1 9.0 0.8 21 2 3.3. inputs for the simulated model in table 3., we mentioned only the customized inputs for the local buildings’ construction details of the calibrated model in egypt. other than these inputs, was kept as the default of the designbuilder program. table 3. customized inputs for the building model calibration in designbuilder category sub-category item input activity occupancy density (people/m2) 0.15 latent fraction 0.5 metabolic rate exercise metabolic factor 1.0 occupancy schedule from 15:00 to 22:00 other gains computers, load (w/m2) 300 workday profile from 15:00 to 22:00 miscellaneous (two ceiling fans), load (w/m2) 2*88= 176 general lighting, workday profile from 15:00 to 22:00 environmental control natural ventilation natural ventilation set point (◦c) 24º lighting, target illuminance (lux) 300 default display lighting density (w/m2) 20 construction walls name thickness (m.) no. of layers u-value external/air. 0.25 4 2.08 external/ground.0.25 3, fig. 8 1.771 internal/partitions.0.15 3 3.369 roof/floor/ slab/ceiling flat roof. 0.2 5 2.695 floor slab (basement). 0.25 5, fig. 8 1.767 thermal mass same as (internal part.) 0.15 3 3.369 doors external door. metal door airtightness infiltration rate (ac/h). 0.5, very poor openings glazing single clear (6 mm.), 1 layer, painted wooden window frame, u-value (w/m2.k) 5.778 total solar transmission (shgc) 0.819 continued on next page pg. 33 kamel / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 3 continued category sub-category item input shading window blinds type: blind with medium reflectivity slats. position: inside. control type: night outside low air temp. + day cooling. lighting fluorescent, compact (cfl), normalized power density (w/m2-100lux). 5.00 luminaire type. suspended hvac natural ventilation – no heating/cooling 3.4. the model hypotheses and limitations – the model is a basement in a conventional reinforced concrete conventional building, which is the clear majority of this kind of buildings at egypt. – the basement usage is a gym. the metabolism rate was taken into consideration during simulation. however, for the proposed hypothetical residential usage, this would be different. – the calibrated model basement’s roof is a semi-exterior non-conditioned room. that was considered during the calibration process within setting the boundaries conditions. however, the proposed earth-sheltered building for application, should have a ground thick layer at the roof. – the research compared afterwards, a hypothetical earth-sheltered zone with the same corresponding conventional roof zone. in order to confirm the effect of ground-contact and show the effect of roof ground cover. this might not be a very accurate process because we did not calibrate the zone with ground cover on the roof before this comparison. 4. results 4.1. ground temperature and basement calibration comparisons the iteration results between the (basement preprocessor) and the (designbuilder/energyplus) software shown in (figs. 9, 10), are the output of the process described in the chart (fig. 6). we changed some of the uncertainty inputs resulting in 15 different curves to reach the most near-to-actual curve, compared with the measured period. the most sensitive input was the ground temperature, which differed greatly when we changed to the site:grounddomain:basement, xing approach (energyplus development 2015). we chose the best-fit curves to go through the statistical analysis test as shown in (fig. 11) for about three weeks in october. calibration 11 inputs were the best to give very precise outputs as it showed high agreement, between the measured and modeled data, with correlation of 98%, and errors with mean bias error (mbe), root mean square error (rmse) and normalized root mean square error (nrmse) of -1, 1.65 and 7.6%, respectively. 4.2. thermal comfort analysis and comparisons after the basement calibration, we conducted comparisons between two hypothetical living zones, after modifying the occupancy schedule of the basement from gym to the same living occupancy schedule of the roof, using the same calibrated roof inputs. this resulted in two very similar living zones, one on the roof level and the other one pg. 34 kamel / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 9. the basement zone’s adjacencies conditions. figure 10. cross-section of the calibrated basement floor and slab layers. figure 11. the most visually typical sequence that is near-to-actual trials during the basement calibration process, using the ground temperature from the iterative approach, compared with the site: grounddomain: basement, xing approach on the underground level. we analyzed the thermal comfort using the fanger model which is divided into the range of (+3: -3) of the predicted mean vote (pmv). the ideal comfort sensation based on fanger is (zero). we chose the fanger analysis because this building was highly sealed, and the infiltration rate was very low, and the building was at the steady state condition (attia and carlucci 2015). the thermal comfort sensation in egypt has a wider range and could be reached with a simple ceiling fan (attia, evrard, and gratia 2012). the roof floor unconditioned living zone thermal comfort reached 5035 hrs. 57% of the year. however, the proposed perspective underground zone reached 8655 hrs. 99% of the year. with an increase by 58% of comfort hours. 5. discussion based on this research, we conclude that earth-sheltered buildings are the great passive solution for saving energy. the big dilemma related to this structural option is the difficulty inherent in simulating it precisely. in fact, the most sensitive input variables are the ground boundary temperature and the 3-d thermal bridging effect. pg. 35 kamel / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 12. thermal comfort comparison between roof floor and underground floor of the same living zone, showing the stable thermal conditions with basements, compared with the conventional ones during 365 days. there are two methods for simulating 3-d thermal bridging effect and ground coupling using the energyplus method; the first is basement preprocessor through the groundheattransfer:basement object and the iterative approach which we introduced in detail in this paper, and the second is integrated site:grounddomain:basement object. to distinguish which method is the most accurate, we compared both methods’ outputs with the actual zone measurements, given that we used the xing inputs for the second approach. after the calibration process, we compared the thermal comfort of roof floor and underground floor living zones. thermal comfort sensation depends on each country’s climate and people’s acceptance of extreme climate change differences. in egypt, people tend to use ceiling or floor-length fans as their first choice to increase the thermal comfort zone. their second choice is to use the ac, and only during a narrow range of the extremely hot weather months, to save energy. consequently, we increased the pmv sensation range from zero to ± 2 levels, a range which may be reached easily by using a ceiling fan rather than an ac unit. finally, this research did not examine basements for living purposes but examined basements to simulate them as a structural approach for an early design stage of earth-sheltered buildings in hot-arid climates, as a passive method for achieving thermal comfort. we did, however, conduct a different parallel research to measure people’s acceptance to live in earth-sheltered buildings (heba hassan et al. 2016; ismail et al. 2013). 6. conclusion in this research, we compared the results between two ground temperature calculation methods, in comparison with the actual measurement. moreover, we provided a detailed simplified way to localize the inputs of the building materials’ thermal properties. the research demonstrated that the classic iterative way between energyplus and the basement preprocessor “groundheattransfer:basement” methods, to gain the ground boundary temperature, is more effective than the integrated “site:grounddomain:basement” object, xing approach. more specifically, the iterative approach and the precise local customized inputs displayed significantly high correlation curves compared with the actual measurements, with correlation results of 98%, and errors with mean bias error (mbe), root mean square error (rmse) and normalized root mean square error (nrmse) of -1, 1.65 and 7.6%, respectively. in addition, the fanger model, using pmv, was used in this research to evaluate the underground level versus the roof level’s thermal comfort of the same living zone. more precisely, the earth-contact effect in the underground level increased the thermal comfort by 58% of comfort hours, compared with the roof floor of the perspective zone. finally, this research does not suggest that people should live underground, but rather that architects and structural engineers should introduce the innovative earth-contact effect for use in buildings as an implementation approach for the modern type of earth-sheltered building structures. pg. 36 kamel / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 7. acknowledgments the researcher would like to acknowledge the building owners for their gracious and kind help in the calibration process, by allowing us to place many sensors inside their apartments. a deep gratitude is for inas 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(2014). estimations of undisturbed ground temperatures using numerical and analytical modeling, phd. oklahoma state university. pg. 38 introduction climate analysis of the selected city in egypt method measurements weather file ground temperature calculation and basement calibration process inputs for the basement preprocessor inputs for the simulated model the model hypotheses and limitations results ground temperature and basement calibration comparisons thermal comfort analysis and comparisons discussion conclusion acknowledgments http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v1i1.25 cool clay tiles in italian residential districts: investigation of the coupled thermal-energy and environmental effects anna laura pisello1, veronica lucia castaldo1, federico rossi1, franco cotana1 1department of engineering – university of perugia, italy. via g. duranti 93– 06125 – perugia (italy); ciriaf interuniversity research center on pollution and environment «mauro felli», university of perugia, italy. via g. duranti 67– 06125 – perugia (italy). abstract passive strategies for environmental sustainability and energy reduction in the construction industry are becoming increasingly important in, both, the scientific community and the industrial world. particularly, cool roofs demonstrate acknowledged contribution in cooling energy saving and reducing urban overheating such as urban heat island. additionally, high albedo strategy has shown promising benefits from a global perspective by counteracting global warming measured by means of co2eq emission offset. in this view, the present research work combines experimental, numerical, and analytical analysis approaches to measure the impact on energy and the environment from the application of cool clay tiles over the roof of a residential buildings located in central italy, consistently monitored since 2010. the purposeful investigation demonstrated a consistent co2 emission compensation of more than 700 tons, 15% of which is produced by the passive cooling contribution of buildings and climate mitigation techniques. the work, therefore, incidicated that local energy saving strategies must be combined with larger scale models for performing an exhaustive environmental analysis. © 2018 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords global warming; cool roof; dynamic simulation; building energy efficiency; albedo; urban heat island; cool clay tile 1. introduction the overall energy needed and used up in buildings amounts to up to 40% of the total energy needed world-wide (”annual energy outlook”, 2011). a major increase of this percentage was also registered for office and residential buildings in particular given the developing technology used and requirements of indoor comfort for developing countries occupants (oecd, 2003). the data given become even more alarming in developing countries especially where the energy needed for construction was noted to have amounted to half of the global energy needed. in this view, key research improvements are currently a work in progress in both the construction design and scientific community aimed at reducing the energy need for lighting, cooling, and heating, by keeping constant, or even improving, the indoor environmental quality (salata, vollaro, lietovollaro, & mancieri, 2015). similarly, the whole life cycle assessment of buildings is now under deep investigation with the aim of reducing the effect pg. 1 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v1i1.25&domain=press.ierek.com pisello / environmental science and sustainable development, essd of the whole construction chain in terms of co2eq as a way of mitigating climate change and global warming trends (pisello & asdrubali, 2014; synnefa, santamouris, & akbari, 2007). in particular, several passive strategies with great benefits were developed and optimized by highlighting their effects at building scale, in terms of energy saving potential and at larger scale such as green building envelopes, e.g. green roofs and walls (malys, musy, & inard, 2016; razzaghmanesh, beecham, & salemi, 2016). in the same field, several important studies were undertaken to optimize the solar reflectance capability of building surface materials, with the purpose of minimizing the building summer overheating and the consequent cooling energy need. such highly reflective coatings are named “cool” materials due to their considerable cooling potential within different climate boundary conditions, building features and occupancy levels as proved by research studies worldwide even in continental climate areas (kolokotroni, gowreesunker, & giridharan, 2013; pisello, piselli, & cotana, 2015) . over the years, several case study buildings were monitored with the aim of quantifying the realistic energy reduction potential and thermal comfort improvement due to the application of cool envelopes. to this aim, experimental monitoring campaigns were performed in colder climate conditions (hosseini & akbari, 2014; paolini, zinzi, poli, carnielo, & mainini, 2014). these studies demonstrated an annual benefit from highly reflective roofs with non-significant winter penalties. consequently, additional studies were done to investigate the impact of aging and weathering phenomena on the passive cooling potential. cool materials, such as coatings, membrances and painting, were recoginzed as the most commonly (sleiman, ban-weiss, gilbert, françois, berdahl, kirchstetter, levinson, 2011). given the capability of outdoor environmental conditions to influence the durability and passive cooling potential of such cool materials, large research efforts are currently focused on the development of experimental test procedures to reproduce microclimate boundary phenomena during different weather and environmental stresses, i.e. pollution concentration. by shifting the perspective from a single building scale to a larger settlement scale, high albedo technologies were therefore demostrated to be able to considerably contribute to the mitigation of global warming (g (akbari, menon, & rosenfeld, 2008; cotana, rossi, filipponi, coccia, pisello, bonamente, & cavalaglio, 2014) as well as local overheating phenomena, i.e. heatwaves and urban heat island island (santamouris, 2015; wang & akbari, 2015). in this scenario, several numerical models were implemented with the purpose of quantifying the impact of highly reflective surfaces as an offset of co2eq emissions (cotana et al, 2014). it was proven that high albedo materials can decrease the quantity of energy absorbed by the earth’s top surface layer by consequently reducing the overall warming path attributed to anthropogenic heat sources (oreskes, 2004). such a contribution can compensate for the negative effects of the greenhouse gas emissions. therefore, the benefits attained by applying highly reflective surface materials, such as cool pavings and roofs, can be determied in terms of offset of co2eq. for this reason, a new tailored methodology to quantitavely determine the potential of high albedo surfaces in abating the co2eq emissions depending on the site location (i.e. latitude), the climate zone and the weather conditions, the surface orientation and slope, i.e. building roofs and pavements, was proposed in (cotana et al., 2014). such an innovative method could be used in order to quantify additional environmental benefits of highly reflective surfaces, at an urban scale, in terms of potential of co2eq emission offset. moreover, it helps to determine the mitigation capability of different buildings or whole areas by specifying the surfaces’geometry and location. beginning with the aforementioned research background, the present work is an attempt at bridging the gap between the analysis at single-building level and a global approach. therefore, building upon existing research efforts on (i) innovative cool roof technologies, and (ii) the potential of highly reflective surfaces in mitigating the global warming phenomenon, this work is an assessment of environmental and energy effects of a cool clay tile tailored for application in historical architecture for its low visual impact. therefore, a residential neighborhood situated in italy was chosen as a case study and three main building typologies were identified to assess the energy performance in numerical simulation environments by focusing in particular on the electricity consumption for cooling. in this paper, the impact of the highly reflective clay tiles is assessed at first by quantifying the summer cooling enpg. 2 pisello / environmental science and sustainable development, essd ergy saving potential. therefore, the energy reduction is converted into the co2eq emissions avoided by reducing the summer electricity demand. such a benefit in terms of environmental impact is finally coupled with the benefit computed by using an energy balance model developed by the authors (cotana et al., 2014). the same method is therefore used for a prototype residential district with an energy behaviour that is improved by applying cool clay tiles. this results in a reduction in their impact and combining the energy saving potential and the mitigation of the global warming in terms of co2eq emissions offset. nomenclature c-i building category (i.e. constructed before 1980) c-ii building category (i.e. constructed between 1977 and 2000) c-iii building category (i.e. constructed after 2001) co2eq equivalent carbon dioxide sri solar reflection index hc convection coefficient 2. materials and methods 2.1. research framework the present paper consists of a multifunctional and a multipurpose procedure that groups numerical analysis, analytical methods, and final environmental assessment. with the aim of assessing the performance of a case study settlement and the possible energy and environmental saving attributed to the application of cool tiles, perspective is shifted from a single-building level to the urban scale. the numerical analysis is an attempt to implement dynamic simulation models adjusted by means of continuously monitored data of the case study. the analytical tool (cotana et al., 2014) was implemented to investigate the contribution of a high albedo solution in terms of co2eq offsets of the settlement roofs in the considered prototype village. the final environmental assessment was performed to groups the benefits of cooling and energy saving together with the ones related to the high albedo technology as climate change mitigation techniques as acknowledged in previous works (akbari et al. 2013). the innovative contribution of the work consists, therefore, of (i) the implementation and integration of such proposed tools and procedures, (ii) their application from settlement level to a residential district characterized by sloped roofs covered by clay tiles (iii) the replication of the study for multiple building categories that are characterized by different architectural characteristics and construction period typically affecting the italian building environmental and energy performance. 3. the cool clay tile prototype the development of the innovative cool tiles is an attempt to improve their passive cooling capability and simultaneously minimize the exterior impact of the cool coating appearance. this is inspired by the fact that the case study village consists of a suburban district characterized by traditional architectures located on a hill. such a tile was selected according to previous works of the authors (pisello, 2014), where a first in-lab depiction was carried out to evaluate the solar reflectance and thermal emittance of multiple clay tile samples. such properties are considered to have a significant impact on the cooling capability of the tile which is expressed in terms of solar reflection index-sri (akbari, 2001). the cool clay tile optimization was performed starting from a commercialized composite material consisting of the clay tile covered by an engobe layer. the engobe represents a sort of coating that is applied over the tile before the cooking process into the industrial ovens and that is able to preserve its optic-energy characteristics also after such oven-produced thermal stress. therefore, already commercialized tiles usually present several engobes designed for several aesthetic purposes such as face antique appearance, coloring, finishing, etc. this engobe has pg. 3 pisello / environmental science and sustainable development, essd been characterized with ir-reflective pigments. therefore, the application of optic-energy performance of tiles on residential buildings’ roofs of the selected district is the same as that of lightly-colored clay tile typically applied over traditional sloped roofs. however, the latter presents a relatively higher solar reflectance capability as reported in table 1. table 1. optic characteristics of the cool clay tile. tiles characteristics value uv reflectance: 8.1% vis reflectance: 59.1% nir reflectance: 81.8% total solar reflectance: 67.0% sri=80 [16], hc= 5 w m−2k−1 80 4. dynamic thermal-energy analysis at building scale the residential district selected for this work was firstly mapped by means of gis techniques and the main technical and architectural features were identified. the preliminary gis assessment helped the authors to consider and evaluate several building typologies as well as cluster them with respect to the period of construction as the selected main driver for the energy behaviour in italy. in fact, the first energy efficiency regulation applied to construction in italy was published in 1976. therefore, all the predecessor buildings (i.e. designed after 1976 and constructed before 1980) that were not retrofitted had to be considered as non-insulated buildings, as the continuously monitored one. therefore, a first main building category was identified, i.e. 1st category, of non-insulated buildings constructed before 1976. afterwards, two additional categories were identified by using the same approach, i.e. a category including buildings built between 1980 and 2000, and a third category of houses built after 2000, characterized by very high european energy standards, as indicated in recent directives and statistics (”energy performance of buildings directive”, 2005). therefore, the three identified building categories are as follows: • c-i: buildings antecedent 1976; • c-ii: buildings dated back to 1980-2000; • c-iii: recent buildings built after 2000. the continuously monitored data reported and analysed in previous works (pisello & cotana, 2014) helped calibrate the models designed in this paper and finally extend the results up to district level. moreover, an outdoor weather station positioned in the case study district was dedicated to this work to continuously monitor the main outdoor microclimate parameters: outdoor dry bulb temperature [◦c], wind velocity [m/s] and main direction [◦], global solar radiation over a horizontal plane [w/m2], direct solar radiation [w/m2], superficial temperature over the roof slopes [◦c], and air relative humidity [%]. at the same time, an indoor attic floor microclimate monitoring station was also installed in the prototype building, being able to monitor: indoor air temperature [◦c], relative humidity [%], internal surface temperatures [◦c], air velocity [m/s], and globe-thermometer temperature [◦c]. more details about the experimental equipment are given in previous works for the same authors (pisello, castaldo, piselli, fabiani, & cotana, 2016; pisello, castaldo, fabiani, & cotana, 2016). the collected experimental data were used in the dynamic thermal-energy analysis to calibrate the numerical model reference (i.e. house in c-i) according to (mustafaraj, marini, costa, & keane, 2014) and to extend the results to all the other identified building categories after properly refining the models to describe all the buildings typologies, i.e. c-ii and c-iii. indoor occupancy of buildings was modelled by accounting for simplified schedules according to (feng, yan, & hong, 2015). eer of 1.5 and continuous operational setup scheme were assumed for the cooling system. the summer indoor air temperature setup was assumed to be 26◦c by referring to the european reference standard en 15251 (”indoor environmental input parameters for design”, 2012; ”revision of en 15251”, 2012). electric and thermal energy consumption of 10 houses per category was collected and the average category building pg. 4 pisello / environmental science and sustainable development, essd was defined. therefore, the annual calibration procedure was performed by considering a dedicated weather file elaborated during the course of 2013 to which the energy consumption were referred. 5. environmental modeling at global scale the assessment of the environmental impact of the cool tiles in terms of co2eq offset included different steps. firstly, the relation between the change in the earth albedo and the average atmospheric temperature was quantified by means of the analytical model provided in (cotana et al., 2014), which was applied to the case study settlement sloped surfaces (cotana et al., 2014). such a model consists of four main phases: (i)comparison of the modification of the mean albedo of the earth to that of mean atmospheric temperature through a tailored analytical procedure; (ii)assessment of the mitigation of global warming in terms of co2eq offset by assuming that the measured temperature rise is generated exclusively from the observed increase of co2 level; (iii)evaluation of the effect on the climate generated by the peculiar roof treatment. measured by considering the experimental characteristics of solar reflectance of the considered tiles; (iv)quantification of the potential mitigation of global warming in terms of offset of co2eq. this effect is therefore coupled to one generated by energy reduction achieved by cool tile implementation. additionally, to evaluate the proposed solution in mitigating global warming at district scale, the combined effect is also assessed. for this reason, the surface of the roof in every house was evaluated and the area and the inclinationorientation characteristic taken into account in the mathematical model of cotana and others (2014). this is the first currently available model capable of considering geometrical characteristics of surfaces with varying albedo. therefore, experimental spectrophoto meter albedo values provided by previous studies were considered. moreover, data about the latitude and longitude, specifically referring to the real italian residential buildings selected as case study village, were used as input for the model. 6. description of the case study the selected case study neighborhood is constituted by 106 villas situated in the green belt of perugia, a city located in central italy within the moderate climate zone (figure 1). such settlement corresponds to a wide architectural variety characterized by a hill where the houses are located since they were built starting from the 60s. therefore, three main building categories, according to the time of construction, were identified and modeled for this work. figure 1. aerial view of the case study village. the building cluster was carried out firstly using gis techniques and then by in-situ inspection and multiple surveys to building facilities. possible energy retrofits were considered in the building clustering. finally, realistic pg. 5 pisello / environmental science and sustainable development, essd electric and thermal energy consumption data of 30 houses, 10 per category, were collected to adjust the dynamic simulation models up to an acceptable approximation rate according to (”ashrae guideline”, 2002). for reasons previously mentioned, category 1 (c-i), included those buildings made, designed, and constructed before 1980 without any following retrofit. this category included 52 buildings out of 106. category 2 (i.e. c-ii) included buildings constructed from 1980-2000 and was represented by 39 buildings out of 106. the final category, category 3 (c-iii), included the most recent constructions built after 2000 as well as the few remaining 15 houses. in table 2, some general information of the building architecture and categories are reported. moreover, the main buildings’ thermal and technical characteristics were differentiated within the dynamic simulation engine for energy assessment purposes. in particular, the thermal insulation capability of both the transparent and the opaque envelope components was differentiated according to statistical data of the italian construction stock and in situ inspections. table 4 finally reports the main boundary conditions used for the simulation on an annual base. table 2. technical information about the evaluated buildings architecture and category. building categories building architecture general details <1976 (c-i) [1977;2000] (c-ii) >2001 (c-iii) 120 m2 (ground floor area) 100 m2 (first floor area) 60 m2 (second floor area) masonry resistant structure table 3. mainthermal properties of the building envelope for each category. building category envelope properties c-i opaque external partition (no insulation panels) walls: thermal transmittance: 1.87 w/m2 k internal heat capacity: 150 kj/m2k roof: thermal transmittance: 2.01 w/m2 k internal heat capacity: 207 kj/m2k ground floor: thermal transmittance: 1.67 w/m2 k internal heat capacity: 163 kj/m2k windows (single clear glass 6 mm) thermal transmittance: 5.78 w/m2 k solar factor: 0.82 direct solar transmittance: 0.78 lighting transmittance: 0.88 continued on next page pg. 6 pisello / environmental science and sustainable development, essd building category envelope properties c-ii opaque external partition walls: thermal transmittance: 0.72 w/m2 k internal heat capacity: 150 kj/m2k roof: thermal transmittance: 1.35 w/m2 k internal heat capacity: 126 kj/m2k ground floor: thermal transmittance: 0.98 w/m2 k internal heat capacity: 80 kj/m2k windows (double clear camera 3-14-3 air) thermal transmittance: 2.72 w/m2 k solar factor: 0.76 direct solar transmittance: 0.71 lighting transmittance: 0.81 c-iii opaque external partition walls: thermal transmittance: 0.33 w/m2 k internal heat capacity: 150 kj/m2k roof: thermal transmittance: 0.29 w/m2 k internal heat capacity: 16 kj/m2k ground floor: thermal transmittance: 0.34 w/m2 k internal heat capacity: 27 kj/m2k windows (double lowe camera 6+13+6 mm arg) thermal transmittance: 1.49 w/m2k solar factor: 0.57 direct solar transmittance: 0.47 lighting transmittance: 0.75 table 4. main case study settlement boundary conditions used for the dynamic simulation. climate boundary conditions location daily average dry bulb temperature (maximum/minimum peak):winter: 7.8◦c 1.8◦c spring: 15.9◦c 7.4◦c summer: 27◦c 16.5◦c fall: 17.7◦c 10.4◦c eliophany: 5.8 h/day rainfall rate: 850 mm perugia (italy) elevation above sea level: 522 m latitude: 43◦06’59.09” longitude: 12◦18’38.79” degree days: 2204 pg. 7 pisello / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 7. discussion of the results 7.1. cooling energy reduction assessment the electricity energy requirement during the summer was selected as the key parameter to be analyzed. figure 2 shows the profile of the requirement for cooling of the multiple building categories in the “cool-roof” and “noncool roof” scenario. in particular, the estimated reduction of the electric energy for cooling due to the application of cool clay tiles was converted in co2eq avoided emissions (cotana et al., 2014). the main results for each building category, i.e. c-i, c-ii, and c-iii are reported in table 4. in particular, the annual energy reduction due to the application of the cool tile is equal to 11.8% for category i, 12.7% for category ii, and 13.0% for category iii. therefore, c-iii buildings require more electricity than c-i buildings (7.5% more). therefore, significant drawbacks are created by the insulated envelope in the hot season in the evaluated buildings. in figure 3, the energy balance of the building envelope is depicted for c-i (a), c-ii (b), and c-iii (c), by taking into account the energy required for heating, cooling, lighting, and all the appliances and internal gains due to the occupancy level, solar gains, and envelope infiltrations. the graphs show that buildings belonging to c-iii, built after 2001, are characterized by the best performance of the building envelope from an energy balance perspective since they generally present lower energy requirements. thermal losses and gains are therefore less affected by the outdoor boundary conditions’ variability. table 5. energy reduction due to cool tiles and related emissions of co2eq. electric energy saving due to cool tiles [kwh/year] c-i c-ii c-iii non-cool tiles: 27157.2 cool tiles: 23960.4 non-cool tiles: 28657.0 cool tiles: 25021.2 non-cool tiles: 29784.1 cool tiles: 25912.5 co2eq avoided emissions 11.8% 12.7% 13% figure 2. electricity requirement forcooling in different building categories and envelope configuration. pg. 8 pisello / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 3. energy balance through the buildingenvelope for c-i (a), c-ii (b), and c-iii (c). 7.2. assessment of the environmental impact the analytical model developed in (cotana et al., 2014) was applied to the selected case study area in order to determine the total environmental impact of the proposed cool tiles and increase of the albedo of the evaluated district. for this reason, each roof surface included in the geometrical building model used for the dynamic energy simulation was considered in the analytical methodology. despite the fact that roof configurations were defined in the developed energy balance tool, the realistic features of each roof, such as geometry, orientation, slope, and surface extension, were taken into consideration. the analysis results show how applying highly reflective clay tiles on village roofs leads to a co2eq emission offset of up to 631 tons per year, which is generated by the additional reflected radiation. therefore, the total emissions evaded were computed by taking into account the whole neighborhood with the different building categories as well as the emissions avoided annually given the cooling energy saving. more specifically, the database eco-invent 3 was taken into account to evaluate the equivalent co2 emissions evaded (corresponding to 0.386 kgco2eq/kwhel) (gmbh, 2013). moreover, all the residential buildings characterized by low-reflective clay tiles require about 2,976,558.4 kwhel/year for cooling. the same buildings, yet those with the highly reflective clay tiles, require around 12.3% less. the optimized settlement configuration therefore requires 2,610,456 kwhel/year, with a consequent calculated energy saving equivalent to 366,102.7 kwhel/year at district level. therefore, the benefit generated by the reduction of the energy requirement for cooling from an environmental perspective is equal to 141.3 tons of co2eq/year. such a value is then coupled with the offset of co2eq emissions computed by using the model for contributing to the increase of the earth albedo. the application of the cool clay tiles can counterbalance 772.3 tons of co2eq/year by taking into account the overall settlement contribution of 106 houses. pg. 9 pisello / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 4 shows the comparison between the primary energy requirements for cooling for the different evaluated building categories within the “cool” and “non-cool” configuration of the building roof. additionally, in figure 5 (a, b) the comparison between the total co2eq emissions due to the building hvac operation and the total co2eq emissions offset guaranteed by the different type of roof cover is illustrated in terms of tons of co2eq. in particular, co2eq emissions reduction of 354.00, 265.50, and 102.12 tons are calculated for c-i, c-ii, and c-iii, respectively, thanks to the application of high albedo tiles at the settlement scale. finally, figure 5c shows the net balance between the co2eq emissions produced by the building hvac and the co2eq emissions offset for the evaluated settlement. it is evident how the net balance for the “cool” configuration of the buildings of the selected case study village is negative compared to the “non-cool” scenario since the co2eq offset is greater compared to the co2eq emissions due to the hvac operation for the benefic passive cooling action produced by the application of the cool tiles, which leads to reduce cooling energy requirements. figure 4. global cooling primay energyneed for building categories and roof configuration. figure 5. net co2eq emission balance (c) between the co2eq emissions produced (a) and the co2eq emissions offset (b) generated for the case study settlement. 8. conclusion the present work consists of the coupled assessment of the (i) energy and (ii) environmental impact generated by the application of a higlhy-reflective and low-visual impact clay tiles in a neighborhood in central italy. in particular, a historic traditional settlement was selected as representative of typical italian residential buildings, pg. 10 pisello / environmental science and sustainable development, essd where cool roofs usually cannot be utilized due to the several aesthetic and visual constraints imposed by national regulations preserving the quality of local landscape and environment. therefore, the selected case study area included 106 detouched houses characterized by sloped roofs covered by traditional red coloured tiles. such tiles were therefore optimized with the aim of reducing the summer cooling electricity requirement and calculating the related offset of co2eq emissions by using coupled (i) preliminary experimental campaign and an (ii) analytical model. such an analytical tool, which was implemented in a previous work, was used to determine the relation between the highly reflective surface and the correspondent potentiality in terms of tons of co2eq offset. the coupled experimental and numerical methodology applied allowed to detect that the high albedo tile, in spite of its low impact in terms of exterior appereance, can guarantee around 13% of electric cooling energy saving for the case study settlement with different building categories. such an energy reduction was calculated to be about 141.2 tons of co2eq/year, by taking into account the average rate of emissions of italian national cooling electrical systems and grid effectiveness. such a benefit from an environmental point of view, when combined to the one produced by the implementation of the cool solution, was found to be around 772 tons of co2eq/year for the case study settlement. the achieved results indicate how cool roof solutions can be taken into consideration for application even in traditional residential areas due to their key cooling energy saving potential and coupled considerable effect from an environmental perspective. 9. future developments the present research presents a “prototypical study” aimed at assessing the combined environmental and energy impact of cool roofs and presents many limitations. firstly, the assessment of the residential building categories in the case study neighborhood was undertaken by evaluating all the building features and performing indoor surveys around only 40% of the houses. however, the whole neighborhood was considered into the analysis and realistic assumptions were made by directly observing the houses outdoor features. therefore, the classification of the selected houses in building categories helped simplify the problem geometry without significant effect on the reliability of the method. future developments for the study could consider a more realistic and a more complex configuration of the buildings. moreover, an in-field evaluation of the building envelope technologies can permit a more precise modeling for the purpose of the dynamic simulation. further efforts could also focus on the costbenefit analysis of the cool clay tiles implementation and on the assessment of the potential financial benefits attributable to such a proposed solution by taking into account the mechanism of eu ets for the emission credits trading. 10. acknowledgments the first author acknowledgments are due to the “ciriaf program for unesco” in the framework of the unesco chair “water resources management and culture” for supporting her research. references 1. 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(2016). the role of green roofs in mitigating urban heat island effects in the metropolitan area of adelaide, south australia. urban forestry & urban greening, 15, 89-102. doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2015.11.013 24. revision of en 15251: indoor environmental criteria. (2012). rehva journal, 5-11. 25. salata, f., vollaro, a. d., lietovollaro, r. d., & mancieri, l. (2015). method for energy optimization with reliability analysis of a trigeneration and teleheating system on urban scale: a case study. energy and buildings, 86, 118-136. doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.09.056 26. santamouris, m. (2015). regulating the damaged thermostat of the cities—status, impacts and mitigation challenges. energy and buildings, 91, 43-56. doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2015.01.027 27. sleiman, m., ban-weiss, g., gilbert, h. e., françois, d., berdahl, p., kirchstetter, t. w., . . . levinson, r. (2011). soiling of building envelope surfaces and its effect on solar reflectance—part i: analysis of roofing product databases. solar energy materials and solar cells, 95(12), 3385-3399. doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2011.08.002 28. synnefa, a., santamouris, m., & akbari, h. (2007). estimating the effect of using cool coatings on energy loads and thermal comfort in residential buildings in various climatic conditions. energy and buildings, 39(11), 1167-1174. doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2007.01.004 29. wang, y., & akbari, h. (2015). development and application of ‘thermal radiative power’ for urban environmental evaluation. sustainable cities and society, 14, 316-322. doi:10.1016/j.scs.2014.07.003 pg. 13 introduction materials and methods research framework the cool clay tile prototype dynamic thermal-energy analysis at building scale environmental modeling at global scale description of the case study discussion of the results cooling energy reduction assessment assessment of the environmental impact conclusion future developments acknowledgments http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 56 doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i3.677 typology and solar gain analysis: vernacular courtyard houses of tabriz, iran maryam khatibi1 1 phd candidate, department of architecture and urban studies, dastu, milan, italy abstract the study presents the results of typological analysis and simulation modeling analysis of traditional courtyard residential houses in the cold semi-arid climate of iran. the purpose of the research has been to analyze and evaluate traditional passive environmental strategies and their elements to provide implications for the design of sustainable residential buildings in contemporary time. five existing traditional courtyard houses in the city of tabriz, iran, are used as case-studies to analyze the typology and the solar zoning conditions and to develop simulation models. the ecotect simulation program is used to calculate the solar gains of the buildings and to analyze the effectiveness of the natural passive systems along with native design strategies in terms of potential solar gains of main and secondary living spaces. however, in the vernacular, not only the awareness of the climatic and topological considerations is important, but also the values, rituals, and beliefs that shape the design of the dwellings need to be considered. the research is based on the hypothesis that vernacular buildings (courtyard houses) of iran have been environmentally sustainable structures. however, an important challenge of the study has been to avoid the technological bias and to consider the cultural and social aspects and embodiment of the studied houses, as well. the study also addresses the potential shortcomings that limit the reliability of iranian vernacular architecture at present in order to arrive at a more holistic understanding of the sustainability of the vernacular architecture in the country. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords courtyard housing; solar gains analysis; sustainability; typological analysis; vernacular architecture 1. introduction the environmental focus in regard to the sustainability and built environment is growing because of the immense importance of environmental issues in a time of rapid climate change, global warming, environmental pollution and the depletion of natural resources. sustainability in the world of architecture is regarded as one of the most important and internationally endorsed principles of the environmental ethic of the twenty-first century (asquith & vellinga, 2006). in this manner, sustainability in the building practices has now become a major criterion in the judgment of architectural and planning practices. according to the united nations environment program of sustainable buildings & climate initiative (unep sbci, 2009), buildings consume up to 40% of the energy use in the world and they are responsible for one third of global greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions in most countries. concurrently, most big cities in iran produce high level of air pollution, which is far exceeding the standards set by the world health organization (who) and posing considerable health problems (sarbib et al., 2001). hence, the http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i3.677&domain=press.ierek.com khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 57 reduction of energy consumption and preservation of energy are important for iran. the specific problems that signify the importance of designing environmental friendly houses in iran are as follows: building sector emissions in iran: the pollutant and ghg emissions by residential sector are overrepresented in iran (iran’s deputy for power & energy affairs power & energy planning department, 2013). high energy use of residential buildings in iran: residential sector has been responsible for almost 38% of final energy consumption during 1974-2013. of this amount, the operation phase is responsible for approximately 85% of a building’s total energy use (ibid). the dependency on fossil fuels for heating buildings: the energy consumption for the building sector in iran is mainly provided by the natural gas, petroleum products, coal, and electricity. natural gas and electricity final consumption by the building sector in iran has increased considerably during 1974-2013 (ibid). according to iran’s ministry of energy, residential buildings have consumed 41% of the total iran’s energy consumption of natural gas during the previous nine years (iran ministry of energy, 2017). fossil fuels are used in iran without consideration; accordingly, 98.8 % of the country’s total residential energy consumption is supplied from oil products and natural gas (nasrollahi, 2009). increased rate of energy price: the average electricity sale price for residential buildings in iran has increased from 2.3 rial/kwh in 1974 to 346.7 rial/kwh in 2013 (iran’s deputy for power & energy affairs power & energy planning department, 2013). energy supply depletion: the majority of iran’s oil resources are in the second half of their life span and other resources are inefficient. renewable energies are not practically used in iran. however, the use of renewable energies such as wind and solar energy is going to be increased. currently, only a small-scale conversion is being made to nuclear energy for the electricity’s production in an effort to counter the aforementioned consumption (nasrollahi, 2009). a reduction in energy consumption and the introduction of energy efficient houses, hence, would have a significant impact on the overall energy consumption of iran. one way to meet the need for sustainable buildings is to raise the awareness of the importance of vernacular architecture. this is because in architectural theory the factors that surround the art of building, is embedded in the society, and is passed on from one generation to the next through tradition (asquith & vellinga, 2006). this cyclical period of sustention is broken by outside forces and changes that ignore the complex nature of social and environmental forces and result in inappropriate architecture. while globalization has brought convenience in living and communication, it has threatened the architecture and the built environments we live in (ibid). in a world that the scarcity of energy resources and environmental pollutions is likely to increase, the durable and conscious vernacular architecture needs to be raised. 1.1. objective of the study the objective of the present study has been to advocate for more awareness of vernacular architecture of the cold climatic region of iran, not so much as museum components but as viable housing environments, which can contribute to a healthy and rewarding twenty-first century life style. this study recognizes buildings with environmental adoptive patterns that have proven their worth and efficiency over the centuries in iran. five vernacular houses in the city of tabriz, iran are analyzed in regard to their typology and solar zoning strategies. in that way, the study aims at exploring the possible strategies for increasing the sustainable design strategies in contemporary houses of iran. moreover, this study takes into consideration that the design of houses cannot be divided from those who eat, sleep, cook, and play in them. in the vernacular, not only the awareness of the climatic and topological considerations is important, but also the values, rituals, and beliefs that shape the design of the dwellings need to be considered (asquith & vellinga, 2006). the present research aims to avoid a romanticized approach towards the studied vernacular houses. as, vellinga (2015) suggests, many of the recent publications emphasize the “harmonious” ways in which vernacular traditions relate to their environmental contexts (p.6). but a romanticized approach to vernacular reveals the tendency to draw conclusions based on limited or partial evidence (ibid). khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 58 while, this study is based on the hypothesis that vernacular buildings (courtyard houses) of iran are environmentally sustainable structures; an important challenge is to avoid the technological bias and to consider the cultural, social, and economical sustainability and embodiment of the studied houses. thus it is intended to address the potential shortcomings that limit the reliability of iranian vernacular architecture at present in order to arrive at a more holistic understanding of the sustainability of the vernacular architecture in iran. 2. vernacular architecture the interest in vernacular architecture started in the eighteenth century, though the first scholarly analyses of vernacular buildings started in the late nineteenth century (upton, 1990; oliver, 1997). however, many of these early studies were used to criticize contemporary architectural practices, rather than paying attention to the way in which the traditions might contribute to the future built environments. the main interest in studying vernacular architecture during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was to document and classify the historic and traditional forms and styles, most of them especially in the case of non-western traditions, were considered as destined to disappear. many of these studies were conducted in europe and the us by historians and architects who were influenced by the arts and crafts movement (asquith & vellinga, 2006). consequently, arthur upham pope1 and robert hillenbrand2 are among the western experts and professors who have studied vernacular art and architecture in iran. since the beginning of the twentieth century, the dominant paradigm in architecture has been modernism (özkan, 2006). modernism over time has become diversified and has developed a plurality of its own, which can be categorized within seven groups. conservatives as one of these groups developed into two fundamentally different sub-groups: classicists and traditionalists. while, classicists believe that whatever that was built in the past is good enough for the urbanized world to repeat in most loyal form, traditionalists such as hassan fathy are more geared to appropriate technologies and social concerns present in the traditional architecture (ibid). the most influential reaction to modernism in architecture is traditionalism, which focuses on research in vernacular architecture and the revitalization of traditional building practices. later, in 1964 the venice charter was approved by international council on monuments and sites (icomos), which called for the international recognition of the value of vernacular architecture, stated that not only the great works of art but also the modest works of the past should be considered as historic monuments (ikuga et al., 2012). icomos created a special committee in 1976 to promote a coordinated international effort in order to identify, study, and protect vernacular architecture (ibid). 2.1. vernacular housing and sustainability the scholarly effort in the sustainability of vernacular architecture remained marginal until the late 1990s, when sustainability emerged as a topic of political, academic, and popular interest (vellinga, 2015). most of the new studies on vernacular architecture endeavor actively to evaluate the properties of particular building types and investigate how the layout, form, and materials of the vernacular buildings relate to local climatic and geographical conditions. on the other hand, in learning from the vernacular buildings, the focus must not be just the buildings or the “physical shells”, but the sustenance of vernacular knowledge, skills, and experiences (asquith & vellinga, 2006, p. 11). with a critical and forward-looking perspective towards vernacular architecture, it will be possible to cling to the vernacular and to claim that there still is a place for vernacular architecture in the twenty-first century. in 1987, the world commission on environment and development of the united nations in its report “our common future” also known as the bruntland report defines sustainable development as a development that “meets the needs and improves human conditions of this generation without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same” (world commission on environment and development [wced], 1987, p.8; chiu, 2012, p. 91). cities, where most of economic activities, employment, and educational activities take place are considered as the focal point. likewise, the role of housing in the pursuit of sustainable development of the cities has been explored by governments, professionals, and academies since the early 1990s. 1 arthur upham pope (1881-1969) is best known as a pioneering american expert on persian/iranian art, architecture and archaeology. 2 professor robert hillenbrand is educated at the universities of cambridge and oxford (d.phil. 1974). he has been teaching at the department of fine art, university of edinburgh focusing on (persian/iranian) islamic art and architecture. khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 59 the international encyclopedia of housing and home (2012) puts forward that sustainable housing development refers to a housing development that “meets the housing needs and improves the housing conditions of this generation without compromising the ability of future generation to do the same” (smith, 2012, vol. 7, p. 92). accordingly, sustainable architecture needs to recognize the energy consumption and polluting side effects caused by buildings and the relationship that exists between the buildings and the behavior of their occupants (ikuga et al., 2012). that is the only way not to compromise future generations’ wealth in housing. likewise, vernacular architecture is invaluable as a technical and conceptual source of sustainable architecture. vernacular architecture in each instance around the world ensures the habitability of buildings and has provided functional strategies that are compatible with the locally available resources and functions of the buildings (ibid). 3. traditional built environment of iran the notion “traditional city” refers to the city before the modernization of iranian society, which began after world war ii (wwii) (kheirabadi, 1991, p.6). however, traditional cities and houses still form the old parts of many contemporary iranian cities and built environment, and planners can learn a great deal from a close observation of their forms and the logic behind them. the physical morphology of the traditional iranian city is a cultural-historical response to the climatic condition of the country. contrary to modern iranian cities, which are copies of the contemporary european and american cities, the traditional iranian city is compact with a high density of residential areas, which is homogeneous in its buildings. the compact traditional city has had the potential to minimize the climatic stress greatly and mitigate microclimatic conditions. accordingly, traditional iranian city minimized empty spaces, had buildings of uniform heights, contained narrow streets, provided covered bazars, and considered proper orientation to the wind and sun. in traditional iranian cities, residential areas as the private sections were connected to the bazar as the public section of the city by small and narrow covered or uncovered alleys. the plan of iranian traditional houses has been an open rectangular courtyard, with rooms around two or more sides. traditional houses were designed to give a compact and organic appearance to the cities. looking from the outside, they look similar having the same height and design; however, the iranian traditional houses do vary in internal design strategies and architecture. normally, size and internal decoration of these houses reveal the owner’s taste and financial condition. walls and roofs of an iranian courtyard house are thick and the courtyard acts as a temperature moderator. the center of the courtyard normally has a pool of water and small gardens containing flowers, vegetables, and fruit trees surrounding the water. courtyard houses existed in pre-islamic iran and also in non-islamic regions of the world. even though, the origin of courtyard housing is related to the necessity for defence and climatic considerations, because of its conformity with islamic requirements, this typology remained as the dominant pattern for houses in many muslim cities. therefore, defense and climate should be considered as equal importance to religion or other social beliefs in the separation of physical spaces by walls and courtyards (ibid). one aspect of the courtyard house is that it has wings, which have different orientations allowing differentiation and segregation of functions that can be alternated in accordance to a daily or seasonal cycle (samizay, 2012). in order to achieve comfort, life is circulated in an iranian traditional courtyard house both vertically between levels and around the open yard on daily basis or between wings on seasonal basis. thus, the cool north-facing wing of the house is used for the summer, while the warm south-facing wing of the house is used in the winter. north and south wings of the house provide the two crucial sets of “climate-conscious” rooms (ibid, p.133). traditional iranian cities and houses have been built in such a way to harmonize the surrounding environment and to provide better living conditions for their inhabitants. contrary to the tendencies of present planners, the traditional builders in the process of forming the physical urban and housing design have tried to work with and not against the forces of nature. 3.1. the city of tabriz tabriz is the fourth largest city of iran and the capital of the east azerbaijan province, which is located in the northwestern part of the country (see table 1) (fig. 1). khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 60 table 1. general geographical information of tabriz (source: iran meteorological organization, 2018; encyclopedia britannica, 2018) latitude longitude elevation current population 38 5 n 46 17 e 1361.0 m 1.6 million figure 1 tabriz on iran’s map (source: www. iranmap.com/) tabriz has a long history that dates back to 1,500 bc and contains many historical monuments, which represents the transition of iranian architecture in its long historical timeline (encyclopedia britannica, 2018). the city of tabriz has been destroyed severely by very strong earthquakes in the years 858, 1034, 1272, and 1780 (omrani & esmaili sangari, 2006). considering the disastrous earthquake of 1780, tabriz has been probably rather a shabby town at the time when it was taken over by the qajars3 (werner, 2000). however, soon after 1820s, tabriz started to have a fast rise. accordingly, fraser and southgate in their reports during 1820s and 1830s state that tabriz is the most agreeable city in persia (ibid). 3.2. climate tabriz is located in the cold and mountainous climatic region of iran. iran has several different climatic regions and climatic divisions of the country is based on climate classification of w. köppen (kasmaei, 2004). cold climatic region of iran is generally characterized by warm and dry summers and cold winters, where winters are harsh and snowy (ibid). based on köppen’s classification, tabriz has a bsk climate type (nasrollahi, 2009), which means a cold semi-arid climate. according to meteorological organization of iran, the average air temperature of tabriz differs from -2.4 to 25.6 °c from january to july and the average maximum temperature for these two months are 2.2 and 32.7 °c respectively and the average minimum temperature varies from -5.7 to 19.2 °c (ibid). 3.3. urban fabric the traditional urban fabric and houses in tabriz are mainly inwardly oriented and the buildings in the whole city make an inter-connected structure. traditional iranian cities are not simply “tangle of blocks badly ventilated by labyrinth of twisted alleys and dark courts”, however, they have been planned to satisfy the cultural needs of their inhabitants and to deal with the pragmatic realities of the environmental conditions (kheirabadi, 1991, pp. 87-8). one important reason behind the physical form of traditional iranian cities and houses has been the strong desire for privacy and tranquility. however, the new tabriz city of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is the outgrowth of the central old town, which surrounds and spreads out from the traditional town nucleus. it contrasts sharply with the old town and it is sprawling and diffused over a large area, with wide avenues and western-style houses and apartment complexes. 3 qajar dynasty has been the ruling dynasty of iran from 1794-1925. khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 61 3.4. traditional courtyard houses paul oliver (2006) writes in his book built to meet needs that vernacular architecture is “the architectural language of the people with its regional and local dialects” (p.17). courtyard houses in tabriz have not been just an architectural type, but a way of life. the spatial and formal elements, which fell into an introverted blueprint, reflect the society of its times. this form of architecture met with the requirements of the traditional extended family system and the climate. the anonymous master builders were the architects of these courtyard houses. the architectural tenets were passed from one generation to the next and skills were developed by practical experience from a very young age. the site characteristics and owners’ needs were considered and incorporated in the design and construction of these traditional houses. in the traditional part of tabriz most of the buildings are connected to each other on three sides, with the fourth side facing the street, lane, or alley (nasrollahi, 2009). the orientation of buildings varies from southwest facing to southeast facing and the most important parts of the buildings are located to the north of the site. five traditional houses in tabriz will be investigated in regard to their typology and potential passive solar gains in order to analyze their architectural functions according to climatic condition of the region. this approach is important, since it highlights the effective architectural factors in adapting housing to a given climate. 4. typological analysis five traditional courtyard houses in the city of tabriz are analyzed in regard to their typology variations. house no. 1 (alavi house) belongs to the middle of qajar era (1794-1925), which is located in the historical urban fabric of tabriz (fig. 2). in this period the main spaces of the main structure are located on the northern side of the courtyard facing south for the climatic and sunlight reasons. in house no. 1, the eastern side of the building is also built up, which gives an l-shape to the house. in this house, the main spaces such as reception hall, pool room, side rooms, and ivan (veranda) are located along the main axis of the house. figure 2 courtyard house no.1 (source: iran cultural heritage, handicrafts and tourism organization) house no.2 (qadaki house) is located in the historical urban fabric of tabriz, belongs to the middle qajar period (1794-1925). the north section of the house has a reception hall with sash windows on the ground floor, which opens to the north and south parts of the building (fig. 3). the eastern and western wings of the house have two floors, where the floor above contains the bedrooms and living rooms and the basement contains the kitchen and cistern. these wings have given a u-shape to the house number 2. figure 3 courtyard house no.2 (source: iran cultural heritage, handicrafts and tourism organization) khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 62 house no.3 (sharbat-oghli house) belongs to the end of the qajar period (1794-1925), which is located in the old district of tabriz. the northern part of house no. 3 is the main side of this house, while the west wings are ranked as second importance (fig. 4). a two-storey construction is located on the western wing of the south courtyard that has given a t-shape to the house. there is also a private courtyard on the northern side and access is provided through a front door. figure 4 courtyard house no. 3 (source: iran cultural heritage, handicrafts and tourism organization) house no.4 (savojbolaghi house) is located in the historical urban fabric of tabriz, belongs to the late qajar period (1794-1925). in this period the northern part of the building, which faces south is still the main side (fig. 5). in house no. 4, the western side of the building is also built up, which gives an l-shape to the house. in this house, the main parts of the house such as the reception hall, pool room, and veranda are still located in the line of the main axis, though the iranian architecture was influenced by foreign elements in this period (keynejad & shirazi, 2011). figure 5 courtyard house no.4 (source: iran cultural heritage, handicrafts and tourism organization) house no.5 (parvin etesami house) belongs to the early pahlavi4 period (1925-1941), which is located in old district of the city of tabriz. in house no. 5 the northern section of the building, which faces south is dominant with no other constructed wings (fig. 6). therefore, the number of the constructed parts of a house is decreased considerably in this period given the house a line-shape. figure 6 courtyard house no.5 (source: iran cultural heritage, handicrafts and tourism organization) 4 the pahlavi period was the ruling time of pahlavi dynasty of the imperial state of iran from 1925 until 1979. khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 63 the traditional urban courtyard houses of tabriz have contributed to the zoning and land pressure requirements of the city. in courtyard dwellings of tabriz, the courtyard is like a protected garden, an open reception space, a connector between the rooms surrounding it, and a service space where cooking and washing took place. the differences in scales of the courtyards demonstrate the flexibility of the forms, which are surrounded by built space. not all courtyards are identically enclosed on different sides. illustrated through table 2, the typology variation and analyses of these five traditional courtyard houses have been presented. table 2. comparison between 5 traditional courtyard houses of the city of tabriz and their typology transformation over time (lcy: courtyard length, wcy: courtyard width) (source: author) house 1 house 2 house 3 house 4 house 5 l-shape (type 1) u-shape t-shape l-shape (type 2) line-shape orientation south south south south south courtyard public private public & private public public courtyard shape rectangular rectangular rectangular rectangular rectangular lcy/wcy (unit.m) 1.92 1.24 2.25 1.36 1.1 1.30 reception hall ground floor, central ground floor, central first floor, central ground floor, central ground floor, central veranda overall in southern facade overall in southern facade overall in southern facade overall in southern facade no sash windows yes. in south facade yes. in north & south facades no yes. in south facade no staircase hidden hidden central foreign architectural influence foreign architectural influence side rooms yes yes no no no pool house yes yes yes no ornamentation iranian tile & plaster work iranian tile & plaster work iranian tile & plaster ١vork iranian tile & plaster work. foreign influence decorative pediment iranian tile work khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 64 considering the typology analysis highlighted in table 2, all houses face the south with the major reception hall located on the southern side of the building. however, only in house no. 3 this reception hall is located on the first floor, while in other 4 houses this reception space is located on the ground floor of the house. the u-shaped house and the t-shaped house are introverted with the private courtyards, while l-shaped houses and the line-shaped house are semi introverted with public courts. the overall veranda is present in all four houses of qajar era, while in early pahlavi era the overall veranda disappears and southern façade is much more dominant. the secondary wings of the house disappear in the early pahlavi period. side rooms also disappear towards the early pahlavi period. in earlier constructed houses of qajar period, pool houses5 are one of the most important spaces in the range of main axis on the northern part of the house. however, in later houses and towards the early pahlavi period, the pool house is completely missing. while earlier qajar houses have hidden staircases, towards the early pahlavi period the staircases gain importance in houses (no.3-5) and get influenced by foreign architecture. moreover, the iranian ornamentation, plaster, and tile works of the qajar houses get influences of foreign architecture to the end of this period and in early pahlavi period the ornamentation is simpler. 5. potential solar radiation gains analysis the solar zoning of these five traditional courtyard houses in the city of tabriz have been done. the analysis procedure does not consider the effect of neighboring houses on the studied houses. solar zoning in courtyard housing determines “a house layout so that rooms looking into middle court and surrounding spaces are cool in summer and warm in winter” (land, 2006, p.234). the cold semi-arid climate in the region of tabriz is characterized by cold & humid with occasional frost periods in winters and warm & dry summer periods; with extreme temperatures of more than 33° c during the day in summer. therefore, during winter period, living is organized on the north side of the house thus receiving full solar exposure for warming (in northern hemisphere). on the other hand, during summer period living functions need to be organized on the sides of the house, which avoid the high temperature summer sun. therefore, the studied courtyard houses have to benefit from the living on different wings of the court in accordance to season in order to receive the sun or to exclude it. accordingly, this design strategy contributes to being warmed by passive solar radiation in winter and avoids excessive summer heat. the software program ecotect (version 11) is used in this study to evaluate the impact of multi parameters on the direct solar gain of the selected courtyard buildings. ecotect is an environmental analysis tool that allows designers to simulate building performance. ecotect couples an intuitive 3-d design interface with a comprehensive set of performance analysis functions and interactive information displays (marsh, 2003). the software has the capacity to generate the most complex building geometry and also offers different visualization facilities such as the sun path diagrams, shadow information, and potential solar gains of the structure in real time (ibid). furthermore, software called origin (version 2015) is used for data analysis and graphing. this software is produced by originlab corporation and runs on microsoft windows. it supports 2d/3d plot types and is validated by academic and industrial works worldwide (originlab, 2017). fig. 7 illustrates the geometry of the l-shaped courtyard house no.1, which shows its design strategies about its location, orientation and its relationship to the courtyard. the rotation degree for this house is 29° from north offset. the daily sun path and shadows for the house in the month of january and july (day 15) have been simulated by the software ecotect (figs. 8 & 9). 5 pool house was a covered area with a basin in middle. khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 65 figure 7 geometry of house no. 1 (images 9-23 from the analyses done in software ecotect) (source: author) figure 8 3d view of house no. 1 (7:00 am, january) figure 9 3d view of house no. 1 (7:00 am, july) figs. 10 & 11 illustrate the geometry of the u-shaped courtyard house no.2, which shows its design strategies about its location, orientation and its relationship to the courtyard. the rotation degree for this house is 8° from north offset. figure 10 geometry of house no. 2; south facing façade khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 66 figure 11 geometry of house no. 2; north facing façade figs. 12 & 13 show the daily sun path and shadows for the house in the month of january and july (day 15), respectively. in month january, the south facing reception hall of the house as the main space of the house receives direct passive solar sun radiation from 8:00 am to 14:30 pm completely. however, in month july the reception hall does not receive direct solar radiation throughout the day. figure 12 3d view of house no.2 (8:00 am, january) figure 13 3d view of house no. 2 (16:00 pm, july) fig. 14 illustrates the geometry of the t-shaped courtyard house no.3, which shows its design strategies about its location, orientation and its relationship to the courtyard. the rotation degree for this house is 30° from north offset. figs. 15 & 16 show the daily sun path and shadows for the house in the months of january and july (day 15), respectively. khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 67 figure 14 geometry of house no. 3; north facing façade figure 15 3d view of house no.3 (january, 8:00 am) figure 16 3d view of west wing of house no.3 in shadow (july, 11:30 am) fig. 17 illustrates the geometry of the l-shaped courtyard house no.4, which shows its design strategies about its location, orientation and its relationship to the courtyard. the rotation degree for this house is 15° from north offset. figs. 18 & 19 show the daily sun path and shadows for the house in the month of january and july (day 15), respectively. khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 68 figure 17 geometry of house no. 4; south facing façade figure 18 3d view of house no.4 (january, 8:00 am) figure 19 3d view of west wing of house no. 4, (july, 12:00 pm) fig. 20 illustrates the geometry of the line-shaped courtyard house no.5, which shows its design strategies about its location, orientation and its relationship to the courtyard. the rotation degree for this house is 10° from north offset. figs. 21 & 22 show the daily sun path and shadows for the house in the month of january and july (day 15), respectively. khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 69 figure 20 geometry of house no. 5; south facing façade figure 21 3d view of house no.5 (january, 16:00 pm) figure 22 3d view of house no.5 (july, 16:00 pm) considering the data from solar analysis, house no.1 gets 4 ½ hours of desirable direct solar radiation in month january for its main living space and 4 ½ hours of desirable direct solar radiation in month january for its secondary living space in the east wing (tables 3 & 4). the main living space of house no.1 does not receive the direct unfavorable solar radiation in july due to roofed veranda in front of it and its climatological orientation. however, khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 70 the east wing of the house gets 9 hours of unfavorable direct solar radiation in month of july. house no.2 gets 6 ½ hours of desirable direct solar radiation in month january for its main living space and 2 & 3 hours of desirable direct solar radiation in month january for its secondary living space in the west and east wings respectively (tables 3 & 4). the main living space of house no.2 does not receive the direct unfavorable solar radiation in july due to roofed veranda in front of it and its climatological orientation. however, the west and east wings of the house get 4 and 4 ½ hours of unfavorable direct solar radiation in month of july. table 3 hours of direct solar radiation for houses no.1-5 regarding the main living space (source: author) house no.1 l-shape (type 1) reception hall house no.2 u-shape reception hall house no.3 t-shape reception hall house no.4 l-shape (type 2) reception hall house no.5 line-shape reception hall rotation degree 29° 8° 30° 15° 10° direct passive solar gain (january) 7:00-11:30 4 ½ 8:00-14:30 6 ½ 8:00-13:00 5 8:00-14:00 6 8:00-16:00 8 direct passive solar gain (july) 9:00-12:00 3 8:00-15:30 7 ½ table 4 hours of direct solar radiation for houses no.1-5 regarding the secondary living space (source: author) house no.1 l-shape (type 1) west wing east wing house no.2 u-shape west wing east wing house no.3 t-shape west wing east wing house no.4 l-shape (type 2) west wing east wing house no.5 line-shape direct passive solar gain (january) 10:30-13:30 4 ½ 9:30-11:30 2 12:00-15:00 3 8:00-10:00 2 8:30-11:00 2 ½ direct passive solar gain (july) 9:30-18:30 9 8:00-12:00 4 12:00-16:30 4 1/2 6:00-11:00 5 7:00-11:30 4 ½ house no. 3 gets 5 hours of desirable direct solar radiation in month january for its main living space and 2 hours of desirable direct solar radiation in month january for its secondary living space in the east wing (tables 3 & 4). the main living space of house no.3 does not receive the direct unfavorable solar radiation in july due to roofed veranda in front of it and its climatological orientation. however, the east wing of house gets 5 hours of unfavorable direct solar radiation in month of july. house no.4 gets 6 hours of desirable direct solar radiation in month january for its main living space and 2 ½ hours of desirable direct solar radiation in month january for its secondary living space in the west wing (tables 3 & 4). khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 71 however, the main living space of house no.4 gets 3 hours of direct unfavorable solar radiation in july and also the west wing of the house gets 4 ½ hours of unfavorable solar radiation in july. house no. 4 has a roof veranda in front of its main space; however the courtyard has smaller dimensions in comparison to other studied houses. because of the sun’s diminished angle in the sky during the winter months, an undersized court for a two-storey structure, which encloses the court makes this outdoor space undesirable and results in darkness of the structure. finally, house no. 5 gets 8 hours of desirable direct solar radiation in month january for its main living space in january, while this space gets 7 ½ of unfavorable direct solar radiation in month july (tables 3 & 4). this house does not have any other wings. diagram 1 illustrates the comparison of the duration of direct solar gain in month january for houses no.1-5, while diagram 2 shows the comparison of the duration of direct solar gain in month july for houses no.1-5. considering the duration of hours for favorable direct solar gains in month january, houses no. 2, 1, & 4 demonstrate a good performance (11 ½ hours, 9 hours, and 7 hours respectively distributed between wings). however, they demonstrate 8 ½, 9 hours, and 7 ½ hours of unfavorable direct solar gains in month july respectively. diagram 1 comparison of duration of direct solar gain diagram 2 comparison of duration of direct solar gain for 5 studied houses in month january for 5 studied houses in month july (done in software origin) (source: author) (done in software origin) (source: author) on the other hand, the reception hall of houses 1 & 2 does not get any unfavorable direct hot solar radiation in month of july. the reason is that the angle of the sun’s rays during the summer is high and the narrow roofed verandas of houses no.1 & 2 prevent the heat rays of the sun from reaching the main living spaces. considering house no.5 the reception hall of this house gets 8 hours of favorable direct solar gain in january, while this living space is overheated during month of july since it receives unfavorable direct solar gains for 7 ½ hours daily. considering the analysis in this part houses no. 3 & 5 are omitted from analysis since they demonstrate a poor seasonal performance in regard to favorable and unfavorable direct solar gains. the aforementioned analysis has to be coupled with the data analysis from the amount of direct solar radiation for houses no.1, 2, and 4 in months january and july. diagrams 3 & 4 illustrate the comparison of amount of direct solar gain in months january and july for the whole building for aforementioned studied houses. accordingly houses no. 2, 1, and 4 have better performance for the month of january, respectively. this data need to be limited to the direct solar gain of the houses for the reception hall, which is the main living space of the house (diagrams 5 & 6). diagrams 5 & 6 illustrate the comparison between the houses 1, 2 & 4 in regard to their direct solar gain for reception hall space in months january and july. accordingly, houses no. 2 & 1 respectively have better performance in month january and also they do not demonstrate any unfavorable solar gain for month of july (see appendix a regarding the information and tables). khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 72 diagrams 3 & 4 comparison of direct solar gain for houses 1, 2 & 4 for the whole building in january and july (done in software origin) (source: author) diagrams 5 & 6 comparison of direct solar gain for houses 1, 2 & 4 for the reception hall in january and july (done in software origin) (source: author) still, this data have to be coupled with the data obtained from typology analysis in section 4 of the study and secondary data obtained from previous research in the field. the typology analysis of studied houses revealed that courtyard houses of cold climate region of iran have south-facing winter rooms, which are located on the north side of the courtyard. these rooms are called “aftab-ru (facing sun) or aftab-gir (sun catcher) in persian” (foruzanmehr, 2016, p.4). however, the courtyard houses of cold climatic region of iran do not contain any north-facing summer rooms and hence south-facing winter rooms are used as living space during summer, as well. the potential solar gain analysis revealed that south-facing rooms of houses no. 1 & 2 are not exposed directly to sun compared to other studied houses in month july. on the other hand, the west-facing façade of house no.1 faces the sun’s rays from sunrise to evening in month july, which consequently causes this east wing of the house overheated and not thermally comfortable for bedrooms. according to foruzanmehr (2016), “a room with a façade opening to the west is generally the worst case encountered, owing to the heat gain of the surrounding environment during the day and the angle of the sun’s altitude, which allows the sun’s rays to penetrate into the interior” (p.4). furthermore, the east-facing façade of house no.2 faces sun’s rays from sunrise to moon in month july; hence, it cools down considerably by the evening, making this exposure more suitable for bedrooms. therefore house no.2 shows proper solar performance for south facing and east facing facades during months of january and july. 6. conclusion as the first step, the typological analyses of studied houses are carried out in order to introduce and discuss the transformation of studied cases over the given time period. secondly, the computer simulation analyses are done for duration and potential direct solar gains of studied houses. the results of this study can help designers in making decisions regarding the orientation, form, and applicability of courtyard housing in bsk climate of iran. the courtyard house no. 2 (u-shaped) has the best passive solar performance during the months of january and july. it was found khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 73 out that the south-facing reception hall of house no. 2 as the main living space of the house receives 6 ½ hours of direct solar radiation from sunrise till afternoon in month january. moreover, considering the thermal mass of thick walls of the structure, the sun heat is stored in thick mud brick walls and earthen floors and then is released within 79 hours to keep the inhabitants warm when the sun moves on (meaning after 14:30 pm). during the hot summer months, when heat and excessive light are not desirable, the south facing façade of the house also does not work against our desire. since the angle of the sun’s rays during the summer is high, a narrow eave (in this case the roofed veranda) will prevent the heat rays of the sun from reaching the main living space. thus, the south-facing section of the house can be called the main solar-conscious living space of house no.2. furthermore, it was shown that the eastfacing façade of house no.2 faces sun’s rays from sunrise to moon in month july. therefore, it cools down considerably by the evening, making this exposure more suitable for bedrooms. as a result, the east-facing wing of the house can be considered as the secondary solar-conscious living space of house no.2. however, the study revealed that the west-facing façade of house no.2 and other studied house (house no.1), are generally the worst cases encountered, owing to the heat gain of the surrounding environment during the day and the angle of the sun’s altitude, which allows the sun’s rays to penetrate into the interior in month of july. in iran, the courtyard house has evolved from the “geographic, topographic, and climatic conditions” of different regions of the country and the “overall arrangement of the interior of such a house was based on kin relations” (karimi, 2012, p.124). not only were most traditional houses built according to climatic and geographical features, they were also “self-sufficient micro-communities that raised vegetables and livestock” (ibid, p.341). but when new products became available in the iranian market, the “economic self-sufficiency of the traditional iranian house eroded”, and the household turned into a consumer spending habit (ibid, p.341). thus, the spatial arrangement of the traditional courtyard house was in harmony with the rituals and living activities of that time. moreover, women were much more limited to the house and its tasks during the time that courtyard housing was dominant in iran and women working outside the house were discouraged. however, during the first pahlavi period (1925-1941) iran undergoes major infrastructural reforms that affect the look of iranian cities and residential neighborhoods. the hygiene and domestic improvements in housing have been the focus of such a reform. the real everyday life in iran from the early 1950s to the late 1970s demonstrates that “there was neither total conformity to western life styles and commodities nor a steadfast embrace of traditional values” (ibid, p. 134). in spite of the fact that by the 1960s iran was moving away from traditional construction methods and traditional lifestyle, there have been some architects who tried to link traditional iranian architecture with modern technologies and accommodate the unique environmental characteristics of iranian regions at the same time (karimi, 2014). parallel to the rise of the post-modern movement in the west that allowed past architectural motifs, there have been a return to traditional iranian building methods “not only [as] a reaction to the rigidity of the imported western modernist styles, but also [as] a timely response to a popular global trend” (ibid, p.341). the lessons that can be learned from the studied courtyard houses of tabriz emphasize not only the optimal orientation and form to use passive solar energy effectively, efficient multi-functional design strategies such as the roofed veranda to create desirable environmental and space solutions, but also emphasizes the adaptation to contemporary iranian lifestyle. the present-day courtyard house has to be built for a smaller family with a different lifestyle, while, combining the benefits of solar-conscious living spaces and courtyard with the contemporary apartment lifestyle as much as possible. appendix a. considering the direct solar gains for house no.1, in month january at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, 16:00 pm, and 18:00 pm, it is 3188, 6299, 3507, 0, and 0 w.h respectively for the whole building, while this amount in month july at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, and 16:00 pm increases to 6008, 8330, 7301, 4470 w.h for the whole building (0 w.h at 18:00 pm) (table 5). focusing on the reception hall of the house, the direct solar gain of this space in month january at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, 16 pm, and 18: pm is 2229, 2768, 1044, 0, and 0 w.h (table 5). khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 74 table 5 direct solar gain of house no.1 (unit: w.h) (data done in ecotect, source: author) house no. 1 7:00 am january july 12:00 pm january july 14:00 pm january july 16:00 pm january july 18:00 pm january july direct solar gain (whole building) 3188 6008 6299 8330 3507 7301 0 4470 0 0 direct solar gain (reception hall) 2229 2768 1044 0 0 considering the direct solar gains for house no.2, in month january at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, 16:00 pm, and 18:00 pm, it is 8371, 30621, 22171, 6130, and 0 w.h respectively for the whole building, while this amount in month july for the whole building at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, and 16:00 pm increases to 31261, 55715, 47188, 28707, and 13859 w.h (table 6). focusing on the reception hall of the house no.2, the direct solar gain of this space in month january at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, 16 pm, and 18: pm is 3056, 15504, 10072, 2177, and 0 w.h (table 6). table 6 direct solar gain of house no.2 (unit: w.h) (data done in ecotect, source: author) house no. 2 7:00 am january july 12:00 pm january july 14:00 pm january july 16:00 pm january july 18:00 pm january july direct solar gain (whole building) 8371 31261 30621 55715 22171 47188 6130 28707 0 13859 direct solar gain (reception hall) 3056 15504 10072 2177 0 considering the direct solar gains for house no.3, in month january at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, 16:00 pm, and 18:00 pm, it is 5406, 13384, 7963, 1108, and 0 w.h respectively for the whole building, while this amount in month july for the whole building at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, 16:00 pm, and 18:00 pm increases to 16959, 22818, 16910, 11182, and 5612 w.h (table 7). focusing on the reception hall of the house no.3, the direct solar gain of this space in month january at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, 16 pm, and 18: pm is 3577, 10635, 6163, 827, and 0 (table 7). table 7 direct solar gain of house no.3 (unit: w.h) (data done in ecotect, source: author) house no. 3 7:00 am january july 12:00 pm january july 14:00 pm january july 16:00 pm january july 18:00 pm january july direct solar gain (whole building) 5406 16959 13384 22818 7963 16910 1108 11182 0 5612 direct solar gain (reception hall) 3577 10635 6163 827 0 khatibi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 75 considering the direct solar gains for house no.4, in month january at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, 16:00 pm, and 18:00 pm, it is 1286, 3374, 2090, 469, and 0 w.h respectively for the whole building, while this amount in month july for the whole building at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, and 16:00 pm increases to 1884, 4210, 2717, 1387, and 279 w.h (table 8). focusing on the reception hall of the house no.4, the direct solar gain of this space in month january at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, 16 pm, and 18: pm is 712, 2055, 1267, 287, and 0 (table 19). moreover, reception hall of house no. 4 has direct solar gains from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm in month of july at 9:00 am and12:00 pm as 2035 and 2479 w.h (table 8). table 8 direct solar gain of house no.4 (unit: w.h) (data done in ecotect, source: author) house no. 4 7:00 am january july 12:00 pm january july 14:00 pm january july 16:00 pm january july 18:00 pm january july direct solar gain (whole building) 1286 1884 3374 4210 2090 2717 469 1387 0 279 direct solar gain (reception hall) 712 2055 2479 1267 287 0 considering the direct solar gains for house no.5, in month january at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, 16:00 pm, and 18:00 pm, it is 3406, 10094, 6197, 1315, and 0 w.h respectively for the whole building, while this amount in month july for the whole building at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, and 16:00 pm increases to 4780, 12983, 8360, 4295, and 866 w.h (table 9). focusing on the reception hall of the house no.5, the direct solar gain of this space in month january at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, 16 pm, and 18: pm is 776, 3555, 2418, 698, and 0 w.h (table 20). moreover, reception hall of house no. 5 has direct solar gains from 8:00 am to 15:50 pm in month of july at 7:00 am, 12:00 pm, 14:00 pm, and 16 pm as 1433, 4560, 3367, and 1497 w.h (table 9). table 9 direct solar gain of house no.5 (unit: w.h) (data done in ecotect, source: author) house no. 5 7:00 am january july 12:00 pm january july 14:00 pm january july 16:00 pm january july 18:00 pm 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(1987). our common future. oxford university press: oxford. http://www.tabriz.ir/ http://www.originlab.com/origin http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i2.555 revitalization strategy for historic core of ahmedabad utpal sharma1, parag mistry2, reema prajapati3 1director, institute of architecture and planning, nirma university 2assistant professor, institute of architecture and planning, nirma university 3visiting faculty, institute of architecture and planning, nirma university abstract in india, dense historic urban settlements were developed with the intention of provision of spaces for adequate engagement of the people. public squares and streets became important places of interaction. ‘historic core,’ especially had public spaces meant for various socioeconomic groups. ahmedabad city is a blend of a harmonious past and a vivacious present. number of historical and architecturally important buildings were built during muslim and moghul rules. one of the first built structures within the walled city is the bhadra fort, a citadel founded by sultan ahmed shah in 1411 with a huge public square in front, developed for purpose of procession and gathering. this bhadra precinct went through various layers of transformation in different eras and now have become vulnerable due to congestion and encroachment. though, a need for intervention was felt to bring back the lost vitality of the bhadra precinct, it was realized that a comprehensive approach would be the necessity. conservation and sensitive development approach was taken to tackle this problem through pedestrianization of the bhadra precinct, re-routing of traffic and restoration of bhadra fort. larger level traffic and parking issues were also considered beyond the site. alternative use of bhadra fort as tourist information center was considered. urban design guidelines were proposed for harmonious development in the surrounding area. this proposal was considered for funding under jawaharlal nehru national urban renewal mission (jnnurm) and was implemented. many issues were faced during implementation of bhadra project due to contextualization of informal commercial, religious and other cultural activities. political, social and administrative factors also played immense role in implementation of proposal. now since ahmedabad has achieved the status of world heritage city through unesco certification further implementation of this project will be relatively easy due to envisaged strong political and administrative support. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords revitalization; restoration; historic core; intervention; public square; bhadra; world heritage city 1. historic core as a place for public interaction there are key buildings and spaces around, which the city arranges itself a temple or grand mosque, a fort or a palace with market squares, etc. this place and the buildings give rich feeling of sense of belonging -continuity and identity. historic urban settlements have been an asset to the city since decades. public squares and streets became important means of interactions. ‘historic core,’ especially had a public square meant for various strata of pg. 45 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i2.555&domain=press.ierek.com sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd public interaction. historic core may be defined as the neighborhood or environs of a place or a group of buildings that share or partly contain common physical, social, cultural activities. most indian towns and cities with a long history, have areas of strong architectural character, which are not formed. these in fact are the result of centuries of growth over which new elements are constantly juxtaposed with older ones. old buildings and older areas of the city are the assets as they represent history of the communities, embodying their tradition, heritage, and culture through architecture and urban form (intach, 2015). table 1. nomenclature amc ahmedabad municipal corporation asi archaeological survey of india cept center for environmental planning and technology gdcr gujarat development control regulations jnnurm jawaharlal nehru national urban renewal mission sewa self-employed women’s association unesco united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization 1.1. need for revitalization of historic core historic urban settlements is undergoing rapid changes and decline due to the pressures of urbanization. the historic core has become vulnerable over the period due these pressures. decay of historic core often occurs within the context due to extreme density, overcrowding, and encroachments. conversion of public square into smaller space leads to loss of engagement of people. there has always been a debate whether in any urban project, planning can be done taking historic developments into account. the protection and revitalization of historic center is a vital issue today as its existence is threatened by changing urban fabric. it is intimate and human in scale, often rich in diverse cultural, religious and social activities, they provide the variety in life’s background needed to match the diversity of society and that, by doing, so they gain value and acquire additional human dimensions (urbis limited, 2001). buildings with architectural significance and traditional values surrounding historic core are also considered for their preservation and conservation. preservation of these heritage structures requires maintenance and is necessary to maintain the building precinct or artifact in its present state to prevent and retard deterioration. conserving the unprotected historic core and architectural heritage surrounding the site ensures the survival of sense of place and character in a globalizing environment (unesco, 2013). it offers the opportunity not only to conserve the past, but also to define the future. thus, the conservation and revitalization of historic urban center seek to retain the part of the urban environment whose character is important to national and local heritage. 2. ahmedabad old city and the site 2.1. history ahmedabad is the seventh largest city of india and the largest city located in the state of gujarat. the city is a blend of a harmonious past and a vivacious present. the city owing to its rapid industrialization, is also referred to as the ‘manchester of the east’. in spite of high industrial growth, it has retained its past glory as of imposing architectural monuments built in hindu and islamic styles. the city’s, prosperous and eventful past and present is embodied in its rich kaleidoscope of history, art and culture, rich architecture and imposing monuments. the river sabarmati divides ahmedabad into two physically distinct eastern and western regions. the eastern bank of the river constitutes the old city, which includes the central area of bhadra (ahmedabadonline, 2008). the walled city of ahmedabad was founded in 1411 a.d. by sultan ahmed shah. the city is fairly, semi-circular, which is similar to many naturally grown cities on a river bank, core in the centre and radiating streets connecting the centre to the edge. the city enclosed by a strong fort wall, has a mixed pattern of activities and street layout. pg. 46 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the walled city of ahmedabad has all the historic characteristics with many historic buildings like fort, fort walls, gates, temples, mosques, and pols with its traditional houses. figure 1. map showing a walled city of ahmedabad and heritage monuments within bhadra fort precincts stroll in the walled city takes one down the memory lane, making one aware of the city’s glorious past. it is now packed with bazaars, the clustered and barricaded pol system of shanty buildings (traditional housing of ahmedabad old city) with numerous places of worship. most dominant, elements of the city are located on the eastern bank of the river. these elements are the royal quarters, the maidan (the square), and the mosque complex that originate from the river and follow the main street, now called gandhi road — ‘bazaar street’ (shopping street). the square in front of the bhadra fort used to be identified as ‘maidan-e-shahi’ (royal plaza). the british east india company took over the city in 1818 (ahmedabad, 2007). ahmedabad grew rapidly, becoming an important center of trade and textile manufacturing. structures like karanj police station, police booth and bank got built during the british rule in india. these structures were located inside the bhadra square within disturbed historic context. further, the construction of new architecturally significant buildings during the modern era in west ahmedabad led to a decline in visitors to the fort precinct. lack of adequate guidelines relating to formal and informal commercial activity zones in the old city has led to increasing encroachments by informal commercial activities, endangering the structure and spatial qualities of the monuments (burgess, 1900). 2.2. bhadra fort and its importance ahmedabad blends harmoniously as an ancient heritage city with a vibrant present. number of historical and architecturally important building exists even today were built during the muslim and moghul rule. one of the first built structures within the walled city is the bhadra fort, a citadel founded by sultan ahmed shah in 1411. bhadra fort served as the centre of royal government of the city during the moghul rule. the area between bhadra fort to teen darwaza was known as maidan-eshahi henceforth mentioned as bhadra square. it was designed as a processional space containing the main market place for the city. spread over an astounding 43 acres of land, the fort precinct houses many palatial buildings. the bhadra fort and gate are under the protection of asi, while azam khan palace is owned by the government of gujarat. the fort gets its name from the bhadra kali temple being located within the fort precinct, a temple built during the maratha rule, a heritage structure in its own right. the planning concept evolved around the central area of bhadra. the bhadra fort makes an axis with teen darwaza (triple arched gateway). on the south side of the axis is the main complex of jami mosque with the king’s, and the queen’s tombs. further south, and somewhat east of this complex’s spatial sense, the area is the main wholesale and retail trade centre of the town. presently, it is the busiest part of the town and congestion, overcrowding and chaotic traffic conditions. – heritage monuments in bhadra fort precinct pg. 47 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd ahmedabad is endowed with a rich architectural heritage that is vital to the local identity and continuity of the place (amc & auda, 2018). the heritage potential of the walled city is immense in most of the aspects like economically, culturally, socially and aesthetically for the city and to the state of gujarat in a larger context. unesco in 2018, declared ahmedabad walled city as a world heritage site. hence, protection, and revitalization of historic centre, an ancient environment becomes a vital issue today as its existence is endangered. since, past few decades, the old city has undergone significant changes. the original form of several structures has been altered to a large extent significantly. today, the old city area has become a major commercial centre for the entire ahmedabad city. the area is congested due to heavy traffic of two & three wheeler and lack of parking facilities. several monuments of heritage significance are located within and in close proximity to the bhadra fort precinct. the famous teen darwaza, another major tourist attraction in ahmedabad, lies at the eastern end of the fort. initially, it served as an entrance to the royal plaza in the fort precinct. ahmed shah’s, mosque situated southwest of bhadra fort was built in 1414 and is amongst the city’s earliest mosques (auda, amc & cept, 2006). the azam khan sarai located adjacent to the bhadra fort, was built in 1637-38. the main street of the bhadra chowk, now called gandhi road is a ‘bazaar street’. the bazaar street is the major commercial area having a series of shops and are now encroached by daily job seekers and therefore required intervention in the form of redevelopment of the historic core. figure 2. existing site (source: author) bhadra precinct is believed to be the origin point of the city characterized by several pols, historical buildings/structures, marketplaces, cultural centers, religious places, etc. (vastu shilpa foundation, 2015). many important buildings and structures like bhadra fort, teen darwaza, bhadra kali temple etc. are located in this area. famous market places like manek chowk, fernandez bridge book bazaar, etc. are also found in this area. also, city-level transport terminals like lal darwaza bus stop and important buildings like city civil court, premabhai hall etc. also form a section of this part of the old city. for a long period of time, these structures were neglected and hence were in a state of disrepair with bhadra palace, it’s precinct, city wall and its gates in dilapidated condition. this urban heritage constitutes a living context, a technology, and a morphology, which required to be restored and adapted to meet the needs of the day (auda, amc & cept, 2006). the bhadra precinct displays new structures that have been added haphazardly with no respect to historic context. lack of maintenance has led to collapses in the structure. all these factors, including the inadequate infrastructure, under utilization and existing incompatible uses here have culminated in the precinct becoming inaccessible despite being one of the most significant symbolic heritage monuments ahmedabad has to offer. pg. 48 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd with the consequent shift in population to the suburbs, the symbolic and functional value of bhadra fort precinct as the heart of the city diminished over time, while the construction of new architecturally, significant buildings during the modern era in west ahmedabad led to a decline in importance of the fort precinct. hence, a strong need was felt to conserve this segment of the city, an area of immense heritage value (vastu shilpa foundation, 2015). figure 3. photograph showing procession at bhadra plaza during british time (source: amc archives) figure 4. photograph of bhadra plaza existing situation (source: authors) 2.3. issues in the present context old city of ahmedabad is undergoing major transformation in terms of use as well as built form. the intensity of use of the commercial areas located in the old city is increasing with people coming to these areas. the heritage structures suffer from poor maintenance due to the lack of public awareness and respect for heritage precincts. the pg. 49 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd structures are also impacted by traffic congestion, pollution, haphazard growth of the city and it’s surroundings and encroachments by vendors. lack of adequate guidelines relating to formal and informal commercial activities in the old city has led to increasing encroachments in the fort precinct thereby endangering the structure and spatial quality. bhadra fort precinct also faced several problems which are as listed below: – traffic and transportation old city being the cultural and economic heart of the city has been subjected to tremendous pressure, due to changes in the land use from simple to complex and mixed uses and to more intensive uses. residential units are being transformed into commercial units that attract more people and eventually increase in number of vehicles. additionally, the traditional and informal shopping in the city center generates a very large volume of localized pedestrian movement (bharti, 2014). this issue leads to problems like traffic congestion and haphazard parking. vehicular traffic has predominantly increased through the years, blocking the visibility and accessibility of heritage buildings. the public transportation exists around the old city but transportation inside the fort area is a complex issue. the use of the local buses is limited because of inefficient route planning, overcrowding, frequency or availability, high travel time and poor maintenance of buses. concentration of economic activities in the walled city attracts a large volume of traffic from all over ahmedabad. – hierarchy of road network and vehicular movement pattern the walled city has grown along the banks of river sabarmati, similar to many naturally grown cities with a commercial hub in the middle and streets radiating from hub to the edge, with dead-end street at residential areas. the road stretch from bhadra fort towards kalupur railway station acts as a spine for vehicular movement. this road resides most of the major architectural heritage monuments and has major commercial activities. this combination creates increased vehicular traffic. less availability of carriageway for vehicular traffic has further lead to overcrowding and traffic jams. figure 5. existing vehicular movement around the site (source: authors) – haphazard parking along bhadra precinct pg. 50 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the growing intensity of commercial land-use is attracting a large number of people every day. lack of adequate parking space has lead to regular traffic jams in this area. all along this growth, a constant check for planning and development of these older sections of the city is largely required. lack of this arrangement of constructive development towards providing organized parking, has created chaos in the old city. the area has few pay and park facilities and on-street demarcated parking. – informal activities presence of the informal sector at critical locations in bhadra precinct invites several problems. it causes traffic congestion, reduces the carriage way width and takes away pedestrian walkways. street vending has been existent in the old city. the number of hawkers has increased manifold in the recent years. always crowded and congested, the competition for space in this old city area has only intensified over the years (oriard, 2014). – pollution air pollution from vehicular exhaust is increasing causing irreparable damage to the heritage resources. the air pollution has increased at an alarming rate due to increase in vehicular traffic and inadequate public transport. – loss of visual character the visual character and aesthetic ambiance of the heritage buildings or precincts is largely engulfed by intense commercial activity, signboards etc. this issue is coupled with actual physical encroachments around these historic precincts (auda, amc & cept, 2006). 3. strategy for revitalization of historic core 3.1. current scenario the once abundant economic opportunities in the fort precinct got exhausted over time with the break-down in its conventional political system, while the migration of the city’s influential population from the old city to its newer parts led to significantly decreased the maintenance and lack of civic amenities. a culmination of resultant factors such as weakened urban infrastructure, poverty, and lack of access to the power elite who formulate policies for the urban region has led to the bhadra fort precinct being reduced to its current state of disuse and dilapidation and the loss of its status as the heart of ahmedabad. despite its present dilapidated condition, the grandeur of the precinct can still be perceived in the existing structure (nayak, 2003). though in decay and in the need of critical repairs, the bhadra fort precinct reflects a past glory that calls for urgent conservation and rehabilitation. the entire fort precinct is under asi’s (archeological survey of india) control. areas assigned to the state offices are now lying in disuse, while new structures have been added haphazardly without much respect for the historic context. all these factors have culminated in this historically extremely significant monument becoming inaccessible to tourists and locals alike due to its distinctly inadequate infrastructure and incompatible uses. the principal issues identified as critical and need to be duly addressed while carrying out a comprehensive and sustainable revitalization of bhadra fort precinct was: – loss of status as the heart of ahmedabad – dilapidated structures, damaged masonry and structural damage of buildings – illegal encroachments which are harmful to the physical and spatial character of the precinct pg. 51 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 6. existing structures within bhadra precinct (source: authors) 3.2. proposal on the revitalization of bhadra precinct a strong need was felt to conserve this segment of the city area of immense heritage value. an attempt for restructuring and revitalizing to conserve this area was proposed. the proposed pedestrianization of bhadra chowk & restoration and re-use plan aims to arrest critical issues by putting forth improvement strategies, overall revitalization plan of bhadra square. the area between bhadra fort to teen darwaza (triple arched gateway) is now proposed to be pedestrianized for people to move around comfortably and leisurely with covered walkway. the bhadra plaza is enhanced by adding on various landscape and design elements. the idea is to activate the bhadra area in the day and at night so that it acts as a city level public ‘place’. the hawkers’ zone is re-organized to avoid crowding of this place. restoration of old heritage buildings is proposed keeping the traditional setting of open space and streetscape. urban design guidelines, architectural controls and conservation guidelines are part of the proposal. the proposal also recommends the restoration of buildings of heritage value around bhadra fort including bhadrakali temple, city civil court. looking at the intense use and the character of this part of the old city, the proposal was divided into following parts: revitalization: – pedestrianization of street (bhadra fort precincts & bhadra plaza to teen darwaja (triple arched gateway)) – identification of tourist nodes and corridors along the street for heritage importance (like azam khan sarai, bhadrakali temple, bhadra tower, shah qutub’s masjid, tomb of ahmed shah, queen’s tomb) – to reduce encroachments around bhadra plaza to teen darwaja – traffic studies (including parking), analysis and identifying problem areas; and – up-gradation of required infrastructure along fort precincts and plaza urban design guidelines: pg. 52 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – urban design guidelines and architectural controls for surrounding structures restoration: – restoration of bhadra fort – conservation and adaptive reuse of azam khan sarai the proposal arrest these issues critically and is an attempt to improve the situation qualitatively by conserving the heritage structures that are one of the rare examples worldwide in history. realizing the tremendous potential presented by the fort precinct in becoming a revitalized symbol that reinstates grandeur and power that the city of ahmedabad exuded in the past, the reuse functions of the precinct are based on capitalizing on the spatial structure of the precinct that offers places of various scales and quality enabling its reuse as a place for citizens where cultural and recreational activities are carried out and restoring the function of the precinct as the central space for the city. conservation and sensitive development is the approach to the problem of such historic areas. 3.2.1. revitalization of bhadra precinct pedestrianization of bhadra precinct: an effort to pedestrianize this street and making it walkable, safe and comfortable, for the pedestrians was taken up as a component under this project. widening of sidewalks, improvements to intersections, street-scaping was identified interventions to improve the pedestrianization of the area. the aim was to provide public access to the bhadra area — heart of the city and enhancing link to streets. figure 7. proposal for bhadra plaza (source: vastu shilpa foundation) additionally, upgrading and coordinating physical elements such as signage, lighting, landscaping, pavement, food kiosks, public toilets and street furniture was proposed to make the whole area pleasant to walk through. the proposal attempts to reorganize the activities in hawking spaces, to define the spatial quality and bring forth the old grandeur that walled city and its historic precincts is renowned for. ‘no vehicle zone’ aims to make the streets more community friendly and reduce pollution was proposed. the implementation of street improvements contributed to historic core rejuvenation as an appealing, vibrant, and economically-vital community. the aim was to improve the pedestrian circulation system by reducing congestion, improving safety, and providing better pedestrian access to transit nodes and open spaces. this idea was proposed to create social and diverse cultural pg. 53 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd spaces with many opportunities for people to interact. multi-level parking facility was proposed nearby to prevent the vehicular access entering the plaza and providing people a true pedestrianized plaza. a good connectivity to city level transport nodes was proposed to encourage visitors and tourists. thought on the provision of battery operated buses on identified route and connecting to city level transport nodes located adjacent to these areas. this idea would help in encouraging people to use public transport for coming to the old city and not bringing their vehicles. this event in turn, will cause reduction in demand of parking space and provide freedom from excessive noise, air pollution, and traffic grime. the overall thought to pedestrianize this street was to develop it as a good pedestrian street created by closing the commercial street to vehicular traffic, permanently or over certain hours each day. retaining and conservation include both tangible and intangible heritage structures of unique architectural, cultural and historical value in bhadra precinct. a multi-angular approach with a modest plan is designed by conserving these buildings without hampering the facades but giving a face-lift by providing the temporary encampment and covering the buildings (heights in the limits of the urban guidelines) without compromising the livelihood of the street vendors. figure 8. proposed vehicular movement for pedestrianization of bhadra plaza (source: authors) figure 9. view of proposal for bhadra plaza from the fort pg. 54 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 10. actual execution of proposal – infrastructure up-gradation & facilities augmentation the streetscape and heritage conservation have been the concerns while designing this area. pavements to provide along the entire length of the road, dotted with few trees and to provide informal hawking spaces along the road which leads to teen darwaza. ample amount of regularized parking lot was also designed for the contentedly of the visitors. an attempt to hold the existing inner-city character while the proficient design transfers the heritage zone to a realistic contemporary built-up to conserve the character of the fort area was approached. the pedestrianization path from bhadra to teen darwaza deals with providing formal ‘stalls’ located and provided for hawkers/ informal activities for shopping along the footpath on the walkway, which act as a screen and lends a unique character to the street. the facade adds a screening effect to the old shopping street and the old shopping building. the demarcation of allocated spaces for hawkers would clear the arcades and provide free and uninterrupted pedestrian movement all along the shop edge. the design dealt with an organization of informal activities and traffic resolution. the mix of many small businesses and street vendors will still be a preferable form of commercial activity in the inner city and continue a traditional way of conducting business with a contemporary design. this idea will legalize the vendor market and allocate place for every vendor to continue with the livelihood lawfully. active sidewalks that is directly linked with adjacent commercial uses at the ground floor help animate the street. the street includes various public spaces of a scale where pedestrians can move comfortably and where informal activities can take place and can reinforce a vibrant street life in the old city (centre for responsible citizenship and sustainability, 2005). 3.2.2. urban design guidelines no adequate means of conservation can be devised without carefully considered plans of control for the maintenance and existence of buildings of historic and architectural values situated in human settlement areas. the controls ought not to be excessively restrictive but to be responsive to the physical, social and economic needs of the area and should stimulate conservation rather than stifle new development. it must consider the needs, convenience and natural aspirations of the people living on the site. the main objective was to preserve through ages an active historical heritage with its forms and original materials with adaptation and interventions without any tendencies to falsify. this idea was to preserve and protect against the damage of all kinds either done with intentions, negligence, or unawareness. as per the general development control regulations [gdcr (gujarat development control regulation) (section 17.20)] of ahmedabad, no development or redevelopment or change of use or engineering operations or additions, alterations, repairs, renovations including painting, replacement of special features or demolition of the whole or part thereof or plastering of heritage buildings and heritage precincts and pols shall pg. 55 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd be allowed except with the written permission of the competent authority. only the competent authority on the advice of the heritage conservation committee would prepare list of heritage buildings and precincts to modify 3.2.3. restoration the conservation of historical buildings that are neglected endangered, and which require immediate attention is one of the key strategy tried to achieve in this proposal. the focus area of the project includes the stretch from gates of bhadra fort to the gates of teen darwaza. this fact also includes the restoration and revitalization of the heritage structures by the side of this proposed street avenue. figure 11. monuments considered for restoration the precinct can also be conceived as a tourist center with facilities that allow tourists to explore the intricacies of life in the city, state, and the region. it could also become a starting point for all heritage activities in the city and the walking tours. renewing and restoring the masonry which has suffered considerable damage due to lack of maintenance is also taken up as part of the project. restoration shall include strengthening the structure of the fort precinct including azam khan’s sarai to prevent further damage to the structure. azam khan’s sarai could be remodeled as a sarai again by providing for all tourism-related needs, facilities for cultural events, food and ethnic markets and could be developed as an important exhibition center. figure 12. proposed nature of use of space pg. 56 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd various new structures have been added haphazardly in the fort precinct without any sensitivity to the existing heritage context. removal of these incongruous structures to retrieve valuable spaces is also taken up as a part of the project. comprehensive landscape design, to enhance spaces in the structures with due consideration of their scale and architectural qualities and use was planned to revitalize the structures which currently lie redundant or occupied by incongruous structures. considering the prominence of ahmedabad as a unesco world heritage site and one of the most attractive tourist destinations, the process of revitalizing the bhadra fort precinct necessarily needs to account for many visitors to the city each year. revitalizing the precinct hence has a proposal of the addition of adequate tourism infrastructure such as a tourist information center, signage and enhancing existing amenities to adequately cater to the estimated tourist influx. since the precinct with its variety of spaces — open and enclosed, offers numerous opportunities for the reuse of the sarai. an important son et lumiere was planned around the fort and bastions to showcase the various phases of city’s history. the revitalized precinct could be endowed with attributes that promote this place in becoming a major place for the celebration of public festivals and fairs. revitalization plan will arrest the issues critically and improve the situation qualitatively by conserving the heritage structures that are one of the rare examples worldwide in history. 4. implementation of proposal as mentioned above, the proposal has two major components with various sub-components which are as follows: component 1 — restoration of bhadra fort and azam khan sarai sub-components – renewing and strengthening of the structures – reuse of existing structures by the provision of tourist spaces – retrieval of invaluable spaces by the removal of incongruous structures – comprehensive landscape design – son et lumiere component 2 — revitalization of bhadra square sub-components – pedestrianization of the square – re-routing traffic to relieve traffic congestion – protecting character of walled city – providing hawking zones – solving parking issues – revised planning and development of existing bus terminal to accommodate parking and informal activities currently, the project was implemented on a site through support from urban local body (amc — ahmedabad municipal corporation) and funding from central government and state government. to implement the project without disturbing the norms and guidelines of protected monuments of asi, partnership was made between asi and urban local body (amc) with necessary guidance of national monument authority, government of india. due to funding under jawaharlal nehru national urban renewal mission (jnnurm), implementation of the project went on smooth. implementation of project was done in phase wise manner. apart from planning and development of bus terminal and implementation of parking plan along with provision of parking facilities, the rest of the project is implemented on the site. pg. 57 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 4.1. role of various factors during implementation the project has many stakeholders and hence, various organizations were involved either directly or indirectly in the development of the project. further, many political, social and administrative factors played important role in implementation of the project. these factors still have influential role in maintenance and current status of the project. due to various reasons like the need to address additional space for hawkers within or in nearby areas, the implementation of the project has stopped. this issue is due to shortages of funding from jnnurm mission under government of india. however, with unesco announcing ahmedabad walled city as a world heritage site, smooth further implementation of the project is envisaged. following is the list of organizations involved directly or indirectly in the project: organizations directly involved: – ahmedabad municipal corporation – archeological survey or india (asi) – national monument authority, government of india – consultants (cept university, vastu shilpa foundation) organizations indirectly involved: – bhadra kali temple authority – bank of india – premabhai hall trust – city civil court — bhadra – bhadra vendor association – self employed women association (sewa) – bhadra taxi stand association – karanj police stationbhadra both types of organizations played an important role in the development of the project. role of organizations indirectly involved was also as important in the implementation of the project. delay was faced due to the involvement of multiple stakeholders in the project. differences in opinion within stakeholders had an adverse influence the project. 4.2. issues faced during implementation site being the historic core of the walled city and since multiple stakeholders were involved in the project, many issues were faced during implementation of the project. space constraints, several activities in this hyper active area slowed the pace of implementation of the project. the project is linked to the city and its life in many ways. the old city also had a concentration of informal shops. there is no demarcated hawking space and hence the informal sector spread through the old city there are 80 to 100 (as per primary survey by the author) types of specialized markets such as clothes, general retail, utensils, vegetable/fruits/grain, hardware, shoes, jewelry, female accessories, stationary, etc; which is majorly used by the lower and middle income residents of the city. this hustling and bustling crowd has a footfall of an average 1 to 1.5 lakh (as per primary survey by author) visitors and tradesman etc.to and fro from lal darwaja bus station to teen darwaja. since this footfall couldn’t pg. 58 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd be restricted, it created a hindrance in the development of the project. lack of public awareness was another issue that prolonged the project time. since people were not sufficiently aware about the project, resistance from their side was felt during implementation and hence, there was lack of co-operation from their end. bhadra plaza being the core of the city, is an important premise for holding all celebrations on huge scale for all religions alike. around 300 – 400 thousand people gather in this area during these festivals. hence, the work stopped during these festivals which resulted in delayed implementation of the project. development of 22,000 square meter plaza area with multistory parking and better transportation was planned that could impact this place socially, culturally and economically. even though the plaza has been built, funds from central government stopped that stopped the development of multi-storeyed parking and bus terminal. further, as per the new street vendor policy, licenses was given to existing hawkers and street vendors. due to delay in implementation of the project the number of hawkers increased two-folds. however, these were unregistered hawkers. bhadra vendor association as well as self employed women association were against decreasing the number of hawkers since it will affect livelihood of many hawkers. this mismanagement lead to unorganized hawking spaces. further, incomplete development led to many problems like over-crowding, unregulated use of space, mismanagement in associations, etc created doubts on design and execution of projects. 5. conclusion bhadra precinct is a renowned historic core. the identity of the square as a historic core, needs to be re-established to sustain its importance within the city. revitalization and re-development of bhadra square was taken up to regain the losing identity of this historic core. however, the objective of any project cannot be achieved unless the project is implemented on site. after ahmedabad old city being declared as a world heritage site by unesco, it is expected that the envisaged project can be implemented to regain its identity as historic core of the city with strong public participation and political patronage. 6. references 1. amc, & auda. (2018, 04). ahmedabad comprehensive development plan. 2. ahmedabad. (2007). retrieved may 01, 2018, from https://howlingpixel.com/i-en/ahmedabad 3. ahmedabadonline. (2008). gujarat online network. retrieved 2017-09-12, from http://www.ahmedabado nline.in/profile/ 4. auda, amc, & cept. (2006). ahmedabad comprehensive development plan. ahmedabad: amc, auda. 5. bharti, m. (2014, may 13). integrating vendors in city planning. retrieved may 01, 2018, from https://por tfolio.cept.ac.in/archive/integrating-street-vendors-in-city-planning/ 6. burgess, j. (1900). the muhammadan architecture of ahmedabad. new delhi: asi. 7. vastushilpa foundation (2015). vastu shilpa foundation. retrieved 2018-05-01, from http://www.vastushil pa.org/app/ activity.php 8. intach. (2015). urban heritage in indian cities. in niua (ed.), . new delhi: niua. 9. urbis limited. (2001). landscape value of hongkong. in planning department of hongkong. 10. nayak, d. (2003). revitalizing our walled cities. restoration & renewal, a sympo sium on preserving cultural heritage #530(530). pg. 59 sharma / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 11. oriard, l. (2014). integrating street vendors in ahmedabad, india the case of bhadra plaza. in and others (ed.), integratingstreet vendors in ahmedabad, india the case of bhadra plaza. 12. unesco. (2013). creative economy report, special edition. creative economy report, special edition. 13. centre for responsible citizenship and sustainability. (2005). retrieved 2018-03-23, from http://www.istp .murdoch.edu.au/istp/casestudies/case studies asia/heritage/heritage.html pg. 60 historic core as a place for public interaction need for revitalization of historic core ahmedabad old city and the site history bhadra fort and its importance issues in the present context strategy for revitalization of historic core current scenario proposal on the revitalization of bhadra precinct revitalization of bhadra precinct urban design guidelines restoration implementation of proposal role of various factors during implementation issues faced during implementation conclusion references http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 41 doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i3.676 regenerative mobility: disruption and urban evolution m.n.p.a. alcantara1, a.s. da s. gonzaga2, e.c. kneib2 1 københavns universitet, copenhagen, denmark & politecnico di milano, milano, italia 2 universidade federal de goias, goiania, brazil abstract mobility plays an important role in the cities by enabling people to carry out the most varied activities across the territory, as well as to ensure the city fully function. in addition, analogies to the human organism can be made by this urban dynamic, looking for solutions to specific issues. moreover, this paper has been based by the premise that phenomena and urban elements could be conceptualized, explained and transformed from contemporary and innovative approaches applied in the medical field. for this reason, this paper aims to develop and present a new concept associated with urban mobility, based on the principles of regenerative medicine: the regenerative mobility, a concept with disruptive and evolutionary purposes. furthermore, the structure of this paper is summarized by the introduction which contextualizes the theme, presents and characterizes the techniques used in the research. additionally, the following chapters explore essential aspects of the city, explaining why it needs a mobility change and new concepts. therefore, the concept of regenerative mobility is presented as a potential of mobility and cities improvement, followed by pragmatic cases, capable of illustrating some of its principles. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords regenerative mobility; urban mobility; urban evolution; disruptive concept; medicine regenerative 1. introduction the dynamics and complexity that characterize the establishment of people in territories, the structuring of urban spaces and the analysis of transport systems are, on several occasions, compared to the processes that keep the human body alive (odum, 1973; ackroyd, 2000; samaniego & moses, 2008). indeed, in the 19th century, the urban conception, according to enlightenment, has considered the city something similar to the veins and arteries, with circulation principles that were based on the bloodstream and gradually applied to the urban centers (sennet, 2008). thus, as a complex and systemic organism, cities have their metabolism (carta, 2017) and have the challenge of seeking a new urban metabolism (iaac, 2012). if innovation consists in transforming knowledge and ideas into values, urban innovation can be seen as a learning process acting on (and transforming) practices in urban collective environments (concilio, 2016). thus, the city is the best place where innovations could find necessary tangible/intangible resources, as long as it is able to recover its propensity for creativity and collective intelligence (carta, 2017). hence, the approach that has been used by this research starts from the premise that phenomena and urban elements could be conceptualized, explained and transformed from contemporary and innovative approaches applied in the medical field. http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i3.676&domain=press.ierek.com alcantara/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 42 moreover, the brazilian urban growth is related to a displacement model based on individual motorization. consequently, this model has degraded cities, making collectiveness unfeasible and also, causing incalculable social, environmental and economic damages. as a result, it affects the quality of urban life directly. however, even in concepts that have already been consolidated, such as sustainable urban mobility, it is clear that the need to change paradigms has been shown less sensitive to existing concepts and proposals. therefore, from the assimilation between the phenomena that manage cities and human body, and from the perception that concepts are dynamic and must evolve according to social construction of knowledge, this paper aims to develop and present an innovative, disruptive and revolutionary concept for urban mobility associated with a paradigm shift and supported by collectiveness. indeed, its specific objectives are concentrated on: the identification of similar aspects between the dynamics of urban and human organisms; the development of relations between the concepts of regenerative medicine and regenerative mobility; and also, the development of first aspects which integrate this new concept of regenerative mobility. furthermore, the methodological procedure has adopted the format of bibliographic research. in this case, its development was based on works already developed by other authors such as those found in books and scientific papers. moreover, regarding the goals, the research type is exploratory, since it is an initial study, which will promote further, more structured researches. indeed, this type of research aims to develop, clarify and modify concepts and ideas; in addition to reveal a specific problem and also, to promote conceptual aspects capable of solving or minimizing it (gil, 2008). 2. collectivity: an essential factor of the city cities are mainly made up of social connections. otherwise, they are not only large portions of people but social links clusters. for instance, space, time, and infrastructure play a crucial role in enabling social interactions to create and persist, consequently, allowing them to become open to increased connectivity (bettencourt, 2013). because of its increased diversity, the city, a space of encounter and coexistence between "unknown" people, gives the urban environment an enriching and civilizing character. in addition, in community life, a group cohesion does not leave space for appeals that touch only an individual. as a matter of fact, kuster (2009) presents an enlightening metaphor. the author associates the conflicting relationship between the possibility of joining the maintenance of individuality to the dynamics of the puzzle. one piece, when connected to another, no longer exists as an isolated object, but as part of a set. moreover, this is what allows to start the search for other pieces, which gives more meaning to the collective with each new piece added (kuster, 2009). thus, glaeser (2011) emphasizes that the power of cities is not only linked to appropriate forms or extraordinary architectures, but rather to the collective way in which their inhabitants are organized, how they deal with their conflicts and cooperate with each other, exchanging ideas, artifacts, information, services, among others. harvey (2008) considers that the city right goes beyond the individual freedom of access to urban resources, but consists of entitlement to change ourselves and thus change the city. however, this right is collective, since this transformation depends on a collective power to reformulate urbanization processes (harvey, 2008). it should also be noted that the city is made up of a complex and therefore plural society. pluralism presupposes the coexistence of multiple voluntary and inclusive linkages, which reveals an openness to a multiple belonging awareness (fleury et al., 2008). therefore, life in cities involves the collectivity, which requires its inhabitants a conscience and behavior consistent with this characteristic. furthermore, kuster (2009) warns that in order to live in society, it is necessary to balance doses of affection (desire) and responsibility. the city is collective by nature; however, when choices and actions of a public character are applied on individual interests’ basis, there is a significant threat to the quality of urban life and can result in serious problems. the absence of the notion of collectivity in the population, as well as in social, political or economic representatives, results in a distorted treatment and experience of urban life. despite being challenging and involving rules that control individual impulses, city life requires paradigm shifts to become, in fact, collective cities. lima (2015) associates useful transformations of public spaces with their limits and possibilities, also, the more open and intense the interactions in free areas, the more effective will be their transformation. alcantara/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 43 indeed, by assuming its collective character in various aspects, the city recognizes its essence and enhances its capacity to offer a quality of life to all. by associating collectivity with multiplicity in the offer of opportunities and possible activities, the city becomes more productive and also enhances the interactions between people and citizens with city spaces. further, a key factor in order to occur such interactions is the displacements’ needed around the city, which is also directly involved with the community. by driving solutions to urban displacements based on the priority of individualization, the municipality harms itself and, consequently, the people who live in it. the following chapter explores the urban mobility issue under the collective bias. moreover, it reveals how individualization problems in displacements have damaged life in cities and how it is possible to find ways, through the collectiveness, that enables cities to evolve. 3. urban mobility: transformation requires new concepts from the industrial revolution, cities began to experience explosive growth phenomena, which consequences have been perpetuated until nowadays. further, the results significantly reached people's lifestyles by introducing new concepts of space use, particularly intending to the massive deployment of road space for automobiles. besides, the extensive areas occupied by low densities also stimulate and are stimulated by the excessive use of cars (girardet, 2010). additionally, treatments like this contribute to the exhaustion of cities' capacity to provide quality services to people. as a result, the urban environment becomes deficient, susceptible to degradation and decay, thus compromising people's quality of life. urban mobility in brazil has experienced a significant increase in displacements by individual motor vehicles. furthermore, associated with this phenomenon, there are also substantial increases in travel times, energy consumption and road space, pollutant emissions and the number of traffic accidents (antp, 2010). these are some of the policy issues that have given priority to individual vehicles over collective modes of transportation. the collectiveness has been losing value, space, demand, and importance in the city and brazilian society. notably, the paradigm shift has been sought for some time, targeting better cities. for instance, the term sustainability was officially presented in 1987 at the united nations world commission on environment and development (cmmad, 2008). moreover, the term was defined as the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations (cmmad, 1988). in brazil, this term was strengthened in 1992, at the event rio-92, which concluded by the need to aggregate the economic, environmental and social components to guarantee sustainability (senado federal, 2017). in the early 2000s, the national urban mobility policy was introduced and followed by the presentation of the term sustainable urban mobility, defined as a result of transportation and circulation policies sets aimed to provide democratic access to urban space through an effective, socially inclusive and in an ecologically sustainable way of prioritization collective and non-motorized transportation modes (ministério das cidades 2004). subsequently, numerous other concepts and definitions have been developed at the national and international levels, combining mobility and sustainability, such as the world bank council for sustainable development (wbcsd, 2009), which according to them, sustainable mobility corresponds to the ability to know people’s needs so that they can now move freely, gain easy access to places, communicate and establish relationships without sacrificing other essential human or ecological values (wbcsd, 2009). furthermore, regarding the concepts, hjorland's (2009) approaches that concepts are dynamically constructed meanings, which classify the world according to particular interests and theories. as a matter of fact, concepts cannot be understood in isolation from the objectives and theories that motivated their construction (hjorland, 2009). the author recognizes that the essential function of concepts is to fix reality parts in thought, language and other symbolic systems that enable their communication and reflection. besides, hjorland (2009) emphasizes that temporal context must be considered in the study concept since the meaning of a term cannot be something perennial or fixed definitively. the author also emphasizes that the concepts are dynamic and must evolve according to the social construction of knowledge. within the city, it is essential to highlight the concept of the system as an important attribute. according to bertalanffy (1995), the system notion can be perceived in several contexts. indeed, starting from a biological foundation, the author has developed the general theory of systems, which there is a general tendency to the integrate natural and alcantara/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 44 social sciences. furthermore, the system is understood as a group of elements in interrelation with themselves and the environment. davis (1974) reports the possibilities of systems classification, which stands out the open system concept, more appropriate to the urban context. otherwise, it is about the existence of relationships in which there are information, materials and energy exchanges with the environment. thus, an open system is the one that interacts with itself and also with other systems, in order to have exchange and communication. the author also highlights the concept of homeostasis to affirm that open systems tend to adapt. for this reason, open systems require to adapt to the changes which their environments are subjected as a fundamental factor to guarantee their existence. in the field of medicine, strand et al. (2004) have compared and evaluated complex adaptive systems (cas) and human complexity. moreover, the authors define human complexity as the result of higher mental capacities and human culture. furthermore, the cas concept is adopted by the same authors according to a variety of natural systems, such as the human central nervous system, the human immune system, ecosystems, economies, and cities. therefore, the authors report that the analysis of human complexity is necessary to recognize the process towards the identification of the medical objective itself may be a significant challenge in medicine. in addition, about the disruptive characteristic, it is evident in this paper the adopted terms, for example, references from bower & christensen (1995) and christensen (1997), that refer to disruptive innovations. according to these authors, the disruptive term is associated with a paradigm shift and new trajectories for the improvement. besides, in a contemporary and future context and also, associated concepts, adams (2006), has raised some questions about the world's landscape and possible future changes, and also some other questions regarding if sustainabilityrelated concepts provide a coherent and sufficient basis in order to have a change. moreover, table 1 presents some concepts available in the literature that relate sustainability to the environment, transportation, and mobility. table 1.relation between sustainability, environment, transports and mobility. source: authors. world commission on environment and development (cmmad, 2008) environment ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs. embarq (2006) transport set of transport activities associated with a relevant infrastructure that, collectively, leaves no problems or costs that future generations can not solve or support. ministério das cidades (2004) mobility a result of a transport and circulation policies set that aim to provide democratic access to urban space through an effective, socially inclusive and in an ecologically sustainable way of prioritization collective and non-motorized transportation modes. kayal et al. (2014) refers to an alternative concept that seeks to understand the complex movement of people and goods in cities, as well as the link between transport and land use. world bank coucil for sustainable development (wbcsd, 2009) corresponds to the ability to know people’s needs so that they can move freely today and in the future, in order to facilitate access to places, also to communicate and establishing relationships without sacrificing other essential human or ecological values. sustainability concepts and sustainable urban mobility have inspired various researches. furthermore, they have been and continue to be very relevant for improving the planning and development of the cities. however, for adams (2006), the sustainability concept, while befing holistic, attractive and versatile, is also imprecise, since the idea of sustainability can unite people, but not necessarily make them seek consistent goals. moreover, the sustainability concept has been widely used in different areas, by environmentalists, government officials, economists, planners and entrepreneurs, who express many different views using the same concept. for the author, a profound paradox surrounds this concept: on one side, everyone joined in this sustainability era (governments, civil society, and the alcantara/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 45 private sector), on the other side, global activities become less and less sustainable since rhetoric sustainability is ignored in practical decisions. besides, adams (2006) reinforces that sustainability concept is no longer sufficient for the necessary changes and he also questions whether such a concept provided a consistent basis for change. the same is pointed out by girardet (2015), who emphasizes that even for the planning of new cities, or for retrofit of existing cities, the concept related to sustainability is no longer sufficient. in brazil, there is a tendency to increase the degree of urban degradation provoked, among other reasons, by paradigms and behaviors detrimental to urban mobility. therefore, mobility in brazilian cities faces a crisis. as a consequence, it is still necessary, in the field of mobility, to find adequate answers to the new demands of this crisis. according to the considerations expressed so far, which it can be concluded the rupture necessity, associated with a lack of sustainability sensitivity, the following questions are addressed: − how to change the existing scenario? − is the sustainability concept sufficient to guide this change? − should we work for urban mobility that (just) does not leave problems for future generations? − or should we desire urban mobility that can contribute to making future cities better than the present cities, so that they could really evolve? adams (2006) reinforces that the attainment of favorable conditions for cities to be healthy organisms depends on positive transformations. on the other hand, the transformation requires new concepts, new ways of involving society in the search for solutions. moreover, an effective strategy could be achieved by adopting an advanced or evolutionary approach, emphasizing the sense of future improvement not only to keep the organism supporting cities alive but also to correct and improve it (adams, 2006). consequently, as an answer to the previously asked questions, the next chapter brings the regenerative mobility approach as a new potential path, expressed by a new concept. 4. regenerative mobility: new ways through the city in fact, considering the negative impacts of cities and the need to break concepts and behaviors related to urban mobility, it has been highlighted a possible connection between this scenario and a medical approach. furthermore, the urban body has been degraded due to the practice of inadequate and incompatible actions allied with the balanced development of the environment where it is inserted. indeed, the correction of the damage caused requires a significant change of concepts and behaviors. 4.1. regenerative medicine additionally, in the medical field, due to the necessity to change the course of chronic diseases, the ways to evolutionary treatments have been sought in the principles of regeneration. the first reference to the term regenerative medicine was published in 1992, by kaiser l. r., in an american article. according to the austrian society for regenerative medicine (2016), the regenerative medicine is evolving in its studies and research and develops an attempt to change the course of chronic diseases by regenerating condemned cells, tissues and organs, giving them superior conditions compared to the prior ones before the disease was acquired. a good example is what has been done with hematopoietic cells, which make up the hematopoietic tissue, precursor of the red bone marrow and responsible for the production of blood cells and lymph (amabis & martho, 2004). furthermore, the introduction of hematopoietic stem cells in cases where they used to manage fully functional organs made it possible to reconstitute all the hematopoietic cells of the patient. thus, for the first time, the bone marrow could be slowly regenerated. the author warns about the existence of a crucial restrictive factor in medicine: there are not enough organs for all the transplants demand (oliveira et al., 2012). moreover, this experience reveals that the emergence of regenerative medicine, characterized by the combination of tissue engineering, stem cell therapy, regeneration factors, extracellular matrices and therapeutic cloning, is intended to replace organ transplants. as a result of its restrictive factor, transplants have come to be seen as insufficient for medicine. from this deficiency, alcantara/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 46 regenerative medicine excels in offering pathways capable of advancing the treatment of diseases and achieving better results for patients. furthermore, among the approaches of regenerative medicine is the work of professor shinya yamanaka of kyoto university in japan, who in 2007 transformed human cells into pluripotent cells (ips), capable of transforming into various cell types (hayden, 2011). otherwise, the cells have proved to be a benefit of regenerative medicine, since by using the skin, blood or other cells of a person, it is possible to reprogram them into ips cells and also use them to improve liver cells, neurons, or whatever is necessary to treat a disease. the work by professor yamanaka, along with professor john gurdon, has yielded the medicine nobel (abbott, 2012). further, regarding the applications, some studies show cases applied in the regeneration of retina, glaucoma and alzheimer's (scudellari, 2016); and also other studies on brain stimulation and research in neuro-rehabilitation (mayo clinic, 2016). 4.2. regeneration: from medicine to the city moreover, seeking significant advances in diseases solutions, the medicine has identified that organ transplant treatments were deficient and, therefore, insufficient. similarly, in the context of urban mobility, it is possible to identify a similar situation. for cities, the challenge is to create more than sustainable cities, but cities that can regenerate, improve and evolve. thus, they must guarantee future and present generations not only efficient but also low carbon resources, improvement of ecosystems which have been exploited beyond their limits (girardet, 2010). in order for cities to achieve desirable scenarios capable of providing quality of life to all its inhabitants, under superior conditions to those they have already offered, the principles of regeneration emerge as a new paradigm capable of responding more adequately to the crisis so far faced, and that aims more than "sustain" their capability to offer urban life. there is a significant lack of targeted medical treatments for healing or change that reaches the primary source of a disease, especially those that are subject to degeneration. consequently, these have only palliative treatments, without favorable results. moreover, this scenario ratifies how feasible is the field of regenerative medicine in the search for diseases cure of a different perspective. accordingly, it becomes feasible to use treatments that act directly on the main and initial element of system change: the cell itself (austrian society, 2016). the palliative treatments applied nowadays in urban mobility through many cities involve aspects of road infrastructure, usually in an attempt to increase the cars flow. as a consequence, actions such as the construction of overpasses, widening streets and avenues, increasing the speed limit, creating parking areas, among others, can give a momentary sensation of improved mobility. however, such actions end up encouraging, even more, the use of individual vehicles, provoking in cities the opposite effect: the degradation of the collective and also, an urban mobility crisis. therefore, it is necessary to use treatments that act directly on the primary element of system change: the urban displacements. mulgan (2018) points out, regarding the human organism, that neurons only become useful when connected to billions of other neurons: the entire group becomes much more useful than the sum of its parts. a similar relationship happens in urban space: the collective, a fundamental characteristic of the city, is a factor which the quality of life depends. furthermore, by associating the regeneration of medicine and urban mobility, the collectiveness could be understood as the treatment essence to be applied to urban displacements. moreover, the roads that lead cities within reach of regenerative mobility are only possible if the treatment of urban displacements is based on the community. under those circumstances, it is necessary to have a break from the individual to the collectiveness: collective cities as an answer to the mobility crisis. besides, regenerative medicine has the potential to solve the problem of donor organ shortage compared to the number of patients requiring organ transplantation (nih, 2013). further, transplants, still nowadays, are used as an alternative to curing diseases. however, regenerative medicine offers ways to overcome a significant barrier faced by those who need a transplant: the scarcity of donors. indeed, realizing that this deficiency interferes directly and negatively in the success of the treatment of the diseases, regenerative medicine finds in the stem cells a way to overcome the paucity of donors and to reach more effective and efficient results, thus allowing unprecedented gains in medicine. alcantara/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 47 regenerative mobility, on the other hand, has the potential to contribute significantly to the solution of the problem related to urban displacements, nowadays excessively carried out by automobiles. in this case, the use of individual motor vehicles contributes to the scarcity of spaces for people, that is, spaces of leisure, nature, with safety and quality for pedestrians and cyclists. additionally, cars are too much used as a model for urban displacements. however, regenerative mobility offers ways to overcome a significant barrier faced by those who need to move through cities: the excess of individual motor vehicles in transit. besides, verifying that this condition is a decisive factor not only in the displacements but also in the quality of urban life, regenerative mobility finds in collective public transport and in the collective city the primary way to overcome problems such as congestion, aiming at reaching more efficient and effective conditions to enable people’s displacement, thus allowing real gains to mobility and the city as well. thus, urban mobility will only reach evolutionary frames if there is a sufficient investment in actions based on the prioritization of modes such as collective public transportation, cycling, and walking; in parallel with the discouragement of car use. in addition, the rational urban land use is aiming to reduce the distances traveled and making it compatible with transport systems, also should contemplate a centralities' network. (kneib, 2014 and 2016). 4.3. regenerative mobility and its potential for improving cities the city is a complex and systemic organism. hence, its regeneration depends on several factors, among which are the mobility, accessibility, land use, health, education, public safety, environment and others. in this context, urban mobility plays a fundamental role, by enabling people conditions to carry out the most varied activities across the territory. however, public transit, preferentially facilitating medium and long displacements. is the structuring mode, able to meet the principles of collectiveness and, therefore, is essential for regenerative mobility. therefore, regenerative mobility could be a great hope for cities that experience degradation scenarios of mobility and wish to break this process and evolve. even for those cities that are already on the road to sustainability, regenerative mobility becomes essential, since sustaining alone may not be enough for mobility and cities to evolve. hence, the concept and principles of regenerative mobility could be applied to any city. in order to summarize and simplify the relationship approach between regenerative mobility and regenerative medicine, figure 1 outlines the regeneration process developed on the treatment of "weakened organisms". in addition, in t1, the organism is in a healthy state, which constitutes a normal condition of its functioning. subsequently, in t2 it could be observed the beginning of symptoms appearance that announces the arrival of a particular disease. afterward, in t3, the disease progresses, and the debilitation caused by the damages to the organism make it doomed to saturation. thus, in t4, after receiving expressive interventions based on regeneration, the organism recovers. consequently, when it has regenerated, the organism does not return to its initial state (t1), but could also attain higher levels of health and conditions for its full and continuous development. figure 1. regeneration process developed on the treatment of "weakened organisms". source: authors. alcantara/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 48 similar to regenerative medicine procedure, it is also possible to observe the mobility transformation stages on the regenerative process. moreover, it should be noted that regenerative mobility could be applied not only in cities with condemned mobility but also in those with fewer damages (sick mobility) and even in cities with mobility "in operation". figure 2 outlines the procedure for regenerative mobility. figure 2. regeneration process of "impaired mobility". source: authors. furthermore, in the cities’ case, regeneration depends on several factors, with mobility being one of the basics. additionally, obtained initially through the pillars of planning, sustaining, improving and evolving, public transportation is the structuring element of regenerative mobility. therefore, regenerative mobility, based on the collectiveness, through public transportation, will be the basis of regenerating city process (fig. 3). figure 3 the basis of regenerating city process. source: authors 4.4. application of regenerative mobility principles since this is exploratory and initial research, as described earlier in this paper, which aims to develop, clarify, modify and innovate concepts and ideas, for this reason, it becomes crucial to understand the proposed concept regenerative mobility to illustrate some of its principles with practical examples. around the world, some cities already present actions and projects that reveal close relations to the principles of regenerative mobility. as an illustration for a reflection and beginning of construction of this concept, two european cities (london and berlin) and another latin american city (bogotá) has been presented below. − london, england alcantara/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 49 it has been clearly observed that the role of public transportation as a strategies focus, has complemented and articulated with several other elements. moreover, according to the mayor of london (2015, pg.1): "improving transport is central to most regeneration plans, and that plays a key role in regeneration in london". london uses the concept of regeneration similar to urban (re)qualification (helping places to prosper). decisions taken by tfl (transport for london) play a central role in neighborhoods regeneration on the search for new investment and in promoting a high quality of life for its residents (mayor of london, 2015). table 2 presents a set of strategies and policies to support regeneration, which adopts the transport as the primary element. table 2.london: strategies and policies to support regeneration. source: authors, based on mayor of london (2015). opportunity and intensification areas 38 opportunity zones have been allocated, such as areas of industrial occupations abandoned, with significant capacity to develop through residential and commercial activities. besides, 7 intensification zones have been designated, which can accommodate work activities and residences. london enterprise panel lep it contributes to the economic development strategies distribution that the mayor designates through the programs’ action between local partners. investment in public transport for qualification is a key feature of london growth fund. lep also has guaranteed 20 million euros for roads and workplaces. economic development strategy it actively refers to the public transit role on qualification. transportation links should support regeneration in the opportunity zones. it also includes a commitment to consider the best ways to make local transport and environmental improvements contribute to development. financing of roads and urban centers re-qualification since 2011 the city of london has invested resources in roads requalification. improvements in transportation configure some of the various consolidated projects as part of the city's duties. transport strategies tfl and the city of london afirms that some actions need special attention. for example: support of economic development; improvement in quality of life; support to urban renovation and fight against deprivation. − berlin, germany indeed, searching for new mobility and concerning the importance that the urban transport policies influence on population's choices for new transportation modes, for instance, it has been analyzed the case of berlin. furthermore, this is a case where traditional motoring patterns are not significant for its mobility, especially regarding the growing number of adepts to other modes such as bicycle, walking and shared vehicles, for example, to the detriment to the individual cars. moreover, following the technology advances and its potential for smarter mobility, in particular, it has been recognized in berlin that smartphone applications have also been embedded as tools that help people make their displacements decisions. the berlin metropolitan region (bmr) has been made up by the city of berlin and 18 other local authorities close to the capital. in 2013, the bmr added 4.4 million people, within 80% of this total living in berlin. although it is a more evolved context concerning the investments and the quality of public transport services, the suburbanization impact on displacement has been through increasing travel distances. furthermore, faced with such a challenge, the investments have concentrated in the road network, as well as in the public transportation of the region. therefore, the increase of the railway capacity in and through berlin has been noted, due to the strategies performance based on the so-called "mushroom concept" (pilzkonzept), which is the intersection of two basic planning concepts: axis and ring concepts which includes four stations of main lines decentralized in the ring line (ringbahn) around the city center. moreover, the new concept consists of the central station berlin hauptbahnof which enabled more extensive services and a new connection between the east-west and north-south directions; and five other stations, some old and alcantara/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 50 some new ones. besides, it has created a new high capacity rail branch in the south and a north tangential connection (lse cities, 2015). furthermore, implications of the strategies implementation based on the mushroom concept in berlin were significant: they widened regional connectivity and increased transport flows by increasing service levels. hence, after its inauguration, regional suburban train services grew more than triple, with travel times being reduced by up to 35 minutes (lse cities, 2015). additionally, the demand increase for public transport between 2001 and 2011 was over 20%, from 1.14 to 1.38 million passengers. on the other hand, the relative participation of cycling and walking has been highlighted. consequently, the most significant gain was the decrease in car use. in order to reduce pollution in berlin, a low emission zone (umweltzone) has been established in 2008, which settled restrictions on specific neighborhoods, focusing on the adoption of low pollution certified vehicles (lse cities, 2015). the transport policy that has been applied in berlin also prioritizes walking and cycling as a transportation mode. further, with the construction of more than 1,000 km of cycling infrastructure, the number of cyclists has increased by more than 40% between 2004 and 2012. for this reason, this investment impact has been reflected by the active participation of cycling in all displacements in berlin. despite the advances, travels by cars still occur in higher numbers than the others (37%). subsequently, there are trips by public transport (30%) and by bicycle (17%) (lse cities, 2015). moreover, individual vehicle availability rates are high in berlin. however, 27% of households do not own a car. a survey by the lse cities (2015) found that among the reasons why inhabitants do not own a car, 53% is due to the high cost of owning and using the car, and also 47% said it was unnecessary to own a car in berlin. furthermore, shared cars have also been an increasing option among the population (lse cities, 2015). the development of new information and communication technologies has caused significant and increasing impacts on the travel behavior in berlin, with an emphasis on public transport. according to the research, 37% have smartphones with internet access, and displacement applications often used (lse cities, 2015). thus, advances in the quality of urban life had fundamental strategies based on public transportation. moreover, connectivity increase has not only been provided through actions such as the "mushroom concept", which had as its main purpose the rail region network, but also a combined action of the various transportation modes. although the car use is still significant, it is evident that berlin's transport policy, based on public transport prioritization, has achieved better results in its organization and conflicts solution. therefore, this is a case in which there are indications of the application of consistent actions related with regenerative mobility and, as this concept emphasizes, there is always the need to seek new advances, innovations, and improvements. − bogotá, colombia bogotá has had public transportation as a crucial element in its urban transformation. in this case, transmilenio, the bogotá bus rapid transit (brt) system, was a determining change factor of the chaotic urban development scenario in a dense city marked by social segregation with more than 7.5 million inhabitants (bocarejo & tafur, 2013). the first phase of the transmilenio system was inaugurated in december 2000. inspired by curitiba brt system and created as a key element of a mobility strategy to reduce the use of individual vehicles, prioritizing public transportation and non-motorized modes. further, the main goal of tranmilenio was to create an economic system, capable of improving productivity and quality of life in bogotá. besides, transmilenio has provided comfort, speed and safety displacements to citizens. as a result, the challenges caused by severe social problems related to the absence of excellent public transportation and also the constant congestion have been transformed by transmilenio implementation. bocarejo & tafur (2013) have recognized that transmilenio was able to change the perception of bogotá: from bankrupt to a sustainable and promising city example. further, transmilenio has constituted the most visible change, but also it has effectively influenced aspects of bogotá's urban structure and citizens' lives, such as land use, productivity, road accidents and even crime and public health. alcantara/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 51 as project focus has been the vast capacity of public transportation, the transmilenio system has as differential measures that complement and support public transportation use. indeed, this system has included 300 kilometers of new cycle paths, improvements in public space, and also the dominical closing of 120 kilometers of highways to private motor vehicles, among other resources. thus, the success of this project and the effective priority of collectiveness, measures have been implemented to discourage the car use, through parking restrictions and also a restricted use program by the license plate number (ministério das cidades, 2008). indeed, with new cycle routes, improvements in the public space and also the transmilenio system, citizens could notice a transformation that had been expanding through the city. among the urban improvements that have been mentioned, such as connection, development of areas, the material of brazilian ministério das cidades (2008) has emphasized that transmilenio represent an example of a high-quality urban regeneration mix with brt system, mainly in roads where there is exclusive access to public transport. therefore, according to bocarejo & tafur (2013), in the last decades, bogotá has developed a consistent policy based on principles that give priority to public transportation and non-motorized modes, revealing the objective of consolidating a dense city with a development-oriented to public transportation. furthermore, the authors affirm that transmilenio has corroborated to the fact that mobility changes have a direct impact on urban development. however, even in success, the city still faces some challenges, such as the increase in motorization rates, loss of service quality, segregated areas with fairness lack of service, showing a city that has transformed itself for the better but still has much more to evolve. 4.5. regenerative mobility and its basic attributes the practical cases presented converge with the regenerative mobility concept, in which public transportation is a fundamental element for positive and structuring changes in cities. moreover, this regeneration depends on several factors, in which the mobility is one of the basilar. consequently, regenerative mobility, guided by the collectiveness, focusing on public transportation, will be the basis of the regenerating city process. the paper has developed the following specific objectives: first, to identify similar aspects between the human and urban organism; secondly, to strengthen relations between the concepts of regenerative medicine and regenerative mobility. subsequently, the third specific objective, which deals with the initial development of regenerative mobility characteristics, could be illustrated through a concepts synthesis and the case studies addressed. further, from the conceptual approach developed, as well as from the case studies carried out and with the pillars of planning, sustaining, improving and evolving, it is possible to highlight seven essential attributes of regenerative mobility: 4.5.1. systemic approach the first attribute portrays a significant analogy between medicine (human body) and urban mobility: the pieces interfere in how the whole system works. hence, the systemic approach is necessary for regenerative mobility to be feasible. therefore, it is essential to consider the interrelationship between urban mobility and the spheres in which it is inserted and interacted. thus, public policies need to be transversal and integrated; otherwise, mobility will not be regenerative. 4.5.2. recognition of city's metabolism the second attribute refers to the notion that each city works as a complex and systemic organism, as well as singular and particular. thus, before applying any strategy of urban planning, first, it must be known the territory in which intends to intervene. furthermore, the particularities of each city as well as the particularities of each human organism must be taken into account before going through a particular treatment. if this is not a condition for defining intervention strategies in a city or a person, there are risks that, contrary to what is intended, cause other problems. 4.5.3. collectivity focus despite its peculiarities, a characteristic, however, is common to all cities: the collectivity. moreover, in this context, the third attribute has been justified, and the same presupposes respect for the city’s collective essence. further, as alcantara/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 52 discussed in this paper, the city is, by its nature, multiple and diverse, these characteristics making it prosperous and civilized. indeed, it is evident that choices arising from individual interests threaten the quality of urban life. therefore, in the urban mobility context, this can have a substantial and negative impact on the conditions of people displacements through the urban territory, which contributes to degrading any city. 4.5.4. disruptive innovation the fourth attribute considers something that is at the core of regenerative mobility: the notion of a necessary disruption process to give space for a paradigm shift and, thus, open the way for new paths. furthermore, this notion must be accompanied by the awareness that time is part of the urban organism, which causes this continuous changes. hence, the treatment given to the city can not perpetuate without it being under the constant changes and consequent new necessities. 4.5.5. identification, evolution, and improvement of existing urban elements this attribute is also an essential step for the development of regenerative mobility since there is the understanding that a configuration or treatment given to the city no longer meets their needs and, therefore, hinders or even prevents it from evolving. hence, by identifying such elements, it is possible to transform and thus improve them, achieving evolution. 4.5.6. direct action on urban displacements although it is contradictory, it is also common to find actions that sake urban mobility and, erroneously, do not consider their due importance urban displacements. however, these must also be accompanied by the notion that the city is collective by its essence. the sixth attribute refers to the treatment given to this characteristic in front of urban mobility interventions. therefore, collectiveness is expressed in this attribute based on the preference given to pedestrians, cyclists and public transportation to the detriment of individual vehicles use. 4.5.7. recognition of public transport as a structuring element since the city is the space of multiplicity, diversity, and collectivity, public transport is a fundamental mobility element. the seventh attribute of regenerative mobility observes the structural character of this modal and considers that it should be at the core of the urban displacement improvements actions, as well as must act in a harmonious and integrated way with other transportation modes. lastly, this connection must have people as protagonists, with public transport as the collective structure of the cities in function of meeting the needs that the population presents regarding the displacements through the territory. moreover, this paper is a result of initial studies on the regenerative mobility concept, and it should also be highlighted that the attributes presented here have been derived from the concepts discussed so far. therefore, these are essential characteristics of regenerative mobility, which in the deepening researches development, it will function as a basis for the next shreds of evidence about this concept. table 3 presents a synthesis of these attributes and their presence in each of the case studies. table 3.synthesis of regenerative mobility attributes. source: authors. regenerative mobility attributes london berlin bogotá 1. systemic approach: the pieces interfere in how the whole system works x x x 2. recognition of city's metabolism: each city works as a complex and systemic organism, as well as singular and particular x x x 3. collectivity focus: respect for the city’s collective essence x x x 4. disruptive innovation: necessary disruption process to give space for a paradigm shift x x alcantara/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 53 table 3 continued 5. identification, evolution, and improvement of existing urban elements: certain elements no longer meet the needs and therefore hinders or even prevents the city from evolving. by identifying these elements, it is possible to transform and thus improve them, achieving evolution x x 6. direct action on urban displacements: urban mobility interventions based on collectiveness, from the preference given to pedestrians, cyclists and public transportation to the detriment of individual vehicles use x x x 7. recognition of public transport as a structuring element: should be at the core of the urban displacement improvements actions, as well as must act in a harmonious and integrated way with other transportation modes x x x hence, the attributes listed in table 3 are initial properties that seek to translate the first steps of the developed concept in an applied method. moreover, they are extremely important in the research scope of this subject, since they are primary and initial elements to understand the related phenomena, as well as for the development of qualitative and quantitative research on the theme, including the development of indicators, which could help the mobility characterization and how it could become a regenerative mobility allied with the pillars to plan, sustain, improve and evolve. 5. final considerations the approach that has been presented by this paper has raised questions that are challenging and also fundamental to the cities. moreover, it is essential to recapture adams's (2006) position, which asserts that challenges require vision and daring, and the sustainability concept may no longer be sufficient to induce necessary changes. in order to change the existing scenario, that cities face a mobility crisis, this article supports adams's (2006) vision and presents the concept of regenerative mobility, which seeks an approach beyond sustainability, a concept that is capable of contributing to making the cities of the future better than those of the present. london uses a regeneration definition for its projects, however, associated with urban requalification. girardet (2010 and 2015) uses a term more robustly, in what he calls a regenerative city, relating to its ecosystems, surroundings, resources, and landscape, mentioning a restorative relationship, and comparing the urban regeneration concept with the eco-regeneration. the author also mentions initiatives of urban regeneration, focusing on the health and wellbeing of inhabitants, in great britain, germany, and the united states. however, in this paper, the regenerative is not just a term associated with mobility, but also provided as a new concept, with specific disruptive and evolutionary purposes. furthermore, cities can offer the ability to establish better conditions of quality of life, always seeking to avoid new problems, overcome old problems and repair damages already caused. thus, the essence of such solutions lies at the heart of every city: the collectiveness. besides the urban mobility context, the regeneration concept derivation, brought from the medicine, relates the promising of stem cells with the potential of public transport. furthermore, this is the way through which cities could achieve significant evolution. additionally, it is on this purpose that the regenerative mobility contribution is found. moreover, it is necessary to reverse roles from the individual to the collectiveness. also, it is indispensable to consider the systemic character that manages the cities and also applies to urban mobility. based on bertalanffy's (1995) theory of general systems, as in the medical field and also in urban mobility, the interactions between the pieces and the whole system are impermanent. therefore, in order to regenerative mobility be feasible, the system requires that it is essential to consider the interrelationship between urban mobility and the spheres in which it is inserted and interacted. alcantara/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 54 in addition, it has emphasized that its conception does not rule out the sustainability importance and its potential in offering improvements to mobility, cities and, consequently, people. however, regenerative mobility includes sustainability in its principles but warns: just sustaining is not enough. therefore, going beyond that is necessary. urban mobility will only reach evolutionary frames if there is adequate investment in actions based on the prioritization of public transportation, complemented by cycling and walking; parallel to the rational use of the car and the adequacy of the activities disposition in the territory. eventually, it is fundamental to recover and articulate existing concepts and proposals, such as the compact city and transport oriented development principles, which aim to stimulate the mixed land use and the compact occupation, thus reducing the displacements distances and bringing people closer to the available high capacity transport infrastructures (itdp, 2017). thus, when dealing with innovation in urban systems, it is also necessary to consider as a critical approach the principles of the living labs concept (concilio, 2016), which will allow a deeper understanding of future works. in order to give a clue to practical cases that converge with the regenerative mobility concept, three examples in which public transportation is a fundamental element for positive and structure changes. moreover, this regeneration depends on several factors, being the mobility one of the basilar. consequently, regenerative mobility, based on the collectiveness, through the pillars of planning, sustaining, improving and evolving, has public transportation as the basis of the regenerating city process. moreover, it is noteworthy that this paper achieved its general objective in developing and presenting a disruptive concept of regenerative mobility. besides, by pointing out similarities between the dynamics of urban and human organisms and thus developing relationships between the concepts of regenerative medicine and regenerative mobility, it is emphasized that this work also reached its specific objectives. indeed, it is a concept launched in its initial bases, and that seeks to aggregate researches, knowledge and involve society in order to pursue solutions. under those circumstances, it is expected that this article could contribute to the first steps of regenerative mobility and also instigate the reflection of researchers, managers, planners, and society itself. in conclusion, the development of this work had some limitation due to this new concept, for instance, the small number of references associated even related to the regenerative city. on the other hand, this characteristic can also be a stimulus for other works to be developed in order to continue the development and consolidate the regenerative mobility concept. hence, potential future work is expected to develop practical methods applicable to cities, including classifications, characterizations and also quantitative and qualitative tools for diagnosis, planning, and evaluation, to consolidate regenerative mobility and contribute to driving cities to the desired evolutionary process. references abbott, a. 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(2009). mobility for development project. retrieved july, 2018, from http://www.wbcsd.org/ pages/edocument/edocumentdetails.aspx?id=45&nosearchcontextkey=true http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 54 doi: 10.21625/essd.v5i1.717 sustainable tourism and culture: a symbiotic relationship reham kamel el-khadrawy1, amr abdalla attia2, marwa khalifa2, rowaida rashed4 1 phd candidate, department of urban planning, faculty of engineering, ain shams university 2 professor, department of urban planning, faculty of engineering, ain shams university 4 associated professor, department of urban planning, faculty of engineering, ain shams universityg abstract cultural tourism offers a strong motivation to preserve the elements of cultural heritage in tourist destinations. it helps to preserve cultural elements as important tourist attractions. cultural tourism’s notion is unlimited to visiting monumental attractions only, but it has also become an interactive experience with the social fabric of the community through attending exhibitions, festivals and events, and the purchase of traditional local products. thus, the human capital factor in tourism is linked to the quality of tourism products. with the growth of international tourism, the importance of sustainable tourism development has emerged to protect natural, cultural, and human resources, in addition to achieving economic development. as non-sustainable tourism development has led to the deterioration of tourism resources. this research paper examines if cultural tourism contributes to decrease tourism seasonality and achieve sustainable tourism development in cultural heritage sites. a case study of aswan was selected. aswan has unique and important elements of cultural heritage (tangible and intangible), but it still faces many problems like tourism seasonality, besides its tourism is still weak compared with other cities that have the same tourism potential. based on a literature review and analytical study of global examples that achieved sustainability in cultural heritage sites, a field study of aswan was conducted to evaluate the current status of cultural tourism, besides illustrating the challenges of achieving sustainability. the major result that has emerged from the study is paying attention to cultural tourism is the possible solution to the challenges that aswan tourism faces. finally, the paper concluded that investment in human capital creates opportunities for cultural tourism which in return resolves one of tourism’s major challenges: seasonality. © 2020 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords cultural heritage; cultural tourism; sustainable tourism; human capital; seasonality; aswan. 1. introduction tourism is mainly perceived as a major industry that contributes to 10% of the world’s gdp, along with a wide range of job opportunities (eenca, 2017). it also considered among the most important means of cultural exchange, as it provides an experience for tourists to learn about the cultures inherited in local society as well as cultures from contemporary life (unescap, 2008). hence, tourism has been considered as a tool for attracting visitors to cultural sites and venues, and culture is considered as a source of attractive opportunities for cultural experiences to tourists (eenca, 2017). unfortunately, tourism could have damaging multiple effects on cultural heritage sites (unescap, 2008). however, cultural tourism could be viewed as part of the solution to such tourism problems. according to richards & raymond (2000), cultural tourism had witnessed significant growth in recent decades, as tourists had http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v5i1.717&domain=press.ierek.com el-khadrawy / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 55 become increasingly interested in learning about the culture, heritage, and history of the destinations they visit. therefore, cultural tourism creates a growth market, and cultural tourists are seen as desirable tourists in cultural destinations. consequently, this had led to tremendous growth in the number of cultural places around the world in the last twenty years, which had led to the emergence of competitions between cultural places with each other and with other types of tourist attractions. due to these competitions, some cities began to search for innovative solutions to develop cultural tourism, increase income and jobs, and at the same time support culture of local communities. this had done by adopting new and innovative strategies that rely on human capital (richards & raymond, 2000). many researchers including el-sayed (2006), lut & vlad (2010) and esu (2012), agreed that the main factor of success and achieving competitiveness in the tourism sector is "human capital". where human capital in tourism is the essence of the tourist offer, due to the nature of tourism services that requires a direct interaction between the tourist and the tourism workers. therefore, developing human capital leads to improving tourism services, and consequently, the ability to compete with other tourist countries. egypt has diversity in the tourism field and possesses many tourism assets. at the same time, cultural tourism in egypt is a competitive, unique, and non-recurring type of tourism. due to the existence of the successive civilizations, which resulted in unique social and architectural cultures stemming from the natural environment, in addition to the local community traditions that considered as one of the most important attraction elements (ibrahim, 2013). furthermore, egypt is one of the most populous countries in the middle east. it also has the advantage of being a young country, due to having a large number of young people under 30 years old, representing around 61% of its total population (mpmar, 2016). this research aims to examine if cultural tourism contributes to decreasing tourism seasonality, overcome political issues and terrorist attacks, and achieve longlasting advancement in cultural heritage sites. the methodology of this study is based on the integration between three main approaches: the first one (descriptive approach): is based on literature review concerning the paper topic, the second one (analytical approach) is based on a comparative analytical study between three cities from different countries focusing on developing the cultural tourism, and the third one (case study) is based on field study took place from 6th -8th of march, 2019, interviews with hotels owners & workers in gharb soheil, shop owners in aswan market, tour guides & tourism companies, aswan municipality employees and a random sample of aswan residents including youth, women & men. nomenclature ch cultural heritage ct cultural tourism ecoc european capital of culture gopp general organization for physical planning td tourism development st sustainable tourism std sustainable tourism development unwto world tourism organization 2. literature review: 2.1. cultural heritage & cultural tourism in the past, cultural heritage merely addressed perceptible heritage or monuments. now the meaning of ch has widened to include all the evidence of people’s lives and activities from the past; comprising imperceptible heritage, historic areas, and cultural landscapes. in particular, the manifestations of ch can be grouped into two wide categories: a) tangible heritage: denoting the physical heritage such as monuments, traditional buildings, archaeological sites, temples, and historic cities. b) intangible heritage: signifying the abstract societal cultural expressions, such as conventional customs, societal practices, festivals, music, and craftsmanship (unescap, 2008). el-khadrawy / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 56 the cultural heritage sites are major tourist attractions, therefore, cultural heritage is the key asset for cultural tourism endurance (unescap, 2008). the european association for tourism and leisure education "atlas' defines ct as: "all movements of persons to specific cultural attractions, such as heritage sites, artistic and cultural manifestations, arts and drama outside their normal place of residence" (eenca, 2017). and unwto defines cultural tourism as “a form of tourism motivated by representations of peoples and their cultures” (unescap, 2008). hence, ct's concept emphasizes culture and its environment, locals’ standards and traditions, arts and entertainment resources including cultural pr8oceedings, museums, and legacy areas and socializing with the local residents (cherplan, 2013). therefore, heritage and arts are considered to be "primary elements" of cultural tourism. whenever tourism and heritage harmonize, tourism returns would be used to ensure the endurance of heritage environments. hence, ct can boost the community and help maintain cultural and social benefits (eenca, 2017). 2.2. cultural tourism impacts on heritage sites: tourism influences heritage sites in both positive and negative ways. ct conserves cultural heritage through revenues’ augmentation and local crafts’ revitalization. it can also boost employment and generate additional income for local businesses (unescap, 2008). ct also could be considered as a part of solving tourism concentration problems, through redirection of cultural tourists to visit less popular destinations or go at less popular times of the year (richards, 2005). on the other hand, ct has negative impacts; some impacts might be fast and direct, such as draining cultural heritage resources and infrastructure, this could take place through congestion, crowding, and high demands. other impacts are indirect and slow; such as socio-cultural values altering, high housing prices and the natural environment depletion (unescap, 2008). tourism aids host communities by providing motivation for local residents to care for their legacy and cultural practices (unescap, 2008). 2.3. sustainable tourism development: due to the constant growth of worldwide tourism, sustainable td has emerged to protect natural, cultural, human resources, and achieves economic development. as unmanaged tourism expansion has led to the deterioration of tourism resources. according to untwo, sustainable td manages resources achieving economic, social, and aesthetic needs (unescap, 2008). unwto further defined st as “sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. it is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity and life support systems” (unescap, 2008). it is essential that relevant stakeholders including the local community, conservationists, tourism operators, property owners, planners, site managers, and policymakers are involved as this is required for the sustainable tourism industry and maintain heritage resources for future generations (unescap, 2008). previous international initiatives and conventions emphasized the significance of culture in sustainable development. unwto in 2001 adopted the “global code of ethics for tourism” (cherplan, 2013), that embodies the milestone of (st). the key themes of cultural and eco-tourism according to unwto are (cherplan, 2013): first, the contribution of tourism to create mutual esteem between people and their societies; second, tourism acts as an important factor of sustainable development, third, as tourism exploit cultural heritage, it also contributes to its enrichment. fourth, an equitable share of socio-economic benefits that tourism activities generate should be targeted to local residents. unesco’s latest initiative on “culture: a bridge to development” aimed to improve cultural heritage in all its forms as a prevailing tool for a sustainable multilayer development approach (unesco, 2011). according to unesco (2015), culture represents a key aspect that fosters sustainable urban development, this takes place through urban identity and environmental protection, encouraging relevant activities to attract visitors, and creating a flexible economy. according to unesco (2012), the outcome document of un’s rio+20 conference highlighted the importance of cultural diversity; “we acknowledge the natural and cultural diversity of the world and recognize that all cultures and civilizations can contribute to sustainable development” (article 41). the document accentuated the importance of the occurrence of a robust relationship between people, their environments and their cultural heritage (30); it also el-khadrawy / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 57 strengthened the importance of financing cultural tourism-related projects (130 and 131); “the need for conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of human settlements, the revitalization of historic districts, and the rehabilitation of city centers” (134); it also affirmed the vital affiliation between culture and biodiversity (197) (unesco, 2012). 2.4. human capital importance to sustainable tourism: according to abu-aljdael (2012), achieving a competitive advantage in tourist destinations is not depends on traditional resources such as natural, technical or other resources, as these resources become easy to imitate, but it depends on the scarce resources that are difficult to imitate like culture & human capital. and according to el-sayed (2006), the investment in human capital through training and education reflected in the improvement of tourism services and the ability to compete with other tourist destinations. as the tourism industry requires direct interaction between the tourist and the local community. moreover, the un’s rio+20 conference emphasizes the role of the local community in sustainable development (unesco, 2012). article (6) recognizing that “people are at the center of sustainable development”. article (30) distinguishing the complex bond between people, their ecosystems and their cultural heritage. article (41) focus on human development and the role of cultures and civilizations in the contribution to sustainable development (unesco, 2012). after the literature review, the importance of culture could be emphasized, as it’s considered as a basis of sustainable tourism. it helps to conserve the cultural heritage, ensure economic returns to local communities, and provide motivation to maintain the heritage and cultural practices. also, it involves a large number of people including the local population, stakeholders, and tourists. we also illustrated the importance of human capital in sustainable tourism development, as an investment in human capital through training and education reflected in the improvement of tourism services and the ability to compete with other tourist destinations. 3. sustainable tourism development in egypt: ministry of planning monitoring and administrative reform in egypt issued report entitled "sustainable development strategy: egypt's vision 2030" (mpmar, 2016). the development strategy is based on the three main dimensions of sustainability (economic, social, and environment), and includes 10 main pillars. however, this study will be limited to the pillars concerning tourism, culture and human capital. the following part illustrating the challenges faces sustainable tourism development in egypt followed by the proposed strategic policies & programs to achieve tourism sustainability: 3.1. challenges facing sustainable tourism development in egypt (mpmar, 2016): − the instability of political issues that have led to security problems over the last decade. − insufficient tourism infrastructure, in addition to the absence of linkages between tourism recent trends and existing services − absence of diverse tourism amenities, insufficient advertisement as they are only directed towards private resorts, in addition to the negligence of cultural tourism, health tourism, religious tourism, eco-tourism, desert safaris, oases tourism, and conferences and exhibitions tourism − the rigidity of organizational institutions due to the various number of stakeholders including ministries, and different administrative bodies, and their conflict of interests. − absence of coordination between different institutions. − absence of public awareness of the significance of cultural heritage and their role in preserving heritage sites − insufficient financial resources that are targeted to keep and protect heritage sites, in addition to lack of financing cultural and artistic works. − lack of protection of egypt’s intangible heritage. 3.2. egypt strategic policies & programs to achieve sustainable tourism development: a) human capital (mpmar, 2016): − allowing different incentives either through financing development projects or tax minimizing. el-khadrawy / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 58 − develop human skills through subsidizing labors training in the tourism sector and relevant activities. − encouraging technical education exclusively tourism and hotel education. − establish training centers in the tourism sector according to international standards. b) tourism & culture: according to mpmar (2016), the first objective of the strategy is to encourage culturally relevant businesses including entertainment and traditional crafts. the second objective is to ensure the efficiency of tourism bodies along with minimizing the terrestrial gap of amenities provided due to location. the third objective is to preserve egypt’s heritage through protecting, maintenance, and increasing awareness as well as attracting national and international visitors and supporting local cultural activities. polices & programs will be as follows: − adopting innovative programs to increase societal’s historic and cultural awareness. − establishing a database including cultural products and activities in egypt. − increasing the efficiency of cultural tourism infrastructure and expand its scope. − protecting and developing local crafts through financing them and endorsing exhibitions and agendas. − establishing stimulating environments to encourage local industries. − updatig techniques of protection and reconstruction of heritage. − formation of efficient policies and plans to protect heritage (mpmar, 2016). as a result, the above section explains that developing cultural industries and developing human skills through training & education, are key factors in egypt’s strategic policies & programs that were set to overcome challenges faces tourism sustainability. 4. global experiences: the following part is a presentation of global cities aimed at achieving sustainable tourism development through the development of cultural tourism. three cities were selected, two of them were chosen from unesco world heritage list, and the third one won the title of the european capital of culture in 2012. 4.1. maribor, slovenia (european capital of culture 2012): maribor city is the second-largest city in slovenia, with a total number of residents of 95'881 persons in 20161. the old city center which built in the 13th century has a rich historical heritage which is evident in numerous churches, monuments, museums, and other sites. the city faced many political alterations and after world war i, it came under the rule of the kingdom of yugoslavia. in 1991 and after the breakup of yugoslavia, it became part of slovenia (maribor, 2015). the breakup subsequent collapse of heavy industry that was at the time the flagship of the national economy, resulted in heavy economic, social, and infrastructural damage for the city of maribor. by the 20th century, the city was developed as an educational and cultural center and became one of the major education centers of slovenia (maribor, 2016). maribor titled as the european capital of culture (ecoc) in 2012 (maribor, 2015). the preparation period was 6 years before the title-year. in 2010 the city council of the municipality of maribor established the public institute “maribor 2012” to be responsible for the inclusive process of planning and executing the “maribor 2012 – european capital of culture” project (maribor, 2015). the ecoc criteria require the nominated city to host hundreds of toplevel cultural events spread out throughout the year, and to develop physical infrastructure (cultural venues, accommodation capacities, and transport connections), also to develop “human infrastructure” which is needed to host the ecoc. the criteria also require significant engagement with the citizens of a city: involve schools, universities, youth clubs, civil society organizations, and the engaging of the private sector in the cultural and creative industries (european-commission, 2012). 1 http://population.city/slovenia/maribor/ el-khadrawy / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 59 according to maribor (2015), multiple stakeholders carried out 308 programs and projects in maribor in the title year, including the local community, the slovenian, and international partners. in addition to nearly 5,300 events took place in 2012 and included more than 30 different countries. “maribor 2012” mission and vision were based on cultural promotion as this approach represents essential factors focusing on the importance of having a strong bond gathering individuals, cities, regions, and countries. it also targeted the founding of strengthening social relations through various cultural ventures. the plan also integrated different segments of the local community in the cultural projects after providing the required training and attending cultural awareness programs (maribor, 2015). the following figure 1, the benefits of ecoc in maribor figure 1 illustrating the tourists & overnights numbers from 2000 to 2017 in maribor 2 (adapted by the researcher) from the above, we can notice that ecoc brought new opportunities to maribor, it revitalized the city center through various cultural festivals & events spread out throughout the whole year and proven that cooperation is a key step to achieve sustainability, as local community involvement played an important role in the ecoc project’s success, after providing them with the required training. it also was able to attract more visitors, which consequently lead to recognize maribor as “one of the top ten tourist destinations in europe” (maribor, 2015). establishment of maribor 2012 (planning, preparation, organization) cultural products (festivals & events) local community participation (training & cultural awareness) figure 2 maribor key steps to achieve tourism sustainability (adapted by the researcher) 4.2. morelia, mexico (world heritage list): morelia is the capital of the michoacán state and is sited within the middle of the mexican republic (alfaro, et al., 2012); with a population of 899'000 persons in 20163. it has one of the most important universities in mexico (alfaro, et al., 2012). morelia was built in the 16th century and contains 249 monuments that reflect the town's architectural history. unesco declared morelia historic centre as a world cultural heritage in 1991. morelia historic centre is the main attraction, and it is protected by robust regulations and legislations (unesco, 1991). in addition, morelia joined unesco creative city network in 2017 as a creative city of music (unesco, 2017), it built a distinguished dynamic musical character through its large musical program. since 1989, the morelia music festival miguel bernal jiménez takes place as an international event that is festive with famous artists along with its many musical educational activities (unesco, 2017). 2 from 2000 to 2011 statistics are from (horvat, 2012), and from 2012 to 2017 statistics are data collected & adapted by the researcher from slovenia official website https://slovenia.info 3 https://populationstat.com/mexico/morelia 40000 49000 57000 69000 85000 100000 123000 147000 156500 178686 80000 124000 135000 161000 190000 215000 220000 264000 281700 348000 0 50000 100000 150000 200000 250000 300000 350000 400000 2000 2003 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2015 2016 2017to u ri st s & o ve rn ig h t st ay s n u m b e rs tourists overnight stays ecoc 2012 preparation phase el-khadrawy / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 60 morelia being rich with exquisite architectural, cultural, and historic sites along with its beautiful natural destinations has led to its being among the most visited tourist destinations in mexico. it also has a wide variety of entertainment facilities such as; theaters, museums, cinemas, and bars. it also has an international airport, and a bus terminal with nine lines that offer transfers to the entire state, as well as major cities across mexico (alfaro, et al., 2012). in 2005 morelia city established the “council of cultural sites of the historic centre of morelia”, to be responsible for the development program of the historic centre urban. morelia’s plan targeted its transformation into a world-class sustainable city that would take place through economic progress, residents’ quality of life improvement, adequate use of public services and spaces, and environmental management. in addition, tourism was introduced as an important factor for economic revenues by mexico’s development policies (unesco, 1991). morelia includes the “conservatorio musical”, a 277 years old music school that encompasses various numbers of artists in different specializations (alfaro, et al., 2012). morelia also has fifteen universities, six of them offering tourism as an undergraduate program, and two as an area of expertise. four universities offer seminars and courses related to tourism, and one of them has established a research center for tourism (cietec), which has conducted an annual survey from 2010 to 2014 to study the profile of tourists visiting the state in an effort to provide information for decision-makers. and the result was that city is primarily a domestic destination since 85 % of tourists are domestic tourist stays an average of 3.5 days, and international tourists (15%) stay an average of 10 days, visiting museums or attending cultural festivals & events (medina, 2014). with the changes of the administrations of the state government and the municipality of morelia in the second half of 2015, new vision-related to tourism management of the city was set. the main idea was “to make the historic center a vibrant heart of the culture and citizenry that attracts more visitors”. this vision promoted various actions and projects in the last two years; such as the rescue of the public spaces of the city for the benefit of its inhabitants, celebrating the 25 years of the recognition of historic center of morelia as a world heritage, and position morelia within the wedding and romance tourism segment. the following figure 3 illustrating the tourist numbers from 2000 to 2017 (pardo, 2017): figure 3 illustrating the tourists' numbers from 2000 to 2017 in morelia (pardo, 2017) (adapted by the researcher) from the above, we can notice that morelia faced tourism sustainability challenges, which represent in seasonality, terrorist attacks in 2008 and insecurity, violence, and instability issues in 2012 through the mixture of two characteristics. a) the development of human capital, as human capital in morelia considering as a strengths point, due to its adherence to the customs, traditions, and expressions of regional culture, as well as its training education through specialized tourism programs. b) morelia's political intention to strengthen the tourism sector through ct development. in addition to the beauty of the city’s architecture, natural and cultural attractions as well as the festivities related to the intangible heritage which provided an important foundation to develop the tourism sector. 720.7 746.6 702.9 819.4 767.5 781.9 742.2 813.2 738.3 723.3 816.1 705.3 529.8 721.5 885.0 717.0 803.0 1700.0 0.0 200.0 400.0 600.0 800.0 1000.0 1200.0 1400.0 1600.0 1800.0 to u ri st s n u m b e rs b y (1 0 0 0 ) tourists terrorist attack on morelia cultural heritage center usa forbid citizens from traveling to mexico due to insecurity issues pope francis visited morelia el-khadrawy / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 61 establishment of council of cultural sites of the historic centre of morelia (development program of the historic centre urban) cultural tourism (festivals & events throughout the whole year) human capital (training & education) figure 4 morelia key steps to achieve tourism sustainability (adapted by the researcher) 4.3. fez, morocco (world heritage list): located in the north of morocco, fez is the capital of the fas-meknes province and the second-largest city in morocco, its population in 2014 was around 1,146,500 inhabitants (morocco, 2018). dating back to the 9th century with the oldest university in the world (unesco, 1981). after the transferring of the political capital from fez to rabat back in 1912, its position as the cultural and spiritual center of morocco was attained. fez city is considered to be among the most well conserved historic municipality in the arab region. fez is well known for its superb architectural, rich artifacts sites, urban heritage along with its elegant lifestyle, tenable skills, and iconic culture. in 1981 fez city was listed as a world heritage city by unesco (unesco, 1981). fez conservation strategy encompasses all intangible and tangible heritage. the renewal project was based on the rehabilitation and revitalization approaches and the restoration of heritage sites with the partnership of multiple investors. the plan also targeted infrastructure upgrading. accordingly, fez’s image changed from a stagnant, depleted city into a livable and evolving city. during the period of 1981 to 2005; different investments and conservation projects took place; an overall budget was conceded including a 52.9% for infrastructure, 22.1% for rehabilitation projects, 11% for the restoration of monuments, 6.6% for environmental protection, 4.9% for cultural and tourism development and finally 1.3% and 1.2% respectively targeted for training and institutional support (radoine, 2008). recently, morocco framed its development strategies to encompass ct as its main target through the development of historic quarters, resulting in a distinctive city for tourism attraction. the development notion sought to attract tourism-related to historic sites and various cultural events (alami, et al., 2017). to achieve the conservation strategy, the morocco government created a new institutional framework in 1989 (ader-fès) to be responsible for the development of fez. “ader-fès” set a vision of fez’s heritage revitalization through the enhancement of inhabitants’ quality of life (radoine, 2008). fez’s ct has evolved in the recent years, it had transformed to an economic touristic hub attracting multinational immigrants to settle, work and mainly found guesthouses; that had multiplied through the past 20 years from one guesthouse back in 1997 up to 112 guesthouses in 2016 (alami, et al., 2017). in 2013, the government has implemented a project named “ziyarates fez”. the project was based on the adaptive reuse of locals’ homes into guesthouses where families offer the visitors one or more rooms, this would facilitate interactions between different cultures and experience the local life. allowing the pilot project, the “ziyarates fez” project for the first time to be legal was according to an agreement between different governmental institutions and ngos (alami, et al., 2017). the project aimed to involve tourism in human development through the following undertaken actions: restoration & upgrading of residential houses, services quality control, local’s training on tourism importance, and grant funds for guesthouses’ furnishing. above all, training was provided to all families in the project about "tourism professions" including; welcoming guests, cooking, bedding and house-holding, ensuring the security of tourists, and accompaniment (alami, et al., 2017). the moroccan government initiated robust policies in order to avoid mass tourism in fez, to reduce the socio-cultural impact on the local population (alami, et al., 2017). fez also adopted a project named: "fez, capital of traditional arts and showcase of the craftsmanship of morocco" targeting the exploiting of fez’s extraordinary cultural products and branding the local crafts and their high-end images including: 'zellige', ceramics, brassware and textiles, and traditional clothing (alami, et al., 2017). the following figure 5 illustrating the tourist numbers in fez from 2009 to 2017: el-khadrawy / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 62 figure 5 illustrating the tourists & overnights numbers from 2009 to 2017 in fez (morocco, 2019) (adapted by the researcher) the cultural tourism project in fez had developed opportunities for local authorities, and improved the living conditions of the population. through the restoration and rehabilitation processes and the upgrading of fez infrastructure, developing human capital through training, and developing the national handicrafts. fez achieved sustainable tourism development by achieving economic revenues to the local community through their direct involvement in cultural tourism projects and heritage conservation projects. establishment of ader-fes (development of fez) cultural tourism (festivals & events throughout the whole year) ziyarates fez (cultural tourism & development of human capital through training ) heritage rehabilitation & infrastructure upgrade (continuous improvement of the living conditions) development traditional arts & handicraft (development of high cultural products) tourism polices (avoid mass tourism & reduce sociocultural impact) figure 6 fez key steps to achieve tourism sustainability (adapted by the researcher) 5. case study: aswan, egypt: aswan is the capital of aswan governorate, located in the south of egypt with a population of 421'070 persons (gopp, 2017). aswan was known as “sono” through the ancient egyptian times; the word means the market as it was a famous commercial center serving merchants coming and going to nubia (sis, 2017). in the ptolemaic era, aswan was named “syene”, and then its name turned into “lipa swan” by the nubians (sis, 2017). later, it was entitled “the land of gold”, for its great treasures or the nubian kings’ cemeteries (sis, 2017). aswan encompass16 archaeological sites and unesco declared the nubian monuments from abu simbel to philae as a world cultural heritage in 1979 (unesco, 1979). in addition, aswan joined the unesco creative city network as a creative city in crafts and folk art in 2005 (unesco, 2005). aswan is famous for its traditional crafts including beaded jewelry, fabric manufacture, palm related crafts, and clay and needle-work products (unesco, 2005). 5.1. the current situation of aswan tourism: aswan considers as one of the most important tourist destinations in egypt, where aswan has all elements of attractions, such as monuments, temples, nature reserves, and islands scattered in the nile, in addition to aswan high dam and nasser lake. aswan is also famous for its therapeutic areas by burial in the sand. in addition, aswan includes many full-service hotels and floating hotels between aswan & luxor and eco-tourism motels in gharb sohail and abu simbel (aswan, 2016). it also offers a rich cultural experience through staying in nubian guesthouses in gharb soheil the nubian village (shampoo, et al., 2019). aswan also has multiple patterns of tourism in addition to cultural tourism, such as scientific tourism, fishing tourism, deserts adventure tourism, medical tourism, and many other tourism types. aswan also has an international airport and a railway station (aswan, 2016). 360.0 370.8 313.4 322.2 369.1 395.2 362.5 353.2 504.3 812.5 820.7 643.8 644.4 770.8 823.1 724.4 682.4 947.7 0.0 200.0 400.0 600.0 800.0 1000.0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017to u ri st s & o ve rn ig h t st ay s n u m b er s b y 1 0 0 0 tourisrts overnight stays arab spring revolutions el-khadrawy / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 63 unfortunately, although aswan has all the above-mentioned tourism possibilities, which can qualify it to be one of the most important tourist destinations in the world, it was affected by the tourism seasonality, terrorist attacks, and political issues, which led to a significant drop-off in tourists’ numbers in aswan, especially after the 2011 revolution. the following figure 7 illustrating the situation of the tourism sector in aswan from 2008 to 2017: figure 7 illustrating the tourists & overnights numbers from 2008 to 2017 in aswan 4 (adapted by the researcher) from the above figure, we can see that the average overnight stays in aswan are ranging from (1.6 to 1.7 nights/tourist) before and after the revolution. in addition, and according to aswan statistics (aswan, 2016), the global tourism ratio decreased from 92% in years (2008 and 2010) to be 28% in 2014. aswan workforce: the workforce in tourism sector represents only 2% from the total workforce in aswan, and the main workforce is in industries sector with 25%, followed by agriculture sector with 6% (gopp, 2017), most of the tourism workforce changed from the tourism sector to another sector after the 2011 revolution, most of the tourism bazaars in aswan market changes the selling products from tourism souvenirs to household and clothes (site visit). aswan cultural facilities: aswan has only one cinema, one theatre, one culture palace, one sound & light show, three museums (capmas, 2018). in addition, there are only five annual international festivals held in aswan during the period from november to march each year. aswan infrastructure: the current infrastructure in aswan hadn't been renovated for 70 years (soliman, 2018). 5.2. strategic plan for aswan development (gopp, 2017): in 2017 the president abdel fattah el-sisi announced that aswan would be the "capital of african culture and economy". this vision was part of the recommendations concerning the second youth conference held in january. in may 2017, the general organization for physical planning (gopp), set future vision & development projects for aswan governorate according to egypt's vision 2030 and national strategic plan for egypt 2052. the vision included projects in the following categories: road development & beautification, construction of new hotels & ecotourism hotels, construction of handicrafts villages in abu simbel, edfu, and com ombo, in addition to the development of river marina berths. 4 from 2008 to 2014 statistics are from (aswan, 2016), and from 2015 to 2017 statistics are data collected & adapted by the researcher from website https://www.egypttoday.com 660.7 430.0 442.2 152.5 136.8 114.9 115.6 133.0 159.6 175.5 1073.1 708.9 729.0 256.2 213.3 186.8 206.5 236.7 266.5 298.4 0.0 200.0 400.0 600.0 800.0 1000.0 1200.0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 to u ri st s & o ve rn ig h t st ay s n u m b e rs b y 1 0 0 0 tourists overnight stays 2011 revolution el-khadrawy / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 64 figure 8 illustrating the development projects in aswan governorate (gopp, 2017) (adapted by the researcher) all the proposed projects concentrated on traditional tourism, industrial, and agriculture sectors and didn't include any project concerning cultural tourism or human capital in aswan. in contrast, egypt's vision 2030 set objectives to achieve sustainable development in the tourism sector included: develop human skills for tourism workers and establish training centers in the tourism sector. develop cultural industries including cinemas, theaters, music, and traditional crafts, protect & develop heritage crafts through financing & marketing (mpmar, 2016). 5.3. recommendations: from the literature review, and global experiences cities, there are key steps to achieve std in aswan, and overcome tourism seasonality; this would take place through terrorism eradication, and political life stability, along with achieving the vision that was set for aswan to be a "capital of african culture and economy". the following are the summarized key steps: 1. developing aswan cultural tourism, through the strategies and programs aimed at engagement of the local community, enhancing their quality of life through economic growth, urban regeneration, and participating in cultural events. 2. establish an institution to be responsible for the development of cultural tourism in aswan, and to manage and coordinate the cooperation between different bodies and stakeholders, government sector, private sector, and the local community. 3. develop cultural structure; such as cinemas, theaters, libraries, and festivals & events throughout the whole year (not only in the winter months). 4. develop human capital in aswan through education and training. and the establishment of training centers specialized in developing human skills for workers in the tourism sector and related services. el-khadrawy / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 65 5. set policies and regulations to maintain aswan’s heritage and cultural tourism through security and safety regulations, periodic maintenance and increasing public residents’awareness, and city branding to attract both local and international guests. 6. imitate ziyarates fez project, and apply it in gharb soheil to be registered in a legal framework through the government, and provide the required training to the local community, to be a world-class cultural tourism village. 7. develop handicraft products through financing and marketing. 6. conclusion: from the literature review, the global experiments, and the work field conducted in aswan, the following results were achieved: − culture tourism could be considered as a basis of sustainable tourism. it helps to conserve ct, attain profits to the hosting societies, and increase incentives to preserve legacy and artistic practices. it also could be considered as a part of solving tourism concentration problems, through redirection of cultural tourists to visit less popular destinations or go at less popular times of the year. − heritage and arts are considered to be "primary elements" of cultural tourism. − human capital’s role is important in achieving sustainable tourism development, as an investment in human capital through training and education reflected in the improvement of tourism services and the ability to compete with other tourist destinations. − all the global cities examples shared certain key steps to achieve sustainable tourism development, such as; developing cultural tourism through the festivals and events spread throughout the whole year, renovation and rehabilitation of urban fabric, establish an institution to be responsible for the development of cultural tourism, develop human capital through education and training, in addition to engaging the local community in cultural programs and improving the quality of life of the inhabitants. − aswan considers as one of the most important tourist destinations in egypt, where it has all elements of attractions, whether natural or cultural, in addition to the huge investments represents in full-service hotels. unfortunately, aswan was affected by the tourism seasonality, terrorist attacks, and political issues especially the 2011 revolution. therefore, the general organization for physical planning (gopp) set future vision & development projects for aswan. however, all the proposed projects concentrated on traditional tourism, industrial, and agriculture sectors, and didn't include any project concerning cultural tourism or human capital in aswan. − to achieve sustainable tourism development in aswan, there are key steps need to be achieved, such as; establish an institution responsible for cultural tourism in aswan, develop cultural structure (cinemas, theaters, libraries, and festivals & events …etc), develop human capital through education and training, set policies and regulations to maintain aswan’s heritage and cultural tourism, in addition to develop handicraft products through financing and marketing. which consistent with egypt's vision 2030. − paying attention to cultural tourism 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(2012). tourism and intangible cultural heritage. retrieved september 05, 2018, from www.unwto.org http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i2.557 estimation of coating materials contribution to the tvocs emissions of wood flooring in indoor environment aliaa mahmoud1 1teaching assistant, architecture department, mansoura college academy, dakahlia, egypt abstract based on the increasing concern about the exposure to volatile organic compounds (vocs) from indoor finishing materials, industrial companies are called to meet the growing demand for more sustainable products. recently, most designers and consumers have more environmental considerations while selecting the finishing materials. these considerations are related to the vocs content of the finishing material itself regardless of its coating layers. nowadays, interior wood coatings are commonly applied to large surfaces (ceilings, walls, floors) and many types of furnishing, leading to a high loading factor (surface-to-volume ratio). these coatings might contribute significantly to the vocs emissions due to repeatedly and periodically use during maintenance, remodeling, and renovation of interior spaces. the aim of this study is to estimate the wood coating materials contribution to the tvocs emissions of wood product in the indoor environment to shed light on the importance of comprehensive analysis of wood material with all treatment coatings. so, a small interior space with controlled temperature, relative humidity, and air exchange rate was simulated using ia-quest program to investigate the influence of three wood coating materials; stain, wax, and varnish which were applied to an area of natural hardwood oak floor. the tvocs emission data resulted from the different coated wood floor was compared with vocs emissions caused by the natural wood floor to find out the coating material contribution in tvocs emissions of a wood flooring material. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords wood coating materials; volatile organic compounds; simulation software; finishing materials; interior spaces 1. introduction there is an increasing attention concerning indoor air quality for public health because individuals spend up to 90% of their time in the indoor environment (bluyssen, 2009). epa studies of human exposure to air pollutants indicate that the indoor pollutant levels may be 25 times and it maybe reaches to 100 times higher than outdoor levels (daisey, angell & apte, 2003). volatile organic compounds (vocs) are considered to be the most important indoor pollutants due to continuous emissions from many sources (bacaloni, insogna & zoccolillo, 2011). finishing materials among all sources have a significant attention showing that more than 60% of vocs emissions come from finishing materials and furnishings. numerous studies have shown that reducing the indoor air quality (iaq) result from the vocs emissions of from pg. 75 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i2.557&domain=press.ierek.com aliaa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd commonly used materials such as wood products, floor coverings, wall coverings, etc. these emissions may cause general symptoms from inhalation of fumes or vapors and skin absorption (hussain, he, mohamad, & tao, 2015). the symptoms include a headache; eye, nose, or throat irritations; a dry cough; dizziness and nausea; difficulty in concentration; tiredness. the health effects differ widely as shown in (figure 1), based on the exposure period that can be either acute term exposures (hours to days) or chronic exposures (years to a lifetime) (bluyssen, 2009). figure 1. common symptoms of exposure to high levels of vocs (bluyssen, 2009). generally, finishing materials appear in composite forms such as the wall assembly (paint/ gypsum board) or the floor assembly (varnish/ stain/ wood). voc emissions floor assembly has not been theoretically examined. from the experimental studies of carpet/adhesive assembly, it has been found that the main source of voc comes from the adhesive in the floor assembly. it has been found that adhesive in the floor assembly is the main source of voc; the emission of the assembly displays lower delayed peak and slower decay rate in comparison with the adhesive alone (black, pearson & work 1991; low, zhang, plett, & shaw, 1998). thus, it is more important to understand multi-layer material emission characteristics in a building than single-layer one. some multi-layer models were proposed (bodalal, 1999), a general multi-layer emission model that can be used to simulate wet/dry, dry/dry, dry/wet material assemblies is not yet available (haghighat & huang, 2003). until now, abundant studies have been done on of voc emissions measurement. most of the studies use a smallscale test chamber under controlled environmental conditions. such these measurements are very essential in order to accumulate and compile a reliable database of indoor materials. however, there is maybe a difference between both the geometry and boundary conditions in buildings and that in the test sample. hence, the measured data from a chamber may not be entirely suitable for actual buildings. on the other hand, with the rapid progress of computer hardware and numerical algorithms, mathematical models and numerical simulations can partly overcome the disadvantage of laboratory measurements (xu & zhang, 2003). this paper discusses the simulation method of predicting vocs emissions from a multilayer material with a specific focus on the emissions from wood-based floor material. three types of coating layers; stain, wax, and varnish were applied to the natural type of wood flooring; unfinished hardwoodred oak. the objective of this study is to estimate the wood coating materials contribution to the tvocs emissions of wood product in the indoor environment to shed light on the importance of comprehensive analysis of wood material with all treatment coatings. 2. multi-layer material concept most finishing and furniture consist of multi-layer materials which are considered to be as sources of vocs. these finishing materials may include both wet and dry materials such as carpeting, wallpaper, wood floor, paint, and glue. indoor air quality is considerably affected by the vocs emission from dry building materials, as not only the emission is a long-time process but their large surface areas are also permanently exposed to indoor air (yang et. al, 2001). on the other hand, the characters of voc emissions from wet materials have a high initial emission rate and fast decay, afterwards a low emission rate and slow decay. it can be clarified by three emission stages from wet materials: evaporation dominant phase (wet material), transition phase (relatively wet), and internal diffusion pg. 76 aliaa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd controlled phase (completely dry) (yang, chen, zeng, zhang & shaw, 2001) . for wet materials, such as glue, wood stain, voc concentration within the materials has a very high initial, consequently (haghighat & huang, 2003). each layer in the multilayer assembly has vocs emissions, not only from the top surface but also from the core and bottom layer. it is essential to recognize the emission characteristics of common multilayer materials to provide valuable information for the manufacturing process and to finally eliminate the vocs released into the indoor air (xu & zhang, 2009). multi-layer materials contain three composition forms: dry/dry (e.g. composite particleboard or plywood), dry/wet (e.g. vinyl floor tile+ glue+ plywood; carpet+adhesive) and wet/dry (e.g. paint + gypsum board). the material configuration and voc emission processes are shown in (figure 2) (haghighat & huang, 2003). figure 2. physical configuration of voc emissions from a multi-layer material. (1) internal diffusion; (2) desorption; and (3) external convection and diffusion (haghighat & huang, 2003). most types of wood-based flooring are made of composite assembly as natural wood floor usually passes through numbers of treatment steps in the finishing process as shown in (figure 3) (kim, 2010). this treatment applying as a coating layer such as stain, wax, and varnish layer. wood stains, also known as wood dyes are designed to change the color of wood while leaving the grain still visible by soaking pigment into wood fibers with a solvent and then having it set and bind to the wood. most stains don’t offer a lot of protection to wood, so when using a stain it’s regularly a good idea to apply a protective coat of something else like a varnish or wax (rowell, 2012). figure 3. the wood floor finishing with different coating layer varnish begins as oil, but it’s cooked with a resin to produce a drying, hard, wood finish. its main role is that of a protective coating on the surface; it doesn’t penetrate like wax does (flexner, 1993). waxes are derived from many types of mineral, vegetable and animal sources. as a finish, waxes don’t penetrate wood, but rather sit atop pg. 77 aliaa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd it. they will prevent it from oxidizing but don’t particularly enhance the wood. (shupe, lebow & ring, 2008). applying all these three types of coatings aren’t be essential for each wood finishing process as each type of wood floor has its required treatment steps. 3. case study procedure this paper established a simulation procedure to evaluate the voc emissions for each type of flooring coating and its contribution to the tvocs emission of the wood flooring. to simulate indoor voc concentrations in a residential unit due to wood coating materials, some information and key parameters discussed in eq. (1) need to be determined. the whole simulation procedure can be generally divided into three steps including: 1. collection of basic information, indoor space geometry, and its environmental conditions 2. selection of the wood flooring with its coating layer type and its voc emission factor, and 3. dynamic simulation of indoor tvocs concentration using a simulation tool named “indoor air quality emissions simulation tool (ia-quest) every step in this procedure has its tools either using the field visits to using different simulation tools. a detailed discussion of each step is given in the following case study section. 3.1. mathematical model it is known that pollutant distribution in a building is in general non-uniform (haghighat et al. 1994; brohus 1997; wang and emmerich 2010). however, for our study of voc concentrations in a residential unit of a family residential building, studies indicate that the non-uniformity is not that important under normal room ventilation conditions. the equation of the vocs concentration in a space can be written as following (willem & hult, 2013): dc/dt = ea/v +nh (cout c) (1) where c is the change in concentration over (t) time of an indoor contaminant in an enclosed space, e is the emission rate in mass per unit floor area per unit time, a is the floor area, cout is the concentration of the chemical in the outdoor air, v is the volume of the space and nh is air exchange rate in air changes per hour (ach). 3.2. simulation software the case study will undergo two main simulation phases; the air flow rate simulation and finishing materials selection simulation. to go through these phases, three programs will be used to build and simulate the base case and the proposed cases. these programs are autodesk autocad software (2d,3d), autodesk computational fluid dynamics (cfd), and indoor air quality emission simulation tool (ia-quest) version 1.1 as shown in (figure 4). figure 4. the simulation process concerning the programs used pg. 78 aliaa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 4. case study the above-proposed procedure with the three steps has been applied in a typical master bedroom from the apartment that was selected randomly from residential towers in mansoura. egypt using ia-quest simulation program. 4.1. basic information collection the basic information that is needed includes the room value v and ventilation rate q in eq. (1). in detail, the newly constructed residential unit was chosen to be used in the simulation procedure as shown in (figure 5). five cases based on coating layer selection was applied to the wood floor in the master bedroom in this unit. the floor plan of this room was defined as shown in (table 1) to be with of 176 m3 there are two windows with an area of 2.31 m2, 1.75 m2, and the flooring area was calculated to be 59 m2. the master bedroom was simulated to be under constant environmental conditions; at 25 ±1.0 c◦, and 50 ±5.0 % relative humidity. concerning the air flow rate, a simulation was established with cfd simulation program with air velocity which has been set to be 3 m/s with north direction according to national data of the faculty of agriculture climate station in mansoura university which is the nearest data to the building site. the air flow rate from room windows was calculated according to the following equation (santamouris & allard, 2000): q = a∗v ∗ c (2) figure 5. layout of the residential unit and the master bedroom marked in yellow (left), the geometric model for the master bedroom (right) table 1. the geometric configuration of the master bedroom item room specification for all scenarios volume (m3) 176 m3 area (m2) 59m2 window area (m2) win.1 =2.31 m2 , win.2 = 1.75 m2 ceiling/flooring surface area (m2) 59 m2 from the above equation, the air flow rate was calculated based on the velocity resulted from cfd and inlet window area as shown in (table 2). also, the cfd simulation results show the air flow distribution around the building to be driven to the room inlet and outlet as illustrated in (figure 6). pg. 79 aliaa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 2. the environmental specifications related to the ventilation aspect type value average air speed vx (m/s) 0.9 openable inlet window area (m2) 2.31 air flow rate (m3/s) 0.2484 air flow rate (m3/h) 894.24 figure 6. the air flow distribution outside and inside the master bedroom (left), the vx velocity normal to the inletwindow (right) 4.2. selection of the wood flooring with its coating layer type nrc database in ia-quest program has a wide range of wood flooring materials; single and assembly materials, natural and synthetic materials were all included in, i.e., natural wood including, oakwood, engineered products with adhesives, including, laminate tile, medium-density fiberboard, and particleboard. the program also provides a database for a variety of wood floor coatings (won et. al, 2005). as discussed before, every wood flooring has its treatments; stain, varnish, and wax with their different steps in the procedure. among nrc database, a natural hardwood; red oak; the unfinished material was chosen to be simulated in case (1) as shown in (table 3), while in case (2) wood stain layer (oil-based; applied on oak) was added to the natural hardwood. the case (3) was simulated with the natural red oak coating with varnish layer (polyurethane; oil-based; semi-gloss). in case (4), (5) the natural red oak was coated with a wax, floor (paste; oil-based) and a wax, floor (liquid; water-based) consecutively. table 3. the selected materials for cases with emission factor and id in the nrc database (won et. al, 2005). case no. flooring type material id nominal emission factor (mg/m2h) maximum emission factor (mg/m2h) 1 hardwood; red oak; unfinished oak1 0.11968 0.19849 2 hardwood; red oak; unfinished oak1 0.11968 0.19849 wood stain (oil-based; applied on oak) ws6a 803.30 16082.27 3 hardwood; red oak; unfinished oak1 0.11968 0.19849 varnish (polyurethane; oilbased; semigloss) ur8 154.50 10231.86 4 hardwood; red oak; unfinished oak1 0.11968 0.19849 continued on next page pg. 80 aliaa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 3 continued wax, floor (paste; oil-based) wx2 408.97 40733.13 5 hardwood; red oak; unfinished oak1 0.11968 0.19849 wax, floor (liquid; waterbased) wx6 51.346 162.94 4.3. dynamic simulation of indoor tvocs concentration the ia-quest program was used to simulate tvocs concentration for each case based on numbers of main inputs; the volume of space, ventilation rate, material type, and its coverage space. concerning the simulation time, the study put a simulation period with 336 hours. 5. results and discussion during the emission simulation, the concentrations of tvocs resulted from different types of wood coatings were predicted. figures (figure 7) show the concentration-time profiles during the 336-h test period for vocs emitted from the eight scenarios. there are some findings as follows: 1. at the first glance, the result for using unfinished oak wood floor without any coating layers in case (1) record a very low vocs concentration with a value of 0.3 mg/m3 in comparison with the results from any coating layer used in the other cases and also when compared with leed standard as it is in line with standard and even below. 2. the highest max.tvocs concentration was found in case (4) with 220 mg/m3 resulted from using the oilbased wax layer as a coating for the oakwood floor which represent 733 times higher than case (1) and 440 higher than leed standards. while the lowest max.tvocs concentration was mentioned in case (5) with water-based wax as a coating resulting in 5 mg/m3 which represent 16 times higher than case (1) and 10 times higher than leed standards. so, there is a wide difference in tvocs concentration in the space result from using oil and water based even for the same type of coating; wax coating. 3. using oil-based stain as a colorant for the oakwood flooring in case (2) raised tvocs concentration in the room from 0.3 mg/m3 for the unfinished oak floor to 54 mg/m3 due to applying the stain coating. this significant increase is only due to using this slight colorant layer with 180 times higher than using the natural oak floor. while using oil-based varnish as a protective and polished layer for the oak flooring in case (3) elevated the tvocs concentration to 35 mg/m3 which is 117 times higher than using the unfinished floor. figure 7. the analysis of tvoc concentrations of the cases v.s elapsed time pg. 81 aliaa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd after discussing the vocs concentration for each case resulted from different type of coating layers, there is a necessary need for analyzing the vocs concentration along the simulation period as shown in (table 4) to understand the voc behavior for each coating layer. the analyses show the following: 1. first, concerning reaching the cases’ peak point (max.tvoc concentration) which their values are illustrated in the first previous points, there is also the time factor to be analyzed. for case (1) with using the unfinished oakwood without any coating layers, case (3) with using the stain layer, and case (4) with using oil-based wax layer, they reached to their peak only after 1-2 hours after installation. notice that the peak value for case (3) was a constant for the first 14 hours. while in case (5) with using water-based wax layer reached after 7 hours. the case (2) with using stain layer has the longest time to reach its peak among all cases as it took 16 hours. from these values, it is shown there is a critical vocs behavior in the first 20 hours after installation. 2. after reaching their peaks, the cases have a rapid decay for a specific period and then a slow decay to reach their min.tvoc concentration. for the rapid decay, all cases almost decayed rapidly until almost 60-80 hours. in spite of the highest peak; 220 mg/m3 record in the case (4) with using oil-based wax layer, the value after a small rapid decaying (58 hours) was lower than the case (2) using the stain layer with the same decaying period. these results deserve to be discussed as the case (4) peak is higher than the peak in the case (2) with 4 times. 3. all cases spend a period in the slow decay to reach to their min.tvoc concentration. although case (2) and (3) reached the same value of 1.5 mg/m3, using the oil-based wax layer in case (4) reach its minimum after only 90 hours while using stain layer in case (2) reach after 190 hours. so regardless of the high peak point of case (4), it shows interesting behavior after reaching its peak than other cases. 4. concerning case (5) with using water-based wax which represents a peak with 5 mg/m3 which is 10 times higher than leed standards, the min.tvoc concentration after 160 hours is 0.12 mg/m3 recording a value lower than leed and even almost the same case (1) value with using the unfinished oak wood floor. table 4. the analysis of tvocs concentration during the simulation period for each case case no. decay time leed standard peak point rapid decay slow decay steady value 0.5 mg/m3 reach time (h) value (mg/m3) decay time (h) value after decay period (mg/m3) reach time (h) almost steady value (h) value (mg/m3) 1 after 1h 0.3 8-80 (72 h) 0.14 80-260 (180 h) after 260h 0.09 2 after 16 h 54 16-80 (58 h) 10 80-190 (110 h) after 190 1.5 3 after 1 h 35 13-70 (57 h) 3.0 70-170 (100 h) from 113 35 after 170 1.0 4 after 2 h 220 2-60 (58 h) 7.0 60-90 (30 h) after 90 1.5 5 after 7 h 5 7-70 (63 h) 0.4 70160 (90 h) after 160 0.12 pg. 82 aliaa / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 6. conclusion a method to estimate the coating layers contribution to the tvocs emissions of wood product in the indoor environment was established. this method is essential to shed light on the importance of comprehensive analysis of wood material with all treatment coatings. the method has been done using simulation tools for the typical master bedroom to investigate the influence of three wood coating materials; stain, wax, and varnish which were applied to an area of natural hardwood oak floor. the tvocs emission data resulted from the different coated wood floor was compared with vocs emissions caused by the natural wood floor to find out the coating material contribution in tvocs emissions of wood flooring material in the interior space. the results from the comparison show that the coating layer may be considered as the main source of emissions in the multilayer wood flooring. also, the results show varied value for vocs concentration due to different types of coating that indicate the importance of analyzing and studying the different type before installing. for example, there is a wide range in tvocs concentration resulted from different coating layers for the purpose of protecting and polishing; varnish layer recorded tvocs concentration lower than using oil-based wax while using water-based wax is the lowest results among the polishing materials. on the other hand, there is an essential need for analyzing the long-term behavior for each type of layers to understand the vocs emissions mechanism that differ during their decay. 7. references 1. bacaloni, a., insogna, s., & zoccolillo, l. 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(2003). an improved mass transfer based model for analyzing voc emissions from building materials. atmospheric environment, 37(18), 2497-2505. retrieved from https://sciencedirect.com /science/ article/pii/s1352231003001602 18. yang, x., chen, q., zeng, j., zhang, j., & shaw, c. (2001). a mass transfer model for simulating volatile organic compound emissions from ‘wet’ coating materials applied to absorptive substrates. international journal of heat and mass transfer, 44(9), 1803-1815. retrieved from https://engineering.purdue.edu/ 19. yang, x., chen, q., zhang, j., magee, r. j., zeng, j., & shaw, c. (2001). numerical simulation of voc emissions from dry materials. building and. environment, 36(10), 1099-1107. retrieved from https://engi neering.purdue.edu/ pg. 84 introduction multi-layer material concept case study procedure mathematical model simulation software case study basic information collection selection of the wood flooring with its coating layer type dynamic simulation of indoor tvocs concentration results and discussion conclusion references http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i1.55 soot emission analysis in combustion of bio-gas diesel dual fuel engine bui van ga1, bui thi minh tu2 1department of mechanical engineering of transport 2department of electronic and telecommunication, danang university of science and technology abstract soot emission in bio-gas diesel dual fuel engine has been analyzed by numerical simulation with 2-stape soot formation model of magnussen. the result shows that soot formation mainly occurred in diffusion combustion phase of diesel pilot jet. soot peak value is proportional to the first peak value of rohr, and it is found at around the same crank angle position with the second peak of rohr. at a given engine speed and diesel content in the fuel, the highest soot peak value is obtained with slightly rich mixture whereas soot concentration in exhaust gas increases monotonically with increasing equivalence ratio. increasing diesel content in the fuel increases both soot peak value and soot concentration in exhaust gas. at a given equivalence ratio and diesel content in the fuel, engine speed has a moderate effect on soot formation rate but a significant effect on soot combustion rate. soot concentration in the exhaust gas practically vanished as equivalence ratio under 0.98 and 15% diesel content in the fuel. this is the ideal operation regime of biogas diesel dual fuel engine in view of soot emission control. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords biogas; renewable energy; biogas-diesel dual fuel engine; soot emission; magnussen model 1. introduction depletion in fossil fuel resources and a growing awareness of the serious effects of global warming have forced numerous governments all over the world to formulate and enforce application of renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gas emission. bio-fuels that are environment friendly present attractive behaviors in combustion and emissions (yoon & lee, 2011; nabi & hustad, 2012). among bio-fuels, bio-gas is considered as an abundant resource of renewable energy in developing countries. application of this fuel on diesel engines for transportation, irrigation and non-grid power generation purposes is preferred due to its high thermal efficiency. this is especially important not only in the developing countries where meeting the growing demand of fossil fuels is a major economic challenge, but also in the developed countries where greenhouse gas emission reduction is an important commitment according to the cop21 convention. biogas, mainly consisting of ch4 and co2 has almost the same properties as natural gas. however, as a renewable fuel, the use of bio-gas presents two profits: it provides an alternative source of energy for fossil fuel that saves and protects the environment from the harmful greenhouse gases, carbonic and methane that would be emitted into the pg. 67 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i1.55&domain=press.ierek.com ga / environmental science and sustainable development, essd atmosphere. due to low energy density and cetane number, bio-gas cannot be used as a single fuel in compression ignition (ci) engine, but it can be used in the dual fuel mode. the engine, which uses conventional diesel fuel and bio-gas fuel, is referred to as bio-gas diesel dual fuel engine. it is basically a modified diesel engine in which bio-gas fuel, called the primary fuel, is the main source of energy input to the engine. the primary bio-gas fuel is compressed with air, but does not auto ignite due to its high self-ignition temperature. a small amount of diesel, usually called the pilot, is injected as in a normal diesel engine near the end of compression of the primary fuel-air mixture. this pilot diesel fuel, auto ignites first and acts as a deliberate source of ignition for the combustion of the gaseous fuel-air mixture. the pilot diesel fuel contributes only a small fraction of the engine power output. load of the engine is controlled mainly by bio-gas fuel (ga, nam, tien & tu, 2014; ashok, ashok & kumar, 2015). thus, the combustion process and emission in a dual fuel engine is complex as it combines the features of spark ignition engines and compresses ignition engines (wagemakers & leermakers, 2012). soot is primarily identified as major constituent of the emission emerging from diesel combustion. the presence of diesel pilot injection in biogas dual fuel engine should be thus considered in view of pollution emission. several technologies have so far been developed to reduce soot emission from diesel combustion combustion (zhu, cheung & huang, 2010; cheng, cheung, chan, lee, yao & tsang, 2008). the combination use of gaseous fuels and conventional diesel fuel to reduce soot emission has been reported by numerous researchers. tomita et al. carried out research on a hydrogen diesel dual fuel engine (tomita, kawahara, piao, fujita & hamamoto, 2001) and they reported a reduction in soot concentration to near zero levels at all diesel injection timings and at all equivalence ratios of hydrogen. tsolakis, hernandez, megaritis and crampton (2005) obtained similar results of reduction in the total mass of soot emissions in combustion of hydrogen diesel dual fuel. besides, a considerable number of studies (saravanan, nagarajan, sanjay, dhanasekaran & kalaiselvan, 2008) and (saravanan & nagarajan, 2008) reported a reduction in soot emissions when ch4 was used as a primary fuel in a ch4 diesel dual fuel engine. it is generally believed that the more carbon a fuel molecule contains, the more likely the production of soot is by the fuel during combustion (tree & svensson, 2007). moreover, the chemical structures, such as aromatics, c=c and cyclic molecules, are regarded to have increased soot producing tendency (smith, 1981). in dual fuel mode, some amount of diesel is replaced by the gaseous fuels, which are higher ratio of hydrogen to carbon; thus, soot emission is consequently reduced. thus, in view of soot emission reduction, it is particularly a positive merit in favor of dual fuel engines converted from existing diesel engine. although there are numerous research works on experimental and theoretical investigations concerning the dual fuel operating mod, a comparatively lower number of specific research works on soot emission of biogas diesel dual fuel engines are found. the past investigations concentrated mainly on the performance and fuel consumption characteristics for biogas diesel dual fuel engines. mustafi and raine (2008), studied emissions from a dual fuel engine fuelled with natural gas and biogas; however, dual fuel combustion characteristics and their effects on emissions were not presented there. an effort using biogas biodiesel in dual fuel application are found in references (yoon & lee, 2011; luijten & kerkhof, 2011) where engine performance, combustion and emission characteristics are investigated. although the results of these above primary works show that bio-gas diesel dual fuel operation seem to be regarded as an appropriate way for simultaneously controlling emissions from diesel engines and saving petroleum based diesel fuel, it is necessary to investigate into more detail the reduction characteristics of exhaust emissions with special emphasis on soot formation in order to establish bio-gas as a real alternative fuel for diesel engines. the emission characteristics of dual fuel engine are affected by both the pilot diesel fuel as ignition source and the primary premixed bio-gas fuel. the experimental investigations of combustion and emission of such kind of engine is very complicated and expensive. thus 3-d modeling takes into account the interactions between different phenomena including turbulent flow, spray, combustion, soot formation and naturally the geometry of combustion chamber presents more advantage. it allows a precise investigation of the problem as it provides all required properties at any point within the combustion chamber and at any time. in other words, numerical modeling makes pg. 68 ga / environmental science and sustainable development, essd it possible to explore combustion characteristics and soot emission that may be difficult and/or expensive to achieve with experiments. fundamental aspects concerning cfd one dimension simulation of combustion process and soot formation in diffusion flames have been carried out by (vignon & ga, 1995). they found out that soot formation given by magnussen model is fitted well to experimental data. an integral model of soot formation based on magnussen model has been established by bui et al. to investigate soot formation in combustion of an experimental diesel engine (ga, mai, brun & vignon, 1999). good coherence between model and experiments has been observed. the model was then applied to successfully calculate soot formation in combustion of furnace (ga & lu, 2002). multidimensional cfd simulation of combustion in an idi diesel engine has been studied by (zellat, rolland & poplow, 1990) using kiva code. strauss, schweimer & ritscher, 1995 had studied the combustion and pollutant formation processes in diesel engine using speed cfd code. sera, bakar & leong (2003) formulated dual fuel engine simulation model and studied the combustion process of a natural gas diesel dual fuel engine, and good levels of agreement were obtained between measured and predicted results. singh, kong, reitz, krishnan & midkiff (2004) studied the combustion and emissions of a natural gas diesel dual fuel engine and showed that dual fuel engine combustion results in significant reduction in soot emissions. in brief, cfd simulation is an efficient method to explore combustion and soot emission of compression ignition engine (barzegar, shafee & khalilarya, 2013). the paper aims to analyze the effect of different operation parameters of biogas diesel dual fuel engine on soot emission. the issue of reduction of soot emission is explored by controlling diesel/biogas ratio, fuel -air equivalence ratio and swirl in combustion chamber of a biogas diesel dual fuel engine, which is converted from a vikyno ev2600nb single cylinder diesel engine. the research is carried out by numerical simulation with help of fluent cfd code and soot emission model of magnussen. 2. numerical simulation in the present study, the computational fluid dynamics (cfd) code fluent was used to model a complex combustion phenomenon and soot formation in biogas diesel dual fuel engine. the numerical modeling was taking into account the effect of turbulence via k-ε model, droplet breakup of diesel jet via wave model. soot formation is modeled by magnussen mechanism (magnussen & hjertager, 1977). the mechanism can be depicted by two participating processes, the formation and oxidation of soot. in this study, the two-step soot model was applied. with respect to the model, in addition to solving the transport equation for soot mass fraction, the model also requires the solution of another transport equation for radical nuclei concentration. the net rate of soot generation is the balance of soot formation and soot combustion. soot formation is proportional to radical nuclei concentration whereas soot combustion. soot formation is proportional to fuel concentration, oxygen concentration and ε/k (ε: turbulence energy dissipation; and k: turbulence kinetic energy). the net rate of nuclei generation is given by the balance of the nuclei formation rate and the nuclei combustion rate. the nuclei formation rate is proportional to fuel concentration and e−e/rt . the nuclei combustion rate is proportional to soot combustion rate. numerical simulation is performed on a single cylinder, vikyno ev2600nb di diesel engine having an omega bowl shaped piston. the engine specifications are given in table 1. calculations are theoretically carried out on a closed system from intake valve closure at 0◦ca to exhaust valve opening at 360◦ca with different operation conditions. the diesel fuel is injected via a single hole injector at top of combustion chamber. initial conditions for pressure and temperature in the combustion chamber are 0.95bar and 350k, respectively. bio-gas contains 70%ch4 and 30%co2. the amount of diesel pilot injection or diesel content in the fuel namely d15, d20 and d25 corresponds to 15%, 20% and 25% energy contribution of diesel in total energy of fuel mixture, respectively. pg. 69 ga / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1. engine specifications cylinder volume (cm3) 1181 bore (mm) 118 stroke (mm) 108 number of cylinders 1 compression ratio 16.5 rated output (hp)/rate speed (rpm) 20/2200 maximum output (hp)/maximum speed (rpm) 25/2400 figure 1. calculating space and meshing figure 2. soot and temperature distribution in combustion chamber (d15, ϕ=1.1, n=2400 rpm) pg. 70 ga / environmental science and sustainable development, essd fig. 1 presents geometry of combustion chamber and calculating space. dynamic meshing of in-cylinder space of the engine is generated automatically by ansys code. there are 9279 nodes in the space with high density in combustion chamber. figure 3. rate of heat release, pressure and soot concentration vscrank angle of biogas diesel dual fuel engine combustion (d15, ϕ=1.2, n=2400rpm) the biogas-air mixture is suggested to be homogenous. the combustion process is modeled via partially premixed model. calculation procedure of effects of fuel composition and operation condition on engine performance have been presented in detail in (ga, hai, tu & hung, 2015). the distributions of soot concentration and temperature are illustrated in fig. 2 for a typical operation condition. the result shows that soot concentration is accumulated in high temperature region where diesel concentration is available. 3. result and discussion 3.1. analysis of soot emission in dual fuel combustion as it has been mentioned above, soot emission is the balance of soot formation and soot combustion that depend on temperature, fuel concentrations, oxygen concentration and turbulence intensity in the combustion chamber. these effects can be analyzed via the rate of heat released (rohr) in dual fuel engine. fig. 3 presents rohr, in-cylinder pressure (p) and soot concentration (s) as functions of crank angle (ca). rohr curve has two peaks in which the first peak is higher than the second. peak of pressure is located between these two rohr peaks. soot concentration is continuously increasing with increase in pressure and reaches a peak at around the same crank angle position with the second peak of rohr. after this peak, soot concentration is decreased gradually due to oxidation. in fact, rohr curve is mainly due to fuel consumption via three burning phases of the dual fuel combustion process: (1) rapid premixed combustion of the pilot diesel fuel, (2) diffusion combustion of pilot diesel fuel and premixed combustion of the primary biogas and (3) premixed combustion of biogas and the left over pilot diesel fuel. during the first phase of combustion, a small part of pilot diesel fuel and a little quantity of the biogas entrained by the spray is consumed. rohr in this phase is mainly due to the diesel fuel burned. soot formation mechanism in dual fuel mode in this phase is thus not quiet different from diesel fuelling mode. the second phase is due to the burning of a maximum part of the biogas and a part of the rest of the pilot diesel fuel. biogas burns mainly during this phase of the combustion. soot formation in this phase increases due to diffusion combustion of diesel droplets and soot agglomeration at high combustion temperature. finally, the third phase is due to the combustion of the rest of the two fuels that are not burned in the last phase. in this phase soot formation decreases while soot combustion increases; hence the resultant soot generation in expansion stroke decreases gradually. soot concentration at the end of expansion stroke, namely soot in exhaust gas, is the main concern of the research. pg. 71 ga / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 4. rorh vs crank angle with different equivalenceratios (d15, n=2400rpm) figure 5. sootconcentration vs crank angle with different equivalence ratios (d15, n=2400rpm) figure 6. rohr peakvalue and soot peak value vs equivalence ratio (d20,n=2400rpm) pg. 72 ga / environmental science and sustainable development, essd fig. 4 shows rohr traces of combustion for three different equivalence ratios of 0.9, 1.0 and 1.5 at constant engine speed of 2400rpm and 15% diesel content in the fuel. at a given diesel content in the fuel and at constant engine speed, it can be observed from the figure that the peaks of rohr decrease in the cases of equivalence ratios of 1.5 and 0.9 relative to equivalence ratio of 1.0. as equivalence ratios of the fuel-air mixture are higher or lower than stoichiometric, it is suggested that this may result in the slower flame propagation speeds than the maximum speeds achievable during stoichiometric combustion. when the fuel-air mixture is relatively close to stoichiometric, the peak of soot concentration is much higher as shown in fig. 5. the peak soot values are 3.25.10−9, 1.16.10−9, 5.06.10−9 kg/kg for ϕ=0.9, 1.0 and 1.5, respectively. rich or lean mixture results in a decrease in soot concentration due to low rohr. in any case of operation, soot concentration is proportional to the first peak of rohr. with lean mixture, both fuel concentration and combustion temperatures are low, resulting in a low soot concentration. with rich mixture, fuel concentration is high but soot concentration is not increased due to low combustion temperature. in general, at a given operation regime, the maximum soot concentration is obtained in mixture slightly higher than stoichiometric as shown in fig. 6. fig. 7 presents a general comparison to verify the interactions of soot emissions with diesel content in the fuel. it confirmed the above observation that soot formed at early stages of combustion due to diffusion combustion of diesel fuel. at the same equivalence ratio, high diesel content in the fuel satisfied soot formation increases. at the same equivalence ratio of ϕ=1, soot peak value is lower by about 30%, and soot in exhaust gas is lower by about 60% as diesel content in the fuel decreased from 25% to 15%. significant increase of soot emission in exhaust gas as diesel content increases can be explained by the fact that diesel is the highly carbonated fuel providing largely radical nuclei particularly the rich fuel zones inside the combustion chamber. moreover, diesel fuel contains aromatic compounds favored soot formation. it can be speculated that the formation of the majority of soot was caused by the quantity of diesel fuel injected into the combustion chamber, which was minimized in the case of dual fuel operations. soot particles form primarily from the carbon in the diesel fuel. in biogas, the carbon/hydrogen ratio is lower when compared to diesel, so soot formation is less in low content of diesel in fuel as a result. besides, soot oxidation processes, being a function of temperature, in dual fuel combustion are more important than those in diesel engines, due to higher in-cylinder temperatures that result from increased heat release rates. therefore, reduction in soot emissions can be attributed to (1) a direct consequence of flame temperature reduction in early phase of combustion and the lowered concentration of diesel, (2) increased oxidation of soot nuclei/precursors in the soot forming region by increasing turbulence intensity and the enhanced concentrations of oh in combustion region. 3.2. effects of fuel concentration fig. 8 shows the reductions in x f .exp(-e/rt) implying a beneficial effect of equivalence reduction (x f : fuel concentration; e: activation energy; r: universal gas constant; t: temperature). at a constant engine speed 2100rpm, a reduction in equivalence ratio from ϕ=1.3 to ϕ=1.0 causes up to 25% reduction in x f .exp(-e/rt). otherwise, it can be seen on fig. 9 that the reduction of equivalence ratio results in a net increase in xo2.ε/k (where xo2: concentration of oxygen). a reduction in equivalence ratio from ϕ=1.3 to ϕ=1.0 causes up to 17% increasing in xo2.ε/k. however, this effect is less at the lean mixture due to reduction of turbulence intensity resulting from reduction of flame speed. at the same condition, the increase of xo2.ε/k only 6% as ϕ decreases from 1.3 to 0.9. therefore, as previously discussed, it could be suggested that a decrease in equivalence ratio promotes soot oxidation and reduces initial soot formation at a given engine speed. these effects are more important as mixture richer than stoechiometric. fig. 10a and fig. 10b show the effect of equivalence ratio on the total soot mass concentration at a given diesel content in the fuel. the peak of soot concentration (smax) is increased as equivalence ratio increased from 0.98 to around 1.2 and 1.3. as mixture is richer than this value, the soot concentration peak is decreased very fast but contrarily soot concentration in the exhaust gas (sexhaust ) increased. this is due to the low temperature of incomplete combustion, which is not favorable for soot oxidation. pg. 73 ga / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 7. soot concentration vs crank anglewith different diesel content in thefuel (n=2400rpm, ϕ=1) figure 8. variation of xf.exp(-e/rt) in function of crank angle with different equivalence ratio (d20, n=2100rpm) figure 9. variation of xo2ε/k in function of crank angle with different equivalence ratio (d20, n=2100rpm) pg. 74 ga / environmental science and sustainable development, essd fig. 11 shows maximum soot concentration and soot concentration in exhaust gas plotted for various equivalence ratios and diesel contents in the fuel. the soot concentration in exhaust gas appears to be monotonically increasing with increasing equivalence ratio of the mixture, whereas maximum soot concentration presents a peak at ϕ=1.2, 1.25 and 1.27 for 15%, 20% and 25% diesel content in the fuel, respectively. one could notice that the peak of soot concentration in function of equivalence ratio tends to have a richer mixture as diesel content increased. the soot is then oxidized in the leaner regions of the mixture so that most of the soot is burnt before exhaust to the atmosphere. soot concentration in the exhaust gas is practically vanished as equivalence ratio is under 0.98 and 15% diesel content in the fuel. this is the ideal operation regime of biogas diesel dual fuel engine in view of soot emission control. figure 10. a: effects of equivalence ratio on soot concentration (d15, n=2400rpm) b: effects of equivalence ratio on soot concentration (d20, n=2400rpm) figure 11. smax (æ), sexhaust (—) vsequivalence ratio with different diesel content in the fuel (: d25, –: d20, ···: d15,n=2400rpm) 3.3. effect of swirl fig. 12 and fig. 13 show that rate of increasing of x f .exp(e/rt) is expected to be smaller than that of xo2 .ε/k as increasing engine speed. one possible explanation for this is that at higher engine speed the mixture displaced due pg. 75 ga / environmental science and sustainable development, essd to the swirl severely affects the ε/k despite the increase in in-cylinder temperatures arising from improvement of combustion effects to exp(-e/rt). it can be seen that as engine speed increases, ε/k is increased particularly during the second phase of combustion and hence enhanced soot combustion. this suggests that at a given equivalence ratio and diesel content in the fuel, increasing of engine speed results a reduction in soot emission. the variation in soot emissions with crank angle at different engine speeds is portrayed by fig. 14. it can be observed from the figure that soot emissions decrease with the increase of engine speed at a given equivalence ratio. with equivalence ratio ϕ=1 and 20% diesel content in the fuel, peak values of soot concentration are 2.1.10−8, 1.3.10−8 and 1.0.10−8 for engine speed of 1800rpm, 2100rpm and 2400rpm respectively, i.e. a decreasing of 50% peak value of soot concentration as engine speed increases from 1800rpm to 2400rpm. soot concentration in exhaust gas is reduced by about 60% as the same condition. increasing the engine speed improves soot combustion due to increasing ε/k, and this is the reason that might have an impact on soot emission. in general, the above positive results are obtained in this simulation research in favor of biogas diesel dual fuel engine on soot emissions; it can be concluded that it is a promising technology for controlling soot emissions in existing conventional compression ignition engines with minor engine hardware modifications, thus saving fossil fuel and saving the human life from the hazardous effects of exhaust gas pollutants from the conventional diesel engines. figure 12. variation of x f .exp(-e/rt) in function of crank angle with different engine speeds (d20, ϕ=1) figure 13. variation of xo2ε/k in function ofcrank angle with different engine speeds (d20, =1) pg. 76 ga / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 14. soot concentration vs crank angle with different engine speeds (d20, ϕ=1) 4. conclusions the soot emission characteristics of the biogas diesel dual fuel engine have been analyzed by numerical simulation. the following conclusions are drawn: 1. soot formation mainly occurred in the phase of diffusion combustion of diesel pilot jet in biogas diesel dual fuel engine. in any case, soot peak value is proportional to the first peak of rohr, and it is found at around the same crank angle position of the second peak of rohr curve. 2. in biogas diesel dual fuel engine, soot formation rate is not quiet different form diesel engine, but soot combustion rate is much higher. soot emission can be reduced by shortage pilot injection time and increasing biogas quantity in combustion for a higher value of the second peak of rohr. 3. increasing diesel content in the fuel increases both soot peak value and soot concentration in exhaust gas. at the same equivalence ratio of ϕ=1, soot peak value is lower by about 30% and soot in exhaust gas is lower by about 60% as diesel content in the fuel decreased from 25% to 15%. 4. at a given engine speed and diesel content in the fuel, the highest soot peak value is obtained with slightly rich mixture. in the case of biogas diesel dual fuel engine, the highest soot peak value is obtained with ϕ in the range of 1.2 and 1.3 as diesel content in the fuel varies from 15% to 25%. however, soot concentration in the exhaust gas increases monotonically with equivalence ratio. 5. at a given equivalence ratio and diesel content, engine speed has a moderate effect on soot formation but a considerate effect on soot combustion. soot concentration in exhaust gas reduces by about 60% and soot peak value reduces by about 50% as engine speed increases from 1800rpm to 2400rpm at a given equivalence ratio and diesel content in the fuel. 6. soot concentration in the exhaust gas is practically vanished as ϕ=0.98 and 15% diesel content in the fuel. this is the ideal operation regime of biogas diesel dual fuel engine in view of soot emission control. references 1. ashok, b., ashok, s. d., & kumar, c. r. 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(2010). emissions characteristics of a diesel engine operating on biodiesel and biodiesel blended with ethanol and methanol. science of the total environment,408(4), 914-921. pg. 79 introduction numerical simulation result and discussion analysis of soot emission in dual fuel combustion effects of fuel concentration effect of swirl conclusions http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i2.170 urban agriculture: a regenerative urban development practice to decrease the ecological footprints of cities rowaida rashed1 1assistant professor, department of urban planning, faculty of engineering, ain shams university abstract modern cities are characterized by intense human interactions and economic activities thatin many caseshave little or no consideration of the surrounding environment. every day, the process of urbanisation is becoming more resource-intensive, and the results are grave, including, climate change, the loss of natural fertility of farmland and the loss of biodiversity all over the world. high-consumption modern lifestyles are mainly fossil-fuel powered, relying on resources from the world’s ecosystems: a practice that increases the ecological footprints of cities. this paper aims at exploring means of decreasing the ecological footprints of cities: regenerative urban development practices being some of them. by concentrating on one of these practices, namely urban agriculture, the paper demonstrates how it would be possible to decrease the ecological footprints of cities through its integration on the city level. it starts out by briefly defining the environmental problems our cities are facing today, then it moves on to explaining the concept of the ecological footprint. it shows how cities could decrease their ecological footprints through simple practices: such as those of regenerative urban development. this is done through demonstrating regenerative practices in different parts of the world, with a concentration on urban agriculture, as one of the most effective regenerative practices. it then moves on to explaining how it could be integrated within a comprehensive system in cities, so as to improve the environmental condition, to work on decreasing the ecological footprint and to start setting the stage for a regenerative city. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords ecological footprint; regenerative urban development; urban agriculture; urban metabolism; circular urban metabolism 1. introduction cities are characterised by intense human interactions and economic activities; they are the lively hubs of human reproduction and creativity. with their buildings and infrastructure systems, they are the largest and most complex structures ever made by humanity; and with their communication and transport systems, they have achieved extraordinary global reach. as centres of economic innovation, they develop according to capital investment priorities, technology options and competitiveness (girardet, 2015). thus, in a rapidly urbanising world, large, modern cities are becoming more and more reliant on finite sources pg. 85 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i2.170&domain=press.ierek.com rashed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd of fossil fuel, through the adoption of consumer lifestyles. taking a quick look at the numbers, it is noticed that from 1900 to 2013, the global human population increased more than 4.5 times: from 1.5 to 7 billion inhabitants. during the same time, the global urban population expanded 16-fold: from 225 million to 3.6 billion inhabitants, which is around 52 percent of the world population. in 2011, the more developed countries were about 78 percent urbanised, while developing countries were still at 47 percent. by 2030, 60% of the world population is expected to live in urban areas. it is also worth pointing out that nearly all the world’s population growth is occurring in cities, and mostly in developing countries (girardet, 2015). urban growth is apparently unstoppable, powered by neo-liberal globalisation principles and policies that are transforming the lives and behaviour patterns of billions of people around the world (girardet, 2015), to the extent that, at the beginning of the 21st century, nobel laureate and atmospheric chemist, paul crutzen suggested that we are living in the “anthropocene,” a new geological epoch, in which humans had altered the planet (woo, wortmann, schurig, & leidreiter, 2014). the fact that high-consumption modern lifestyles are mainly powered by fossil-fuel, coming from finite sources in nature, has caused imbalances in the earth’s ecosystems. also, for a very long time, cities have been developing without showing any consideration for nature, and human activities have become main contributors to pollution and environmental damage, in addition to the loss of biodiversity and climate change. humans are depleting the natural capital stocks of the planet earth and are eroding its resilience, when they should be benefiting from its natural regenerative capacity (woo et al, 2014). their actions are continuously turning inherently renewable systemssoils, forest ecosystems, coral reefsinto non-renewable ones, as they use the bulk of the world’s resources and are not concerned where the vast quantities of solid, liquid and gaseous wastes end up, not knowing what is contained in the discharged waste and what damage this does to the environment (girardet, 2015). cities, as complex interconnected systems, are designed to turn energy into “work”, flowing along roads, rails, pipes and wires. throughout the process, the quality of the used fossil energy and raw materials deteriorates; thus, order, which is manifested in the form of cities, causes disorder elsewhere in nature. consequently, the way cities function presently, and that is by focusing only on the organisation of exceedingly energy-dependent human activities and urban lifestyles, while disregarding nature, has increased the level of disorder, waste and pollution for the planet as a whole. thus, cities are “entropy accelerators”: they deplete and downgrade the resources they depend on, in the process of using them (girardet, 2015). currently, and with such behaviours, the urbanising humanity’s impacts on the environment are of great concern. in 2012, people used more natural resources in eight months than the earth can produce in one year; under current trends, by 2030, even two planets will not be enough (woo et al, 2014). human impacts on the world’s ecosystems are demonstrated by the ecological footprints of cities: simply explained, an ecological footprint is the amount of land required to support people’s lives and lifestyles. it is a measure of people’s impacts on the environment and is commonly used as a guide toward a footprint that—if adopted by all people—would not exceed the productive land on earth. it is worth pointing out that the larger and the richer the city, the more it tends to draw on nature’s bounty from across the world rather than its own local hinterland; ecological footprints could be hundreds of times larger than the cities themselves. in an urbanising world and as our populations grow and global consumption increases, it is essential that we measure nature’s capacity to meet the demands on our planet. thus, cities need to work on minimising their ecological footprints. this could be done through regenerative urban development practices, which are restorative, renewing and revitalizing. they look into circular systems from the surrounding natural environment and draw inspiration from them, representing a paradigm shift and introducing a new way of thinking. humans are considered as being inseparable from nature and its ecosystems. such practices see humans as part of a larger community of life. most importantly, they are not seen as only consumers, but also as producers of resources for other species. accepting this idea, humans actually start acting as being part of nature, following its laws and designs (hes & plessis, 2015). biophilic design looks closely into natural processes on the one hand, and thoroughly studies patterns and ways of place-making on the other, with the aim of facilitating this re-integration with nature. this paper sees urban agriculture as one of the most significant regenerative practices, which falls under biophilic design, showing how pg. 86 rashed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd it is integrated within cities and how it contributes to minimising ecological footprints. 2. research approach the research adopts a comprehensive approach that is organised on different levels. in order to understand how urban agriculture could contribute to minimising the ecological footprint of a city, the research is supported by a literature review that covers the definition of “regenerative urban development”, “circular urban metabolism”, and “ecological footprint”. an analytical approach is implemented through the close examination of urban agriculture examples from different parts of the world, pointing out their regenerative characteristics within cities and how they contribute to minimising ecological footprints, while embracing circular urban metabolisms. finally, conclusions are drawn as to how urban agriculture could be integrated in cities. the research hypothesis is supported through data analysis and graphics. 3. literature review the research topic requires the understanding of several terms, namely: “regenerative urban development”, “circular urban metabolism”, “ecological footprint”, and “biophilic design”. 3.1. regenerative urban development the term “regenerative design” was first introduced by john tillman tyle, a landscape architect, in his book regenerative design for sustainable development in 1994 (hes & plessis, 2015). he pointed out that the linear models, on which the development of cities is based, will ultimately lead to the degeneration of the systems that supply energy and materials, as well as other services to our cities. alternatively, he suggested that the supply systems for energy and materials must be continuously self-renewing, or regenerativesee figure 1. lyle proposed that the working landscape in future cities should be the unifying, integrating network of urban form, instead of being a decorative addition. figure 1. lyle’s comparison between flows in degenerativeand regenerative systems (hes & plessis, 2015). regenerative design or development does not only refer to reviving a system, or restoring it to a better state, but to pg. 87 rashed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd changing the system into something different and more effective, as well as to bringing about a new way of being and a thorough change in the mindsets of people and communities (hes & plessis, 2015). figure 2. the framework of regenerative design (”the ecologist”, 2017). to get a better understanding of regenerative systems, figure 2 shows the transition from conventional practices, all the way to regenerative ones. it is noticed that conventional practices have little or no consideration of the impact a design has on the environment. they generally comply with requirements in order to avoid legal actions. green design does not question production or consumption patterns that have negative environmental impacts. they merely minimise energy use, waste and pollution. green design is actually called “less-bad design”. as for sustainable practices, they are neutral, with the aim of avoiding environmental damage and reaching maximum efficiency. in the case of restorative practices, humans start doing good things to nature, which leads to reconciliation, where humans are integrated with ecosystems, until they reach regenerative practices, which see, not only humans, but also human development, social structures and cultural values as inherent parts of ecosystems. not only do they seek to restore the capacities of ecosystems, but they also regenerate them, while understanding the diversity and individuality of each place and seeing the design process as an ongoing, participatory process (girardet, 2010). as one moves towards degenerative practices, more energy is needed and more waste is produced; while moving in the direction of regenerative practices, less energy is needed and less or “zero” waste is produced. regenerative practices are thus, life-supporting, resilient, adaptive, optimising, systems-based and values-led. taking on regenerative development means applying comprehensive strategies that enhance and restore the environment, as well as the relationship between cities and their ecosystems, from which they actually draw resources for their nourishment, moving from linear systems of resource use to circular ones. regenerative urban development is an integrated approach that sees humans, human developments, political frameworks, and socio-cultural structures as innate parts of ecosystems. there are many examples of good regenerative urban development practices, including regenerating soils, watercourses and urban agriculture on the city level. consequently, such practices allow cities to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and encourage the use of renewable energies; they improve waste management systems and urge the reliance on local hinterlands, which ultimately reduces the ecological footprints of cities. pg. 88 rashed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3.2. circular urban metabolism the term ”metabolism” was first used by the ecologist arthur tansley in order to describe living organisms. later in 1935, tansley expanded this term to include energetic and material streams from inorganic development of settlements and introduced the expression of ”urban metabolism”, which was later defined as a framework to simulate a city’s complex flow systems as if it is an ecosystem, including people, water, energy and so on. simply put, urban metabolism studies how efficiently interconnected city systems function, while using existing resources and infrastructures on the one hand, and managing waste on the other. recently, it has been defined as “the sum total of the technical and socio-economical processes that occur in cities, resulting in growth, production of energy, and elimination of waste”. the concept of circular urban metabolism is tangential to regenerative urban development. drawing its inspiration from nature’s ecosystem, whose outputs by different organisms are recycled back in the system once again (girardet, 2010), this process is the key to all regenerative practices. in order to better comprehend circular metabolisms, they are compared with linear metabolisms in figure 3. in linear systems, inputs and outputs are unrelated, causing environmental problems; while in circular systems, almost all the outputs are inputs in the ecosystem, achieving minimum pollution and producing minimum wastes. in this sense, nature is the greatest, most efficient teacher on how to create circulat metabolic urban systems. figure 3. linear versus circular urban metabolism (girardet, 2008). 3.3. ecological footprint according to the living planet report 2016, “the ecological footprint equates humanity’s demand on nature to the amount of biologically productive area required to provide resouces and absorb waste” (”wwf”, 2016); the measurement unit is global hectare (gha), which quantifies both the ecological footprint of people or activities, as well as the biocapacity of the earth or its regions. one global hectare represents the average productivity of all biologically productive areas (measured in hectares) on earth in a given year ecological footprint takes the following six categories into consideration, based on wwf (2016), see figure 4. – cropland footprint, covers the demand for land on which to produce food for human consumption, feed for livestock, rubber and oil crops. – grazing land footprint, refers to the amout of land needed to raise livestock, for meat, dairy, leather and wool products. – fishing grounds footprint, covers the demand for inland water ecosystems necessary to support seafood catch and aquaculture. – forest product footprint, refers to the demand for forests to provide fuel wood and timber products. pg. 89 rashed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – built-up land footprint, refers to the demand for biologically productive areas needed for housing, industrial structures, infrastructure and transportation. – carbon footprint, covers the demand for forests as the main ecosystems available to sequester carbon that is not otherwise absorbed by the oceans. it captures different rates of carbon sequestration, depending on the degree of human management of forests and includes the emissions related to wildfires, soil and harvested wood. figure 4. an illustration of the ecological footprint (”global footprint network”, n.d.). the above map (figure 5) has been extracted from wwf living planet report 2016. it shows that the average ecological footprint per person per country differs because of varying levels of consumption and also based on the demand for individual footprint components. it is worth pointing out that high ecological footprints (5.25 gha and more) are found in rich countries with demanding lifestyles that depend on fossil fuel consumption. in some of these countries, the per person ecological footprint is six times larger than the available per capita share of global biocapacity (1.7 gha). there are also countries, with the world’s lowest income, whose ecological footprint per person is less than half the per capita share of global biocapacity, indicating that many people in such countries struggle to meet basic needs (wwf, 2016). many cities have recognised the problem and have started to integrate regenerative urban development practices in their systems in order to decrease their ecological footprints. this paper concentrates on one of these significant practices, namely urban agriculture. pg. 90 rashed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 5. mapping theecological footprint of consumption. average ecological footprint in globalhectares per person per country, in 2012. (”global footprint network”, n.d.; ”wwf”, 2016). 3.4. urban agriculture as an regenerative urban development practice the idea of urban agriculture was inspired from the concept of the agropolis (see figure 6), whichas described by the 19th century economist johann heinrich von thünenwas the human settlement linked to its surrounding landscape, in the absence of advanced transport systems, and having a symbiotic relationship with it, assuring continuous productivity and fertility (girardet, 2015). figure 6. a diagram representing the agropolis (girardet, 2015). pg. 91 rashed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd land was cultivated very close to the city, which decreased the cost of transporting produce to markets and also guaranteed the freshness of the food, which did not have to travel long ways. moving away from the centre of the city, timber, grains, and livestock farming were arranged logically, depending on how well they keep and how easily they could be transported to the city. in many parts of the world, and as farming became increasingly mechanised, rural-urban migration started taking place over the years, with people wanting to move to cities, which they thought offered better living opportunities. when this happened, food had started being supplied to cities through more and more energy-intensive production systems (girardet, 2010). not only, but also the globalisation of the economic system and new lifestyles has greatly contributed to the fact that food started being supplied from different parts of the world, largely increasing the ecological footprints of cities and putting pressure on the world’s productive land. in order to alleviate this pressure, and to find more efficient ways of supplying food to cities, as well as ensuring food security and improved nutrition, local food production has been encouraged. city people started reviving urban and peri-urban agriculture, which is a practice that greatly contributes to poverty alleviation and local economic development, in addition to the previously mentioned benefits (girardet, 2015). urban agriculture is currently being practised in many parts of the world: in china, there’s a national policy of surrounding cities with belts of cultivated land (girardet, 2010). megacities, such as shanghai still maintain their urban farming, although due to the rapid growth of the city, much of it has moved to peri-urban areas (girardet, 2015). closed-loop systems are used in urban agriculture in many parts of the world, utilising wastewater from residential and industrial areas for irrigation, as well as efficiently using nutrients, contained in urban sewage, which would otherwise end as pollutants in rivers and coastal water. havana, cuba is one of the world’s best examples of urban agriculture. it is a movement that started from the people, in response to serious food shortages after 1989. they encouraged each other to cultivate any available surfaces within cuban cities, and ultimately, the government had to support the movement, which shows the effectiveness of bottom-up approaches, which involve the people and instigate a deep sense of belonging and participation. from the 1990s onwards, urban gardens started popping up everywhere: on wasteland, within housing blocks, in schools, in community centres, in hospitals and also in factories. the government provides producers with free land and tools, and it subsidises farm inputs, helping hundreds of thousands of people to improve their living conditions. now, these productive gardens are prominently located in and around public parks, relating them to recreational activities. urban agriculture comes in three main forms: cooperative gardens, private gardens and popular gardens. currently, cuba has become pioneering in biotechnology, offering advice on organic cultivation methods in other countries (girardet, 2015). another significant worldwide movement involves the permaculture concept (originating from permanent agriculture), representing a system of permanent, self-sustaining agriculture and human culture. it is a system of agricultural and social design principles centered around mimicking or directly utilizing the patterns and features observed in natural ecosystems, recognising cross-scale relationships and creating productive edible landscapes on a variety of scales from simple kitchen gardens to urban food forests (hes & plessis, 2015). this part concentrates on presenting permaculture design principles, which greatly support regenerative practices, such as (hes & plessis, 2015): – observe and interact – catch and store solar energy and other resources – obtain and yield – apply self-regulation and accept feedback – use and value renewable resources and services pg. 92 rashed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – produce no waste – design from patterns to details – integrate rather than segregate – use small and slow solutions – use and value diversity – use edges and value the marginal – creatively use and respond to change another innovative example of urban food production programme is “the plant” in chicago, usa, which has been established in a former meat packaging factory. the project comprises non-profit and for-profit companies that interact with each other for mutual benefit, demonstrating what resilient urban food production and economic development could look like. it is clearly an advanced regenerative system that turns the outputs of one business into the inputs of another (see figure 7). using renewable energy sources, the plant incubates small craft food businesses by growing salad crops, brewing beer and making bread. one third of the plant is used for an aquaponic crop growing system and the other two-thirds incubate a variety of sustainable food systems (girardet, 2015). figure 7. the plant in chicago: diagram representing a new kind of highly integrated organization; aninnovative urban food production program (girardet, 2015). below are some images (figures 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13) showing what urban agriculture could look like within cities. 4. conclusions urban agriculture encourages re-integration with the natural environment within cities to restore and maintain ecosystems, while allowing communities to work together, thus, also reviving social fabrics. all the discussed examples of urban agriculture projects have been specific to the local natural and cultural contexts, where they have been implemented, therefore, supporting the key principle of efficient resource use and creating synergies between people and their surrounding natural environment. pg. 93 rashed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 8. detroit’s new agrihood (”paste magazine”, n.d.). figure 9. shanghai is planning a massive 100-hectare vertical farm to feed 24 million people (”inhabitat”, 2017). it is clear that producing food where people live won’t resolve all food production and distribution problems, but it could definitely alleviate some pressure off rural areas and, at the same time, improve human and environmental health. urban agriculture allows for the creation of ecological spaces within urban areas, improving the surrounding exterior micro-climate and absorbing carbon emissions, besides creating interesting, active public open spaces and greenery within the city. it could also be concluded that urban agriculture is evidently a regenerative practice, covering the same characteristics: – it is life-supporting through working with nature, not against it, while considering biodiversity. it helps provide essentials for the community, while including social interaction, involvement and public participation, therefore, accommodating socio-cultural values and encouraging the sense of belonging to a place; all while improving human well-being. pg. 94 rashed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 10. rooftop urban farming (”urbanizehub”, n.d.). figure 11. the essence of agrihood (”shareable”, n.d.). figure 12. the lumen building at the wageningen institute, an agricultural institute in the netherlands, takes the indoor – outdoor idea of modernism to the next level, a world leader in the development of greenhouses (”larigakis architecture”, 2015). pg. 95 rashed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 13. urban agriculture within dense city blocks. – it is inclusive, taking into consideration all social levels and ensuring food security, while generating income at different scales (small, medium and large enterprises), through the different job opportunities it provides: core farming jobs or supportive ones, like transportation, compost-making, food-related trades (processing and packaging), marketing and so on. thus, it isas mentioned abovea strongly life-supporting practice. – it ensures the establishment of resilient, food-secure cities, ensuring food availability during times of disaster, when transportation and communication links might be disrupted (zeeuw, veenhuizen & dubbeling, 2011). – it plays an important role in improving urban resilience to climate change by maintaining vegetation within the city, which improves the urban micro-climate by capturing co2 and producing o2, which also has a positive effect on air-filteration; and by reducing the urban “heat island” effect (temperatures in the built-up city are several degrees higher than in the surrounding areas) through creating more shade (zeeuw, veenhuizen, & dubbeling, 2011). – it is also optimising and flexible through its application on different scales within the city. urban agriculture could be carried out by an individual or it could be family-based. communities could share small pieces of land within their districts, going all the way up to medium and large-scale enterprises. it could take place in balconies, on the rooftops of buildings, in backyards, and in community gardens, up to different sizes of urban farms. – it is adaptive to change and highly responsive, with people being part of the system. urban agriculture also has restorative qualities, which help with adapting to different environmental circumstances. – it adopts circular systems between urban domestic, agricultural and industrial sectors, such as encompassing the use of wastewater from domestic or industrial sectors in agriculture, as well as the use of organic wastes as fertilizers, to mention only a few examples. thus, urban agriculture is a regenerative practice that works with rather than for the community. it encourages community partnerships, which might not have existed before. it creates opportunities to benefit the unprivileged inhabitants, and it embraces and restores biological communities and functionality (hes & plessis, 2015). moreover, urban agriculture is an effective practice that minimises the ecological footprints of cities, since it exists in “intra-urban” areas or very close, in “peri-urban” areas, which are immediate surroundings. this, in turn, significantly reduces the distances travelled to transport food from one point to another, thus reducing carbon emissions. in addition, urban vegetation enhances carbon sequestration, by absorbing co2 and producing o2, thus, filtering the surrounding atmosphere and decreasing air pollution, in addition to acting as breathing lungs within the built urban environment. consequently, urban agriculture has significant effects on reducing the carbon footprints of cities. moreover, by encouraging local food production, food exports, which rely heavily on variousmeans of transportation, are minimised and cities start to rely more on their hinterlands: a key practice that minimises their pg. 96 rashed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd impact on the natural environment and the amount of land needed to support people’s lives and lifestyles, which ultimately minimises the ecological footprints of cities. therefore, it is essential to integrate urban agriculture within the fabrics of existing cities, as well as within new cities. it is worth pointing out that, no matter how dense cities may appear, there are always open spaces and vacant lots that may be used for productive agricultural use. as for new cities, urban agriculture should be integrated within the early planning phases. however, in order to incorporate and activate such a practice, several measures need to be taken: (the following is based on the resource centres on urban agriculture & food security) (zeeuw, veenhuizen, & dubbeling, 2011) – governments should recognise that urban and peri-urban agriculture is an integral part of the socioeconomic and ecological systems of cities: either existing, under development, or in the planning process. – governmental policies at the national level need to create and recommend adequate frameworks, conditions, laws and regulations that organise the practice of urban agriculture within cities. – the creation of an institutional home for urban agriculture is an important initial step, so as to receive proper attention and support from existing official institutions, including, but not limited to agricultural institutions and urban authorities. the urban agriculture institution would play an active role in the design and implementation of urban agriculture programs. – the urban agriculture institution could also provide training and technical assistance to urban farmers and producers. it could also help facilitate marketing activities. – funds should be made available, preferably involving local authorities, as well as the civil society. – topics related to urban and peri-urban agriculture should be included in education system. – urban agriculture should be linked to recreational activities. – the efficient use of irrigation water should be encouraged, as well as the application of safe and regenerative technological practices of urban agriculture. references 1. footprint network. (n.d.). ecological footprint. retrieved from http://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work /ecological-footprint/ 2. girardet, h. (2010) regenerative cities. world future council, commission on cities and climate change. hamburg: hafencity universtiy (hcu). 3. girardet, h. (2015). creating regenerative cities (1st ed.). oxon: routledge. 4. global footprint network. (n.d.). retrieved from https://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work/ecological-fo otprint/ 5. hes, d., & plessis, c. d. (2015). designing for hope: pathways to regenerative sustainability (1st ed.). london: routledge. 6. inhabitat. (2017, december 04). inhabitat green design, innovation, architecture, green building. retrieved from https://inhabitat.com/tag/urban-agriculture/ 7. larigakis architecture. (2015, february 02). building as greenhouse. retrieved from http://larigakis.ca/lu men-building-at-wageningen-institute/ pg. 97 rashed / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 8. paste magazine. (n.d.). detroit’s newagrihood. retrieved from https://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/article s/detroit agrihood main.jpg 9. shareable (n.d.). the essence of agrihood. retrieved from https://www.shareable.net/blog/12-agrihoods-% 20taking-farm-to-table-living-mainstream%20%7c 10. the ecologist. (2017, november 17). creating sustainability? join the re-generation! retrieved from http s://theecologist.org/2016/apr/25/creating-sustainability-join-re-generation 11. urbanizehub. (n.d.). rooftop urban farming. retrieved from http://urbanizehub.com/urban-farming-%20so cial-innovation/ 12. woo f., wortmann j., schurig s., leidreiter a., (2014). regenerative urban development: a roadmap to the city we need. future of cities forum. hamburg: world future council, climate and energy commission. 13. wwf. (2016). living planet report 2016. risk and resilience in a new era. gland, switzerland: www international 14. zeeuw, h. d., veenhuizen, r. v., & dubbeling, m. (2011). the role of urban agriculture in building resilient cities in developing countries. the journal of agricultural science,149(s1), 153-163. pg. 98 introduction research approach literature review regenerative urban development circular urban metabolism ecological footprint urban agriculture as an regenerative urban development practice conclusions http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v3iss1.280 using system dynamics modelling and communication strategies for a resilient and smart city in vietnam tuan m. ha1, viet h. duong2 1thai nguyen university of agriculture and forestry, thai nguyen city, vietnam 2systems design and complexity management alliance, sa, australia. abstract this study reports on a case study using a systems thinking approach, system dynamics modeling tools and communication strategies in dealing with a complex disaster management issue in haiphong, a vulnerable coastal city in northern vietnam. desktop studies together with a number of interactive workshops were organized that provided inputs for developing a big picture of the current situation using vensim software. bayesian network modeling was then used to identify systemic interventions aiming at achieving the final goal of a disaster ready, resilient and smart city. a number of communication strategies have been formulated and implemented. initial evident successes of the interventions are discussed in this article. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords system dynamics modeling; systems thinking; communication strategies and tools; disaster risk reduction; resilient city 1. introduction we are living in an interconnected world. there is a high need to seek sustainable solutions to environmental challenges (ho, law, & lim, 2017). vietnam is ranked among the top five countries worst affected by climate change (”world bank”, 2011). the long coastline, low lying area and complex river systems of the red river delta (rrd) (northern vietnam) expose it to various consequences of climate change, including erosion, typhoon, sea level rise, flooding, and extreme weather events, etc. (le, nguyen, & shibayama, 2014; nguyen & shaw 2010; takagi, thao, esteban, mikami, & ca, 2015; ”world bank”, 2011). as a coastal city in the rrd, haiphong is highly vulnerable to these risks (”disaster preparedness and resilience: vietnam”, 2016). a previous study by le and ha (2016) revealed that dealing with disaster risks towards a resilient city is a highly complex issue. this complexity is also reflected in the national strategy for natural disaster prevention, response, and mitigation to 2020 (vietnamese government, 2007). besides building capacity for local organizations, businesses, and communities in response to the uncertain risks, a holistic approach is required to utilize and strengthen public-private partnerships (ppp) for synergic efforts in disaster risk reduction (drr). in addition, communication strategies through an awareness campaign were also defined as critical to raising awareness of both public and private sectors and thus stronger collaboration in the disaster preparedness and responses (le & ha, 2016). pg. 10 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v3iss1.280&domain=press.ierek.com ha / environmental science and sustainable development, essd traditional problem-solving approaches with a top-down and linear vision have been proven inappropriate, leading to various failures and unsustainable outcomes (bosch, nguyen, & ha, 2014; ha, bosch, & nguyen, 2015a, 2016; vester, 2007). in terms of project management, the traditional approach using the logframe matrix has recently been criticized due to its rigidity and supply-driven approach where no learning occurs (fujita, 2010). acceptance of a soft systems approach in project management and evaluation has been growing. pollack (2007) criticizes the conventional hard paradigm regarding its over-emphasis on control using reductionist techniques in which the project manager is considered as an expert, with no requirement for participation. in contrast, the soft systems approach emphasizes learning and social processes, requiring participation from local beneficiaries and stakeholders. systems thinking and system dynamics have recently been proven their effectiveness and validity in addressing complex problems in a variety of contexts around the world (bosch et al., 2014; bosch, nguyen, ha, & banson, 2015; maani & canava, 2007), including vietnam (ha et al., 2015b, 2016; nguyen, graham, ross, maani, & bosch, 2012; trinh, ha, bosch, & nguyen, 2015). however, little research has been carried out using the systems thinking approach and system dynamics modeling tools in the field of disaster preparedness. therefore, this study was conducted using system dynamics modeling together with a comprehensive communication strategy via a media campaign and partnerships to aim at a resilient and smart city through improved knowledge, awareness, capacity and shared vision among local government organizations, businesses, and community members. in which, local businesses are the primary target group due to a large number of enterprises in the bustling city (le & ha, 2016). the paper describes process steps in configuring the ‘big picture’ of the current situation in the research area using a systems approach, followed by the identification of strategic actions and/or systemic interventions to achieve the goal, including communication strategies. the conclusion section highlights key findings of this research and recommendations for future research and application. 2. methodology the study was carried out in haiphong, a coastal and vulnerable city located in the red river delta of northern vietnam during 2015-2017. a desktop study for understanding the current situation was conducted based on existing information from a previous baseline survey in 2014 (”pwa”, 2014) and secondary data from relevant departments and organizations. those include the vietnam chamber of commerce and industry (vcci) – haiphong chapter, haiphong alliance for cooperatives and enterprises, and departments of planning and investment, statistics, agriculture and rural development, and natural resources and environment, and some active projects of non-profit organizations in the area. a number of dialogues, focus group discussions, and workshops were organized to obtain inputs from representatives of the local organizations and relevant stakeholders with the support of user-friendly system dynamics modeling tools. results of these activities together with the desktop studies were used to develop a causal loop diagram and/or a systems model of the project using vensim® software (”vensim 6.1.”, 2011). the model depicted the current situation, highlighting causal relations and patterns of relationships among different factors (key issues identified by the stakeholders) that influence the achievement level of the end goal (disaster ready) haiphong city. it also revealed leverage points for systemic interventions and which stakeholders could be involved in each intervention. neticatm software (norsys, 2013) was used to identify systemic interventions and/or strategic actions and test future scenarios and measure impact through sensitivity analysis and modeling. the sensitivity analysis involved discussions of the participants regarding (1) the current state of each factor (system node and/or variable) within the systems model that were indicated in probability of occurrence; and (2) influence levels of the influencing factors on their dependent nodes, and eventually the target node. pg. 11 ha / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3. results and discussions 3.1. configuring the ‘big picture’ of the current situation this section provides an overall picture of the current situation by outlining a number of interrelated areas and factors in relation to disaster risk management based on all available information from the desktop study and results of interactive activities with the key local partners and stakeholders. inputs from the above activities helped to identify key variables for developing a systems model using vensim® software (”vensim 6.1.”, 2011) that represents the ‘big picture’ of the context, patterns of causal relationships and interplays amongst the factors. the rich picture also helps to see potential stakeholders involved and what interventions should be taken to achieve the end goal of “disaster ready” (figure 1). figure 1. casual loop diagram (cld) modeling for understanding thecurrent situation of disaster risk management in haiphong. notes: s – samedirection; o – opposite direction; r – reinforcing feedback loop; red variablesrepresent potential levers for systemic interventions; drr – disaster riskreduction; p&p – public & private; bcp – business continuity plan. the systems model reveals that the three expected outcomes (improved public and private awareness, enhanced capacity, and strengthened public and private collaboration) are influenced by various factors that are interlinked. interventions to achieve a certain output do influence other factors within the system and eventually affect the achievement of the goal. for example, “engagement of hppc/local government leaders” in establishing a coordinating committee is critical to improve public-private relationships and coordination mechanisms for achieving outcome 3 (increased public and private collaboration) (figure 1). the involvement of local government leaders is also important to influence the disaster risk reduction (drr) policies. it, therefore, influences the local “government’s awareness effort” via “media campaigns”, leading to improved public awareness, understanding and thereby adequate actions (outcome 1). as a result, the improved awareness would motivate members of both public and private sectors to participate in drr capacity building that contributes to achieving outcome 2 of the project (figure 1). the content of training on business continuity planning (bcp) were agreed by the stakeholders to use for both public and private organizations and businesses due to its generic nature. there are three important “leverage points for systemic interventions” (red variables, figure 1) in achieving the expected outcomes and the end goal. interventions taken to change the current status of these variables (i.e. effective campaigns, capacity building and drr policies) would enable to achieve the goal through joint efforts of public, private and non-profit sectors. pg. 12 ha / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the “capacity building” used in the above model implies both business risk reduction (brr) or business continuity planning (bcp) training for enterprises and enhancing the capacity of government officials in relation to drr preparedness and management. to improve the effectiveness of the bcp training, eight domestic trainers together with key partners, via focus group discussions, defined four key factors that together determine training quality. those include (1) trainers’ capacity; (2) training content and organization of training; (3) awareness and motivation of local businesses; and (4) compensation/motivation of trainers. according to the participants, their “handson experience” through a pilot development of some complete bcp strategies at businesses in haiphong and “reflective and shared learning” are critical to improve their “bcp” training ability, and to develop and adjust appropriate content relevant to the context of haiphong (figure 1). the developed systems model could be regarded as an effective “communication tool” to facilitate the stakeholders in identifying areas of potential interventions and discussing their roles and responsibilities for coordinated actions. the model provided a strong basis for defining systemic interventions to achieve the defined goal. 3.2. defining systemic interventions towards achieving the goal based on the developed systems model of the project (figure 1), bayesian belief network (bbn) modeling using neticatm software (norsys, 2013) was conducted to support defining systemic interventions for achieving the overall goal of a disaster resilient city. figure 2.1 reveals the current situation of disaster risk management in haiphong without interventions (initial state). the interrelationships amongst the factors and their impact levels were identified via group discussions and workshops with representatives of key stakeholders. three levers for systemic interventions include “media campaigns”, “capacity building” and “drr policies” that represent key places of interventions for achieving the three expected outcomes. figure 2. bayesian belief network (bbn) model for the current situation of disaster risk management in haiphong. notes: yellow variable represents the final goal; green variables represent sub-goals (expected outcomes); red variables represent leverage points for systemic interventions; dark variables represent systemic interventions. currently, the probability for haiphong to be prepared for disasters is relatively low at 28.7% (figure 2). sensitivity analysis and testing of future scenarios were conducted to define systemic interventions (dark boxes, figure 3). the combined actions focusing on the systemic interventions bring the probability of haiphong’s readiness level to 81.1% (figure 3). a recent stakeholder consultation workshop was organized for representatives of public, private and non-profit partners in the city to reflect on the implemented activities and provide feedback on the progress and performance. pg. 13 ha / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 3. bayesianbelief network (bbn) modeling for defining systemic interventions to achievethe end goal of disaster resilience. notes: yellow variable represents thegoal; green variables represent sub-goals (expected outcomes); red variablesrepresent leverage points for systemic interventions; dark variables representsystemic interventions.temi figure 4. ameeting among the working group of public, private and non-profit sectors fordiscussions on establishing a ppp coordinating committee for drr positive outcomes have been gained through the exciting workshop. however, it turned out that it took longer time than expected to establish a formal and operational ppp coordinating committee. stronger commitment among the committee members is needed. in addition, influence and support from the local government, as well as a shared vision among participating members, are required. this would take a certain period of time when the awareness campaign takes full effect on the local community. results of this study are consistent with findings of ha (2014) who established that transformative learning (that is the change in perception and thus actions) may require several cycles of actions and reflections. in this present study, immediate actions such as organizing ppp events and mainstreaming new drr initiatives into the existing action plans of the local government should be maintained to make sure the initiatives are aligned with the local priorities and needs. 4. conclusion this study has presented the effectiveness of the systems approach, system dynamics modeling tools and communication strategies in coping with complexity in disaster risk management of haiphong, vietnam. the approach and tools enabled the research team and participating members to have a better understanding of the current situation. it also showed the interplays among various factors, and areas that require coordinated efforts among the stakeholders for joint planning and execution of the identified systemic interventions to achieve the end goal. compared to the traditional project management approach, the new approach was proven more time and costeffective. pg. 14 ha / environmental science and sustainable development, essd in addition, the higher impact would be expected through implementing the nine identified systemic interventions (dark boxes, figure 2). furthermore, diverse forms of communication strategies have been identified and implemented with initial success. the approaches and strategies employed in this study are expected to be adopted in other contexts in dealing with complexity in the changing world of intertwined human and natural factors. 5. acknowledgment we would like to express our sincere thanks to the local government of haiphong for their continuous support. our special thanks go to the vietnam chamber of commerce and industry (vcci) – haiphong chapter, departments of agriculture and rural development, planning and investment, statistics, and natural resources and environment, haiphong alliance for cooperatives and enterprises, haiphong centre for environmental monitoring, and other local business associations and ngos for their partnerships. we gratefully acknowledge the active participation and contributions of 8 domestic trainers in haiphong. references 1. bosch, o., nguyen, n., & ha, t.m. (2014). can advancements in economic and managerial practice be achieved without systems thinking education as the foundation? business systems review, special issue on systems thinking for a sustainable economy – selected papers of the 2nd b.s. laboratory international symposium 3(02): 33-53. 2. bosch, o.j.h., nguyen, n.c., ha, t.m., & banson, k.e. (2015). using a systemic approach to improve the quality of life for women in small-scale agriculture: empirical evidence from southeast asia and subsaharan africa. in the 3rd international symposium on advances in business management toward systemic approach. perugia, italy. 3. fujita n. (2010). beyond logframe: using systems concepts in evaluation. the foundation for advanced studies on international development (fasid): tokyo. 4. disaster preparedness and resilience: vietnam. (2016). retrieved january 15, 2016, from http://www.give 2asia.org/disaster-preparedness-and-resilience-myanmar-1-1/ 5. ha, t.m. (2014). establishing a transformative learning framework for promoting organic farming in northern vietnam: a case study on organic tea production in thai nguyen province. asian journal of business and management,2(03): 202-211. 6. ha, t.m., bosch o.j.h., & nguyen n.c. (2015a). defining the real needs of women smallholders in vietnam: the importance of grassroots participation and multi-stakeholder collaboration. international journal of business and management review 3(2): 35-58. 7. ha t.m., bosch o.j.h., & nguyen, n.c. (2015b). systemic interventions addressing the market access challenges of smallholder vegetable farmers in northern vietnam. international journal of markets and business systems 1(2): 136-158. 8. ha t.m., bosch o.j.h. & nguyen n.c. (2016). establishing and evolutionary learning laboratory for improving the quality of life of vietnamese women in small-scale agriculture: part ii systemic interventions. systems research and behavioral science 33(3): 341-359. 9. ho, l.l., law, p.l., & lim, s.f. (2017). implementing environmental management systems (ems) in sarawak: adoption factors. pg. 15 ha / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 10. le, n.t. & ha, t.m. (2016). building ‘capacity for change’: a case study on disaster preparedness in haiphong, vietnam. inpaper presented at the eight international conference on climate change: impacts and responses, (21-22). april, hanoi, vietnam. 11. le, v.c., nguyen, v.c., & shibayama, t. (2014). assessment of vietnam coastal erosion and relevant laws and policies. in coastal disasters and climate change invietnam: engineering and planning perspectives. thao nd, takagi, h. and esteban, m. eds., (ed.), elsevier: amsterdam; 81-106. 12. maani, k.e. & canava, r.y. (2007). systems thinking, system dynamics: managing change and complexity (2nd ed.). prentice hall, auckland, nz. 13. nguyen, h. & shaw, r. (2010). climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in vietnam. in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction: an asian perspective. shaw r, pulhin, j.m. and pereira, j.j. (ed.), emerald group publishing limited. : bingley, united kingdom; 373-391 14. nguyen, n.c., graham, d., ross, h., maani, k., & bosch, o. (2012). educating systems thinking for sustainability: experience with a developing country. systems research and behavioral science, 29(1): 14-29. 15. norsys. (2013). neticatm application. retrieved from: http://www.norsys.com/netica.html 16. pollack j. (2007). the changing paradigms of project management. international journal of project management 25: 266-274 17. pwa. (2014). baseline survey report on the current situation of disaster risks among local businesses in haiphong. peace winds america: haiphong. 18. takagi, h., thao, n.d., esteban, m., mikami, t., & ca, v.t. (2015). coastal disasters in vietnam. in handbook of coastal disaster mitigation for engineers and planners. esteban m, takagi, h. and shibayama, t. (ed.), elsevier: amsterdam; 235-255. 19. trinh, c.t., ha, t.m., bosch, o.j.h., & nguyen, n.c. (2015). using a systems approach to improve the lives of women smallholder farmers in the northern mountainous region of vietnam. in paper presented at the 8th vietnam economists annual meeting (veam). thai nguyen, vietnam. 20. vensim 6.1. (2011). retrieved august 10, 2013, from http://www.ventanasystems.co.uk/vensim-6-1-releas ed-may-2013/ 21. vester f. (2007). the art of interconnected thinking: tools and concepts for a new approach to tackling complexity. mcb publishing house: munich, germany. 22. vietnamese government. (2007). national strategy for natural disaster prevention, response and mitigation to 2020, decision number 172/2007/qd-ttg by the prime minister dated on 16 november 2007: hanoi. 23. world bank. (2011). vietnam climate change country profile, world bank: washington dc. pg. 16 introduction methodology results and discussions configuring the `big picture' of the current situation defining systemic interventions towards achieving the goal conclusion acknowledgment http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i1.73 performance evaluation of artificial neural networks in estimating global solar radiation, case study: new borg el-arab city, egypt gasser e. hassan1, mohamed a. ali1 1computer based engineering applications department, informatics research institute-city for scientific research and technological applications abstract the most sustainable source of energy with unlimited reserves is the solar energy, which is the main source of all types of energy on earth. accurate knowledge of solar radiation is considered to be the first step in solar energy availability assessment, and it is the primary input for various solar energy applications. the unavailability of the solar radiation measurements for several sites around the world leads to proposing different models for predicting the global solar radiation. artificial neural network technique is considered to be an effective tool for modelling nonlinear systems and requires fewer input parameters. this work aims to investigate the performance of artificial neural network-based models in estimating global solar radiation. to achieve this goal, measured dataset of global solar radiation for the case study location (lat. 30° 51 n and long. 29° 34 e) are utilized for modelestablishment and validation. mostly, common statistical indicators are employed for evaluating the performance of these models and recognizing the best model. the obtained results show that the artificial neural network models demonstrate promising performance in the prediction of global solar radiation. in addition, the proposed models provide superior consistency between the measured and estimated values. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords artificial neural networks (ann); solar energy; solar radiation models; statistical indicators; temperature-based models; egypt 1. introduction affordable and clean energy is the 7th goal in the sustainable development goals (sdgs), which not only satisfies the sustainability but also saves the climate and environment. the most sustainable source of energy with unlimited and infinity reserves is the solar energy, which is the main source of all types of energy on earth. accurate knowledge of solar radiation is considered to be the primary step in solar energy availability assessment and serves as the first input for various applications of solar energy (janjai, pankaew & laksanaboonsong, 2009; wong & chow, 2001; hassan, ali & youssef, 2017). the unavailability of the solar radiation measurements for several sites around the world, because of the high cost and equipment calibration and maintenance requirements (el-sebaii, al-hazmi, al-ghamdi & yaghmour, 2010; hassan, youssef, ali, mohamed & hanafy, 2017), leads to proposing pg. 16 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i1.73&domain=press.ierek.com hassan / environmental science and sustainable development, essd different models for predicting the global solar radiation. angström (1924) introduced the primary sunshine-based model, which was modified by prescott (1940) and has become the most widely used model around the world for evaluating solar radiation (besharat, dehghan, faghih & 2013; almorox, benito & hontoria, 2005). the study of investigating the performance of 31 non-sunshine-based models for predicting the monthly average of daily global solar radiation on a horizontal surface was carried out by (youssef, hassan, youssif & ali, 2016). the models that have the most accurate estimations are recognized, and the best model among all models is also identified. similarly, (hassan, youssef, mohamed, ali & hanafy, 2016) presented a new temperature-based model for estimating global solar radiation. the results showed that the new suggested models have accurate and excellent predictions for global solar radiation at different locations, especially at coastal sites. furthermore, the new presented formulas of the best temperature-based model also provide better results compared with those for the most accurate sunshine-based models from the literature. in addition, the issue of assessing the performance of different day-of-the-year-based models to estimate global solar radiation case study: egypt was carried out by (hassan et al., 2016). the obtained results illustrated that the hybrid sine and cosine wave model and the 4th order polynomial degree model have the best estimations for global solar radiation on a horizontal surface. jiang (2009) proposes study of computation of the monthly average daily global solar radiation using artificial neural networks and comparison with other empirical models in china. the developed ann model used feed-forward back propagation algorithm in the analysis. şenkal & kuleli (2009) evaluated solar radiation in turkey using artificial neural networks and satellite data. the ann model used scale conjugate gradient (scg) and resilient propagation (rp) learning algorithms and logistic sigmoid transfer function. this study aims to investigate the performance of artificial neural network models for estimating the monthly average daily global solar radiation on a horizontal surface, (g), at study location as a case study. for achieving this purpose, the measured global solar radiation data at new borg el-arab, egypt (lat. 30° 51 n and long. 29° 34 e) are utilized for establishing and validating the proposed models. moreover, the most commonly statistical indicators, such as root mean square error (rmse) and coefficient of determination (r2), are calculated to evaluate the performance of these models (besharat et al. 2013; li, ma, lian & wang, 2010). 2. material and methods 2.1. data collection the measured dataset of ambient temperature and global solar radiation between 1st of july 1983 and 30th of june 2005 are used for establishing and validating the applicability of models to predict the monthly average daily global solar radiation on a horizontal surface. these data are retrieved from the nasa surface meteorology and solar energy website (youssef et al., 2016; hassan et al., 2016), (“nasa surface meteorology and solar energy”, n.d.). 2.2. artificial neural network (ann) ann is a type of artificial intelligence (ai) technique, which is a non-linear mapping computational algorithm based on a black-box modelling technique. it is designed to deal with training data set in order to learn, store and recall the data to perform a multidimensional transformation between the input and output spaces without understanding the dynamic relation between them. ann is efficient and less time-consuming in modelling different complex engineering problems, such as control systems, classification, speech, vision and pattern recognition compared to other mathematical models, such as regression regression (fadare, 2009; kalogirou, 2001; lin, bhattacharyya & kecman, 2003). the ann model consists of multiple connected processing elements called artificial neurons. figure (1) shows the five basic components of the artificial neuron, which are input, weight and biases, summing junction, transfer (activation) function, and output. for each artificial neuron, every input is multiplied with individual weight. in the middle part of the model, the sum function is applied to all weighted inputs and bias. at the exit of artificial pg. 17 hassan / environmental science and sustainable development, essd neuron, the sum of previously weighted inputs is passing through the transfer function. a simple ann with multiple connected artificial neurons distributed in three multiple layers called input, hidden, and output layer is shown in fig. (1). the network weights are updated and adjusted during the training process through different algorithms until the desired output is reproduced from a set of inputs. the training process is based on either supervised or unsupervised learning depending on whether the expected targets are involved in the training process or not. the ann training topology can allow the feed-forward and back-propagation of the information flow in order to minimize the difference between the output and the desired target. considerable computational resources are required to perform a sufficient training session. a non-linear relation between input and output variables is associated with the trained ann in order to be used to predict the output for any new input data set, which is not a part of the training data. more detailed theories and applications can be found in picton (2000). 2.3. design of the artificial neural network (ann) model proposed ann models are trained under matlab neural network toolbox, and the weights’ adjustment is performed by lm algorithm. for the output layer, a linear activation function “purelin” is used. for the training of network, the algorithm “trainlm” is used. tansig transfer function is used in the hidden layer. the input layer and the output layer, with two (extra-terrestrial solar radiation and temperature) and one (global solar radiation) neurons are used in the layers, respectively. on the other side, the number of neurons in the single hidden layer varies from three neurons to five neurons in order to reach the best performance. in order to suit the consistency of the model, all source data are normalized in the range 0 to 1 and then returned to original values after the simulation (rahimikhoob, 2010). . 3. performance evaluation the performance of the models is evaluated using the most commonly statistical indicators, namely: mean percentage error (mpe), mean bias error (mbe), root mean square error (rmse) and coefficient of determination (r2) (hassan et al., 2016). the value of mpe between ±10% is considered an acceptable value, and it is clarified by (eq. 1). the values of mean bias error (mbe) (eq. 2) give information about the long-term performance of the developed model, where the positive mbe value refers to overestimation in the calculated value, and the negative mbe value refers to under-estimation in the calculated value. the smaller mbe value refers to the better model performance, and the small value is desired. the values of rmse (eq. 3) give information about the short-term performance of the model and are always positive values. a smaller value refers to a better performance of the model, and zero represents the ideal case. the values of (r2) (eq. 4) illustrate information about the goodness of fit; r2 values are between zero and one (0 ≤ r2 ≤1), and the largest value is the desired value. the accepted range of rmse, mpe, mbe is between ±10% mj/m2 day−1[22]. the values of these statistical indicators are calculated using equations: mpe = 1 n n ∑ i=1 ( gi,c −gi,m gi,m ) x100 (1) mbe = 1 n n ∑ i=1 (gi,c −gi,m) (2) rmse = [ 1 n ∑ n i=1 (gi,c −gi,m) 2 ]1 2 (3) pg. 18 hassan / environmental science and sustainable development, essd r2 = 1− ∑ n i=1 (gi,m −gi,c) 2 ∑ n i=1 (gi,m −gm) 2 (4) where gi,c is the i h calculated value, and gi,m is the i the measured value is the average value of the measured and calculated values; and n is the number of observations. figure 1. simple artificial neural network (ann) with thebasic components of arificial neuron [23]. 4. results and discussion the measured data of daily global solar radiation and air temperature are divided into two data sets and averaged to acquire the monthly average daily values. the first data set from 1st july 1983 to 31st december 2002, is used to establish models. the second data set, from 1st january 2003 to 30th june 2005, is employed for evaluating and validating the developed models using statistical indicators. the predictions of three ann models are compared with the measured data of global solar radiation. the values of statistical indicators for three ann models (2-31, 2-4-1, 2-5-1) are computed using equations eqs. (1-4). the obtained values of different statistical indicators (rmse, mpe, mbe and r2) are summarized in table 1. the acceptable models are recognized, and the most accurate model is identified by comparing the statistical indicators associated with three models. the best ann model is recognized in bold, as illustrated in table 1. pg. 19 hassan / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1. statistical indicators for three developed models model mpe mbe rmse r2 ann model hdn3 0.7150 -0.0963 0.6573 0.9916 ann model hdn4 0.7754 -0.0575 0.7433 0.9892 ann model hdn5 0.1765 -0.1850 0.6794 0.9910 according to the obtained results, the three ann models have excellent estimations for the monthly average of daily global solar radiation, with good statistical indicators values in the acceptable range. the predictions of the three developed ann models are compared with the measured data as illustrated in fig. 2(a). similarly, fig. 2(b) demonstrates the prediction of the best ann model (model 1; 2-3-1) compared with the measured data. the statistical indicators graphs for the estimated values of monthly average of daily global solar radiation using three ann models at new borg el-arab are clarified in fig. 3. for mpe, all the models have values within the acceptable range and less than 1 %, with the lowest value of 0.18 for model 3. all the three models give negative small values for mbe, which indicates a good long-term performance for the models with slight under-estimation in the calculated value. as shown in fig. 2(a), all the three models accurately predict the global solar radiation for the period from january to april and from september to october. for november and december, the global solar radiation is slightly predicted. during the months from may to august, both model 1 and model 3 under predict the global solar radiation while model 2 over predicts the global solar radiation during may. these results are consistent with the values of mbe, which have small negative values with the lowest value of 0.0575 for model 2, as shown in fig. 3. for rmse, all the three models give small values, which indicate good short-term performance for the models with the smallest rmse value of 0.657 and the best short-term performance for model 1. the r2 values for three models are higher than 0.989 %, which indicate good fitting. in addition, all ann models show a slight variation in their performance with excellent r2 values, higher than 0.989 %. on the other hand, model 1, which has three neurons in the hidden layer, provides the best performance with the highest r2 value (ajayi, ohijeagbon, nwadialo & olasope, 2014), followed by model 3 that has five neurons in the hidden layer. for model 1, the statistical indicators rmse and r2 are 0.66 mj/m2 and 0.9916%, respectively. figure 2. performance of the ann models compared with the measured data at new borg-el-arab, (a) all models, (b) best model (model 1; 2-3-1) pg. 20 hassan / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 3. statistical indicators (rmse, r2, mbe, mpe) graph forthree ann models at new borg el-arab. from the above discussion, it can be concluded that the developed models in this study can be employed for estimating global solar radiation with high accuracy. consequently, the presented models are adequate for estimating monthly average daily global solar radiation on a horizontal surface. in addition, the proposed models indicate that the artificial neural network models demonstrate promising predictions of monthly mean daily global solar radiation by using commonly available data of extra-terrestrial solar radiation and temperature. 5. conclusion this work aims to investigate the performance of artificial neural network models for estimating the monthly average daily global solar radiation on a horizontal surface. to achieve this goal, the measured data of extraterrestrial solar radiation, temperature and global solar radiation at study location are utilized for establishing and validating the proposed ann models. according to the obtained results, the presented ann models are applicable and significant for the quick and accurate prediction of the monthly average daily global solar radiation on a horizontal surface. 6. acknowledgements this work is supported by the egyptian science and technology development fund (stdf). the project number is “10495” and is entitled “solar-greenhouse-desalination system self productive of energy and irrigating water demand”. references 1. ajayi, o., ohijeagbon, o., nwadialo, c., & olasope, o. 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(2016). investigating the performance of different models in estimating global solar radiation. advances in natural and applied sciences,10(4), 379-389. pg. 23 introduction material and methods data collection artificial neural network (ann) design of the artificial neural network (ann) model performance evaluation results and discussion conclusion acknowledgements http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i2.553 sustainable park landscaping as an approach for the development of the built environment: review and employment abdullah haredy1 1department of architectural engineering, school of engineering, al-baha university, al-baha, saudi arabia abstract implementing sustainable principles when landscaping parks is vital for the development of the built environment, and should take into account environmental, social, economic, and cultural aspects, in order to eliminate conflict between developmental requirements, and the need to preserve cultural and natural resources. this paper reviews the guidelines that should be considered for current and future sustainable parks in regions with a moderate climate, in order to ensure that they incorporate ecotourism, cost effective operation and maintenance, a clean environment, the promotion of renewable energy, and resource preservation. a number of parks, located in moderate climate zones, are studied in terms of aspects such as their location, topography, operation, and landscaping characteristics, to demonstrate the prevailing normative values that can be applied to sustainable park design. prince meshari park, in al-baha city, saudi arabia, is employed as a case study for applying all of the guidelines proposed in this investigation, and to highlight some of their merits and limitations in terms of the current situation of the park. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords sustainable parks; cost-effective parks; environmental balance; landscaping; resource preservation; ecotourism 1. introduction in recent decades, the importance of the built environment and its resources has emerged as an issue, especially in countries with a moderate climate that wish to establish parks with limited conditions and resources (ceballoslascurain, 1996). parks should not be considered isolated structures, since they interact spatially, and are functional components of landscape ecosystems (noss, 1987). moreover, parks can be a source of many wider benefits, including purifying the air; providing water; improving urban micro-climates (chiesura, 2004); minimizing stress, and enhancing meditation, thereby revitalizing city inhabitants; promoting a sense of peace and tranquility (ulrich, 1981); extending the lifespan of elderly people (takano, nakamura, & watanabe, 2002); encouraging the use of outdoor space; increasing social integration and interaction among neighbours (coley, kuo, & sullivan, 1997); mitigating the cost of pollution abatement; preventing and reducing the incidence of disease; attracting visitors and promoting a city as a tourist destination; and generating revenue and employment (chiesura, 2004). as such, and for example, (parés-franzi, saurı́-pujol, & domene, 2006) examined how the urban parks in mediterranean cities are distributed, and assessed the ways in which their design and management follow criteria adapted to mediterranean environmental conditions. the authors found that incorporating certain sustainable practices can pg. 1 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i2.553&domain=press.ierek.com haredy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd significantly improve the environmental performance of these public spaces, under the conditions of a mediterranean climate. moreover, (ayeghi and ujang, 2017) explored the impact of the physical features of an urban park on their users’ attachment to the park, with reference to klcc park in kuala lumpur. they found that the physical features influenced the users’ functional attachment, and active features, such as water features, had a stronger effect on user attachment than passive features. urban managers and urban designers are now able to create pleasing open spaces that attract increased numbers of visitors, due to their sustainable physical features. according to (jim, 2000), there are two crucial aspects of sustainable landscape planning: providing high quality planting, and guarding against subsequent degradation and intrusion. in addition, (tian, jim, tao and shi, 2011) assessed the green space fragmentation in hong kong, and found that the fragmentation index took almost all of the characteristics of the landscape pattern into account, in terms of the size, shape, proximity, connectivity, heterogeneity, and interspersion. meanwhile, (maruani and amit-cohen, 2007) reviewed and compared a number of planning approaches and methods applied to open spaces, and illustrated the differences between these models, claiming that securing a satisfactory and dynamic design for open spaces cannot rely on planning alone, as it also requires a thorough understanding and control of local engineering bodies and stipulations that should be adhered to. the saudi environment possesses certain climatic challenges, since it is harsh and dry, and can be classified as bwh climate, with an average temperature above 18◦c (weatheronline, 2019). the climate and culture are similar in arabian countries, such as saudi arabia and egypt, with the latter characterized by a hot, arid zone with variable day and night temperatures (fathy, 1973). in addition, the challenge of water scarcity means that there is a reliance on non-renewable groundwater supplies to cope up with growing demand (swain, 1998). due to the increasing demand for water in the gulf coast countries (gcc), where water resources are limited, alternative water sources are now sought, such as wastewater reclamation, and desalination (al-rashed & sherif, 2000). according to sutton, anderson, elvidge, tuttle, and ghosh (2009), saudi arabia accounts for 4.6 hectares of ecological footprint per person, which ranks the country among the most environmentally challenged countries in the world. the kingdom of saudi arabia (ksa) has therefore established national parks to motivate tourism, under the supervision of city councils, that are sustainably operated and maintained, employing renewable energy applications, and resource preservation measures. for example, al-baha city possesses a wide selection of green spaces. it is located in the region of al-baha, on the western coast of the ksa, and is affected by the indian ocean monsoons, with an average rainfall of 300 millimeters occurring between october and march, which constitutes approximately 60% of the annual precipitation (weatheronline, 2019). therefore, serious consideration was given to the development of the forests in the region (tourism, 2004), in order to create guidelines and regulations to be implemented for their landscaping and sustainable long-term operation. the present study reviews the planning and design considerations of national parks that are applied at the landscaping stage, and the coordination of these aspects, which together seek to achieve desirable optimum solutions that satisfy sustainable development principles. sustainable parks depend on their design to attract tourists, therefore the design must promote the most effective bioclimatic level in which cost effective maintenance, and a visually pleasing appearance, can be achieved. in this context, it is necessary to consider several aspects: the conservation of limited resources; operational cost; waste reduction; prevention of air, water, and soil pollution; organic fertilizing; the life cycle of the grass; organic pest control measures; the selection of suitable plants and trees that can adapt to the climate and location; and the efficiency of irrigation through the use of renewable energy technologies. this study focuses on the sustainable elements of park planning, and discusses their roles, seeking to conclude a vision and standards for park landscaping that promotes sustainable built environment development, taking into account the majority of the sustainable principles, and applying them to the current design of prince meshari park, al-baha city, saudi arabia, clarify their potential outcomes according to the current situation of the park. pg. 2 haredy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 2. methodology this study assessed certain principles of sustainable design for park planning that contribute to the development of the built environment, and motivate ecotourism, by assessing those employed in projects, such as the internationale bauausstellung emscher park (iba emscher park); the internationale architecture exhibition emscher park in the german ruhr region; klcc park in kuala lumpur, malaysia; horsetopia – run fast live slow, in south korea; and upcycle park, in hong kong. the study also proposed a new design for the case study of prince meshari park, in the ksa, applying sustainable concepts, and discussing the anticipated outcomes resulting from the new design. 3. sustainable park design and ecotourism ecotourism is a form of tourism that is committed to enjoying the natural environment in a way that does not violate the ecosystem, or have a negative impact on the biodiversity. the ecotourist enjoys observing ecosystems, and their constituent animals and plants within their habitat, and also enjoys the historical, cultural, and heritage features that characterize the location. compared with other forms of tourism, ecotourism tends to be more cultural, and less harmful to the environment, since it is green, responsible, and sustainable. as part of this, ecotourism is concerned with the landscaping of parks that contributes to the promotion of ecological balance, and has an interest in maintaining an environment free from pollution, and in improving the environment in general, including preserving the wildlife (newman & jennings, 2012). it should be emphasized that the importance of parks, both for tourism, and as a strategic reserve for natural resources and genetic banks, requires the support of governmental initiatives to provide the necessary scientific research and equipment to ensure the preservation of their resources. ecotourism can contribute to the economy of the built environment if these parks are carefully designed (alsawaf, 1992). as well as the benefits of their natural environment, parks offer many other attractive opportunities, including the ability to demonstrate the customs and traditions of local communities, and to produce publications, souvenirs, and television and radio programes, for example regarding the forest in the park and varieties of trees it includes. the integration of ecotourism into the sustainable parks management plan will contribute to generating a sustainable national income, and to raising awareness of the importance of preserving biodiversity and natural resources. 3.1. park design layouts there are range of potential designs for parks, including the incorporation of geometric shapes, such linear or oval forms, or any other geometric shape that is proportional to the parameters of the location’s topography, whereby symmetry can be achieved. a layout can also involve binary and multiplication symmetry for the flower beds at the side of the main axes of the park, or a design employing circular or radial symmetry, in which the segments of the park are all repeated within a circle. a layout can also be adopted that simulates nature, and avoids the use of geometric shapes, instead using local materials, or the design can involve a dual layout that combines both natural and geometric forms, or a free layout, which releases geometric lines from their forms (motloch, 2000). some of these designs are illustrated in figure 1. figure 1. park landscaping systems (sources: bureau, partners, site-design, n.d.). pg. 3 haredy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3.2. sustainable planning principles for parks the planning of parks is generally influenced by the climate, inhabitants, and economy of the place, or city, in which they are located, with every individual accounted for by a specific percentage of its green area (wahid, 1988). in addition, when planning a park, the following set of principles should be observed: – the areas allocated for parks must be commensurate with the density of the population that it will serve. for example, a park that will serve between 2,500 and 5,000 people requires an area of park between 2 and 10 m2 per inhabitant (al-musawi, 2010). – the location of a park should be appropriate for its use, and should preferably be outside any anticipated expansion of the city’s buildings, in order that it remains away from the city’s congestion, and in a safe place away from any highways (hansen, 2010). – the topography of a park’s location should be considered, and the park planned according its the contour lines (al-sawaf, 1992). – the streets surrounding the park should be identified, together with those leading to its entries, taking into account the allocation of parking spaces (motloch, 2001). – if it is established inside, or near a city, the park should be isolated from the surrounding streets with high fences, or thick fences of trees and windbreaks, but if the park is located in a natural landscape, there is no requirement to isolate it (bartholomew, 1975). – a range of recreational elements, such as topiaries, bog gardens, paths and drives, boating lakes, conservatories, and lawns should be provided, in order to meet the needs of the local inhabitants, includes a diversity of vistas, using the cultivation of different types of trees (northam, 1984; piereall, 1979). – the selection of plants is the main component that should be considered when designing a sustainable park, unless it includes imported plants. the plants should be chosen carefully, according to their growth and other properties, and should perform a role that is appropriate to the environment, as well as being postioned suitably, whether individually within green areas, or in groups as edging for the park, or as sensory pathways (al-ghitani, 1982). 3.3. elements of sustainable park design and landscaping according to lidy (2006), the following are elements of sustainable park design and landscaping: plant elements: a number of aspects should be considered when selecting a plant, including its stages of growth; the suitability of the location in which it is to be planted; its eventual size; the purpose of the planting, whether for its aesthetic appearance, to block undesirable views, to divide a spaces, to providing shade, or to minimize air pollution or wind speed, as different plants are suited to different aspects, and might include climbers, grasses, or green spaces constituted of permanent areas of grass; structural elements: the structural elements of parks can be divided into the following: those that are required, such as parking lots; information centers; ticket offices; restrooms; cafeterias and restaurants; and souvenir stores, those that are possible, such as children’s playgrounds, boating lakes, internal transport, and a space for concerts, exhibitions, or fairs, and the disputable, such as new monuments; new buildings, such as pavilions, gazeebos, and tea houses; modern art objects and installations; and sports courts. 3.4. water resources the conservation of water is a cornerstone of sustainable park design and landscaping, and approaches to it can include the harvesting of rainwater for use in irrigation and flushing, and the use of pure groundwater, such as pg. 4 haredy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd wells and springs. if there is an abundance of rainwater, rain catchment is the most appropriate choice for the water supply, provided the necessary treatment of the water is applied if it is to be used for drinking and irrigation. it is also possible to utilize rainwater using traditional methods, such as the stairs and terraces built on the slopes of agricultural mountains, as illustrated in figure 2 (lyle, 1996). figure 2. traces and agricultural debris on the slopes of mountains irrigated with rain water (source: author). the water treatment type depends on the water’s source and quality. groundwater to be used for drinking should be treated with simple processes using sodium hypochlorite and chlorine dioxide. surface water can also be low turbidity water, and in this case, it should be filtered using sand filters, which should then be disinfected with bleach. the water treatment system itself should employ multi-stage filters that use filtering elements with narrow pores, such as ceramics and paper. if the surface water is of a high turbidity, the treatment must include the addition of industrial chemicals, such as alum and urine. the drainage and distribution of the water might employ a system such as that at raghadan park, al-baha city, saudi arabia, which is a buried or descending system that has less impact on the site, but is subject to vandalism. furthermore, local water systems, and traditional irrigation systems should be utilized, such as those constructed on agricultural terraces in valleys, and on the slopes of mountains (loutfy & el-juhany, 2008). 3.5. waste management the management of parks should ensure the prevention of waste, in order to raise the awareness of their visitors and users of this issue, and to train their workers in how to prevent the generation of waste. the systems that can be employed include reusing mixed or digested anaerobic, biodegradable organic waste as soil fertilizer, using methane as an energy source, and adopting other techniques that reuse waste, such as dry toilets, and working without water (beck, 2013). 3.6. control of energy use renewable energy applications can play a central role in sustainable parks, and can have a lower impact on the built environment than traditional alternatives. when planning a park, it is necessary to consider the energy applications that can be adopted to help in reducing energy consumption, such as minimizing vehicle movements within the park, the precise allocation of buildings and services to meet the visitors’ demands, and strategies for using thermal energy and night lighting. solar energy systems can also be used for water pumping irrigation, as illustrated in figure 3 (lindberg & hawkins, 1993). pg. 5 haredy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 3. solar power water pump (source: nicholls, 2006). 4. examples of sustainable parks the internationale bauausstellung emscher park, emscher region, illustrated in figure 4, germany: this park was created in the 1980s as part of an initiative to promote urban development, and socio-cultural ecological measures as the basis for economic change in an old industrial region (iba, 1999). as a principal contribution of the park initiative, its sustainable landscaping was critical for offering a new perspective on approaches to regeneration. the initiative was based within a framework that ensured the enhancement of biological requirements, and the well being of the local population, thereby eliminating the predominance of economic interests. however, the environmental improvement was also deemed by the park’s planners to be a prerequisite for economic renewal, since business was becoming increasingly connected with environmental aspects. the approach applied to the park’s design was appropriate to the principles of sustainability depicted in figure 5, in which each factor contributes to the overall sustainability, as the environment should contribute to human welfare, the economy should be maintained at a suitable wealth level, and social choices and institutions should be sustained. the design concept of the park was embraced, as it employed brownfield, rather than greenfield sites to accommodate structural change, without requiring spatial growth; secondly, it embraced maintenance, modernization, re-use, and better building techniques to lengthen the life of the buildings and production facilities; and finally, it transformed the production structure in favour of environmentally sound products and manufacturing methods (ganser, 1996). figure 4. the master plan of the international bauausstellung emscher park (source: gruehn, 2017). pg. 6 haredy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 5. the attributes of sustainability (source: author). klcc park kuala lumpur, malaysia: the klcc park in kuala lumpur, malaysia, was designed to illustrate the continuity of the country’s green, tropical heritage through the integration of human creativity. the design of the park is that of beauty and harmony in the bustling city centre, as illustrated in figure 6. it was created in an area of 20 hectares, and designed by the late brazilian landscape architect, roberto burle marx, who employed assemblages of trees, shrubs, cement structures, natural stones, traditional malaysian wood, and multi-static water, blending their shapes and textures with the topography to produce an attractive, state-of-the-art design. the lake was aesthetically designed to be the focus of the park, and to include a musical fountain. there is also a playground for children in an area of 2 hectares. in general terms, the park design provides three basic elements: geometrical formations created by the bodies and channels of water, with a bridge spanning the lake; aesthetic features, such as a dolphin statue made from chrome-clad steel; and planting that includes a range of trees in variety of colours that creates a natural consistency with the surrounding pillars, edging, and terraces (elsayed, 2012). horsetopia – run fast live slow, south korea: horsetopia is a horse park in yeongcheon, south korea. fifty percent of the 1,474,883 site is devoted to horse racing, while the rest hosts horse-related activities. the park adheres to sustainable principles, within its profit-based operation, and its design includes 100% path lighting powered by on-site wind turbines; 95% of the earth excavated reused on site; 450,000 tons of the carbon dioxide produced stored on site within the architecture; five layers of terraced bioswale to remove water pollutants; 45% of the total area reserved for landscaping, in the form of open parkland, to reduce the heat island effect; innovative lighting solutions to reduce light pollution; food grown on-site, and food waste processed on-site; and souvenirs made using food waste and horse waste. the project seeks to elevate the status of horse racing over the next 10 years. in addition, all of the architecture was designed as extension of the landscape, with the contours of the landscape exploited to create zones, and to define boundary-free green spaces. the racing track was designed as the focal point, with various features circling outward from the fast track to create ‘slow’ zones. upcycle park, hong kong: since it is located on the site of the old kai tak airport, and its design includes the reuse of parts of old aeroplanes, upcycle park in hong kong seeks to play a role in entertainment, the economy, and ecotourism. its contextual form was inspired by the master plan of kowloon city airport, and it was designed to create an ecological environment suitable for various native species, with the design also respecting the airport’s history. hence, the airport’s existing platforms serve as a bridge, a pool, and a stair above a canal, and simultaneously connect the surrounding structures into a holistic design. the park employs a multi-layered filtration system as a sustainable approach to watering, and several layers of terracing, incorporating a range of different plants, were built on both sides of the canal to filter the water runoff from the local neighborhood, purifying the water before returning it to the river. some of the water is then exploited for recreational purposes in a pool. repurposing the old structures constitutes an alternative approach to sustainable design, and includes reusing an old aeroplane as a canopy, bridge, tunnel, and outlook tower (architects, 2019). pg. 7 haredy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 6. the master plan of klcc park kuala lumpur (source: magazine, 2005). figure 7. the master plan of horsetopia park (source: (architects, 2019). figure 8. a perspective view and master plan of upcycle park, hong kong (source: architects, 2019). pg. 8 haredy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 5. case study: prince meshari park, ksa prince meshari park, or ‘al-zaraieb forest’, is located in the southwest of the ksa, between the nearby cities of al-baha and al-mandaq. the climate is moderate during the summer, and rainy in the winter. the forest is characterized by a wide and abundant variety of vegetation, such as acacia, pines, figs, and juniper. it has been developed in successive periods, and includes children’s play areas, family zones, lighting, internal vehicle tracks, and sports fields, as illustrated in figure 9. however, the park currently requires an environmental management plan, in order to assess the current situation in detail, and provide recommendations to guide the future development of the forest. the plan requires the following elements: – a vegetation survey of the forest. it has been observed that the vegetation has been significantly affected by the lack of rainfall in recent years, which has affected the growth and density of the forest. the project must determine whether this is due to water scarcity, development, and/or the increased use of the forest; – a survey of the wildlife in the forest, and an analysis of historical records, if any exist, to determine the causes of population shrinkage, or extinction; – an evaluation of the existing facilities, such as roads, utilities, gazebos, and street lighting; – and evaluation of the location and use of the seasonal summer shopping festival, which was created by the municipality of the area, and other related matters, such as seasonal pollution. in order to conduct these surveys and evaluations, a number of sites at the park were selected and evaluated, according to a set of systems that integrated planning and design principles, and therefore constituted a strategy for the development and sustainable coordination of parks. the proposed sustainable design of the park allocates sites for different types of activities, such as festivals, sports, and aquatic playgrounds. it includes walkways for horses and bicycles, playgrounds for children, and seating zones, proposing that the park is divided into variety of different environments, including natural environments, a central garden environment, slope environments, and modern environments that can be employed for recreational structures. the landscaping considerations of these environments can be summarized as follows: – create irregular shaped open spaces with various functions and privacy, to facilitate their management within the park, and to allow a partial operation of the park to minimize operational costs; – the central part of the park should be considered a central location for pedestrian movement to allow easy access to all other parts of the park, with an open festival space that can be surrounded by food trucks and pavilion structures; – the eastern portion of the park should include outdoor waterfalls, with the water flowing into ponds that are surrounded by seating zones, which reflect the local and historical design of the nearby city, while maintaining the existing elements, such as rock formations and plants; – the north side of the park should include a garden consisting of a circular pedestrian walkway surrounding an outdoor stage for local arts performances, and exhibitions of traditional tools; – the park levels should be utilized for seating zones, while retaining the existing plants; – in order to connect the different zones of the park, a number of main axes should be designed to link aspects such as the focal points of the park and its green spaces, and the main entrance and the park’s traditional heritage gate with the park’s centre, as well as an axis connecting the monument in the middle of the park with the eastern sector; – the north-western sector of the park should be designated as a zoo area, to be designed in accordance with to the location’s topography, and to permit the animals suitable freedom of movement; pg. 9 haredy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – a network of secondary paths should connect the park’s different levels. figure 9. master plan of thecurrent situation of prince meshari park, and photographs of the park. (source:author). 5.1. design concept the new proposal for the design of prince meshari park conserves the current natural situation, while also enhancing the park’s context and function, and developing its potential for entertainment. the park should consider issues of sustainability for its structures, such as constructing a green hotel equipped with sustainable energy technologies, as there is currently a saudi governmental initiative that seeks to raise awareness of sustainable development. in the proposed design, the park is divided into different open spaces, using natural and geometrical shapes that allow pedestrians to move within the different levels to explore the natural environment, the processes of which can be articulated through the design, which displays seasonal colours, textures, fragrances, and sound (see figure 10). figure 10. park landscaping concept, dividing the area into different green spaces, on different levels (source: author). pg. 10 haredy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 5.2. context in the proposed design, the park is divided into a variety of green spaces in natural and geometrical shapes that provide the park with a range of separate spaces that can be easily managed, and which create privacy, and minimize the impression of vast areas, promoting a sense of harmony for the park’s visitors. the central part of the park is designed as the park’s focal point, and serves as an intersection of the park’s movement axes, connecting all of the other areas. this central area contains an open space suitable for hosting local festivals, together with shops overlooking the terraces. meanwhile, in the eastern sector of the park, the proposal includes a man-made waterfall, with water flowing into a group of water basins surrounded by a range of gazebos and souvenir shops. on the northern side, a garden consisting of a circular road surrounded by a square is designed to host the popular arts shows, and exhibitions of traditional tools. in the proposal, this space is surrounded by seating areas, and also includes an open-air theatre for seasonal events (see figure 11). figure 11. the master plan of the proposed park design(source: author). 5.3. functions when designing a park, careful consideration must be given to the architectural identity of its building facades, as an aspect of sustainable practice. in the proposed design, the architectural identity of the park’s structures is influenced by the heritage buildings of the nearby city of al baha, and the design adopts various of its architectural elements into the park’s buildings. the north-western region of the park is designed to serve as an open garden for animals, equipped with corridors that include all of the necessary elements, together with pedestrian paths facilitating movement around the sector, and creating distinctive zones that identify the progression of movement between the entry and the exit, and around the environments that are suitable for the wildlife they house. the landscaped layers increase the resilience of the design to heavy storms, while also creating natural habitats for different native plants, animals, and insects. a number of man-made ponds are located in various niches around the park, and a lake incorporated that is also proposed as an aspect of the animal park, fed by water from irregular channels. meanwhile, the western sector of the park consists of levels throughout its mile-long extent, ranging from 1/2, that are intended to create a long path, incorporating spaces and seating areas at the sides. figure 12. eastern and western perspective view of the proposed park design (source: author). pg. 11 haredy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 5.4. entertaining since a successful park requires public engagement, the proposed plan for prince meshari park provides multiple area for hosting arts and recreational events, such as the open-air theatre that is a safe and clean venue in which the public can enjoy seasonal events. at various locations around the park, the design includes platforms that can be used as basketball courts, fishing platforms, sites for art installation, or as a centre for traditional heritage arts. the design proposes that the entire park is illuminated at night using dynamic lighting that echoes that at the sport facilities, and the laser show in centre of al-baha city. the canals incorporated into the design allow visitors to interact with the water during both the day and the night, while also creating a new feature for nightlife that will promote the park as a hot spot for local residents and foreign visitors alike. 6. conclusion the concept of sustainable parks that the ksa has committed considerable effort to incorporating into new designs, planning, and landscaping must adhere to a variety of practices that respond to environmental issues in terms of their operational management and renewable energy applications. the design proposal for prince meshari park represents a model of a sustainable park, and exemplifies the principles that must be considered when designing such spaces. these are as follows: – consider the local conditions, including the climate, topography, water availability, and soil quality. – satisfy sustainable park design principles, such as unity, interdependence, and repetition in terms of the shapes employed, whether geometrical, natural, or both, in order to achieve a functional fit in the distribution of the elements and activities within the park. – consider the selection of the plants, ensuring that only those that are suitable for the local environment, and can adapt to resist any local harmful insects are selected. this will affect cost-saving with regard to soil fertilization and modification, pest control, and irrigation. – design structural elements, such as pavilions, benches, and walkways that complement the environmental elements. – consider the necessary pest control measures. – use sustainably-harvested wood, and composite wood products for landscaping and other projects, together with the use of flexible wood. – use recycled products, such as glass, and rubber from tires, to create products for use in the paving stones and park furniture. – adopt soil control practices, including the fertilization, maintenance, and enhancement of soils that support diversity in the terrestrial environment. furthermore, the international organization for standardization (iso) standards for smes, industrial, commercial, and residential facilities should be adopted, as energy auditing is a significant factor that can play a key role in achieving energy efficiency, and reducing power consumption, a goal that is included in the ksa’s 2030 national vision. once the new primary energy tariffs are imposed, sustainable parks should optimize their energy usage without affecting their operation and processes, thereby maintaining their overheads and profits, while increasing their energy efficiency and competitiveness. for this reason, energy auditing should become a core requirement, rather than simply a popular trend, therefore technologies such as solar powered trash bin compactors, rainwater harvesting for parks and open spaces, and solar pv systems for energy generation should be adopted. pg. 12 haredy / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 7. acknowledgments the author acknowledges the deanship of scientific research at al-baha university, saudi arabia, for funding this project no (11/1438) in the year of 1438 ah. 8. references 1. al-ghitani, m.y. 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(2011). landscape ecological assessment of green space fragmentation in hong kong. urban forestry & urban greening,10(2), 79-86. 40. tourism, s. c. f. (2004). tourism development strategy in al baha region. saudi arabia: sustainable tourism development plan. 41. ulrich, r. s. (1981). natural versus urban scenes: some psychophysiological effects. environment and behavior, 13(5), 523-556. 42. wahid, a.h.a. (1988). planning and design of green areas. eygpt, cairo: landscape and urban planning. 43. weatheronline (2019). climate of the world-saudi arabia. retrieved from https://www.weatheronline.co. uk/reports/climate/saudi-arabia.htm. pg. 15 introduction methodology sustainable park design and ecotourism park design layouts sustainable planning principles for parks elements of sustainable park design and landscaping water resources waste management control of energy use examples of sustainable parks case study: prince meshari park, ksa design concept context functions entertaining conclusion acknowledgments references http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i2.834 smart streetlamps as part of a smart city approach in macau yile chen1, liang zheng2 1 faculty of humanities and arts,macau university of science and technology,macau,china 2 faculty of humanities and arts,macau university of science and technology,macau,china abstract smart cities are the mainstream trend of modern city development. with the promotion of the guangdong-hong kong-macau greater bay area policies, macau, as one of the four central cities in the greater bay area, has pioneered the development of smart cities. the development goal of the smart city is to use modern electronic information technology to manage, coordinate, share efficiently, and interoperate the city's transportation, logistics, energy resources, and communication services. comprehensive perception and information collection are the basis for its smart urban management. as one of the important node devices at the perception level of the smart city, smart street lights in macau are not only the lighting infrastructure, but also include environmental monitoring, video surveillance, communication networks, internet of things, information interaction, charging piles and other economic functions of the people's livelihood. under the above premise, this article discusses the urban policies, applications and prospects of smart streetlamps in macau. at the same time, it compares the social nature and related policies of the mainland, analyzes the particularity of building smart streetlamps in macau, and based on the application of smart streetlamps in macau, propose optimization and development suggestions to promote the construction and development of macau's smart city. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords smart streetlamps; macau; smart city; guangdong-hong kong-macau greater bay area; urban governance measures; 1. introduction with the advancement of science and technology, the elements of smart cities will become more and more diversified. from the perspective of data management, smart cities combine data analysis, processing, security, privacy, etc., to encourage application innovation and improve the efficiency of citizens' lives. a unified data management framework is very important for the application of smart cities. for example, install traffic monitoring equipment on street lights. because the street lights are on the road and there is a power supply system, they can be perfectly combined to collect road information from all over the country, let the data be automatically processed and analyzed, and reported to the local transportation department and urban residents for effective management or tracking. therefore, the overall quality of urban life can be improved(fu yidong,2012). at present, various countries and regions have researched smart streetlamps, such as india(velaga, n. r., & kumar, a,2012), malaysia(yusoff, y. m., rosli, r., karnaluddin, m. u., & samad, m,2013), san diego(perry, t. s.,2018), sheffield(dizon, e., & pranggono, b.,2021), brunei (ali, d. n. s. k. p., au, t. w., & suhaili, w. s.,2017), etc., and the construction of smart streetlamps in macau has started relatively late, there is currently no relevant research http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.vv6i2.834&domain=press.ierek.com chen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 literature. in the current research on smart street lights, the main focus is on the dynamic control of the lighting system of the street lights(ouerhani, n., pazos, n., aeberli, m., & muller, m., 2016; dheena, p. f., raj, g. s., dutt, g., & jinny, s. v.2017; fujii, y., yoshiura, n., takita, a., & ohta, n. 2013; salman, a. d., khudheer, u., & abdulsaheb, g. m. 2019; prasad, r. 2020), followed by the low-energy street light system combined with solar energy equipment(velaga, n. r., & kumar, a,2012; green, b. 2019)and smart street light network management system (dizon, e., & pranggono, b.,2021; 13) and related sensors and equipment components(arjun, p., stephenraj, s., kumar, n. n., & kumar, k. n. ,2019). there is less research on the early deployment of smart street lights, but this has a positive role in promoting the development of smart street lights in cities. for example, yusoff introduced the preliminary work of smart streetlamps system development. he believes that before the full implementation of the smart streetlamps system, many factors need to be considered, such as wireless equipment, lighting energy saving, security features, etc. (yusoff, y. m., rosli, r., karnaluddin, m. u., & samad, m,2013). dizon analyzed the characteristics of smart streetlamps and the factors that need to be considered when deploying smart streetlamps in sheffield: deployment location, street lamp type, road type(dizon, e., & pranggono, b.,2021). in summary, the advantages and effects of smart street lights in terms of energy-saving are obvious, and their equipment and network systems have gradually matured, and the urban issues that need to be considered for the deployment of smart streetlamps need to be further explored. this article discusses the factors considered in the early deployment of smart streetlamps. the deployment location of smart streetlamps, the impact on the city, the types of street lights, etc., with the policy documents issued by the macau government as the research background, combined with the surveying and mapping analysis of field investigations, reveals macau the status quo and improvement ideas of smart city construction. the purpose is to lay the foundation for the comprehensive deployment of future intelligent street lighting systems and to lay a foundation for the establishment of existing technologies. 2. the development history of macau's smart city macau is one of the core cities in china's guangdong-hong kong-macao greater bay area1, one of the four largest bay areas in the world, and has a developed economy and gdp2. at present, macau is building a smart city, and the design and promotion of smart streetlamps is one of the important links, and it is inseparable from the policy guidance issued by the relevant departments of the macau government. the development of smart streetlamps in macau is closely related to the construction of smart cities. with the launch of the "outline of the twelfth five-year plan for national economic and social development", the concept of smart cities has been widely promoted and implemented in my country. according to the national development and reform commission’s statistical report, more than 500 cities in my country have proposed smart city development plans. at the same time, the macau special administrative region government clearly set the development goals of macau to build a smart city in the 2016 "macau special administrative region development plan (2016-2020)" and "policy address", and established a “smart city special group” and the “smart city task force” coordinated, promoted and promoted the related work of smart cities within the government, and since then launched the prelude to the development of smart cities in macau. since then, the development of smart cities in macau has been accelerated in various departments and fields and has achieved remarkable results. at the end of 2016, the macau science and technology development foundation sponsored four professional teams to carry out the research activities of "macau smart city development direction and strategy research" and "macau smart city development to smart travel feasibility study". scholars, industry representatives, social organizations, investigate and visit, and hold relevant seminars and consultation meetings to collect opinions from the community. in 2017, the smart city development guidelines and policies that conform to the actual conditions of macau were launched.the macau sar 3 government and alibaba group signed the "strategic cooperation framework 1 the guangdong-hong kong-macao greater bay area (greater bay area) comprises the two special administrative regions of hong kong and macao, and the nine municipalities of guangzhou, shenzhen, zhuhai, foshan, huizhou, dongguan, zhongshan, jiangmen and zhaoqing in guangdong province. the total area is around 56 000 km2. based on the latest figures provided by the guangdong province, the hong kong special administrative region government (sarg) and the macao sarg, the total population in the greater bay area is over 86 million and the gdp is usd 1,668.8 billion in 2020. 2 gross domestic product (gdp) is the standard measure of the value added created through the production of goods and services in a country during a certain period. 3 macao special administrative region, is a special administrative region of china.located west of the pearl river estuary in guangdong province, chen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 agreement for building smart cities", using alibaba's cloud computing and big data technology to accelerate and complete the government's infrastructure construction and information technology for building smart cities reserve. 2018 is a year in which macau has made great breakthroughs in smart city iot technology. the university of macau established the state key laboratory of the internet of things for smart cities. the guangzhou blockchain industry association, the hong kong blockchain industry association and the innovation center of the university of macau form the guangdong-hong kong-macao greater bay area blockchain alliance to apply blockchain technology in smart health, smart tourism, smart finance, and smart logistics. at the same time, macau telecom and tencent signed a memorandum of cooperation to use tencent cloud technology to cooperate in the fields of cloud computing, big data, internet of things and artificial intelligence in macau. in february 2019, the macau science and technology development foundation and webank signed a cooperation agreement. the first cooperation project will use blockchain technology to achieve safer and more efficient entity identity authentication and data exchange, accelerating the popularization of electronic payments in macau. in may 2019, the macau smart street light project was completed, integrating more than 20 functions such as smart lighting, 5g/4g communication micro base stations, flood monitoring, people flow monitoring, charging piles, etc., providing the sar government in energy, transportation, public security, tourism, etc. this project provides services in multiple fields, achieve multiple uses with one shot, and help build smart cities. in september 2019, china mobile hong kong, china mobile guangdong, macau telecom, and guangdong communications industry association jointly established the "greater bay area 5g nagano alliance", which has deepened the coordination of communications technology in the greater bay area and promoted the development of the 5g ecosystem. in december 2019, bank of china united net union clearing co., ltd., unionpay international co., ltd. and macau pass co., ltd. launched a "cross-border wallet" service that facilitates cross-border mobile payments, breaking the barriers of mobile payment in the two places. in april 2020, the macau government issued the "2020 policy address", which specifically pointed out the development plan of creating a "digital macau" through a new generation of information technology, and speeding up the construction of 5g networks, data centers, and digital infrastructure to improve the city. the level of intelligence in management, industrial development, government services, and social governance will promote the construction of smart cities such as smart government affairs, smart customs clearance, smart medical care, smart tourism, and smart transportation. in june 2020, the general office of the ministry of transport, the general office of the people’s government of guangdong province, the general office of the people’s government of guangxi zhuang autonomous region, the general office of the people’s government of guizhou province, and the general office of the people’s government of yunnan province issued the “about the pearl river water transport to the guangdong-hong kong-macau greater bay area” implementation opinions on construction" to promote the construction of smart ports, smart waterways, smart ships and smart maritime affairs in guangdong, hong kong and macau. accelerate the construction of smart port projects, advance the construction of the digital waterway of the xijiang trunk line, advance the research and development and application demonstration of intelligent shipping in guangdong, hong kong and macau, promote the integrated application of beidou navigation system, internet of things, cloud computing, big data and other information technologies in the field of water transportation, and promote the integration of information technology based on the area. research and application of block chain global shipping service network platform. 3. factors affecting the development and application of smart street lights as early as the "macau smart city development strategy and construction of key fields" issued by the macau government, the development of smart cities was divided into five development goals, seven development strategies, 40 nautical miles west of hong kong, macao’s 23.5 sq km of territory comprises the macao peninsula, taipa island and coloane island and is inhabited by about 450,000 people. chen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 13 key areas, and six pilot programs, of which six in the pilot plan, smart streetlamps rank first, which is the primary goal of the macau government to develop smart cities. according to field investigations and records, the current smart streetlamps in macau are only installed at the intersection of avenida da amizade(see figure 1). this section is dotted with office buildings, schools, casinos and hotels of different heights. it is one of the busiest sections of the macau peninsula. figure 1 smart streetlamps in macau (image source: screenshots by cartography and cadastre bureau) figure 2 night lighting of smart streetlamps in macau (image source: zhangshu best news) 3.1 considerations for the deployment in terms of project planning, smart street lamps, as a new type of street lamps, have superior functions and technologies than traditional street lamps, but they also have certain limitations. at present, they cannot completely replace traditional street lamps and can only be used as urban street lamp systems. as a supplement and partial upgrade, the following three issues should be considered when planning and deploying smart streetlamps: 3.2 economic benefits of smart streetlamps the cost of traditional street lamps is low, and the material cost is only about 1,000 yuan. however, because of its high technology content and high equipment integration, the material cost of smart street lamps usually requires more than 100,000 yuan, and the price is dozens or even hundreds of times that of traditional street lamps, and smart street lamps the labor cost for maintenance and repair of precision equipment on the internet is even higher. chen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 therefore, the deployment of smart streetlamps must first weigh the economic viability of the site area after its placement, and can rationally use charging pile charging, billboard advertising rental and other functions and service recovery a certain cost will form an economic closed loop to prevent smart streetlamps from becoming a municipal fiscal "vampire" and "face-saving project"(yusoff, y. m., rosli, r., karnaluddin, m. u., & samad, m,2013). the deployment of smart streetlamps in macau is carried out in phases as planned. the initial goal is to optimize traditional street lights into led street lights and save electric lights. secondly, reasonable overall planning and comprehensive planning, arrangement of smart streetlamps in neighbourhoods with high demand, new town reclamation areas, cotai city and other suitable neighbourhoods, in an optimal way to let citizens and tourists experience the smart city development belt of macau (gassmann, o., böhm, j., & palmié, m. ,2019). 3.3 the authenticity of the urban environment macau has a long history of urban architecture and place culture, and the indigenous people have formed a stable place memory and place image on the site. according to the definition of place intention by american urban planner kevin andrew lynch, places are composed of paths, edges, regions, nodes, and landmarks. urban street lights have formed the role of nodes and landmarks in some places in macau. for example, in macau rotunda de carlos da maia is a landmark of the site, it is not conducive to replace the original street lamp with a smart street lamp, so as to avoid the bias of the collective memory of the city (clark, j. ,2020). 3.4 acceptance of local residents as an emerging product, smart street lamps have occasionally been controversial in news reports in recent years. for example, on august 24, 2019, individual citizens in hong kong destroyed the smart streetlamps outside the corporate plaza in kowloon bay, hong kong because they were worried that smart streetlamps would recognize faces and leak citizens' privacy. the emergence of such a phenomenon not only has local political and cultural factors, but also exposes the generation gap between the government and citizens. therefore, it is necessary to carry out adequate communication with citizens and implement education and popular science before the deployment of smart streetlamps, so that citizens can understand smart streetlamps can have a positive effect on urban development and citizens' lives, avoiding unnecessary panic and suspicion for citizens (houbing, s., ravi, s., tamim, s., & jeschke, s. ,2017). even if it is known from the public information of government departments, the smart streetlamps in macau only collect relevant environmental data and traffic data, and do not involve personal privacy. but there are still many people who are not clear about its data collection. this will depend on further promotion by government departments to the public to explain their doubts. 3.5 demand analysis under the background of the construction of a modern smart city in macau, the promotion of the construction of a world tourism and leisure center and a sino-portuguese trade platform, many urban public facilities in macau need to be updated urgently to meet future needs. at the same time, with the support of the macau sar government, it is combined with the government. for the purpose of use by departments and citizens, the construction of smart streetlamps also has the following six requirements: 3.5.1 boost the popularity of 5g networks on june 29, 2020, the first phase of the macau 5g mobile communication network construction project was completed in june. it is expected that the full coverage of indoor and outdoor 5g signals within macau will be completed by the end of 2021, and the service will be officially launched after the macau sar government issues a 5g license. although macau has built hundreds of 5g base stations so far, due to macau’s topography and urban environment, there are many street curves and steep slopes. the sea area is 85 square kilometers, and the distribution of land and buildings is uneven. covering the construction of 5g networks poses certain challenges, and placing 5g micro base stations on smart streetlamps can speed up its construction. the comprehensive coverage of 5g is the key to the subsequent improvement of smart tourism capabilities(green, b.,2019). chen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 3.5.2 make up for the lack of urban charging piles according to statistics from the bureau of statistics and investigation of the macau special administrative region government (hereinafter referred to as the bureau of statistics), as of april 2020, there are 122,907 registered motorcycles in total macau, accounting for about 20% of the total population. however, according to statistics from the macau cem electric power company, 35 parking lots in australia are equipped with charging stations for trams. each parking station has about 1-9 charging parking spaces, for a total of about 180 charging stations, which is a huge gap with the number of trams. the charging pile interface reserved for smart streetlamps in macau can be used with parking spaces on the street, providing a certain degree of protection for the power supply of electric bicycles and even the future popularization of electric vehicles. 3.5.3 optimize the organization of traffic passenger flow traffic congestion has always been a common social problem in macau. according to statistics from the statistics bureau, in 2014, there were about 240,000 motor vehicles in macau, and the average speed of motor vehicles on macau's main roads was about 12 kilometers per hour. until 2016, there were more than 250,000 motor vehicles in macau, an increase of 10,000 from two years ago, but the length of the road has not increased significantly, and the speed of motor vehicles is slow, which not only affects the driving experience of car owners, but also makes citizens wait for buses. the extended time has caused inconvenience in life. secondly, there are several ground repair projects in macau every year, which not only did not significantly help to improve traffic, but even further deepened the phenomenon of road congestion. the secretary for transport and public works of macau, luo liwen, said frankly about this: "there is no way." (green, b.,2019)macau smart streetlamps collects the implementation status of road conditions through traffic monitoring equipment, and allows car owners and citizens to adjust travel routes and traffic modes according to actual conditions through remote control and information release, to a certain extent alleviate the problem of traffic congestion. 3.5.4 reduce environmental pollution and power waste according to the macau energy development office report in june 2020, most of the roads and public outdoor lighting fixtures in macau currently use high-pressure sodium lamps, about 14,000. the civil affairs department of macau stated that high-pressure sodium lamps consume a lot of energy and have a high failure rate, leading to increased maintenance costs including human resources, time, and parts. compared with the high-pressure sodium lamp, the led lamp of the smart street lamp has higher luminous efficiency and is more energy-saving. in 2013, the civil affairs department of macau completed the improvement project of the lighting in the actual condition of the roads, and installed 50 sets of 4m high 60w led lights. according to the report after the completion of the project, the total power consumption has been reduced by 53% compared with the previous year. in addition, its higher color rendering can make the field of vision clearer, and its longer light-emitting life can reduce the frequency of street lamp maintenance, which can improve driving safety and relieve mental stress on road traffic. at the same time, the led lamp does not contain mercury, so it will not pollute the environment, and the material composition is more environmentally friendly. 3.5.5 create a smart tourism brand image although macau has a history of more than 400 years of cultural convergence between chinese and western cultures, and has left some historical sites, but overall tourism resources are not abundant. in terms of resources, it is not outstanding. at the same time, a single tourism industry relies too much on the controversial gambling industry, which affects the positive development of macau's tourism industry and is likely to form a stereotype of a "gambling city" and a city name card. under the development strategy of smart cities, the development of smart tourism is not only the general trend, but also an opportunity for macau to build a better tourism brand image. liu dingji, a professor at the faculty of business administration of the university of macau, said that smart tourism includes clothing, food, housing, and transportation, but macau still has a long way to go(perry, t. s.,2018). chen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 as the infrastructure and support facilities of a smart city, smart streetlamps can not only carry 5g base stations and drive the development of smart industries, but also provide data support for tourism applications (app) through data collection from various testing equipment, enriching tourists’ experience the usage habits and experience of o2o (online to offline) enhance the convenience of tourists' travel(figure 3). at the same time, the interactive display screen of smart streetlamps can provide a platform for new media. there are more application scenarios in tourism guides, convenience information, cultural and creative products, public service advertisements, etc., and the use of video, pictures, animation, music and other communication media to allow tourists to perceive the city culture of macau, improve the impression of macau city, and create a more diverse city image (macau daily,2019). 3.5.6 improve city data collection capabilities smart applications in smart cities require the support of big data. the secretary for administration and legal affairs of macau, zhang yongchun, stated in the macau legislative council on june 11, 2020 that data is key to a smart city. at present, macau needs to solve the problem of data collection and intercommunication. smart streetlamps contain several data collection equipment, including noise, passenger flow, traffic flow, environment, public security, etc., and under the relatively high density and large number of street lights, it can effectively and accurately collect city data, which is an efficient application of big data. 3.6 smart street lighting equipment analysis in macau the smart light poles in macau combine the needs of multiple departments and the local characteristics of macau. they are both functional and aesthetic. broadly speaking, they have the following features (guangdong rongwen technology group co., ltd ,2020): 1) adopting a "holistic" smart streetlamps design, and the appearance of smart streetlamps that are more in line with the local customs of macau and the image of an international city, thereby enhancing the modern urban landscape of macau (figure 1); figure 3 smart streetlamps in macau (image source: photo by the author) chen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 18 2) a cross-departmental integrated management platform that integrates up to 20 types of smart devices, and can carry 72m/s wind resistance and withstand the strict requirements of subtropical storm surge, supports multiple different business management departments, independent management of equipment, and unified deployment of communication interfaces (see figure 3 ); figure 4 function analysis of smart streetlamps in macau (image source: drawing by the author) chen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 19 3) designed intelligent lighting: adopts ipv6+mesh wireless networking control technology for lighting control, multi-link design and each street lamp is equipped with a single lamp controller, which can realize remote control, lighting on demand, and the overall effect can save 70% of energy , the brightness is increased by 10%, and the management and maintenance cost is saved by 40%; 4) the iot platform that integrates multiple communication methods, integrates 5g and 4g base stations, helps macau to deploy massive and more densely scaled 5g site needs, while avoiding repeated construction and saving investment, it is on the light poles of smart streetlamps mount 5g micro base stations to realize the intensive construction, co-construction and sharing of infrastructure; 5) smart light poles that integrate intelligent traffic and traffic monitoring, and support multiple alarm mechanisms for event linkage, to meet the needs of real-time urban data feedback processing for immediate alarms of abnormal situations and direct warning of major problems; 6) the led weather screen of the macau geophysical and meteorological bureau (smg) is linked with weather sensors to display local weather information to the public in real time. 4. conclusions and recommendations at present, smart streetlamps in macau are still in the experimental application stage for the first time. compared with some mainland cities, they are not the first to be carried out in the guangdong-hong kong-macau greater bay area. therefore, through the development of smart streetlamps, we can see that macau has a certain degree of contribution to the construction of smart cities. in addition, due to the legal division and protection of the historical urban area and the buffer zone of the world cultural heritage in macau, some residential areas in the old urban area have not been able to put smart streetlamps into use, so they are more restricted.in this regard, the research suggests: 1) from the perspective of urban style coordination: for new city reclamation areas, smart streetlamps can be considered for deployment in urban planning and construction to make subsequent urban data detection and management more convenient; and for historical urban areas such as the macau peninsula in larger areas, the application of smart street lights is more difficult. if the original street lights were more modern and have a certain negative effect on the city, you can consider transforming them into smart street lights; for taipa and cotai city, there are more modern buildings and dense traffic. in the area, it is necessary to increase investment in the application of smart street lights to facilitate standardized management of urban traffic and urban crime prevention. at the same time, it should be considered that the appearance of smart street lights when used in different areas is consistent with the urban style of the area or the architectural style of the district, instead of using the same smart street lights in the entire macau sar. 2) from the perspective of sustainable development goals, sdg 13: an international city with an economic boom like macau is also facing the problem of resource consumption and carbon emissions. through the monitoring equipment included in smart street lights, real-time coordination should be carried out on environmental, resource, and energy issues. disaster monitoring from spatial data can provide guidance and warnings for effective disaster reduction in cities. regarding each smart street lamp as a data monitoring point set up in the street, the administrative department can consider further establishing a method model of climate change parameters, data products with clear spatial information, and decision support for climate change response in the background system. references ali, d. n. s. k. p., au, t. w., & suhaili, w. s. 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(2013, september). towards smart street lighting system in malaysia. in 2013 ieee symposium on wireless technology & applications (iswta) (pp. 301-305). ieee.doi:10.1109/iswta.2013.6688792. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/2487166.2487202?casa_token=it4owt8olpcaaaaa%3agwao78_km5fstl9sm7opexpmt8n8bvsyoxu2m_unfz_vj05pgzd3eset7mwnbmy46spjxf2nlvegcnq https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/2487166.2487202?casa_token=it4owt8olpcaaaaa%3agwao78_km5fstl9sm7opexpmt8n8bvsyoxu2m_unfz_vj05pgzd3eset7mwnbmy46spjxf2nlvegcnq https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/doi/10.1108/9781787696136 http://www.rongwenest.com/site/solution-detail?id=2,2020-05-01 http://www.rongwenest.com/site/solution-detail?id=2,2020-05-01 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/aymen-salman-2/publication/332100581_an_adaptive_smart_street_light_system_for_smart_city/links/5c9fd1ca92851cf0aea2b8a3/an-adaptive-smart-street-light-system-for-smart-city.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/aymen-salman-2/publication/332100581_an_adaptive_smart_street_light_system_for_smart_city/links/5c9fd1ca92851cf0aea2b8a3/an-adaptive-smart-street-light-system-for-smart-city.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/aymen-salman-2/publication/332100581_an_adaptive_smart_street_light_system_for_smart_city/links/5c9fd1ca92851cf0aea2b8a3/an-adaptive-smart-street-light-system-for-smart-city.pdf http://www.macaodaily.com/html/2019-10/03/content_1385927.htm http://www.macaodaily.com/html/2019-10/03/content_1385927.htm https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9144848?casa_token=pgzdo8f324eaaaaa:feguem0-xr3mioplnvfnvnplbhkxbszr4cddjmcpchwwgbli1vp9ypjw3arfopjootkc5qerzd5g7gi https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9144848?casa_token=pgzdo8f324eaaaaa:feguem0-xr3mioplnvfnvnplbhkxbszr4cddjmcpchwwgbli1vp9ypjw3arfopjootkc5qerzd5g7gi http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 109 doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i3.681 a model proposed for the prediction of future sustainable residence specifications using analytical network process ayman m. zakaria eraqi1, walid abdul-hady shoura1 1lecturer at architecture department, faculty of fine arts, minia university, egypt. abstract in egypt, people are unable to determine the qualities of appropriate residence that achieves quality and occupant satisfaction, and contributes to sustainability of residential conglomerations. in general, developing countries lack housing information which can be used to enhance quality of residence. also, the methods of assessing and identifying the appropriate criteria for future residence quality remain traditional ones that cannot address the multiple, conflicting, overlapping aspects to reach a good decision. this calls for using the analytical network process (anp), an effective tool for specifying the relative importance of all factors impacting a specific issue for making an appropriate residential decision. in addition, this method provides results for the decision element impacts network within the decision structure; thus contributing to more understanding of the mechanisms and requirements of residence selection. the proposed decision structure comprises a two-level network: main clusters, main elements, and sub-elements included in the demographic characteristics group, the residence criteria group, the demand parameters group, the supply parameters group, the residence specifications group, and the alternatives group which representing, in total, the decision and specifying the percentage needed for each housing level. results of the model showed complete capacity in smoothly addressing complexities and overlapping in the decision structure. the decision structure showed that 52% chose luxury residence, 28% chose middle-class residence, and 19.5% chose the economic residence. mechanisms of decision making were analyzed; particularly in terms of relationship to demographic characteristics and residence specifications. also, the importance and impact of demand / supply parameters in reaching decision were analyzed. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords sustainable residence specifications supply/ demand decision making prediction analytical network process (anp) 1. introduction residence type and nature are crucial in specific lives of individuals at any community; highly impacting the general condition of satisfaction and the quality of life (zebardast, 2009; das, 2008). in egypt, people are unable to determine the qualities of appropriate residence that achieves quality and occupant satisfaction. this is clear in cases of occupants' modifications to residence whether by adding to spaces or canceling some (eraqi, 2016). this is common for all occupant levels; from low-income to luxury housing. regardless of the economic and social development level of a society, it is still essential for meeting human needs, as well as the quality and cost for achieving quality of life to individuals (jiboye d., 2010b). also, satisfaction with http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i3.681&domain=press.ierek.com eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 110 the residence condition is highly related to satisfaction with the residential district condition (das, 2008; eraqi, 2016). residence variables explain largely the variation in satisfaction with life (oswald, wahl, mollenkopf & schilling, 2003). due to domestic variations in the quantitative and qualitative dimenstions of the residence quality concept, it would be difficult to specify one group of criteria and indicators that apply to all regions at all times. contrary to the developed countries, developing countries lack documented housing information in real estate activities to be used effectively in assessing residence quality (rindfuss, piotrowski, thongthai, & prasartkul, 2007). various quality of life indices were developed. (kurian & thampuran, 2011) developed a methodology for assessing residence quality using requirements given by residents. they identified a number of indices such as (location, building design, building materials and technologies, aesthetics, etc.) that contributed to establishing correlation among the type of residence, resident requirements, and their relative weights. this helped in studying the relationship among different factors and indices. also, objective measures were used in the housing quality index to assess physical features, amenities, services, and the environment of the dwelling units (fiadzo, houston & godwin, 2001). yet, these objective measurements were criticized for failing to explain the psychological and social aspects of residence satisfaction (mohit, ibrahim, & rashid, 2010). yet, these methods still depend on simplified measures which do not address the issues of appropriate decision and overlap of parameters needed for reach decision. therefore, the multi-criteria decision analysis (mcda) which can conduct assessment, correlation, and comparison among a huge number of variables to give the optimum alternative (natividade, piantanakulchai & antunes, 2007) is used; one of these is the anp, an analysis method that provides an effective tool for specifying the relative importance of all parameters impacting the identified problem decision/assessment. this paper focuses on predicting the desired residence level, and attempts to recognize the mechanisms and parameters of resident attitudes to determine the specifications of the residence that achieves residence quality and occupant satisfaction to them; as well as the influence of demographic characteristics on the decision in light of different economic conditions, intermingling of parameters impacting demand and supply, and the variation and overlap of decision makers influencing such mechanisms. this makes determining residence specifications complicated if traditional methods are used, and calls for using an analytical method such as the anp. 2. the literature and techniques because the anp gives the best results when the system is fully represented, it is necessary to collect as much of the relevant data as possible to provide a realistic representation of the monitored networks. (saaty, 2016, p. 163). so, we will review the critical information for building a good decision structure. 2.1. parameters impacting the housing system residence sustainability depends largely on achieving occupant satisfaction requirements by the residence (eraqi, 2016). this is reflected in residence appropriateness for requirements of residents, and the quality of its internal and external elements which meet residents' needs and provide them tranquility. all such factors were introduced as indices representing criteria for the quality of residence. such indices should specify priorities of residents (meng & hall, 2006). sustainability is influenced by stability in the housing market system and relevant factors. this requires a universal understanding of surrounding changes and their corresponding impact on the housing market, particularly on residence, to be able to accomplish the state of sustainable residence. the housing market is influenced by the economy, interest rates, true incomes, changes in housing volume, and demand parameters. demand is influenced by a number of factors such as the economic growth which is reflected in people's incomes and, consequently, increased demand. also, unemployment – or even fear of the same – impacts buying residence. interest rates also matter; the more the interest rate on mortgaging, the more the pressure on family income is and, hence, reduced demand, real estate recession, as well as drastic fall of real estate prices as in a previous case in britain. also, consumers trust specify the potential of bearing mortgage risks; when individuals fear price falls they delay purchase decisions. another factor is the availability of mortgaging. the more mortgages are facilitated eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 111 by banks, the more the purchasing power of families and increased demand for real states are. this was globally down with the 2007 mortgage crisis. supply impacts demand. shortage in supply pushes prices high, and vice versa. the capacity for bearing costs is essential in demand; the less the house price to income is, the more demand grows. location is a major factor in determining price of a house; the more excellent is location and its features (near schools, services, railways), the more the value of residence is and the less demand by families becomes (pettinger, 2017). the level of management impacts residence quality assessment (meng & hall, 2006). 2.2. the housing status in egypt egypt signed the international covenant on economic, social, and cultural rights. in its 11th article the covenant states the right of families to adequate housing detailed in seven points: legal security of tenure; affordability; habitability; availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure; accessibility; location, to benefit from all types of services; and cultural adequacy connected with the expression of cultural identity and life styles (escrnet; human rights). the last point is a major reason for the inability to meet family needs, particularly the lowincome who are forced to live in certain styles imposed by the government; such styles do not consider diverse needs, requirements, and lifestyles which express diversity of cultural identity. this is reflected in lack of sustainable residence, and conducting many modifications to residence by users to fit their needs. the housing sector in egypt faces many challenges; particularly in low-income housing, with economic pressures on real estate prices resulting from economic reform decisions and subsequent raises in real estate prices. the central bank of egypt reacted by providing a package of funding incentives to the housing sector at low interest rates to encourage funding housing for low and middle income categories, particularly as the cost of official housing is beyond the reach of most families. yet the level of mortgage funding is still the lowest in the region (1%) (world bank, 2014, p2). the value of mortgaging in egypt is 0.36% of the gdp; much below the global average (60-80%). developing mortgaging for 30 years of interest rates would enable many people to obtain a residence (brg, 2019). the auction policy adopted by the government for land plots led to increasing costs of owning residence and, consequently, less demand (jaap & michael, 2018, p 24). the high level of speculations in egypt leads to increasing real estate prices and, thus, lack of houses at reasonable prices. investment in speculations focused on main locations, city centers, and new residential conglomerations. this led to turning to luxury housing, and reduced supply of low and middle-income houses (hassan, 2019). there is not much data available for measuring the influence of increasing land prices on residence prices in egypt (world bank, 2009). speculations account for 25-30% of real estate transactions in egypt (shawkat, 2015). this is reflected in the residents ’decisions to purchase housing. the slow real estate growth in egypt is attributed to legislative barriers and funding obstacles. also, the current governmental programs cannot be afforded by the low and middle-income categories (brg, 2019). wrong selection of new residential conglomerations locations, being remote from employment opportunities and social facilities without sufficient transportation, contributes to increased vacant units in such areas and looking for informal areas to achieve the proximity required by the income of these families (the world bank 2014, p 3). 2.3. the analytical network process (anp): the anp is a developed version of the mcda. thomas saaty, author of the ahp, proposed the anp to allow for more interaction among complex and interconnected system elements (decision problem), and make relationships and reactions among such elements and, thus, reach a smooth solution for the decision problem (hsu & kuo, 2011). the ahp adopts a multi-level hierarchy for reaching a decision (saaty & vargas, 2006). it is a top-down process. meanwhile, in the anp, feedback is for the elements making the system in different levels of the hierarchy and inside levels in the so called network (eraqi, issa, & elminiawy,2019). decision elements are organized in networks, groups called clusters, and elements called nodes (adams, saaty, & saaty, 2003). the anp allows for interaction and feedback among and within clusters. the first is called outer dependence, whereas the second is called inner dependence. the decision is based on criteria in a hierarchy, and also depends on each other (inner dependence). eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 112 also, criteria depend on other criteria (outer dependence), which make prediction more accurate and capable of addressing complex problems in the human society. (eraqi, issa, & elminiawy, 2016). because problems cannot usually be designed in a hierarchical manner; as they include interaction and dependence among elements in the top hierarchical level with those in the bottom level, and independence of elements is practically rare in the working life; they are represented by a network in the anp instead of the hierarchy and are not organized in levels as is real life situations. also, the one-way relationship in the ahp is replaced by an actionreaction one in the anp; which makes the latter more powerful in decision making (saaty & vargas, 2006). the anp uses the super decision program for performing calculations. it can be used in a simple network of onelevel relationships, or complex networks of two or more levels, starting by the main network, then one or more subnetworks for reaching a decision (eraqi ، issa ، elminiawy ، supporting a decision for informal settlements development using the analytical network process ، 2019). anp adopts pair comparison of decision nodes and clusters of control criteria for obtaining the relative weights. this is done by a 1-9 scale assessment for comparing two nodes, fig (1), (issa, ahmed & ugai, 2014). the consistency ratio (cr) of the pairs comparison matrix must be less than 0.1 to be accepted (satty, 1980). the program results consist of three matrices (saaty r.w., 2016): unweighted super matrix – contains all the local priority vectors of the comparison groups in the network . weighted super matrix – the cluster weights have been multiplied times the local priority vectors in the unweighted supermatrix to make each column stochastic (that is, sum to 1). limit matrix – the weighted super matrix has been raised to powers until it stabilizes that is, all the columns in the matrix have the same values . figure 1. scale assessment for comparing two nodes the computations synthesize command displays the results of the alternatives in three ways: as ideal, normal and raw. smart means using raw numbers if the network has more than one network; use ideal numbers if the network is either a network with a lower level or a network with rankings. (saaty, 2016, p. 105). sabri & yaakup (2008) conducted a comparison to evaluate urban extension. they concluded that anp results are more realistic than ahp. the anp approach was applied in selecting optimum locations, roads, construction planning, and project selection (cheng & li, 2005; bottero & lami , 2010; banar, kose, ozkan, & acar, 2007). it was used in other studies as a tool for making prediction in light of uncertainty (limited data) (banai, 2010). it was used in the quantitative assessment of residential communities urban development and future planning orientation projects (wang, lee & chang, 2010). it was also used in assessing housing quality in ghana (hussey, 2014). further, it was used to establish an indices-system for assessing the construction of sustainable communities (zon, su & wang, 2018). eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 113 3. defining model criteria predicting the characteristics and specifications of a residence required for a target category depends on an intermingled, interrelated, complex set of nodes which – in their interrelation – specify an appropriate residence that achieves sustainability required for future urban conglomerations. such nodes are connected to decision makers, characteristics of target residents, parameters influencing their residence demand, specifications of sustainable residence, and the variables of residence properties. 3.1. demographic features criterion despite residence differences in terms of type, size, and design; measuring occupant satisfaction with residence quality remains connected to demographic features of residents (mohit, ibrahim, & rashid, 2010). this was confirmed by a study conducted by eraqi (2016), as the influence of such characteristics was reflected on all criteria related to resident decisions for identifying urban development priorities; age, income, education, and tenure status impact quality assessment (ibem, 2012). also, the social status and household composition impact residence quality assessment (spain, 1990). the cultural background, family level, and ethnic/tribal origins impact residence quality assessment, too (meng & hall, 2006; mohit, ibrahim, & rashid, 2010). criteria of residence quality vary from urban to rural areas, and rich and poor districts. hence, the spatial pattern and demographic characteristics are essential parameters in selecting the optimum alternative for a sustainable residence that meets satisfaction and quality desired by occupants. 3.2. the criterion of residence residence quality indicators can be merged in four main criteria: (hussey, 2014, p 30) the economic criterion: this criterion examines the income-rent relationship (jiboye d.a., 2010 a); and the residence cost burden, and residence value and uniqueness (hussey, 2014); and access to work and affordability (kutty, 1999). the social criterion: this criterion includes the degree of crowdedness (jiboye d. a., 2010a); the cultural level (meng & hall, 2006); housing & room intensity (kutty, 1999); tenure (hussey, 2014), the level of privacy (jiboye a. d., 2007); and residents' homogeneity (eraqi, 2016). the physical criterion: this one focuses on physical sustainability, such as integrity of residence (design, appearance, equipment) (jiboye d. a., 2010a); structural adequacy: infrastructures (internal facilities and residence services) such as water, electricity, solid/liquid waste treatment. the criterion includes sustainability of building design (the number of floors, integrity of building elements such as wall/floor materials (hussey, 2014); the type and security of the district, and the level of public facilities and public services provided (kutty, 1999); residence features (number of rooms, kitchen size, room area, natural ventilation/daylighting) (amao, 2010). the environmental criterion: this one reflects the environmental quality of the district such as location, utilities (transportation, children playgrounds, educational and health facilities) (ibem, 2012), access to services (schools, markets ….etc.); the external environment of the residence, landscaping, and uniqueness of the district (amao, 2010). 4. criteria of controlling the housing market mechanisms of selecting specifications of the appropriate residence, of a housing project, are controlled tools of supply and demand that regulate the housing market in general. supply is linked generally to impacts beyond residents' control extent, whereas demand represents the power of residents to deal with the offered housing projects. supply and demand cluster nodes can be referred to as follows: 4.1. parameters influencing demand demand is affected by the poor selection of the new residential blocks that are far away from job opportunities and social facilities (the world bank, 2014, p. 3). the low income and the inability to afford the costs of borrowing lead to decreased demand for the housing sector (pettinger, 2017; wolrd bank, 2014). eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 114 demand in the housing market is affected also by changes of the size of housing and the ratio of the supply, ratio of unemployment, rate of mortgage interest; the customers' trust, and location characteristics that increase demand and the price of the residence (pettinger, 2017). 4.2. parameters influencing supply supply in the housing sector is influenced by the economic conditions and the stresses (the world bank, 2014, p2). the wrong housing policies can lead to low demand which is reflected in decreased supply. rates of speculations affect the housing supply and patterns. orientations of the real estate investment influence the housing production (hassan, 2019). moreover, supply also is affected by the legislative barriers and funding obstacles (brg, 2019). 5. developing the proposed model and selecting criteria the proposed model has been developed using the technique of network analysis process (anp). the research background revealed that there are many correlations between parameters of decision and the intermingling and overlapping of effects. the model consists of three phases. the first phase represents the targeted sample, its characteristics, and decisions weights related to the same. the second phase represents control and decision influencing parameters; and the third phase represents the decision and characteristics of the future residence. the brainstorming strategy has been used as an acknowledged scientific approach to extract and authenticate information (issa, ahmed, & ugai, 2014; alwetaishi, gadi, & issa, 2017). the held sessions of brain storming consisted of a group of five experts in the sector of housing; three of them are academic and two members are real estate developers. a proposal of criteria was presented according to what has been identified in the research background. a structure, of the network of correlations between the nodes and clusters in the main network of the structure of decision and the sub-networks, was introduced. after three sessions, experts confirmed some nodes in the main and subnetwork, and excluded some other poor nodes as to reduce number of comparisons in the proposed model to reduce the size of the evaluating questionnaire by populations or experts. after approving the proposed model of the decision structure that consisted of a two-level complex network; main and sub-networks, clusters and nodes that will be assessed by the experts and others will be evaluated by the residents have been determined, fig (2). evaluations were done through questionnaires. a random sample; consisting of 200 targeted populations; in new minia city, evaluated nodes of (parameters influencing the demand), (residence criteria) and (residence specifications) according to the correlation method shown in the fig (2). ten experts assessed the correlation between the clusters of (influencing demand) and (influencing supply), as they are the most specialized and informed of the complexities of correlation between the nodes of the two clusters. the structure of the model can be illustrated as follows, fig (2): clusters of the targeted sample: consisting of two clusters: • cluster of (demographical characteristics): pairs of nodes of this cluster are compared to the nodes of (parameters influencing demand), (residence criteria) and (residence specifications) and (outer dependence). this cluster consists of the following nodes: age category, educational level, income level, ethnic origins, and household composition. this cluster correlates to (inner dependence). each node includes sub-networks to compare pairs of the subsidiary nodes, and influencing parameters recognized by experts. these influencing parameters are: affordability, the residential quality, and the residential satisfaction; to evaluate the contribution of the subnodes in determining the relative weight of the main nodes of the cluster, that plays a role in the final decision of selecting the alternative. • cluster of (residence criteria): it represents some criteria identified by the experts, related to the residential quality, and the residential satisfaction, pairs of nodes of this cluster was compared to the nodes of (parameters influencing the demand), with a feedback. pairs of nodes of this cluster were compared to the nodes of (residence specifications) and (parameters influencing the demand). this cluster consists of main nodes: social characteristics, economic characteristics, environmental characteristics, and physical characteristics. each node includes a subnetowrk representing the subsidiary nodes that determine the relative weights of the main nodes of the cluster that plays a role in the final decision of selecting the alternative. comparison is done between the sub-nodes with inner dependence. eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 115 clusters of decision control: these are criteria controlling and affecting the orientation of decisions. this cluster includes (parameters influencing demand) and (parameters influencing supply). pairs of nodes of each cluster were compared with internal dependence. pairs of nodes of the two clusters are compared with a feedback to assess the role of each node of the clusters in the final decision. pairs of nodes of this cluster are compared to the nodes of residence specifications as (outer dependence). this cluster includes the following two clusters: • (parameters influencing demand) cluster: it consists of five nodes: affordability, the interest rate, the uniqueness of the residence, the customers' trust, and characteristics of the district. • -(parameters influencing the demand) cluster: it consists of five nodes : legislations, economic changes, political changes, real estate investment, and speculation. clusters of making decisions: it includes two clusters through which a decision can be made: the (residential specifications) cluster and (the alternatives) cluster that represents the required ratio of each housing level according to the impact of the higher levels on the decision structure. these subclusters are as follows: • the residence specifications cluster: it represents the required specifications of the residence. pairs of nodes of the cluster are compared to the cluster of (the alternatives) with a feedback. each node includes a subnetwork to compare pairs of the subnodes to influencing parameters identified earlier by the experts according to the fig (2). this cluster consists of four major nodes: the nature of the residence, the nature of the community, the area of the unit, the residential-unit floor. table 1. clusters, nodes and subnodes of decision structure criteria of controlling the subnetwork sub-nodes nodes cluster residence quality affordability residential satisfaction urban origins ethnic origins demographical characteristics rural origins bedouin origins nuclear family family pattern extended family compound family high educational level medium no qualifications <2000 income categories 20005000 500115000 >15000 2035 age category 3650 >50 eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 116 table 1 continued internal feedback district type physical characteristics residence criteria residence properties residence integrity building sustainability district security structural efficacy residence uniqueness economic characteristics residence burden access to work tenure type social characteristics residence intensity privacy homogeneity access to services environmental characteristics district location landscaping district uniqueness external environment district properties parameters influencing demand consumers' trust location uniqueness affordability interest rates real estate speculation parameters influencing supply political changes economic changes legislations real estate investment eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 117 table 1 continued ethnic origins affordability independent residence residence nature residence specifications mixed residence (in a building) family residence gated community community nature new community (new cities) traditional community (existing) > 100 m2 residence area 100-120 m2 121-150 m2 > 150 m2 ethnic origins – age category ground floor residence floor first floor second floor third floor + 3rd floor figure 2: the proposed decision structure influencing demand demographical characteristics influencing supply residence criteria residence specifications the alternatives outer dependence feedback expert evaluation sample evaluation outer dependence o u te r d ep en d en ce outer dependence inner dependence inner dependence feedback eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 118 6. results results of pairs comparison normalized by cluster that 52.38% preferred luxury residences, whereas 28.02 chose middle-income residences, and 19.58% chose economic residences, table (2). table 2. results of decision structure alternatives name normalized by cluster limiting economic residence 0.19589 0.026517 luxury residence 0.52389 0.070919 middle-income residence 0.28022 0.037933 result analysis in weight supermatrix shows that priority in economic residence specifications was given to floor (53.96%), followed by residence nature (25%), community nature (14.28%), and area (10.94%). the priority of residence specifications in luxury residence was given to area (58.15%), followed by community nature (57.14%), floor (16.34%), and the nature of residence (5%). priority in middle-income residence was given to area (30.9%), followed by floor (29.69%), community nature (28.57%), and residence nature (25%), table) 3(. table 3. priorities of residence specifications for each residential level floor community nature residence nature area r es id en ce l ev el economic 0.539615 0.142857 0.25 0.109452 luxury 0.163424 0.571429 0.5 0.581552 middle 0.296961 0.285714 0.25 0.308996 table 4. priorities of decision nodes in the proposed model name normalized by cluster limiting interest rate 0.20409 0.061855 affordability 0.22602 0.068503 location uniqueness 0.18322 0.055531 consumers' trust 0.14021 0.042495 district properties 0.24646 0.074697 real estate investment 0.18675 0.058209 legislations 0.17548 0.054698 economic changes 0.27727 0.086424 political changes 0.19821 0.061782 real estate speculation 0.1623 0.050588 social characteristics 0.15402 0.020455 eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 119 table 4 continued economic characteristics 0.24869 0.033027 environmental characteristics 0.26724 0.035491 physical characteristics 0.33005 0.043833 residence floor 0.07202 0.008429 community nature 0.50033 0.058561 residence nature 0.27567 0.032266 residence area 0.15198 0.017788 as for nodes priority, the highest impact was for economic changes (8.64%), followed by district characteristics (7.46%), affordability (6.85%), interest rate (6.18%), political changes (6.17%), and community nature (5.85%). the lowest impact was for area (1.7%), followed by social characteristics (2.04%), and residence nature (3.22%). table (4) adding limited priorities of cluster nodes to identify the relative weights of cluster in the decision structure shows that the biggest weight was given to residence criteria (quality of residence) (52.73%), followed by supply parameters (31.17%), demand parameters (30.30%), and residence specifications (11.70%). table (5) as for nods priorities normalized by cluster, it can be seen that the highest impact within the residence criteria cluster was for physical characteristics (33%), with the least being social characteristics (15.40%). in supply parameters, the highest impact was for economic changes (27.27%), with the least being real estate speculation (16.23%). in the residence specifications cluster, the highest impact was for community nature, with the least being residence floor (7.20%). table (4) table 5. priorities of cluster cluster periorities2 name limiting residence criteria 0.527303 demand parameters 0.303.81 supply parameters 0.311701 residence specifications 0.117044 fig (3) shows the relationship among relative weights of nodes impacting residence specifications. results show that the highest impact over community nature is location uniqueness (0.148), followed by district properties (0.139), and interest rates (0.126). the least impact was for household composition (0.615), followed by age (0.543). as for the nature of residence, the highest impacting nodes are: consumers' trust (0.803), followed by education (0.787), and ethnic origins (0.769). the lowest were age and economic properties; 0.313 and 0.477, respectively. as for residence area, the highest impacting nodes were: household composition (0.615), followed by location uniqueness (0.492), and income and economic characteristics (0.477). the least were ethnic origins and age; 0.174 and 0.167, respectively. as for residence floor, the highest impacting nodes were: age (0.965), followed by consumers' trust (0.401), and ethnic origin (0.285). the least were location uniqueness and social characteristics with zero for both. eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 120 figure 3. relationship among relative weights of nodes impacting residence specifications fig (4) shows the results of the pairs comparison between the demand and supply nodes. comparison reveals that the highest influencing parameter on interest value is economic changes, whereas the least is real estate speculation. the highest parameter influencing real estate investment is affordability and the least is legislations. location uniqueness is highly influenced by speculation, and is least influenced by economic changes. the highest parameter in consumers' trust is legislations and the least is speculation. district properties are highly influenced by speculation, and least influenced by political changes. figure 4. the results of the pairs comparison between the demand and supply nodes 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 residence floor community nature residence nature residence area 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 real estate investment legislations economic changes political changes real estate speculation interest rates affordability location uniqueness consumers' trust district properties eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 121 6.1. results of relevant subnetworks as for the subnetworks, it can be seen that for the overall synthesized priorities for alternative, using normal results, priorities of sub-nods of residence nature were: family residence (0.14), followed by independent residence (0.11), and mixed residence (0.034). as for community nature the priorities were: gated community (0.25), followed by the new community (0.13), and the traditional community (0.035). as for residence floor, priorities were: higher than 3rd floor (0.037), and the ground floor (0.032), with the least being the first floor (0.019). as for residence area, priorities were as follows: <100 m2 (0.077), with the least being >150 m2 (0.006). fig (5) figure 5. the overall synthesized priorities for alternatives subnetworks results for demographic characteristics show that the highest impact of residence satisfaction , within each main nods, was for without qualification people and extended families, age <50, income <15000, and rural origins. as for affordability, the highest impact was for the without qualification, nucleus families, age 20-35, income >2000, and rural origins. as for residence quality, the highest impact was for high qualification, compound families, age < 50, income < 15000, and urban origins. fig (6) 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 independent residence mixed residence family residence gated community new community traditional community higher floor third floor second floor first floor ground floor >150 m2 <100 m2 120-150 m2 100-120 m2 raw normals ideals eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 122 figure 6. subnetworks results for demographic characteristics fig (7) shows sub-results for each node of the residence criteria cluster. the highest in social haracteristics is tenure type, whereas the lowest is homogeneity. the highest in economic characteristics is residence burden, whereas the least is access to work. as for the environmental characteristics, the highest is access to services, whereas the least is landscaping. as for physical characteristics, the highest was district type, whereas the lowest was residence integrity. in this paper, the model validity was checked for ensuring accuracy of results in two ways. the first adopts logical connections among model structures nodes based on data, research backgrounds, and expert help in specifying structure nodes and parameters. the second test was two five-expert sessions for discussing and analyzing model results and checking the validity and logic of results. experts agreed that results are representative and logical in sequence and interconnection in mean results up to final results. 7. discussion and conclusions results showed capacity of the model to give clear results for residence alternatives, with the required percentage for each alternative. this was done in a manner that does not rely on direct alternative assessment by targeted individuals. rather, it was done by connecting them to variables controlling/influencing the percentage of such decision. also, participation by experts in some decision structure phases and levels, which need cumulative experiences, affected balance of final model results. model construction by linking decision making complexities and overlaps affected the ability to analyze results at all levels and increasing knowledge of demographic properties impacts in residents' selection of nodes within decision cluster as a whole or even their deep impacts on relative weights of prioritizing residence quality, satisfaction, or affordability as influencing parameters selected from the demographic characteristics cluster, in decision making at the higher levels up to selecting the desired residence. also, the relationship among decision control clusters was analyzed for more knowledge of external effects on the housing market. although results cannot be generalized to the small sample size and randomized selection, they represent a successful testing of the model efficacy and credibility. 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 residential satisfaction affordability residence quality eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 123 figure 7. sub-results for each node of the residence criteria cluster final results showed that the majority of subjects selected luxury residence. this can be attributed to the high-income of most sample individuals, as confirmed by results analysis of network nodes. it was reflected, as in fig (5), in a significant increase of the relative weight of enclosed community under the community nature node. it was accompanied by an increase in the relative weight of family and independent residence, as well as +3rd /ground floor; usually the closest to high-income selections. it was even at the cost of area; by selecting the highest area as <100m2, followed by 100-120m2, at the cost of >150m2 which is supposed to be the most wanted by luxury level. this means that many luxury residence seekers turned to less areas to maintain luxury for a price they can afford for the desired residence. analysis of decision nodes priorities within the model structure for selecting an alternative, table (4), shows that the highest impacting are economic changes, followed by affordability, interest rate, political changes, and real estate investment. this is seen from the relative weights of nodes considered by the model as model structure controlling 0.074505 0.211011 0.129053 0.070647 0.234159 0.280626 0.088054 0.123799 0.067559 0.117177 0.316885 0.1958 0.310814 0.493386 0.169156 0.204609 0.287924 0.338312 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 building sustainability structural efficacy district security residence integrity residence properties district type external environment district uniqueness landscaping district location access to services access to work residence uniqueness residence burden homogeneity privacy residence intensity tenure type p h ys ic al c h ar ac te ri st ic s en vi ro n m en ta l c h ar ac te ri st ic s ec o n o m ic c h ar ac te ri st ic s so ci al c h ar ac te ri st ic s eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 124 criteria for selecting the alternative; as such nodes are in the demand and supply clusters. this, again, confirms success of the model structure and nodes interconnecting network. analyzing the demographic characteristics results and their correlation with other results, fig (6), it is found that affordability was the least influential for people from urban origins and those with <15000 income, <50 years old; who are supposed to have saved some money and have more money, extended families of more than two generations and higher economic condition, and university graduates who occupy positions that provide relatively stable financial status. these results conform to reduced interest of these clusters with the affordability node, and their focus on the other two nodes – residence quality and residential satisfaction – which express more affluence. this is confirmed by an opposing result of the increased impact of affordability for people with rural origins, people with <2000 l.e. income, youth between 20 and 35 who have less savings and job stability, nucleus families with reduced financial capabilities, the low-educated, and irregular workers. such categories focus mainly on residence satisfaction in return for much less interest in residence quality which would increase cost. analyzing the impact of nodes of this cluster on residence selection specifications, fig (3) , it can be seen that age impacts floor selection with less impact in other specifications. this is logical, as the elderly select lower floors in general to enjoy proximity to gardens or due to their health conditions. the education node focuses more on the nature of community and the nature of residence due to lifestyle and its social, cultural, and cognitive interconnections. income is obviously important in selecting the nature of community, with much less impact in selecting the nature of residence which is clearly more impacted by ethnic origins that focus equally on the nature of community. household composition had the largest impact in selecting residence area, as a result of household pattern impact on area. upon moving to analysis of residence criteria cluster, the highest cluster in decision structure according to relative weights of cluster in the structure, table (4) shows – in the subnetwork of social characteristics – that privacy and social homogeneity did not have the highest impact, perhaps because the majority of sample individuals selected luxury residence in which the importance of such parameters diminishes relatively. this was accompanied by a clear priority given to tenure type. in the subnetwork, economic characteristics, residence burden had the highest weight. the lowest weight was given to access to work, perhaps due to high level of most of the sample individuals who can have a car to go easily to work – especially that the sample was selected in a new urban community. access to district services and facilities had the highest impact in environmental characteristics; a result conforming to reality. meanwhile, district location and district uniqueness came second in importance; being a major parameter – according to research background – in maintaining value of the residence commodity, which is considered according to the egyptian style of real estate saving a method for increasing the value of savings. in terms of physical characteristics, the type of district had the highest impact, followed by residence features, and structural efficacy. this, too, confirms the above mentioned principle of achieving a safe economic residence value in addition to the required welfare. in general, the impact of cluster nodes on selecting residence specification, fig (3), shows that social and physical characteristics had the highest influence in community nature selection, the environmental characteristics had the highest influence in selecting the nature of residence, and the economic characteristics had the highest impact in determining residence area. as for the analysis of decision control criteria, fig (4), the demand cluster and the supply cluster, for which experts assessed node pairs, it can be seen that economic and political changes were the most influential on interest; being reflected on target groups ability to meet the requirements of buying residence with the help of mortgage. meanwhile, legislations were the most influential in consumers' trust for spending their savings on purchasing a residence; perhaps due to legislative fluctuations accompanying political and economic turbulences in lasting for some time in egypt and the corresponding changes of interest rates or residence purchase burdens such as real estate taxes, etc. also, it was found that affordability is largely influenced by the size of economic investment and real estate speculation. increasing the former leads to abundance in supply; thus reducing prices and raising the purchasing power of residents. meanwhile, increasing speculation leads to the contrary; increasing real estate prices, followed by reduced purchasing power of residents. also, results show that real estate speculation had a significant impact in selecting district properties and location uniqueness as developers interest in speculation is much higher when district properties and location uniqueness are higher; increasing the value of residence in a district and impacting the purchasing power eraqi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 125 negatively and positively, as well as the purpose of purchasing – use or investment as is common in the egyptian real estate market. analysis of the supply cluster nodes impact (the model did not specify direct correlation for pairs comparison among the nodes of demand impact and residence specifications clusters) on selecting residence specification, fig (3), shows that district properties, location uniqueness, interest rates, and affordability are the highest impacting selection of district nature; in decision structure in general or within the cluster. this confirms, as previously indicated, the strength of the cluster in specifying the alternative in the decision structure. also, consumers' trust had a high impact on determining the nature of residence, both in decision structure or within the cluster. meanwhile, location uniqueness was the highest 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(2018). research on the hybrid anp-fce approach of urban community sustainable construction problem. research article, 2018, 10. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v1i1.33 challenges to the multi-functional uses and multifarious benefits of urban green spaces: basis of urban biodiversity planning and management in the city of manila, philippines leonora gonzales1, dina magnaye2 1technical adviser and consultant, department of environment and natural resources,visayas avenue, quezon city, philippines 2assistant professor, school of urban and regional planning, university of the philippines, diliman, quezon city, philippines and affiliate assistant professor, university of the philippines open university, los banos, laguna, philippines abstract urbanization is a global phenomenon which is projected by the united nations to grow annually at 65 million between 2000 and 2030 in developing countries. as an archipelagic nation, the philippines is considered to be a highly urbanized nation where over three-fourths of its population is estimated to reside in urban areas, posting a proportion of one person residing in rural areas for every three in urban areas. the national capital region (ncr), the core region of the country, registers a 100% urbanization level, and it is where the most densely populated areas converge. it generally exhibits an urban population growth rate that exceeds the national growth rate. manila, the capital city of the philippines, is the second largest and the world’s most densely populated city given its small land area and huge human population. the concentration of people in this city and the urbanization processes are foreseen to create environmental stress leading to potential biodiversity losses coupled with other urban environmental occurrences such as flooding, air pollution, sea level rise, earthquakes, subsidence, traffic congestion, water pollution, among others. these natural and man-made hazards pose a challenge to the multifunctional uses and various benefits of urban green spaces (ugs). ugs play a significant role in enhancing the quality and resiliency of the environment as well as in improving the health and general well-being of city dwellers. it is in this context that the challenges and opportunities of ugs are examined. this paper attempts to identify and determine the factors that influence ugs as a basis for urban biodiversity planning and management. © 2018 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords urban biodiversity; urban green space; green space; urban biodiversity planning and management; urbanization; urban ecosystem pg. 69 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v1i1.33&domain=press.ierek.com gonzales / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 1. introduction urbanization becomes a worldwide phenomenon and cannot be easily disentangled with industrialization. the 2015 revision of the world population prospects of the united nations (un) projects that the annual expansion of urban population in developing countries will reach more than 65 million between 2000 and 2030. it is worth noting that developing countries started to urbanize at calamitous rate with urban population growth of 188 percent between 1950 and 1975 (annez & buckley, n.d.). the rapid increase in population will create pressure to the utilization of human and natural resources, given hard competition among highly productive economic activities. as a consequence, urbanization catalyzes the growth of cities and at the same time diminishes biodiversity as evidenced by degradation or loss of the natural habitats of plants and animals and scarcity or endangerment of species. the article 2 of the convention on biological diversity (cbd) refers to biodiversity as the “variability among living organisms from all sources, including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and ecosystems” (un, 1992). likewise, the philippine biodiversity strategy and action plan (pbsap) defines biodiversity as the “variety and variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which said organisms occur” (”department of environment and natural resources”, 2016) and is usually considered at three levels: genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. biodiversity also refers to all species of plants, animals and microorganisms existing and interacting within an ecosystem (altieri, 1999). the united nations environmental program (unep) also characterizes biodiversity as the variety of life on earth. it includes all organisms, species, and populations; the genetic variation among these; and their complex assemblages of communities and ecosystems (benn, 2010). fundamentally, there is a positive interconnection between increasing urbanization and a decline in biodiversity (hardman, 2011). the former is considered to be one of the most important predictors of biodiversity loss (czech, krausman, & devers, 2000; davis, 2013). other main causes of biodiversity loss include changes in ecosystem composition, presence of invasive alien species, over exploitation of species, pollution, and contamination as well as global climate change. biodiversity is not so simply defined in urban contexts, particularly in the philippines (”department of environment and natural resources”, 2014). the fifth national report of the philippine to the convention on biological diversity (cbd) underscored that during the national consultation for the pbsap in november 2013, the scope of biodiversity in the city is not as clearly defined as biodiversity in non-urban areas. there is hardly any literature about biodiversity that tackles urban localities. according to the report to the secretariat of the convention on biological diversity (2012), “the inattention to urban biodiversity may partly be shaped by the visible lack of habitable spaces in the city for plant and animal species to thrive. furthermore, the report cited that “biologically dead rivers, impermeable open spaces and polluted storm water canals are but a few reasons why cities are inhospitable to biodiversity.” the highly urbanized character of the philippines given an urban population, which is steeply growing from 48.6 percent in 1990 to 48.9 percent in 2010 (”asian development bank”, 2014), and with almost two-thirds of the population projected to live in urban areas by 2030 (”department of environment and natural resources”, 2014) merit the formulation of the pbsap that incorporates urban biodiversity. it is anticipated that biodiversity loss will be greatly felt in urban areas and its fringes where people are abound. urban biodiversity planning and management becomes essential in the light of the many potential negative consequences of biodiversity loss brought about by a multitude of human activities. 2. attributes and importance of urban biodiversity urban biodiversity is the variety and richness of living organisms (including genetic variation) and habitat diversity found in and on the edge of human settlement, and ranges from the rural fringe to the urban core (”secretariat of the convention on biological diversity”, 2012). furthermore, the cbd secretariat characterizes urban biodiversity to pg. 70 gonzales / environmental science and sustainable development, essd consist of the remnants of natural landscapes (e.g. leftovers of primeval forests); traditional agricultural landscapes (e.g. meadows, areas of arable land); and urban–industrial landscapes (e.g. city centers, residential areas, industrial parks, railway areas, formal parks and gardens, and brownfields). there are three main attributes of biodiversity, namely composition, structure and functions which are described by vold and buffet (2000) as follows: “a) composition wherein the identity and variety of an ecological system, which is measured in terms of species, richness, and diversity; b) structure, which refers to the physical organization or pattern of a system extending from habitat complexity to the pattern of habitats or patches and other elements from the perspective of a landscape; and c) functions, which describe the results of one or more ecological and evolutionary processes in addition to a biotic processes, such as soil development and hydro logical cycles.” these primary attributes of biodiversity are evident in an urban ecosystem and define the importance of protecting and preserving urban biodiversity. animal and plant species provide humans with food and all their basic needs (vold and buffett, 2000). in particular, forests and the terrestrial ecosystems provide environmental goods (i.e. food, fresh water, fuel, fiber); regulating services (i.e. climate regulation, flood regulation, disease regulation, water purification); supporting services (i.e. nutrient cycling, soil formation); and cultural services (i.e. aesthetic, spiritual, educational, recreational) (”united nations environmental program”, 2008). 2.1. relating biodiversity with the urban ecosystem urban ecosystems have usually been examined in terms of their impact on biodiversity, and they significantly affect adjacent ecosystems (savard, clergeau, & mennechez, 2000). this offers valuable lessons by applying biodiversity concepts and principles to the urban ecosystem. the 2012 cities and biodiversity outlook (cbo) points to three major classifications of biodiversity concerns related to urban ecosystem. these include: a) those related to the impact of the city itself on adjacent ecosystems; b) those dealing with how to maximize biodiversity within the urban ecosystem, and c) those related to the management of undesirable species within the ecosystem (savard, clergeau, & mennechez, 2000). while species’ diversity and abundance are often related to the quality of urban life, the overabundance of some species can be at times undesirable (adams, 1994), (middleton, 1994). urban ecosystems tend to be characterized by unnatural or artificial ecosystems (savard, clergeau, & mennechez, 2000) but the application of biodiversity concepts may lead to important management of natural ecosystems. urban development creates opportunities for the introduction of non-native or exotic species, which lead to the extinction and elimination of a large majority of native species (vale & vale, 1976; luniak, 1994; kowarik, 1995). in addition, urbanization continues to be regarded as more lasting than any other types of habitat loss (mckinney, 2002). this constitutes a replacement that “threatens to reduce the biological uniqueness of local ecosystems” (blair, 2001). this forms another conservation challenge to urban growth. according to czech et al., (2000) urbanization endangers more species and is more geographically ubiquitous in the mainland united states that any other human activity. species threatened by urbanization also tend to be threatened by agriculture, recreation, roads, and many other human impacts, emphasizing the uniquely far-reaching transformations that accompany urban sprawl (mckinney, 2002). savard, clergeau, and mennechez (2000) added that habitat fragmentation can be extreme within urban ecosystems. in a park, shrubs abundance and distribution will influence the presence and abundance of bird species nesting in shrubs whereas park distribution, size, and abundance in a city will affect bird diversity (savard, clergeau, & mennechez, 2000). 2.2. examining the role of urban green space in urban biodiversity ugs include domestic gardens, parks and, woodlands and provide a multitude of benefits to human urban population, as well as a vital habitat for wildlife (”a brief guide to the benefits of urban green spaces”, 2015). green pg. 71 gonzales / environmental science and sustainable development, essd space also refers to turf-related surfaces as residential lawns, commercial or institutional turf surfaces, and public facilities, such as parks and playing fields (heinze, 2011). in his research, heinze identifies the environmental and human health benefits of green space as presented in the matrix below: environmental and human health benefits of green spaces. table 1. source of basic data: heinze (2011) type of benefit contribution to environmental and human health environmental benefits erosion control and run-off prevention stabilizes and protects the soil against water and wind erosion. water purification absorbs rainfall and also traps as well as removes pollutants, which are broken down by the root system and soil microbes. air purification purifies and traps more than 12 million tons of dust, soil and other particulate matter. important in urban areas due to the high incidence of asthma and other breathing disorders. temperature modification/energy and cost saving reduces air conditioning costs, potentially saving $6.3 billion (u.s., 2005). . . despite the projected effects of climate change, addition of 10% green space in high density urban areas will allow cities to maintain current summer temperature levels (and thus current summer utility costs) for the next 70 years (up to 2080). oxygen generation a 50 by 50 foot green space releases enough oxygen for a family of four on a daily basis, an average 18hole golf course release enough oxygen for 4,000 to 7,000 people and green space along the u.s. interstate highway system releases enough oxygen for 22 million people. carbon sequestration sequesters carbon from the atmosphere. health benefits recreation provides ideal surfaces for a variety of recreational and sports activity and high use activities including parks and playgrounds. increased physical activity/reducing obesity allows more active physical activity and reduces risk of obesity. healthcare/stress reduction karuppannan et al. (2014) emphasized that ugs plays an important role in enhancing the quality of the environment, especially for urban biodiversity. they also cited that “there is a strong relationship between green open space, peoples’ mental and physical well-being and presence of biodiversity and wildlife habitats within established built environments.” he added that “ugs and biodiversity are crucial to sustainable cities because it involves social, economic and environmental issues and if managed properly, they result in ecological benefits for its inhabitants.” pg. 72 gonzales / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3. urban biodiversity in the local context: manila city as a representative case study manila city is a highly-urbanized city of the philippines. the concentration of people in this city and the urbanization processes obtaining therein affect not only the terrestrial but also other ecosystems primarily due to the pressing demands for resources and the wastes generated. the unplanned growth of the city alongside the looming threats of climate change have resulted in perennial flooding in the city of manila. in terms of ugs, manila city boasts of a network of parks and green spaces embodied in the 2005-2020 manila comprehensive land use plan and zoning ordinance (mclupzo). the “city beautiful movement” was one of the five plan hi-lights of the said document during the previous local dispensation. it consisted of sub plans on “city imageability”, open space network plan, among others. however, these plans are held in abeyance pending the revision of the 2006 comprehensive land use plan (clup). the city of manila was on the drawing board of daniel burnham when he introduced city planning in the country together with baguio city. however, the concept revolved around aesthetics and landscape more than urban biodiversity consideration. urban human settlements design and development looks at open spaces as a soft, non-structural engineering intervention to address resiliency. the existing network of more than 50 parks, plazas, and monuments around the city affords an opportunity for promoting urban biodiversity with proper planning, development and management of ugs towards conservation management. 3.1. urban green space inventory as a supply determinant of urban biodiversity the supply of ugs can be analyzed through urban green space inventory (ugsi). this approach involves the gathering of ugs baseline data to include, but not limited to, general information, biophysical characteristics, ecological terrain, institutional landscape and financial arrangements with the use of spatial and mapping tools, such as the global positioning system (gps) and ground validation. figure 1. urban green space inventory as a supply determinant of urban biodiversity pg. 73 gonzales / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the study involved the conduct of ugsi to provide a clear and accurate understanding of the current “biodiversity stock” in a given area. a quick survey and collection of information of the kind of plant species found in an existing and potential biodiversity station generated the needed information and identified the level of biodiversity in terms of species richness and diversity. such data was utilized in assessing the area’s potential as a part of the hierarchy and network of biodiversity stations in promoting connectivity as input to biodiversity, planning, and management. the ugsi performed in the study covered the determination of the extent of vegetative cover, impervious areas, land use compatibility, and other biophysical and ecological, as well as institutional and financial mechanisms that would make urban biodiversity stations sustainable. a survey instrument was designed in consultation with subject matter experts in key informant interviews (i.e., key resource persons from the scientific community, academe, national government agencies, non-government organizations (ngos), and the local government units). the instrument was presented to two focus group discussions and pretested prior to the conduct of the inventory. actual ground verification of the data generated was also undertaken. this constituted the flora assessment of the vegetative cover of the parks more accurately indicating the species (whether endemic, native or indigenous, introduced and “naturalized” or exotic) present in the area. this was a step forward in analyzing the potential of a given area as an urban biodiversity station, which is characterized by substantial vegetative cover, high level or presence of native and indigenous species, with relatively bigger space made of impervious materials and enough to sustain connectivity of species. 3.2. prevailing conditions of the urban green spaces in manila city 3.2.1. scope of urban green space inventory two districts in manila city were selected namely: district 1 and district 5 (fig. 1). district 1 became the focus of a slum upgrading project in the 1970s under the world bank, while district 5 is considered to be the biggest district. around 21 ugs were inventoried: five in district 1 and 16 in district 5. the table below shows the parks, plazas, and monuments that were covered by the ugsi: table 2. urban green spaces inventoried in district 1 and district 5 of manila city, philippines 8be6d6 district park/plaza/monument district 1 (tondo) (5) tahanang masa center island plaza moriones plaza morga plaza la liga filipina plaza leon/hernandez district 5 (ermita, intramuros, malate, paco, port area and san andres) (16) fort santiago liwasang bonifacio arroceros park alexander puskin monument kartilya ng katipunan monument olivia salamanca paco park plaza dilao plaza roma gomburza shrine luneta park plaza guerrero ferguson plaza rajah sulayman plaza salvador rueda remedios circle malate park 3.2.2. urban green space situationer in district 1 and district 5 of manila city the ugs situationer covers the characterization and analysis of the presence of historical markings, condition of inventoried ugs, size of ugs, number of trees in inventoried ugs, species recorded, height of trees, total basal area, crown canopy, and vegetated area. ground truthing and validation were adopted to describe the ugs in the relevant districts of manila city. number of trees in inventoried areas. a total of 6,564 trees were inventoried, 6,476 mature trees in district 5 and 88 trees in district 1. in district 1, most (48) of the trees are found in moriones park followed by plaza morga (24 pg. 74 gonzales / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 2. location map for district 1 and district 5 of manilacity, philippinessource: mclupzo 2005-2020 ec385abf1236 trees). under district 5, a large number of mature trees were recorded in luneta park reaching a total of 3,424. most of the mature trees in this district were also found in arroceros park (1,088 trees) and fort santiago (557 trees). the number of trees inventoried in district 1 and district 5 is presented in figures 2 and 3, respectively. figure 3. numberof inventoried trees in district 1, manila city, philippines pg. 75 gonzales / environmental science and sustainable development, essd presence of historical markings. there are 20 out of 21 inventoried ugs that highlight the presence of historical monuments. only arroceros park does not have a historical marking. the national cultural heritage act of 2009 (republic act 10066) stipulates the significance of honoring illustrious persons or commemorative events of historical value based on the declaration of the national historical institute. aside from historical monuments, these parks are well-lit by lamp posts, which are powered by non-renewable sources. furthermore, the inventoried parks function as a venue for passive and active recreation, social gatherings, and public events, among others. condition of inventoried ugs. among the inventoried ugs, six of them are heavily planted to include liwasang bonifacio, alexander puskin park, plaza moriones, luneta park, paco park and fort santiago. most of these parks are situated in district 5 of the city of manila. the ugsi also revealed that the improvement of trees is necessary since a number of them have been exposed to extreme cases of vandalism and less attention (fig. 4). wounded trees were used as trash/disposal bins of cigarette butts. the tree cavities were also inserted with discarded clothes and other types of solid waste materials. generally, the mature trees suffer decay and require immediate attention. dead standing trees were observed in plaza bonifacio, kartilya katipunan and alexander pushkin park and may pose danger to public. figure 4. photos showing condition of inventoried urban green spaces size of urban green spaces. the largest green space is located in district 5. luneta park or rizal park has a total area of 580,000 sq m (fig. 5) fort santiago ranks next with an area of 49,198 sq m and arroceros park with 23,881 sq m. these parks are also found in district 5. the smallest green space was plaza la liga filipina in district 1 with an area of 258 sq m. as cited in lee et al., (2015), there is some suggestion that size matters, with greater benefits associated with larger green spaces. furthermore, they cited that “the size of the ugs may also dictate how it is used, in that larger spaces may be more likely to be used for physical activity, while smaller spaces are primarily used for “socializing” and “rest and restitution.” this denotes the health-promoting value of green space for relaxation and stress reduction as well as its social value as a platform for social cohesiveness. thus, luneta park, arroceros park and fort santiago in district 1 demonstrate the principle of health promotion capability of a green space. figure 5. selected photos of ugs pg. 76 gonzales / environmental science and sustainable development, essd species recorded. indigenous and exotic species were both found in districts 1 and 5 of the city of manila. indigenous tree species are those that have evolved in the same area, region, or bio type where the forest stand is growing and are adapted to the specific ecological conditions predominant at the time of the establishment of the stand (dayan, reaviles & bandian, 2016). exotic or introduced trees or invasive species are those that are bought to the country. of the total trees recorded, an equal proportion of indigenous and exotic species was recorded. the indigenous species are dominated by narra (pterocarpus indicus) (874 or 41%), manila palm (adonidia merrillii) (488 or 23%), and fire tree (delonix regia) (385 or 14%) (fig. 6a). comparatively, almost half of the inventoried trees (3,312 or 50.4%) are considered as exotic species, mostly mahogany (swietenia sp) (784 or 26%), molave (vitex parviflora) (385 or 13%) and mango (mangifera sp) (304 or 10%) (fig. 7b). exotic species are said to compete with indigenous species in terms of nutrient absorption and may have negative effects on the environment, local economy and human health. figure 6. (a) indigenous species inventoried, districts 1 and 5, manila city, philippines space run: y figure 7. (b) exotic species inventoried, districts 1 and 5, manila city, philippines height of trees: the average height of trees in the surveyed ugs ranged from 3 meters to 12 meters (fig. 8). in district 1, the average height of trees is from 3 meters to 12 meters and 5 meters to 11 meters in district 5. the smallest average height of 3 meters was observed in plaza leon hernandez in district 1. the management of urban green spaces contributed to the short height of trees. crown canopy: in district 1, the crown canopy ranges from 2 percent to 23 percent with the trees in tahanang masa central island recording the highest (fig. 9a). the trees in district 5 have generally wider crown canopy pg. 77 gonzales / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 8. average height of trees in surveyed urban green spaces from 2 percent to 47 percent. the trees in plaza roma have the highest crown cover of 47% and the lowest in remedios circle park (2%). vegetated area: the vegetated area of a given green space is estimated through the crown canopy. generally, the trees in district 1 have a lower vegetated area, ranging from 7 sq m to 317 sq m compared with the trees in district 5 with a vegetated area of 54 sq m to 81,694 sq m (fig. 9a and fig. 10b). the trees in luneta park have the highest vegetated area (81,694 sq m), followed by the trees in arroceros park (6,438 sq m). tuli and islam (2014) enumerated the beneficial effects of vegetation to include its potential to reduce air temperature of a micro climate between 3oc-4oc; ensure sustainable breathing space; provide shade which reduces air temperature of an exposed area by 1oc-2oc; screen solar radiation that leads to reduced air temperature, among others. these beneficial effects can be generally realized in district 5. total basal area. the highest basal area per hectare was recorded for rajah sulayman park (410 sq m/ha) followed by the luneta park (291 sq m/ha) and plaza ferguzon (159 sq m/ha) (fig. 11). these trees are all found in district 5 of manila city. the trees in district 1 have the lowest basal area, ranging from 1 sq m/ha to 6 sq m/ha. this could be explained by the small diameter of the trees during assessment. the mississippi wildlife, fisheries and parks (”mississippi wildlife, fisheries, & parks”, n.d.), indicates that the percentage of canopy cover is correlated with basal area whereas both increa se, less sunlight reaches the ground, obstructing the growth of shrubs and other grasses. furthermore, this organization reported that high basal area can lead to a reduction in the growth of trees and may not be able to compete with other trees for crown space, nutrients, and moisture. pg. 78 gonzales / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 9. (a) crown cover of inventoried trees, district 1 and district 5, manila city, philippines figure 10. (b) vegetated area of inventoried trees, districts 1 and 5, manila city, philippines 3.3. correlating urban green space condition with urban biodiversity planning and management the maximization of the multi-functional uses and multifarious benefits of ugs rely on how they are planned and managed to ensure biodiversity preservation and protection, particularly on the local level. urban biodiversity planning and management should be anchored on sustaining the various functions and values of ugs to include ecological, economic, and social planning, as well as other multi-dimensional values. the non-priced environmental benefits of ugs are necessary components of an urban biodiversity plan, such as attractive and pleasant urban landscapes, safety, peaceful and hazard-free environment, health promoting recreational, and social networking opportunities, among others. the frequency of community residents’ visiting the ugs and the regular clearing of bushes interfere with the growth of trees and induce the establishment of other plant species that may create environmental harm. this necessitates the engagement of the community in tree planting, conservation, protection as well as initiation of guided nature walk for visitors. the local government can initiate the conduct of training and identify environmentpg. 79 gonzales / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 11. basalarea of inventoried trees, districts 1 and 5, manila city, philippineson management. friendly alternative livelihood. these form part of the continuous management of ugs to ensure protection and enhancement of species composition and distribution to sustain habitats for biodiversity. the continuous growth of invasive species or exotic species, especially those damaging species, should also be managed through biological control by means of natural enemy introduction; chemical control or the use of pesticides (herbicide or insecticide) mechanical control, such as hand pulling and other manual removal of destructive plants; and ecosystem management, which involves the exposure of an entire ecosystem to regular treatment that favors the growth of native species over exotic plants (simberloff, 2000). an urban biodiversity management plan should cover activities that will hasten the growth of invasively introduced species and effectively manage them once they are already existing in a green space. the success of a ugs also relies on its ability to enable a greater number of people utilize them for a wide array of outdoor and cultural activities. an urban biodiversity plan needs to introduce designs that highlight comfortable ugs for a number of users. the ugs should be designed to allow a large area of vegetation that creates a comfortable environment that reduces air temperature, create shaded cool area, and ensure provision of health benefits. 3.4. conclusion and recommendations the integration of urban biodiversity in the development of urban human settlements is becoming an essential component of local development planning and management. cities are the primary consumers of natural resources and home to an ever-increasing human population. thus, the urban ecosystem needs to promote a better relationship between man and the environment. given the observed general conditions of the ugs in districts 1 and 5 of the city of manila, which are a) 5 out of 21 parks are heavily planted; b) 20 out of 21 inventoried ugs were observed to highlight historical monuments; c) the largest green space is located in district 5; d) indigenous and exotic species were both found in almost equal proportion in districts 1 and 5; e) management of ugs contributed to the short height of trees; f) crown canopy ranges from 2 percent to 47 percent in the two districts; g) generally, the trees in district 1 have a lower vegetated area compared with the trees in district 5; and h) the highest basal area per hectare was recorded in district 5 and pg. 80 gonzales / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the lowest in district 1, the following are recommended in the formulation of an urban biodiversity development and management plan for the city of manila: design ugs with large area for vegetation. the local government can engage in the planting of the right species of trees at the right places in order to improve the micro climatic conditions of urban human settlements. the community should also be encouraged to adopt vertical or roof gardening to enhance biodiversity and promote connectivity. aside from these, native or indigenous species can be replanted and restocked. waste segregation. ecological waste management through waste segregation should be demonstrated in public ugs. composting facilities have to be provided to produce organic fertilizers and other soil conditioning agents, which can be utilized as growth inducer of plants. careful and responsible urban planning. urban land use plans should be developed to discourage conversion of natural ecosystems that will eventually destroy critical habitats and lead to biodiversity loss. land uses should also promote the identification of activities that will restore damaged ecosystems and mitigate high human impact. community participation in urban biodiversity planning and management. the local government needs to enhance the participation, capacities, and involvement of local communities in the protection and conservation of existing natural habitats as well as restore the multi-functional uses of degraded natural habitats through awareness raising, research and development, capacity building and law enforcement. references 1. a brief guide to the benefits of urban green spaces. 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(2016). philippine biodiversity strategy and action plan (pbsap) 2015-2028. pg. 81 gonzales / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 12. hardman, s. (2011). how does urbanization affect biodiversity? retrieved from https://ecologicablog.word press.com/2011/11/06/how-does-urbanization-affect-biodiversity-part-one/ 13. heinze j. (2011). benefits of green space. chantilly va: environmental health research foundation. 14. karuppannan, s., baharuddin, z. m., sivam, a., & daniels, c. b. (2014). urban green space and urban biodiversity: kuala lumpur, malaysia. journal of sustainable development,7(1), 1-16. 15. kowarik, i. (1995). on the role of alien species in urban flora and vegetation. in p. pysek, k. prach, & m. wade (eds.), plant invasions — general aspects and special problems(pp. 85-103). amsterdam: the hague spb academic publishing. 16. lee, a. c. k., jordan, h. c., & horsley, j. 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(2008). payment for ecosystem services: getting started: a primer. s.l.: katoomba group. 29. united nations. (1992). the 22nd meeting of the sbstta and the 2nd meeting of the subsidiary body on implementation meet in montreal, canada from 2 to 13 july 2018read more. retrieved from https://www. cbd.int/. 30. vale, t. r., & vale, g. r. (1976). suburban bird populations in west-central california. journal of biogeography, 157-165. 31. vold, t., & buffett, d. a. (2000). ecological concepts, principles and applications to conservation. biodiversity bc. pg. 82 introduction attributes and importance of urban biodiversity relating biodiversity with the urban ecosystem examining the role of urban green space in urban biodiversity urban biodiversity in the local context: manila city as a representative case study urban green space inventory as a supply determinant of urban biodiversity prevailing conditions of the urban green spaces in manila city scope of urban green space inventory urban green space situationer in district 1 and district 5 of manila city correlating urban green space condition with urban biodiversity planning and management conclusion and recommendations http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 102 doi: 10.21625/essd. essd.v2i1.78 epidemiological study on kawasan waterfalls marife matic mustacisa1, clyde bodiongan2 , vanesa montes3, weneliza morial4 iris april ramirez5, marchee tabotabo6 1 professor in samar state university paranas campus, philippines 2 bohol island state university, tagbilaran city, philippines 3 secondary school teacher in cebu city, philippines 4 secondary school teacher in agusan del sur, philippines 5 professor in bukidnon state university, philippines 6 secondary school teacher in cebu city, philippines abstract a place with clean water is worth living for, however, if it runs counter to the usual, it corollary results in some diseases. this epidemiological study does not intend to give a false image on the kawasan waterfalls of badian cebu, philippines rather, it aids to provide awareness among tourists to at least minimize anthropological activities that could contribute to water pollutants which cause an increased amount of heavy metals present in the water. with the collection of analyte and lab testing for the presence of cadmium, lead, and mercury in the aforementioned research environment, it was found that the water will not pose any health hazard to anyone in and around the river falls and even to any tourist in the place who wants to plunge into its azure water as far as cadmium and lead concentration is concerned. however, the mean concentration of mercury on the water projected a value, which is beyond the permissible concentrations and therefore may harm anyone in the community. thus, it is recommended to strengthen measures to prevent and to control the release of these substances into the natural water. shower facilities should be provided in the place and swimmers should wash first before plunging into the river. as part of an ongoing education and training effort, communicate all information on the health and safety hazards of mercury to potentially exposed individuals on the place. it is also suggested to conduct further concentration analysis of other metals present in the said water falls. © 2017 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords waterfalls; philippines; epidemic 1. introduction it is nice to visit places that are very inviting, seeing the flowing water from the top of the mountain especially with green environment. but in an inquisitive manner and scientific view, are you aware how safe the water where you enjoyed swimming and expose more or less hundred percent of your external parts? http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i1.78&domain=press.ierek.com mustacisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 103 contamination of the environment with chemical contents has been one of the important concerns in scientific research. exposure to certain levels of harmful chemicals damages the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs and immunity systems of humans of all ages (darbha, & ray 2007). one of the sources of harms are cosmetics products which contain lead and mercury. these include creams, cleansing milk, shampoos, hair dyes, eye shadows, rouge, lipsticks, powders, and toothpaste (al-saleh, enazi & shinwari 2009, & world health organization 2011 ). in the article of stewart (2016), it was statistically cited that beauty product industries continue to grow year after year. the makeup market has an annual growth rate of 3.7 percent between 2009 and 2013 and is expected to grow within the pattern of 3.8 percent for the period of 2013-2018. in terms of the skincare and lotions, they have the largest category in the global cosmetics industry, accounting to 35.3 percent of the global market in 2014; and hair care is amounted at 24 percent of the industry and is estimated to grow at annual rate of 2 percent. another influencing element which is dispersed into the water is the presence of cadmium that can be drawn from usage of phosphate fertilizers, sewage and sludge, various industrial use such as nickel cadmium batteries, plating, pigments, and plastics (environmental health and medicine, 2013). with those aforementioned facts, human impacts to the environment are in simple ways. it is evident that a common effect is the decreased water quality (martonas, 2017). if we continue to use the products at a high rate, we will unceasingly endure our water surface. imagine a basin with a lot of contaminants and then you suddenly dip your hand for several minutes, what do you think will happen? this paper intends to (1) measure the level of cadmium, lead present in kawasan waterfalls of badian, cebu city. part of its purpose is to (2) trace whether the presence of the said chemical contents may lead to certain skin diseases and other ailments and further (2) provide results to the tourists that suggest that the place has potentially good water quality, which makes this study very significant. kawasan was chosen as the research environment because it has been a recipient of countless country-wide and international recognition. for the years 2000, 2001, and 2002 it is one of the cleanest inland body of water in the philippines in the river category, however, in the successive years the recognition was stopped. 2. literature review 2.1. cadmium cadmium is a metal with an oxidation state of +2. it is chemically similar to zinc and occurs naturally with zinc and lead in sulfide ores. fertilizers produced from phosphate ores constitute a major source of diffuse cadmium pollution. the solubility of cadmium in water is influenced to a large degree by its acidity; suspended or sediment-bound cadmium may dissolve when there is an increase in acidity (ros & slooff, 1987). in natural waters, cadmium is found mainly in bottom sediments and suspended particles (friberg et al., 1986). epidemiological studies of people chronically exposed to cadmium via the diet as a result of environmental contamination have not shown an increased cancer risk. the results of studies of chromosomal aberrations in the peripheral lymphocytes of patients with itai-itai, an epidemic bone disease due to the chronically exposure to cadmium via the diet were contradictory. no reliable studies on reproductive, teratogenic or embryotoxic effects in humans are available. epidemiological studies of humans exposed by inhalation to relatively high cadmium concentrations in the workplace revealed some evidence of an increased lung cancer risk, but a definite conclusion could not be reached (krajnc et al. 1987 & cally 2002). according to the world health organization (1992), high levels of mercury, cadmium, and lead in water bodies are extremely harmful not only to the environment, but also to nearby communities that rely on these water bodies for their daily activities. these toxic metals can easily enter the body either through ingestion or skin contact, where prolonged exposure may result in symptoms such as nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, kidney and liver failure, cognitive and neuromuscular dysfunction and death. mustacisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 104 2.2. lead environmental exposure to low levels of lead has been associated with a wide range of metabolic disorders and neuropsychological deficits (nas, 1980; epa, 1986). the well-known toxic (metabolic and cellular) effects of lead in asymptomatic children include (i) impairments in haeme, vitamin d and red blood cell nucleotide metabolism, (ii) perturbations of calcium homeostasis in the hepatocytes, bone cells and brain cells, and (iii) neurological damage (rosen, 1985; lansdown and yule, 1986). it is tested in the laboratory that lead is a toxicant that is known to induce multiple organ damage, even at lower levels of exposure. this metal is also classified as either “known” or “probable” human carcinogens based on epidemiological and experimental studies showing an association between exposure and cancer incidence in humans and animals (tchounwou 2004 & yedjou 2008) . exposure to lead occurs mainly via inhalation of lead-contaminated dust particles or aerosols, and ingestion of leadcontaminated food, water, and paints (atsdr 1992; 1999). adults absorb 35 to 50 percent of lead through drinking water and the absorption rate for children may be greater than 50 percent. lead absorption is influenced by factors such as age and physiological status. in the human body, the greatest percentage of lead is taken into the kidney, followed by the liver and the other soft tissues such as heart and brain, however, the lead in the skeleton represents the major body fraction (flora 2006). the nervous system is the most vulnerable target of lead poisoning. headache, poor attention spam, irritability, loss of memory and dullness are the early symptoms of the effects of lead exposure on the central nervous system (cdc 2001). 2.3. mercury mercury is of the known elements in the periodic table because of its unique characteristic which is liquid at room temperature. it is very useful to objects that changes temperature at a certain time interval but has no significant role on biological function (gochfeld 2003). a case study of cheuk & chan (2006) showed that exposure to mercury affects the kidney and the central nervous system whether it is inhaled or in permeation. 3. methodology 3.1. research procedure this study is experimental in nature. to gather analyte from the surface of kawasan waterfalls, the researchers first consulted an expert on water testing. they went to san carlos and asked about what particular chemical contents should be considered in order to attain the objectives of the study and the amount of analyte that should be collected. when the chemical contents were already identified, the researchers planned and prepared the materials needed for the water testing. to be done on april 27, 2017, in the collection of the analyte, the researchers made use of scientific steps in safety handling of water samples like using sterilized bottled containers where the sample will be placed, maintaining the temperature of water so it will not be contaminated. potential of hydrogen is also considered in taking subsequently, the analyte will be given to the testing center for the experiment proper to which the researchers are also present to witness that the water treatment is successfully done and to minimize errors that may occur, if not another collection of analyte will be replenished until the sample is sufficient. after the results, the researchers make use of analytical techniques in qualitative form for the interpretation of data which is grounded with literature reviews. in the inclusion of the literature, the researchers considered its relevance as to the level of cadmium, lead, mercury and potential hydrogen that will be carried from the analyte testing. mustacisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 105 finally it will be presented in tabular and provide conclusions and appropriate recommendations for future use of the readers. 3.2. research environment the kawasan falls is a cascading three-layered made up of eleven waterfalls and is a world class destination in the mountain of badian, cebu, philippines. the first level of the kawasan falls has a drop that is around 40 meters high and wide with a very deep catch basin. the second level of the watefall is a 15-minute hike from the first level and has a drop of 20 meters and also a deep catch basin. several cottages are also built near the second level. some mountaineers who climb the osmena peak (the highest peak in the cebu province) usually conduct a traverse from the peak going to matutinao river which passes through kawasan falls. aside from swimming, one of the known activities in the place is canyoneering. other activities do not include tourism like direct selling and washing. 3.3. sample analysis the sample was analyzed for cadmium and lead content using aas flame method (apha, awwa, wpcf. standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 21st ed., usa; apha (2005). cold vapor technique, aas was used for the analysis of mercury (instructional manual, shimadzu atomic absorption spectrometer aa6300, shimadzu corporation, kyoto, japan, august 2006). 4. results and discussion the values of heavy metal content of the sample water are shown in the table 1. it can be gleaned from the table that the mean concentration of cadmium is less than 0.004 mg/ l and lead is less than 0.057 mg/ l respectively present in the water of kawasan falls in badian, cebu. these values are within the permissible concentrations of heavy metals in natural waters for the protection of human health as set by the world health organization (who). these results depicted that the presence of these metals in the water will not pose any health hazard to anyone in and around the river falls and even to any tourist in the place who wants to plunge into its azure water as far as cadmium and lead concentration are concerned. table 1. concentration of heavy metals in water from kawasan waterfalls parameters cncentration who standards who max (mg/ l) permissible limits (mg/l) cadmium (mg cd/l) less than 0.004 0.003 0.005 lead (mg pb/l) less than 0.057 0.01 0.05 mercury (µg hg/ l) 0.3906 (± 0.0074) 0.002 0.144 number in parenthesis, ( ), denotes 95% confidence level however, the mean concentration of mercury on the water is 0. 3906 mg/ l; this value is beyond the permissible concentrations and therefore poses a hazard to anyone in the community. mercury is a very toxic substance that people can be exposed to in several ways. if it is swallowed, it mostly passes through the body and very little is absorbed. if touched, a small amount may pass through the skin, but not usually enough to harm a person. mercury is the most harmful when vapors that are released are breathed in. since mercury accumulates in the body, a single, exposure to a high concentration of mercury can have very serious effects; hence even small amounts may cause serious health problems. generally it may have toxic effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, and on lungs, kidneys, skin and eyes. acute effects include headache, chills, fever, chest tightness, coughs, hand tremors, nausea, vomiting, mustacisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 106 abdominal cramps and diarrhea. chronic or longer term exposure to mercury causes personality change, decreased vision or hearing peripheral nerve damage and elevated blood pressure. mercury overload can even lead to major neurological conditions like alzheimer's or parkinson's disease. hence, there is a need for strengthening measures to prevent and to control the release of these substances into the natural water. shower facilities should be provided in the place and swimmers should wash first before plunging into the river. in addition, as part of an ongoing education and training effort, communicate all information on the health and safety hazards of mercury to potentially exposed individuals on the place. it is also suggested to conduct further concentration analysis of other metals present in the said water falls. appendix a. figure 1. map showing the locale of cebu city, philippines mustacisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 107 figure 2. map showing where kawasan falls is situated in cebu mustacisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 108 appendix b. collections of pictures taken from the research environment figure 3. showing the mess hall area located near the clean water of kawasan figure 4. in the picture are people who enjoyed kayaking out of a bamboo mustacisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 109 figure 5. one of the activities people relished in kawasan is the canyoneering figure 6. kawasan is surrounded by preserved forest figure 7. the passway of kawasan which are made up of big rocks reached by flowing water mustacisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 110 references al-saleh, enazi s. & shinwari n. 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(1989) cadmium. us environmental protection agency office of drinking water health advisories. reviews of environmental contamination and toxicology, 107:25–37. world health organization (2011). preventing disease through healthy environments. retrieved from http://www.who.int/ipcs/assessment/public_health/mercury_flyer, may 3, 2017. who (1992) cadmium. geneva, world health organization (environmental health criteria 134). yedjou gc, tchounwou pb (2008).n-acetyl-cysteine affords protection against lead-induced cytotoxicity and oxidative stress in human liver carcinoma (hepg2) cells. intl j environ res public health, 4(2):132–137. http://www.hkmj.org/system/files/hkm0608p316 http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=6&amp;po=5 http://education.seattlepi.com/effect-human-activities-environment-3653.html http://blog.marketresearch.com/the-market-for-beauty-and-cosmetics-products http://blog.marketresearch.com/the-market-for-beauty-and-cosmetics-products http://www.futurederm.com/how-phhttp://www.who.int/ipcs/assessment/public_health/mercury_flyer http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v5i1.713 farwell ạl-'anbari̇yi̇n aliaa el-dardiry1, ahmed el antably1 1 arab academy for science, technology and maritime transport abstract would the disappearance of one's building influence his own daydreams, experience, and sense of belonging? would this person remember it? would these memories preserve the demolished building? this paper explores people's memories and perceptions upon the demolition of a historical building, and their effect on the produced space and sense of belonging. it documents people's narratives as a way of conserving the building through their memories. the paper focuses on wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, a market that dates to the fatimid period and represents a significant mamluk architectural style. its location is at ạl-mu’iz street, near ạl-ạzhar street, ạl-jmmạliyha district, cairo. however, nowadays, it is just a ruin with a fence and street vendors next to it, after its demolition in february 2019. the study utilizes qualitative methodology through site visits, observations, and random semi-structured interviews with people in ạl-muʿiz street. the collected data is thematically analyzed. the results reveal the diversity of memories and their dependence upon the level of interaction with wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin. the ability of people's memories to conserve, not only the tangible heritage, building's architectural design and materials, but also the spatial experience, events, and social activities. furthermore, memories show people's sense of belonging and place attachment, especially to those who used to work there, even after the building's demolition. during site visits, it is remarkable to observe the ability of previous shop owners and workers to conserve their memories about wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin by using simple elements. finally, the paper shows the importance of using memories as a way to conserve wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin even after its demolition. © 2020 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd's international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords memories; documentaion; post demolition; wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin 1. introduction the scope of the paper is the lost tangible heritage and the daydreamers who are bound to them. it explores memories of lost buildings, as well as their ability to document and relive that building one more time. the paper focuses on wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin for several reasons: its location, historical background, architectural significance, and most importantly, for its recent demolition that had an echo on social media and public debates. through using narrative writing, the paper is exploring the memories of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin's vendors and shop owners, who have experienced it. it explores the influence of the demolition on the everyday life of its dwellers and the relationship between memories and spaces produced post the demolition. this research follows a qualitative methodology, in which it depends on on-site observations and semi-structured interviews. then through thematic analysis, the data is analyzed. http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v5i1.713&domain=press.ierek.com author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 the paper consists of five sections. the first section illustrates the concepts of memories, placelessness, and the role of memories in reliving lost tangible heritage. the second section is an overview of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, its historical background, and architectural significance. the third section, entitled "research methods," focuses on the qualitative methodology. the fourth section, "daydreamers of ạl-'anbariyin," is about the analyzed data from the memories of the interviewees and site observation. it includes three subsections: topophilia, time, and event, as well as the right to be haunted by memories. "conclusion" is the fifth and last section. it discusses the outcomes. 2. reliving lost tangible heritage according to unesco, tangible heritage is the material significant elements, such as monuments, of the built environment (hassan, 2014). however, heritage is not just a physical artifact; it is a cultural process, which people associate with everyday life (harvey, 2001). they are important, not only because of their architecture and past events but also because of their connectivity with ordinary people's lives (lowenthal, 1979). this connectivity and association help in the formation of a bond between buildings and their people, which is called place attachment (lewicka, 2008). this attachment encourages people to begin making memories and feel the intimacy about that building. memories are connected to our senses. with the help of these senses, the mind starts creating stories that could easily illustrate its experiences, and enable them to persist in life (archibald, 1999). the demolition of the building announces the end of the building's life (thomsen, et al., 2011). under this circumstance, in which the building is lost, placelessness, as relph has described it, occurs (relph, 1976). it is when people lose their sense of place (sumaiyah, 2013). despite the lost buildings, memories have their role in reviving them and the ability of these memories and their documentation to sustain those lost buildings (kenneth, 1990). 3. wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin: overview the location of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin is in a ạl-mu’iz street, near ạl-ạzhar street, ạl-jmmạliyha district, cairo (figures 1 and 2). it has its historical background and architectural style (figure 3). figure 1. location of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin. the black rectangle indicates wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin. the black dashed line indicates ạl-muʿiz street. the black continuous line indicates harit tarbi'at ūwf. (source: google earth pro. (october 12, 2018)). figure 2. location of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin. the white dashed rectangle indicates wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin façade and its shops which overlook ạlmuʿiz street. the white dashed line indicates the attached building. (source: https://www.elanbarienagency.com/) https://www.elanbarienagency.com/ author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 the building used to be ạl-m’aūnah prison in the fatimid period (al-malty, 2002). sultan qalāwun, during the mammluk period, demolished the prison and constructed "qaysạriyaẗ ạlʿanbr": a market for amber (ạl-maqrīzī, 1441). subsequently, according to the national archives (national archives, 1864), wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin had passed by two phases. in the first phase, before 1810, farahat al-hinawy owned and reconstructed it to include a wikālah (market), a small khan (motel), and hawanit (shops). then in 1855, a new owner y’aqūb byk ṣabry, one of the assistants of muhammad ’aly bạsẖạ (mubạrak, 1889), combined the previous functions to make a big wikālah (market), in which it includes several shops, for selling textiles and perfumes, and rooms for accommodation above them. it was a four-story building, with a courtyard in its middle and attached to two buildings. to access the building, people used the main entrances that overlooked ạl-mu’iz street, as well as, from the stairs of the attached buildings. a shop owner said that wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin used to be the keystone, in which it connected two existing buildings, through being in the middle. therefore, despite moving from one building to another through ạl-mu’iz street, workers, and visitors, through the connected passway that surrounded the courtyard, could move easily away from noise and crowdedness of the street. although in 2005, fire affected the building, its interior (figure 4), and its façade (figure 5), shops continued to function, as well as storage areas (figure 6). figure 3. the façade of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin. (source: al-ahram online article, 2016 http://www.ahram.org.eg/newsq/565296.aspx) figure 4. deterioration of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin's interior. (source: dardasha tareq, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ztllsrwju8) 2015 figure 5. deterioration in the elevation of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin. (source: dardasha tareq, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztllsrwju8) http://www.ahram.org.eg/newsq/565296.aspx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ztllsrwju8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ztllsrwju8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ztllsrwju8 author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 figure 6. wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin in 2015. the building was demolished in february 2019 (al-aref, 2019) (figure 7). currently, a three meters high corrugated sheet fence surrounds the ruins of the building, cutting the threads of attachment to the space, in which the building used to exist (figure 8). figure 7. the façade of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin. (source: al-ahram online article, 2016 http://www.ahram.org.eg/newsq/565296.aspx) figure 8. the black continuous line indicates the fence. the black dashed line indicates one of the attached buildings. the black dotted line indicates the ruins. (source: al-mesryoon, 2019. https://almesryoon.com/story/1235663/) 4. research methods this paper uses site-based observations and semi-structured interviews with users of the site, to gather memories about wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin. site visits and interviews took place on several random days in april and may 2019. the randomly conducted interviews ranged between ten minutes to thirty minutes, focusing on the memories and daydreams of people who once experienced, worked or visited wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin. the number of interviewees was nine from the workers and shop owners in the building and its surroundings (figure 9). despite the inability of four interviewees to share their memories, because they were new vendors and had not experienced the building well, the other interviewees were able to share theirs. at first, the interviewees seemed anxious and did not want to say anything about wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin. despite earlier anxiety, they started sharing their stories. some of the interviewees felt the need to show their photos of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, although they did not have them. another one took a paper and a pen to draw a plan of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, to illustrate how it used to look like, as well as, http://www.ahram.org.eg/newsq/565296.aspx author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 the names of their owners. another one recommended me to watch a video about the building on youtube. the last one, to explain the courtyard of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, used the furniture in his shop to form the shape of the courtyard. later, the interviews were thematically analysed. figure 9. the location of the interviewees, in the surrounding of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin. (source: google earth pro. (october 12, 2018). wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, cairo. 30° 02'49.02" n, 31° 15'36.42" e, eye alt 100m. digitalglobe 2019. http://www.earth.google.com [may 7,2012]) 5. daydreamers of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin inspired by gaston bachelard and michel de certeau, this section is about the interviewees' memories of the building. it includes three sub-sections. "topophilia" is the first sub-section, which is concerned with the narratives and memories of the interviewees regarding the tangible and intangible essence of the building. "time and event" is the second sub-section. it is about events that interviewees still remember. the last sub-section, "the right to be haunted by memories", is about memories and their relationship to the produced space after the building's demolition. 5.1. topophilia through the lens of bachelard's "the house of the cosmic root" and "the house of l' antiquaire" (bachelard, 1969), i could reflect on interviewees' narratives about wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, their own home, as well as, their daydreams. some of these interviewees could not remember the full details of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, due to their short-time experience. one of the interviewees mentioned: "i was new. i just used the building for storing." it may also be due to their lack of experience. another interviewee admitted: "unfortunately, i did not enter it. i could just remember its façade, as i used to pass by it." i could yet find interviewees who experienced the building. they were able to tell wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin's story. they, as edmund husserl argues, experienced it in their "transcendental conscious life" (husserl, 2003). this consciousness appeared in one of the interviewees' talk: "i could remember the building itself and the people who used to work there as one family. it used to have a spirit that would never be repeated one more time". a shop owner added: "i had worked there for twenty-five years. we used to have our workshop place for crafts. all the workers are still my friends." a worker, who used to work there for twenty years, could illustrate the architectural details, such as the courtyard, the crypt, the wooden door, the wooden handrail, the vaulted shops. in addition to that, he mentioned the names of the workers and shop owners. he illustrated the influence of the crypt on his dreams; for him, it is an ambiguous place (figure 10). he described his feeling of comfort when he used to sit in the courtyard and look at the sky. another interviewee expressed his feeling of being at home, as he used to have his own exhibition room, in which he could do anything freely. author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 10. interviewee's drawing of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin's plan. it shows the names of shop owners, the crypt's location, the fire's date (2005), the building's history (1000 years), the courtyard, and other architectural elements. for another interviewee, the essence of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin is the courtyard. he used his shop furniture to explain its rectangular shape. he mentioned the enclosure of the courtyard, which provided him with a sense of intimacy and privacy. he added that this inner courtyard influenced communication and connectivity between the workers, where a worker could call the other. the courtyard was their focal point and gathering space for eating and other activities. it was their own lived space. the courtyard also connected wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin to the other attached buildings. therefore, workers and visitors could easily access wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin and move freely between the three buildings (figures 11 and 12). figure 11. the black continuous line indicates the location of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin. the white rectangles indicate the attached existing buildings. (source: google earth pro. (october 12, 2018). wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, cairo. 30° 02'49.02" n, 31° 15'36.42" e, eye alt 100m. digitalglobe 2019. http://www.earth.google.com [may 7,2012]) author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 12. a sketch that shows the attached buildings to wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin and its courtyard one of the interviewees talked about the functions inside wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin and recommended a video to watch on youtube, to understand more. he said that the building used to have several functions, besides the shops, such as an exhibition, storage spaces, and residential rooms. it was a multi-functional space that embraced the workers. they could sell, exhibit, and store their goods in one building. despite its authenticity, shop owners and workers were able to customize and invent in their shops. to satisfy their needs for organizing their goods, they used wooden or glassed shelves, chairs, and desks, which suited their shops (figure 13). some of the interviewees reached the field of the immemorial. they took much time to imagine and express the odor of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, and the texture of its wood and stone, "the texture of the stone had added to the authenticity of the building," "there were special wooden ceiling, as well as, old textured wooden handrail." another one mentioned the pleasant fragrance that used to spread in the building. figure 13. interior of a shop, on the ground floor of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, overlooks ạl-muʿiz street. (source: dmc video, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urjq_wbe6tu) 5.2. time and events through phenomenological temporality, husserl could be able to study the essence of things and individuals (young kim, 2016). i focus on the retentional aspect of präsenzzeit (gallagher, 2013). the essence of the retentional aspect is the intentional sense's preservation of the experienced object, even after it has vanished in the past (gallagher, 2013). this appears in the interviewee's narratives about wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin's past events, which they have witnessed and experienced. these past events are still embedded in their conscience, and they can recall them. some of these past events are pleasant to remember. one of the interviewees remembered the first day of working in the building, as well as, the communal days. other past painful events could not be forgotten. a shop owner recalled: "i had an exhibition inside the building. it got burnt that day in 2005. its image is still in my mind. i tried to forget, but i could not". another one said: "i have witnessed all the events, the fire, and the demolition. these images are still embedded in my mind". author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 5.3. the right to be haunted by memories the demolition of the building was followed by the emergence of the three-meter corrugated sheet fence (figure 14), that gazes from hence to thence (morgensturn, 1905), leading to the formation of an abstract space. this abstract space is not just a space, but also can disrupt some social relations (lefebvre, 1991). however, against the existence of the fence, vendors are adapting and producing their spaces. this takes place through negotiating the fence. instead of it being a border, they use it as a partition, and with the help of light structures, they could show their goods. memories have haunted the space, making it habitable (de certeau, 2011). this affects the social codes, in which people practice in that space. from the field observation and the interviews, some of the vendors, who used to work in wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, still have the desire, the sense of belonging, and the right to continue working in the same place. one of these vendors said, "i have been working here, pointing at the space of the building, since i was young. even after the demolition, i put my goods on these shelves, because i feel that it is my own space" (figure 15 and 16). one of the vendors used the same sign of his demolished shop (figures 17 and 18). another one is still putting wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin's address on his business card that he gave during the interview. figure 14. the fence and the adjacent buildings figure 15. produced spaces. the white dashed line indicates the produced space. the continuous white line indicates the fence. figure 16. vendor's space author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 location of the image: towards harit tarbi'at ūwf from ạl-mu’iz street. figure 17. the white dashed rectangle indicates a shop that has its sign, before wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin demolition. source: al-ahram online article, 2016 figure 18. the white dashed rectangle indicates the same shop with the same sign, after wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin demolition. location of the image: ạl-mu’iz street. the absence of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin influenced vendors' memories and everyday life by several means. firstly, it broke the connectivity between the adjacent buildings on both sides. they were connected visually so that the author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 passerby would see their exterior facades as one façade. according to an interviewee, the buildings were internally connected, and workers and visitors could freely move from one building to another through the stairs of the two existing buildings and passageways surrounding the courtyard of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin. for him, wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin was like the keystone. with its demolition, the connectivity breaks down. this leads to the use of a movable ladder to reach the first floor of one of the attached buildings. (figure 19 shows one of the attached buildings. the black dashed line is one of the existing buildings. the white circle marks the path that used to connect the two buildings. the white dashed line shows the ladder. the white continuous line indicates the fence.) furthermore, instead of the connection provided by wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin between the two attached buildings, vendors have to use ạl-muʿiz street. figure 19 one of the attached buildings. location of the image: towards harit tarbi'at ūwf from ạl-mu’iz street. secondly, the absence of the courtyard impacts the vendors' private world. instead of the centralized gathering focal point, in which different activities take place, linearity becomes the norm. vendors align their goods with the fence. (figure 20 shows the alignment of shops with the fence. the continuous black line indicates the fence. the white dashed line indicates the space which is occupied by the vendors sitting in ạl-mu’iz street and using the fence and light structures in showing their goods.) ạl-mu’iz street becomes their gathering point, where vendors gather and commune. there is no privacy, as mentioned by one of the vendors. the presence of vendors in the street influences the spatial experience and perception of walkers. one of the vendors declared: "something changed, the building used to provide a sense of intimacy." author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 figure 20. the alignment of shops with the fence. location of the image: ạl-mu’iz street. finally, wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin's embracement of a multiplicity of functions no longer exists. nowadays, some of the vendors leave their goods or their light structure unattended in the street. others have to carry and reorganize their goods every day, as they could not leave their goods and they have to store them in another place (figure 21 shows vendors storing the goods. the black continuous line indicates the fence, in which vendors use it as a partition. the black dashed line indicates the storage of the vendors, overlooking al-muʿiz street.). despite the absence of wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, as well as, the existence of the fence as a new border, the vendors have their spatial language. every vendor knows his territory. (figure 22 shows the territoriality. the black continuous line indicates the fence. the white dashed line indicates the vendors' boundaries). they could define their boundaries, by using their light structures. even if the vendors remove their goods and shelves, their own space is still identified. one of the vendors mentions: "most vendors here used to work in the building. even the new one, we treat each other as one family". figure 21. vendors storing the goods. author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 figure 22. territoriality. location of the image: ạl-mu’iz street. 6. conclusion the objective of the paper is to explore people's memories of a demolished building and their ability to document and conserve it. moreover, it explores the role of these memories in the produced space after the building's demolition. i have chosen wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin, for its architectural authenticity, historical significance, as well as its role in ordinary people's everyday life. from the thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews, i deduce several points. firstly, people, who self-experience the building, memorize it, and become attached to it. this appears in the interviewees' detailed narratives, as well as their drawings. secondly, the building's architectural design influences people's memories, experiences, and dreams. this point is expressed in the influence of the crypt, as well as the courtyard, on the interviewees. finally, even after the building was lost, people can recall the events that they witnessed in that building. this takes place in the interviewees' memories of the building's significant events. furthermore, it shows the ability of memories to express and document a demolished building. after the wikāliẗ ạl-’anbariyin's demolition, however, the existence of the fence, that represents the power, social spaces have been produced by vendors, in which some of them used to work. this is because, from the interviews, they have the desire, sense of belonging, as well as the feeling of having the right to shape their own city. the absence of the building impacts the workers' lives. it changed from an enclosure, centralised and private gathering space, to a public street space aligned with the existing fence. despite this, vendors can organize their produced space and define their boundaries. correspondingly, from the interviews and site observation, memories have their influence on the produced space. this could be seen, through the signs that the vendors use, in addition to vendors' spatial experience and way of communication. acknowledgements after thanking allah, the prophet, my family, i would like to thank dr. ahmed el antably, for his support, in addition to the interviewees for their collaboration. furthermore, i would like to dedicate this paper to the daydreamers, who memorize and document their narratives about their built environment. author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 references al-malty, z.(2002). nail al-amal fi zail al-diwal, part 4. al-assrya publishing house, beirut, lebanon. al-maqrizi, t. 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(1889). al-khitat al-tawfiqia al-gadida li-misr al-qahara, wa-mudoniha wa-biladiha al-qadima wa-al-shahira. bulaq, egypt. national archives. (1864). mahkama al-bab al-‘aly, register number 13 qadiim, page 131 q 58, date 1283 a.h./1864 a.d. relph, e. (1976). place and placelessness, research in planning and design. pion. thomsen, a., schultmann, f., & kohler, n. (2011). deconstruction, demolition, and destruction. upton, d. (2002). architecture in everyday life. new literary history. 33. 707-723. 10.1353/nlh.2002.0046. http://www.alb-neckar-schwarzwald.de/morgenstern/morgenstern_poems.html http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 77 doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i3.678 lessons learned from the first passivhaus building in qatar may khalfan1 1 department of architecture and interior design, university of bahrain, p.o. box 32038, bahrain abstract energy efficient models have become the path to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment in many developed countries. according to the energy performance of buildings directive (epbd), new buildings constructed within the european union (eu) countries are expected to be nearly zero energy buildings (nzebs) by 2020, while new public buildings are expected to adhere to this target by 2018. the passivhaus approach has been identified by several researchers as a possible roadmap to achieve nzebs. the meticulous engineering and high standards of the passivhaus building fabric, in addition to the high comfort levels, are the main reasons behind the success and widespread of the standard. recently, in 2013 the passivhaus principles have been applied to an experimental residential project in the hot and arid climate of qatar. the project is composed of two identical buildings, one built according to the passivhaus standard and the other according to normal practices in the country. the thermal performance and comfort levels of both buildings were assessed through dynamic simulation and on-site measurements. results indicated that at least 50% reduction in annual operational energy, water consumption, and co2 emissions were achieved in the passivhaus model in comparison to the standard model. this paper aims to highlight the lessons learned through the passivhaus project; first by exhibiting the passivhaus criteria that have been met, second by showcasing the outcomes of the project, and third by displaying the barriers and difficulties that have been associated with building according to the standard in qatar. finally, recommendations and general guidelines are suggested towards a possible adoption of the passivhaus standard in qatar and the gulf cooperation council (gcc) countries © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords passivhaus ; hot and arid climates; energy and thermal comfort introduction buildings have been renowned as the main contributor to energy use globally, almost 40% of energy is consumed within the commercial and residential sectors alone (laustsen, 2008). the international energy agency (iea) publication, "tracking clean energy progress 2017", reported that two-thirds of the countries have not yet established or enforced energy codes. additionally, it was highlighted in the report that the means for reaching the 2° target would be through employing energy efficient measures in the built environment (iea, 2017). currently, with the depletion of energy sources and with the alarming signs of climate change, developed nations are striving to integrate mitigation and adaptation plans in their legislation. based on the epbd, buildings in the eu are required to meet nearly-zero energy performance by 2020, while public buildings are expected to meet the target by the end of 2018. furthermore, the 20-20-20 eu targets include a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 20% from http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i3.678&domain=press.ierek.com khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 78 the 1990 level, an increase by 20% in energy efficiency within the building sector and a 20% increase in investment in renewable energy sources (european commission, 2018). energy efficient models today are recognized by many researchers as the blue-print for future-proofing buildings (carlucci, zangheri and pagliano, 2013; hopfe and mcleod, 2015; mlecnik, kaan and hodgson, 2008; schnieders and hermelink, 2006). passivhaus standard passivhaus buildings are associated within a number of studies as ultra-low energy and nearly zero energy buildings (carlucci, zangheri and pagliano, 2013; hopfe and mcleod, 2015). the careful engineered german passivhaus standard accounts for very stringent building systems. it incorporates five main pillars; (a) highly insulated shell, (b) a well-ventilated building utilizing an effective heat recovery ventilation system, (c) high definition glazing and wellinsulated fenestration frames, (d)an air-tight envelope and (d) the absence of thermal bridges (phi, 2015).the notion behind developing the passivhaus standard actually incorporated a number of energy efficient measures that have been adopted throughout different times, such as traditional architectural solutions and experimental buildings that appeared after the first oil crisis in the 1970s. a passivhaus building is defined as “… a building, in which thermal comfort (iso 7730) can be provided solely by postheating or postcooling of the fresh air flow which is required for good indoor air quality (din 1946) without using recirculated air in addition.” (passepedia, 2017). the german passivhaus buildings spread beyond germany to reach most parts of europe through a number of profileraising projects such as the cost efficient passive houses as european standards project( cepheus ), the passiveon project, the pass-net project, the pep project and the e-retrofit-kit (berrutto, sutherland and cadima, 2008). the objective of the projects was to study the performance of the buildings in different climatic conditions. in the cepheus project over 200 dwelling units were constructed according to the passivhaus standard in five different countries across europe; france, germany, austria, switzerland, and sweden. the findings were based on monitored data collected from 100 units in three participating countries; germany, austria and switzerland, the results showcased the possibility of adopting passivhaus technology in various locations other than germany (schnieders and hermelink, 2006). the passive-on project similarly was carried out to study the feasibility of applying passivhaus standards in the warmer parts of europe. five countries; france, the united kingdom, spain, portugal, and italy took part in this study. virtual residential models were created for each location based on the specific climatic conditions. the results indicated that further considerations would be necessary to achieve passivhaus criteria, especially in terms of creating a cooling load and thermal comfort benchmarks and a relaxed infiltration rate (passive-on, 2007). the pass-net and the pep projects promoted the spread of the passivhaus standard through creating networks and providing necessary information for the public and specialists (berrutto, sutherland and cadima, 2008). the e-retrofit-kit was created to endorse passivhaus retrofitting and it mainly targeted the retrofit of social housing projects in europe (the e-retrofitkit, 2007). other examples of individual projects were carried out in different parts of europe where, in most cases, a comparative study was carried out to asses the performance of passivhaus buildings against other energy efficient building such as low energy buildings, or against a conventional building that followed the building standards in each country. the outcomes of the studies focused on the energy savings and thermal comfort level achieved through applying the passivhaus standard, furthermore, the risks and challenges were highlighted in some studies such as the risk of overheating and the challenge to build and operate a passivhaus building (audenaert, de cleyn and vankerckhove, 2008; badescu and rotar, 2012; brunsgaard, knudstrup and heiselberg, 2012; ridley et al., 2013). the concept was also adopted by other concerned organizations in nations such as the us and denmark but was further altered to meet the specific climatic requirements based on the geographical location (phius,2018; mlecnik, kaan and hodgson, 2008). although the standard was initiated in cold or moderate climates, a number of experimental passivhaus projects were established in hot climates. examples of passivhaus buildings in hot regions are found in mainly in the asia and usa , such energy+ building in dubai, the passivhaus project in qatar, the austrian embassy in jakarta, and the le-bois house in louisiana,usa (brumana, franchini and perdichizzi, 2017; bryant et al., 2013; oettl, 2014; saft and helton, 2012). this paper aims to highlight the qatari passivhaus experience khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 79 through presenting the outcomes and challenges associated with building according to the passivhaus standard in hot and arid climates. 2.1. qatar passivhaus experimental project qatar peninsula, according to the koppen-geiger climate classification, is located in a hot desert arid zone, where annual temperatures are greater than 18°c and the annual precipitation is lower than 250mm (peel, finlayson and mcmahon, 2007). based on qatar’s meteorology department (qmd, 2016), the annual average temperature is around 27.3°c and the annual average relative humidity levels are around 61%, and the annual average rainfall level is around 6.6 mm ( see figure 1). figure 1. qatar monthly average rainfall, mean temperature and relative humidity (qmd, 2016) qatar along with the united arab emirates (uae) are considered the two leading countries in the gulf cooperation council (gcc) countries in adopting energy efficient policies (willis, 2015). although qatar has not finalized a green building code yet, it has shown a number of efforts to enforce green practices, such as founding qatar green building council (qgbc) and initiating the global sustainability assessment system, in addition to setting sustainability and energy targets for the country (meltzer, hultman and langley, 2014). as well as erecting a number of sustainable projects which include energy efficient measures such as the passivhaus experimental project. the qatar passivhaus project was initiated in 2013 by qatar green building council ( qgbc) and a real estate developer, barwa real estate company. the high-performance levels of passivhaus buildings were the trigger towards experimenting with the feasibility of the standard in the region. a team of experts was assigned to launch the project; qgbc, the aecom group from london, kahramaa, the qatar general electricity and water corporation, barwa real estate and other partners such as almco and qatar solar technologies (bryant et al., 2013). a site in barwa development was dedicated to the project where the two identical buildings would be the specimen for the project. 2.2. project description the project was composed of two identical buildings, the passivhaus villa (phv), and the business as usual standard villa (stv), and was designed to house a family of 4 members. the villas comprised of the following; a living/dining space, 3 bedrooms, and associated service areas (see figure 2). khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 80 additionally, the buildings had a central courtyard and a patio which shaded the two main entrances of the villas. the two villas were located in a mixed-use development barwa city, which was situated 15 km away from the capital doha ( figure 3error! reference source not found.). the design of the villas respected the traditional architecture of the region through three main aspects; (a) a central courtyard, (b) a colonnaded patio and (c) the provision of motif movable panels around the courtyard that visually restricted the view towards the private section of the villas. although the two buildings were identical in their layout, the phv was upgraded to reach to passivhaus requirements and included the following sustainable features: − an intensive 300mm insulation layer around the outer fabric of the building, walls, and roof − high definition glazing panels with low u –values − energy efficient lighting system − energy efficient cooling systems − heat recovery ventilation system with high efficiency − greywater system for irrigation − photovoltaic panels mounted on the roof of the building − operable shading louvers on the courtyard skylight − an air-tight building envelope with minimum thermal bridges khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 81 figure 2. barwa city location ( google maps, 2016) figure 3. phv and stv typical layout 2.3. methodology the performance of the villas was assessed through real-time measurements and thermal simulations. two sets of virtual models were created for each villa, one representing the villa with occupancy and the other without. the villa’s outer fabric configuration assumed occupancy and assumed household appliances usage were simulated in the software integrated environmental solutions –virtual environment (ies-ve). ies-ve is an innovative 3d sustainable analysis software pack used to measure and manage sustainable, efficient and affordable built environments (ies, 2018). two weather sets were used, one representing the current climatic conditions and the other representing future climate. as wether files for qatar were not readily available, meteonorm a comprehensive meteorological reference weather generator tool was used to acquire the present day weather data (meteonorm, 2016). for future projections, an excel worksheet based software package developed by the sustainable energy research group at southampton university was used. the climate change world weather generator (ccworldweathergen) is used to generate khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 82 future weather files according to ipcc scenario a2, for the years 2020, 2050 and 2080 (serg, 2015). in this paper, the comparisons will be presented for the present time and for 30 years from now, i.e. the 2050 weather data. furthermore, to study the performance of the building fabric, ies-ve was used to evaluate the robustness of the building fabric. this was assessed by de-activating the cooling option in ies-ve and evaluating the indoor temperature in both villas while conducting a comparison with the expected outdoor temperature. initially, both villas were to undergo an extensive monitoring period of around two years. during the first six months, the villas’ performance would be assessed without occupancy. later on, occupant behavior will be further studied, first by monitoring their behavior without taking an induction on how to operate a passivhaus building effectively, and the raming period would be assessed after providing the induction to the occupants. unfoutunalilty, the monitoring process was not completed as originally planned. however, both villas went through a monitoring period of several weeks during the summer and winter of 2016/2017. internal indoor temperatures and relative humidity levels were recorded in the habitable spaces ( living room and bedrooms) using data loggers that captured the indoor environment. additionally, three meter readings were used to assess the energy use in the villas, further interpolation was necessary to envisage the annual energy use in the villas. 2.4. passivhaus criteria met by qatar passivhaus project according to the passivhaus standards, stringent criteria need to be met to ensure both a reduction in energy use and a high degree of thermal comfort. based on the simulation results, the passivhaus in qatar has met the stringent passivhaus criteria in all criteria except for primary energy use, however, it is worth mentioning that the energy generated through the pv panels is sufficient to fully meet the load of the phv. in addition, qatar phv has failed in meeting the requirement for air-tightness. based on the blower door test carried out at 50 pas n50 in the phv, the recorded infiltration rates were higher than the passivhaus standard by around 40%. other requirements such as the cooling demands, thermal comfort levels and the thermal transmittance of external surfaces were according to the standard ( see table 1 ). table 1.qatar passivhaus villa vs. passivhaus standards based on simulation results criteria passivhaus standard qatar phv specific primary energy ≤120 135/(-186)1 specific cooling demand (kwh/m2) ≤ 27 23 overheating frequency (% of time operative temperature above 25°c) 10/02 0 table 2 continued moisture level limit (% of time moisture content above 12 g/kg) 20/102 3 opaque surfaces’ u-value (w/m2k) 0.25 0.08 transparent surfaces’ u-value (w/m2k) 1.0-1.20 0.8 air tightness (@ 50 pa) ≤ 0.6 0.9 1 negative energy demand as a result of excess energy generated through pvs 2 without active cooling/with active cooling khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 83 2.5. the thermal performance of the phv and the stv the phv and stv thermal performance assessment were carried out though investigating three main performance indicators, (a) energy use, (b) indoor thermal comfort and (c) the thermal performance of the building envelope. following is a summary of each performance indicator. a. energy use: according to the obtained results, it was evident that the phv had consumed at least 50% less energy than the stv. the phv predicted energy use through ies was around 21,000 kwh annually, while the stv energy usage was estimated to be around 44,500 kwh annually. additionally, with the consideration of the energy generated through the pv panes, the whole loads of the phv could be met with a surplus load that could also be transferred to the local grid. figure 4 and figure 5 illustrate the energy use in both villas in term of small power, lights and hvac system usages. it is evident through the figures that most of the loads in both villas are exerted by the hvac system. furthermore, the measured hvac energy use is less than the predicted energy use in the phv, and vice versa in the stv, as the measured cooling demand is more than the estimated cooling demand through ies. figure 4. phv simulated and measured energy use khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 84 figure 5. stv simulated and measured energy use differences between the measured and recorded data have been found, this may have been caused due to the manipulation of the setpoint temperature, or by the mispositioning of the data loggers or a possible error in simulation and calculations. figure 6 illustrates the measured and predicted energy use in terms of hvac use. figure 6. phv and stv measured and predicted hvac energy use the present and future scenario indicate that the phv will continue to use 50% less energy compared to the stv and that its full loads could still be met by the energy generated through the pv panels ( see figure 7). khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 85 figure 7. annual energy use in the phv and stv in the present time and the future (2050) b. indoor thermal comfort: both villas showed a satisfactory level of thermal comfort, this was assessed through the data loggers installed in both villas and through simulation. figure 9 illustrates the measured and predicted indoor temperature for the living space, both with and without occupants. it should be noted that in the phv a higher level of thermal comfort is expected especially throughout the projected year 2050. as presented in figure 11, the occupants of the stv are expected to feel slightly warm during the hottest day of the year. this is expressed by the pmv figures of above (+1) during specific times of the day. figure 8a. average measured and predicted monthly indoor temperature in phv living room khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 86 figure 9b. average measured and predicted monthly indoor temperature in stv living room figure 10a. pmv during the hottest day (phv) khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 87 figure 11b. pmv during the hottest day (stv) c. thermal performance of the building envelope: the results obtained through ies-ve while de-activating the cooling system in both villas indicated that the outer fabric of the phv was much more resistant to thermal conductivity and that the indoor temperatures were maintained well below the extreme outdoor dry bulb temperature during the hot season. however, in the stv the indoor temperatures were above the outdoor dry bulb temperature during the hotter months (see figure 12 and figure 13). figure 12. phv and stv thermal envelope performance in the present time khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 88 figure 13. phv and stv thermal envelope performance in the projected time (2050) 2.6. challenges in implementing the passivhaus standard in qatar’s phv although the phv did not reach full passivhaus standards, its design, construction, and commission involved rigorous specifications that were associated with various challenges. starting from the design stage; with the lack of expertize in passivhaus design, qgbc had to acquire a team of experts to deliver this project, which included aecom, kahramaa; the qatar general electricity and water corporation, barwa real estate and other partners such as alumco and qatar solar technologies (alumco, 2014). aecom group of london were chosen to design the passivhaus villa, owing to their expertize in passivhaus design. a virtual dynamic model of both the phv and the stv were created in ies-ve to study the thermal performance of the buildings under hot climates. additionally, the passive house planning package (phpp) was also used to calculate the energy balance and annual energy demand in the villas, and to adhere to the passivhaus standard certification process. upon completion of the drawings, and once commencing the construction, several challenges arose; first, due to the physical allocation of the design firm, continuous supervision by the architect was not feasible. however, qgbc team did not spare any effort to closely monitor the construction process. second, construction workers were not customized to constructing airtight buildings, this resulted in a number of issues, which eventually affected meeting the airtightness benchmark of the passivhaus standard. as mentioned in section 1.1, an airtight envelope with minimum thermal bridges is required to achieve passivhaus standards. during the blower door test, several airgaps were found. the first was between the building envelope and piping and plumbing work, the second was found between the outer envelope and external fenestrations. finally, the third air gap was also detected along the ducting work. the phv team tried to rectify these errors through the application of sealing materials, the airtightness of the envelope was reduced to the minimum, but still not the passivhaus benchmark. the phv yet stands as an example, of probably, the most airtight villa in qatar. based on the literature review constructing to reach passivhaus standard is one of the challenges that have been recorded especially outside of germany (müller and berker, 2013). this is merely due to the fact that the standard was originally nourished in this region and that the workers have gained enough skill to construct buildings to meet the rigorous passivhaus criteria. khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 89 other challenges associated with the construction phase could also relate to the purchase of the energy efficient building systems, such as the cooling and the ventilation system. the purchase and implementation of a heat recovery ventilation system within buildings in the gcc is not common, this imposes two main issues, the first is related to the availability of such systems in the local markets and the second is associated with the level of knowledge to make a well-informed choice while selecting a high efficiency ventilation system. furthermore, with the construction of any energy efficient building, additional costs are inevitable. the inclusion of additional insulation, high-performance glazing, and energy efficient appliance in addition to the ventilation, heating/cooling systems all add up to raise the construction costs of such buildings. in on the studies that compared a passivhaus to low energy building it was found that the option of a low energy building was much more feasible and practical in terms of the payback period (audenaert, de cleyn and vankerckhove, 2008). in case the case of qatar the phv construction cost were 15-20% more in comparison to the stv. furthermore, it was reported in a number of studies that one of the major challenges in passivhaus buildings was related to effectively operating the ventilation system (brunsgaard, knudstrup and heiselberg, 2012; ridley et al., 2013). although the phv has not been occupied during the study period, it could be predicted that such a challenge would be expected. especially during the cooler months where the cooling system may not be required and the ventilation system might need to be adjusted to ensure a continuous supply of fresh air in the villas. another challenge related to post-occupancy studies in passivhaus buildings was denoted as the overheating problem (brunsgaard, knudstrup and heiselberg, 2012). in the phv and through the initial monitoring period this problem was not evident, with the use of the cooling system the indoor temperatures were maintained at the set point temperature of 23.5°c, it was also evident that during the winter times the indoor temperature dropped to around 18°c in the phv and the stv. however, as occupancy patterns are unpredictable, the overheating problem may also rise in the future in the qatar passivhaus building or in other passivhaus building in a hot climate, despite the use of the cooling system, and given the expected projection of future climate change. discussion the gcc countries in the last few decades had witnessed an economic, urban and demographic growth. this has resulted in an increase in energy demand, especially in the residential sector (krarti and ihm, 2016; lahn and preston, 2013). furthermore, in 2006 a green action has started to be noticed in the gcc, signified by the emergence of a number of green councils and the introduction of building standards (willis, 2015). despite the presence of building codes, the enforcement of the codes has been mainly limited to governmental buildings (alalouch, saleh, and alsaadi, 2016). the passivhaus standard has proven to succeed in reducing energy use to significant levels while maintaining a high level of thermal comfort. this success has been mainly recorded in europe. in qatar and the region, the application of the passivhaus standard or any other energy efficiency standard will be bound by a number of challenges. first, due to the absence of green codes, or the limited enforcement of the existing codes end users may not consider the actual implementation of energy efficient measure in their buildings. second, due to the highly subsidized energy tariffs in the region, consumers lack concerns that relate to the costs of energy bills. while thermal comfort levels are achieved through the active cooling systems, the reduced energy tariffs overshadow the sustainable aspect of introducing green measures. third, there is a general absence of awareness in the region, especially within the consumer sector. energy agencies have provided a number of campaigns to spread the awareness and to embrace the importance of energy conservation. finally, the passivhaus exemplifies a stringent buildings code and requires specific skill and systems in order to succeed as have been learned through the phv challenges that were presented. to successfully provide a smooth transition towards the adaptation of the passivhaus standard in the region a number of suggestions could be considered ( khalfan, 2017): 1. upgrading the building codes and increasing the enforcement levels. 2. the promotion of energy efficient buildings in the region by providing subsidies for such buildings. khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 90 3. reviewing the highly subsidized energy tariffs, and providing higher rates for consumers with higher energy usage. 4. collaboration with the passivhaus institute or other passivhaus qualified bodies to provide workshops and training programmes for architects, contractors, and professionals in the region. 5. the creation of a web portal which illustrates passivhaus buildings in the region and provides best practices that suit the climatic conditions in the area. 6. the inclusion of certified passivhaus materials and systems which are available in the region to aid designers and architects during the design stage of a passivhaus building. conclusion in this research, the performance of a passivhaus building in a hot and arid climatic zone was investigated. qatar, through the qgbc, commisioned the first passivhaus building in the region. this pilot project was experimental in nature, as two identical villas were under study, one built according to the passivhaus standards and the other according to the conventional practices in the country. the assessment method was carried out by comparing the performance of the houses in terms of thermal comfort, energy use, and the thermal envelope performance. physical measurements and simulation results were used during the compersion process. results indicated that the phv actually consumed 50% less energy than the stv, both during the present time and in the future, furthermore the energy generated through the pv system was sufficient to cover all loads of the villa. in terms of thermal comfort, both villas had satisfactory levels, however, results indicated that the phv indoor climate was better for both timelines. while conducting a comparison of the thermal envelope performance, the phv intensive insulation layer has proved to maintain the indoor temperature below the extreme outdoor temperatures in the present and future scenarios. on the other hand, the stv indoor temperature closely matched those of the outside temperature, which was more evident in the future scenario. furthermore, the phv has closely matched the performance of a passivhaus building but has mainly failed in meeting the airtightness benchmark. a number of challenges are associated with the application of the passivhaus standard in the region. this is mainly due to the fact that there are no strict building codes applicable in the area. the design, construction, and operation of these buildings are likely to be the main confrontations. the achievement of passivhaus buildings are possible, this has been proved by the construction of the second passivhaus project in uae (brumana, franchini and perdichizzi, 2017). both buildings stand as an example of the applicability of the standard in the area, however, with actual occupancy and the conduction of post-occupancy studies, it will possible to obtain a holistic approach towards assessing the performance of passivhaus buildings in hot and arid climates. numerous future studies could be undertaken in the passivhaus project such as, as mentioned above, post-occupancy studies. occupant behavior is known to be one of the unpredictable and subjective aspects within the built environment and can alter predicted energy use and comfort level patterns in buildings. other possible future studies were listed in qgbc research agenda (amato and skelhorn, 2017) which included various measurements; such as the embodied carbon payback, surplus energy generation through pv panels and its connection to the local grid, pv array cleaning, indoor air quality…etc. acknowledgements the author would like to express sincere gratitude to the qatar green building council (qgbc), represented by dr. alexander amato and dr. cynthia skelhorn, who provided raw data and unlimited access to the qatar passivhaus project. the author would also like to acknowledge the support and help of mr. ahmed al abdulla, the ceo of barwa real estate, and mr. simon law of aecom. khalfan / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 91 references alalouch, c., saleh, m.s. and al-saadi, s. 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(2015) 'fast forwards: 10 years of sustainable initiatives in the gulf region', architectural design, vol. 85, no. 1, pp. 114-119. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 20 doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i3.674 architectural education for sustainable urban regeneration arzu çahantimur 1, rengin beceren öztürk1 1assoc.prof. rengin beceren öztürk, ph. d. bursa uludağ university,faculty of architecture, department of architecture, bursa, turkey abstract urban regeneration is one of the important agendas of turkey as a developing country. rapid urbanization problems have been causing vital social and economic problems together with physical and spatial ones especially in big cities of turkey. thus, national and local governments handled urban regeneration as a practical method for solution of these problems. however, they unfortunately don’t implement urban regeneration according to its real requirements. instead, this multi-dimensional and complex process is seen as a pull down and built up operation. considering this situation and being in awareness of the responsibilities of architects throughout urban regeneration process, the authors think that urban regeneration should be discussed in the scope of architectural education. this paper presents the purpose, the process and the products of an undergraduate architectural design studio that was undertaken at bursa uludağ university, faculty of architecture. the architectural and urban design projects of the students of which aim was to offer a livable and sustainable mixed used living environments are discussed together with their conceptual backgrounds. putting stress on the differences between theory and practice, the conclusion introduces a critical evaluation of urban regeneration and sustainable housing concepts in turkey. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords urban regeneration; sustainable development; architecture; living environments; education 1. introduction: urban regeneration for sustainable development the most comprehensive definition of urban regeneration is ; an extensive vision and actions aimed at providing a lasting solution to the economic, physical, social and environmental conditions of problematic urban areas in order to solve urban problems. the concept of sustainable development is also most widely accepted by various platforms of the world as the economically feasable development that increases the quality of environment and social life. in this case, urban regeneration implementations are emerging as important forms of intervention in providing sustainable urban development. thus, it is clear that the concept of sustainability should not be considered separately from ‘regeneration’ in urban regeneration implementations. in this context, the overall aim of sustainable urban regeneration can be defined as the development and implementation of multi-dimensional and integrated projects for urban environments in different scales with various qualifications (e.g. streets, neighborhoods, districts and cities), with collaboration of the related parties. urban regeneration provides a great contribution to sustainable development by reducing the speed of expansion of city boundaries while enabling the recycling of urban land and buildings, while allowing the use of existing urban areas in a more compact and more intensive way. taken from this point of view, it is expected that urban http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i3.674&domain=press.ierek.com çahantimur/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 21 transformation activities, policies and processes should integrate technical, spatial and socioeconomic problems with an holistic approach to reduce not only the negative impacts of urbanization, but also the harms of environmental risks. on the other hand, urban regeneration should also improve the quality of urban life. however, urban regeneration studies can not be implemented in this ideal form everywhere in the world. especially in developing countries which are experiencing a rapid urbanization process but have economic insufficiency, these regeneration implementations are far away from ideal urban regeneration applications. turkey is one of these countries. especially in big cities, demolition and reconstruction is generally referred to as "urban regeneration" by local governments and contractors. in order to create livable cities that offer a sustainable life, ideal urban regeneration practices should take the place of these practices, which threaten the future of the cities. in this study, the importance of architectural education will be emphasized in the achievement of ideal urban regeneration studies which will contribute to sustainable urban development. first, the current situation will be clarified regarding the issue briefly mentioning the urban regeneration projects in turkey. in the next section, the architectural studio process and the products obtained by the authors will be presented, with emphasis on the necessity of integrating concepts of housing, urban housing and urban regeneration with the concept of sustainability in architectural education. the study concludes with the discussion of students' approach to the subject. it is considered that this study once again emphasizes the importance of architectural design studios, which form the backbone of the architectural education, for sustainable urban development. 2. urban regeneration in turkey the urban transformation studies carried out in turkey can be classified as; urban regeneration in slum areas, urban regeneration in urban centers, urban regeneration that is inevitable when industrial centers abandon the various urban centers of successor cities, urban regeneration to reduce disaster damage and urban risks. görgülü(2009), indicates that the squatterization process experienced between 1950-1980 because of rapid internal and external migration is an important breaking point for turkey. in this period, the squatter areas that were formed by illegal settlement became unhealthier with the improvement plans developed by local governments. this situation shows that urban regeneration is perceived as a process of demolish and rebuild in turkey. the years between 1980 and 2000 was the period in which especially the large cities of turkey were affected by the outward-oriented liberal economy and globalization. the two important developments in this period were; the construction of licensed and unlicensed settlements in the city and the expansion of settlement areas towards the fringes of the city. urban regeneration studies observed in this period have shown their selves in the industrial, central and coastal areas of the cities as well as in residential areas. preservation of historic areas by gentrification is also began to be used at this period, as well as renovation, rehabilitation and redevelopment of low quality and risky urban areas (ataöv and osmay 2007). tekeli (2011), also emphasizes the importance of 1980s in the urban development process of turkey. in the early '80s, cities were growing with the increase in the number of individual buildings. subsequently cities went on growing with formation of large urban areas such as mass housing districts, education and service campuses, and organized industrial zones. these areas, which are far from the city centers, have caused the functions of the city centers to be derelict, or they have been built to carry these functions from the city center. this situation has caused the cities to grow rapidly in their vicinities. regeneration studies have been implemented in these areas in order to ensure that vacated city centers do not become a depressed area, and practices in these areas have generally resulted in gentrification. in the period covering 2000 and beyond, local government's cooperation with the private sector accelerated and urban regeneration was defined as a strategy for the first time. this strategy, which is defined as urban renewal only, has begun to be applied to transform different urban parts into places with different uses. the gentrification and preservation of the historical residential areas and the improvement of the apartment areas are the implementations of this period. çahantimur/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 22 in addition to the implementations for improving the socio-economic disadvantages, the revitalization implementations for tourism have been made and the implementations for transforming the slum areas into livable residential areas have begun to gain importance. however, in turkey, often it is observed that, urban regeneration projects are far from taking reference from the architectural and urban identity of the city and they are alien to the spirit of the city. mostly focusing on real estate and ignoring the socio-cultural and economic necessities, the implementations just have physical space arrangements. on the other hand, unfortunately, local people have been the aggrieved party of all these studies. 3. urban regeneration discussed in architectural education as a rapidly developing country with so many implementations of urban regeneration projects in turkey should be considered as an opportunity to create livable and sustainable cities. however, in order to take advantage of this opportunity architectural and urban design and practices that are consistent with sustainable urban development principles are inevitable. at this point, it is necessary to put stress on the importance of architectural education. during the past decades, urban environmental education and education for sustainability concepts have been increasingly taking place in the undergraduate programs of architecture and urban design. as long as rapid urbanisation continues to be one of the greatest challenges facing the world today, sustainability and sustainable cities will be one of the main topics of design faculties. many institutions that have included “sustainability” concept in their mission and vision emphasize various sustainable urban development requirements in their educational curriculum and apply them as different approaches. these can be summarized as; compact urban design, creating livable communities through high quality design, encouraging sustainable building design and sustainable housing, greening cities, encouraging sustainable energy use, maintaining and preserving built and cultural heritage and promoting positive urban processes to create livable environments (halliday, 2006). on the other hand, salama(2002) indicates that, embedding “sustainability” concept in architectural education has made transdisciplinary thinking a necessity when architects, urban designers and planners are approaching the design of the built environments. and the objective outcomes of transdisciplinary thinking paradigm can be seen and evaluated via architectural design studios. as ledewitz(1985) explains, enabling students to simulate an actual process of professional action in a simplified way is the benefit of design projects. thus, project-based learning is considered to be the backbone of the design studios. the validity of predicting that architectural education has an important role in achieving sustainable urban regeneration ideally that has been discussed at the beginning of the study can be experienced in architectural design studios. problems about urban life and urban environment in real life should be addressed in design studios with project-based and problem-solving approaches. candidates of architects should experience this critical thinking process with a holistic approach. the authors, who set out with the belief in this necessity, discussed sustainable urban regeneration in architectural design studio 4, in which they collaborated. 3.1. the case: an architectural design studio discussing urban regeneration in the scope of this study, the aims, inclusion and outcomes of the architectural design studio iv are presented via example student projects. it is one of the main compulsory courses of the undergraduate program of architecture at faculty of architecture in bursa uludağ university, turkey. the main aim of this fourth design studio is to make students conscious about the importance of existing natural and built environment throughout their design process. the students are expected to develop solutions considering the potentials and problems of the existing built environment (bursa uludağ university web page). the authors as the instructors of the design studio coordinated at 2016-17 spring semester, put stress on the concept of “sustainable urban regeneration”. the students were expected to develop a mixed-used housing complex in one of high-density residential areas of bursa, which is the fourth biggest city of turkey. this area is preferred as to be the project area because of being at one of the rapidly developing axes of the modern city. also, along this main street there are so many building constructions called as “urban regeneration” by the local government. çahantimur/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 23 the key concepts discussed throughout fourteen weeks studio curriculum were; sustainable housing, livable communities, sustainable urban development and urban regeneration. in the first weeks the students made a literature survey about these concepts while exploring the physical and socio-cultural characteristics of the project area and its near environment through maps, models, dioramas and surveys conducted to the local people. after these analysis they all came up to the point that they should develop housing projects that offer facilities and services that meet residents’ basic needs and build community cohesion through open spaces, community gardens or leisure facilities. they understood that they should handle the design problem with a holistic approach including environmental and socio-cultural issues. however, as being the second year undergraduate students they didn’t know how to do that. some successful examples selected from the developed projects are presented below with brief explanations. the process of developing students' thoughts and projects and the final products are discussed in the conclusion. 3.2. example projects this building complex in which people are able to meet their social activities, various kinds of sportive activities and the other daily life needs, is located over a sloped land. the upper and lower level streets are connected with the public spaces between the housing blocks which are designed in harmony with the topography. people will prefer to live in these blocks, not only for their need of housing, but also for their social needs which are very important for an urban life. the green roof gardens of the blocks also serve the residents as meeting places, see figure 1. figure 1. muhammet yusuf birinci activity valley this housing project including mixed used functions is designed on a building plot which is located in a high density neighbourhood. a primary school, a middle school and a high school take place around this plot. for this reason, the student aimed to design a residence which also includes cultural and commercial activities for young people. the surrounding roads, which people are familiar with, continue through the building plot and a public space is formed at the junction of them. the organic forms of the building blocks let this complex to have an active green route for pedestrian flow and act as a meeting point especially for the young people, see figure 2. çahantimur/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 24 figure 2. büşra beşen public space for youth the main aim of this housing complex design is to provide green open spaces for people living in this high density neighbourhood. the unbroken fronts of the blocks create a canyon effect, where a public garden is formed at the more silent part of the building plot. this public garden constitute an open place for various kinds of social and cultural activities that take place on the ground floor of the blocks. the outdoor vertical and horizontal circulation system of the blocks let the residents to see eachother more than usual in their everyday life. the complex offers various types of flats for different life styles, see figure 3. figure 3. zeynep fazilet kaya green canyon a modular design approach is adopted for this urban housing complex. all of the indoor and outdoor spaces have similar modules providing to use the building plot with optimum capacity. it includes various types of flats designed with modules. also, the facades of the building complex reflect the similar modular proportions that enable shady living places. the continuity of the public places, which provide various kinds of indoor and outdoor social activities, let this urban housing complex to be livelier, see figure 4. çahantimur/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 25 figure 4. zeynep sena sancak modular living space the main aim of this mixed used housing complex is to offer social activities and shopping alternatives not only for its residents, but also for local people. the ground floor includes commercial and social spaces that are integrated with the public garden in the middle of the three main blocks. the uninterrupted pedestrian alley connects the main street with a greater public garden while the commercial axis invites people to the courtyard, which is an intersection of activities, see figure 5. figure 5. merlinda mollavequriintersection of activities 4. conclusion it has been seen that the critical thinking skills of the students have been improved with the studies carried out within the scope of the presented architectural studio. despite being second-year students, they could integrate the data they got from their initial analysis. these are sustainability concepts and requirements they have learned from the literature analysis, the positive aspects of the successful implementations they have found from example case studies, and the needs of the local people. in this studio students experienced a problem-solving process including çahantimur/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 26 many different aspects of a high-density residential area together with the necessities of a mixed-used housing complex with different socio-cultural and commercial functions. it has been the greatest achievement of the semester for students to gain the awareness that they can contribute achieving sustainable urban development as future architects. for this purpose, they have developed scenarios for creating livable communities and sustainable living environments. however, since their architectural design skills have not yet reached sufficient maturity, it has been seen that students could not fully reflect the life scenarios and concepts they proposed to their architectural and urban design projects. it is thought that in the ongoing process of their education our students will overcome the problems they experienced when they were trying to reflect their key concepts to their architectural projects. however, the most important thing is to empower students to translate the lessons they have learnt during their education as positive and sustainable changes to their professional and daily lives. acknowledgements the authours would like to thank the third instructor of the studio tülin şen (arch.), the research assistant gözde kırlı özer (m.arch) and all of the students for their contributions to the architectural design studio iv, 2016-17 spring semester at bursa uludağ university, faculty of architecture, department of architecture. references ataöv, a., & osmay, s. (2007). türkiye'de kentsel dönüsüme yöntemsel bir yaklasim. odtü mimarlik fakültesi dergisi= metu journal of faculty of architecture, 24(2), 57-82. görgülü, z. (2009). kentsel dönüşüm ve ülkemiz. tmmob i̇zmir kent sempozyumu, 769-780. gürler, e. (2003). kentsel yeniden üretim süreci üzerine karşılaştırmalı çalışma: i̇stanbul örneği. kentsel dönüşüm sempozyumu bildiriler kitabı, yıldız teknik üniversitesi basım-yayın merkezi, i̇stanbul, 113-158. halliday, g. (2006). international perspectives on best practice in the development of urban environmental education, and education for sustainability programs. australian journal of environmental education, 22(1), 141-145. kocabaş, a. (2014). yeşil sürdürülebilir kentsel dönüşüm: kavramsal çerçeve ve uygulama araçları. böke, e.(ed.), 24. ledewitz, s. (1985). models of design in studio teaching. journal of architectural education, 38(2), 2-8. salama, a. m. (2002). environmental knowledge and paradigm shifts: sustainability and architectural pedagogy in africa and the middle east. architectural education today: cross cultural perspectives. lausanne: comportements. p51-59. tekeli, i. (2011). kent, kentli hakları, kentleşme ve kentsel dönüşüm yazıları. 2.baskı, tarih vakfı yurt yayınları, i̇stanbul. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v1i1.18 sustainability and energy performance in the real estate market andrea ciaramella1 1department of architecture, built environment and construction engineering, politecnico of milan abstract one of the main economic benefits associated with the sustainable character of buildings is certainly the reduced use and energy consumption. the savings can be very significant, especially when considering that a nonresidential building, from an energy-efficient point of view, can achieve a power savings of 30% (kats, 2003). this, combined with the rising energy prices and growing awareness of environmental issues, has gradually shifted the demand towards buildings with good sustainable features; as a result, the concept of ”sustainability” has become a real ”driver” for designers ” (turner & frankel, 2008). however, it is appropriate and interesting to understand whether and to what extent a general trend, widely shared, is recognized by the market in terms of value. to simplify, it is appropriate to distinguish between the evidence of statistical data and considerations that have significant but only qualitative characteristics, then highlight statistics that demonstrate the relationship between the building performance in terms of sustainability and the corresponding market value and, at the same time, raise the motivation and guidance of end users and investors to see if the market can push towards sustainability because of its issues, such as economic benefit and convenience, and not only opportunities and responsibilities. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords building performance; energy performance; market value; sustainability 1. buildings sustainability and real estate market: a literature point of view green building certifications continue to rise year after year. in 2013, a wharton initiative for global environmental leadership (igel) study estimated that the market for green buildings in the united states, including both new and retrofits, is likely to rise from $85 billion in 2012 to $200 billion by 2016. this scenario is certainly a result of the growing awareness that a sustainable approach is an added value for any industry, at different levels. however, it seems necessary to understand whether and to what extent a general trend, so widely shared, is recognized by the market in terms of value; or if investors, promoters and market operators recognize a “market premium” to buildings characterized by a specific sustainable performance. in the international literature, there are different points of view: some authors as newsham, mancini & birt (2009), barrientos (2007) and scofield (2009) argue that, regardless of the leed certification, the energy use varies considerably between different buildings, so it is invalid that a certified building ever reaches appreciable levels, particularly in terms of energy saving. pivo & fisher (2010), however, argue that the savings in terms of energy consumption (per square meter per year) in the energy star certified buildings is 12.9% higher compared pg. 39 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v1i1.18&domain=press.ierek.com ciaramella / environmental science and sustainable development, essd to a ”normal building.” this study, which analyzes the net income of 7,627 properties within 10 years, identifies a market premium of 2.7% for energy star buildings 1. in summary, despite the limited availability of data and information in a position to give statistical evidence to the qualitative considerations, we can say that the analyzed studies show that the character buildings ”green” or with proven energy performance have these features (miller, spivey & florance, 2008): 1. they can get the highest rents: the energy star certified properties have got a market premium, in terms of rental costs, of 4.8%, corresponding to about $ 1.26 / sqf; energy star certified office buildings got a 3% market premium in the period 2004-2007; energy star or leed certified office buildings got a 2% market premium in 2007-2009; energy star and leed certified office buildings got a market premium about 6%. in general, the market premium for energy star-certified buildings varies between 7% and 9%, while for leed certified buildings varies between 15% and 17%. 2. they van have greater market opportunities (divestment): energy star certified buildings are able to obtain a higher market value of 13.5% in comparison to similar-free 15 certification. with reference to the transactions concluded during the period 2003-2007, it is showed that leed certification increases the sale price of buildings by 10%, while energy star entails an increase of 5.8%. office buildings energy star certified got a premium market, in terms of sales price of 19% in the period from 2004 to 2007. office buildings, energy star to leed certified, got a market premium of 13%. in general, the market premium referring to the energy star certified buildings sale is 31% while for leed certified buildings is 35%. 3. they can help maintain higher employment rates: in 2008, the energy star certified buildings reached a higher occupancy rate of 2-4% compared to similar buildings; the average yield (compared with appropriate adjustment factors with values related to vacancy rates) over the period 2004-2007, of leed and energy star certified office buildings was 9%; in 2007-2009; it was 5%; in 2010; leed certified buildings reached higher occupancy rates of 16-18% and those energy star certified of 10-11%. 4. have lower operating costs: energy star buildings involve 30% lower operating costs than comparable noncertified ones. energy star is a program of the agency for environmental protection (epa) and the us department of energy; it is a voluntary scheme, established in 1992 with the aim of measuring the energy efficiency of products / systems. the first products energy star branded were pcs and monitors. since 1995, the method was extended to the heating and cooling systems in buildings. to date in the united states 1.2 million homes have been certified. although difficult to quantify and often overlooked, there are, for some authors, other benefits: greater visibility and best picture for the housing stock and an increased employee productivity (resulting in lower turnover and reduced absenteeism) (miller, pogue, gough & davis, 2009). just for the latter, some studies believe that it can lead to increased employee productivity when moving to a sustainable building (lucuick, trusty, larsson & charette, 2005), and that this increase will translate into an equivalent energy saving for companies (romm & browning, 1998). however, it should be noted that the characteristics, such as reducing the rate of absenteeism or staff productivity, can not always be directly related to the sustainability characteristics of buildings and do not provide direct economic benefits. some studies claim that sustainable products are too expensive (both as regards to the production, both for what concerns the corresponding sale price on the market), especially when it is not possible to clearly ascertain the environmental quality in terms of cost/opportunities (mahenc, 2007). 1energy star is a program of the agency for environmental protection (epa) and the us department of energy; it is a voluntary scheme, established in 1992 with the aim of measuring the energy efficiency of products / systems. the first products energy star branded were pcs and monitors. since 1995, the method was extended to the heating and cooling systems in buildings. to date in the united states 1.2 million homes have been certified. pg. 40 ciaramella / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the conclusion of the authors, based on the analyzed statistical data, is that the reduction of energy consumption is crucial to a market premium, more than a leed certification. in this regard, it is appropriate to consider that the energy star tradition in the united states nearly 20 years and that, as is apparent in many other contributions and studies, the perception that an energy efficient building involves lower operating costs during its useful life seems particularly popular in the market. in general, with respect to these data, it can be concluded that: – all authors agree that the link between the market value and buildings sustainable requirements is still at the beginning and that studies and analyses are needed in the coming years. – more than a willingness to face higher costs for ”green” buildings, there is a demand for a reduction of the fees for buildings without any green performance. – the studies are all based on the us market and most of the data are related to buildings in california. – the evidence of the data does not distinguish the different rating levels. – some authors (miller et al., 2008) consider that certain requirements by the government and some corporate standards over time could lead to a decline in interest on non-certified buildings. – a probing test is related to building performance over time and how the ”green” performance and the adaptability and flexibility of buildings meet the tenants’requirements and influence them in renewing the leases; as long as nothing has been proven that the end users are more likely to renew their contracts, this figure is not shown. the existing data are mainly linked to the value of the lease payments; the number of transactions is considered small to support scientifically-proven conclusions. the recent recession has caused a reassessment of what real estate asset managers consider the most important factors in choosing a new building; in addition to the necessary financial considerations, we are seeing a growing attention to the issues that refer to a cultural horizon of technical and functional performances. despite the experts’ share that enhance the performance of a building requiring more investment, the impact that sustainability issues have on a typical real estate investment decision-making process or of active management has not declined at all. recent surveys show that property owners see sustainability as an increasingly determining factor in the decision process but, at the same time, believe that there is no corresponding market premium (morri & soffietti, 2013). a survey of two cohorts of real estate stakeholders, either members of the green building council italia or commercial real estate investors, was carried out by means of an online questionnaire. based on 270 responses, it can be inferred that, while the importance of green building is widely acknowledged, caution is still prevalent regarding expected gains. in fact, the majority of respondents perceive the increase in rent and price premiums as being equivalent to additional costs. several studies have been conducted into the relationship between sustainability and market value in real estate, by critically analyzing the research and the applicability of sustainability and value research in valuation practice. according to warren-meyers (2012), as regards to the relationship between sustainability and market value, the valuation profession is not provided by research that would allow the incorporation of normative theories on the value of sustainability in valuation practice. this review highlights the lack of evidence and the applicability of current research into sustainability and value to the valuation profession in providing guidance and information in valuing real estate incorporating sustainability. some other authors (lorenz & lützkendorf, 2011) think that changes are required in the processes of gathering, processing and presenting property-related information, as well as in the methods for determining individual valuation-input parameters and for explicitly stating formerly implicit assumptions and qualitative judgment. the pg. 41 ciaramella / environmental science and sustainable development, essd required changes should be supported by actions that could be undertaken by the professional and valuationstandard-setting bodies and organisations within the valuation world. these actions include: embracing and improving marketing of the qualitative nature of the valuation service, the development of educational materials and formal guidelines, the provision of dedicated market research to assist valuation practitioners operating in different market segments, geographic regions and local sub-markets, and adjusting and further developing existing valuation standards to enable and support individual practitioners in offering a two-tierd valuation service to clients. 2. investors, end users and sustainable buildings: a market point of view the contributions in this direction are made by consulting firms, such as gva grimley, cushman & wakefield, atisreal, jonel lang lasalle, dtz, and deloitte. cushman & wakefield, in 2010, carried out a field survey, interviewing senior executives of 500 european companies invited to give their views on sustainability and more specifically on green buildings. the results of this survey were then compared with those of a similar study conducted in 2009. nearly 70% of respondents across europe consider sustainability ”important” sustainability, and over 40% said it is ”very important” or ”essential” for their business, regardless of the performance of the housing market. however, when it comes to buy or lease of new space across europe, there is a distinct virtual division: 50% of respondents believe that the green credentials play a significant and/or key role while the remainder believe they are not significant by giving them a limited or no role. the number of companies owning or occupying a green building has increased from 15% to 21% during the period of 2008-2010. sweden, with more than 50%, is the nation that has the highest number of surveyed companies that occupy buildings certified in term of sustainable performance. in addition, almost half of the organizations that still do not occupy a green building would be interested to change. positively, the number of respondents who do not occupy a green building and who are not at all interested in doing so has fallen from 32% to 28%. the widespread feeling is that larger companies (those with more than 5,000 employees) are taking the first steps in optical green, indicating the direction to follow. of these, 80% occupy or would like to occupy a green building; while with decreasing the company size, the intention also decreases towards sustainable real estate, showing a low propensity of small and medium companies to occupy a green building. we have to consider that the real estate market has suffered a lot in recent years and that has affected the strategic decisions within the companies. managers, in fact, prefer to focus primarily on the cost reduction through the optimization of spaces and the reduction in operating costs. for the 30% of surveyed companies, the most important factor for choosing a green building would be the ”reduction of energy consumption and water use.” this is true not only for large but also for small (i.e. those with less than 1,000 employees) and medium-sized enterprises (1001 to 5000 employees). however, there are obstacles in the dissemination of green practices, which are perceived as real barriers; about 20% of those surveyed said to be bound to the existing lease, especially the british and german companies (where over 30% of respondents indicated that this is the most important factor). in addition, most of the executives surveyed complains of a shortage of green real estate and higher rents, compared to standard buildings. however, the main obstacle for many respondents is the lack of buildings deemed suitable to the needs of companies. this is a negative trend that will likely continue for the next few years until there will be a greater supply. in order to attract tenants, new buildings must be built to the highest environmental standards; consequently, this should favor the expansion of the green buildings across europe. the importance of environmental requirements was also emphasized by a recent study published in the american journal of public health, stating that green buildings positively affect public health. in fact, it is stated that workers who have moved from conventional to green building offices reported a lower absenteeism rate and were more productive. therefore, in europe, there is a widespread feeling that the perception of the green building character qualities will greatly increase in the coming years along with the importance of sustainability in the long-term decisions, i.e. on development strategies and future commercial operations. pg. 42 ciaramella / environmental science and sustainable development, essd one of the first market research studies (grimley, 2007) has highlighted a rather limited proportion of investors interested in trying buildings in some way identified as ”sustainable.” the research, however, indicates that they all identify as ”important for the future” a sustainable performance. another research (bowman & will, 2008) referred to the australian market, found the absence of a clear direct relationship between market value and buildings. ”green star” certified, but highlighted that, in the view of investors, green star buildings are considered more able to respond to market changes in the future (literally in research are defined “future proofed”) and to better ensure the prospects of long-term return on investment. atisreal (2008) interviewed 135 companies, headquartered in the uk, about their orientation. also, in this case, there is no evidence but only a general propensity of operators, all agree, especially in perspective, that sustainable buildings will be characterized by: lower risk; greater market (in particular, less time and more ease of sale); market premium. however, it should be noted that this survey shows that operators are considering the cost of achieving sustainable buildings is still very high. a similar research study (miller et al., 2008) refers to the market in new zealand noted the propensity of investors to replace poorly performing buildings in their portfolio with sustainable buildings, but only in the face of proven ability to enhance the outcome in terms of efficiency. that means that investors are willing to spend more, but only if the investment’s objective proves to be on cash flow. some specific cases show interesting trends: in australia the development of sustainability investors is growing: vicsuper has invested 10% of the portfolio in large australian and international companies that have been shown to have the best sustainable business strategies in their specific sector. another example is provided by australia’s investa property group, a real estate investment company that currently manages $6.2 billion in assets and employs more than 56 buildings; 30 of these buildings have sustainable features and have got a green star evaluation. the company is very active in the objective of reducing energy consumption, water, waste and harmful emissions. because of this ”sustainable” approach, investa has been included in the dow jones corporate sustainability index. following this recognition, the company has grown in value on the stock market (”investa property group”, 2006). dtz has carried out an investigation referring to the market in paris. 50% of respondents would consider acceptable a 5-10% fee increase for ’sustainable’ headquarters; but only 21% said they were interested in renting a green building. many of the respondents think that the fee increase should be justified by an equivalent reduction in management/maintenance costs (reduced consumption and overall energy bills). among the most recent research studies is one developed by jones lang lasalle together with corenet global; it has a global nature and is not related to a single market. the survey involved 400 ceos; 60% of respondents were willing to pay a higher fee (up to 10% more), for leed, breeam or equivalent labelled buildings. the research also points to a limited supply of buildings with these characteristics on the market and, for this reason, probably a propensity/willingness to pay more for a product considered rare and not for reasons related to the performance of buildings. one of the most interesting emerging trends is the increased propensity to invest in buildings owned by companies. the majority of respondents (57%) confirmed that it is regarded as a period of one to three years as the payback period for investments aimed at improving the energy performance of buildings; 9% of respondents would be willing to consider a longer payback period. in the work done by ipf (dixon et al, 2008), 50 companies that have leased office space in the uk were surveyed. the research (uk occupiers demand for sustainable offices 2006-2009), dating back to a few years ago, showed how the issue of sustainability had a minor importance compared to the criteria traditionally used in choosing their spaces. the same consideration emerges from a similar survey by knight frank in 2008, referring to the city of london. however, it is worth considering that most of the respondents deal with buildings of recent construction, and therefore the performance of buildings (especially in terms of energy consumption) are already, in fact, excellent. the research mcgraw-hill construction-cbre survey conducted with the university of san diego in 2010, in which 79% of respondents (owners) expect green buildings to attract more tenants. both tenants and property pg. 43 ciaramella / environmental science and sustainable development, essd owners have started including elements of sustainability in leases. commonly referred to as green leases, they include an upfront establishment of sustainability goals and allocation of implementation responsibilities between the owner and the tenant. the challenge here is inclusion of clauses to deal with non-compliance on either side, which is yet to become a common practice. also, it is relatively easier for landlords and tenants to include green features in new leases than it is to retrofit them into existing leases or renewals. sustainability is becoming an important influencer on the design of overall business strategy of tenants. according to a 2013 united nations global compact’s global corporate sustainability report, 19 approximately 63 percent of the respondents are aligning their core business strategy to advance their sustainability goals. in fact, according to a 2012 deloitte cfo survey, 93 percent of cfos believe that there is a direct link between sustainability programs and business performance. the increased focus on cre is validated by its substantive contributions to the total natural capital costs of businesses. real estate-related natural impact makes up a significant portion of the total for the financial services (38 percent in 2012) and retail (32 percent in 2012) industries. 3. conclusions in conclusion, in relation to literature, case studies, evidence of the market, the investigation by the operators, it is possible to identify the emerging following elements: the relationship between the market recognized value and characteristics in terms of sustainability of buildings still seems to be low in statistics: most of the analysis is conducted in the united states, where the energy star protocol has a history of at least 25 years. it is true that the data analyzed results indicate, albeit in a limited measure, a ”risk premium” for sustainable buildings. however, it is difficult to recognize with certainty a formal evidence of the relationship ”sustainability” ”market value”. many of the studies and analyzed reports reaffirm as prevalent the theme of energy efficiency and consumption control and this can significantly affect the sales prices and rents. in essence, be able to demonstrate the timing of payback or rate of return on investments in interventions to reduce consumption or, even better, to illustrate the cost of the life cycle of the interventions, could lead to easily recognize a market premium. it is, however, no doubt that, as many observers and experts point out, over time it will most significantly grow the demand of ”sustainable places/buildings” or, more precisely, energy performance. consequently, this will be reflected on the value of the leases, but above all on the level of investment risk and depreciation. it is probably fair to say that this qualitative trend will lead to a depreciation of under-performing buildings rather than to an increase in the value of sustainable buildings and low energy demand. in the future, the funding possibilities will probably be also affected by ”sustainable” requirements for buildings. however, it is appropriate to recognize that the banking system, although some few large specialized lenders in real estate and infrastructure sectors, rarely plays considerations and/or due diligence about the riskiness of loans, but rather considerations of creditworthiness of the promoters. above all, ethical and social motivations will influence the choices and orientation of the market and then of the supply. this element will probably be destined to play a decisive role, not dictated by laws or regulations, but by increased awareness and attention by all the 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(2012). the value of sustainability in real estate: a review from a valuation perspective. journal of property investment & finance,30(2), 115-144. pg. 45 buildings sustainability and real estate market: a literature point of view investors, end users and sustainable buildings: a market point of view conclusions http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 37 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i2.836 cultural landscapes preservation at the interface of urban planning and sprawl laouar imene1 1 architect & urban planner at the direction of urbanism architecture & constructioncoordinator at real estate promotion and management office, algeria. abstract from ancient times, the sea has played a key role in shaping and generating settlements and cities. the history of civilizations has been marked by the cultural development of human societies along coastlines. accordingly, these territories are harbor of an important coastal heritage; that plays a pivotal role in maintaining the link between the past and the future. in fact, while cities grow and their populations increase, their planning becomes a challenge for sustainable development. through different forms and mechanisms, coastal sprawl is materialized, by the massive occupation of populations and industrial activities along coastlines. in this vein, coastlines endure many conflicts, which lead to the degradation of cultural and natural resources and may result in loss of cultural identity associated with the presence of cultural landscapes. the paper aims, to discuss planning approaches and challenges related to managing cultural and coastal landscapes, facing the impact of coastal sprawl. the paper is based on a landscape analysis; it interviews the urban, social, juridical and morphological frame. an understanding of urban sprawl through the lens of annaba’s coastline is required for its implication as a social support of the identity and the history of the city. the paper also examines how the coastalization affects the cultural heritage based on the monograph of one of the valuable french colonial constructions in algeria. lastly, the study demonstrates, some key opportunities for advancing future adjustments, and coastal management approaches. for instance, new tools and more appropriate methodologies that combine the preservation of the coastline and the preservation of the cultural heritage. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords urban planning; cultural landscapes; coastalization; sprawl; heritage. 1. introduction urbanization, and specifically sprawl, have been an important issue in urban analysis and planning strategies. undoubtedly, the foremost tradition in urban studies has given sparse intention to water in urbanization. the few researchers traded waterscapes as a case in social, environmental, and economic perspectives focused on the physical and natural aspects. from an overall perspective, coastlines combine both natural and human components and also a cultural heritage that refers to the common collective maritime identity. in fact, the coastlines are often seen as highly valued and wealthy areas that hand over valuable benefits. this has stimulated the expansion of coastlines it has become densely populated areas and that gave rise to greater inequality. furthermore, coastal landscapes are shared and governed simultaneously by a plurality of texts, often indecisive applied in an uncoordinated manner by the institutions. the actual situation, has captured the attention of urban planners to adopt many challenges and approaches to manage coastal and cultural landscapes. this paper provides insights on cultural landscape evaluation https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i2.836&domain=press.ierek.com imene / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 38 acknowledging the presence of valuable heritage and the several phenomena that could threaten its resources (agapiou et al.,2015). it then summarizes, the country policies for management of the coastal landscapes. therefore, it challenges the knowledge of coastal sprawl impact, and coast requirements for urban development and the preservation of cultural, natural and social dimensions (beriatos et al., 2010). finally, this research aims to provide a coastal sprawl analysis methodology, that contributes to the understanding of sprawl dynamics to defend coastal areas. it provides also a toolkit for future planning strategies, cultural and coastal landscape preservation, with an approach to emphasize on the main question of the continuation of the process of coastalization and its impact that has reached an alarming stage. 2. coastal sprawl coastalization, refers to the process of concentration along the coastline of both the population and activities, due to coastal attractiveness. the city of annaba is located in the east of algeria, is considered to be one of the best known historic cities in algeria. with 80 km annaba’s coastline has an enviable position that tells the story of the city conquest and the landing of the french marine army on the 27th of march 1832. in addition, it encompasses a historic, cultural and archeological heritage. regardless of the value of the existing heritage, annaba’s coast constitutes a symbol of identity notably, whit its role in the construction of the collective memories. this maritime dimension was the interest of many geographers, navigators who sailed the mediterranean and for colons as vandal, numids, romans. since the second half of the 11th century, the coastal sprawl has become well known and marked by an important urban expansion. in this vein, the center of the city has been transformed from the interior to the coast with the construction of the new city by arabs. therefore, it offered a maritime orientation to annaba as evidenced by its new site overlooking the sea and the appearance of a fortified mediterranean. today, annaba’s coastline is undergoing a progressive and worrying coastalization. it concentrates the majority of the large-scale industrial activities linked mainly to industrialization period. this change of state was the first seed of disorder, anarchic urbanization and the alteration of the quality and the distinctive character of the cultural and coastal landscapes. in this paper, we address this gap through the lenses of annaba’s coast, which serves as a practical case study to examine how this process of coastalization affects the cultural landscapes that comprises rich historical heritage values (visser, 2004). the restaurant “the caravel” constitutes one of the valuable french colonial constructions in algeria build at xixth and xxth centuries, with a purified modern style, an ingenuity of construction and adaptation to the coastal context. figure1. thermal baths vs industrial zone, (source:http://annaba.net.free.fr/bone.grenouillere.htm,2018) imene / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 39 figure 2. view of the caravel restaurant from the lion's pier.( source: https://gallica.bnf.fr, 2018) 3. cultural landscapes preservation and urban planning tools the present urban planning strategies testify to the conflictual feature in dealing with developments and population growth and the conservation of valuable and historical heritage. on the one hand, the preservation of the character of existing cultural and coastal landscapes; on the other hand, the transformation of coastline that has formed the main argument for conservation (ahmed soufiane, 2009). to preserve the unique character of cultural landscapes and to control coastal sprawl, the legislation has set up two levels of protection in the international and national frame. however, the position of algeria toward the legislation reflects some disparities besides a lack of coastal landscapes methodologies for a balancing urban water demand and heritage preservation. in fact, the preservation strategies highlighted in the law 02-02 relating to the protection and the valuation of the coastline dates from february 05, 2002 ignored the current discourse of sustainability and correlations of cultural landscapes with coastal areas. more specifically, the implication of heritage in the development of communities and values for future generations. from a legal perspective, at the national level, the confronted analysis of the national land use plan, the coastal development plan and algerian maritime code showed that municipalities differ widely in their capacity to predict change and control coastal sprawl in conformity with the national framework and local priorities (döring et al.,2017). therefore, that may explain the conflictual situation. in the light of the urbanization of coastal areas, local development plans failed to link between the fields of coastal sprawl and cultural landscapes preservation. regrettably, cultural landscapes are often threatened or neglected by institutional as well as future planning strategies are not integrating its management (hepcan et al.,2013). this has profoundly transformed the coastline and led to problems of multi-use, accompanied by alteration of the cultural heritage characteristics. this situation has shaped new features for the coastal space and extremely modify the perception of users, and their own living environment. in addition, the loss of the balanced link between heritage assessment and the new built environments (antrop, 2004). however, the coastal laws and the master plans have not prevented the urbanization, for several reasons like the absence of control and the lack of environmental interest. the legislative analysis illustrates also, the insufficient adaptation and the weak coordination of institutions in charge of managing the coastline or its activities. 4. methods & materials sprawling coastal development dynamics can only be understood through the lens of landscape analysis, based on historical land planning documents and tools highlighted above. lynch’s urban analysis method adopted in our study stipulate that, the urban form must be identified by its characteristics which make it unique, that allow us to appropriate it to give it affective significance (fig.3). thus, the identified elements interact in the definition of the urban landscape perceived by the user. in this vein, the study presents a method to generate a contextual understanding of the influencing factors of urban sprawl, and also for analyzing how urban sprawl growth has and will affect heritage landscapes on annaba’s coast. the method attempts, to measure sprawl from a landscape perspective. on the representational side, the mapping first focuses on the site attributes that structure the studied path. imene / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 40 figure 3. elements of urban landscape. (source: philippe panerai et al, 2005) therefore, the measures and indices used are derived from urban and architectural frame in a selected path. there for the classification of the representations that are qualitative measures for spatial pattern is favorable in accommodating the landscape dynamics combined with the agents of change (diagram.1). this study serves to identify the interaction between cultural landscapes preservation and coastalization and the impact of the one on the other. although, the comparison of continuous landscape image despite coastalization, helps to analyze and focus on the nature of change in both structure and the functioning of landscape. according to lynch, the method then provides the elements of the site organization, such as boundaries, crossed sectors and landmarks. figure 4. diagram synthesis of the studied path.( source: author, 2018) imene / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 41 in urban studies, the relief represents the first framework of the organization of the territory on which the landscape is based. owing to the relevance of the study case and to draw the depth knowledge of the current requirements of the landscape which interpellate coastal and urban territories. landscape diagnosis, takes a part in this research as a basic tool for planning, intervention and management of landscapes. thus, the landscape is an essential dimension in the aim of preserving both cultural and natural assets. as well as development strategies of territories, who are forced to respond to the growing demands of populations to better take into account the new requirements of landscape. to achieve our intent, a landscape block diagram for the studied section gives the summary representation of the landscape ambiances adapted in both coastal and urban contexts with the presence of heritage. its used as interview support that permits us to better understand their representations and to appreciate their management practice. moreover, the conclusions of this type of survey can help actors to collect information that integrates a landscape dimension (brown et al., 2017). the landscape, approached from this angle, contributes to the construction of a social link between actors who often misunderstand the structure of landscapes. in addition to describe changes in structure and urban morphology, particular attention is paid to land cover transition dynamics over a vulnerability study allowing the mechanisms observed in spatial frame. it consists of defining the appropriate coastal climatic and anthropogenic phenomena for vulnerability analysis. identification of vulnerability profiles and their spatial distribution helps to determine typical indicator value combinations, and which urban vulnerability profiles characteristics, also interpretation and verification. in this analytical step, each urban vulnerability profil is described and interpreted. accordingly, the combination of results and indicators can be interpreted in terms of threats and challenges related to cultural landscapes preservation (rayan, 2012). the developed analysis sheet, summarizes the current conflicts among urban development, urban planning tools and cultural landscapes preservation. in this sense, and to forecast an example of this common pressure, annaba’s coast is the support, relying on a combined analysis of urban growth potential and threats to heritage. within the framework of the development of research subject and considering the importance of the social dimension, the social study allowed us to measure the degree of abundance of the studied path. then, it can be divided into a certain number of sequences, each one represents a succession of plans summarized in a descriptive sheet. this analysis examines how urban areas have developed above time, also to examine the forms and the mechanisms of coastal sprawl, throw a historical perspective. 5. discussion and practical applications the studied path was divided into 16 sequences (figure 4), an analytic and descriptive sheet (figure 5) for each sequence, was drawn up according to the results. the diagnosis carried an interruption that divided the studied area into different unities represented by the change in the (forms of urbanization, social practices, quality of vegetation’s, dimensions of sidewalks and roads, style of facades..). imene / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 42 figure 5. sequential analysis sheet. (source: author, 2018) the rupture in vision plans reveals the important pattern change in response to coastal sprawl process at an atypical proportion and rate and therefore, given rise to significant impacts on the landscape pattern. thus, the spatio-temporal analysis confirmed that costal sprawl has changed the structure and also influenced the functioning of coastal landscapes, giving a rise of inharmonious characteristics of coastal areas. the results of layering (figure 8), are clearly explaining the prominent features of coastal and cultural landscape dynamics with the transition between the two forms of occupation (urbanization,industrualization) represented in imene / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 43 layering map with two units. these changes aimed to the degradation, destruction of the cultural heritage in the studied area and affected the quality of the enviroment. meanwhile, schematic section of the studied path illustrates the current conflicts among urbanization and the negative changes in the urban pattern and the physical state of the cultural heritage (figure 6 and figure 7). the profiles review two forms of occupation: -an industrial silhouette (figure 6), constitutes the background of the studied area, a concentration of industrial constructions in the area, namely fishing port; factories and the port companies. therefore, the formation of new artificial zones along the coastline created huge monotone structures. all these activities are often polluting, harmful, cumbersome hide and deteriorate the symbolic value of the cultural landscapes. figure 6. profil section a, (source : author, 2018). figure 7. profil section b. (source : author, 2018) -an urban silhouette (figure 7), illustrates the spread along the coastline with an occupation that led to a radical modification of the environment. the different vision plans explain the results of anthropogenic actions that create an unbalanced trend. these results have also made demonstrable that the two forms of occupation create an undefined pattern and destroy human cohesion with no respect to the identity and character or the importance of the history. -it has been clear that, coastline is facing pressures never seen before. for this reason, coastal landscapes conservation strategies have to be integrated within the larger goals and balance of both conservation and development. -the urban sprawl forms and mechanisms are distinguished by analyzing overlaid urbanized area maps of the studied area. it should be noted that, according to the interpretation of the layering in different levels. (figure 8), the spatiotemporal pattern of coastal sprawl for each study context have expanded, also the spatiotemporal landscape imene / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 44 pattern configured by the two sprawl forms changed ,obviously (catalán et al., 2008). the different sprawl forms, patterns in the studied path have transformed significantly, with their proportions both in terms of occupation and function. -the overall lecture of the elements constituting the landscapes, has allowed us to identify the position of the coastal heritage included in its natural environment (figure 9 & figure 10). due to conflicts generated by urban and industrial sprawl, coastal landscape has been reshaped, and transformed. however, it is necessary to understand how this transformation took place using comparative profiles visions of this genesis which is opposed by a comprehensive lecture of the elements that organize the new landscape. the strong visibility of heritage implies to privilege the relevance of the project in order to recreate a strong link between landscape elements. for this, adopting a contrasting natural cover, in order to set the fundamental guidelines for the sustainable development, protection and enhancement of the coastline. figure 8. landscape units layering. (source: author, 2019) figure 9. landscape lecture profiles, (source : author, 2018). caravel restaurant unit 1 unit 2 rupture imene / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 45 figure 10. landscape lecture profiles, (source : author, 2018). taking annaba’s coast as a research area, the diagram section tool demonstrates that annaba’s coast is undergoing a major transformation of its urban structure. it is critically important to properly characterize coastal expansion origins from the first installation and the concentration of the majority of the large-scale industrial activities linked mainly to the industrial period in annaba (de rosa et al.,2013). the recognition of the spatial patterns enhancement from classified images, rapid urban expansion towards the coastline has been observed. the industrial area is more severe harmful because of its consequences on the coastline, cultural and natural elements. these findings were tested through landscape analysis and layering presented in the diagram (sterzel et al.,2020). figure 11. results of flow design analysis, (source: author, 2018) the results are based on the outcome of the vulnerability and risks analysis using flow design simulation for testing (figure 11). it showed that, each profile is characterized by a specific combination of indicators and value representing mechanisms that generate vulnerability. a complex result, due to the proximity to the sea and also the type of relief and the quality of the vegetation that covers the studied entity. besides, natural phenomenon appears the stagnant zones that affect air quality or comfort where the air flow accelerates around the corners of the building causing a imene / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 46 region separated at high speed from the corners. it has been clear from the results that climate change related to the urban expansion subsequently, several phenomena have been developed: -anthropogenic phenomena: comparing patterns and profiles, the covered area illustrates the consequences of all forms of urbanization, coastalization, and industrialization; they are therefore exposed to human activities that affect the cultural heritage and reduce the attractiveness of the coast. -climatic and ecological phenomena: is one of the most traumatic mechanisms of environmental degradation, notably through the textural and the mineral impoverishment of soils and the movement of large volumes of sand by wind. this type of phenomenon is caused by the presence of a heavy industrial activity and also a fishing port (polluting activity during the loading and unloading of ships). thus, the direct or indirect introduction of waste, substances (liquid discharges, solid discharges). this phenomenon led to the degradation of the physical state of the studied area. figue 10. synthesis diagram, (source : author, 2018) 6. conclusion the current debate between urban planning strategies and heritage preservation of the coastal areas, testify to a variety of mechanisms implemented in response to a diversity of heritage objects. however, cultural heritage management policies appear to be all the more delicate to define as it continues to unfold before our eyes, through an ever more extensive definition (taylor et al.,2011). as a result, the pressures of urbanization and insufficiently planned urban development, the urgency of responding to sustainable development and climate change, challenge cultural landscapes to address the complex issues of the conservation of valuable heritage (trovato et al.,2018). a sustainable development of cities depends on, the integration of historic values and heritage into urban development processes. the recognition of the huge impact of urban sprawl practices and understanding its implications and causes allow the preservation of urban landscapes, to ensure their continuity. in this study, we identified and investigated the factors correlated with coastalization related to changes of the image and landscape structure in the selected area. during the evaluation of the studied case we confirmed that it conceals various historical values which contribute, to its role as a place of exchanges and sociability in annaba’s coast. the conclusions explain the contradictions between the threat of coastalization and cultural landscapes preservation and the continuation of development with no respect of tools that leaded to intensifying those risks (whitehand et al.,2010). furthermore, it reflects the present attention given to find an approach, which integrates both urban conservation and development in balance with social, environmental, and cultural considerations. however, beyond the proposed development project that have been presented as a solution to this scientific work, the present study provides empirical results from the above mentioned, with important lessons in terms of knowledge relative to the legislation preserving the coast as an entity composed of both cultural and natural and social components. in the same way, that the approached subject opens the way to researches in the thematic for preservation tools and instruments, that adapts with the specificity of the coast and the presence of cultural heritage in coastal areas. imene / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 47 acknowledgements i would like to express my gratitude and my deep appreciation to my supervisors, mr hocine aouchal; 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(2010). conserving urban landscape heritage: a geographical approach. procedia social and behavioral sciences, 2(5), 6948-6953. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.05.047 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i3.954 what is the general population’s perception of smart motorways in the uk? mr luke lynch1, dr elisavet andrikopoulou2, dr nima dadashzade3 1 msc information systems, university of sheffield, uk 2senior lecturer, school of computing university of portsmouth, uk 3postdoctoral research fellow intelligent transport cluster, university of portsmouth, uk abstract motorway users have various opinions about the types of smart motorways. motorway utilization can be affected if road users have a negative perception of certain types of smart motorways, particularly on the topic of safety. there are three types of smart motorways that can be found in the uk. these are controlled smart motorways (csm), dynamic hard shoulder (dhs), and all-lane running (alr). this study focuses on the comparison of alr and dhs smart motorways as alr smart motorways are developed to replace and improve upon dhs smart motorways. the aim of this project is to understand how the general population perceives smart motorways in the uk. this aim will be achieved by answering a series of these research questions: (1) how does existing knowledge of smart motorways affect the perception of smart motorways; (2) how does age affect the perception of smart motorways; (3) how does car ownership affect the perception of smart motorways? data were collected using an online survey disseminated to the uk adult population of vehicle and non-vehicle drivers via social media and advertisements. descriptive statistics and cluster analysis were used to analyse the dataset and find similarity clusters. the primary research shows that ~57% of the survey respondents had never heard of or did not know the meaning of the 3 different types of smart motorways and only ~13% of respondents fully understand the different types. car owners in both cluster analysis models show substantial variation in the results of the comfort / smart motorway choice variables. this research demonstrates that greater knowledge and awareness about smart motorways are required to improve the perception of smart motorways. it would seem that this is particularly true for all-lane running smart motorways which are both the newest and most physically different type of smart motorway with their removal of the hard shoulder. keywords controlled motorways; dynamic motorways; all-lane running motorways; people’s perception 1. main text motorway users have various opinions regarding the types of smart motorways. motorway utilization can be affected if road users have a negative perception of certain types of smart motorways, particularly on the topic of safety. the three types of smart motorways in the uk are controlled, dynamic, and all-lane running. based on the department for transport 2020 report their current length in the uk is controlled smart motorways: 137 miles, dynamic smart motorways: 66 miles, and all-lane running smart motorways 123 miles. the transport committee (2021) report encourages further rollout of the smart motorways but very little is known about their perception by the uk public. a controlled smart motorway (csm) consists of a minimum of three lanes with a permanent hard shoulder (jallow et al., 2019); hence it always maintains a conventional emergency hard shoulder. this was the first smart motorway implemented in the uk and introduced overhead variable speed or lane indication boards, camera-based traffic monitoring, and vehicle speed recording. unfortunately, the hard shoulder cannot be converted into a live lane for use at peak times (highways england, 2016). http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i3.954&domain=press.ierek.com luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 dynamic hard shoulder (dhs) motorways have the ability to convert the hard shoulder into a live lane for use at peak times with the use of refuge areas (national highways, 2021). these emergency refuge areas occur every 800-1,000 meters so that vehicle experiencing an issue has somewhere to pull over even when the hard shoulder is in use as a live lane (transport committee, 2021). often the hard shoulder is used unpredictably to tackle congestion” (transport committee, 2021), introducing risk and discouraging drivers from using the extra hard shoulder lane (callaghan et al., 2017). all lane running (alr) motorways have no hard shoulder with emergency refuge areas occurring up to 1.6 miles (or 2.5km) apart but typically occur every 1.2 miles (transport committee, 2021). they also include a radar-based stopped vehicle detection system that can identify a stationary vehicle in 20 seconds (transport committee, 2021). this is superior to camera-based identification as an operator is not required to identify a stopped vehicle which saves time and should improve road safety. this study focuses on the comparison of alr and dhs smart motorways as alr smart motorways are aiming to replace and improve upon dhs smart motorways. the aim of this project is to understand how the general population perceives smart motorways in the uk. this aim will be achievebygh answering a series of these research questions:  how does existing knowledge of smart motorways affect the perception of smart motorways?  how does age affect the perception of smart motorways?  how does car ownership affect the perception of smart motorways? 2. methodology a pragmatic research philosophy (creswell & plano-clark, 2011) has been chosen for this project enabling the researchers to focus on selecting the best method to answer the research question. data were collected using an online survey disseminated to uk vehicle and non-vehicle drivers via social media and advertisements in the county of hampshire, uk. this study was ethically approved by the university of portsmouth fec committee with an approval number 2021-101659. descriptive statistics were initially used to analyse the dataset and to describe relationships between certain variables in a sample or population (kaur et al., 2018). frequencies, mean and standard deviation was used. cluster analysis is a technique used to combine similar data into several clusters based on the similarity of the values of several variables to each other (sinharay, 2010). in the context of this study, the data records generated by the survey are combined into groups called clusters based on their similarity to each other. cluster analysis was used on all of the demographic questions as well as a select few other questions such as a likert scale question: “i feel comfortable with using smart motorways” and the smart motorway choice question. 3. results the survey received 112 respondents in 3 weeks after which google forms was used to export the responses into an excel document. excel was used to cleanse, format code, and initially analyse the data. data coding was required to represent the text answers seen in the survey questions as numeric data. a data dictionary was created to convert the answers for each question into categorized numeric values (see appendix a). this was the most efficient option as all of the questions in the survey are categorized (e.g., multiple choice or likert scale). the excel spreadsheet was used to produce the descriptive statistics and was then imported into spss for further analysis. 3.1. descriptive statistics this section provides an initial understanding of the factors which are relevant to the three research questions. a total of 112 complete responses were recorded, there was no incomplete response as the survey questions were all highlighted as “required”. figure 1 shows the measures of frequency and table 1 shows the measures of variation for the survey questions. approximately 57% of respondents have never heard of or did not know the meaning of the 3 different types of smart luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 motorways and 13% of respondents fully understand the different types. this shows that the subject knowledge of our sample is low. 54% of the respondents are between 18 and 24 years of age with the other 46% being of older age groups. the majority of the respondents (73%) are car owners with enough remaining non-car owners to be able to complete meaning comparisons. there are more male (58.04%) than female (40.18%) respondents. undergraduate level education (57.14%) is the most common with the general certificate of secondary education (gcse) level lowest at 3.57%. the most preferred smart motorway is dynamic (44.64%). there are slightly more positive perspectives (43.75%) than negative (32.14%) when the respondents were asked about how comfortable they are with using smart motorways. the respondents were asked how safe they feel when using smart motorways and there are slightly more negative perspectives, i.e. not feeling safe (41.96%) than positive (38.39%). although there is a slight difference looking closely at the mean and standard deviation we can infer that the variability is limited. figure 1 frequencies of the entire sample luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 we calculated frequencies with cross-tabulation and we also calculated the mean and standard deviation for all the variables (riffenburgh, 2012, pp. 30–37). most of the variables have a good spread. table 1 measures of variation variables mean standard deviation smart motorway knowledge 2.27 1.03 age breakdown 1.75 0.93 car ownership breakdown 1.27 0.44 gender breakdown 1.63 0.55 education breakdown 3 0.73 smart motorways comfort breakdown 3.15 1.52 smart motorways safety breakdown 3 1.51 smart motorway choice breakdown 2.11 0.73 3.2. cluster analysis two-step cluster analysis “identifies the groupings by running pre-clustering first and then by hierarchical methods” (statistics solutions, 2020). usefully, it also “automatically selects the number of clusters” (statistics solutions, 2020). this approach was chosen due to versatility and ease of understanding compared to other approaches such as hierarchical or k-means clustering. the existing knowledge, age, and car ownership questions were included as part of the cluster analysis due to their direct relationship with the three research questions which measure how existing knowledge, age, and car ownership affect the perception of smart motorways. the twostep cluster analysis consists of the following categoric variables:  “i feel comfortable with using smart motorways”  knowledge of smart motorways  car ownership  age the predictor importance (ibm, 2021) of the four variables has been identified as the most important variable in making a prediction the “feel comfortable with using smart motorways” followed by the knowledge of smart motorways, car ownership, and age. this analysis produced 5 clusters with 13, 18, 19, 28, and 34 records as shown in figure 2. figure 2 clusters of cluster analysis 1 luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 knowledge of smart motorways and age comparison was chosen because cluster 5 contains knowledge of smart motorways modal value with 92% of the total cluster values for knowledge of smart motorways. the modal value for cluster 4 contains 63% of values with a cell distribution that is bell-shaped showing only 1 peak at the number 3. figure 3 shows a small increase in knowledge on smart motorway types (2 to 3) may lead to a substantial decrease in feeling comfortable with using smart motorways (2 to 4), there is also a large difference in modal age which could be an influencing factor. figure 3 lower knowledge of smart motorways and age figure 4 higher knowledge of smart motorways and age figure 4 shows clusters 2 and 5 being compared as they contain values of the same modal age with a small increase in knowledge of smart motorways (1 to 2) and similar car ownership figures to the first comparison. this comparison contrasts the first in that it shows a small increase in knowledge of smart motorway types may lead to a very large increase in feeling comfortable with using smart motorways (5 to 2). luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 looking at the above 2 comparisons, it would seem age that this is a key factor in determining a vehicle owner’s comfort with using smart motorways with road users of higher age on average being less comfortable with using smart motorways. however, as these comparisons do not investigate differences in car ownership, figure 5 shows a comparison of cluster 2 and 3 which was made due to the modal car ownership variable consisting of 100% car ownership and 100% non-car ownership respectively. this comparison shows that the clusters are very similar except when looking at car ownership and comfort with using smart motorways. the modal average shows that non-vehicle drivers are very uncomfortable with using smart motorways compared with vehicle drivers. figure 5 car ownership figure 6 comfort with smart motorways luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 6 shows clusters 1 and 5 which contain the respondents who are modally most comfortable with using smart motorways. a comparison between these clusters shows that they both have a model average of 2 or 3 for knowledge of smart motorways, tend to be of a younger demographic, and own cars. a comparison between clusters 2 and 4 in figure 7 shows similarities to the above comparison with the differences being both show car ownership and cluster 2 is less comfortable with using smart motorways than cluster 3. figure 7 car ownership and comfort driving the smart motorways 4. discussion how does existing knowledge of smart motorways affect the perception of smart motorways? the primary research in this project shows that ~57% of the survey respondents had never heard of or did not know the meaning of the 3 different types of smart motorways and only ~13% of respondents fully understand the different types. this level of unawareness and knowledge surrounding the functionality of the roads being driven on is cause for concern and should be improved according to (transport committee, 2021), a stance which is shared by the department for transport and house of commons reports (department for transport, 2020; transport committee, 2021), especially in the case of an emergency. the department for transport and house of commons reports (department for transport, 2020; transport committee, 2021) suggest that an increased level of public knowledge about smart motorways will improve the public’s perception of smart motorways. this is supported by the cluster analysis which shows that an increase in survey respondent knowledge led to an increase in comfort with using smart motorways when all other variables were the same. how does age affect the perception of smart motorways? no literature was found relating specifically to the effect of a person’s age on their perception of smart motorways. this study provides evidence that road users of a higher age are on average significantly less comfortable with using smart motorways than road users of a lower age. it may be that individuals of a younger age are more accepting of the addition of technology to an originally non-technological environment such as a motorway. older individuals may also have an existing positive experience with using conventional motorways and not see the need for smart motorways which can limit the speed that they travel. additional research will need to be carried out to understand the reasoning behind the effects of age on the perception of smart motorways specifically. luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 how does car ownership affect the perception of smart motorways? no literature was found relating to the effect of a person’s car ownership status on their perception of smart motorways. car owners in both cluster analysis models show substantial variation in the results of the comfort / smart motorway choice variables. this is caused by the different clusters which make up car owners having different values for the age and knowledge of smart motorways variables. non-car owners have a single cluster in both models so do not have these variations. looking at the breakdown of the cell distribution for non-vehicle drivers’ comfort with using smart motorways shows a large variation in results including over half of the total 6 (no opinion / prefer not to answer) answers recorded in the whole survey. this data would suggest that respondents of this cluster have varying opinions of smart motorways which may have been caused by different experiences or information about smart motorways which they have encountered. as this cluster consists of non-vehicle owners, it may be that the respondents in this cluster have limited or no experience of driving on smart motorways which may be an explanation for the results seen. 5. conclusion overall, greater knowledge and awareness about smart motorways are required to improve the perception of smart motorways. it would seem that this is particularly true for all-lane running smart motorways which are both the newest and most physically different type of smart motorway with their removal of the hard shoulder. in concordance with the transport committee, (2021) suggestions, a greater understanding of how this type of smart motorway is used may also bring safety improvements, especially in the event of a vehicle breakdown. controlled smart motorways should also be revisited for stretches of motorways which see lower usage due to the familiarity which road users have with them and the safety improvements which they bring over conventional motorways. appendix a. coding dictionary figure 8 data dictionary luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 appendix b. online survey luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 luke lynch/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 references sinharay, s. (2010). an overview of statistics in education. in international encyclopedia of education (pp. 1–11). elsevier ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-044894-7.01719-x creswell, j. w., & plano-clark, v. l. (2011). choosing a mixed methods design.pdf. in designing and conducting mixed methods research (p. 457). https://doi.org/10.18553/jmcp.2008.14.s6-b.21 riffenburgh, r. h. (2012). statistics in medicine: vol. 3rd ed. academic press. highways england. (2016). when to use a hard shoulder smart motorways. www.highways.gov.uk/smartmotorways callaghan, n., avery, t., & mulville, m. (2017). “smart” motorway innovation for achieving greater safety and hard shoulder management. association of researchers in construction management, arcom 33rd annual conference 2017, proceeding, 745–754. https://doi.org/10.21427/d7n50t kaur, p., stoltzfus, j., & yellapu, v. (2018). descriptive statistics. international journal of academic medicine, 4(1), 60–63. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijam.ijam_7_18 jallow, h., renukappa, s., & alneyadi, a. (2019). the concept of smart motorways. 2019 3rd international conference on smart grid and smart cities (icsgsc), 18–21. https://doi.org/10.1109/icsgsc.2019.00-25 statistics solutions. (2020). conduct and interpret a cluster analysis. regression [online]. http://www.statisticssolutions.com department for transport. (2020). smart motorway safety evidence stocktake and action plan. department for transport, january, 1–78. www.gov.uk/dftgeneralenquiries:https://forms.dft.gov.uk ibm. (2021). predictor importance. https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/spssmodeler/18.1.0?topic=ss3ra7_18.1.0/modeler_mainhelp_client_ddita/clementine/idh_common_predictor_importance.htm national highways. (2021). dynamic hard shoulder enhancements. national highways. /our-work/smart-motorways-evidencestocktake/dynamic-hard-shoulder-enhancements/ transport committee. (2021). rollout and safety of smart motorways third report of session 2021–22. https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/7703/documents/80447/default/ http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 73 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i2.839 challenges facing components reuse in industrialized housing: a literature review lisco margherita, martinez carlos, persson urban 1 1 department of construction management, lund university of technology, 22100, lund, sweden abstract natural resources points towards sustainable development. since a large proportion of human consumption is linked to buildings and construction, this means managing the construction process in more sustainable ways. strategies that target greater material efficiency and which promote circular economy concepts are among several approaches that are gaining in popularity. the adoption of life-cycle thinking and practices in design, construction and end of life through the reuse of construction components and materials is one such action to achieve a sustainable built environment. reuse is not a new concept and technical solutions do exist; however, practical realization is hampered by many interrelated challenges. this review paper is the result of a literature review for an exploratory study that aims to identify obstacles to the reuse of building components and materials. the context is industrialized housing, particularly timber-based construction, as this is a sector where modern manufacturing and onsite practices have become established. the main obstacles identified and corroborated in the literature, along with their potential solutions, are summarized and conclusions drawn on the future direction of research needs. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords design for reuse; building components reuse; industrialized housing; timber; circular economy; sustainable developments ; 1. introduction the global condition of climate change is a consequence of human consumption of natural resources when the earth’s resilience goes beyond the boundary of ability to sustain itself over the long term. a large proportion of this consumption is linked to buildings and construction where one solution is to adapt the concept of sustainable development to the construction industry and to manage the construction process in sustainable ways (jonasson et al, 2020). defining sustainability for a construction project is a complex task. the term consists of many different and connected parts during the process, involving the client, project team members, other stakeholders, issues of aesthetics, functionality and material interactions. the construction industry is more responsible than other industries for global co2 emissions (unep, 2018). in 2014, the european commission noted that circular economic systems were of immense benefit for sustainable development across europe and encouraged member states to adopt them (com, 2014). subsequently, the united nations organisation framed the goals for sustainable development in its agenda 2030, where goals 9, 11 and 12 mostly concern the construction industry. construction, among other activities of human behavior, also generates a huge amount of waste (iacovidou and purnell, 2016). over the past decade, concerns about the impact of climate change on the built environment have increased. zero-carbon performance has been highlighted, together with a shift from solely the performance of the product, i.e. the building, to the construction http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i2.839&domain=press.ierek.com margherita/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 74 process and a whole life-cycle perspective. these concerns have recently evolved to a focus on zero carbon, zero energy and, in the long run, to “retrieve what we lost” or “doing more good” by adopting a net-positive impact view that is defined as regenerative development (cole, 2020). during the transformation to a zero-carbon, resilient, sustainable and regenerative society, buildings in most countries play a major part in the use of energy and the impact of carbon emissions. globally, buildings consume about 35% of the total available energy, responsible for roughly 38% of total carbon emissions, and generate about 36-40% of all man-made waste (unep 2020). the adoption of strategies for material efficiency, promoting circular economy concepts using life-cycle approaches in design, construction and end of life by re-using construction components or materials, is among the most critical of actions to achieve a sustainable built environment as stated in the latest global status report for buildings and construction (unep, 2020). furthermore, in order to meet the multiple criteria of sustainability, industrialized construction could be a part of the solution that also contributes to solving the housing shortage. a benefit of off-site construction is the production of decent quality, affordable housing that can be rapidly assembled on-site. prefabrication can improve environmental performance considering that the building is designed to be reused (aye et al., 2012). industrialized housing construction (ihc) consists of different approaches (i.e. prefabrication, modularization, off-site fabrication, or modern methods of construction) (kedir and hall, 2021). the possibility to build parts of the structural frame as planar structural modules (walls, floors, etc.) contributes to a reduction in construction time. moreover, the reuse potential of prefabricated timber-based structures is claimed to be at least 69% (aye et al., 2012). the global consumption of natural resources by the construction industry is not sustainable. it is, therefore, essential to re-think the construction process in terms of the efficient utilization of natural resources, their reuse and the recycling of demolition waste, as a minimum. construction professionals, including practicing architects, engineers and construction managers, as well as environmentalists, researchers and academics should be called upon to play a major role in helping to sustain our environment (khatib, 2016). hence, due to an increasing urban population and the need for affordable housing, our study focuses on the reuse of building components. this paper aims to identify enablers and challenges for the reuse of building components in industrialized housing with a focus on timber-based construction. 2. method in order to determine drivers and barriers for reuse of building components, a literature review has been conducted. the search engines used to retrieve the articles are, web of science and scopus. the keyworks used to retrieve the articles included reuse, building components, building elements, construction, and industrialized timber construction. the search was done from 2000 to 2021. a total of 136 articles were retrived and 30 were selected for the review, because of their relevance for the study. starting by briefly analyzing resource and waste management, the study describes the issue of housing shortage in sweden and identifies a possible solution in industrialized housing. the focus, thereafter, is on demolition and deconstruction phases in a project, which are considered crucial to re-think the entire construction process. while exploring the common enablers and barriers in buildings construction, the attention is shifted to specific obstacles and opportunities to enable a reuse approach in industrialized housing concentrating on timber buildings. the latter are thereafter demonstrated to be suitable to fulfill the sustainable goals and the principles of circular economy in construction. figure 1 – implementation of circular economy in construction. margherita/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 75 3. literature review 3.1. resource and waste management the circular economy (ce) and sustainability concepts are becoming a matter of great importance among policy makers, academia and industry. ce is defined “as a regenerative system in which resource input and waste, emission and energy leakage are minimized by slowing, closing and narrowing material and energy loops” (geissdoerfer et al., 2017). to promote the concept of ce in the built environment, the waste and resources action programme (wrap), has published considerable good practice guidance to be adopted by the industry (wrap, 2013). this includes bim, designing-out waste, designing for disassembly, off-site construction and sustainable procurement, as well as adopting fairness, inclusion and respect. in creating an effective ce in construction, a significant majority of building materials must be recoverable for reuse and recycling (pan et al., 2015; tukker, 2015). there is a shared understanding that the reuse of building components is preferable to recycling (rakhshan et al., 2020; arora et al., 2019; mayer et al., 2019; cooper and gutowski, 2017; hoornweg et al., 2015; park and chertow, 2014) since energy requirements for recovering building components for reuse are less than when recycled (iacovidou and purnell, 2016). although recycling is a common practice, a more value-driven approach is reuse. as noted by iacovidou and purnell (2016), the production of new construction materials in europe consumes 5-10% of total energy use. landfill resources are limited and natural resources are scarce and when the ecological impact of the increased extraction of raw materials is taken into account, it seems fairly obvious that traditional construction methods have to give way to more sustainable processes and practices. the construction components need to be seen not as problematic waste, but as an investment opportunity to achieve the big change required to make the construction industry more “sustainable, smarter and resourceful” (iacovidou and purnell, 2016). buildings are made by assembling components (e.g. foundations, columns, beams, façades, windows, doors and appliances). according to niu et al. (2021), cascading construction and demolition (c&d) materials is imperative. the authors define the term “cascading” as the combination of reusing, recycling and material recovery of c&d and divide the elements in a building suitable for cascading into two main categories: load-bearing elements (e.g. foundations, walls, floor slabs, columns and beams) and non-load-bearing elements (e.g. light/partition walls and facades). reuse has the highest priority among all cascading scenarios (i.e. reduction, reuse and recycling) (niu et al., 2021). it is, therefore, important to change the terminology and thinking from material stock to components stock, and from waste management to building components management (arora et al., 2019). 3.2. housing shortage in sweden a shortage of housing is not uncommon in developed countries; see, for example, boverket (2020). in common with other countries, the shortage is due to a lack of investment in new and refurbished housing stock. the situation has been made worse by substantial immigration. in 2020, 212 of sweden’s 286 municipalities (i.e. 74%) reported housing shortages. even though this number has been decreasing slightly over recent years, it indicates a persistent problem. iacovidou and purnell (2016) have proposed initiatives to enforce changes that can lead to more sustainable construction management and less production of construction and demolition waste (cdw). according to iacovidou and purnell (2016), such initiatives are: re-thinking the design of buildings by using materials that are both durable and recyclable, and therefore carrying low embodied energy; reducing the use of materials with a high carbon footprint and promoting manufacturing practices that take resource efficiency into account; and enabling reuse of construction components. to improve the potential for reuse in construction, it is first necessary to prove its technical feasibility in a holistic way. in other words, there is a need to re-think the way we plan, design, construct and deconstruct in order to make the entire process “more resource efficient and reduce its carbon footprint” (iacovidou and purnell, 2016). 3.3. industrialized housing the need for new housing calls for increased productivity and affordable, sustainable and cost-effective buildings. industrialized housing (ih) has long been promoted as a solution to house shortages, in many countries, including sweden, where the arrival of prefabrication was identified in the portable colonial cottage for emigrants advertised margherita/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 76 in 1833 (ågren and wing, 2014). a more recent proposal is horden’s helicopter-delivered home in 2012 (ibid). with the advent of newer digital technologies, ih could increase substantially given a reduction in the time needed to design and build multiple units as a result of repetitive processes and the pre-determined use of different materials and layouts. an example of what can now be achieved is svenska allmännyttans kombohus, where a cost reduction of up to 25% is possible (svenska allmännyttan, 2020). moreover, ih does not have to be devoid of architectural or aesthetic quality; it simply has to be among its primary objectives. even if standardization of design work in housebuilding has, for the last 20 years focused on production, economics and sustainability (aitchison, 2017; lessing and brege, 2018), it is important to have “the involvement of architects in [the] industrialized house-building processes to meet future demands for aesthetics and functionality that satisfy end-user and client values and requirements and to ensure the creative work of artistic and engineering design” (jansson, 2018). indeed, over much of the 20th century, architects such as wright, le corbusier, fuller and gropius have contributed their interpretation of prefabrication to housing, proving that it is the result of sociological, economic and political constraints and requires more than just technical know-how to become successful (ågren and wing, 2014). industrialized house builders prefabricate building modules for assembly on-site, are responsible for almost the entire building process and can control and improve the quality of building manufacture in a better way than conventional construction companies (johnsson and melling, 2009). moreover, introducing more industrialized methods into the construction industry could increase efficiency and reduce defects, closing the gap between manufacturing and construction based traditionally on craftsmanship (ibid). there is therefore a need to shift from project-based to process-based production as argued by winch (2006). ih also provides opportunities for the reuse of building components instead of recycling, which equates to a higher level in the waste hierarchy (wrap, 2008a) and contributes to a reduction in cdw. the latter represents a significant benefit from the perspective of the ce. a building’s life-cycle and the possibility to reuse building components rather than recycle materials is a crucial aspect of “circularity”. according to tavares et al. (2021), the benefits of prefabrication are waste reduction, cost and time saving, growth of productivity and better building performance. a few studies have compared prefabricated buildings with traditional buildings. the results reveal a reduction of 5-40% in environmental impacts when using prefabrication methods, and an investment cost reduction of 30% compared with traditional construction (tavares et al., 2021). in ihc, structures can be manufactured off-site “as a volumetric element (3d) or as a panelized system (2d)”. unfortunately, there is a lack of literature concerning resource efficiency with respect to ihc (kedir and hall, 2021). so far, our literature review has not revealed any cases where the reuse of building components in ihc has been explored. this confirms the need for further research in the field, which could support the thesis that a new design concept, based on the reuse of building components, is crucial to satisfying the criteria of sustainability and the global goals of agenda 2030. 3.4. deconstruction and reuse iacovidou and purnell (2016) define deconstruction as “the careful dismantling of a building or structure to maximize the recovery of its components for reuse”. they identify various strategies that promote component reuse in construction. design for deconstruction: a design approach that aims to “close the construction components loops” also named as design for adaptability and deconstruction (dfad). among the advantages, we can count the extended duration of the structure which leads to economic and environmental benefits. there are, unfortunately, challenges connected to “technical, economic and logistical barriers”. design for reuse (dfr). when designing a new structure, reclaimed components are included in the project. if the layout is similar to the previous building then dfr can be successful. otherwise, many design adjustments are required. it is critical to form a close collaboration between all stakeholders, for instance, architects, other designers, engineers, contractors and trades. design for manufacture and assembly (dfma). the construction components are fully manufactured off-site and assembled on-site. assembly and disassembly are fundamental in order to enable deconstruction and recovery of components and therefore sustainability of the products and structures. margherita/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 77 van den berg et al. (2020) identify, in the practice of design for disassembly (dfd), some principles for building components to be suitable for reuse, namely that building connections should be minimized, accessible and reversible. in addition, their study defines economic demand, proper disassembly routines and element control performance as conditions for element recovery. the most suitable definition for the purpose of this study is the one suggested by (cristescu et al., 2021), i.e. design for deconstruction and reuse (dfdr). the main principle supported by both definitions is a new way of designing a building, allowing the reuse of its parts, repaired or properly dismantled, in new applications. this can be for the original purpose or a different purpose, while prolonging the life-cycle of the building components and materials (cristescu et al., 2021). the difference between design for deconstruction or dfad and dfd, as described by long (2014), among others, is that the latter involves recycling building materials and components and so preserves just a small amount of embodied energy. it is, therefore, less environmentally friendly and sustainable than dfad, where the building components are reused directly or relocated in a new or existing building. awareness about buildings changes over time and proper planning is required to re-think current approaches to construction in order to reach environmental goals (ibid). further support for the reuse of components as a way to save more energy, when compared to recycled materials, is to be found in da rocha and sattler (2009). moreover, the reuse and recovery of elements and components are good practices according to the european waste framework directive since 2008. even so, the reuse of building components in a systematic way is far from being a common procedure in the construction industry. 3.5. reuse in construction: enablers and barriers rakhshan et al. (2020) suggest that reuse drivers are “economic (25%), organizational (23%), environmental (17%) and social (15%)”. economic drivers are the lower price of reused components and the higher price of landfilling, although they might differ depending on the geographic location. reducing cdw generated by construction companies and “promoting the green image of the companies” are the most important organizational drivers. in reducing cdw during renovation and demolition of buildings, reuse of building components appears to be a preferable solution which allows for recovery of functional components, e.g. tiles, bricks and windows (da rocha, and sattler, 2009), interior walls, panels and doors. rakhshan et al. (2020) identify the scarcity of landfill sites as a major environmental driver. among the social drivers are society’s environmental concerns and a better understanding of the advantages of reuse among stakeholders. rakhshan et al. (2020) state that practices that prefer deconstruction over demolition could lend themselves to the reuse of recovered components. considering the entire building process, deconstruction and reuse appear to be preferable over demolition and recycling, by offering higher environmental and economic benefits. nonetheless, training in deconstruction techniques together with policies and, possibly, legislation that promote such practices are probably required to achieve the durable benefits of deconstruction. rakhshan et al. (2020) identify the economic, social, and technical barriers when reusing building components. economic barriers are further categorized into supply chain level by identifying the lack of reuse market, component level and project level, the latter highlighting the need for a financial risk assessment in the early planning phase of a project. according to rakhshan et al. (2020), overcoming these barriers is possible if collaboration between construction and demolition firms is established and financial incentives are available. moreover, the cost of reclaimed components should be sufficiently attractive. one possible solution is offered in the uk where the tax for landfilling has increased in order to encourage reuse practices. according to rakhshan et al. (2020), social barriers can be classified into perception, awareness and risks. studies mostly focus on the negative approach of stakeholders towards reuse practices which hinder its adoption in the construction industry. arora et al. (2019) define the way evaluations about material stock and outflows are made and introduced to the public as one of the major obstacles which hinders the suitability of the results. the authors state that, usually, those reports focus on single material-type results, whereas a representation as component-type could increase interest on the part of policy makers and decision makers (arora et al., 2019). developing “standard test procedures to test, evaluate and certify the recovered building components” (rakhshan et al., 2020) is the proposed solution to overcome these barriers, which could expand the reuse market. margherita/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 78 lastly, technical barriers are categorized into deconstruction level, performance level, and health and safety level. presently, buildings are not considered or designed for deconstruction and this represents a challenge; however, this barrier can be overcome by adopting innovative designs for new buildings. at the performance level, reusability of the element represents a barrier to the reuse of building components at their end of life as a consequence of damage, design changes, etc. at the health and safety level, precautions necessary to increase health and safety during deconstruction activities could also increase the total cost of the project (rakhshan et al., 2020). to promote reuse and environmental efficiency, it is necessary to reduce material excess in new building components and optimize the design, which could save a considerable amount of material (iacovidou and purnell, 2016). the goal of the stakeholders involved in the construction process should be to ensure adaptable design, to optimize recovery of building components for reuse and to apply new design strategies. enabling assessment of the reuse potential of components during the manufacturing phase of a project would save time that would otherwise be spent during onsite assessment (iacovidou and purnell, 2016). 3.6. industrialized timber housing (ith) cristescu et al. (2021) describe a long history of timber building techniques; however, timber’s popularity as a construction material on a significant scale in europe has been mostly confined to the second half of the last and present century where the primary use is for housing. currently, in sweden, 80% of single-family houses are built off-site, as a result of a long development history of prefabrication, which has led to a reduction of 20-25% against the cost of traditionally constructed buildings and an 80% saving in time (ibid). while the use of light-frame prefabricated structures has become more common for multi-storey housing, cross-laminated timber construction is the most widely used. timber for multi-storey buildings has, however, increased from 13% in 2018 to 20% at the end of 2019 (ibid). in sweden, as in finland, slovenia and the uk, panels with the insulation layer inserted between studs and joists is the most common practice (ibid). as a widely available and biodegradable material that grows naturally, timber is considered crucial to achieve the environmental goals of the european union, even though its reuse can be problematic (huuhka et al., 2015). indeed, as a natural material, reclaimed components demand special care and control if they are to be reused (cristescu et al., 2021). the benefits of using timber in housing are identified in a reduction of the carbon footprint, by extending the life-cycle of building materials, and in a reduction of the environmental burden, by reusing structural components. the growth of off-site construction is expected to contribute to the diffusion of timber-based construction because of waste reduction, as well as material and time efficiency. despite these encouraging signs, timber-based construction is not following the principles of the circular economy neither is it taking into account the whole life-cycle cost of the buildings, suggesting a further field for research (ibid). currently, the reuse of timber structural components is hindered by a lack of design standards (for example, demolition practices that prevent damage to components); the lack of a sufficient market for recovered materials; restrictive building regulations and constraints imposed by the fixed dimensions of available components, negatively impacting the flexibility of a design (cristescu et al., 2021). concerns about technical performance and safety, when reusing structural timber components, would suggest that policy and regulation should drive the ce with respect to structural timber (niu et al., 2021). glue laminated timber in common with traditional timber framing has a high reuse potential and both offer environmental benefits (huuhka et al., 2015). the literature has documented those barriers commonly obstructing the development of timber reuse in construction. the obstacles are mainly to do with cost, inconsistent quality, inconsistent quantity, perception and trust. as reported by huuhka et al. (2015), the highest reuse potential is offered by prefabricated steel components while the lowest is concrete. nevertheless, timber’s potential is relatively close to that of steel. in identifying reuse potential and barriers, local issues such as structural systems, climate and societal conditions should be taken into consideration, since they vary from country to country (ibid). according to iacovidou and purnell (2016), reuse potential measures “the ability of a construction component to retain its functionality after the end of its primary life”. when considering timber construction, timber trusses have a low reuse potential of <50%, while timber floorboards have a medium reuse potential of 50% and structural timber has the highest >50% if properly deconstructed. it seems to be difficult to deconstruct timber components correctly when cleaning, de-nailing and sizing. design interventions such as holes for wiring have made timber components margherita/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 79 more reusable, allowing for efficient deconstruction (iacovidou and purnell, 2016). a recent study showed that timber-based structures are mostly reusable: 65% of building materials are reusable and 35% are recyclable (akanbi et al., 2018). this value could be increased by, for example, designing for deconstruction and using demountable connections (e.g. dowels and bolts) in the process (ibid). rakhshan et al., (2020) argue that structural and nonstructural timber components can, if properly deconstructed, have a high potential for reuse. however, timber components are difficult to deconstruct, require specialist skills and equipment during reclamation of components, and are exposed to decay. hence, efficient deconstruction is essential and, consequently, special design features to reduce damage are needed to promote the reuse of timber sections and contribute to decreasing the environmental impacts, which rakhshan et al. (2020) estimate to be 83%. in sweden, there is an ongoing development of reusable products database by the center for circular construction (centrum för cirkulärt byggande). by creating such a systematic database of components with unique ids, and by utilizing available digital tools and building information modeling the acceptance of reused components in the construction industry could increase. 4. discussion despite the economic, social and technical barriers, reuse in construction seems inevitable in the future, because of global population growth, scarcity of resources and housing shortages. as iacovidou and purnell (2016) have argued, a research commitment is necessary to demonstrate the economic, environmental, technical and social benefits of reuse. doing so will lead to a better understanding of how to optimize the recovery of value for stakeholders through deconstruction and reuse, by simply changing current practices. there is an inevitable concern about the availability of timber for industrialized timber construction in the future, which could undermine the sustainability of the entire process (mantau et al., 2010). therefore, the concept of cascading is being used more and more to indicate the need to prolong the use of the same resource (i.e. building material or component), placing recycling for energy purposes last (niu et al., 2021). chisholm (2012), in recognizing the environmental benefits of using timber as a construction material for housing (e.g. carbon dioxide reduction, availability of timber in europe, less energy to process timber components, high strenght-to-weight ratio, good thermal performance and carbon capture), emphasizes how “timber contained in the housing stock can act as an urban forest for harvesting” if the practice of reuse becomes popular. moreover, the strategy of dfdr should be centered around modular and component deconstruction (e.g. floors, roofs and walls), rather than single parts or materials to support a reuse approach (chisholm, 2012). our literature review confirms the need for a holistic approach to the entire construction process, which should examine the conception and design phase and current demolition procedures. in addition, digital solutions are required to develop an efficient virtual building components’ database for a growing market. furthermore, a decision-making tool and global, as well as regional, regulations need to be adapted to these newer forms of construction. last, enabling reuse practices could easily and rapidly contribute to a reduction in cdw. nevertheless, to demonstrate the above, further studies must be conducted to examine the economic value of reuse of building components by manufacturers, particularly planar and volumetric elements (cristescu et al., 2021), rather than recycle building materials. figure 1 shows how increased knowledge of the construction process while involving all stakeholders in the different phases, develops and improves the entire process and can generate, as a result, a reduced amount of cdw. further education and training in new skills for all stakeholders, together with incentives, would encourage active participation in reusability strategies. there is a need to implement the enablers and overcome the barriers to reuse. it is evident that in order to overcome many of the barriers pointed out in this research, strong collaboration is needed among the different stakeholders involved in the construction process. for example, construction firms and architecture design firms could learn from deconstruction firms on the reuse of building components. furthermore, the implementation of platforms for knowledge sharing are needed to be able to spread the knowledge about reusing practices. margherita/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 80 figure 2 – re-thinking the construction process. 5. conclusions most political decisions and legislation focus on waste management when trying to solve sustainability in construction. this is agreeable since the amount of waste generated is a significant concern and the availability of landfill is increasingly scarce. however, attention should be directed to the design phase, which is the most influential stage in the delivery of decent, affordable housing, where change is necessary to ensure circularity is achieved. once the reusability of building components andelements is introduced in the design process, a major contribution to solving the problem of waste will have been found. resource efficiency in housing construction should be able to fill the gap between housing demand and current construction methods. furthermore, the demolition phase of the construction process has to be better analyzed and improved to reduce the amount of cdw and, consequently, the carbon footprint of the construction industry. reuse of building components is a recommended practice from a circularity perspective. it seems necessary, therefore, to reintroduce building components in the supply chain, replacing the perception of a waste problem with an opportunity to make the construction industry more sustainable and resourceful. ith has much to offer as a solution to housing shortages and has less environmental impact than traditional construction, which could be reduced even more through the reuse of building components. unfortunately, a lack of quantitative and qualitative data about the benefits of reuse in construction hinders the spread of this practice. with this in mind, it is evident that reuse of building components needs to be adopted on a large scale and embraced by all stakeholders in a project. it is crucial to change attitudes towards reuse in construction and to establish a broader involvement and stronger collaboration between all the stakeholders responsible for the different phases of the construction process, starting with planning and design, and continuing with manufacture, construction, handover and maintenance to the point of refurbishment or deconstruction for reuse from a holistic perspective. industrialized timber housing construction is a potential area which provides many opportunities for reusing building components. there is a need to study the reuse practices of building components in industrialized timber housing construction, thus, this study will further explore the field by analyzing multiple cases. this study will explore the barriers to, and enablers of, reuse in ith from the perspectives of clients, building contractors, designers and demolition contractors. refrences https://www.undp.org/sustainable-developmentgoals?utm_source=en&utm_medium=gsr&utm_content=us_undp_paidsearch_brand_english&utm_campaign=central&c_src=c entral&c_src2=gsr&gclid=cj0kcqiaweanbhdearisaj5hwbdth9uwqdojmljrn1qwwlaepuebwxmhxfz5s1kiiufkiohx9ek23saaq3cealw_wcb aitchison, m. 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(2014), five moments in the history of industrialized building. construction management and economics, 32(1–2), 7–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120332 https://wrap.org.uk/ http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i1.488 sustainable design camp as a platform to apply the principles of editing urban design to the city’s strategic plan kochiro aitani1 1phd, associate professor, department of architecture, texas a&m university abstract “sustainable design camp” is a collaborative workshop organized by three universities. inter-disciplinary and international students are divided into several teams with their specialties as architecture and urban design, building systems, building structures and the landscape architecture under the instruction by the various experts. after the site survey with swot analysis, each team will find issues (weakness) and potentials (strength) of the target site. the proposed solutions will be evaluated by the environment evaluation tool casbee for community development. throughout of the entire process, students will be well-educated and trained to facilitate how to utilize their specialties in the inter-disciplinary settings, and furthermore, international approach helps to find out the issues and potentials of the site objectively. this collaborative approach among public, academic and private will be necessary to establish the city’s strategic plan for the sustainable future. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords green urbanism; sustainable development; renewable energy; local food; sense of place; nature 1. introduction kyushu university is constructing ito campus, which extends over fukuoka city and itoshima city. three campuses named hakozaki, ropponmatsu, and haramachi will be integrated into one at ito campus (figure 1). the relocation started in october, 2005. the relocation of the faculty of engineering, faculty of science and basic education programs are in progress. the multi-year relocation is expected to be completed in 2018. the study area of this design workshop consists of planned area for future kyushu university academic city, and maebaru northern area and shima eastern area, of itoshima city planning master plan. the objective of this design workshop is discovering the urban design possibilities of suburban campus life in the unique living environment of itoshima. the workshop will also try to develop the urban design and architectural proposals to enhance the living environment of the students and employees of kyushu university as well as the living environment of residents of the area. itoshima city is known for its beautiful nature; mountains, beaches, and agriculture products. yet, it is only 30 minutes from the center of fukuoka city. sunset beach concerts are held every summer, surfers come to surf, cyclists run around the peninsula, and fishing becomes popular. now a days, people’s life style has been shifting from “just working” to “enjoying hobbies”. itoshima could be the place for people enrich themselves with pg. 22 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i1.488&domain=press.ierek.com kochiro aitani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd nature, without becoming totally disconnected from the “city”. residential apartments, single homes with view oceans are easily achieved in itoshima. if it is in tokyo, people need to commute at least two hours to reach this setting. multidisciplinary student teams from urban design, architecture planning, environment, building structures and the landscape will study the problems and potentials of the site. the environment evaluation tool casbee for community development will be used to evaluate solutions and the existing condition of the site. estimating the bee (building environmental efficiency) to evaluate the environmental performance of buildings before and after the planning of the scheme is a unique learning process of this workshop. figure 1. campus unification and re-location 2. principles of editing urban design in order to address the issues, the workshop began by carefully analyzing the city’s potential for improvement and considering the views of both the residents and visitors. kobayashi (2012) states, “most of the time, we learned that the cities had many natural resources and assets that result from a long history of trade, transportation and cultural exchange and knowledge”, in karatsu re editing a fragmented city. however the cities lost much of its attractive characteristics because those resources and assets were fragmented. a truly attractive city is the one which encourages people to walk. in order to create a more walkable neighborhood, a new design approach can be applied to any city. exchange may “re-edit” and reveal the city’s historic character as a walkable city. 2.1. character of target site for each workshop it is important to acquire an in-depth understanding of the site. the following are frequent issues stated by kobayashi (2012) which each workshop addresses: 1. once prosperous regions face urban decline with population growth and economic instability. 2. due to a shift in industrial activities, cities have lost a major industry that had sustained its citizens’ jobs, income taxes, etc. 3. historical resources for regeneration, such as building heritage, provide the possibility for valuable street-scapes 4. natural resource for regeneration such as beautiful nature is available pg. 23 kochiro aitani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 5. varying public connectivity and transportation exist. 6. sense of the community is lacking or has been completely lost. additionally, there are many common urban issues which many cities suffer from such as the hollowing out of the city center, “downtown”, due to a decreasing population, an aging society, a loss of the young generation to the big cities for better opportunities, the rapid suburbanization by automobile oriented society, urban spread due to highway networks and development of suburban shopping centers, and a decline of old shopping streets in the city center. figure 1 shows a campus unification and re-location to the new campus, “ito campus”. to conclude, the following six themes are the common urban design theory for regeneration: 1. succession of urban memory: utilize unique character of city’s asset such as historical inheritance and the cultural heritage 2. unity and connection: re-network a variety of fragmented, dispersed resources 3. pedestrian oriented compact city: construction and maintenance of pedestrian friendly streets 4. return of inhabitants to the urban center: providing comfortable residential places to accommodate a diversity of residence 5. landmark: creation of a place that can become the symbol of the city, town, or even district 6. strengthen a sense of community 3. process of workshop kobayasi (2012) also stated, “the specific process of the workshop is divided into the following eight stages.” as a member of the instructors with prof. kobayashi, we have followed the similar process. during the charrette period each group gathered data and formed conclusions about the situation. each group then formulated a proposal scheme. 3.1. sharing basic information (understanding of aim and process) participants must clearly grasp the purpose and position of the workshop. there must be an understanding of the targeted country and city’s economic and social position as well as an overall understanding as to why the study area was chosen. the significance of a multi-field conversion study workshop must also be grasped knowing where one can contribute based on his/her expertise. 3.2. site survey (understand the area through a site-visit) in order to grasp the outline of the study area, a personal visit of the study area and related facilities in the vicinity is required in which research data is gathered on foot. it is important to clearly differentiate between two types of field work. 1) grasp and understand the features of the study area by intuition in a short time, and 2) take time and conduct analytical research in the study area based on research indices. it is preferable to conduct the former at this early stage, while the latter should be conducted as part of later, individual group work. 3.3. collection of local information and interview residents it is imperative to properly collate the issues of urban planning and environmental problems as well as information concerning policies for the measures to be taken. this should be done through the attending of lectures by the administration and universities as well as the referencing of existing information about the study area. in addition, it is important to ask citizens (called stakeholders) to present opinions concerning the current situation and their ideas regarding what it should be. these results will be the basis for establishing an urban and environmental plan. pg. 24 kochiro aitani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3.4. presenting a first impression before obtaining and analyzing detailed information of the study area, students walk around the study area without preoccupation and present the features of the study area intuitively. this is for the purpose of obtaining basic information to be used for future work in the workshop. each participant/group decides on the main theme to be pursued based on this information. 3.5. analysis of the site areas (extraction of “problems” and “potentials”) study and analysis of the topography, geography, history, nature, and environmental quality are used to extract “strengths” and “weaknesses” in the study area, and become aware of outside “opportunities” and “threats” (swot analysis). additionally, “problems” and “potentials” in both the inside and outside environment are extracted. 3.6. future vision of the district (investigation of the strategic design) groups think about how the problems in the study area can be solved, and what an attractive place it can become in the end. then search for a means in which the future vision can be established based off of the strategic design methods available. through the discussion, solutions for the existing “problems” are developed and a specific strategy to reach the site’s potential is reached. 3.7. specific design and plan for an effective site teams focus on a specific location or facility through which improvement would have the greatest effect on the area as a whole. a specific plan or design is proposed taking into consideration its context in order to show an actual example of the future vision as well as to show the strategic design method discussed as a prototype. by focusing on one significant location and making a concise proposal, a significant improvement is expected to emerge in the whole study area. 3.8. implementation of the vision (scenario proposal in order to implement the plan) study of the legal, financial and economic basis as well as the control/management system after the completion is conducted in order to put the final plan/design into practice so that the existence of a realistic and feasible scenario as opposed to a fictional one can be shown. it is hoped that the scenario in the timeline can be presented in stages: short term, middle term, and long term. 4. workshop methodology to present the society with a realistic scenario, not a fictional plan, it is important to study the legal and financial logistics, and the management for the long term vision, in order to implement final designs. this shows the comprehensive process of the workshop, in which participating students are divided according to their research topics. because the students can sometimes lose focus on their target and make their collaboration difficult, it is quite important for the participants to regularly report on their process and receive advice from the instructors and experts. kobayashi (2012) suggested at least four levels of design review process for exchanging ideas as listed below. pg. 25 kochiro aitani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 4.1. desk critique to review the design process of each group, the instructors and experts go around the group-tables and discuss the design orientation. 4.2. pin-up the participating members show their ongoing work to the instructors and colleagues and conduct a design review in a relaxed way. it is important to avoid the overlapping of themes and to check the mutual relationship among the group projects. a process to confirm the structural strength of the proposal by all the members is implemented here. 4.3. mid-term review in the middle of the workshop process, it is important for the participants to make an interim presentation to the government officials and the “stakeholders” (the local citizens) to help them understand the progress of the work. at this point the effectiveness of the selected methods (image, model, oral presentation etc.) are analyzed and decisions are made with regards to how to make them more easily understood by the citizens. 4.4. final review for the final presentation the participants must highlight what they have learned and accomplished throughout the workshop incorporating the changes made with regards to the feedback they received during previous reviews. using the workshop’s process as an introduction, the participants present their final products by groups. it is necessary to pursue a high standard of quality in order to impress the representatives of the community and the press media through attractive panels, models, handouts and visual slideshow presentations. 5. enviromental assessment, casbee as a matter of course, energy consumption of cities and architecture play a large role in the global warming and depletion of energy resources. there are numerous issues to which the fields of architecture and urban design must respond to, that exist in regard to energy conservation and the reduction of carbon emissions. against such a background, countries throughout the world have developed tools for evaluating the environmental performance of buildings, and these tools are recently displaying a rise in popularity. comprehensive assessment system for built environment efficiency (casbee) is a tool for evaluating the environmental performance of buildings developed uniquely in japan by a sub-committee of the institute for building environment and energy conservation under the leadership of japan’s ministry of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism. the evaluation is carried out step-by-step in a question and answer format according to an instructions manual. final evaluations are displayed according to a five rank system of “s rank” (excellent), “a rank” (very good), “b+ rank” (good), “brank” (fairly poor), and “c rank” (poor)according to the value of the built environment efficency (bee). bee is determined by dividing the environmental quality (q) by the environmental load (l). therefore, even if the architecture has a high environmental quality, the total score will be lowered if the environmental load is too heavy. the environmental quality is ranked according to indoor environment (thermal comfort, lighting, etc.), quality of service (durability, adaptability, etc.) and outdoor environment on-site (conservation, local characteristics, etc.). the environmental load is ranked according to energy (natural energy utilization, efficient operation, etc.), resources and materials (water resources, reducing usage of non-renewable resources, etc.) and off-site environment (consideration of local and surrounding environment, etc.). pg. 26 kochiro aitani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd evaluation by casbee remains fundamentally voluntary, and no legal obligation regarding notification of results exists, but usage nonetheless is observable amongst local autonomous bodies. since casbee offers a broad perspective on design, it is useful not only as an evaluation tool but also as a design tool. versions exist not only for architectural specialists, but also for use by municipalities and renovation. use in japan is on the rise and further developments are expected in the future. 6. case study the workshop held in fukuoka, japan (summer 2017) was hosted by kyushu university from august 4 to 12, in collaboration with chinese culture university (taiwan), and texas a&m university. the theme of this year’s workshop was the planning of the core zone of kyushu university academic research city, mainly at the ito campus of kyushu university. during the workshop, the students were divided in eight teams each tasked with creating a future vision for one section of the district. in this eight day collaborative charrette workshop the participating undergraduate and graduate students of home (27 participants) and abroad (25 participants) worked under the guidance of 14 faculty members from the participating universities. the sustainable design workshop explored a multidisciplinary approach towards developing sustainable urban design and environmental strategies, considering ito campus neighborhood as a target area for creating a 21st century urban model. the students devised urban design and environmental strategies considering local context and international experiences for sustainable development of the area. 6.1. master plan of itoshima area, focus on “nature + health” the “itoshima style” is what guided the workshop’s overall concept. the slower, more nature-infused lifestyle leads to a happier and healthier life. the natural amenities are rich and lush that its design should bend to nature and fit in to the overall larger scheme of the topography. the master plan located the student housing close to the base of the campus for proximity, but kept the rest of the residential nestled in the beautiful lake at the bottom of the mountain. combining all these areas together is the hub (figure 2). figure 2. master plan the hub creates a focal point for restaurants, community, shopping, and transportation. this point would allow the flow of a funicular train up the mountain to meet the local bus route as well. as time passes, this funicular could be expanded further into the mountain side for improved access while still keeping a low profile. by keeping things pg. 27 kochiro aitani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd on ground level, or below, the mountains are able to be expressed in their true glory. on the west side of the main mountain, would be the firefly condition of the business and technology sites. the research and technology institute would be located close to the university for easy access for students and faculty. where the agricultural research facility is more northern located in order to spread out appropriately for its focus type. the corporate focus zone splits these two in a firefly pattern for a perfect location in the mountainside. further firefly locations are chosen for when the itoshima campus and community expands in order to balance work, living, and nature. each of these small installation will, in time, create a beautiful network of enclaves that allow for good density with the country-style home that one would expect in itoshima. in all, the master plan allows for a beautifully connected community with fast transportation and an affinity and respect for what makes itoshima great (figure 3, figure 4). figure 3. student’s proposal figure 4. student’s proposal pg. 28 kochiro aitani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 7. conclusions in the kyushu university academic research city plan, the two aspects are “building a regional science and technology system to promote exchange and creative activities of knowledge” and “formation of a comfortable space that serves as a stage for knowledge, dwelling and eternity”. in addition, as a design concept, “hotaru=firefly” was proposed, which its focus is to integrate with the rich natural environment of the itoshima region and the local community.the concept of “hotaru=firefly” is to distribute various activities and facilities around kyushu university as well as provide collaboration with the environment, such as research & development, design, and soho (small office, home office) businesses. students challenged their own “hotaru=firefly”, making use of the natural environment of each site and land use characteristics. as a result, we had wonderful and exciting proposals, even though it was done in such a short period of time. these proposals will be introduced in the future, such as utilizing the traditional architecture, village design that responds to the ecology of fishing and fishing villages in itoshima, and cooperating with the creative current itoshima region lifestyle and community. i trust this material will be utilized effectively. 8. acknowledgments i take this opportunity to express gratitude to who involved with itoshima projects, the hosted, sustainable architecture and urban systems of kyushu university, the supported organizations, college of architecture, texas a&m university, chinese culture university (taiwan), itoshima city, all of the related people for the workshop, especially prof. takeru sakai, prof. akihito ozaki, prof. prasanna divigalpitiya, prof. robert warden, prof. wei-lun kuo for their help and support. 9. references 1. aitani, k. (2017). urban catalyst, shokokusha publication, ltd., japan. 2. architectural institute of japan (2012). karatsu re editing a fragmented city, kajima institute publishing co., ltd., japan. 3. kobayashi, m. (2003). an evaluation report of the joint academic program of tokyo inner-city project, the 7th international congress of apsa, hanoi, 2003, 3-89 4. kobayashi, m. (2003). tokyo regeneration, tokyo inner city project, gakujutsu shuppan, japan. 5. kobayashi, m. (2015). public space design with citizens’ participation – creative collaboration of citizens, municipalities, and specialists in himeji city, x-knowledge, japan. 6. kobayashi, m. & takahashi, y. (2015). dna of shimokitazawa: new horizons for a livable and attractive neighborhood, x-knowledge, japan. 7. comprehensive assessment system for built environment efficiency (casbee), retrieved from http://ww w.ibec.or.jp/casbee/english/index.htm 8. aitani, k., kobayashi, m., deguchi, a., ariga, t., bosselmann, p., pellegrini, s. (2010). on karatsu international architectural and urban design workshop 2010, proceedings of 8th international symposium on architectural interchanges in asia (isaia). kitakyushu, japan, pp.1218-1223 9. aij international architectural & urban design workshop (2012). retrieved from http://www.aij-iaud-ws. org/ pg. 29 kochiro aitani / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 10. edaw asia (2008). edaw asai design boot camp 2008, edaw, singapore 11. jau editors (2009). international research camp in collaboration of kyushu and tongji university, journal of asian urbanism, september 2009, no.1, ished, pp.78-89 12. jau editors (2010). fukuoka research camp seeking for fukuoka style sustainable design, journal of asian urbanism, march 2010, no.2, ished, pp.88-97 13. jau editors (2010). international research camp in collaboration of kyushu university and gadjah mada university, journal of asian urbanism, march 2010, no.2, ished, pp.98-111 14. jau editors (2011). korean research camp 2 preservation and re-creation of the city, journal of asian urbanism, march 2011, no.4, ished, pp.76-81 15. jau editors (2011). fukuoka research camp seeking for fukuoka style sustainable design, journal of asian urbanism, march 2011, no.4, ished, pp.82-93 16. jau editors (2011). international research camp in collaboration of kyushu university and the university of hong kong, journal of asian urbanism, march 2011, no.4, ished, pp.94-105 17. jau editors (2012). international research camp in collaboration of kyushu university and the university of moratsuwa, journal of asian urbanism, march 2012, no.6, ished, pp.50-63 18. crince, r., fassam, d.a., glaudemans, m., goto, t., mader, j., verhoeven, s. (2012). ‘place making’, master class fukuoka 2012, fontys university of applied sciences, tilburg, the netherlands, pp.1-40 19. program of sustainable design camp (2012). re-generation of wanathamulla as an engine of colombo development, sustainable architecture and urban systems, department of architecture and urban design, graduate school of human environment studies, kyushu university, pp.1-50. japan 20. program of sustainable design camp (2012). towards the realization of a leading compact city, fukuokare-discovering its identity as a port town, sustainable architecture and urban systems, department of architecture and urban design, graduate school of human environment studies, kyushu university, pp.160. japan 21. program of sustainable design camp (2013). re-generation of ho chi minh city as re-cyclic town, sustainable architecture and urban systems, department of architecture and urban design, graduate school of human environment studies, kyushu university, pp.1-60. japan 22. program of sustainable design camp (2014). re-birth of kiltipur awareness of gifted nature and cultural landscape for wellbeing of citizens, hana-shoin cooperation, pp.1-119. japan 23. program of sustainable design camp (2015). recommendation for regeneration of urban brown field, hazaribagh, dhaka, hana-shoin cooperation, pp.1-111. japan pg. 30 introduction principles of editing urban design character of target site process of workshop sharing basic information (understanding of aim and process) site survey (understand the area through a site-visit) collection of local information and interview residents presenting a first impression analysis of the site areas (extraction of ``problems'' and ``potentials'') future vision of the district (investigation of the strategic design) specific design and plan for an effective site implementation of the vision (scenario proposal in order to implement the plan) workshop methodology desk critique pin-up mid-term review final review enviromental assessment, casbee case study master plan of itoshima area, focus on ``nature + health'' conclusions acknowledgments references http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i3.953 recodification of the latin american city: emerging urban legislation in the pandemic era yeimis milton palomino pichihua phd candidate at universidad politécnica de madrid abstract in recent years, urban policies have been transformed in response to the pandemic. the new normality has translated into a new urbanity, in the broadest sense of the word; that is, into new rules that shape daily life and the production of urban space itself. however, in latin america, most of these measures have been contingent on the emergency, as they have not been translated into structural or long-term policies. this research focuses on the changes experienced in urban legislation as of 2020. period where national governments had to simultaneously confront health problems and pre-existing urban dysfunctionalities. this is a descriptive study outlining the landscape of emerging urban policies. it focuses on visible changes at the latin american level, the results reveal that many latin american countries have changed their urban policies during the pandemic, including a growing interest in social housing. among the issues addressed are land regulation, the right to the city, the management of public spaces, informal settlements, etc. in conclusion, the pandemic was the scene of a change of course based on new urban policies. these policies improve the management of our cities and make it possible to build more sustainable and equitable spaces. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords pandemic, urban codes, informality, housing, latin america 1. introduction the pandemic has been an exclusively health problem capable of conditioning the actions of governments, both globally and locally. the threat of an unknown virus led the who to declare it a global problem on march 11, 2020. since then, most nations have implemented measures to reduce contagion, inaugurating a state of sanitary emergency. this is an eminently legal phenomenon, the consequence of an explicit rule that limits individual rights to safeguard the common welfare. in other words, the pandemic has legal consequences that deserve to be analyzed. cities were the scene of the restrictive measures, as they were the hardest hit areas due to large agglomerations, among other factors. consequently, urban space also had to be regulated, as it was the main means of contagion. during the initial stage, social distancing and confinement were the most important measures in the context of an urban state of emergency. public spaces became spaces of militarized control. it should be noted that this situation was produced by national regulations, which were adapted to the evolution of the pandemic itself. this created a scenario of legal uncertainty that had to be corrected on the fly, adapting the measures to the characteristics of the territory and the cities. http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i3.953&domain=press.ierek.com pichihua/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 governments recovered the principle of authority and their capacity to manage urban activities from the demand side. that is, from the content of cities: people. many latin american countries experienced for the first time the rigor of norms, since life itself depended on them. cities became docile spaces, in contrast to the traditional evasion of the law or culture of informality. however, this situation was reversed as restrictions became more flexible and citizens returned to occupy the streets with a certain degree of normality. consequently, the city was once again ungovernable. the pandemic has revealed the unsustainability of cities, accentuating numerous urban problems. it has questioned the way we occupy and produce space, as well as the role of norms in these processes. governments have been concerned not only with the health system, but also with the city as a structured and structuring physical space. in other words, there is a new interest in reformulating urban policies and implementing new measures to correct preexisting problems. for a new normality is also a new urbanity; that is, new codes that adapt to emerging demands. in latin america, this implies strengthening existing legislative frameworks. given that the region is characterized by lax regulations, which is the cause of the phenomenon of urbanization without development. 2. theoretical framework cities are as old as humanity itself; they are physical spaces that reproduce social structures. likewise, the strategies for regulating space are just as old; living in a community implies adopting certain norms that maintain harmonious coexistence. urban order is the result of the institutionalization of powers. it was born with the establishment of the first empires, which tried to contain the anarchy of common spaces, in essence plethoric. since the laws of hammurabi, the codes regulated the way of making a city, that is to say, its material foundations. therefore, this is the differentiating factor of the urban: the control of space (talen, 2009). the history of urban planning is complex, as it varies from country to country. however, towards the end of the 19th century, this discipline acquired a new dimension, hand in hand with new tools such as zoning. this fact characterized modern or industrial capitalist urbanism (shertzer et al., 2022). the popular overflow in the cities demanded new measures to contain it and thus return governability to the cities. land and building laws emerged as ad hoc solutions to this problem; a legal framework to manage the physical space of cities. in latin america, one of the first experiences was in buenos aires (1910), where zoning was implemented based on criteria of historical protection, aesthetics, building sanitation and use restrictions. this gave rise to a regulation that detailed the possible ways of making a city, giving identity to the argentine capital (tella, 1996). similar cases occurred in peru (1946), colombia (1949), chile (1951), among other countries. consolidating urban planning in a modern version, which focused on the control of land, uses and building. it also prioritizes the relationship between city and architecture, translated into parameters and restrictions. which implies a sacrifice of property rights in exchange for collective benefit (henao et al., 2019). currently, urban regulation is crucial within the market economy; it creates certainties related to the growth of cities and their economic implications such as the cost of land, housing stock, among others. on a global scale, it promotes the localization and relocation of activities that stimulate national economies. likewise, on a small scale, it specializes the territory to create productive chains in cities. it is the theory of regulation applied from and to space itself (leborgne & lipietz, 1993). in latin america, this approach contrasts with the informality-regulation amalgam; cities have historically grown outside the law. creating sympathies towards deregulation or spontaneous growth, which is usually associated with self-management, collectivism, etc. building the myth of popular capitalism or urban informality that has undermined the authority of the state. however, the panorama has changed as governments have placed greater interest in the regulatory component, the means that guarantees equity in cities. the opacity of the laws is taken advantage of for private enjoyment, at the expense of the collective. it consolidates an "urbanism à la carte" that simplifies the urban to mere investment probabilities, neglecting the social impact of spaces. the pandemic produced innovations in urban norms and codes. cities were the scenes of the emergency. the immediate response was the control of urban activities (content), but as time went by it was necessary to reformulate many more areas of the city (continent). the first stage was characterized by contingency measures, which changed according to the progress of the contagion. that is, temporary measures such as distancing, confinement and reduction pichihua/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 of displacements. the need for control turned the urban space into a militarized and fear-producing environment. consequently, governments implemented assistance programs in areas as diverse as food, housing, public services, employment, among others. these palliative measures helped the inhabitants to adapt to the new normality. in general, these actions were focused both socially and spatially, prioritizing attention to the most vulnerable groups. among the global examples, the initiatives of the north american cities of dallas, chicago and new york stand out, where temporary shelters were offered to homeless people, food vouchers, renters' vouchers, tax reductions for small businesses and loans at lower interest rates (shi et al., 2020). in latin america, the subsidies implemented in argentina (emergency family income), brazil (emergency aid), colombia (familias en acción, ingreso solidario, etc.) stand out. however, informality undermined the success of these actions (blofield et al., n.d.). while it is true that these aids are useful in emergencies, they could not become permanent actions, as they represent a greater government expenditure; therefore, they are unsustainable. moreover, they do not reverse endemic urban poverty, which has been present for decades. inequality cannot be solved with subsidies, since it is a condition that reproduces itself atavistically (blofield et al., n.d.; lustig, 2020). during the second stage (flexibilization or de-escalation), more profound and long-term measures were evidenced. faced with the threat of a permanent pandemic, governments devised structural measures. unprecedented urban regulations focused on a variety of issues. these sought to reconcile the new coexistence with existing urban spaces, which had been showing problems since pre-pandemic times. they are provisions to make a pandemic-proof city (angiello, 2021), which stands out for its interest in public space. many cities around the world have implemented temporary and permanent bicycle lanes, adapted streets to pedestrian traffic, created terraces or boulevards, with the aim of encouraging new mobility habits and revaluing local businesses. one of the most outstanding examples were the superblocks in barcelona. this initiative was conceived in pre-pandemic times and saw the opportunity to materialize during the emergency in the face of the restrictions. the city council intervened in nearly 14 blocks, significantly increasing the number of parks and gardens. likewise, new york implemented the "recovery for all" plan, which considers the creation and expansion of the cycling network, as well as permanent open streets. on the other hand, long-term policies were also developed; principles for the reorganization of cities as a whole. for example, mexico city considered the creation of 13 urban corridors for the development of social housing, parallel to the creation of bus rapid transit (btr) routes and urban cable cars. seeking to reorganize the city from the transport oriented development (tod). at the european level, the regenerative urban design initiative was created, based on principles of innovative infrastructure, circular economy, climate neutrality (andreucci et al., 2021); aligning the objectives of sustainable development with the post-pandemic context. on the other hand, urban centralities were questioned to the point of creating initiatives of de-urbanization and territorial balance. such is the case of australia, where population distribution has been debated, seeking to redirect growth towards regional cities or intermediate capitals of the country. promoting digital mobility and the growth of local economies (guaralda et al., 2020). in short, these examples call for a shift towards resilience, supported by new urban policies, laws and specific codes. it should be noted that contingent and structural measures have coexisted during the pandemic; that is, they were implemented simultaneously. the complementarity between the two can be seen in the context of economic recovery and even more so in the last stage or "end of the pandemic". for in 2022, many national governments have repealed the state of emergency. the problem with the return to normality is the disinterest in urban policies or return to the status quo (deslatte et al., 2020; lecka et al., 2022). that is, the lack of experimentation and consequent deterioration of urban living conditions. therefore, it is necessary to analyze the impact of the laws created during the pandemic. for these constitute the new rules of the game of the city. despite their immateriality, the norms transcend socially and spatially. they remain for reasonable times and constitute the dna of post-pandemic cities and territories. the meaning of "the urban" is diffuse, as it is a term that groups multiplicity of approaches and disciplines (azuela et al., 2016). condition that evidenced in the emergency measures, as state interventions were framed in the urban space. even small measures such as the use of masks implicitly acquire an urban character, since they are implemented in the city. therefore, it is necessary to retake the integrality of the urban problem, since it is not only a matter of managing physical spaces but also flows, displacements, employment, location, among other social dimensions (patel pichihua/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 & shah, 2020). recognize the city as a complex system where the continent and content have equivalent weights. contrasting with simplifying visions that pigeonhole the urban in the physical space. finally, the pandemic has motivated debates on the governance of cities. for the initial restrictions revealed the capacity of local and national governments to manage urban spaces. these interventions used force and have become examples of extreme urban order. nevertheless, these strategies are valid as they reflect their principle of authority. however, this success brought the threat of authoritarianisms deployed on cities, now turned into biopolitical playgrounds (lorenzini, 2020). the most evident examples of this state of exception can be found in transportation (duarte et al., 2020) and the use of open spaces (santamaría, 2020). consequently, participation emerges as a crucial issue. likewise, collective or community management stands out as an alternative for both the management of future emergencies. in short, the pandemic is an opportunity to rethink both governance and city governance. reclaiming the role of the state and citizenship around the problems that affect the city, in order to build a suitable framework for participation, spaces of possibility for the collective construction of the city (kosovac & pejic , 2021; sánchez-cruzat, 2022). 3. study approach this is a descriptive qualitative research, whose object is the urban policies developed during the pandemic. it focuses on the major legislative changes manifested during this period in latin america. it should be noted that we study the laws and regulations of higher hierarchy, which are usually approved in higher instances such as the congress, deputation, executive power, etc. contrasting with others that arise as a response to an emergency, which are palliative and reversible. the study cannot be a comparative analysis, since the legal system and the structure of government is different in each country. nevertheless, it is possible to outline regional trends in urban policies. therefore, in the first stage, 11 latin american countries were analyzed to identify the most recent reforms. 4. results urban law is the set of norms that structure urban and rural land use, as well as the behavior of its inhabitants. cities are structured from the law, as it has an instituting character on urban activities (azuela et al., 2016; henao et al., 2019). it provides explicit rules that produce urban space from the physical and behavioral dimensions. in latin america, urban law is paradoxical, since the growth of its cities occurs on the margins of the law. a sort of urban irregularity or self-urbanization that expands the conflict between social processes and management of the space of everyday life from jurisprudence (azuela et al., 2016). on the other hand, urban law studies the tensions between property rights and the general interest. living in the city implies adopting rules that affect property and, above all, land use. for this purpose, zoning, a basic tool for urban regulation that allows a redistribution of these rights on the basis of a division of the city (nelson, 1979), is used for the most part. this results in the fragmentation of the city and the differential income generated on the basis of norms. the pandemic has created the demand for a renewed regulatory framework to face the unusual challenges imposed by the emergency. its greatest discovery has been the breadth of "the urban", as it includes provisions on proximity, compatibility of uses, displacements, schedules, among other problems usually ignored by the legislation trapped in the abstract urban space. likewise, the impact of land management on health was evidenced, since physical space transcends the wellbeing of citizens (grant, 2022). there are currently renewing currents in urban law, which can be grouped into three trends: the right to the city, mixture of uses and soft-laws or urban agendas (urbina-mendoza, 2022). all of them value positively the experimentation and improvement of norms, since urban problems are uncertain and therefore the law must adapt to them. in this context, tactical urbanism experiences emerge that intervene the urban space in an immediate and reversible manner, assessing their impact and then converting them into major policies (bolton, 2020; lauren et al., 2021; patel & shah, 2020). however, they must be careful because they can build illusions of change, thus avoiding structural problems. therefore, legislation occupies an intermediate role between experimentation, discourse and structural reflection of recent urban changes. the panorama of urban law in latin america is diverse. its scope varies significantly among countries, due to a differential experience of the pandemic that clashes with the legal system. there is a consensus on the autonomy of pichihua/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 intermediate scales of government (regions, municipalities, city councils) in urban issues; the ability to decide directly on the administered space based on local regulations (lecka et al., 2022; neuman et al., 2021). thus, the greatest experimentations were manifested at the small scale: the district, the neighborhood, the block, the house. however, the national regulatory framework proposes general rules that are adapted to the local scale. these create the conditions for the possibility of an urban space resistant to the pandemic (figure 1). figure 1 comparative of latin american urban laws in pandemic. most latin american countries have passed comprehensive urban laws that address a wide range of issues such as housing, land use, equipment, planning, among others. this type of regulation is characterized by establishing the principles of urban planning, which are transformed into regulations that operationalize them. it is a first step that requires greater institutional measures. this is the reason for its importance and, at the same time, its fragility, since new laws run the risk of stagnating due to the delay of the regulations that complement them. this is repeated in the case of public agendas or soft-laws, declarations of principles that are not binding: for example, the bolivian "cities policy". despite this, there is evidence of urban innovation in latin america. also noteworthy are the housing laws, a structural problem of cities. most of the states modified their housing policies in pandemic; strengthening social housing programs and diversifying the acquisition modalities: purchase, social rent, pichihua/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 rent to own, concession, among others. of particular note are the creation of social rental programs (argentina and ecuador), extension of the maximum credit term (colombia), increased housing subsidy coverage (paraguay) and the promotion of cooperative housing participation and management (mexico and chile). in general terms, these regulations emphasize the role of the state as a housing promotion agent, granting them greater licenses for the expropriation, purchase and production of land suitable for housing, which must meet minimum conditions of habitability, as well as adequate connection with the urban system. the third issue is urban informality, which translates into informal settlements such as slums, shantytowns, shantytowns, slums and slums. only three countries have passed specific laws related to this issue: chile, colombia and peru. all of them coincide in the creation of a regime of exceptionality and the extension of the terms for the regularization of neighborhoods located on non-urban land. the basic principle is the permanence or continuous possession of the inhabitants, which must be more than 10 years; likewise, for the application of the regulations, effective occupation of the land is required, i.e., abandoned land is not regularized. in all cases, local governments are in charge of guiding the legalization process in order to guarantee safe land for vulnerable families, who usually opt for this type of tenure. it should be noted that in all cases, explicit deadlines for regularization are proposed. once this is finalized, occupations that do not comply with the general management plans will be prohibited. on the other hand, there is evidence of a series of unconnected laws and regulations, which in themselves do not form part of a defined movement, although they express the concerns of national governments on a variety of issues such as the protection of and contributions to public spaces (peru and chile), the protected areas regime (brazil) and the soil classification methodology (ecuador). in most cases, the topic dealt with is soil protection, in the broadest sense of the word. however, their scopes are diverse and even contradictory. for example, measures are proposed to mitigate the impact of large real estate projects on urban space, by means of onerous compensation proportional to the property tax of such developments (chile). in this context, the creation of programs to promote urban and periurban agriculture is also noteworthy, in the case of bolivia and argentina. in both cases, the governments have created the necessary institutional framework for these projects, which involves budget allocations, promotion, training and a sectoral regulatory framework that allows land use to be granted to cooperatives and associations of urban farmers. given that the municipalities are responsible for managing the activities of the city based on a plan of compatibility of use. finally, the issue of transportation and mobility is the most conspicuous absentee in this set of rules. this makes it possible to identify the limits of urban law, atavistically separated from the management of transport itself. this is explained, to a certain extent, by the sectoral or ministerial division of the states; that is, in the competencies assigned to specific institutions and the consequent lack of coordination between them. of all the latin american countries analyzed, only two inaugurated innovative documents related to mobility: uruguay and venezuela. in the first case, the ministry of housing, together with international cooperation, created a manual for sustainable urban mobility, detailing the process of mobility plans and suggesting urban design criteria for roads and other urban elements related to transportation. in the second case, a law was passed to promote urban cycling, which grants benefits to users of this modality such as subsidies, access to loans, preferential attention, among others. it also obliges the municipalities to maintain and expand the infrastructure of bicycle paths and complementary services. on the other hand, it should be noted that this gap in urban law contrasts with the numerous local measures implemented in the pandemic, since, as explained above, the most recurrent responses were the creation of bicycle paths and the promotion of pedestrian spaces. for the purposes of this study, published national laws were analyzed, i.e., norms of higher hierarchy that in themselves presuppose continuity over time. this strategy is also replicated in subsequent stages. 5. conclusions the pandemic was a propitious scenario for experimentation with regulatory measures, most of which were characterized by their temporary and palliative nature. however, this promoted the ideation of more profound and, to a certain extent, structural measures. urban law in pandemic was the object of these changes. for most latin american countries inaugurated new laws and reforms focused on the management of the city, a situation that reveals a growing pichihua/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 interest in "the urban", in the broadest sense of the word. however, the set of norms made in pandemics is disjointed and divergent, as these norms tend to be short or palliative, so that they do not end up being aligned with larger policies. in general, they focus on the housing problem and its implications, and lack regulatory measures on urban transportation. it should be noted that the existence of new laws does not represent a solution in itself. in essence, these are enunciative documents that guide the actions of the different levels of government. however, the absence of complementary rules and regulations jeopardizes their contribution to urban development. the reengineering process of peruvian urban law is slowed down by the slowness of the approval process of documents that materialize the principles of the new laws. for example, the delay of the regulations accompanying the dus law or the law of public spaces, with a wait of a year and a half in both cases. contravening the guideline of not exceeding 60 calendar days. in other words, the law is the first step that should be accompanied by continuous and consistent measures over time. the data reveal that latin america experienced significant advances in the field of regulation. while it is true that these emerged during the pandemic, many of them stemmed from previous initiatives, including historical trends that were recently recovered. in this sense, the pandemic served as a trigger or accelerator of these processes; it maintained the tension of a new normality or social contract that requires new and better rules of the game. therefore, innovations must be contrasted with the preceding norms, to which they are indebted. in other words, the continuity of these measures and their dependence on the trajectory or traditions of latin american urban law must be assessed. finally, the structuring role of urban norms must be rescued, since they together shape our cities. the essence of urban law is to regulate property and favor the common benefit; however, these principles can be distorted to the point of falling into the realm of discretion in the face of the "ambiguity" of the rules of the game in force. in other words, they respond to disciplinary biases and even particular interests. the ideation, proposal, debate and approval are processes that are usually in the hands of political representatives. people who theoretically make decisions in favor of the majorities, but who are occasionally influenced by particular demands. this situation allows and justifies urban corruption, based on a legal system made by stealth from the citizens. therefore, it is pertinent to strengthen citizen participation in the field of urban law; 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(2022). nuevas tendencias del derecho urbanístico global. in dialnet.unirioja.es (1st ed., vol. 47). editorial jurídica venezolana cuadernos de la cátedra fundacional allan brewer-carías. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i1.86 the environmental and economical impacts of using media façades in commercial buildings in egypt amal abdou1, iman gawad2, yasmine el-touny3 1head of architectural department, faculty of fine arts, helwan university. 2associate professor at faculty of fine arts, helwan university. 3architect at meamar el-morshedy, cairo, egypt. abstract media façades is a subdivision of urban computing integrating digital displays into buildings, including structures and road furniture. it is frequently connected with over-dimensional screens and vivified, lit up publicizing, and places like times square. the façade is dematerialized and transformed into one immense promoting medium for sending messages. media façades can bring out the most assorted feelings, from a major city feeling to disturbance at light contamination. they are likewise seen as pop art or as blemishes. design tends to utilize media façades increasingly as a stylistic component. what used to be added to exteriors after the building development more in the method for a flaw is currently a part of the design procedure and offers new extension for visionary outline that is authored to the term ’mediatecture’. this research identifies the impact of using media façades on commercial buildings environmentally and economically. in addition to that experimental design cases of interactive building façades will be discussed and a swot analysis would be made to exemplify the challenges and discuss how they may be addressed. in addition, the examples are presented to demonstrate how to work with the difficulties inalienable in media façade design forms, taking into account the formation of different proposals for a media façade on current public buildings and new ones in egypt. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords economical impacts; environmental impacts; media façade; mediatecture; media intervention; commercial buildings; swot analysis; design processes 1. introduction during the most recent years we have been confronting a developing need of including designers into procedures of current city medialization. media architecture changes the present idea of design and façade development, highlighting the part of correspondence between building structures and condition. media façade is a façade that is both aesthetically and functionally specific and in this manner states the connection between technology, architectural design, innovation and substance to new media introductions of present day art as well as communication (cikic-tovarovic, sekularac & ivanovic-sekularac, 2011). pg. 1 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i1.86&domain=press.ierek.com abdou / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the term media façade depicts transforming the building façade into an extensive open screen by supplying its external shell with smart, light-transmitting & interactive elements. media façades allow correspondence by means of technology onto a façade as advanced media, and media architecture represents the social, cultural and financial ramifications of these façades for the instant environment. when managing media façades as huge scale advanced screens from a human-pc cooperation point of view, we can define the term media façade as: media façades are computerized open screens with subjective frame components and of self-assertive determination, which are made by either preparing the external surface of a building with controllable, consistently molded, light discharging components or by digital content projecting onto it of which are installed during the construction of a building. media façades are an obvious case of the computerized expansion of urban spaces. they signify the idea of transforming the building surface into an extensive scale urban screen. due to their tremendous size, they require an interaction from a distance and they have an abnormal state of visibility. moreover, they are installed in a very dynamic urban environment with quickly changing conditions which result settings that are neither equivalent, nor reproducible. all of this makes the installment of media façades a challenging mission (gehring & wiethof, 2014). design tends to utilize media façades more as an aesthetic element. what used to be added to façades after being constructed as an aesthetic element is currently some portion of the design and construction procedure and offers new extension for visionary outline which under the term ’mediatecture’ (frtiz, 2009). figure 1. physical evolution of the screen 2. who will make use of its conclusions? deliberately, media façade is another idea that permits helping the urban communities and make roads more appealing. a well-built media façade wins drivers and people on foot alike, improves the picture of big organizations, and helps medium and little organizations to emerge among contenders. therefore, there is a developing interest in media façades covering the city space and attracting huge groups of viewers. media façades might be interesting to designers and architects, owners of buildings, advertising offices and television channels, advertising & marketing specialists, social networks and internet resources, and sponsors and investors (petrov, 2011). 3. building envelope (façade) there are few reviews researching building skin, building envelope and building façades where they all are diverse terms used to mark the outside components of a building. powler and kelbaugh characterized a ”building pg. 2 abdou / environmental science and sustainable development, essd envelope” to be any surface that isolates the thermally conditioned inside of a building from its surrounding environment. as indicated by this definition, building envelope incorporates rooftops, outside walls, floors, ceilings and foundations and each assume an enormous part in the sustainability of the building and how the buildings react to various prerequisites. with a specific end goal to decide building necessities, (ashrae) characterized the building envelope into two sections: the outside and the semi-outside parts of a building where the definition of the building exterior envelope is: the components of a building that isolate the interior parts of the building from the outside. while the building semi exterior envelope is: the components of a building that isolated conditioned interior spaces from unconditioned spaces (dewidar, mahmoud, magdy & ahmed, 2010). 4. media façades urban architecture futuristically states that each and every piece of a future building will be associated digitally. buildings themselves will get to be a distinct media for correspondence especially for visual substance transforming them into large displays. media façades are the integration between digital displays and screens with buildings, landmarks, and road structures. generally “media façade” is a term for merging digital displays with the building façade. designers ought to have the capacity to manage this new material as an appearance of their design essentially changes in a way that couldn’t have been envisioned before (haeusler, 2009). one of the examples of the enclosure of media façade in buildings is times square in new york. with the appearance of the technology of smd (surface mounted gadget), high proficiency leds and intense processors, digital screens are introducing new transparent media façades that can cover the buildings futuristically. the challenges and possibilities of building urban structures that is utilized as multidimensional screens are gigantic. while there is a little uncertainty that the integration of media surfaces into design is unavoidable, these new potential outcomes being a blend between an augmented pc screen, the building architecture may endure thus of the rectangularity and flatness of the picture. in any case, that concern may not be completely viable as today’s media surfaces can be shaped to any frame on the need. media façades has to take the proportions of the building when being designed and extra new parameters were added to incorporate eyeball densities, viewing distances, daytime/evening lighting, the façade’s transparency, ventilation needs, heat indulgence, ecological effects, human security, and so on. the media façade field is interdisciplinary, not exclusively does it include architecture studying and urbanism, additionally some fringe regions of innovation, urban outline, technology, culture, art, marketing and advertising. designing media façade includes investigations of some particular aspects of design that affect operational and utilitarian façade objectives. disappointingly, media façades are typically an idea in retrospect, and never adhere the architectural design because they are still considered as ”digital screens” or ”signage” for advertising, that are not integrated in the architectural design (raheman, 2014). 4.1. media façades types media façades’ classification can be due to various qualities and properties, and they might incorporate how they display their content or how they are composed technically. in spite of the fact that a media façade is a fairly enormous screen, the physical properties of media façades contrast from custom desktop or mobiles. in particular, they accompany substantially bigger screens, and along these lines distinctive viewing aspects and distances. numerous media façades even cover more than one side of a building’s façade, which gives them a 3d non-planar shape figure. their resolution additionally may shift incredibly according to the used technology. there are six different types of media façades: – front projection façades: extend media content specifically onto the façade by means of at least one video projector. pg. 3 abdou / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – back projection façades: extend media content from behind the façade and onto translucent regions coordinated into the building. – display façades: convey content through the coordination of huge screen video displays into the surface of a building. – window animations: make utilization of the current windows in a building by lighting them up with the goal that they are seen as pixels. – illuminant or light-transmitting façades: coordinate light-emitting components into their surfaces. – mechanical façades: utilize mechanically mobile components to change façade appearances. the initial three façade types ordinarily include high resolution, while the later ones may bring down the resolution as they depend on the building’s architecture (e.g., one window is equal to one pixel) (haeusler, 2009). 4.2. opportunities of using media façades media façades are different from normal advertising architecture since they offer great environmental and economical opportunities, especially for commercial buildings such as digital media tools that are integrated into the built form both at the same time. afterwards, the design process, image, graphic, video, and light installations are designed by architects or graphic artists. communication may be one way (spectator) or two-way (interactor), it could be as an ornamentation integral element, façade has a digital flexibility, ephemerality shown as changeable content and display through time, and sustainability by using pv cells or natural sources. differences between media façades and advertising architecture can be summed up in the following table. table 1. from “advertising architecture” to “media façade”: communication through digital display skin (moza, 2012) advertising architecture media façade 1. attachment: digital media screens are attached onto the built form afterward. 1. integration: digital media tools are integrated into the built form both at the same time & afterwards design process. 2. façade: as a background for media content. 2. façade: as a means of media content. 3. display: image , graphic , & letter installations are defined by brand developers or specialist designers. 3. display: image , graphic , video, & light installations are designed by architects or graphic artists. 4. communication: one-way (spectator). 4. communication: one way (spectator) & two-way (interactor). 5. decoration: independent element. 5. ornamentation: integral element. 6. stability: façade has a stone stability. 6. flexibility: façade has a digital flexibility. 7. durability: periodical advertising content & stable billboards. 7. ephemerality: changeable content & display through time. 8. it is not sustainable not in all situations. 8. sustainability : by using pv cells or natural sources. 9. can not be used in temporary events. 9. can be used for sound and light shows and international competitions, promoting tourism. 4.3. the challenges facing the usage of media façades there were issues included by gehring and wiethof in 2014, for example: locating within the façade since the general appearance of the building having media façade is fundamentally shaped by position, shape and size of the content of the media on façade itself or façades of buildings. in connection to the whole building, media content may be: located on one façade or located in parts of all façades or located on the whole building. the relation to the road must be studied where details must be viewed from a calculated distance (fig. a), details level and the pg. 4 abdou / environmental science and sustainable development, essd distance they are viewed from (fig. b), the light coming from behind the façade (fig. c) position of tall trees and other potential hindrances and additionally water surfaces must be taken into consideration (fig. d), position of other media façade adjacent media content intensity must be calculated and known (fig. e). figure 2. factors affecting the location of media content on certain structures moreover, dimensions, space, media façade shape, durability of the media façade, media façade visual comfort, lighting, and maintaining a strategic distance from light contamination, the impact of temperature changes, fires and wind speed, usage of sound and the connection to the encompassing land use, passersby, and the content, needs trained designers and highly complicated programs. light pollution with several negative impacts to humans, animals and plants, & rising energy consumption are considered to be great issues on designing media façades (cikic-tovarovic, sekularac & ivanovic-sekularac, 2011). in addition to these issues, there were several challenges stated by dalsgaard and halskov in 2010 that face the design of media façades such as: – new interfaces: urban setting prompts new types of interfaces. – integrating into buildings and environment: new establishments and frameworks must be incorporated into existing physical environment. – expanded requests for power and strength: shifting light and climate conditions over which designers frequently have nothing to do about must be considered. – creating specific content to suit the medium: the content needs to fit the screen. – adjusting partners and adjusting interests: exploring, arranging, changing, and adjusting partner interests can be basic to achieve the system success. – differences of circumstances: a wide assortment of circumstances happen in the city how does the media façade fit into the circumstances in a given area? – changing social relations: the presentation of new innovations can bring about interruptions and change social relations. – developing and unanticipated utilization of spaces: media façades will probably be utilized, seen and appropriated in diverse routes than designers plan. pg. 5 abdou / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 5. advantages and disadvantages of using leds in media façades without getting too technical, we should still mention the important advantages of media façade over other digital outdoor carriers such as led’s. they are presently fit for yielding 135 lumens/watt so they are energy productive, they have long lifetime 50,000 hours or increasingly if legitimately designed, don’t neend a warm-up period. led’s light is in nanoseconds, not influenced by chilly temperatures, due to that led’s ”like” low temperatures and will startup even in below zero climate, directional. with led’s you can coordinate the light where you need it, in this way; no light is squandered and excellent color rendering. moreover, led’s don’t wash out hues like other light sources, for example, fluorescents, making them ideal for presentations and retail applications, environmentally inviting. led’s also contain no mercury or different unsafe substances. led’s are also controllable where can be controlled for brilliance and shading. for case, a media façade may show graphic and shading impacts; text or pictures, commercials or slide-appears, on-line video, sport occasions, channels of satellite or digital tv, real-time data about car influxes, climate, money rates and crisis circumstances. although it has many advantages, we can’t overlook the disadvantages. leds are as of now more costly for starting expense, led execution relies on effectively designing the installation to deal with the warmth produced by it, and they must be provided with the right voltage and current at a steady stream. this requires some hardware skill to design the electronic drivers (petrov, 2011). 6. the interaction with human beings: immersive environment experimentation the development of the media façade has allowed the interaction with surrounding humans and passersby, where they become a part of the building and interacting with it. as simone arcagni expressed, ”the film re-situates around the local area” and ”because of the participation of the media, this present reality is changed into a lasting show in which all the limits amongst performing artist and observer, amongst reproduction and reality, history and appeal tumble down” (arcagni 2010, p. 40). in contemporary architecture, brilliant and enlightened surfaces, electronic screens, video projections, and intelligent media are progressively normal, combining and covering the physical surface of the conventional city. it is very similar to a communication amongst genuine and virtual world. the advancement of the computerized applications to architecture makes a vital change on man’s association with the architecture. there are many investigations of advanced application to architecture (gasparini, 2014). 7. environmental factors: the impact of led displays a building façade shields the building from wind, rain, dust and heat. as any electrical machine, led screens additionally affect nature and the other way around. the customary led screens, especially in huge sizes, have gigantic ecological results that keep them from being deployed as building façades. they produce a huge amount of warmth that can’t be dispersed without the utilization of air-conditioners, and don’t permit free flow of air and light amongst outside and inside; thus affecting the indoor condition and aesthetically. however, transparent leds utilize less energy, they are lighter, and they permit some level of transparency for associating the outside with inside (raheman, 2014). 8. energy and economic sustainability thinking about the media façade and environmental setting issues and also the sustainability of energy, two primary classes implied for examining the conceivable outcomes of energy sustainability ought to be recognized: – consumption of energy amid generation of material and components and ecological effect. – consumption of energy amid office operation. pg. 6 abdou / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the primary elements of green economical media architecture are: firstly, biologically and ecological development by decreasing the utilization of materials, using renewable assets, ”clean” innovations amid creation, establishment, recycling and reusing materials, wellbeing and speed, safety in producation, transport and establishment. secondly, reduction in consumption of energy amid production, transport and establishment, amid the misuse of structures, actively, through photovoltaic cells in media design, passively, through maintaining a strategic distance from sunlight, which requires extra fake lightning (cikic-tovarovic et al., 2011). 9. light pollution light pollution requires general concern when designing media façades especially when we are concentrating on the environmental impact of the façade on the surroundings. one of the best accomplishments of life is the ability to help our living space to lighten up in the evening. the enlightenment of both open and private spaces has expanded fundamentally over late years. the inspiration for this is various: industry factories are running 24 hours, city thruways are lit up to guarantee movement security, numerous authentic destinations are highlighted to attract travelers and an ever-increasing number of privates are utilizing outside light to forestall thefts. however, this advancement brings likewise certain downsides, which must be broken down. in spite of all eagerness for new advances and their advantages for humanity, it ought not to be neglected to tip the fingers on basic improvements. the negative effects cannot be denied, such as light scatterings that can annoy people on shining into houses. night sky exploration can be difficult with the presence of too much light. there is also a waste of electrical power since only a little amount of light is useful. there is a negative effect on the nature and untamed life; influencing the behavior of natural life creatures, causing a negative effect on plants, influencing their development cycles, causing dangerous effect on immigrant birds, which are diverted and getting perplexed. moreover, billions of insects die on the surfaces of open lights, thus, decreasing regular nourishment for birds. in addition, offensive advertising could occupy drives, particularly amid evening time, causing accidents (wachlowski, 2011). 10. international case studies the media façade responds effectively to outside triggers from its surrounding. if present day sensor advances (climate, temperature, traffic and light) are considered, it is not hard to run a media façade in the receptive mode. along these lines, the media façade can ”respond” to certain outside factors. outer factors could be a few parameters from the city, similar to climate, daytime, traffic density, or even office action. the media façade turns into a dynamic building skin which ponders effectively its condition. it can rethink itself consistently and build up its own dialect. 10.1. tower of winds figure 3. tokyo ito, tower of winds, yokohama 1986; (wachlowski, 2011). pg. 7 abdou / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the first case has been executed in 1986 in nippon: the ”tower of winds” in yokohama, which is a 21-meter high ventilating tower from a shopping center, changes measured wind power into different light movements on its surface. amid daytime, the punctured metal surface appears to be smaller, however, when the daybreak comes, the building uncovers its progression. as different info parameters are being registered progressively as indicated by a specific equation, people are unable to comprehend a basic reliance between a solitary parameter and the movement. in this way, the movement remains a puzzle failing to get unsurprising (wachlowski, 2011). 10.2. dexia tower in brussels another great case is the dexia tower in brussels, responding to temperature. climate tower is an urban establishment from the belgian design agency lab. it gauges tomorrow’s temperature, precipitations, cloudiness and wind by utilizing hues and geometrical patterns to envision/translate continuous information given by the royal meteorological institute of belgium. the building consists of 6000 windows, though behind each is a lighting installation that consists of 12 lights, each with three leds—a green, a red and a blue—that can be consolidated into an entire color palette. a color code relates to tomorrow’s temperature contrasted with the month to month normal, connected to a size of color temperatures running from red (6◦ or hotter), orange (4◦), yellow (2◦), green (month to month normal), cyan (2◦), blue (4◦) to violet (6◦) or colder (wachlowski, 2011). figure 4. weather tower, brussels; (wiederker, 2011) pg. 8 abdou / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 10.3. greenpix greenpix is the first usage of economical, digital and sustainable media technology to the glass curtain wall. the building, including with the world’s biggest colored led screen and first photovoltaic cells, executes as an independent system that supplies its own particular energy for the light display. pv cells absorb the sunlight by day and utilize it to enlighten the screen and to make the light show at the evening time. the façade can demonstrate playback recordings, live substance, including live exhibitions, and client created content that are designed by specialists. the solid box shaped building picks up an informative viewpoint with its innovative ”smart second skin” (moza, 2012). figure 5. greenpix; day and night 10.4. new york city’s port authority bus terminal new york city’s port authority bus terminal covers 6,000 square feet of the façade and 25,000 square feet of architectural lighting. utilizing mediamesh, which is a stainless steel work texture with entwined led profiles and with associated media controls, introduced behind it where the leds render the pictures onto the façade, uses 80 percent less power than customary led show items, mediamesh® is a transparent framework that does not totally shut off the façade. the architecture of the building is hence not obliterated, and when shut down; the mediamesh® façade is likewise coordinated as an agreeable component of the architectural design (jp, 2015). 11. media façades in egypt media façades are considered a new induction to egypt, and are starting to be used widely across the country. they are mostly used on commercial and public buildings, mostly as an advertising medium. a couple of examples will be studied in the next section. 11.1. commercial buildings 11.1.1. downtown mall downtown mall is in the heart of new cairo, located on the 90th road in new cairo’s fifth settlement. based on 44,000 m2 of land, this grand business and corporate office focus is situated on the primary street 90 in new cairo. it comprises nine little buildings, where the ground and first floor in all buildings are committed to retail shops and eateries. among the nine buildings, four have five stories of office space. one of katameya downtown’s extraordinary focal points is its expansive open-air recreational and dining region. a substantial led façade is situated on the corner over the building, which promotes for the brands in the shopping center. on asking passersby pg. 9 abdou / environmental science and sustainable development, essd and drivers about the façade, they remarked that it hurt their eyes during the evening because of the glare and it causes distraction for drivers while the audiences complain about not having a large space in front of the façade to easily see it and check the brands it is promoting. 11.2. public buildings 11.2.1. laser projection laser projection is utilized as a part of sound and light show on public buildings where misr organization for sound, light and cinema works on the sound and light shows in the different archeological zones such as the speaks by sphinx (pyramids) territory at giza governorate, karnak sanctuary at luxor governorate, faila sanctuary at aswan governorate, abu simble sanctuary at abu simble zone, edfo sanctuary at edfo zone. they are universally eminent as their verifiable acculturated esteem is basic beyond depiction. the breakthrough innovation of lighting, laser and projection are used for envisioning the concealed divisions of pharaonic egyptian human civilization. the company does the future activities at the egyptian archeological destinations and different ones of touristic fascination, creates them and issues the photos, prints matters and multimedia according to the exceptional technology. the company also oversees and does the touristic benefit ventures identified with them, including the touristic transport administrations, association of imaginative shows at the archeological locales and of all what goes for engendering the way of life and expressions. this is done in order to keep pace with the most recent figure 6. new york city’s portauthority bus terminal figure 7. downtown mall media façade pg. 10 abdou / environmental science and sustainable development, essd world accomplishments satisfied in this association whether by itself or through support with outsider (”sound and light”, 2010). figure 8. laser tagging on historical buildings 11.3. events 11.3.1. 3d mapping on the library of alexandria a 3d video mapping show was anticipated on 21 and 22 may 2014 on the façade of egypt’s bibliotheca alexandrina, the cultural center and main library in the mediterranean zone. the execution entitled ”enlarged reality: 3d video mapping show on ancient alexandria” was composed by the international augmented med venture, supported under the mediterranean cross-border cooperation program to advance tourism and archeological locations improvement. the subject of the projection, which joined sound and lighting impacts with digital & virtual components, is the historical backdrop of alexandria from its foundation until the classical period ended, with an extraordinary concentrate on the principle fascination destinations of the city and its authentic turning points. the show included adjacent to the established video projection, lasers, smart lighting, controlled blazes, a water curtain and an advanced 3d audio 8 framework (”laseronics-me”, 2014). figure 9. 3d mapping on the library of alexandria pg. 11 abdou / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 11.3.2. artistic projection on the bourse building in media city in cairo the opening of the sixteenth cairo arab media awards and as anticipated onto a full size beautiful imitation of the old cairo stock exchange building. the bourse building in media city in cairo was anticipated in the opening of the sixteenth cairo arab media awards. they utilized artistic projection façade. the artistic projection functions as follows: – a motion picture was projected onto a full size picturesque reproduction of the old cairo stock exchange building (otherwise called the ’bourse’) which is a piece of one of the present film sets being used at the studio praising the historical backdrop of egypt and the improvement of the arab media—covering print, radio, tv, advanced media and the web. – the imaginative process included 3d mapping of the building so the projections and work of art could be fitted to the architecture, permitting it to be utilized as a genuine 3d surface instead of simply having level projections connected. impacts included moving pictures inside the windows, pivoting sections and veil contra-cover impacts. – the projection framework comprised of 4 x 6k pigi projectors with twofold pivoting scrolls, two of which were utilized to fill the surface, and the other two to accomplish the cross blurring and contra-concealing. the toss distance was 60 meters, and the pictures secured the total of the 32-meter wide ’building’ (evans, 2011). figure 10. bourse building in media city in cairo 12. swot analysis for the previous case studies a swot analysis was conducted on the case studies with enviromental/ ecological and economical criterias and by studying the swot analysis for the case studies we found that from the ecological aspects: there was one strength point of using the media façades which was the building can react with the surrounding environmental conditions changing its colors according to the wind or temperature. on the other hand, the weakness were so much such as visual discomfort and light pollution, and implementation of sound and the relation to the surrounding land users and the audience. while the opportunities were creating bird-friendly façades so that the birds won’t hit it when they are flying, and they could also be used in environmental ads and save materials used in traditional ads that harm the environment. it also had threats such as the effect of temperature changes (thermal discomfort) and that bright lights might affect human/plants/ animals negatively. as for the economical aspects, the strengths were obvious as media façades were used in advertising and decoration, they could also be used in promoting tourism, landmark buildings and changeable content, and display through time as opportunities. unfortunately there were weaknesses and threats, such as devices that cost a lot and need trained engineers, and it might affect the façade if used on a heritage building. while the opportunities were that they could be a source of income to owner, could promote tourism, landmark buildings & changeable content & display through time. pg. 12 abdou / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 2. swot analysis for the case studies criteria strengths weaknesses opportunities threats environmental /ecological the building can react with the surrounding environmental conditions changing its colors pv cells can be installed to generate electricity during morning times visual discomfort,& light pollution will cause eye strain and distraction to drivers especially at night implementation of sound & the relation to the surrounding land users -create birdfriendly façades so the birds won’t hit it when they are flying can be used in environmental ads and save materials used in traditional ads that harm the environment. the effect of temperature changes (thermal discomfort) bright lights might affect human/plants/ animals negatively economical used in advertising used in decoration can be used to promote charity events and for sound and light shows/competitions high initial cost high lifecycle costs (operation and maintenance) needs special expertise for design and installation, causing extra cost. income to owner promoting tourism landmark buildings changeable content & display through time might affect the façade if used on a heritage building moreover, studying the previous international and national case studies, we find that, there are different types of media façades and most of them are and could applied in egypt. due to the reason that they would have great potentials such as: they would strengthen the egyptian tourism by advanced sound and light shows, acknowledgement of egyptian monuments, can be used in public buildings openings, or in advertising and significant events (matches, concerts, . . . ). most importantly that they might not affect the surrounding ecology and enviroment negatively and it might be a source of income for the buidling they are being projected on. however, we can’t ignore the limitations it has such as: it needs trained designers, highly complicated programs, an open area, it might cause the loss of traditional identities, causes light pollution with several negative impacts to humans, animals and plants and rising energy consumption. however, these limitations could be solved and managed by time and by training designers, using high-tech equipment that doesn’t cause heat, light or noise pollution. 13. results and conclusion according to the analyses and discussions above, this paper’s conclusions may be summarized as follows: egypt is located in the north african desert; this topographical area gives the egyptian atmosphere a few attributes, which influences on designing any building. egyptian atmosphere is arid, hot dry summers, cold winters and rarely any precipitation which will urge designers to design building skins that will have the capacity to give natural ventilation, shading and lessen the consumption of energy. media façades are turning out to be increasingly universal in the urban condition: we can find little ones in cafeterias displaying menus; greater ones in shopping centers providing store registry data, for example; gigantic promoting brand item over a whole building façade. subsequently of their inescapable universality, there has been an expansion in research around them, particularly how individuals interface, engage, and facilitate around them. so we can presume that a media façade comprises essentially of animated photos and light created by electronic gadgets and is not only a decoration, so its function is not just ornamental, but rather, with its potential pg. 13 abdou / environmental science and sustainable development, essd for representation it is used for interaction between the building and its surrounding environment. the utilization of programming and computerized shows connected to the building façades, regardless of whether they are glass, plastic or metal is changing drastically the importance of architecture. both, video and architecture are not only aesthetic, but they are as well innovative mediums, with its characteristic technological restricts. nonetheless, media façade configuration is joined by various particular issues that have been mentioned in the previous sections. making a legitimate system for the procedure of media façade configuration represents a decent stage for subjective association between media and architecture, and different fields too. in addition to that, we can see how media façades can affect the building economically and environmentally as shown in the swot analysis, how it could be a source of income to the building that uses its façade by promoting tourism or different advertisements. in addition to the environmental point of view, it could provide information about the weather as shown in the dexia tower case study, and special leds that could be used to be birds friendly. to put it plain, up until now, researches about media façades have occurred in various groups, for example; design, architecture, and art, which permits us to start collecting current discoveries, to move to better approaches for considering, and to sum up disciplines, working towards building a general comprehension of coordinating media façades in the architectural building design. 14. recommendations and further researches that can be done based on this research other researches could be done to determine the impact of using media façades on commercial buildings in egypt can be done by studying social and cultural aspects. designers ought to consider critical issues for proficient building façades; these issues influence the technologies added to building façades considering its cost and how proper it is for the building necessities. in this way vitality sparing, designers ought to properly select site for working, as the plan highlights changes with site climatic qualities, be mindful of any huge change in climatic conditions in the site. then properly choose the best façade innovation that serves the objective of the building, choose proper ventilation techniques that are reasonable for the building use and notify to all pc demonstrating that can lead the designer to the 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(2011). interactive media façades in the urban context(unpublished master’s thesis). modul vienna private university. pg. 15 introduction who will make use of its conclusions? building envelope (façade) media façades media façades types opportunities of using media façades the challenges facing the usage of media façades advantages and disadvantages of using leds in media façades the interaction with human beings: immersive environment experimentation environmental factors: the impact of led displays energy and economic sustainability light pollution international case studies tower of winds dexia tower in brussels greenpix new york city's port authority bus terminal media façades in egypt commercial buildings downtown mall public buildings laser projection events 3d mapping on the library of alexandria artistic projection on the bourse building in media city in cairo swot analysis for the previous case studies results and conclusion recommendations and further researches that can be done based on this research http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 83 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i2.840 rural regeneration in egypt: a review of existing typologies in borderline areas shahira assem abdel-razek, yasmin moanis1 1 delta university for science &technology, faculty of engineering, department of architectural engineering, gamasa city, mansoura, dakhliya, egypt corresponding author email: dr.yasmin.moanis@hotmail.com abstract tracking rural areas and studying them may not be an easy task. the concept of whether the area at hand is urban or rural could be simple, but lately rural areas could carry many features that may deviate the definition into one which is unclear. in urbanized rural development, reversing the urbanization spotted may not be the ideal way to go, urban developers often suggest that to go back to the roots is to regenerate the area back into rural, however, regenerating rural areas using rural parameters and definitions may not be what the urban area in hand needs and the changes and challenges that are facing rural communities in egypt need to be understood before any plan can be deemed as effective or even worthwhile the rapid increase in urbanization and how it affects agriculture land, shorelines, and rural land, has affected badly the rural capacity, and led to a constant threat of overhaul in place of towns, cities, and other urban activities. however, rural areas are the lungs of the planet alongside forests and other green areas and having them diminish substantially will lead to an inevitable catastrophe. regenerating rural areas should focus on revitalizing and embedding them into the social, cultural, and economic structure of the region, however, it may not always involve turning them back to what is commonly termed as rural. this research attempts to review and discuss the meaning and definitions of rural regeneration with a view to propose a strategic plan to regenerate borderline areas in egypt. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords regeneration, challenges, rural identity, urbanization, sustainability, rural developments ; 1. introduction regeneration in nature is the process of restoring or replacing parts or entire systems as part of the reformation of that being, (sugimoto, et al, 2019) similarly, in the built environment, regeneration depicts the process behind the revitalization of existing areas to make better use of them and provide better opportunities for their inhabitants. the regeneration process may target some or all of the following: economic, infrastructure, social, environmental, and physical aspects of the area, all in an attempt to promote better living opportunities and health to the individuals and citizens. (donnison, 1993; osborne, s., williamson, a., & beattie, 2004) however, when addressing regeneration at large, defining the area at hand is a must, whether we are dealing with an urban area or a rural one will greatly influence the types and schemes needed to devise and implement, as well as the needs of the people benefitting from them. whether it is renewal, redevelopment, regeneration, reform, or rehabilitation, across the different terminology http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i2.840&domain=press.ierek.com abdel-razek/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 84 that exists, the idea of reassessing the situation at hand to come up with better solutions to aid in human development and prosperity stays at heart. regeneration is also dependent on several factors, which include (sugimoto, et al, 2019): 1) environmental inputs and existing surrounding characteristics, which may be in turn linked with physical aspects of the built environment, 2) responses to those inputs, that lead to the development of a plan for the rehabilitation and regeneration of the area; and, 3) criteria that may directly influence the development of the reformed area or space. while the difference between urban and rural areas may be well known and established, whether through research, or through common knowledge and prevailing ideas, the concept of knowledge of what each of them means is in fact confusing. of the somewhat many definitions of what rural is, one definition depicted it to be “the areas outside big towns where there are stronger connections of inhabitants with agriculture and forestry, which may or may not be their only source of income, are generally referred to as the rural areas”(satterthwaite et al., 2010), with a focus that the core characteristic of any rural area is its’ direct linkage with land use and its value economically as a mean variance to what urban is (perpar, 2002, cox et al., 2017; roca & arellano, 2017) the overspill of urbanization in rural areas has raised a new concept for dealing with the swift changes that affect those areas to discuss whether rural regeneration and revival, with all its features is the only mean to revive the rapidly disappearing rurality of the area. developers, planners, and decision-makers each day have to work efficiently and holistically to help support and encompass this cancer-like spreading phenomenon. this fast and unplanned urbanization leads to poor infrastructure, unplanned areas, poor housing, inadequate living, unemployment, and a dramatic increase in crime rates and a decrease in the overall resources of the place. urbanization also leads to pollution, degradation of land, and eventually climate change. although, humans started off as rural dwellers, it has suddenly become clear that the vast number of the population of the world would much rather live-in urban areas, this is evident through the projected rate of urbanization and the fact that by 2050, 68% of the world will be living in urbanized areas. research has established that of the world’s 7.8 billion people, present on earth today, it is estimated that more than fifty percent live in urbanized areas, and with the ongoing rate of urbanization and population growth, predictions state that by the year 2050, there will be about 2.5 billion more people added to the urban population, mostly in the continents of africa and asia, reaching a rough estimate of 68%. (undesa, 2018). urban and rural areas are linked together economically, socially, and environmentally and despite the continuous spread of towns and cities, rural areas pose an important part of any country’s area and value. however, with the looming threat of urbanization and the development of urban areas caused by an increase in the population and the effect of migration from rural areas to urban areas, urbanization has in turn affected all the different types and sizes of communities; small villages turn into towns, and towns into cities, until it leads to the development of mega-cities, with more than ten million people. this increasing density of population in urban areas has led to health problems, consequently, death rates, historically, are higher in urban areas in comparison to rural areas, however, urban areas, worldwide, have managed to sustain their existence through the continuous migration of people from rural areas. (keyfitz, 1984). different patterns of consumption have also complimented the difference between urban and rural; for example, urban populations consume much more food, energy, and durable goods than rural populations. energy consumption for electricity, transportation, cooking, and heating is much higher in urban areas than in rural villages. urbanization also affects the broader regional environments. regions downwind from large industrial complexes also see increases in the amount of precipitation, air pollution, and the number of days with thunderstorms. urbanization and urbanity have encroached on the rural space and activities which were once only pertained to rural have become urban too. agricultural activities, once the predominant economic driver of rural areas have decreased in status due to outdated laws and regulations which have failed to meet the expectations of the people living there, abdel-razek/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 85 also the continuous evolution in technology has made way for other economic potential to arise and take over. this constant evolution of spaces and economic drivers has led the rural capacity to diminish and take on urban traits, albeit in the same location. another added factor is that of over-population; with the absence of proper litigations, and in the absence of a governed ecosystem, the land became prone to be built upon, deeming it useless for rural activities, or making it too expensive to rehabilitate. one of the most important questions is the size of a settlement to be functioning as an urban system. in our case the international criterion cannot be applied. this paper focuses on the concept of regeneration of a given area which may not be identifiable as either rural or urban and how best to tackle the existing problems in a wider frameset. the following literature review presents available research regarding both rural and urban regeneration, then follows the methodological framework, the discussion comes next to highlight the urbanization that happened in select areas of the delta region and the intersection that exists in both developmental strategies needed to address its regeneration. 2. research methodology rural and suburban communities in egypt have faced severe limitations starting from the industrial revolution and the immigration of its inhabitants from the suburban areas near the delta region to urban areas like cairo and alexandria. as the inhabitants move to work in industry, agriculture land is abandoned, and the problem of rural areas versus urban areas comes to light. the research methodology utilized is bibliographical desk-oriented research that strives to understand the path forward to implementation of rural regeneration and developmental projects in egypt. most of the problems that have come to surface are across whole community sectors, while other problems are linked to a certain nature-of-life of those areas. most of the socio-economic problems facing those who left their agricultural land and moved to the urbanized community were that they lost their identity and as a reason the following generation is born into an urbanized habitat leaving behind their identity and damaging the patch of agricultural lands, making them urban dwellers in rural contexts. it is thus safe to say that the challenge that we face may be rooted more in demographics than in geography, however what is the appropriate nomenclature of the land that they live in and what are the optimum types of regeneration that is needed to enable them to become better living communities. city and rural areas extensions and development have become an urgency, such challenges cannot be easily or entirely handled without researching and applying appropriate development plans. is the area classified an urban and rural based on specific criteria or is it possible to be living in an urban setting with rural characteristics? 3. literature review connections of our rural areas with urban centers are still relatively intensive; the administrative-territorial distribution of urban and rural municipalities is not appropriate for their purpose, because some urban municipalities include also relatively widely extended and significant rural hinterland. from the viewpoint of integrated rural development planning the most applicable criterion between urban and rural space is an area defined as "the area of managed urban settlements" such areas are in spatial plans exactly defined and they change in accordance with the development or with urban settlement growing in process of spatial planning. the settlements with urban character were summarized upon the geographical definitions in slovenia, which sort settlements according to their central function into seven groups (crnic, 2014; perpar, 2002) in addition to damaging quality of life, urban sprawl has a significant influence on the environment, social structures and economies. the brundtland report, written in 1980 when urban sprawl was already accepted as a serious problem, defined it as the ‘uncontrollable physical expansion of cities. the same report stated that urban sprawl created ‘serious problems in urban environments and economies’, it was foreseen that ‘if cities are developed without guidance towards rural areas and agricultural productive lands, additional agricultural area losses will arise’(shkaruba et al., 2017; wakode et al., 2014; world commission on environmnet and development, 1985) in 2005, bookchin emphasized that urbanization destroys natural landscapes and the cities themselves. evaluating urban sprawl as a negative phenomenon, which will endanger cities and the countryside, land transformation due to urban sprawl changes cities into synthetic environments(clark, 1982; white, 2019). thus, it is necessary to observe abdel-razek/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 86 land transformation as it occurs in parallel with urban sprawl in temporal and spatial scales.(tayyebi & pijanowski, 2014)(gormus et al., 2019) however, there is a very wide variation between the problems associated with the urban areas of the world; such as unemployment, high cost of land and housing leads to lack of suitable shelter (which inevitably leads to the development and expansion of informal settlements, squatter areas and sometimes even homelessness), inadequate or inappropriate services and/or infrastructure, deteriorated individual health and educational services, and often increased levels of pollution due to unawareness or accessibility. with the rapid increase in urban population, a new term was coined to address the areas that immediately surround cities and towns; peri-urban, while those areas that surround the peri-urban are dubbed as semi-urban. peri-urban areas have been growing rapidly ever since the industrial revolution as inhabitants of rural areas seek to improve their status by immigrating from rural areas to urban ones. the result is a transition from villages and land (rural), to towns and cities (urban). (madsen et al., 2010) classifying areas into urban, peri-urban, semi-urban and rural is a tedious task, in-order to define these boundaries, demographics, and area of land needs to be assessed (figure 1). boundaries of these areas do not neatly separate themselves by lines on a map. needless to say, urban sprawl and development often leads to the merge of these areas onto each other, thus making it difficult to determine the size of cities and towns by their demographics. (national research council, 2019) defining the area is also augmented by the fact that defining characteristics of urban and rural areas vary from the global north to the global south, as well as from developed countries to developing or under-developed ones. the villages of the global north and of developed countries are more environment-climate friendly, the spawns of green areas and the preservation of land deem them healthier than those of cities, the cost of living may be greater, and some urban dwellers prefer moving to rural areas after retirement for a different experience. this is not the case of villages in the global south, or those of developing or under-developed areas, where the rate of urbanization is higher, and the agricultural land has shrunk due to lack of reinforcement of laws and regulations. in this paper, we will be dealing with villages of the global south and hereafter any reference to a village is in the location of the global south. figure 1: diagram illustrating placement of urban, peri-urban, semi urban and rural areas. source :researcher abdel-razek/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 87 urban cities face several challenges including but not limited to availability of affordable housing, poverty, increased rate of crime, poor traffic control, absence of clear air. however, with all the limitations of urban areas, it is no secret that inhabitants of rural areas are more and more fleeing from their rural surroundings and villages to the city in hope of a better quality-of-life and better socio-economic standing. pull and push factors) (figure 2). this migration, influenced by technological evolution and economic growth and development ((marshall, f., waldman, l., macgregor, l., mehta, l., and randhawa, 2009) is possibly, also affected by conflict and social disruption. this internal migration to the cities has left rural communities in a state of fragility and frailty and has affected parts of evolved cities into becoming areas of informal settlements and squatters. figure 2 exchanges and interactions of the rural-urban-metabolism source: adapted from repp et al. 2012 by researchers rural communities are facing the constant threat of being overhauled in place of towns, cities, and other urban activities. however, rural areas are the lungs of the planet alongside forests and other green areas and having them diminish substantially will lead to an inevitable catastrophe. that is why the rural regeneration act was developed; to focus on revitalizing rural areas and embedding them into the social, cultural, and economic structure of the area(chang & chou, 2011). the challenges facing rural areas are diverse however, they are more or less one or more of the following: illiteracy, poverty, lack of access to infrastructure (water, sanitation, fuel, internet, etc.,), decayed or nonexistent accessibility to road networks, lack of existing healthcare facilities and educational services, basic amenities like retail and recreational areas, not to mention lower income and higher unemployment rates. (figure 3), while those that face urban areas may be classified into social, behavioral, and economic issues. figure 3 challenges facing rural and urban regeneration sources: modified by researchers from ((yilmaz et al., 2010) , (donnison, 1993) and (nassar et al., 2016)) abdel-razek/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 88 when closely examined, some of the challenges in the rural case of egypt may in turn deem some areas, which were once classified as rural, now change status, and become peri-urban or even urban, due to the vast encroachment on land and the long years of decay and lack of proper solutions. administratively, egypt is divided into 27 governorates categorized as following: urban governorates (cairo, alexandria, port said, and suez) with no rural population mentioned, and the other 23 governorates are divided into urban and rural areas. the increase in migration between urban and rural areas and the incapability to meet the rising in inhabitants’ essentials led to the appearance of new and diverse social problems within the urban structure. which led also to the transferring of the behavior and traditions of rural inhabitants to the city; resulting in creating informal areas on agricultural lands, if the situation remains as is, it is expected that egypt loses about one million acres of its best lands during the coming years.(mohammed emam hammad, 2019)(kruseman, 2007). 3.1. rural verses urban regeneration rural regeneration in context refers to the implementation of combined policies and strategies that aim to enhance social, economic, physical, and environmental and community standards to counteract existing formations including urbanization, immigration and abandonment of the area. it often appears after the area at hand becomes nearly derelict or faces continuous challenges. (de luca et al., 2021; edwards et al., 2000) rural regeneration, as a solution to the problem of land abandonment and population decrease resulting from migration, was developed in the uk in 1997, focusing on reliant infrastructure, economic equality, employment availability and land renewal, through partnerships to facilitate and utilize existing resources in an aim to reach governance and give precedence to equality in citizenship. (edwards et al., 2000; osborne, s., williamson, a., & beattie, 2004). urban regeneration, on the other hand, addresses institutional governance, social inclusion, economical mobility, and environmental cohesion, all while focusing on community participation and social responsibility and inhabitant perception. the synergies between both rural and urban regeneration shed light on the concept of utilizing public community participation to better develop an overall needs assessment of the current needs of each individual area and to better tailor a development or regeneration plan that fits to that specific layout. (abdelrazek et al., 2009). 3.2. challenges facing regeneration in egypt to be able to better understand the rural regeneration problem in egypt, first a definition should be developed that does not conform to any of the present norms, (which could be the main problems that developers may face). the idea that rural areas should be regenerated and returned back to their original context may not be what the overall public rural population need. on contrary, the public rural population may well be in need of evolving their surroundings that have evolved more into urban than through regenerating the underlying realm that is present between rural and urban, and neither case may be applicable, merely because that sense of space and sense of place of the rural area may well be lost. when discussing the parameters that have to be included in the idea of regeneration, prioritizing what is important is a key. what is it that needs to be kept and what needs to be left to change is part of the development and regeneration plan. one of the main drivers of migration is rural poverty, in a survey done in 2010; it was found that most of this poverty lies amongst youth. rural youth account for 59% of egypt’s total youth, comprising of 85% of egypt’s poor youth (soliman & gaber, 2010) therefore, it is a deduction that poverty is very much a characteristic of rural egypt and thus having less access to public services and goods, of these services, the inevitable lack of access to schooling in turn becomes a major determinant of low quality work opportunities throughout life and thus the poverty vicious cycle reproduces itself. (mccormick & wahba, 2004; zohry, 2005) the egyptian government across the last 50 years has devised several rural developmental reform programs, most of them focusing on the upgrade of rural poverty, one of these projects was the national program to improve the livelihood of the poorest 1000 villages, implemented over a course of two stages. the stages aimed to regenerate 150 abdel-razek/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 89 villages and 850 respectively. however, the project was not completely implemented due to the uprise in january 2011 and lately as this research was being finalized, the 1500 village regeneration project. one of the previous research done on the global experience of urban regeneration discussed the main issues that helped in the urban regeneration initiatives in london and lebanon and concluded that the main key for the regeneration process was the development body which panels the authority of the regeneration process in terms of (regeneration through partnerships, single regeneration budget, new deal for communities, city challenge, enterprise zone, urban development corporation, and other approaches have marked a transition into a more participatory historical process). (nassar et al., 2016; osborne, s., williamson, a., & beattie, 2004) 3.3. the rural development initiative in egypt egypt is considered to be one of the main growing countries in the arab world today that faces a lot of urban, economic, social, environmental, and political challenges. it faces a continuous increase in population annually, besides the continuous migration from rural areas. this growth in population has caused many urban problems in the city, where urban development started out in the past decades and centuries and where uses of urban areas have changed over time. figure 4 timeline of rural development policies in egypt source: authors the existing present-day agricultural area on the rural delta lands and valleys are considered marginal if compared to the modernized agricultural lands that represent the horizontal expansion of those cities. like what is happing on the western delta land the current or traditional agriculture in the old is performing quite well under the existing limitations of: small holdings, labor-intensive methods, traditional irrigation (elmenofi et al., 2014; kruseman, 2007; soliman & gaber, 2010) resilient rural development plans could increase the impact of the product, but that would be at the cost of unemployment, bio-diversity and it would also indicate a loss of social cultural values for the identity in the old land, and one of the many issues that may disillusion our idea of regeneration is the concept of what is aesthetically acceptable. malcolm smith in his book, “urban regeneration”, discusses that there are three different approaches to tackling issues that arise within a city to be able to reform it; inerrability, agility, and stewardess, all embedded in the institutional governance pillar of urban regeneration. rural regeneration in egypt passed through five different eras; (figure 4) • rural reform (before 1973) • rural development policies based on liberalization of the egyptian economy (1973-1993) • establishing the shrook national project (1993-2007) abdel-razek/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 90 • targeting the 1000 poorest villages (2008-2012) • an honorable life (haya kareema) (ongoing-2019-2030) these first four eras showcased that developmental projects need a holistic integrated approach that targets the inhabitants and community cohesion and live-ability, hence resulting into establishment of “a decent life”, an initiative spearheaded by the egyptian government to provide water and sanitation, appropriate housing, medical and educational services and establishments, economic support through job creation and welfare. the aim of the project is to improve standard of living and quality of life with investment of human capital at the heart of the project. (un, n.d., 2021) 4. urban-rural case in egypt figure 4: illustration of the case of urbanization in egypt from 1972 to 2019 source: google maps extracted by researchers in responsese to the raised calls for narrowing the rural – urban gap and overcoming the development constraints in rural egypt, participation and decentralization are seen by many as key mechanisms for reform and promoting sustainable development in egypt in general and in rural areas in particular. egypt is an urbanized country that is characterized by rural-urban migration, low agricultural contribution to growth (11.7% of the gdp in 2017) and half or more of the poor population living in urban areas. the expected income differentials between rural and urban areas influence the migration decision. although rural dwellers migrate to urban areas looking for formal sector jobs, which often pay higher, the sector only hires a small portion of migrants, while the rest goes to the informal sector absorbing non-skilled and zero-skilled labor. (un‐habitat, 2004; wakely & riley, 2011) 5. discussion determining the nomenclature of the area assessed; whether urban or rural, is the first step to planning an effective, efficient, resilient, and sustainable plan in-order to allow it to cope with the rapid and fast changes around it. rural development and regeneration are essential for economic growth and since formal jobs in the industrial sector are in limited supply, and because job creation and social services are less costly in rural areas, highly efficient agriculture should be able to produce more than its own consumption, which is not the case in all developing countries. as urbanization and industrialization are on the rise, and rural-urban migration persist in emerging economies, developing the technical skills of citizens in rural areas would help them get jobs in different industries without them having the informal sector as the only option. developing and improving the rural areas to cope with the urbanization process without harming the identity and the patch of the agricultural land should be through improving their living conditions and to stark a link between the rural and urban areas all together (urban-rural relationship). abdel-razek/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 91 understanding and addressing the rural problem to relieve the urban areas from rural migrations which will by default need more housing unit, jobs, services, healthcare facilities and various environmental services. as evident in figure 5, urbanization in different egyptian governorates has greatly impacted the quality and type of land; rural areas have become desolate and in some areas have even become part of the urban corridor due to it being impossible to restore them as before. this has led to depreciation in the agricultural value of the land, although the economic value of the land has increased. this is a common problem that some inhabitants also focus on, in some cases, urban land value is higher than agricultural land value, and thus inhabitants may intentionally destroy the agricultural realm of the land in hope for better economic value. development of human resources represented in the non-tangible force like education and knowledge management, entrepreneurship, physical infrastructure, and social inequity, also play a big role in rural development not only the tangible one like agriculture and the built environment; building a resilient social frame for comprehensive rural development through providing technical assistance, increasing awareness, empowering youth and entrepreneurship ventures, enhancing economic utility (based in form, time, place and possession), and maintenance of individual rural culture, enforcing a link between the public and the government to disseminate governance concepts, utilizing public opinion. all the previous can be established through broad analysis of social and economic conditions, and motivation of public participation and mobility to evolve the society needs, planning local society development individually to help complete the overall image, and to follow up the plan and to produce an evaluation that helps in redirecting the plan if needed. the foremost essential developers of regeneration in a defined area are economic empowerment, access to sustainable and efficient infrastructure, presence of affordable land and housing, access to knowledge, access to basic services and environmental sustainability and resilience. regeneration whether urban, rural or the fusion of both should focus on the importance of economic empowerment, as most of the rural population depends on land-related vocations. regeneration policies should enhance, empower, and support small and local businesses as well as identify and embed cultural and heritage initiatives to help each individual rural community to take advantage of its resources and manage and utilize its potentials to achieve economic growth. also, to be able to achieve better results of regeneration, public policy and regulations regarding land use, and building regulations should be addressed, despite the increased interest in rural housing in recent years, access to a home in rural areas remains highly inaccessible due to highly restrictive building policy, and accessibility. the proposed regeneration plan for any of the defined areas should be divided into the following steps: step1: defining whether the area at hand is urban or rural utilizing community participation and perception, as well as previous governmental plans. step 2: according to the stimulated definition, main pillars of the development plan should then address regeneration tactics inclined towards urban regeneration, rural regeneration or a mix of both or a new derivative all together, while taking into consideration a new established set of design principles of both rural and urban areas. the development plan should be assessed through community participation and public needs, the plan should they be implemented and monitoring and evaluation should be an ongoing process to ensure effective reform and regeneration, all this should be while keeping an eye on governance and social cohesion. the idea of coming up with cultural triggers to be implemented in economic empowerment should also be addressed and focused on through community assessment. (figure 8). developmental plans should also address land value and tariffs in an attempt to decrease the idea of urbanizing for gain. laws and regulations concerning land value and accordingly building laws should be revisited to ensure that proper empowerment is given to these citizens. step 3: implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the success or hindrances of the initial plan and continuous update and review of the situation. this phase should also take into account the pillars of governance to ensure public acceptance, transparency, integrity and accountability being the foremost three needed. abdel-razek/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 92 figure 5: proposed regeneration plan (sources: authors) 6. conclusion in conclusion, several areas that were once deemed as rural areas in egypt have now crossed the paths to being urbanized and no amount of regeneration will be able to change its status back to rural. these areas while not yet fully urbanized have lost the characteristics of rural areas and may only be associated with their rural identity through the acquisition of land, nevertheless, these areas cannot be termed urban either as the characteristics of the people living there may still be under influence of tradition more than their urban counterparts and may be closely knit as is. the regeneration of these areas should focus on empowering the families that still live there through economic solutions and piping of investments that may or may not be linked to their land origin, it also involves the development of their infrastructure and services as well as the promotion of better job opportunities and economic growth. the circular economy behind urban areas may well need a lease in the rural void that may not be achievable in urban settings. thus, whether dubbed as urban or rural, these areas need regeneration that focuses on the essence of what individuals need and their evolving everyday challenges. this will decrease the number of migrants that move into urbanization yearly as well as decrease the urban sprawl that occurs from this unplanned migration and may offset the presence of squatters and slum areas. further research utilizing community participation and public mobility in previously defined areas is recommended and will be followed up on by the researchers, additional research should also address the importance of revisiting laws and regulations regarding rural land policies, a metric system for both urban and rural land and a survey to the actual needs of the inhabitants of each particular part. the limitations to this research include: • rural inhabitants’ acceptance of the idea of rural regeneration and staying where they are, most rural dwellers want to live in urban communities and may shun the advances of the project. • a decrease in agricultural land and agricultural practices has rendered many rural regions as obsolete and thus need a different mode of action. references abdel-razek, s. a., ismail, g. a., & saad, s. g. 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(2005). interrelationships between internal and international migration in egypt: a pilot study. international migration, july, 98. https://doi.org/10.13140/rg.2.2.18361.31841 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v1i1.32 coupling of solar reflective cool roofing solutions with sub-surface phase change materials (pcm) to avoid condensation and biological growth alberto muscio1 1department of engineering “enzo ferrari”, university of modena and reggio emilia abstract cool roofs are effective solutions to counter the overheating of building roofs, inhabited spaces below and urban areas in which buildings are located thanks to their capability of reflecting solar radiation. nonetheless, the relatively low surface temperatures that they induce can cause condensation of humidity and leave the surface moistened for a long time during the day, thus, promoting the growth of bacteria, algae and other biological fouling. this can cause a quick decay of the solar reflective performance. biological growth is countered by surface treatments, which may be toxic, forbidden in many countries and may vanish quickly. it can also be countered by lowering the thermal emittance and thus decreasing heat transfer by infrared radiation and consequently leading to night undercooling. however, this can decrease the performance of cool roofs. an alternative approach, which is analyzed in this work, is to embed in the first layer below the cool roof surface a phase change material (pcm) that absorbs heat during the daytime and then releases it during nighttime. this can increase the minimum surface temperatures, reduce the occurrence of humidity condensation and biological growth. in this work, preliminary results on the coupling of a cool roof surface with a pcm sublayer are presented. results are obtained by carrying out a theoretical investigation on commercial materials and taking into account the time and patterns of evolution of the environmental conditions. © 2018 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords cool roof; phase change material; pcm; condensation; biofouling 1. introduction 1.1. cool roofs and their lifespan cool roofs are roofing solutions reflective of solar radiation thanks to their high solar reflectance, or albedo. they can prevent overheating of both individual buildings and entire urban areas. their potential has been quantitatively investigated in the usa since the 1980s in response to both the urban heat island (uhi) effect and the need of reducing electric energy and peak power absorption for air conditioning (taha, akbari, rosenfeld, & huang, 1988). many studies have followed evidencing the effectiveness of gradually increasing the albedo of a city by choosing high-albedo surfaces to replace darker materials during routine maintenance of roofs. proven as well pg. 55 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v1i1.32&domain=press.ierek.com muscio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd was the usefulness of establishing sponsored incentive programs, product labeling, and standards to promote the use of high-albedo materials for buildings (rosenfeld, akbari, romm, & pomerantz, 1998). surveys on cool roofing materials were completed (berdahl & bretz, 1997) and strong savings of cooling energy and peak power were shown (akbari, bretz, kurn, & hanford, 1997). additionally, the researcher paid attention to the long-term performance of high-albedo roof coatings (akbari et al., 1997). steps were then taken by cities in the warm half of usa towards the incorporation of cool roofs in the revised ashrae building standards and the inclusion of cool surfaces as tradeable smog-offset credits in los angeles (rosenfeld et al., 1998). eventually, this resulted in the culmination of prescriptive requirements such as the inclusion of cool roofs in energy codes like title 24 of the california code of regulation (levinson, akbari, konopacki, & bretz, 2002). cool roof technologies, in the usa, have spread worldwide. among many others, studies demonstrating their potentialities were undertaken in europe (synnefa, santamouris, & livada, 2006; zinzi, 2010). the cool roofs project as well was co-funded by the european union to promote high-albedo surface as a uhi mitigation strategy and a measure for reducing cooling loads (synnefa & santamouris, 2012). moreover, a hot theme in both europe and the usa is the contribution to offset co2 production that can be achieved by increasing the albedo of urban surfaces (akbari, menon, & rosenfeld, 2008). the usefulness of cool roofs was also investigated with regard to cold climates, such as in montreal (touchaei & akbari, 2013). while cool roofs have shown to significantly reduce the contribution to the uhi in the hot season, the penalization introduced in regions with cold winter often seems negligible in terms of either energy needs for heating or lower heat released, thus, warming the outer urban environment (magli, lodi, contini, muscio, & tartarini, 2016). nomenclature c specific heat (j/(kg◦c)) cl specific heat of the liquid/high temperature phase (j/(kg◦c)) cs specific heat of the solid/low temperature phase (j/(kg◦c)) dl mass density of the liquid/high temperature phase (kg/m3) ds mass density of the solid/low temperature phase (kg/m3) hce external convective heat transfer coefficient (w/(m2◦c)) hci internal convective heat transfer coefficient (w/(m2◦c)) hre external radiative heat transfer coefficient (w/(m2◦c)) hri internal radiative heat transfer coefficient (w/(m2◦c)) isol solar irradiance (w/m2) k thermal conductivity (w/(m◦c)) kl thermal conductivity of the liquid/high temperature phase (w/(m◦c)) ks thermal conductivity of the solid/low temperature phase (w/(m◦c)) l total thickness (m) qsl latent heat (j/kg) t temperature (◦c) tair ambient air temperature (◦c) tair ambient air temperature (◦c) td p dewpoint temperature (◦c) te external effective temperature (◦c) ti internal temperature (◦c) tme mean absolute external temperature (k) pg. 56 muscio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd tse external surface temperature (◦c) tsky sky temperature (◦c) tsl phase change temperature tsol/air sol-air temperature (◦c) t time (s or day) vwind wind velocity (m/s) x coordinate across thickness (m) dqi change of the entering heat flow rate per unit surface (w/m2) dtsl half amplitude of the phase change interval (◦c) eter (external) thermal emittance (0<eter<1) rsol (external) solar reflectance (0<rsol<1) 0 stefan-boltzmann constant (5.67×10−8 w/(m2k4)) moreover, cool roofs can in fact be seen as a technological rediscovery of ancient concepts. in mediterranean areas, roofs and walls of buildings have been white since thousands of years. on the other hand, today we know that a white or very light color is not an objective term of evaluation but just a qualitative indicator. thus, current cool roof technologies are based on measurement of materials performance and calculation of resulting benefits. more specifically, we know that a cool roof must have high solar reflectance, i.e. the ratio of reflected and incoming solar radiation. it should also have high thermal (or infrared) emittance such as the ratio of radiation emission in thermal (or far) infrared and maximum theoretical emission at the same surface temperature. both solar reflectance and thermal emittance are measured as a percentage or a fraction of the unit. the higher the solar reflectance, the lower the fraction of solar radiation that is absorbed by a surface is. such an absorbed radiation can then be returned to the atmosphere by convection with the air and by thermal radiation. in the absence of wind, heat removal mainly occurs through thermal radiation provided that the thermal emittance is high. in contrast, low solar reflectance may cause the surface to overheat and, consequently, lead to head transmission to the roof structure and living spaces below. this contributes to building overheating and to the correlated uhi effect either directly, in terms of heat transfer to the external air by convection, or indirectly, due to the removal of the transmitted heat from the living spaces by means of the air conditioning systems. the latter contribution is augmented by the compressor power absorption which increases with the external air temperature. two different families of cool roofing solutions can be identified: cool white technologies for flat roof coverings, such as the example in figure 1. these, by far, are the ones more commonly used. cool color technologies for sloped roofs, as well, are designed to show a reflection spectrum in the visible range (0.4-0.7 µm) as needed to obtain a desired color. at the same time, a reflection capacity in the near infrared (nir, 0.7-2.5 µm) where solar radiation falls by more than 50% remains invisible to the human eye. cool white roofing solutions have many types: field applied coatings (paints, fluid applied membranes, etc.), reinforced bitumen sheets made of modified bitumen (elastomeric or plastomeric), single-ply sheets and membranes (thermoset or thermoplastic), tiles (ceramic, concrete, etc.), asphalt or bituminous shingles, pre-painted metal roofs, and built-up roofing. they can show initial solar reflectance as high as 80-85% and thermal emittance range of 80% to 95% for non-metallic materials (crrc, 2015; us epa, 2015; ecrc, 2015). on the other hand, it is very difficult to retain the initial reflectance value due to chemical and physical deterioration of materials and, above all, soiling caused by pollutant deposition and biological growth (berdahl, akbari, levinson, & miller, 2008; berdahl, akbari, & rose, 2002; bretz & akbari, 1997; sleiman et al., 2014). that being mentioned, the reflectance and emittance of opaque building elements are of the most superficial matters. these elements consist of a surface layer or a coating with thickness as low as a few tenths of millimeters with properties generally unaffected by the underlying substrate. therefore, a superposed layer of atmospheric suspensions and/or grown up organic matter may strongly affect the reflective performance. both initial and aged values of solar reflectance are thus provided in pg. 57 muscio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 1. flatroof with cool white waterproofing membrane (tecnopolo building of the university of modena and reggio emilia, modena, italy). the framework of the crrc rating program which is obtained by natural exposure in three locations with different climate for at least three years (sleiman et al., 2011). the development of matrices and white pigments chemically and physically stable permits avoiding degradation of the reflectance, such as that associated to yellowing of the surface. however, several approaches are exploited to reduce soiling, such as controlling the surface porosity and roughness, and possibly applying super-hydrophilic, super-hydrophobic surface treatments or self-cleaning coatings based on photo-catalysis (diamanti et al., 2013). a few approaches, mentioned in the following section are also available to limit biological growth. 1.2. biological growth and deterioration of building surfaces as anticipated above, the deterioration of cool roofs and external building surfaces is due to several causes: aging and weathering, soiling and deposition of atmospheric black carbon, dust, organic and inorganic particulate matter as well as microbiological growths (mastrapostoli et al., 2016; sleiman et al., 2014). it is often difficult to distinguish between non biological and biologically-mediated weathering of materials: the two processes can occur concurrently, each one contributing to the overall deleterious effects (gaylarde & morton, 2003). the development of microbial communities on wetted surfaces is called biofilm, and it becomes gradually a more complex system (characklis & marshall, 1990). biofilms on building surfaces can contain cyanobacteria, heterotrophic bacteria, algae, fungi, lichens, protozoa, and a variety of small animals (arthropods) and plants (briophyte) (gaylarde & gaylarde, 2005). biological growth is influenced by both external conditions and intrinsic characteristics of the building material (tomaselli, lamenti, bosco, & tiano, 2000). external conditions are represented by rainfall, wind, sunlight, temperature and humidity as these determinate the water availability, an essential element to the microbial metabolism: wet surfaces promote autotrophic organism growth, therefore a higher susceptibility to bio fouling occurs in rainy regions as well as during heavy rain seasons (tran et al., 2014). the issue arises also in humid climates due to the low surface temperatures of cool roofs and persistent condensation of atmospheric moisture. on the other hand, high temperatures induce water evaporation by heating the materials, making wind essential for the drying phenomenon. altogether the climatic conditions determine, depending on the geography position, the moisture and light conditions that define the micro-climate on building surfaces, which is the major environmental factor influencing biological growth (ariño, gomez-bolea, & saiz-jimenez, 1997). if moisture is pg. 58 muscio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd high enough, and lighting and temperature conditions are suitable, colonization of the surface of new buildings can occur very quickly (wee, 1992). also, the building design and the orientation of the building surface influence external factors of bio growth: the north-facing facades, which are wetter and less sunny, get colonized faster (ariño et al, 1997). more details on biological growth are given by ferrari (2015). in order to limit biological growth, surface treatments based on biocides can be used, but their effects may however vanish quickly and may be toxic and forbidden in many countries. biological growth can also be countered by lowering the thermal emittance and thus decreasing heat transfer by infrared radiation to the sky and the consequent night undercooling. nonetheless, this can also decrease the performance of cool roofs. the alternative approach to counter biological growth on cool roofs and similar building surfaces that is analyzed here is to embed in the first layer below the cool roof surface a phase changing material that absorbs heat during the daytime and then releases it in the nighttime. this can increase the minimum surface temperatures, thus reducing humidity condensation and biological growth. in this work, preliminary results on the coupling of cool roofs and pcms are presented after being obtained by theoretical investigation on commercial materials and taking into account the time of evolution of environmental conditions in a sub-mediterranean climate with low wind and relatively high humidity. 2. phase change materials and their coupling with cool roof surfaces latent heat storage technologies that use phase change materials (pcm) embedded in lightweight building elements are considered an interesting alternative to sensible storage by heavyweight constructions (zalba, marın, cabeza, & mehling, 2003; khudhair & farid, 2004; mavrigiannaki & ampatzi, 2016). these materials can undergo a phase change, typically melting or solidification, and therefore exchange more heat with the environment in terms of latent heat rather than sensible heat storage capacity. in recent times the attention has also been drawn by the coupling of pcms with cool roofs, studied by either numerical simulation or experiments. experimental results, by karlessi and others (2011), demonstrated that pcm incorporated in building coatings yields lower surface temperatures than either common coatings or cool infrared-reflective coatings. the numerical investigation by aguilar and others ar (2013) extended previous work by considering the impact of pcm embedded in roofing module on cooling energy and showed that solar reflectance is the parameter with the biggest impact. nonetheless, pcms may be worthwhile in locations where the reflectance undergo a sharp decrease due to soiling. moreover, they verified that simulation is a powerful tool for the involved multi-parameter analyses. roman and others (2016) showed through simulation that a pcm allows a sharp decrease of through-roof heat gain at a wide range of albedo. in (chou, chen, & nguyen, 2013) the coupling of a metal sheet cool roofing structure with a pcm was studied in order to absorb the downward heat flow induced by incident solar radiation and then release it back to the environment by convection during the nocturnal cycle. experimental and numerical analyses showed that the downward thermal flow through the roof into the house can be significantly reduced. another study was aimed at the development and prototyping of a cool polyurethane-based membrane with pcm inclusion for roofing applications (pisello et al., 2016). in another, pcm cool roof system was created using pcm doped tiles (chung & park, 2016). experimental results showed that such tiles, during the summer, allow a decrease of surface temperature while maintaining low room temperatures. generally speaking, most of the studies have shown that pcm can even both positive and negative peaks of surface temperature and thus improve thermal comfort and reduce cooling energy demand. none, however, seem to have yet paid attention to the specific issue of using pcm to limit condensation and biological growth on cool roof surfaces. this is therefore the topic of investigation in this work. 3. model and case study in order to parametrically investigate the thermal behavior of a cool roof coating coupled with a pcm, a onedimensional mathematical model of the roof system was implemented in the matlab programming environment. the model, based on a finite-volume approach with implicit discretization of the time derivatives, takes into account pg. 59 muscio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the cyclical variability of the boundary conditions (temperature, solar irradiance, heat transfer coefficients) and the temperature dependence on the thermophysical properties of materials. it has been used to identify the time periods during which the external surface temperature falls below the dew-point and the risk of humidity condensation occurs. in this way, a comparison of the situation with and without a pcm layer below the cool roof surface has been carried out considering surfaces with relatively low thermal emittance. a flat roof was considered in this study. hourly weather data on air temperature, sky temperature, wind velocity, solar irradiance and dew-point temperature were obtained over the whole year from the trnsys programming environment (tmy data). representative time evolution patterns are shown in figure 2. figure 2. ambient conditions over the year for bologna, italy (data from trnsys, the black lines represent the daily average). figure 3. roof structure and surface heat transfer processes. pg. 60 muscio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the heat transfer process is depicted in figure 3. more specifically, the boundary condition at the external surface of the solid matter (x=0), delimiting the external environment from the waterproofing layer, is expressed as (hce + hre) [ tsol/air (t) − t (t)x=0 ] = −k dt (t) dx |x=0 (1) where the so-called sol-air temperature tsol/air (◦c) is calculated as follows: from the effective external temperature te (◦c) and the absorbed fraction of the solar irradiance isol (w/m2) that results from the surface solar reflectanceρsol (0 < ρsol < 1): tsol/air (t) = te (t) + (1 − ρsol)isol (t) hce +hre (2) the effective external temperature te (◦c) is in turn the average of air and sky temperatures, tair and tsky (◦c), weighted by the external convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients, hce and hre (w/(m2◦c)): te(t) = hcetair(t)+hretsky (t) hce +hre (3) air temperature and sky temperature, as well as the solar irradiance and, consequently, te and tsol/air, are function of the time t (s). the convective heat transfer coefficient hce is evaluated from the wind velocity vwind (m/s) according to iso 6946 (iso, 2007a): hce = (t) = 4+4vwing(t) (4) the radiative heat transfer coefficient hre is again evaluated according to iso 6946 at the mean absolute external temperature tme (k), also considering the thermal emittance eter (0<eter<1), as hre = εter4σ0t 3 me(t) (5) where 0 is the stefan-boltzmann constant ( 0=5.67×10−8 w/(m2k4)), and tme(t) = 1 2 [ tsky(t) + t (t)|x=0 ] (6) an explicit approach is generally followed to evaluate the radiative heat transfer coefficient from the calculated surface temperature. concerning thermal interaction between the roof structure and the inhabited space below, the indoor temperature ti (◦c) was assumed to be controlled by an appropriate air conditioning system and kept constant at a level adequate to thermal comfort, e.g. ti=27◦c for the summer period in the analyses presented here. the boundary condition at the internal surface (x=l), delimiting the roof structure from the indoor space, is expressed as (hci +hri) [t(t)|x=l−ti] = k dt (t) dx |x=l (7) constant values obtained from iso 6946 were used for both the internal convective coefficient hci, taken equal to 0.7 w/(m2◦c), and the internal radiative coefficient hri, evaluated equal to 5.5 w/(m2◦c) by a formula analogous to eq. (5) for the typical value of the thermal emittance of inner building surfaces, equal to 0.9, and an internal absolute mean temperature of 27◦c = 300 k. the same model used in a previous work was exploited for the heat transfer in the solid matter comprised between the external surface (x=0) and the internal one (x=l), including the pcm layer (barozzi, corticelli, libbra, muscio, & tartarini, 2009). in fact, the thermal behaviour of a pcm can be mathematically modeled through different approaches. the one adopted here is based on the definition of a fictitious equivalent material whose specific heat c (j/(kg×◦c)) is a function of temperature. heat absorbed or released by such a fictitious material must be equal to that absorbed or released by the actual material for the same increase or decrease of temperature. this seems consistent with the literature which shows that currently available pcm do not change phase at a precise temperature level, but rather over a more or less narrow temperature interval (carbonari, grassi, perna, & principi, pg. 61 muscio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 2006; farid, khudhair, razack, & al-hallaj, 2004; schossig, henning, gschwander, & haussmann, 2005; tyagi & buddhi, 2007; zalba et al., 2003). moreover, the slope of heat absorption or release in the phase change interval is often similar to a gaussian distribution about the central temperature. in the industrial practice, either the central value or the amplitude of the phase change interval are modulated through an appropriate formulation of the pcm (ex: the phase change temperature of paraffin depends on the length of the molecular chains, which can be modulated in terms of statistical distribution about an assigned average value in order to obtain the desired properties). going into detail, the equivalent specific heat c of a pcm with latent heat qsl (j/kg), specific heat cs (j/(kg×◦c)) of the solid phase (or the low temperature phase in solid-solid transitions) and specific heat cl (j/(kg×◦c)) of the liquid phase (or the high temperature phase) is represented in this study by a gaussian distribution in a range with amplitude 2×dtsl about the nominal phase change temperature tsl (◦c) (see fig. 3). this is described by the following relationship: c(t ) = cs +(c1− cs) · ( t −ts1 24ts1 + 1 2 ) + qsl 4ts1 · 2√ π · exp [ − ( t −ts1 4ts1/2 )2 ] (8) figure 4. effective specific heat of the pcm. the thermal conductivity k (w/(m◦c)) and other thermophysical properties which may vary significantly during the phase transition can also be modelled by assuming, over the phase change temperature interval, a linear variation between the values for the solid and the liquid phases, e,g. ks and kl (w/(m·◦c)): k(t ) = ks +(k1− ks) · ( t −ts1 2 ·4ts1 + 1 2 ) (9) nonetheless, for the time being, certainly reliable data on the pcm are missing, so the properties of the solid and liquid phases are assumed to be equal for sake of simplicity, in view of their relatively low differences. the properties of common building materials as reported in iso 13786 (iso, 2007b) for a thick concrete structure with thermal insulation were used for the different layers (see tab. 1), whereas a commercial pcm board, dupont energain (energain, 2016), was considered for the pcm to be introduced between the waterproof coating and the thermal insulation layer below with a thickness up to 10 mm. more specifically, a product developed by dupont and called energain® was considered, that is a composite pcm wallboard constituted of 60% of microencapsulated paraffin included in a polymeric structure; such a mixture is laminated by aluminium. since the literature raises doubts on the material specifications (energain, 2016), these were integrated with experimental data from a third party (du et al., 2012) (see tab. 2). pg. 62 muscio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1. properties of the reference roofstructure – raw data from (iso, 2007b). layer th. conductivity k (w/(m◦c)) mass density d (kg/m3) specific heat c (j/(kg◦c)) thickness s (m) waterproofing 1.00 1200 1500 0.005 pcm see tab. 2 1400 0 – 0.010 thermal insulation 0.04 30 0.100 concrete 1.80 2400 1000 0.200 table 2. properties of the pcm panel – raw data from du et al. (2012); energain (2016) latent heat qsl 70 kj/kg phase change temperature tsl 24.5◦c half-amplitude of the phase change interval4tsl 9.5◦c specific heat cs ∼= cl 2.3 kj/(kg◦c) thermal conductivity ks ∼= kl 0.16 w/(m◦c) mass density ds ∼= dl 1001 kg/m3 4. results the model has been used to identify the time periods during which the external surface temperature tse (◦c) falls below the dewpoint td p (◦c), thus explaining the risk of humidity condensation. the process is depicted in figure 4, where the surface temperature is plotted for a short mid-summer period in case of absence of pcm and presence of a pcm layer with 10 mm thickness. figure 5. time evolution patterns of dew point surface (with and without pcm) temperatures: the risk of condensation exists where the surface temperature falls below the dew point temperature. the frequency of the risk of condensation is represented in figure 5-a) for a cool roof with thermal insulation but without pcm below the surface. it is then shown in figure 5-b) and figure 5-c), respectively, that the risk becomes lower with a 5 mm pcm layer, and much lower with a 10 mm pcm layer. in figure 5-d) the risk of condensation is represented for a cool roof with thermal insulation and without pcm, but with thermal emittance 0.6 instead of 0.9; in this case one can observe that the reduced thermal emittance limits heat loss toward the sky during the night-time and, consequently, yields a risk of condensation similar to that provided by a 10 mm thick layer of pcm. nevertheless, it was also found that an always positive change dqi (w/m2) of the heat flow entering the inhabited space is obtained with respect to a cool roof surface with typical emittance of 0.9, that is an increased entering heat flow (see fig. 6), whereas a cool roof surface with emittance 0.9 coupled with pcm causes an oscillating change dqi of the entering heat flow but with null average. pg. 63 muscio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 6. risk of condensation for a) a typical cool roof, b) a cool roof coupled with 5 mm pcm, c) a cool roof coupled with 10 mm pcm, d) a cool roof with thermal emittance lower than usual. figure 7. change of the heat flowentering the inhabited space with respect to a typical cool roof with rsol=0.7, eter=0.9. pg. 64 muscio / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 5. concluding remarks in this work, it was shown that a pcm can actually increase the nighttime surface temperature of a thermallyinsulated cool roof without affecting the overall performance of the cool roofing product. heat is accumulated in the daytime by the pcm and then released in the night-time, increasing the minumum temperature and thus reducing the risk of falling below the dewpoint temperature, with the start of humidity condensation. limiting humidity condensation my help preserve the cool roof surface from biological growth, especially for insulated roofs. a similar result can also be provided by a decrease of the thermal emittance at the external surface, but with a penalization of the cool roof performance in terms of heat transmitted to the inhabited space below and also maximum surface temperatures. a relatively high mass fraction of pcm must be installed in the outer layer, either integrated in a waterproofing membrane or, as a board, placed just below the membrane, or below an outer metal sheet in insulated sandwich components. effective results were in fact found only for a pcm board with thickness 10 mm and percent content of pcm around 60%. a lower amount of dispersed pcm may lead to an ineffective contribution. in upcoming work, ambient data for different climatic conditions will be taken into account, considering either arid or very humid climates. moreover, the analysis will focus on the choice of the phase change temperature, which must be slightly higher than the expected dew point temperature and should probably be optimized depending on the location. a more detailed model of the pcm is also under development, to be supported by experiments. eventually, integration of the proposed solution in comprehensive dynamic models is a long-term objective. 6. acknowledgments the author wishes to acknowledge giulia santunione, chiara ferrari, susanna magli, antonio libbra and all the other researchers of the dept. of engineering “enzo ferrari” who provided support and data for this work. references 1. aguilar, j. c., smith, g. b., gentle, a. r., & chen, d. 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(2010). cool materials and cool roofs: potentialities in mediterranean buildings. advances in building energy research, 4(1), 201-266. doi:10.3763/aber.2009.0407 pg. 68 introduction cool roofs and their lifespan biological growth and deterioration of building surfaces phase change materials and their coupling with cool roof surfaces model and case study results concluding remarks acknowledgments http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i2.554 brownfield sites as catalysts for sustainable urban regeneration and the demand for objectives, tools and classifications for the support of their redevelopment examples from the city of amman, jordan. deyala tarawneh1 1architecture department, engineering school, university of jordan abstract almost two decades today, the topic of brownfields has extensively been researched in urban sociology, urban planning, and human geography, and numerous western-centric studies have linked the redevelopment of the abandoned, contaminated, vacant or derelict sites to sustainable urban regeneration and achieving smart cities and sustainability goals in general. yet, until this day, the concept has received little academic and practical attention in middle eastern contexts. western contexts on the other hand including europe, uk and usa continue to offer unique perspectives on approaching brownfields in ways that reduce the alarming spatial cluttering and address socio-spatial disparities and spatial segregation in addition to achieving economic and environmental goals, and similar to the global scene, brownfield sites make a large portion of the post-industrial city of amman, the capital of jordan. however, with the lack of a systematic definition for the urban phenomenon objectives, methods to identifying potential brownfield sites and evaluating the prioritisation of their redevelopment that takes into consideration context particularities, and with the absence of participative approaches that include the local community in the decision-making regarding these spaces, city planners fail to include the increasingly growing number of brownfield site that proliferate their cities in the urban planning practice. through the examination of literature discussions on objectives, approaches, classification systems, methodologies, assessment and evaluation tools for the support of design and prioritising decisions for brownfield regeneration in different contexts, and through looking at the numerous potential alternatives for brownfield sites regeneration these contexts highlight, this paper bids to emphasise the importance of developing context specific, localised tools tailored for the middle eastern case. building on the above, this paper identifies five potential brownfield typologies in the context of amman; (1) residual planning outcomes; (2) discontinued mines and quarries; (3) unfinished mega-projects; (4) contaminated and hazardous sites, and; (5) miscellaneous abandoned sites and buildings, and ends on the note that looking at the increasing demand to meeting smart growth and sustainability needs, these urban landscapes may function as catalysts for achieving comprehensive sustainable urban regeneration. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. pg. 16 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i2.554&domain=press.ierek.com tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd keywords brownfield sites; urban regeneration; amman 1. introduction 1.1. brownfield sites regeneration potentials according to doick, sellers, castan-broto, and silverthorne (doick, sellers, castan-broto, & silverthorne, 2009a), numerous european governments place strong emphasis on integrated land use policies including the re-establishment of public open green spaces through brownfield regeneration, in their research on understanding success in the context of brownfield greening projects, they highlight that the uk government considers the regeneration of brownfield sites as a prime tool for delivering regional economic regeneration in addition to neighbourhood renewal as well as international biodiversity commitments. however, they stress that, the lack of monitoring and evaluation —combined with insufficient supporting revenue funds— results in failure to highlight site issues, challenges in local emphasis and ultimately lack of success with respect to project aims and site sustainability. atkinson, doick, burningham, and france (atkinson, doick, burningham, & france, 2014) support this argument and add that brownfield regeneration to green spaces in particular, has been used to help reverse social and environmental decline in europe and north america with typical benefits including increased flood retention capacity, temperature regulation, providing habitat for wildlife, community building, encouraging local engagement and providing space for play and recreation. according to them, setting regeneration objectives is important to maximize the benefit from brownfield regeneration at any given location and identifying the objectives of regeneration is crucial to lever the funding required to pump-prime activity. kristiánová, gécová, and putrová (kristiánová, gécová, & putrová, 2016) also explore the transformation of another specific brownfield typology, old industrial sites, into parks. in their research they argue that the regenerating of former industrial sites into green spaces has numerous benefits including the provision of space for play and recreation in urban environments; enhancing the scenic beauty and neighbourhood appeal; improving the health of urban environments; raising property values; the provision of ecosystem services; habitats for wildlife, in addition to; fostering adaptation for climate change. moreover, in their research on renewable energy potential on brownfield sites in the city of michigan, adelaja, shaw, beyea, and mckeown (adelaja, shaw, beyea, & mckeown, 2010) for example suggest that with the increasing demand to replacing conventional energy sources with renewable energy, brownfields make potential landscapes to intensify renewable energy generation especially that they have relaxed constrains such as ownership, land use or zoning regulations. hartmann, török, börcsök, and groma (hartmann, török, börcsök, & groma, 2014) support the brownfield regeneration for energy generating purposes argument by presenting a multiobjective examination and evaluation method which provides a basis for the business analysis of an energy purpose brownfield regeneration project. understood as the “ . . . intended temporary or final re-use of brownfield sites which are not based on built constructions or infrastructure (‘hard’ re-use)” (bardos et al., 2015), bardos et al. describe that the ‘soft re-use’ of brownfield sites including the creation of public open and green spaces has not been easy to demonstrate in strictly financial terms. accordingly, in their research on optimising value from the soft re-use of brownfield sites, through suggesting a ‘brownfield opportunity matrix’, they propose a value based approach to identify and optimize services provided by the restoration of brownfields to soft re-uses, on a permanent or temporary basis, and explore the links between soft re-use of brownfield sites and sustainability. this notion of temporary use has been increasingly linked to brownfield regeneration and where weak planning was often blamed for failed regeneration attempts, successful examples of tactical non-planned temporary interventions have introduced effective models to approaching brownfield sites and thus became an important area to be considered in brownfield regeneration attempts. in their research on creative interventions in dynamic cities, rall and haase (rall & haase, 2011) for example explore a variety of temporary use projects in recently demolished pg. 17 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd brownfields using a triangular integrated evaluation method combining indicator-generated and questionnaires with experts interviews. their research results indicate that these uses have been more popular and have greater usage rate, however, they conclude that public acceptance for such interventions can be strengthened with more seating, punitive measures for property owners and increased communication about the method and it’s potential as a planning tool. 1.2. brownfield categorisation, typifying and prioritising the debate on brownfield categorisation and typifying has also been little researched. considering the ambiguity of the definition that includes a variety of potential interpretations which is often considered as a major setback to understanding the variety of brownfield sites types and ultimately contributing to hindering their regeneration to begin with. researchers such as loures and vaz (loures & vaz, 2018) have also shed light on this dilemma. in their research on exploring expert perceptions towards brownfield redevelopment benefits according to their typology, they argue that understanding brownfield characteristics and different typologies, between abandoned land, contaminated land, derelict land, underulitised land or vacant land, has a strong emphasis on achieving consistency that enables the creation of new methodologies and frameworks to deal with the redevelopment of these spaces. identifying the specific brownfield typologies they conclude has a great impact on realizing each site’s potentials and result in more benefits on the different dimensions including the economy, community, ecology and health, moreover, they conclude that knowing the exact brownfield typology and the exact dimensions each has positive impacts on may aid designers, planners and decision makers make better informed designs and prioritising. in addition to categorising and typifying, prioritising brownfield sites has also been problematic and literature discussions highlight its importance to the regeneration process. in fact, limasset et al. (limasset et al., 2018) identify five points that need to be taken into consideration when designing tools for regional brownfields prioritisation including: (1) assessing end-user needs and orientation discussions; (2) availability and quality of the data needed for the brownfield prioritization tool; (3) communication and stakeholder engagement; (4) drivers of regeneration success, and; (5) financing and application costs. similarly, bartke et al. (bartke et al., 2016) argue that prioritising brownfields for redevelopment in real estate portfolios can contribute to more sustainable regeneration and land management and that numerous factors must be considered for prioritising actions, especially when adhering to principles. their research suggests several multiple criteria decision analysis (mcda) based on lessons learned from literature on success factor, sustainability assessment and mcda approaches, in addition to the web-based tailored improvement of brownfield regeneration in europe (timbre), timbre brownfield prioritisation tool (tbpt) which they argue facilitates the assessment and prioritisation of a portfolio of sites on the basis of the probability of success and sustainable regeneration or according to individually specific objectives. lastly, and prior to identifying brownfield regeneration measures and tools, factors including stakeholders, perceptions, concerns, attitudes and information with regards to brownfield regeneration must also be identified. rizzo et al. (rizzo et al., 2015) present a participatory methodology applied in order to develop a system to support the categorisation of the needed information and to support the understanding of which typology of information is the most relevant for the specific categories of stakeholders also in relation with their concerns. the engagement process they present consist of five phases; (1) planning and preparatory work; (2) identification of stakeholder categories; (3) engagement activities (e.g focus groups and workshops); (4) submission of a questionnaire, and; (5) provision of feedback to the involved stakeholder. the results of their research they argue created a knowledge base for the future development of tailored and customised approaches and tools for stakeholders working in the brownfield regeneration field. pg. 18 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 1.3. brownfields regeneration objectives, approaches, measurement and evaluation tools in 2002, thomas (thomas, 2002) developed a decision support tool augmented by geographic information system (gis) that provide access to state, regional, and local geospatial databases; several informational and visualisation tools, and; assumptions useful in providing a better understanding of issues, options and alternatives in redeveloping brownfields for decision makers and policy analysts at all levels of governments to establish urban land use policy and development guidelines that may be applicable to related land use issues in a variety of urban and urbanising settings. similarly, one decade later, chrysochoou et al. (chrysochoou et al., 2012) developed an indexing scheme to screen large numbers of brownfield sites in wide areas, including municipalities, counties, states, or other types of districts, in order to develop initial planning strategies for fund allocation and redevelopment. their scheme entailed three dimensions; socioeconomic, smart growth and environmental, each has an index constructed on the basis of location-specific variables irrespective of the target end use. the socioeconomic variables included; population density; property values, and; unemployment. collectively, these variables demonstrate the potential contribution of brownfield redevelopment on economic growth. the second dimension, smart growth, or liveability index as chrysochoou et al. describe, was developed on the basis of the u. s green building council leadership in energy and environmental designneighbourhood development (leednd) evaluation scheme, but isolating location-specific features. the third and last dimension, environmental index, incorporated variables that represent the potential sources of contamination (or past use); pathway to exposure (such as soil permeability), and receptors (including zoning, proximity to water bodies, parks, critical habitats, open spaces, wetlands and floodplains). schädler, morio, bartke, rohr-zaenker, and finkel (schädler, morio, bartke, rohr-zaenker, & finkel, 2011) also introduced an integrated assessment model which evaluates redevelopment options of large contaminated brownfields aiming to support efficient and sustainable regeneration communication between stakeholders. their assessment tool integrates three pinnacles of brownfield regeneration including: (1) subsurface remediation and site preparation costs; (2) market-oriented economic appraisal, and; (3) the expected contribution of planned future land use to sustainable community and regional development. their assessment focused on early stages of brownfield redevelopment which, they argue, is characterised with limited data availability and by flexibility in land use planning and development scope. at this stage, their research found that, revealing the consequences of adjustments and alterations in planning options can foster efficiency in communication between involved stakeholders and thereby facilitate the brownfield regeneration process. their research results indicated that the integrated assessment provides help in the identification of land use options beneficial in both sustainable and economic development. on the complexity of decision support systems for brownfield sites regeneration, stezar, pizzol, critto, ozunu,and marcomini (stezar, pizzol, critto, ozunu, & marcomini , 2013) presented a comparison between two decision support systems (dss)s; the spatial analysis and decision assistance (sada), and the decision support system for the re-qualification of contaminated sites (desyre) with the main objective of showing the benefits of using dsss to introduce and process data and then to disseminate results to different stakeholders involved in the decision-making process. lastly, with regards to brownfield regeneration meeting sustainability demands, in their research on defining the sustainability objectives of brownfield regeneration to green space, doick, pediaditi, moffat, and hutchings (doick, pediaditi, moffat, & hutchings, 2009b) identified the objectives that brownfield regeneration projects must meet in order to be considered sustainable. in addition to the proposed standard set of sustainability objectives, their research suggested designing sites to achieve specific functionality using participatory, context specific methods. the ‘pillars of sustainability’, as doick et al. describe, include economic, social and environmental objectives. the economic objectives include: (1) being economically efficient and self-supporting; (2) providing employment opportunities; (3) promoting local and regional economic regeneration; (4) promoting attractive and functional landscapes, and; (5) promoting social affluence and community prosperity. the social objectives include: (1) encouraging social inclusion and cohesion; (2) promoting health and well-being; (3) providing good accessibility pg. 19 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd to green space and local facilities; (4) facilitating education, and; (5) reducing crime and anti-social behaviour. lastly, the environmental objectives include: (1) minimising the use of un-recycled resources; (2) promoting land, water, soil and air quality; (3) protecting biodiversity and the natural environment, (4) conserving natural and cultural heritage, and (5) combating the impacts of climate change. 1.4. brownfield regeneration in the international context: lessons learned the topic of brownfield regeneration is increasingly becoming popular worldwide. in china for example, chen, hipel, kilgour, and zhu (chen, hipel, kilgour, & zhu, 2009) present a strategic classification support system for brownfield redevelopment based on two characteristics; brownfield effectiveness and brownfield future needs, the resulting classification, they argue, is of valuable aid to cities and governments as they plan and budget their brownfield regeneration projects. in another example from the chinese experience, zhu, hipel, ke, and chen (zhu, hipel, ke, & chen, 2015) provide a framework for establishing and optimising an evaluation index system for brownfield redevelopment projects. their framework involves three steps; (1) the initial design; (2) testing and optimising, and; (3) verification. in the implementation of their project they argue, extensive research has been conducted to ensure the reliability, validity and effectiveness of their evaluation system. moreover, and similar to what this paper aims to achieve and from the chinese experience as well, cheng, geertman, kuffer,and zhan (cheng, geertman, kuffer, & zhan, 2011) attempted to identify potential brownfields and establishing priorities for their redevelopment. the identification of potential brownfield sites was done through a four-step system as follows; (1) defining input sites; (2) verifying environmental liability; (3) confirming tax delinquency, and; (4) cross-checking with industrial classification code. the uk context has also provided extensive research on brownfield regeneration, burke, hough, morgan, hughes, and lawrence (burke, hough, morgan, hughes, & lawrence, 2015), for example, shed the light on the leeds area of the west yorkshire coalfield experience. their research aims to identifying approaches to inform the redevelopment of brownfield sites by demonstrating how certain types of publicly available data allow a greater understanding of the interaction between human activity and natural superficial and bedrock geology. if successful, they argue that, this approach can help lessen the impact of delays and increased financial costs caused by unforeseen ground conditions. the central and eastern european context was also grounds for testing brownfield re-use. alexandrescu, martinát, klusáček, and bartke (alexandrescu, martinát, klusáček, & bartke, 2014) for example look at the role of the entrepreneurial public sector as actors in brownfield regeneration in the czech republic, poland and romania. their research focus on the proactive role the public may play to fostering passive change in the cases of brownfield regeneration whether through mobilising networks or leading by example which, they argue, defines an entrepreneurial path to addressing the regeneration of brownfield sites. the above mentioned rizzo et al. (rizzo et al., 2015)’s research on identifying stakeholders, perceptions, concerns, attitudes and information needed for brownfield regeneration also took place in five european countries, germany, italy, romania, czech and poland. in the czech republic case in particular, martinat et al. (martinat et al., 2018) argued that the re-use plans for current brownfields are market-demand driven or public sector prioritised and do not always meet the requirements of local residents and visitors. by investigating the range of brownfield re-use options as suggested by the locals and visitors their research found that future brownfield uses including culture, sports and children parks are the most popular. their research highlights gender as a fundamental overlooked factor to deciding future brownfield end uses as where women were inclined towards the previously mentioned uses, men were more interested in industry oriented end uses. osman, frantál, klusáček, kunc, martinát (osman, frantál, klusáček, kunc, & martinát, 2015) studied the factors affecting brownfield regeneration in post-societal spaces also in the czech republic case. their research was based pg. 20 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd on two sets of data, one was the database of existing brownfields provided by the national czechinvest agency, while the other was the database for successfully regenerated brownfields compiled by the authors themselves. the main types of functional transformation of space were identified and the factors that appeared to be significant determinants of brownfields regeneration were classified as the result. also, from the czech republic experience, on their research exploring the spatial patterns of urban brownfield regeneration in the case of brno, czech republic, frantal et al. (frantal et al., 2015) challenge the assumption that ‘the closer to the city centre, the better’. their research results highlights that instead, regeneration seemed to be a function of local development potential, local occupier-demand for specific utilities, and planning regulation. their research found that higher rates of regeneration have been detected in densely built-up areas (including inner city zones and housing estates), while lower rates are registered for areas with low population density and with a greater supply of green spaces (including garden colonies, green spaces, industrial zones and villa residential districts). frantal et al. end on the note that the spatial location of brownfield sites has a considerable effect on potential investor decisions and brownfield regeneration. other examples from the european context include the above mentioned stezar et al. (stezar et al., 2013) comparative dsss study which took place in romania; rall and haase’s (rall & haase, 2011) temporary use interventions in brownfield sites which took place in germany; kristiánová, et al.’s (kristiánová, et al, 2016) research on the potentials for transforming old industrial sites into parks which took place in the city of bratislava, the capital of slovakia; hartmann et al.’s (hartmann et al., 2014) multi-objective method for energy purpose redevelopment of brownfield sites which took place in hungary, in addition to; bartke et al.’s (bartke et al., 2016) research on tbpt which also took place in germany, czech republic and romania. in spite of the aforementioned, on the regional scale, little research has been done on the topic of brownfields. in fact abd elrahman (abd elrahman, 2016) points out that, similar to the case of jordan, brownfield sites in egypt undergo independent attempts for development with no identified comprehensive approach. he argues that different state governments identify a variety of redevelopment potentials while others restrict the development to particular uses in order to minimise exposure to leftover contaminants on-site. his research identifies the numerous benefits of brownfield regeneration, yet he ends on the note that the success of such sites redevelopment heavily depends on their successful space utilisation. 1.5. brownfields stakeholders and public participation the lack of participative approaches in decision-making with regards to urban redevelopment in general and brownfield regeneration in specific was also not a problem exclusive to the study case. in fact, in his research on the public versus expert perspectives towards the benefits and barriers of the reuse of post-industrial sites in urban areas, loures (loures, 2015) highlights that post-industrial sites planning and redevelopment are increasingly becoming less the result of design and more the expression of economic and socio-cultural factors, and that designers tend to be primarily focused on aesthetics leaving society’s other main goals to secondary status. his research findings demonstrate that while the general public considers the biological, chemical and physical contamination impacts, liability and clean up to be the main barriers to post-industrial site development, experts look at the high redevelopment costs and the challenges to obtain financial support. furthermore, while the general public consider the creation of open green spaces and the creation of jobs their main priority, experts were more considered with reducing urban sprawl and encouraging recreation and connectivity. although this paper stresses the importance of having measures and tools for the support of brownfield regeneration, it equally emphasise the importance of having specifically tailored tools for the variety of brownfield types in the study context. similarly, bartke and schwarze (bartke & schwarze, 2015) argue that when it comes to brownfield regeneration and achieving sustainability, there is ‘no perfect tool’ that provides a ‘one size fits all’ solution. they highlight that although certain general principles have been proposed for the evaluation of brownfield sustainable development, the practical application for sustainability assessment tools (sat’s) remains contingent pg. 21 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd on the actual requirements of tool users, e.g planners or investors, to pick up such instruments in actual decisionmaking. moreover, and more relevant to the idea of public participation this paper bids to highlight, they conclude that there are no perfect tools for brownfield regeneration and that in order to be meaningful, the user requirements of decision makers including the general public must take precedence in the design of sat’s. numerous studies have recognised the importance of stakeholder involvement in brownfield regeneration with a special emphasis on public participation including the previously mentioned rizzo et al. (rizzo et al., 2015) and alexandrescu et al. (alexandrescu et al., 2014). buchecker, hunziker, & kienast (buchecker, hunziker, & kienast, 2003) for example explored the social barriers associated to participative landscape development almost fifteen years ago today which they argue are mainly connected with the pressure to adopt collective standards and called for the need to embrace new communication instruments and concluded that fostering a participative landscape development requires a long-term learning process. similarly, valencia-sandoval, flanders, and kozak (valencia-sandoval, flanders, & kozak, 2010) argued that in the lack of relevant resource data at appreciate scales to develop community plans, community engagement through the use of participative landscape development may be an effective mean of informing and impacting local policy related to sustainable community development. garcı́a-martı́n, bieling, hart, and plieninger (garcı́a-martı́n, bieling, hart, & plieninger, 2016) also argue that in order to achieve a holistic approach to landscape management, the involvement and coordination between different sectors and stakeholders at many levels must be included. similarly, through looking at the scope, representativeness, timing, comfort and convenience for five public participation in landscape development experiences, eitar and vik (eitar & vik, 2016), identify ten methods that contribute to increase their evaluation criteria thus underline the importance of combining methods to achieve effective participation within the restricted frameworks of concrete spatial planning processes. the shifting focus from traditional top-down to bottom-up and integrated approaches through involving participation of local stakeholders has also been brought up in the work of sevenant and antrop (sevenant & antrop, 2010) as they explored ways to involve ‘the local people’ in an attempt to grasp their aspiration with regards to the landscape features of their surroundings. lastly, the final example on public participation this paper highlights is dramstad and fjellstad (fjellstad, 2011) research towards bridging the gap between science, policy and people where they reflect on the applications of landscape research and the issue of communicating scientific findings to policy, management, landowners and the general public. 2. methods this paper is an extension to previous research conducted for the author’s doctoral thesis and identifies as a qualitative study thus implements qualitative approaches including observation, focus groups and semi-structured interviews. the study targeted five groups of participants; (1) locals of amman; (2) non governmental organisations (ngo)’s projects and initiatives; (3) city authorities represented by greater amman municipality (gam) with its various departments including geographic information system (gis)department, the comprehensive master plan (cmp) department, the regulation department, the legal department, the planning and studies department, the building supervision department, the private sector projects (psp) department, the environmental follow up (efu) department, the social programs and activities (spa) department. in addition to ministries such as the ministry of environment (moe) including the nature protection directorate, sustainable management of land use (smlu) section; the monitoring and assessment directorate –including the environmental monitoring section and the state of the environment and environmental indicators(seei) section—; the environmental inspection directorate –including the environmental inspection section and the emergency management and environmental control (emec)section—; the waste management and hazardous substances (wmhs) directorate–including the solid waste management (swm) section, the hazardous waste management (hwm) section and the dump site division—; the licensing and pollution prevention directorate (lpp) –including the environmental licensing section and the environmental pg. 22 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd impact assessment (eia)section—. the ministry of planning and international cooperation (mop) including the policies and strategies department –including the national economy section, the sustainable development section, and social studies section—; the projects department –including the services and investment infrastructure affairs (siia) unit—; the developmental plans and program (dpp) department; the local development and enhanced productivity programs (ldepp) department –including the civil society institutions section—. in addition to the natural resources authority(nra) including the mines and quarries directorate –including the licensing section; the inspection, monitoring and quality control (imqc) section; the technical studies section and the follow-up section; the geographic information section at the information directorate. in addition to the department of land and survey (dls) and the land registration office (lro); (4) urban planning professionals including the academic and the private sector, and; (5) miscellaneous bodies associated to the research problem including private investors and estate developers in addition to environmental and legal consultants. 3. potential identified brownfield typologies in amman looking at the previously identified thomas (thomas, 2002) gis-based decision support system for brownfield redevelopment; chrysochoou et al.’s (chrysochoou et al., 2012) gis indexing scheme; bardos et al. (bardos et al., 2016) value based approach; bartke and schwarze (bartke & schwarze, 2015) stylised sats’ approaches; hartmann et al. (hartmann et al., 2014) multi-objective examination and evaluation method; limasset et al. (limasset et al., 2018) points of attention for brownfield regeneration tools development; zhu et al. (zhu et al., 2015) evaluation index system for brownfield redevelopment projects; millar, simeone, and carnevale (millar, simeone, & carnevale, 2001) logic model found in both atkinson et al. (atkinson et al., 2014) and doick et al. (doick et al., 2009a), and; pediaditi, doick, and moffat (pediaditi, doick, & moffat, 2010) ‘ideal’ brownfield sustainability monitoring and evaluation tool criteria, and without necessarily specifying a single framework, this paper identifies five potential brownfield typologies found in the city of amman. 3.1. residual planning outcomes the urban planning of amman underwent— and is until this day still undergoing— several attempts to regulate the city which were influenced historically by the early ottoman occupation followed by the british rule and more recently with contemporary global trends. that in addition to population growth and the advancement of transportation and the resulting introduction of paved roads and motorised vehicles had a large impact on the urban plan of the city. as a result of these changes, marginal spaces which are the foci of this potential brownfield typology emerged. according to this research findings, the definition of brownfields partially applies to three types of urban landscapes found throughout the city of amman; the fadlih (english: land leftover); the nutfih (english: land bit), and; the arasah (english: no known translation, but roughly equivalent to intermediate space between properties). the definition also applies to a fourth type called bour (english: unfit for cultivation), however, this type was not taken into consideration as the definition implies it identifies as a rural brownfield where this research is solely investigating urban brownfields. to further elaborate, a fadlih which when taken back to its root word and according to the arabic dictionary translates into: “what remains from something” (almaany arabic dictionary, 2018) and in the planning practice in amman refers to the piece of land which results from the opening of a street. note at the figure below, the red line represents the right of way, the leftover piece of land which resulted from the intersection of the right of way or legal quarter—-understood as the up to 25% of any private-own land the government is allowed to acquire in order to provide public infrastructure including street opening—line and the property outline would be the fadlih (outlined in the red circle). in most cases, the resulting shape is irregular and too small for the building regulations to apply on (i.e. setbacks pg. 23 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd and building percentages) therefore remains vacant and neglected. figure 1. land leftover land-use map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). figure 2. land leftover land-use over aerial view map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). on the other hand, a nutfih which when taken back to its root word and according to the arabic dictionary translates into: “little of something” (almaany arabic dictionary, 2018) and in the planning practice in amman refers to the remaining land bit which results from the division or regulation of a previously owned land parcel. the nutfih is also often irregular in shape and too small for the building regulations to apply on. note at the figure below the nutfih’s outlined in blue, unlike the fadlih’s, nutfih’s are given separate lot numbers, also note nutfih’s are given the same land use (residential d in the case demonstrated) and are given special regulations such as lower prices, less setback requirements or increased building percentages to encourage adjacent landowner(s) to buy them. pg. 24 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 3. land bit land-use map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). figure 4. land bit land-use over aerial view map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). the third and last marginal planning outcome, the arasah which when taken back to its root word and according to the arabic dictionary translates into: “the wide space between properties where there is no building” (almaany arabic dictionary, 2018) and in the planning practice in amman refers to the land area found between two neighbouring parcels or two constructions in two adjoining parcels. no map was provided for this type as it was undetectable on the gam gis maps due to the setbacks and regulations to each land-use. interestingly, unlike the fadlih and nutfih, the term arasah was found in regional planning regulations in jordan in addition to neighbouring countries such as syria and saudi arabia. landlord and tenants law no. (11) for the year 1994 amended by the law no. 2000/30 and law no. 2009/17 and law no. 2010/43 and amended law no. (22) for the year 2011 and law no. (14) for the year 2014 (dls, 2014) states that; (a) for the owner of a rented arasah for any purpose the right to clear it provided the following two conditions apply; (1) the tenants issued a legal building license; (2) that the owner has notified the tenant(s) through the notary not less than two months in advance. the tenant(s) afterwards have no right to return to the previously rented property and is only entitled to a compensation estimated by the concerned court. (b) if there exists any construction that the tenant(s) got permission from the landlord to build on the arasah to be cleared — excluding kiosks, security rooms or the similar— they are not allowed to be removed unless they have been erect no less than ten years. from another legal point of view regarding the fadlih and nutfih, the property law, article (173) states that unless within the legal quarter, a property owner is compensated for the complete value of the land if the street right of way pg. 25 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd deducts the whole property or leaves a fadlih or nutfih invalid for construction or use which in this case becomes property of the municipality (dls, 2015). in line with this law, the municipality currently owns abundant similar urban landscapes which are unfit for traditional use and construction which is problematic not only as these sites seize to participate in the economic growth, but also became an extra burden on the governmental authorities as they are already serviced with infrastructure and road network for example but fail to generate revenue to balance the acquired services. moreover, the fadlih and nutfih are also problematic to potential property owners for a variety of reasons, at least the two revealed through the investigations for this research, firstly, according to local participants and confirmed by local news, several incidents where buyers would forcibly buy the fadlih or nutfih as a prerequisite to buy the adjacent property were reported and published in local newspapers (al-said, 2015). according to rum news agency, the reported case is currently under investigation at the complaints department of the board of grievances (ibid), moreover, according to the locals statements, this is a recurring situation that often goes unnoticed due to the marginal difference to the property size that the buyer pays for unknowingly. secondly, there are fadlih and nutfih hunters that buy these pieces of land as part of a deceptive scheme, the hunters are interested in fadlih and nutfih for two main reasons, firstly as mentioned earlier, they are often given special regulations and special prices therefore are more affordable, secondly, due to their location between the property and street especially adjacent to un-owned land, the hunters wait until the adjacent property is purchased and occupied to start a series of unpleasant activities such as piling waste or limiting street access which would force the new owner to either buy the fadlih or nutfih for a price much higher than the hunter bought it for or sell their own new property for a price much cheaper than what they bought it for. below are few images of fadlih’s, nutfih’s and arasah’s scattered throughout the city. note their deteriorated physical conditions. figure 5. examples of fadlih’s, nutfih’s and arasah’s 1. source: author (2015) figure 6. examples of fadlih’s, nutfih’s and arasah’s 2. source: author (2015) pg. 26 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 7. examples of fadlih’s, nutfih’s and arasah’s 3. source: author (2015) figure 8. examples of fadlih’s, nutfih’s and arasah’s 4. source: author (2015) 3.2. discontinued mines and quarries with the enactment of the small business relief and brownfield revitalisation act (also known as the ‘brownfield law’), the definition of brownfields was expanded to include mine-scarred lands making these properties eligible for the benefits of the brownfields program. the environmental protection agency (epa) defines mine-scarred lands as “lands, associated waters, and surrounding water sheds where extraction, beneficiation (crushing or separating), or processing of ores and minerals (including coal) has occurred” (epa, 2004). according to epa (epa, 2005), mine sites have a variety of potential uses and their post-mining clean-up for redevelopment provides an opportunity to turn them into lands that have beneficial uses. however, similar to the situation in jordan, complex economic, social and environmental issue face communities planning to redevelop them including finding resources to characterize and remediate sites with potential significant environmental issues; addressing state and local regulatory requirements, and; working through redevelopment issues with the local community and stakeholders. to help address these challenges, the epa through its brownfield and land revitalisation technology support centre, prepared a primer on mine site clean-up for brownfield redevelopment which this study suggests adopting to provide information about the clean-up aspect of mine site redevelopment, including new and innovative approaches to more efficiently characterise and clean up those sites. the use of these approaches to streamline characterization and remediation of mine sites offers the potential for redevelopment at a lower cost and within a shorter time frame (ibid). meanwhile, in terms of the guidelines for rehabilitating mined and quarried land in jordan, the management of mines and quarries post-activity in jordan is extremely modest. the environmental impact assessment does not exceed the role of being a formality or a routine procedure, and despite having environmental rehabilitation guidepg. 27 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd lines, the mine/quarry owners prefers to pay the very little bail condition of half a jordanian dinar per meter square of waste. the lack of follow up is also increasing the problem, according to research findings, in one case for example, where the owner declared they were going with the forestation option, however, the foundation rubble used to fill the site was not corresponding to the required specifications which resulted in landslides that affected the adjacent streets and constructions. in another case, the site was rehabilitated for recreational purposes, however, after few years, the owner filed to change the land use from industrial into residential d and after providing the required documents and studies to the interested parties, the soil test showed the site is not suitable for traditional construction, despite that, the owner eventually attained the residential d land use change permission provided special building techniques are used. unfortunately, the site was sold and construction commenced using traditional methods which led to the collapse of large parts of the site in addition to the new established construction. see below examples of a discontinued quarry which when established was located outside the boundaries of the amman, however, due to urbanisation and urban sprawl has become part of the city boundaries. the surrounding neighbourhoods are endangered of landslides and suffer from constant dust which is causing severe pulmonary problems especially to elderly and children whom are also endangered of falling into the steep cliffs, yet, nothing is being done about this according to the statements of the local area residents. figure 9. quarry site within the urban setting in amman. source: author (2015) note at the figure below a quarry site discontinued since the early 2000s, located within an urban setting and has been given a green space land use as the post-mining end use. today, more than a decade post its closure, the site still awaits treatment. figure 10. discontinued quarry site aerial view map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). pg. 28 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 11. discontinued quarry site land use map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). figure 12. discontinued quarry site land use over aerial view map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). end land use in the mining industry is increasingly becoming a key consideration guiding the rehabilitation and closure planning and the need to develop comprehensive land use plan prior to conceptualising closure objectives and associated rehabilitation measures is also gaining momentum. towards reinstating post-mining land capabilities to the pre-mining landscape and towards ensuring that mining operations consider ways of reinstating functional end land use that passively contribute towards the future biophysical and societal demands of people living in amman or in proximity to the disturbed environment, mine closure planning (kotze, 2013) which the study argues is missing in amman must be considered, a mine closure planning that provides broad future land use objective(s) for the site, and a plan that describes the final and future land use proposals and arrangements (mprda, 2013). 3.3. unfinished mega-projects the economic boom in the early 2000s had considerable effects on the urban transformation of amman. largescale property development ventures poured into the country and novelty planning methods such as gated communities and high-rise skyscrapers were introduced to the urban fabric of the city. similar patterns of urban change emerged in neighbouring countries such as beirut, cairo, dubai, qatar and damascus –prior to the syrian crisis— (daher, 2013), thus, this section focuses on a typology which is the manifestation of a particular outcome of the economic thrive and shortly following crisis in the context of amman. the socio-economic and political characteristics of amman encouraged foreign investors to extensively operate in pg. 29 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd it. consequently, numerous oil capital projects from arab gulf countries mushroomed throughout the city. the term ‘arab megaproject’ was first introduced by barthel (barthel, 2010) to describe large-scale real estate development which he considered as vectors of contemporary arab town planning and the circulated images of the back then proposals for the majority of mega projects in amman mimicked images of similar western development projects (adham, 2005). moreover, the projects promised the provision of better services for the area; creating a competitive business environment that supports start-ups and entrepreneurs, and; create first-class tourism attractions. however, in addition to other identified effects of the ‘cutting-edge urbanism’ (daher, 2011) in amman such as the excessive privatisation; the abrupt increase in property values; the pressure on the already struggling infrastructure system including transportation, water and power supply; the circulation obstructing urban flagship projects created, as well as; the social impacts such as emphasising the already apparent urban segregation through the promise to create a lifestyle that accommodates the contemporary needs for the elite in the centre of amman and pushing lower-income groups to the city peripheries (daher, 2013). this study therefore identifies another potential brownfield typology which is abandoned unfinished mega projects structures. in order to keep up with the rapid change, benefit from what seemed to be an exceptional opportunity and compete with neighbouring countries to attract potential investments, poorlyplanned extreme measures were implemented. for example, to speed the process, in many cases building permissions were obtained without the provision of all necessary documents such as soil tests, drainage analysis or environmental impact assessment. moreover, the proposed projects were given abundant facilitations such as minimal—to none—setback requirements, additional floors, higher building percentages, and less open/ green space requirements, facilitations that according research findings, gam today regrets. the following paragraphs demonstrate three controversial unfinished mega projects in amman. 3.3.1. the jordan gate (amman gate) project the jordan gate (also referred to as the amman gate) project which belongs to bahrainikuwaiti developers for example commenced in 2005, has been suspended in 2009 post the global economic crisis and until this day remains on pause. the project faced two main accidents during its construction, a fire and collapse incident when fire broke in the eighth floor of the north tower in august 2006, fortunately, nobody was injured, however, one month later in september 2006, three floors of the same tower collapsed killing four workers and injuring 15 (kheetan, 2009). in the second incident, a crane collapsed in may 2009 after being overloaded. weighing 30 tons and hanging 200 meters high, the falling crane injured one egyptian worker, moreover, for the following three days, residents living near the collapse area were evacuated to nearby hotels (jordan times, 2009). another added complexity to the project is that according to research findings, the shorter tower was supposed to become a highend brand hotel, however, in light of the lengthy halt and completion date uncertainty, the company withdrew their investment which put the project at a serious financial dilemma. note below the figure for the project proposal versus the actual situation. figure 13. jordan gate (amman gate) project proposal. source: skyscrapercity.com (2006) pg. 30 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 14. the current situation of the jordan gate (amman gate) project. source: jordan times (2016) the site was previously a public park which the children, youth and elderly of the area today much miss. moreover, the project sits in a very vital area in amman where circulation is already congested and the addition of the towers created a bottleneck affect which adds to the traffic jam. according to the jordan times (namrouqa, 2016), the $400 million project was supposed to commence within days of signing an agreement between gam and the involved stakeholders in may 2016 with a new completion due date in 2018, no further data was obtained. 3.3.2. sanaya amman (limitless towers) project the second example for derelict mega projects this study looks at is the sanaya amman (also known as limitless towers). located in wadi abdoun, also commenced in the year 2005, however, their constructions stopped post the excavation phase leaving the site with 20+ meter deep hole. with a vision to become the largest human capital and talent management in the middle east and north africa (mena) region (sanaya.net, 2006), the venture is currently postponed due to current market conditions (limitless.com, 2016). see below the proposal renders versus the current situation of the project site. figure 15. sanaya amman (limitless towers) proposal render. source; consolidated consultants (2014) pg. 31 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 16. sanaya amman (limitless towers) hole in 2009. source: project: manifesto, holes on hold competition, maiss el-razem (2011) although the latter image has been captured in 2009, it still reflects the current conditions of the site, moreover, this image was selected specifically as it explains the circumstances where a 10-years-old boy who was playing in rain water which created a deep pool in the site and drowned and, sadly, passed away. no news was published on the accident, however, the local children commemorated their friend mus’ab on the strips of metal sheets surrounding the site (see below image. the text reads: may your soul rest in peace mus’ab). post mus’ab’s accident, the hole was filled with sand and gravel. see figures below. figure 17. may your soul rest in peace mus’ab, sanaya amman (limitless towers) project. source: the living voids thesis. amr, mazahreh and muhtaseb. uj (2011) figure 18. sanaya amman (limitless towers) hole post filling it with sand and gravel. source: project: manifesto, holes on hold competition (2011) pg. 32 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd according to the head of the sps department, the project failed due to the lack of preliminary studies, the site is located in wadi abdoun, and as the name suggests, the wadi (english for valley), is below street level from one side, therefore, excavations were impossible unless drainage is taken care of as it was surely to collect rain water which was exactly what happened. 3.3.3. the living wall project the third and last example of derelict unfinished mega projects this study investigates in the city of amman is the living wall project, a 134,000 meter-square mixed-use complex which also commenced in 2006 but put on hold midst construction. see below images of the design proposal and current situation. figure 19. the living wall design proposal. foster+ partners (2006) figure 20. the current situation of the living wall project site. source: project: manifesto, holes on hold competition (2011) according to the head of the sps department, unfinished projects including the living wall are, in addition to being failed and have already cost the government millions of jordanian dinars, a burden to the government. they are hazardous to the surrounding neighbourhoods and are threatening the adjacent street networks, moreover, are a waste of land and building materials. therefore, as a desperate measure, the government is providing further facilitations for investors to redevelop such projects. regarding the living wall project in specific, in addition to the extra facilitations, a land-use alteration is being considered for a saudi investor who is interested in the project under his condition to develop it into a hospital although less than few hundred meters away, the building marked in the red circle is jordan’s hospital. this would violate the jordanian building regulation medical services buffer area guidelines, yet, the offer is still being discussed and might eventually be considered. 3.4. contaminated and hazardous sites under the general brownfield definition, contaminated and hazardous sites are widely recognised. similarly, in jordan, there are numerous types of sites that identify as contaminated or hazardous. however, through the conduct pg. 33 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd of the study, the following three types were the most prominent. 3.4.1. near historical and archaeological sites in amman as in other jordanian cities, many historical and archaeological sites are integrated within the urban fabric. according to gam officials, land parcels that are immediately adjacent to historical or archaeological sites within the urban city are referred to as prohibited areas, prohibited in the sense that no construction or development is allowed in these sites. the areas are often deteriorated due to neglect and abandonment, gam officials note that although the land use codes and building regulations do not allow for construction in those areas, their redevelopment as public spaces or through using temporary structures is a favoured idea. see below example of a prohibited site near amman citadel (arabic: jabal amman) in downtown amman. note the hatched in brown diagonal lines area surrounding the historical site. figure 21. prohibited area site aerial view map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). figure 22. prohibited area site land use map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). pg. 34 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 23. prohibited area site land use over aerial view map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). 3.4.2. landfills and scrap yards often located at the outskirts of the city, landfills and scrap yard sites in many cases become part of the city during its expansion. according to the head of cmp department and as the example below demonstrates, similar sites are often located outside the boundaries of the municipality regulation, therefore, remain out of its control. however, as the example below also demonstrates, the new regulation aims to remove such sites down the line –transformed into a highway in the example below and highlighted in the red circle–. the situation is often problematic as the residents of the area and the occupants of scrap sites would have already constructed dwellings or established workshops or garages in the area and according to officers’ statements, are not very collaborative and are often aggressive. figure 24. scrap yard site aerial view map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). pg. 35 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 25. scrap yard site land use map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). figure 26. scrap yard site land use over aerial view map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). 3.4.3. near high voltage electrical lines and towers another typology that falls under the contaminated and hazardous sites category and suggested by the head of the cmp department was the land parcels located adjacent to high voltage towers and along the strip parallel to the electrical line between the towers. such properties are given special regulations, for example, the prices are extremely cheap, the setback requirements are reduced and the building percentages are higher, however, constructions are only allowed to be one floor high –in order not to affect or get affected by the electric current—. according to the statement of a local family in one near high voltage tower neighbourhood, living near the tower caused the father of the family to suffer from cardiac problems, he currently has a pacemaker, moreover, the house in addition to neighbours’ houses suffer from electrical current inconsistency which ruined many of their electrical devices. see at the example below, high voltage towers are circled in red (note their shadows). pg. 36 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 27. near high voltage site aerial view map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). figure 28. near high voltage site land use map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). figure 29. near high voltage site land use over aerial view map. source: gamgis for the author (2016). in general, in terms of the contaminated and hazardous sites potential brownfield typology, much of the investipg. 37 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd gations yielded in no significant results. for example, interviews with the assistant managers of the waste management and hazardoussubstances directorate (wmhs) –including the solid waste management (swm)section, the hazardous waste management (hwm) section and the dump site division at moe only uncovered the severe lack of a developed waste management method or cleanup strategy, a situation this study also aims to highlight. moreover, as emphasised earlier, other types of contaminated and hazardous sites exist throughout the country, however, due to the time constraints and limited financial resources, this study was only able to investigate few which it argues will pave the way for broader, more extensive future research to explore the urban phenomenon in more details. 3.5. miscellaneous abandoned sites and buildings whether due to demographic shifts or the constant transformation of the city, abandoned and neglected sites and buildings are dispersed throughout amman. the following paragraphs shed the light on three famous examples. 3.5.1. the king abdullah park established in the 1980s as a recreational urban space with an integrated amusement park that includes a variety of rides, cafes and restaurants, outdoor spaces and plazas in addition to a skating rank and a cable car, the park (arabic: hada’eq al-malik abdullah) was actively thriving in the period 1986-1999 until, according to participants statements, it became known as amman’s “red light district”. while interviewed officials failed to explain what went wrong with this urban space, the statements of local participants attempt to elaborate. one participant for example tells he was a tenant for five shops in king abdullah park, however, once infamous shops started opening and extending work hours to post-midnight, sometimes until next morning, families and schools started visiting the park less. the park was evacuated and shut down completely by gam in 2012 after shop owners have been warned since 2008. according to jo24 (jo24, 2012), a local news agency, the park has been closed after the four-year verbal notice deadline for shop owners with expired profession licenses and/or violations. moreover, the news pointed out gam is seeking alternative rehabilitation and redevelopment options for the 50-acre park which no longer serves the public and has become a disreputable place and a source of disturbance. figure 30. king abdullah abandoned park. source: city seeker (2016) pg. 38 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3.5.2. the housing bank complex the second example this study introduces to derelict projects in amman is its iconic housing bank complex (arabic: english: mujamma’ bank al-iskan). figure 31. housing bank complex-amman. source: photobucket.com (2016) established in the early 1980s, the complex consisted of retails shops, offices and restaurants and was thriving until the 1990s. another phenomenon concerned authorities were not able to explain. according to the head of the cmp, perhaps it was the demographic shifts, the urban transformations of the city or the competing highend shopping malls mushrooming throughout amman. however, according to al-ghad newspaper (al-sheikh, 2011), post an acquisition change to a libyan investor in 2001, the complex was bought for 11 million jordanian dinar which forced tenants to pay higher rents or close their shops considering the new considerably lower profit margin. as a result, the parking has been closed, the building has been stripped from banners and signs or any other indication of life inside the building, the closed shops are used informally as storage units and there was no adequate maintenance to the building in general which was becoming derelict day by day. in a failed attempt to rehabilitate and revitalise the complex, a 7 million jordanian dinar budget was allocated. however, according to a previous tenant, the rehabilitation was limited to surrounding the complex with a fence which made the interior darker and the situation worse. he added that the 7 millions could have fixed the situation, however, the absence of governmental censorship and legal accountability on investors and developers is the reason the redevelopment failed. there exists numerous other example of derelict, vacant or abandoned sites in amman, however, as emphasised earlier, due to time constraints and the lack of financial resource, the study will stop at the aforementioned examples. it is important here to note that the study identifies a crucial need for a base-map for the amounts and locations of potential brownfield sites in amman, in fact, having discussed a mapping project with the head of the gis department in gam displayed a genuine interest, however, this remains another potential future research project. 4. conclusions in the lack of brownfield databases and adequate information on the locations and conditions of potential brownfield sites in jordan, and considering the increasing demand on meeting sustainability needs, and with rapid urbanisation whether due to population growth of natural causes or unnatural activities including the surrounding political turmoil and immigration and the resulting refugees infiltrations throughout the city, the demand for smart(er) ways to address contemporary city needs is constantly rising. pg. 39 tarawneh / environmental science and sustainable development, essd through looking at the abundant research aimed for developing tools, approaches, assessment and evaluation methods that support the decision-making, prioritising, categorisation or typifying of brownfields and brownfield regeneration efforts, this paper highlighted the gap in research discussion in middle eastern contexts and accordingly, the urge to develop similar but context specific, tailored tools aimed to addressing the phenomenon in such contexts. it concludes that, supported by almost two decades worth of research today, a focus on the middle east case is long overdue, and as research on brownfields in middle eastern remains insufficient to generate such tools, this paper aims to narrow this gap by presenting a proposed potential brownfield categorisation and typifying aimed to further the understanding of the urban phenomenon, thus, help in the development of these tools. the proposed identified potential brownfields included; (1) residual planning outcomes; (2) discontinued mines and quarries; (3) unfinished mega-projects; (4) contaminated and hazardous sites, and; (5) miscellaneous abandoned sites and buildings. however, as demonstrated throughout the paper, the development of measurements and tools this paper concludes will not be an easy task, it may entail extensive research on multi dimensions including the socioeconomic, sociocultural, geographic and environmental amongst other, let alone the identification of potential typologies. therefore, this paper emphasised that further efforts are needed to establish such tools and only suggest the presented types as ’potential identified brownfield sites’ in reference to the cases found in the literature discussions with a prominent objective to unpack the rhetoric of these emerging urban landscapes to the different stakeholders and identify what establishes them as potential brownfield sites. however, it is important here to note that, although this paper presented a proposed potential brownfield categorising and typifying looking at international, mostly western-specific tools and measures identified in literature discussions, it remains the sole work of the researcher and thus remains liable to subjectiveness and error. therefore, this paper ends on the note that further interested researchers are invited to the discussion table on brownfield regeneration in an attempt to achieve more inclusive and comprehensive approaches that address this urban phenomenon. towards achieving more sustainable and comprehensive urban development, this paper concludes that brownfield regeneration must be put at the top of future development priorities list. similar to the global scene, and according to research findings, this paper concludes that these urban landscapes whether a result of post-industry, experimental planning or natural causes have great potentials to diminish the spatial cluttering, socio-spatial disparities and spatial segregation as well as address urbanisation issues and achieve economic and environmental goals. most popular brownfield regeneration plans in the case of amman, jordan this study found may include cultural and recreational uses including public open green spaces, open street markets and temporary spaces that allows emerging economies and entrepreneurs to experiments with their products and services, yet, these links between brownfield regeneration and the notion of temporary use this paper concludes need to be further explored in future research as regardless to the abundant land that may fall under the definition of brownfields, and in the absence of any frameworks that regulate their regeneration, numerous non-planned examples of temporary practices thrive throughout the city and such practices are increasingly generating. moreover, with public participation as a decision-making tool not being effective in developing countries contexts including the middle east, which can lead to failure in regenerating brownfields, this paper highlighted the importance of the role of the general public in the decision-making through embracing participative approaches that equally includes all genders, ages, ethnicities and backgrounds in the debate around these urban landscapes towards achieving more cohesive, inclusive, accessible approaches that ultimately contribute to realising a better quality of life through the manifestation of brownfield sites as 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(2015). establishment and optimization of an evaluation index system for brownfield redevelopment projects: an empirical study. environmental modelling and software, elsevier ltd 74: 173–182. available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2015.09.012. pg. 44 introduction brownfield sites regeneration potentials brownfield categorisation, typifying and prioritising brownfields regeneration objectives, approaches, measurement and evaluation tools brownfield regeneration in the international context: lessons learned brownfields stakeholders and public participation methods potential identified brownfield typologies in amman residual planning outcomes discontinued mines and quarries unfinished mega-projects the jordan gate (amman gate) project sanaya amman (limitless towers) project the living wall project contaminated and hazardous sites near historical and archaeological sites landfills and scrap yards near high voltage electrical lines and towers miscellaneous abandoned sites and buildings the king abdullah park the housing bank complex conclusions references http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v2i2.171 towards strategic planning implementation for egyptian cities marwa ahmed soliman1 1phd, urban planning, informal settlements development fund, egypt abstract strategic urban planning plays a real and significant role in developing the urban areas worldwide as it helps in mitigating the loss of lands, especially in diverting urban growth away from the “agricultural lands”. it provides better urban services and utilities in terms of quality and enhances the local economy, liveability, and sustainability. this paper explores the importance of strategic plans and their role in sustainable development in addition to the importance of the implementation process. a questionnaire with the local authorities for a group of 19 cities was implemented. the case studies for the planning of such cities started over 4 years ago. it has been found that there are many implementation problems that prevent the conversion process and making the plan a reality. the aim of this paper is represented in two points. first, to illustrate the concept of the strategic planning process and how egypt deals therewith. second, to suggest a new implementation system which can solve the main implementation problems in egypt. in conclusion, the paper identifies, using statistics, the perspectives of the local government’s staff in egypt towards the preparation and implementation of the strategic plans, including proposed solutions for problem treatment, and the opportunity of community participation. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords strategic planning; strategic planning process; implementation tools; implementation problems; implementation system 1. introduction the concept of strategic planning was applied as a way of administrative and economic planning since the twenties of the last century; then it was used in the urban planning fields, in order to apply an integrated future vision through projections for the rates and trends of the current growth in the future; the analysis of the relation between external environment and the exploitation of the available resources contributes to the composition of this future vision of the city (goodstein, nolan, & pfeiffer, 1993). strategic planning did not have adequate attention at the beginning as an administrative method until the beginning of the fifties and sixties from the last century; through chandler who defined the strategic planning as ”the definition of the long-term organizational goals and the adoption of the work and the allocation of resources to achieve them” which emphasized the strategic objective work and basic the fundamental process. andrius described the strategy as ”patterns of goals, objectives and policies needed to achieve the main goals and plans,” chandler focused on the pg. 99 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v2i2.171&domain=press.ierek.com soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd economic environment, while andrius had other dimensions, such as administrative values and social responsibility and organizational ambition. use of strategic planning approach has begun in the seventies and eighties of the last century when urban planning had been necessary to interact with community. for this reason the decision of planning is no longer taken only by the specialized state authorities, as in the traditional planning approach, but it has become an integration between both community and state, which requires mutual active participation between all stakeholders; this is considered the first step in the strategic planning. the implementation of the strategic approach in egypt has started in 2004, and over the past years the strategic planning of the egyptian villages was approved. the year 2007 witnessed the start of the strategic planning for 231 cities (general organization for physical planning, 2015) of different population census and administrative and economic roles. about 100 strategic plans for cities have been approved since the second half of the year 2009 to date; however, what is implemented out of such plans doesn’t exceed the approval on the urban boundaries, which is supposed to represent the first step of the implementation process. such urban boundaries define the lands available for development, and help in issuing the licenses required for construction, implementing priority projects, and preparing detailed plans. however, this doesn’t actually give the ability to implement the plan. there are technical problems related to the process and the methods of preparing some of the strategic plan outputs; such as city vision formulation and its relation to the proposed projects. moreover, there are institutional and administrative problems related to the multiple parties and stakeholders and the delay in the adoption of planned operations and its implementation, in addition to funding problems, such as non-inclusion of the planned projects within the state budget, making the provision of the necessary funding for the implementation difficult; especially with the current economic difficulties that egypt has been facing since the revolutions of january 25, 2011 and june 30, 2013. we can summarize the problem of failing to implement the plans in the relations among the elements of the effective implementation, namely the stakeholders participating in the planning process, funding, legislation, and governance. 2. strategic planning the strategic thinking represents an essential input in the successful management processes for individuals, various organizations and institutions. the origin of this idea was used in military operations by the ancient greek, the word was derived from ”astratejos” which means the ”art of leadership” (khatab, 2012). since the twenties of the last century, the concept of strategic planning has emerged as an approach for administrative and economic planning. by the beginning of the fifties, the interest in this approach has increased. the first application of strategic planning was applied between 1961and 1965 in the united states of america and this system showed a great success in companies and institutions. before the mid-sixties of this century, the strategic planning has been used in various economic, social and urban areas in many countries worldwide. jloueck (baross, 1991) defined the strategy as a unified and comprehensive scheme linking all the threads together, covering all acts and functions of the society. the dnhardt (denhardt & denhardt, 2009) defined the strategy as the current design of tasks and actions that make the society capable of coping with what will happen in the future by its concepts and not the concepts of other external forces. for shapiro (shapiro, j. 2003) the strategy is identifying the relationship between the community and the outside surroundings, forming a logical guide and directed to achieve the sustainable development functions and duties. accordingly, the strategic planning can be defined as a comprehensive and integrated interactive frame, where all the external environment analysis levels are involved in the formulation. they are involved as well in self-capacity evaluation and formulation of the objectives and strategies, in addition to choosing of general and subsidiary stratepg. 100 soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd gies of operations, and setting of policies, plans, and budgets within the frame of specific planning assumptions. (media production center, 2007). whereas the strategic thinking takes the future vision into consideration, it shall have a sense of creativity, innovation and imagination to discover this future, and shall include the following characteristics: – inclusiveness and integration – interaction among different levels – flexibility – interaction between the planning and implementation this basis, the strategic planning of cities is defined as: a process aimed at achieving a better future for the residents of cities in all urban, social, economic, and environmental areas based on inclusiveness and integration with the surrounding environmental variables, with the importance of interaction with different planning levels in order to achieve flexibility to meet future changes, in addition to the continuous interaction between planning and implementation. 3. strategic planning and city development the united nations memorandum (2002) refers that, in most cases, the poor living in urban and slum areas are completely ignored, and the laws governing land use and development standards are incompatible with their living standards and income, such as the nature of works that are managed from homes. over years; there was a gradual shift from physical and spatial planning carried out by the local government or powerful sectoral ministries to decentralized management approach in cities. then, a management approach appeared, which is based on the principles of democracy and civic participation, seeks to reconcile competing interests and reach the maximal benefit of scarce resources. thus, the strategic approach for development operations and urban management is based on achieving the results of a continuous participation process of the national community and the private sector to develop proposals that contribute in enhancing the city role in local economic development. this new approach succeeded especially for the urban poor areas in making these plans more responsive to reality. slums are recognized and included in those plans, the building standards, land-use and zoning regulations became more flexible, and the poor have a voice in urban planning, even if their participation takes place at specific times during the project term, and are often limited to the preparation and design phase only, and in many experiments this participation is no more than filling the strategic planning documents. regarding the final production and implementation of the plans, the decision is only taken by the government authorities and powerful parties. the sustainable urban development is defined as a good management of the development process for the best exploitation of the available natural resources to meet the present generation needs without compromising the opportunities of the upcoming generations, which makes the strategic plan, including the objectives, policies and plans for economic and social development and urban environment, an important tool to achieve the sustainable development. accordingly, the urban strategic planning process of an inhabited city provides at least unlimited aspirations for better jobs, increasing income, desirable opportunities in the field of education, culture, entertainment and social life, so that they can ensure a better life as required for an urban city life, providing housing that everyone can afford without any financial strains (kumar & vinod, 2002). based on such strategic approach, finding a city qualified for living in a civilized urban manner shall require development and implementation of strategic planning in order to ensure the achievement of the following development items (harlem, bg (1987): pg. 101 soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – reviving economic development for the city to reduce poverty. – controlling population growth in the city. – meeting the main needs of the city to provide adequate housing and services available to all. – finding sustainable growth patterns that preserve energy consumption – preserving and strengthening the basic resources of production and consumption in the city. – searching for new technologies. – merging the environmental and economic considerations in decision-making processes. – activating mechanisms and institutions for strategic intervention in the city management. – delegation of authority to the people of the city to develop the city according to domestic needs. – providing communications and transportation means that are affordable to everyone. here steinberg sees (steinberg, 2002) the urban strategic planning as ”a process that allows the activation of stakeholders’ initiatives from private and public sectors, who are looking for solidarity to reconstruct and develop the city.” in doing so, the revival and development of cities as planned requires a change in the city management strategy by attracting the creative skills of citizens; businessmen and members of the government bodies by participating not only in the urban planning in a traditional manner, but also in the preparation of urban strategic planning for the city in order to restore and improve their city, which will bring its competitiveness and open up a new funding for urban projects. spatially, this is more selective and flexible than the general plan as well as more comprehensive in the development plan. 4. main process the strategic urban planning of the city goes through the same basic stages that are required for the preparation of a strategic plan of the development and direction of large organizations or institutions. the city can be likened to a large organization or institution that includes many administrative and multi-level administrative units; serving many employees and clients. it is a planning that is based on the cooperation and participation of many local government agencies, private sector and local community. the strategic plan aims at answering four main questions that represent the basic theoretical outputs of the planning process: – where are we now? this includes the commencement of the plan, participation of development partners, analysis of the current situation and assessment of needs. – where would we like to go? it includes vision, issues, objectives and projects. – how can we get there? through the development strategy, planning for action, and then organization and implementation. – have we arrived? through monitoring & evaluation, and then by making the required adjustments. pg. 102 soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 5. implementation: tools & issues strategic implementation is the process that translates the strategy into action procedures within the framework of building planning systems and of allocation of material and human resources, systems of incentives and rewards, organizational structure, regulatory policies in force, information systems, communications, leadership, and the system of evaluating strategic performance. therefore, it is a series of activities correlated together, which include the strategic requirements that have been selected (salem, 2007). the success in the formulation of the strategy does not necessarily guarantee success in the implementation, and most probably implementation is more difficult because it includes actual operations and activities contained, and because of the multiplicity of the involved stakeholders and responsible parties. developmental institutions exert a lot of efforts in the process of preparing strategic plans, formulation of programs and projects as well as develop policies, mechanisms and methodologies in order to achieve actual and successful implementation. unfortunately, the institutions eventually are occupied and drifted away from putting the real plans that ensure the implementation thereof into force. many researchers have pointed out that the majority of the strategic planning processes did not go beyond the drafting stage because there was a significant failure in implementation. most of the studies that are concerned with implementation have dealt with the method of strategic planning implementation (atkinson, 2006). states and governments thereof seek cooperation with local institutions and international organizations to prepare a strategy for the development of plans, but they mainly aim at implementing programs and development projects in hand. while the implementation process of developmental plan contains many active parties because of overlapping complicated issues, it is required to coordinate the mutual activities and relations properly among various governmental authorities, community and private agencies; such as the planning department employees, the committees concerned with local, regional and national planning, governmental ministries and service authorities, urban developers, investors, environment preservers, housing associations etc. sometimes the planner resort to preparing what is called: ”implementation manual or guideline” which display a simplified way to coordinate the activities that are part of urban planning and implementation process in general. in other cases an implementation guideline is prepared for each city or the state separately. the guideline includes the implementing regulations or development regulations to create and control different activities in order to achieve and enhance justice as a program for urban intervention, expropriation and compensation procedures, infrastructure, licenses, historical sites, panel discussions and dialogue ... etc. such regulations include implementation stages, powers and duties of local authorities, administrative procedures, institutional arrangement, funding, partnership, transparency and community participation, monitoring and evaluation, and amendment preparation steps. the guideline is necessary for several factors, including but not limited to the following: – non-conformance between the formulation of the strategic urban plan and the public investment plans. – lack of standards for the level of services to be provided in the hierarchy of urban centers. – lack of clear assigned responsibilities and roles among the various institutions and the relevant authorities. – no legal framework and clear procedures for the preparation and implemention of the plan. different implementation tools can be classified into three main groups controlled by two sets of mechanisms as follows: spatial tools the spatial tools depend on geographical scope and venue of the implementation process. the new building standards led to a multiplicity of central areas in major cities through the development of urban operations. the domestic policy has been committed with basic principles in the organization of areas to lessen the operations pg. 103 soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd of housing changing, and to balance among the reconstruction of areas projects; allowing exploitation of local properties in the downtown in the economic development operations (jones, 2002). the annexation of new lands to cities is an essential aspect in the urban expansion process, despite the fact that it requires legal and statutory mechanisms to allow land possession and the re-division to provide the required housing and services. human tools it means all of the man powers and resources involved in the implementation process, which include the following: – technical capabilities and governmental competencies. – leaders and decision makers. – executive sector personnel from different administrative levels. – local community members who are targeted by this development. – businessmen and private sector. – consultants and experts the choice of leaderships, who are supervising the process of planning preparation or execution, is considered the most important step. they shall have good communication and negotiation skills, putting into consideration the moral values and ethics of all parties. every one is targeting the same objective that is to implement the scheme development. it is worth mentioning that any negligence from any of the mentioned persons, such as a deficiency of senior management or ignorance of the key persons who are assigned to implement the strategic plan or failure of the operators to link between the strategic plan and the actual tasks, this will negatively affect the implementation process and the efficiency thereof, directly or indirectly. (delisi, 2001). funding tools in general the development depends on the availability of funding; domestic funding is considered as a necessary and essential aspect to establish the local development; which require the mobilization of the maximum amount of local funding resources. domestic funding is deemed to mean all the available funding resources which can be provided from different sources for funding the local development in the best way that can achieve the greatest levels of such development over time, and enhance the independence of the local councils from the central government to achieve the required local development. in addition, for the development of funding resources, the authority of local administration to obtain self-revenue shall be expanded, and each administration shall have their own independent budget, prepared at the local level, in order to rationalize public spending, develop technical and administrative capabilities of the staff, prepare technical and economic studies, create a proper atmosphere for investment, and organize the self-efforts of individuals and private sector as well as the financial support of decentralization by expanding the powers of local units in the imposition of taxes and fees in the framework of centralized regulations. the local funding management resources are divided to two main types; first: local self-resources resulting from local taxes, fees for services, and operation and investment of local facilities. second: external financial resources resulting from financial supports (presented by the state to its local bodies to support their budgets), low interest loans, and donations from citizens and civic organizations or international grants. the above mentioned local funding sources are only traditional sources. governments are looking forward to finding new financial tools at the local and national levels as non-traditional alternatives to finance development projects. this has urged the united nations to form a leading group for presenting creative tools for development funding, (sundaram, 2013) and to propose new ideas and mechanisms to support development in different countries, including but not limited to: – charging fees on gases causing global warming pg. 104 soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – imposing tax on fuel use. – solidarity tax on airline tickets. – taxes on jet fuel and ships. – fees for extraction of natural resources in the global commons areas. united nations program of human settlements was interested in funding based on the exploitation of land for the sake of urban development (un-habitat, 2013) to enhance the availability of resources for local development and to move cities towards long term self-sustainability, in addition to mitigate the negative effects on local budgets and private investments. it has benefited cities in sustainable urban development such as beijing, hong kong, mumbai and sao paulo and others. lbf is a flexible set of tools that can be adapted to a variety of institutional and cultural contexts. lbf ensures the achievement of secure access to land and sustainable urban development objectives, it includes the following tools (walters, 2015): – recurring taxes on land & building – betterment charges & special assessments – developer exaction – land value increment taxes – sale of development rights – land leases & sale of public lands – transfer taxes & stamp duties legal and legislative mechanisms states and governments rely on legal mechanisms as ones of the recognized authorities in the implementation operations through laws of urban planning, urban development and renewal, construction, and division of territory, and identifying the involved implementing parties or participants, which can also determine the allowed aspects and sources of finance. therefore, it is law that gives the state and different bodies thereof a permanent or temporary authority for funding, coordination and implementation as well as monitoring. this determines the state obligation to secure the necessary lands required for public services by purchasing, leasing or participating with the private sector, and guarantees to maintain the sustainability of the development and the rights of future generations. administration and institutional mechanisms governments seek to use identified and specific administrative and institutional mechanisms in the stages of the development of the strategic plan, starting from the strategic development plan, till the stages of implementation and follow up. this includes: ministries, city councils, local bodies and civil society. in order to coordinate the work among all the parties of implementation, it is required to establish a clear framework for the management of the respective parties through agreements, protocols, and basic and subsidiary committees. the framework shall define the responsibilities of such parties. some states also try to establish independent executive institutions for the implementation of development plans and play a role in monitoring and follow-up and evaluation to ensure the transparency of the implementation progress. it is worth mentioning that centralization of government performance was the cause of failure of many of development, therefore autonomy and independence, commitment of government agencies to participate in the process pg. 105 soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd having the same objectives with committed leadership are considered as common factors in the success of the implementation processes (united cities and local governments, 2010) the urban development planning and management in developing countries face the following problems in the implementation process: table 1. matrix of problems& issues of implementation problems of urban plan’s implementationissues participation finance legislation governance ineffective policies that guide the urban development implementation inappropriate urban planning methodology delay of approval on urban development plans weak of the institutional structure of the government urban development authorities urban planning systems focus on control instead of directing development political instability and interference in the implementation of urban development plans weak of the legal mechanism to implement development plans insufficient awareness and poor community participation in urban planning activities weak of funding available for implementation according to the previous matrix all implementation problems can be summarized in four major issues as the following: participation; as one of the pillars of the strategic planning process, it does not take place at one stage and ends thereafter, but it is a continuing contribution in the stages of preparation, adoption and approval, and finally at the stages of implementation, evaluation and follow-up. this includes the active participation of all parties of individuals, institutions and governmental and non-governmental organizations, and the higher the level of participation is, the higher the planned output is expected to be more realistic and appropriate to the reality of society. funding; provision of funding represents one of the significant direct impacts on the implementation and efficiency issues. the development of the local economy is basically the most important objective of the strategic plans for the development of cities. creating jobs of better quality to increase local wealth, and enabling communities to identify investment priorities, in addition to creating opportunities for collaboration and partnership, and empowering of communities to determine investment priorities and to change the future for a better one, all of that will help in the pg. 106 soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd provision of local sustainable funding for business development and implementation of plans, with the permanent searching for other non-traditional funding sources to face the funding deficiency. legislation; is the main link between all the implementation tools and the main factor of the relation between regulatory implementation issues of all types. legislation defines the general framework of participation, whether of members of the community or of the official authorities, and specifies the sources of funding for development projects located in all disciplines. legislation can also control urban growth trends and policies of economic and social development, and the provision of land and services, legislation and law are the guarantee for true justice in social services and development. governance; is driving the development processes in developing communities and is the main base for decisionmaking. through following strategic participation approaches in urban planning and development processes; such governments shall provide appropriate organizational structure to cope with the strategy that has been selected and shall be supportive and responsive to the strategy requirements. this is what urged governments achieve what called ”good governance,”. the good governance systems of countries achieve greater success in generating investment, growth and job opportunities having transparency as one of the basic demands of governance and in mitigating the corruption by governments. governance as well supports the credibility between the private and public sectors, which contributes to the achievement of co-partnerships for the implementation of development projects and programs. 6. evolution the urban planning in egypt in egypt; it should be noted that the evolution of urban planning thinking and methods was linked to the political and economic conditions of the state, in the 1952 revolution; egypt used the planning approach of the central levels, and the government institutions that were concerned with construction had control over the planning process, and adopted a comprehensive planning scheme based on the preparation of master plans. egypt had continued sticking to following this approach until the new millennium starts, despite the emergence of many new planning methods since the mid-sixties, which were based on the importance of community involvement in the planning process and focused on the social, economic and environmental issues, as well as many of the political changes in egypt calling for freedom from central control since the mid-seventies. however, the urban planning law no. 3 of 1983, was shocking and disappointing to many planning specialists and professionals; stating the necessity to develop general planning of cities and villages in order to achieve their needs over long term without any community involvement. since the beginning of the nineties of the last century, claims to go along with the global trend towards the growth of democracy and community participation had increased, and with the entry of many international donors, some experiments and research processes and attempts that were made in collaboration with those sectors have emerged, which forced egypt to move towards the existing strategic planning approach to engage communities with government institutions to develop a vision for the future of urbanism and made decisions that meet the actual demands of community. the year 2005 witnessed the first strategic plan set up in the village of cherbas damietta governorate as a pilot model. during the fiscal year 2006-2007; the project of the preparation of the general strategic plans for cities nationwide has started through the general organization for physical planning in its capacity as the concerned party responsible for the preparation of the plans according to the law. in the year 2007-2008 the un-habitat subscribed in this project, targeting small towns less than 60 thousand people, and this planning approach is still adopted in egypt till present. the project attempted to find solutions to many problems such as the urban sprawl on agricultural land as a result of population growth and weak capacity of controlling urban growth, in addition to the weakness of the local economy, and the lack of services and infrastructure, with spread of poverty and the inability to get the necessary services. pg. 107 soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 7. strategic planning implementation in egyptian cities the plans were prepared by gopp and united nations human settlements program (un-habitat) in 2008 to urge a number of cities to prepare their plans according to the terms of reference of each party. in 2010, the (gopp) issued a revised working manual to avoid some problems that emerged after the first phase of the project, while the united nations guideline avoided these problems since the beginning of the project. in the year 2014 a new manual was issued by each party and in 2016, the united nations human settlements program (un-habitat) issued the updated terms of reference. the two guidelines comply with the theoretical stages, and versions thereof have been repeatedly issued to avoid and address the problems that emerge during the preparation of plans. as an example of the mentioned versions, a logical framework was added and the urban boundary is almost finished and presented to the urban committee (gopp) for approval before being submitted to the stakeholders. by reviewing the relation between the law and terms of reference as a mechanism to convert the law into executive procedures, it is clear that the law and manuals do not support the actual implementation of the strategic plans. it is clear that the law and business manuals do not support the actual implementation of the schemes. the law did not specify who is responsible for the implementation of the strategic plan, but only referred to some issues related to implementation issues without setting specific and clear texts; for example the process of participation, despite its importance in the preparation and implementation, did not specify who is responsible from the enabling partners to implement their roles and responsibilities on the local level in the strategic plans, while the law pointed out to the need for the supreme council for planning at the national level. also, the projects in the strategic plan are not included in the general budget of the state, in addition to the overlap of law no. 119 with a number of other laws and legislation, in addition to the lack of time limit for the preparation of the detailed plans after the approval of the strategy, with the change in the status quo, with no penalties in the event of non-implementation, so there is no obligation to action. the guidelines were better than the legal texts. they identified many items related to implementation issues through explicit provisions to be followed in the preparation of the plans, but in the end they did not bring the implementation into force, as the duration of the project was set by 6 months to 9 months and then to 15 months, in addition, reviewing the strategic plan for the city of sohag— as an example shows that the preparation and approval of the plan took two years and nine months. for studying the actual implementation process for a number of cities nationwide, recognized through a statistical survey, using a questionnaire with engineering departments, boards of cities; as local authorities responsible for implementation and follow-up, as it was among the participants in the preparation of those plans, this survey was analyzed using the spss program1.1 the questionnaire form includes questions and information about the following: – starting of the project — the date of the adoption of the urban boundary the date of adoption of the strategic plan. – participation in the preparation of the outline. – implementation and follow-up of urban boundary. – implementation of the priority project scheme. – preparation of detailed plans. – the achievement of planned targets. – the planned outputs and the order of priorities. 1this survey conducted between january 2014 and june 2015, some updated on 2016 pg. 108 soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – implementation problems and ranking of their importance. the total number of cities whose plans have been approved since the commencement of the project and until the year 2015 were 75 cities (”general organization for physical planning”, 2015) and according to research selection criteria, cities have been selected as per the following: first: the date of approval (accreditation) is intended to allow sufficient time for the implementation of any of the outputs of the strategic plan, it has been identified in three or more years from the date of approval. second: the region the cities consist of different regions; what possibilities do they have and what kind of risks they may face. third: population the cities include different number of population. gopp set up plans for medium and big cities, and while the un-habitat prepared plans for small towns of 60 thousand people, and because of their different guideline manuals, each of the chosen cities depicts the scope of its own. fourth: the role of the city the role of a city is embodied in the aspirations and dreams of its inhabitants, this is reflected in the size of the participation and the resulted vision, and the demands of development. the chosen cities differ among capitals and medium and small cities. according to previous criteria, 39 cities conform with the criteria, but due to difficulty to conduct direct interviews with all city councils, only 19 cities were selected, representing approximately 49% of the core sample. 8. statistical results the results of the questionnaire showed that the priority projects agreed with the approved plans were not implemented. in addition to the impact of the political situation experienced by egypt during the previous years. the participants attributed the lack of implementation to a set of major operational problems: – availability and empowerment of lands. – delayed detailed plans – number of entities involved in implementation – relevant laws and regulations – the lack of realistic vision and weak link to goals – agreement on goals that may not be in the public interest. as well as a host of other problems related to the provision of funding and change of the status quo, with the lack of competence in local administration, and the lack of control and follow-up implementation. some statistical results are as follows: figure1 indicates that the implementation of priority projects was weak, and is clearly evident in terms of services and investment, while housing is 57%, but it includes private and governmental housing. as shown in figure 2, the land allocation for governmental housing is about 56% and for services 16%. figure 3 shows the result of one of the main goals of the strategic plan; reducing the random urban sprawl on three levels, general (19th cities), regional level, and function of the city. the highest percentage is not achieved as shown in upper egypt with 57%. pg. 109 soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 1. implementation ofpriority projects figure 2. land allocation forhousing and services regarding the planned target, the results were very depressing. the questionnaire has shown that there were no aspects for attracting investment at the city, and consequently there was a lack of local economic development. figure 4 compares between the provision of lands for governmental and private housing, it shows that this goal is not achieved (100%) completely in medium cities for government housing, while it is quite better when it comes to private housing (42.9%). figure 3. reductionof random urban sprawl the results of the survey show the ranking of implementation problems as chosen by the local authorities, the unavailability or empowerment of lands take the first rank, and as expected the lack of qualifications in the local authority administration came at the last rank as the participants do not acknowledge this as a fatal cause of failure. pg. 110 soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 4. provision of landsfor housing table 2. elements % ranking of importance unavailability and empowerment of lands for public projects (housing / services) 12.6 1 the existing situation has changed because of delayed approval on the plans 12.5 2 the planning and construction requirements are not enforceable 10.5 3 delay in preparing detailed plans 10.3 4 lack of availability of government funding 9.6 5 lack of realism, clarity of vision and future goals of the city 8.3 6 multiple parties involved in the implementation process 7.6 7 the inappropriateness of the priority projects proposed in the plan 7.5 8 laws and relevant legislation 7.5 9 lack of effective control and monitoring of implementation processes 6.6 10 centralization of the urban boundary committee 4.2 11 lack of qualifications in the local authority administration 2.8 12 9. proposed implementation system the law does not assign the responsibility of implementation to a particular party. it is mainly the responsibility of the local authorities and governorates, with the participation of various service departments, in addition to the contribution of individuals, civil organizations and the private sector. the system deals with the four implementation issues referred hereto: participation, funding, legislation, and governance. through the rearrangement of some tasks and activities in parallel rather than sequential, with the addition of new parties and tasks that contribute to modifying the operational process and identifying key actors based on the performance of the task and participants from different parties. the proposed system is based on: – a set of guidelines for participants from government and society and defining their roles. – achieving higher levels of community participation to reach grade 8 (control). pg. 111 soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – providing funding for land availability and sustainable and non-traditional project implementation. – achieving the principles of governance. – a framework of legislative and legal amendments to ensure effective management of the system. figure 5. implementation system as figure 5 shows the implementation system includes different levels of participation, starting from level 3 & 4 (informing, consultation) and it is also achieved in levels 6, 7 & 8 (partnership, delegated power, & citizen control). this system takes into consideration the governance principles as an important target needed to achieve accountability and transparency abiding by law, by being responsive, equitable and inclusive to reach effectiveness and efficiency through participation. 10. conclusions – in egypt, there may be a need to create an implementation guideline for strategic planning for a city, as a result of the discrepancy between strategic urban planning and public investment plans, as the output projects are not included in the state budget, as there is no legal framework or clear procedures for implementation, and because of the multiplicity of the executive partners without the clarity of the tasks and responsibilities of each party. – the characteristics of the strategic plans in egypt: – inability to achieve the interaction between planning and execution as a result of many obstacles, which include the lack of funding availability, the inability to provide lands for public services or government housing programs, in addition to the change in the existing situation over the period of plan preparation. – lack of flexibility due to the inability of such plans to cope with the rapid changes that occur in the surrounding environment, the rapid urban growth, and the sudden economic changes, whether in the internal or external environment. – many cities didn’t achieve the interaction required between the different levels of planning, as many cities, in their future vision, have not considered the importance of regional or national relations, so the vision is to a great extent similar for small towns or big cities or even capitals. pg. 112 soliman / environmental science and sustainable development, essd – activation of the proposed system through the following recommendations: – formulation of the implementation guideline for strategic plans, specifically all parties and institutions involved in implementation, with the assignment of tasks and roles for each party, and by determining the means of communication and coordination. – use of a comprehensive monitoring system to identify responsible parties, and achieve observation of performance and progress towards the aspired targets, using urban indicator lists formulated according to technical standards, linked to national urban observatory indicators with active community involvement. – develop a framework to raise the community awareness about the importance of strategic plans and their role in participation. – formulating capacity building training programs for local authorities at all levels of executive, administrative and technical, and achieving communication and coordination with various government institutions. – reviewing laws and legislative context and benefiting from the arab and international experiences. – providing the necessary funding by establishing a local fund for the implementation of development plans and involving civil society in financing, administration and monitoring. 11. acknowledgments i would like to thank all those who contributed to the completion of this paper from the consultants, experts and employees of the local administration and the general organization for physical planning, who have influenced the research with their views and contributions of the questionnaire and 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(2013). innovation in development finance. project, syndicate. http://www.project-syndicat e.org/commentary/new-financing-mechanisms-for-development-assistance-by-jomo-kwame-sundaram. retrieved november, 2013. 22. tewdwr-jones, m. (2002). planning polity: planning, government and the policy process. london: routledge. 23. un – habitat. (2012). urban development strategies and shelter strategy for the poor: item 6 of the provisional agenda, 19th session. nairobi. 24. unhabitat. (2013). draft report of the board council of the united nations human settlements program: the role of cities in creating better economic opportunities for all, with particular reference to youth and gender. 24th session. nairobi. 25. unhabitat. (2016). terms of reference for preparing strategic urban plans for small cities: draft ed, workshop “reviewing un-habitat’s tor, 17-6-2015”. cairo. 26. united cities and local governments. (2010). policy paper on urban strategic planning: local leaders preparing for the future of our cities. mexico: united cities and local governments pg. 114 introduction strategic planning strategic planning and city development main process implementation: tools & issues evolution the urban planning in egypt strategic planning implementation in egyptian cities statistical results proposed implementation system conclusions acknowledgments http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 63 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i1.792 management of marine plastic waste generated from land-based sources in viet nam: problems, constraints, and solutions gam pham thi1, thang nguyen trung2, sunil herat3, tung nguyen thanh1 1 policy and legislations department, viet nam administration of sea and islands, no. 83 nguyen chi thanh street, ha noi city, viet nam 2 institute of strategy and policy on natural resources and environment (isponre), 479 hoang quoc viet str., cau giay dist., ha noi, viet nam 3 school of engineering and built environment, griffith university, nathan campus, queensland 4111, australia abstract viet nam is ranked no 5 in global plastic waste contribution to marine environment. the long coastline in viet nam provides a livelihood for millions of households as well as the food security for the whole country. the use of plastics per capita increased nearly eleven fold, from 3.8 kg/person in 1990 to 41 kg/person in 2015. the two highy populated cities (hanoi and ho chi minh city) alone generate 80 tonnes of plastic waste every day. landfilling is the primary treatment method of solid waste while recycling is still limited. tax for plastic bags exists, but implementation is not efficient. application of extended producer responsibility still faces many constraints. regular monitoring and data collection related to the status of marine plastic waste pollution are inadequate. moving forward viet nam needs to focus on a number of issues including strengthning the legislation, raising awareness, promoting research on innovative recycling technologies, and promoting international cooperation. this paper investigates current issues, challenges, and constraints in managing plastic waste in viet nam and makes recommendations for improvement. the paper utilises an unsystematic narrative overview as the research method. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords viet nam, plastic waste, recycling, policies and legislation, health impact 1. introduction viet nam has a long coastline, high population, rapid economic growth, urbanization, and tourism development in recent years. it has a land area of 33,123 thousand hectares (ministry of natural resources and environment – (monre), 2016) with a coastal length of about 3,200 km, excluding the coastline of islands (viet nam government portal. (2018) with approximately 3,450 rivers, streams and 114 estuaries flowing into the sea monre. (2015). the total population in viet nam was estimated at 94.67 million people in 2018 (general statistics office of viet nam, 2018), which is expected to increase by 18% in the period between 2015 and 2030 (the world bank, 2018). the country has also experienced rapid urbanization. however, the urban infrastructure has still not met the environmental requirements (monre, 2017). http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i1.792&domain=press.ierek.com thi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 64 viet nam had relatively high economic growth over the past ten years, with gdp growth increasing from 5.66% in 2008 to 7.08% in 2018 (figure 1). consumer industries, especially those generating plastic waste, are growing. in 2018, total commercial marketing of consumer goods and services were estimated at 4,395 trillion viet nam dong (vnd), an increase of 11.7%, compared to that in 2017 (general statistics office of viet nam, 2018). figure 1. the gdp growth rate in viet nam during 2008-2018 (general statistics office of viet nam, 2018) at the same time, viet nam tourism is also growing fast. from 2013 to 2018, the number of international arrivals has doubled and the number of domestic tourists increased by nearly 2.3 times; the revenue from tourism industry increased from 200,000 billion vnd in 2013 to 620,000 billion vnd in 2018 (viet nam national administration of tourism, 2019) (figure 2). figure 2. number of tourists in viet nam 2013-2018 (general statistics office of viet nam, 2017) the viet nam’s plastic sector is growing rapidly increasing from 16% to 18% in the period of 2010 to 2015. the use of plastic products per capita increased nearly 11 times, from 3.8 kg/person in 1990 to 41 kg/person in 2015 gdp growth (%) 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 90,000,000 80,000,000 70,000,000 60,000,000 50,000,000 international arrivals domestic tourists 30,000,000 20,000,000 10,000,000 2 0 1 3 2 0 1 4 2 0 1 5 2 0 1 6 2 0 1 7 2 0 1 8 thi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 65 (viet nam plastics association, 2015). the industrial and construction plastics account for the high proportion in plastic industry structure. however, plastic packaging had also increased due to the growth of some products such as food and beverages and non-food sectors with an increase from 2.8% to 15.1% (kien duong, 2018) (table 1). table 1 the growth of food and non-food sector in the period of 2011-2016 (kien duong. (2018) segment scale (us$mill) 2015-2016 growth rate (%) 2011-2016 compound annual growth rate (cagr) instant noodle 1.388 -2,5% 2,8% instant coffee 251 8,3% 12,2% sauces and spices 970 9,6% 7,7% candy 1.245 8,8% 9,0% fisheries 7.053 7,3% 2,9% washing, laundry 1.082 16,3% 13,0% surface cleaning solution 94 8,3% 12,2% skin care products 280 12,3% 15,1% hair care products 208 5,2% 8,8% body care products 138 8,0% 9,6% despite the rapid growth of the plastic industry, domestic plastic raw materials only met 20-25%, the rest was imported (viet nam plastics association, 2015). plastic scrap imported into viet nam increased from 2016 and surged in the first six months of 2018 due to the ban of scrap import of china (table 2). besides, the illegal import of waste in the form of plastic scrap also increased; until january 25, 2019, there were more than 24,000 scrap imported containers unclaimed for more than 90 days in all seaports (nhan dan online, 2019). table 2 plastic scrap import from 2016 – 2018 (financial times, 2018) year 2016 2017 the first six months of 2018 quantiy (thousand tons) 245.8 385 277.7 values (million us$) 43.5 70.9 63.3 this paper investigates current issues, challenges, and constraints in managing plastic waste in viet nam and makes recommendations for improvement. the authors utilise an unsystematic narrative overview to conduct the research. such literature review is considered as most appropriate for the type of research required for this study. a narrative overview means the paper will condense information and resources from various sources (eg. governmental legislations, peer-reviewed journal articles, government and international reports etc) to understand the development of the topic and develop future directions to solve issues, challenges and gaps. 2. marine plastic waste pollution in viet nam together with the growing population, rapid urbanization and tourism development, economic growth in general, and the development of plastic industry, the generation of domestic solid waste have been growing in viet nam. the total amount of household solid waste was estimated to be 25.5 million tons in 2017, of which urban solid waste contributing to 38,000 tons per day and rural domestic solid waste contibuting to 32,000 tons per day thi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 66 (monre, 2017). with an average growth rate of 6.6% per year, the total amount of household solid waste is forecast to reach 54 million tons in 2030 (the world bank, 2018). the estimated amount of plastic waste contributed to about 8 to 12% of the total municipal solid waste (viet nam environment administration, 2018), which is equivalent to 2.04 to 3.06 million tons of plastic waste per year generated. with an average domestic solid waste collection rate of 55% 65% (ministry of construction, 2017), the amount of non-collected plastic waste was about 0.714 to 1.377 million tons per year. in phu quoc island (kien giang province), the amount of domestic solid waste is at 155 tons per day, of which 29.5 tons (19%) being plastic waste. of this volume, only 1.1 tons are recycled by households, 17 tons collected (~ 60%) and 11.4 tons (~40%) are still discharged directly into the environment (wwf-viet nam, 2018). according to the statistics of the ministry of natural resources and environment (monre), hanoi ho and ho chi minh city generates about 80 tons of plastic waste daily. hanoi produces around 4,000 to 5,000 tons of solid waste, of which plastic waste accounting for 7-8% while ho chi minh releases about 7,000 tons of waste, of which nylon waste accounting for about 10% (monre, 2017). this figure is 12.2% 14.2% for hai phong, 6% 18% for phu tho and from 3.4 10.6% for other provinces in viet nam (the world bank, 2018). regarding waste collection, by 2018, the municipal solid waste collection was about 85-86% in urban area, but relatively low in rural areas with around 40-55% collection rate. it is estimated that around 8-12% of municipal domestic solid waste is recycled and 70-75% of the collection is landfilled (monre, 2018). by 2015, there were about 660 landfills in the whole country, with a total area of about 4,900 ha, of which, 203 landfills, (accounted for about 31%) were managed in an environmentally safe manner while the rest were just open dumping sites (the world bank, 2018) there is a significant amount of solid waste, including plastic waste, ending up in open environment as a result of mismanagement. most of these plastics end up finishing in the sea because plastic waste is easy to follow rivers to the sea, owing to its lightweight under the impact of wind and flow (the world bank, 2018). plastic waste at sea is a significant concern of the world today because of its adverse effects on marine ecosystems. according to a recent study, viet nam is ranked fourth country, which contributes to the most significant volume of plastic waste entering the ocean (closely following china, indonesia, and the philippines) with around 0.28 to 0.73 tons per year (jambeck, et. al., 2015). the marine pollution caused by plastic waste on beaches and coastal areas and islands in viet nam is becoming a major issue. the volume of plastic waste collected is about 8-10m3 per day from the bays, which belong to cat ba archipelago in hai phong city; a dozen of tons of plastic waste such as plastic bottle, plastic bag in do son beach, etc. (tuoi tre paper, 2018). the 2018 "let's clean the sea" campaign, which was held once a week at least one area contaminated by marine debris, has collected 1,282 tons of marine debris (summary of the campaign 'let's clean the sea', 2019). according to many fishermen in the south-central area, marine plastic waste in coastal areas is estimated to be three parts of fish and one part of plastic waste (alarming plastic waste in seafood exploitation, 2019). 3. environmental impacts of plastic waste the marine litter mainly consists of plastic waste generated inland and finiding its way to oceans. marine litter has become a problem to many countries due to its major impacts on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. due to this reason plastic waste contamination in open environment is attracting much attention from both researchers, policy makers, and the general public. since marine organisms can ingest or become entangled plastic waste, marine litter is considered hazardous to the entire ecosystem. a study conducted on eight regions in the asia and pacific region (between australia and china) concluded that the likelihood of disease in coral reefs increased to 96%, this would directly affect organisms that colonize these coral reefs for feeding, breeding, etc. for instance, another study concluded that the loss of integrity of coral reefs have reduced fisheries productivity by a factor of 3 (lamb et al., 2018). a study conducted on the inshore reefs of thi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 67 australia’s great barrier reef revealed coral would often regard microplastics for prey and can consume up to ~50𝜇g of microplastics (hall et al., 2015, hankins et al, 2018). ingestion of plastic waste by fish also affects human consumption and consumption by predators, such as birds. fish samples collected from a market in makassar, indonesia, revealed anthropogenic debris in 28% of individual fish and 33% of individual shellfish. this raises a concern about the effects of fish consumption on human well being (rochman et al., 2015). most effects on sea turtles due to marine litter arise from ingestion and entanglement. ingestion of plastics by these sea turtles causes intestinal blockage, internal injuries, and malnutrition. this ingestion may occur directly or indirectly. there is evidence that juvenile green sea turtles ingest plastics through the consumption of macroalgae (di beneditto and awabdi, 2014). entanglement remains the most common cause of mortality in sea turtles, causing lacerations, increased drag, which may cause drowning and subsequent death (nelm et al., 2015). studies conducted on green sea turtles found that there was a 50% chance of mortality if a sea turtle had 14 pieces of plastic in their gut. it is also suggested that ingestion occurs most frequently in juvenile sea turtles (wilcox et al., 2018). 4. policies and legislation on plastic waste management in recent years, viet nam has issued many policies and legislations to take measures on precaution, prevention, and treatment of solid waste, including plastic waste (box 1). the country has also established a system of agencies from the central to local level on waste management. accordingly, the monre is the focal ministry to unify the state management of solid waste, in coordination with the ministry of construction (moc), the ministry of industry and trade (moit), the ministry of agriculture and rural development (mard), the ministry of health (moh) and provincial people's committees. box 1. policy and lesgiations documents on waste management (government of vietnam, 2012, 2013, 2015a, 2015b, 2015c, 2015d, 2019) regulations on prevention, collection, and treatment of solid waste (including plastic waste) • law on environmental protection 2014; • law on environmental protetion in 2020, which will replace the law on environmental protection in 2014 and will be efective from 1st january, 2022. • decree 38/2015/nd-cp dated may 24, 2015, on the management of waste and discarded materials • decision 16/2015/qd-ttg dated may 22, 2015, on retrieving and treating discarded products • circular no. 34/2017/tt-btnmt dated november 10, 2017, on recovering and processing discarded products • law on marine resources and environment 2015 incentive regulations of environmentally friendly products • decree 19/2015/nd-cp dated february 14, 2015, on the guidance of the implementation of several articles of the law on environmental protection • law on enterprise income tax in 2008 • decree 218/2013/nd-cp dated december 26, 2013, providing detailed regulations and guidelines for the implementation of the law on enterprise income tax environmentally friendly plastic bags and financial measures to reduce non-biodegradable plastic bags • law on environmental protection tax 2010 • decree 67/2011/nd-cp dated august 8, 2011 guidance on the implementation of the law on environmental protection tax thi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 68 • circular 159/2012/tt-btc dated september 28, 2012, amending and supplementing circular 152/2011/tt-btc dated november 11, 2011, issued by the ministry finance guiding the implementation of decree 67/2011/nd-cp • circular 07/2012/tt-btnmt dated july 4, 2012, regulating criteria, ordering, and procedures for certification of environmentally friendly plastic bags. regulations on sanctioning administrative violations • decree 155/2016 / nd-cp dated november 18, 2016, on the fining of administrative violations in the field of environmental protection other relevant policies • resolution no. 36-nq/tw dated november 22, 2018, approved by the central committee of the communist party of viet nam on the strategy for sustainable development of viet nam's maritime economy to 2030, with a vision to 2045. • decision 491/qd-ttg dated may 7, 2018, approving the adjustment of the national strategy on integrated solid waste management to 2025, with a vision to 2050 • decision 1216/qd-ttg dated september 5, 2012, approving the national environmental protection strategy to 2020, with a vision to 2030 • decision 582/qd-ttg dated april 11, 2013, approving the program on strengthening environmental pollution control due to the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags in daily life by 2020. • decision 622/qd-ttg dated 10/5/2017 approving the national action plan to implement the 2030 agenda for sustainable development • decision 1746/qd-ttg dated december 04, 2019, approving the national action plan on marine plastic debris management by 2030 according to the legislation on solid waste in viet nam, waste should be separated at the source, reduced, reused, recycled and treated. recycling and energy recovery from waste is specially enhanced to limit landfilling. a hazardous waste generator should do registration at environmental agencies, and the waste should be managed only by licensed companies. the extended producer responsibility (epr) mechanism is applied with products and packaging materials with recycable value for the recycling responsibility of the producers and importers in the law on environmental protection 2020, which has not applied before. with regards to plastic waste, the law on environmental protection tax 2010 has imposed tax on plastic bags. besides, viet nam is promoting the usage of biodegradable plastic bags in daily life, as well as regulations on certification of this kind of bags. 5. problems, constraints, and reasons for plastic waste management 5.1. problems and constraints firstly, a landfill is the primary treatment method of solid waste while recycling is still limited. current policies and legislations have provided incentives for products from recycling and waste treatment activities in terms of land lease, loan, taxes, prices, and product consumption, etc. however, treatment of solid waste by landfill remains the majority, and only 25-30% are treated by intermediate process and recycling (including plastic waste). the current actual cost per tonne of solid waste treatment is estimated at $ 24 for collection, $ 11 for transportation and $ 4 for landfill (the world bank, 2018). this cost is too low, leading to creating unfair competition for other treatment methods such as energy recovery incineration and composting. furthermore, recycling of plastic waste is carried out at many informal recycling facilities in craft villages with outdated technologies (viet nam environment administration, 2018). this activity poses a risk of environmental pollution and creates unfair competition for investors in the field of formal plastic waste recycling. thi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 69 secondly, the tax for plastic bags has been applied, but the implementation is still limited. the law on environmental protection tax in 2010 regulates taxation on plastic bags with a tax between 30,000 and 50,000 vnd per kg and applying 50,000 vnd per kg from january 1, 2019 (viet nam national assembly, 2014, viet nam national assembly standing committee. (2018), which is equivalent to 250-500 vnd/plastic bag. it is highly likely that the environmental tax applying for plastic bags is not high enough to limit the usage of plastic bags, especially single used plastic bags (government of viet nam, 2017). also, pre-packaged goods and eco-friendly plastic bags are not taxable (government of viet nam, 2012). till may 2018, there were 43 plastic bags of 38 companies that were granted certification for such products (viet nam environment administration, 2018); however, the quality of these bags should also continue to be viewed in terms of environmental friendliness with full testing and scientific processes. also, imported plastic bags and domestic plastic products for prepackaged goods are also not subject to this tax (the paradox of friendly plastic bags, 2019). there are some obstacles in the collection of nylon bag tax. the total tax collected from nylon bags decreases 16 times from 2012 to 2016, while the total amount of environmental protection tax increases four times (table 3) (government of viet nam, 2017). the price of single-use nylon bags is sometimes equal to the tax rate and even lower, with prices ranging from 25,000-50,000 vnd/kg. consequently, single-use nylon bags are usually provided free of charge and it is difficult for the business of environmentally friendly bags to be viable. table 3. environmental tax revenue in 2012-2016 (financial times, 2019) indicator 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 total revenue from environmental tax (billion dongs) 11.160 11.512 11.970 27.020 44.323 revenue from nylon bag tax (billion dongs) 827 168 71 69 56 thirdly, current policies provide for a lot of incentives to develop manufacturing industries related to plastic products; however, the implementation of epr is still limited. the state has made a number of preferential and supportive policies to develop the plastic industry, namely: (i) production of plastic components and technical rubber (government of viet nam, 2015d); (ii) supporting industries (such as synthetic fibers, electronic product components with plastic parts, rubber components; automotive plastic, plastic components in high quality, etc ... ) (government of viet nam, 2015a); projects on molds and plastic equipment manufacturing are preferentially lent up to 85% of the total capital (ministry of industry and trade., 2011). therefore, the plastic industry will have the right conditions for its development, leading to an increase in consumption and disposal of plastic products. meanwhile, the implementation of the epr in accordance with decision no.16/2015/qd-ttg dated may 22, 2015 on collection and treatment of discarded products (including even plastic waste from used waste electrical and electronic equipment, batteries and transportation means) remains very limited. so far only a few large enterprises have established points for collection of discarded waste and the recovery of discarded products has hardly been implemented. although regulations on epr for packaging materials including plastics is regulated in the law on enviromental protection in 2020 they have not detailed to implement. fourthly, there are some obstacles in policies and laws related to collection and management of marine plastic debris. there are no clear regulations on marine waste collection responsibilities, especially marine plastic debris until the law on environmental protection in 2020 is approved, however, this law provides only genernal responsibity of provincial-level people's committees in the direction of the collection and treatment of plastic waste in its locality. furthermore, the identification of provincial boundaries and responsibilities of state management on the sea is not specific. up to now, the collection of waste at sea, including plastic waste, is mainly done by seasonal projects or through environmental campaign and communication events. vehicles, equipment and resources for such work are still very limited, thus marine plastic waste collection is only carried out at some beaches. thi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 70 finally, the regular monitoring, investigation, survey, and information collection related to the state of marine plastic waste contamination are limited. the system of control and supervision of marine environmental pollution in general and contamination of plastic waste, in particular, is much less and not adequate with the length of the coastline. there are currently only three observation stations in ha tinh, quang binh and hai phong (monre, (2016). besides, there is lack of national technical standards on seawater quality with limits related to plastic waste. 5.2. reasons for problems and constraints firstly, there are financial constraints to carry out the end of life management of plastic waste from land-based activities. the cost of collecting, transporting and treating domestic solid waste mainly comes from the state budget (about 4,000 billion vnd/year) because the revenue from environmental sanitation fees meets only about 25% of demand. however, provincial budgets are limited and local authorities cannot provide enough capital for waste management (the world bank, 2018). at present, the average investment capital for organic fertilizer and incineration facilities is 662,972 million vnd and 585,780 million vnd/ton respectively, while the average investment capital for landfill is only vnd 30,190 million/m3 (the world bank, 2018). therefore, landfilling is the choice of many local authorities, leading to leakage of plastic waste into the oceans. secondly, human resources to protect the environment is limited, especially at the grassroots level, to effectively implement policies and laws concerning plastic waste. state management staff on environmental protection have not met the requirements in terms of quantity and quality. by 2016, the total number of state management staff on the environment is 17,724, of which 11,996 are part-time officers at the commune level (67%) (monre, 2016). the environmental management staff is young, lack of high expertise and experience, less trained and updated knowledge regularly. thirdly, there are constraints in policy enforcement, inspection, and handling of violations. there is a shortage of human resources for control in policy implementation on natural resources and environment. there are 672 inspectors in the whole country; average of 2 officials under monre being in charge of one province and about 07 local officials in each province doing this job. these inspectors are responsible for inspection for all the sectors under monre’s responsibilities. in the inspection and examination plan of the localities, only 51% of the provincial department of natural resources and environment (donres) have activities on examining law enforcement on the environment (monre 2018). on the other hand, according to regulations, waste littering, including plastic waste, is subject to strict penalties of up to 7 million vnd (government of viet nam, 2015a). however, although violations are prevalent, the sanctioning of these violations is almost not implemented. fourthly, some policies are not implemented or given unrealistic goals. in order to control and limit plastic waste, viet nam has developed a program to improve environmental protection by using non-biodegradable plastic bags (government of viet nam, 2013). it has set targets by 2020: (i) reducing 65% of the volume of non-degradable plastic bags in supermarkets and trade establishments compared to 2010; (ii) reducing 50% of the volume of nonbiodegradable plastic bags in traditional markets compared to 2010; (iii) collecting and reusing 50% of non biodegradable plastic bag waste generated daily. however, until now, most of the projects under this decision have not operated because of various reasons. hence there is no doubt that the objectives mentioned above has not been achieved by 2020. fifthly, the coordination among agencies in waste management is not suitable. monre unifies the state management of environmental protection, but some management duties related to solid waste collection and treatment are assigned to the moc. in provinces/cities, this activity is assigned to the department of construction (doc) and donre. recently, the government decided to assign the monre to be the national focal agency on solid waste management (gov, 2019), which is currently in the process of transferring implementation. the ministry of science and technology was assigned to lead and coordinate with the moc and monre to evaluate the new domestic solid waste treatment technology, which was first researched and applied in viet nam. however, for technology that is not applied for the first time, it is not clear which ministry is responsible. on the other hand, thi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 71 the monre is assigned the responsibility to guide and organize the evaluation, inspection, and evaluation of waste treatment technology. sixthly, understanding, awareness, responsibility, and participation of stakeholders are still limited. the knowledge and appreciation of environmental protection of sectors and especially local authorities are scarce. in many places, local government leaders lose their power in this work (environmental officials, 2019). violations of organizations and enterprises on environmental protection are quite widespread, for example, in 2017, 33% of the inspected establishments have committed violations (monre, 2018). people, especially coastal people, have a habit of littering the sea, including plastic waste such as fishing gear, bottles, nylon bags, etc. for example, 80% of fishermen in ngu loc commune, thanh hoa province, keeping their habit of discharging domestic solid waste into the sea is a stark example tuoi tre paper. (2018). consumers still have the practice of using non-disposable plastic products and discharging them into the environment. 6. recommendations firstly, reviewing, building and completing policies and laws on municipal waste management with special focus on plastic waste should be implemented urgently. plastic waste management based on a circular economy approach should be strictly considered by competent authorities in viet nam, which is considered as a good practice in some countries such as japan, singapore, france, netherlands, german, united states, etc, to control the lifecycle of plastic procducts and reduce the emision of plastic waste (nguyen hoang nam, 2019). furthermore, the government should make the policies and laws to concentrate on recycling, minimizing landfilling and reducing the disposal of plastic waste. the environmental protection tax on plastic bags should be increased; tax on other singleuse plastic products should be imposed. the usage of single-use products should be gradually limited and prohibited by the vietnamese government, which is being applied successfully in countries like belgium, denmark, greece, and israel to reduce the generation of single-use plastic waste (unep, 2018). the government should also develop policies to incentivise the production and use of green products to replace the single-use plastic products. regulations for epr to recycle, collect and treat (directly and indirectly) plastic packaging and other plastic products should be detailed and provided enough resources to implement effectively. the government should specify the responsibilities of stakeholders in the management of plastic waste in oceans. secondly, the government should effectively implement the sorting of domestic solid waste at source, enhance the collection, treatment, recycling, and reuse of solid waste, including plastic waste. the priority should be given to urban areas and residential areas along rivers, coastal areas, and seaports. the regulations improved concerning sorting, collection and treatment of domestic solid waste regulated in the law on enviromental protection in 2020 should be effectively implemented to avoid the mis-management leading to the leaking of the plastic waste into the sea. apply a landfill tax to ensure competitiveness between landfill with other waste treatment methods; prohibit burying solid waste containing plastic waste in riparian and coastal areas. thirdly, the focal agencies of solid waste management at all levels should be monre and donre. responsibilities and coordination mechanisms among relevant agencies in solid waste management, including plastic waste, should be specified. moreover, the government should strengthen the capacity of management agencies, of which focusing on environmental management officials. fourthly, developing feasible strategies, planings, and specific action plans following viet nam's practices should be one of priorities. the government should implement effectively the national action plan on marine plastic debris management by 2030; handle unsanitary landfills; invest in crucial projects on solid waste treatment, which are suitable to the conditions of sub-regions and regions; enhance research and application of modern science and technology in the collection, treatment, monitoring and supervision of marine plastic waste. the investment of can tho province in viet nam to build a solid waste treatment plant for energy recovery incineration, which treats 70% of domestic solid waste generated in this province, is a good example to apply the other provinces to limit the landfill in viet nam (ngoc han, 2020). thi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 72 fifthly, the number of national and local environmental inspectors should be increased, and their capacity should be strengthened. inspection plans should be implemented at provinces/cities to take precaution, preventing and treating plastic waste from land-based activities to restrict disposing of plastic waste into the sea. sixthly, promoting and raising awareness of stakeholders on avoiding, preventing, minimizing and treating plastic waste should be enriched. some local authorities in viet nam have applied successfully the involvement of stakeholders to deal with plastic waste problems and cat hai district in hai phong city is a typical example. in this district, the local authority mobilizes the participation of individuals, travel facicities and social organizations to use environmentally friendly products to replace the plastic products as well as clean the environment (hoang tan, 2019). therefore, the success of cat hai district should be used to develop the suitable policies to adjust behaviors, habits of using single-use plastic products to familiar with the use of environmentally friendly products (. the government should ensure adequate mechanisms to encourage successful implementation of domestic solid waste management such as sorting at source, limiting plastic waste disposal into the rivers and sea; help stakeholders to effectively implement the slogan: "reducing, reusing and recycling plastic waste". finally, international cooperation on marine environmental protection, including reducing and treating trans boundary plastic waste at sea should be promoted. viet nam should be active in developing a comprehensive regional and global cooperation mechanism, which incorporate programs and projects aiming to coordinate and implement control and reduction of ocean plastic waste. 7. conclusions marine plastic waste is a global environmental problem. plastic waste is being present throughout the seas and seriously threatening the marine environment and ecosystem. globally, viet nam is considerd by a recent study as one of the top five countries for plastic waste discharge into the sea. the government has been working hard to resolve this pressing issue, but there are numbers of limitations and shortcomings in policies and laws; lack of resources for implementation, inspection, examination and handling of violations; limited awareness of stakeholders on marine plastic waste problems. therefore, in moving forward, viet nam needs to focus on the following isues: a) to complete the legislations system on waste management by isuing decree and circulars for implementation of the law on environmental protection 2020 on epr of plastic packaging; ban on plastic bags and certain single-use plasctics and; guidelines for monitoring and management of marine plastic waste. economic instruments such as tax on landfill, waste volume-based charge (pay-as-you-throw) should be introduced. b) to successfully implement the national action plan on marine plastic debris management by 2030 through an appropriate funding program to ensure achievements of objectives of the plan. the collection, recycling and treatment of plastic waste should be further strengthened. c) to continously raise awareness of people and management agencies on marine plastic waste, to implement the national campaign on prevention and reducing plastic waste through which knowledge on plastics and microplastics also to be enhanced. d) to promote researches and studies on diferrent aspects of marine plastic waste managemnt including recycling technologies, impacts of plastics and microplastics on health and environment, related standards and technical regulations, ect. e) to promote international cooperation on marine plastic waste management. viet nam should proactively participate into development of an international agreement/convention on marine plastic waste and an international center should be estalished in the country. being a rising economy in the south east asia region, viet nam is standing in front of a development decade with many opportunities and challenges. in the next 10 years the country should improve its environmental management including successful solutions to resolve the marine plastic waste issue as strongly committed by the government. thi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 73 references alarming plastic waste in seafood exploitation. 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(2018) report on baseline study on status and solid waste management focus on plastic waste in phu quoc, with financial support from wwf and usaid, wwf-viet nam to study on "reducing plastic waste in phu quoc." https://www.nhandan.com.vn/kinhte/item/39066402-quyet-liet-giai-phong-phe-lieu-ton-dong-tai-cac-cang-bien.html https://www.nhandan.com.vn/kinhte/item/39066402-quyet-liet-giai-phong-phe-lieu-ton-dong-tai-cac-cang-bien.html https://www.nhandan.com.vn/kinhte/item/39066402-quyet-liet-giai-phong-phe-lieu-ton-dong-tai-cac-cang-bien.html https://baomoi.com/tong-ket-chuong-trinh-hay-lam-sach-bien-nam-2018/c/28096599.epi https://baomoi.com/tong-ket-chuong-trinh-hay-lam-sach-bien-nam-2018/c/28096599.epi https://baomoi.com/tong-ket-chuong-trinh-hay-lam-sach-bien-nam-2018/c/28096599.epi https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/moi-truong/nghich-ly-tui-ni-long-than-thien-1259884.html https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/moi-truong/nghich-ly-tui-ni-long-than-thien-1259884.html https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/moi-truong/nghich-ly-tui-ni-long-than-thien-1259884.html http://chinhphu.vn/portal/page/portal/chinhphu/nuocchxhcnvietnam/thongtintonghop/dialy http://chinhphu.vn/portal/page/portal/chinhphu/nuocchxhcnvietnam/thongtintonghop/dialy http://vietnamtourism.gov.vn/index.php/items/13460 http://vietnamtourism.gov.vn/index.php/items/13460 http://vpas.vn/gioi-thieu/tong-quan-nganh.html http://vpas.vn/gioi-thieu/tong-quan-nganh.html http://vpas.vn/gioi-thieu/tong-quan-nganh.html pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i2.884 assessing the impacts of population relocation induced by future sea-level rise scenarios on transportation systems in coastal communities mohamed mansour gomaa hekma school of design and architecture, dar al-hekma university, jeddah, saudi arabia. department of architecture engineering, faculty of engineering, aswan university, aswan, egypt. email: mgomaa@dah.edu.sa abstract coastal communities will be more vulnerable to floods in low-lying areas and seawater inundation as the sea level rises. users will have to take a detour to use alternate roads while the vulnerable roads are closed, increasing travel time. a large amount of literature has been focused on addressing climate change and sea-level rise impacts, vulnerability, economic evaluation, and adaptation. however, few research has been conducted to study the impacts of population dynamics due to sea level rise within future transportation network modeling. this study aims to identify the future transportation infrastructure in the 2035 model that is vulnerable to a two-foot sea level rise in the tampa bay region, florida. the impacts of these changes have been considered within three different relocation scenarios for the affected population in the inundated zones. this analysis uses the two-foot mean higher high-level water surface data and the digital elevation data provided by noaa for 2035. the findings of this study reveal how different sea level rise scenarios could affect the future estimates of the transportation system and could potentially inform future transportation planning decisions. the analysis found that approximately 358 lane miles of highway links will be inundated. moreover, the number of trips produced, and the amount of congestion generated with each scenario were dependent on the population and employment relocation. the key recommendation of this research is to incorporate the potential impacts of population relocation due to sea level rise into transportation modeling. generally, different scenarios for relocating population and employment generate new traffic demands, which could result in traffic congestion. thus, transportation planners should simulate future sea level rise scenarios and evaluate their impact on the current transportation system. findings from this study could help transportation planners and decision makers identify the locations and transportation facilities that are most vulnerable to rising sea levels, allowing them to make more informed decisions about adaptation planning. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords sea-level rise; vulnerability analysis; coastal cities; transportation network; tampa bay 1. introduction the term "climate change" has been used to describe changes in the global atmosphere that may be traced back to human activities in one way or another (pörtner et al., 2022; zhongming et al., 2022). climate change's effects are increasingly being recognized based on solid scientific data (brozovsky et al., 2021; lindsey, 2019). as a result of climate change, sea-level rise is considered to be one of the most obvious and certain impacts. as one of the most evident and immediate consequences of climate change, sea level rise has emerged as a critical and urgent issue that threatens the existence of several coastal communities across the world (milliman & haq, 1996). shortly, sea levels are predicted to rise gradually but slowly. coastal communities will be inundated and flooded as a direct result of rising sea levels, causing significant social, economic, and ecological damage (ipcc, 2013; james et al., 2021). environmental science and sustainable development http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.7i2.884&domain=press.ierek.com mohamed mansouromaa / environmental science and sustainable development the effects of increasing sea levels will have enormous implications across a variety of industries, including those relating to housing, employment, and infrastructure (cooper et al., 2013; ding et al., 2013; macdonald et al., 2012). transportation infrastructure has been increasingly considered one of the most vulnerable sectors to sea level rise (asariotis, 2020; meguro & ogi, 2018; tewari & palmer, 2018). because of the high population density near the coasts, there is a significant risk that the transportation infrastructure will be flooded. for example, along the gulf of mexico, an estimated 2,400 miles of major roadways and 246 miles of freight rail lines are at risk of permanent flooding (burkett, 2002). this risk is posed by the fact that the sea level is expected to rise in the range of 5 feet over the next 50 to 100 years. as sea levels continue to rise, coastal roads and other types of transportation infrastructure will become more vulnerable to inundation by seawater, as well as low-lying areas that are already prone to flooding (chinowsky et al., 2013). when the roads that are vulnerable to damage are closed, users will be forced to use alternative routes, which will increase the amount of time it takes to travel. increased use of the surrounding open roads may produce even more severe traffic congestion, which will be felt by those already using the highways. numerous studies have been conducted in the last two decades that have addressed climate change and sea level rise impacts, vulnerability, economic evaluation, and adaptation (azevedo de almeida & mostafavi, 2016; dawson et al., 2016; macdonald et al., 2012; pörtner et al., 2022; titus, 2002; vantaggiato & lubell, 2020). much of the existing literature focuses particular attention on evaluating the social, political, economic, and infrastructure implications of climate change and sea level rise on coastal areas (e.g., impacts on housing, employment, transportation infrastructure, ecosystems, etc.)(bayard & elphick, 2011; cooper et al., 2013; dawson et al., 2016; ding et al., 2013; gomaa & peng, 2015; milliman & haq, 1996; papakonstantinou et al., 2020; titus, 2002). few studies, to the best of our knowledge, have attempted to provide a more comprehensive study of the implications on population relocation dynamics and transportation networks, to the best of our knowledge. research about climate change and sea level rise impacts on transportation systems has emerged very recently (asadabadi & miller-hooks, 2017; asariotis, 2020; chen & region, 2019; fishman, 2018; jones, 2017; kwiatkowski, 2017; lykou et al., 2017; meguro & ogi, 2018; papakonstantinou et al., 2020; shen & kim, 2020; tewari & palmer, 2018; tonn et al., 2021; wang et al., 2020; zhou et al., 2019). several attempts have been made to quantify climate risks, adaptation, and transportation planning (bloetscher et al., 2012; burkett, 2002; freckleton et al., 2012; lambert et al., 2013; steyn, 2014; tang et al., 2013; webster et al., 2013). nevertheless, it is necessary to address the restrictions of their work. as an illustration, the majority of these studies only concentrated on addressing the direct impacts of sea level rise on transportation systems (asariotis, 2020; burkett, 2002; lykou et al., 2017; titus, 2002). some of them attempted to identify the physical transportation infrastructure at risk and to assess the vulnerability of transportation systems due to future scenarios of sea level rise (bloetscher et al., 2012; chen & region, 2019; fishman, 2018; shen & kim, 2020; tang et al., 2013; webster et al., 2013). moreover, previous studies have reported the assessment and evaluation of different adaptation strategies and design measures to increase the resiliency and adaptability of transportation infrastructure (asariotis, 2020; kwiatkowski, 2017; meguro & ogi, 2018; wang et al., 2020). the other limitation of existing literature is that these efforts have mostly focused on the direct implications of transportation infrastructure and system performance rather than the economic evaluation of climate change's effects on road traffic (asariotis, 2020; burkett, 2002; dawson et al., 2016; lykou et al., 2017; titus, 2002). recently, investigators have examined the effects of insurance, incentives, and public assistance on achieving transportation infrastructure resilience (tonn et al., 2021). surveys that have been conducted by chinowsky et al. (2013) showed that the assessment of climate change adaptation costs for the us road network has been underestimated. numerous studies have been conducted to estimate the effects that rising sea levels will have on the economy (chinowsky et al., 2013; gomaa & peng, 2015; yevdokimov, 2017). the findings of this research indicated the effects of rising sea levels on coastal elevation, ocean coasts, the sustainability of coastal wetland ecosystems, vulnerable species, population, land use, and infrastructure. inundation, erosion of the coast, and regular flooding are just examples of the direct impacts that these factors have on human communities. some have indirect consequences that could potentially cause problems in the long run, such as the disruption of ecosystems or the extinction of certain mohamed mansouromaa / environmental science and sustainable development species. loss of economic activity and assets will be the result of the effects of continued sea level rise, which will cause these consequences. a large and growing body of literature has investigated the impacts of sea-level rise on transportation and population, vulnerability analysis, and adaptation strategies (bloetscher et al., 2012; chen & region, 2019; dawson et al., 2016; meguro & ogi, 2018; papakonstantinou et al., 2020; tang et al., 2013; tewari & palmer, 2018; titus, 2002; vantaggiato & lubell, 2020). most of the currently available research focuses only on the direct effects that rising sea levels will have on transportation infrastructure. the flooding of transportation systems, properties, and infrastructure is the primary source of direct damage (burkett, 2002). however, few research endeavors have been conducted to study the impacts of sea level rise within a future transportation network model based on different scenarios for population relocation (steyn, 2014). there are a considerable number of indirect effects, such as the loss of employment opportunities and the relocation of affected populations; effects on the housing market in vulnerable and surrounding areas; potential labor loss because some vulnerable property owners may choose to relocate; and the loss of service infrastructures such as roads, utilities, and medical services (macdonald et al., 2012; pörtner et al., 2022). these indirect impacts caused by sea level rise can result in significantly higher economic costs than the direct losses. if these indirect influences are ignored, the potential economic benefits of any adaptation strategy may be greatly underestimated, which could result in the selection of a less effective adaptation strategy (lindsey, 2019; shen & kim, 2020; wang et al., 2020). this study, therefore, aims to identify and assess the impacts of sea level rise on population relocation dynamics and future transportation systems, utilizing data from the transportation model for the year 2035 in the tampa bay region, florida. this research, in contrast to prior efforts for assessing the vulnerability analysis of the effects of sea level rise, takes into consideration not only the direct implications of sea level rise but also the indirect implications on the transportation system, which were considered within three different relocation scenarios for the affected population in the inundated areas. the analysis of this research utilizes the noaa-provided digital elevation data, as well as the two-foot, mean higher high-level sea surface data to represent a worst-case scenario for the year 2035. the study estimated the total population and employment will be affected assuming a homogenous distribution within each transportation analysis zone (taz), as well as the transportation networks that will be affected based on segment direction capacity reduction rates. then, the impact of each scenario has been studied on the transportation system through a series of indicators for vehicular congestion and travel time. this research aims to determine how different population relocation scenarios induced by sea level rise will cause transportation capacity changes. this research identifies these results by developing different relocation scenarios for the affected populations and studying the impacts of each scenario on the transportation model. the key objectives of this research are; 1) to estimate the affected population and transportation infrastructure under the two-foot slr scenario in 2035; 2) to develop different scenarios for the relocation of the affected population, and 3) to study the impact of each scenario on the transportation system. 2. data and methods 2.1. case study area the low-lying and densely populated coastal communities that surround tampa bay, florida, are especially vulnerable to the effects of increasing sea levels because of their terrain and population density (council, 2006; shen, 2014). since it has 700 miles of coastline and a 3.2 million population, many of whom live near tampa bay or the gulf of mexico, the area around tampa bay is especially vulnerable to the rising sea level (council, 2006). the gulf of mexico region is more vulnerable to the rise in sea levels than other locations due to the local subsidence that has occurred there as well as its extensive exposure to the ocean (burkett, 2002). at the rate of 0.25 inches per year (10 mm/year), the ground surface of the mississippi river deltaic plain is sinking. as the sea level rises by up to 1 meter, even the most stable bay in the eastern gulf of mexico will be at risk of being flooded (burkett, 2002). this is because of the effects of climate change. in light of this, it is particularly essential, when it comes to the process mohamed mansouromaa / environmental science and sustainable development of long-range planning, to have an understanding of how coastal communities in the gulf of mexico region would be impacted by the changing sea levels. this has been done to minimize the negative effects of sea level rise. the following is a synopsis of the study region that encompasses the tampa bay region: (pinellas, hillsborough, and pasco counties)(figures 1 and 2).  pinellas county: with a land area totaling only 280 square miles, is the county with the smallest land area. it also has the highest population density in the state of florida, with more than 1,600 people living in every square mile in the year 2020. pinellas county is home to twenty-four different municipalities, with the largest being st. petersburg, which ranks as the fourth largest city in the state. the county’s population in 2021 was estimated to be 956,615 people (council, 2006).  hillsborough county: the population density in hillsborough county is the fourth highest in the state of florida, despite the county's relatively small geographical size of 1,053 square miles. the city of tampa serves as the county seat, and it is also the main metropolitan center in the region. in terms of total land area, tampa ranks third in the state, behind only jacksonville and miami. the population of the county was estimated to reach 1,512,070 in 2021, representing a yearly growth rate of 1.34 percent (council, 2006; shen, 2014).  pasco county: with a land area of 745 square miles, this region contains the greatest proportion of land that has not been developed. its largest urban centers are located in new port richey, dade city, and zephyrhills respectively. in 2021, the county was estimated to have a total population of 539,885 residents (council, 2006). figure 1 the case study area for the tampa bay region figure 2 the two feet slr inundation map, fl under 2035 sea level rise scenario (noaa) 2.2. sea-level rise analysis scenario investigating the various possible outcomes of sea level rise projections for the future is not within the scope of this study. as a result, the sea level rise projection used in this study is fully based on the scientific research regarding climate change that was published by other studies. the projection of the rise in sea level is dependent not only on historical recordings of sea level but also on mathematical models that simulate local estimates for the rise in sea level (james et al., 2021). according to ipcc (ipcc, 2013), throughout the last century, the level of the ocean around the world has risen at a rate that has been on average between 1.7 and 3.1 millimeters per year. between 1901 and 2018, there was a 15–25 centimeter (about 6–10 inch) rise in the average worldwide sea level. satellite radar readings have shown a steady increase of 7.5 centimeters in height since 1993 (ipcc, 2013; lindsey, 2019; zhongming et al., 2022). the global average rate of sea level rise is 3.6 mm per year (0.14 inches per year), and the rate of sea level increase in the tampa bay region is 2.3 mm to 2.4 mm per year, according to long-term tide gauge measurements and recent satellite data (james et al., 2021). the average annual rate of sea level rise along the coast of the united states is greater than 2.5 mm (tampa bay regional planning council, 2006). according to the tampa bay climate science mohamed mansouromaa / environmental science and sustainable development advisory panel (csap), sea level rise might occur in the tampa bay region between 11 inches and 2.5 feet in the year 2050, and between 1.9 and 8.5 feet in the year 2100, depending on the historical data. because different sea level rise projection models primarily rely on various sets of assumptions, it is necessary to use a case-by-case approach when attempting to forecast the rise in sea level (lindsey, 2019). however, due to the uneven distribution of the factors that cause sea levels to rise across the globe, even the same model will predict different sea levels (ipcc, 2013; lindsey, 2019; pörtner et al., 2022). this is because of the feedback loops that are created when one factor affects another (milliman & haq, 1996; spada et al., 2013). as a result, the identification of suitable sea level rise scenarios was adapted specifically for the area covered by the case study. the tampa bay climate science advisory panel published the most recent projection for the area's sea level. the csap has developed a regional collection of slr projection scenarios up until the year 2100 by making use of the most up-to-date and accurate scientific data that is currently available. st. petersburg, florida's relative sea level change (rslc) scenarios, as determined by calculations made with the regionally corrected noaa 2017 data (usace, 2019). the structure of the model incorporates three potential outcomes: a scenario with a low, an intermediate, and a high sea level rise (figure 3). in this research, the high scenarios were chosen to represent the sea level rise analysis scenarios. the high scenario was chosen rather than the low scenario because it better accounts for the potential effects of indirect flooding caused by rising sea levels. studies revealed that the effects of rising sea levels are significantly more substantial than the rise in sea levels itself. to capture the higher projection of global mean sea level rise, the analysis scenario of this study has been selected to be the worst-case scenario, which projects two feet of sea level rise by 2035. figure 3 projected scenarios of relative sea-level change for st. petersburg, florida (usace 2019) 2.3. research design and datasets the research design of this study involved various procedures, including vulnerability analysis, transportation models of different scenarios, and a relevant comparison between three population relocation scenarios. as shown in figure 4, this research has been designed through the following steps: 1) estimating the inundated area, population, and transportation infrastructure that will be affected under the 2ft slr scenario for 2035; 2) developing different relocation scenarios of the affected population and employment; 3) studying the impact of each scenario on the transportation system performance; 4) removing major links between completely flooded areas; 5) proportionally reducing capacity between areas partially flooded. this study utilized the following data sources: a) the transportation model for tampa bay region; b) noaa coastal services center coastal change analysis program which allows researchers to use gis data to determine the inundated areas; c) the number of affected populations in each taz, and d) the number of affected employments in each sector for each taz. for the roadway data, as shown in figure 5, the study utilizes the navteq streets data, which is one of the most comprehensive roadway datasets in the study region. pg. 6 figure 4 the main elements of the research design of the study in this study, cube voyager, a transportation and land-use modeling tool, has been used as the analysis tool because it is specified by the florida standard urban transportation model structure (fsutms). the framework of cube voyager is script-based and modular, which makes it possible to incorporate any model methodology. this includes all from activity-based methods to discrete choice models to typical four-step models. cube voyager features a highly adaptable network in addition to matrix calculators that may be used to determine trip demand and provide in depth comparisons of several possible outcomes. figure 5 navteq road data for the study region 2.4. population relocation scenarios the most extreme local slr projection for 2035 is 49 centimeters, which is equal to 1 foot and 7 inches. as a result, a sea level rise scenario with a height of 2 feet was utilized as the basis for this model during the analysis of this study. this allowed for the impacts on transportation and land use to be evaluated based on the slr worst-case scenario. to assess the effects of the various land use options, we developed three relocation scenarios within the context of the two-foot slr scenario. the following assumptions are used regarding population distribution: pg. 7  scenario i: populations and jobs are relocated inside the same tazs despite the flooding: this assumes that there will be no change in the total number of trips created or the number of attractions that were forecast using the 2035 model. on the other hand, it assumes that both the population and the jobs will be shifted within their existing tazs, acting as though they migrated inland a relatively short distance.  in the second scenario, population and employment will leave the region because of the flooding: in this hypothetical situation, it is assumed that anyone who could be affected by flooding will immediately evacuate the area. that means that the model will not take into account any of the people living in or holding jobs in the tazs that have been flooded.  scenario iii: the flooded population and employment shift in proportion to the growth rate of the taz: the population and jobs that are currently located in regions that will be flooded will be spread out across the study region by the zoning that is already in place as well as the most recent estimate for the growth rate in each taz (figure 6). in this hypothetical situation, construction is assumed to go forward as scheduled, but flooded homes and businesses are left abandoned. figure 6 the base growth rate for transportation analysis zones from 2006 to 2035 2.5. estimates of the capacity of the highway network to evaluate the extent to which slr will impact the capacity of the highway network. using navteq streets data, this analysis identified the actual highway network that would be inundated. to ensure that the model appropriately represents the inundated roadway capacity, it was calculated based on lane miles. the model's network consists of the majority of minor arterials and all major highways. however, the network's capacity in a certain direction through a taz also includes minor and parallel facilities. mohamed mansouromaa / environmental science and sustainable development roads have been classified into three categories: 1) two-lane facilities with one lane in each direction, 2) four or six lane facilities with two or three lanes in each direction; and 3) eight or more-lane facilities with four or more lanes in each direction. category two roads were given five lane miles for every highway mile because the study region has many important fourand six-lane facilities. five lanes were seen as a fair compromise because better data does not exist for all roads, and within the built-up area of the study region, both cross-sections are common. category three roads were given eight lane miles for each highway mile because there are very few facilities in the region with more than four lanes in each direction. many of the inundated roads travel parallel to shorelines, and in some places, roads running perpendicular to the shoreline do not become inundated. this could result in tazs where highway capacity is constrained in one direction but not necessarily in the other. as a result, we calculated the percentage of lane miles inundated in each taz for roads traveling generally north-south (45 degrees from the north) and east-west (45 degrees from the east). the total number of lane miles within each taz was compared to those touching the two-foot inundation to create a separate capacity reduction index for north-south and east-west roads within each taz. the 2035 highway network was then given the capacity reduction factors to represent the overall changes in highway capacity within each taz for each direction. 3. results 3.1. impacts on population and employment the results reveal significant impacts on population and employment by the direct inundation due to the two-foot sea level rise scenario (figure 7). according to the model estimate for the year 2035, the total population of the study region will be a total of 4.13 million residents. as summarized in table 1, assuming an even distribution of housing and employment within each taz, a total of 96,688 people will be directly inundated, while 78,493 jobs will be lost or relocated due to the inundation of the business zones. this research attempted to determine a range of possible population and employment relocation outcomes by developing three possible scenarios. the first scenario will not consider population or employment relocation as the key assumption of this scenario is that the relocation process will be within the same taz. the second scenario assumes that the affected population and employment will move out of the study region. this means that the number of people and jobs lost due to flooding will be subtracted from the total population and employment in each taz. lastly, the third scenario assumes that the inundated population and employment will remain in the study region but will be proportionately relocated to other tazs based on the taz growth rate. figure 7 inundation map under 2ft sea level rise scenario generated using hazus-mh developed by fema pg. 9 author name / environmental science and sustainable development table 1 summary of the model results for the affected population and employment under the relocation scenarios 2035 scenario no change reduced capacity network relocation scenario i relocation scenario ii relocation scenario iii total population 4,130,166 4,130,166 4,033,478 4,130,166 population reallocated 96,688 total industry employment 419,656 419,656 341,163 419,656 industry employment reallocated 78,493 3.2. impacts on total loss of lane miles according to the findings, the direct two-foot inundation scenario will have an impact on a variety of transportation system components. according to navteq data, a total of 357.84 miles will be directly inundated as a total loss of real lane miles. however, the model's findings indicate that a total of 84.09 lane miles will be inundated. figure 8 shows that the total lane miles of east-west roads that will be inundated will be 200.83 miles, while the north-south road networks will lose a total of 157.01 lane miles (table 2). figure 8 calculate share of lane miles inundated at tazs (n-s and e-w) table 2 summary of the model results for the total loss of lane miles under relocation scenarios 2035 scenario no change reduced capacity network relocation scenario i relocation scenario ii relocation scenario iii total real lane miles 43,500 43,142.16 43,142.16 43,142.16 total loss real lane miles 357.84 357.84 357.84 pg. 10 author name / environmental science and sustainable development total in model lane miles 10,150.08 10,065.99 10,065.99 10,065.99 total loss in model lane miles 84.09 84.09 84.09 ew 200.83 200.83 200.83 ns 157.01 157.01 157.01 3.3. impacts on total trips produced the findings indicate that the direct two-foot flooding scenario will have an impact on a variety of types of produced trips. in particular, as shown in table 3, the total number of trips produced by the model before the inundation, including single occupancy vehicles, 2 and +3 persons carpooling, and highway trips, were 10,604,763; 3,252,306; 726,733 and 14,640,202 respectively. when evaluating the total trips for the proposed relocation scenarios, the results reveal the extent to which the inundated zones may affect the estimations. in the first scenario, there will be no major change in the total number of different types of trips. the decrease in total trips was negligible relative to the size of the model. table 3 summary of the model results for the total trips produced 2035 scenario no change reduced capacity network relocation scenario i relocation scenario ii relocation scenario iii total sov trips 10,604,763 10,604,740 10,567,130 10,611,030 decrease/increase 23 37,633 + 6,267 total 2-person carpool trips 3,252,306 3,252,294 3,241,866 3,254,397 decrease/increase 12 10,440 + 2,091 total +3 person carpool trips 726,733 726,729 724,436 727,196 decrease/increase 4 2,297 + 463 total highway trips 14,640,202 14,640,163 14,589,832 14,649,023 decrease/increase 39 50,370 + 8,821 the potential effects of the other two scenarios on the model outputs have been greater. in the second scenario, where the population leaves the region, the total number of trips produced decreased significantly. there will be a drop of 37,633 total sov trips, 12,737 carpooling trips, and 50,370 highway trips (table 3). in the third scenario, where population and employment relocate proportionally based on the taz’s growth rate, there will be an increase in the total trips produced. the total increase in trips produced by sov, carpooling, and highways will be 6267, 2554, and 8821, respectively. 3.4. impacts on total volume-to-capacity (v/c) ratio the volume to capacity (v/c) ratio compares the number of trips assigned to a link with the total capacity of that link. links with v/c ratios greater than one are operating over their capacity and are consequently congested. to compare the performance of various scenarios, it is important to identify the length of the highway network operating above mohamed mansouromaa / environmental science and sustainable development capacity. the scenario with the highest percentage of the network operating with a v/c ratio greater than one was scenario ii, where inundated population and employment leave the region with 16.5% of the network operating over capacity (table 4). the percentages for the baseline scenario, the reallocate within the taz scenario, and the proportional relocation scenario were 16.4%, 16.3%, and 16.4%, respectively (figure 9). this was unexpected, as it was believed that the last scenario would be the least congested. upon further consideration, however, because large employment centers are not as low-lying as residential neighborhoods, this scenario may have required all employers from a wider distance to fill all the positions. figure 9 model results for the total volume-to-capacity ratio for all relocation scenarios; (a) 2035 base scenario; (b) scenario i: relocate within taz scenario; (c) scenario ii: leave region scenario; (d) scenario iii: proportional relocation scenario. (d) (c) (b) (a) mohamed mansouromaa / environmental science and sustainable development the intuition about the v/c ratio is potentially validated by the average v/c ratio for links operating above capacity. the average v/c ratio within the second scenario is lower than the v/c ratio within the reallocated taz scenario. therefore, although more miles are congested in the former scenario, there is a higher level of congestion in each link in the latter scenario. it is also interesting to note that the proportional relocation scenario has fewer miles of congestion and lower average v/c ratios than the 2035 base scenario. this is probably because coastal transportation links are already at capacity and may have longer commutes, so reallocating them to places with excess capacity might relieve some of the congested corridors not affected by slr. table 4 summary of the model results for the total volume-to-capacity ratio 2035 scenario no change reduced capacity network relocation scenario i relocation scenario ii relocation scenario iii total miles v/c ratio greater than 1 2,155.48 2,147.53 2,170.96 2,148.60 percentage of v/c ratio greater than 1 16.4% 16.3% 16.5% 16.4% average v/c ratio for v/c ratio greater than 1 weighted by distance 2.43 2.50 2.43 2.42 3.5. impacts on total congestion the results demonstrate that the direct 2 ft inundation scenario will have an impact on total congestion. specifically, there will be a total of 6,318.93 minutes of total congestion before the inundation (table 5), while the model predicts that there will be a difference in overall congestion due to direct inundation. table 5 indicates that the overall congestion time will increase by 15.24, 19.30, and 78.13 minutes in the three proposed scenarios. however, these times are rather modest in comparison to the model's total congestion time. table 5. summary of the model results for the total congestion 2035 scenario no change reduced capacity network relocation scenario i relocation scenario ii relocation scenario iii total congestion (minutes) 6,318.93 6,334.17 6,338.230 6,397.06 scenario congestion minus the base 15.24 19.299 78.13 4. discussions the rise in sea level will have both direct and indirect effects on population and employment, in addition to influencing transportation networks. as a result of increasing sea levels, low-lying areas are inundated in water, beach, and wetland ecosystems are destroyed, and the severity of storm surges and flooding caused by rainfall is exacerbated. all of these consequences could potentially have an impact on the modes of transportation. according to the findings of this study, the total population and employment that will be impacted (under the assumption of a homogenous distribution within each taz), as well as the transportation networks that will be impacted (based on segment direction capacity reduction rates), have been estimated. after that, we investigated the effects of each scenario on the transportation system by analyzing several indicators for the amount of time spent in traffic and the distance traveled. mohamed mansouromaa / environmental science and sustainable development the findings of this study provide insights into the potential methods in which future estimations of transportation network analyses could be affected by future scenarios of sea level rise. this study proposed three possible relocation scenarios for the affected population and employment and then evaluated how those varied scenarios impacted the transportation model. the scenarios involved the relocation of the affected population and employment. one of the most important findings from this research is that the immediate inundation that would be caused by a rise of two feet in sea level would have a significant impact on both employment and population. this was one of the most significant findings that emerged from this investigation. according to the model estimate for the year 2035 for the tampa bay area, assuming an even distribution of housing and employment within each taz, a total of 96,688 people will be directly impacted by the inundation, and approximately 78,493 jobs will either be eliminated or relocated because of the inundation of the business zones. in addition, the scenario in which there is direct flooding of two feet will influence a variety of components of the transportation system. according to the findings of this study, a total of more than 357.84 kilometers will be lost due to direct inundation in the study region. the second major finding shows that diverse types of trips in the transportation analysis will be affected by the direct two-foot sea-level rise inundation scenario. the evaluation of the total trips for the proposed relocation scenarios reveals the extent to which the inundated zones may impact the model estimations. when comparing different relocation scenarios, the change in total trips was significant. the potential effects on the model outputs have been greater. in one of the scenarios where the population will move out of the region, the total number of trips produced decreased significantly. there was a drop of 37,633 total sov trips, 12,737 carpooling trips, and 50,370 highway trips. while in the other scenario where the inundated population relocate proportionately based on the growth rate, the increase in total trips produced was greater. the total increase in trips produced by sov, carpooling, and highways were 6267, 2554, and 8821, respectively. furthermore, the results indicate that direct flooding will affect both the volume-to-capacity ratio and total congestion estimations. the findings of the volume-to-capacity ratio estimations reveal that the majority of the relocation scenarios exceed network capacity by between 16.3 and 16.5 percent. while in terms of total congestion, there will be a total of 6,318.93 minutes of total congestion before the inundation. additionally, the overall congestion time will increase by 15.24, 19.30, and 78.13 minutes in the three proposed scenarios. the interpretation of the results of this study is not without certain limitations. firstly, the only roadways that have been determined to be impacted by increasing sea levels are those that are located within the flood zones. if storm surges and coastline erosion were also taken into consideration, the impact that rising sea levels have on the transportation network will be substantially more severe. second, because the transportation model has limits on the networks that it uses, this analysis does not take into account all of the transportation networks. inside the taz, local routes that could potentially be exploited as detours have been replaced with centroid links so that traffic can move more efficiently. furthermore, other limitations of this study are related to the proposed distribution scenarios of the projected population and employment. other distribution scenarios should be considered to build more reliable and reasonable relocation models. in addition to the assumptions made in the population relocation methodology, this methodology could not recognize whether an entire portion of the network is cut off by slr or if just parts of the capacity are reduced. a comprehensive survey of the inundated links along coastal routes would need to be performed to identify places where the directional network proportional capacity reduction methodology is inappropriately indicating that capacity is still present within a corridor. numerous concerns could be the focus of future research. first, increasing the number of different relocation scenarios that could occur could lead to a more varied set of results. additionally, in scenario iii, population and employment were distributed in a manner that corresponded to the growth rate of each taz. utilizing several other distribution methods for this investigation would affect the results. in addition, within each scenario, critical links may be identified for preservation, and the model may be approximated to examine the effects of retaining individual links. for instance, it may be more vital to retain a road that connects two large areas that are not at risk of flooding than it would be to preserve a route that serves only low-lying communities because the former road travels through a low lying area. this model and the gis analysis that preceded it would be a valuable starting point for the development pg. 13 mohamed mansouromaa / environmental science and sustainable development of a methodology that would allow for the consistent ranking and prioritization of corridors that should be preserved as part of a regional slr adaptation strategy. 5. conclusions sea-level rise will have considerable direct and indirect impacts on population and employment, as well as on transportation systems and infrastructure. the primary goal of this research is to incorporate the potential effects of population relocation due to sea level rise into transportation modeling. in general, different scenarios for relocating population and employment generate new traffic demands, which could result in traffic congestion. thus, transportation planners should simulate future sea level rise scenarios and evaluate their impact on the current transportation system. then the new transportation planning should take into consideration these possible adverse impacts produced by the relocation development. the results of this investigation show that more than 357.84 miles will be directly inundated in the study region under a two-foot sea-level rise. more than 78,493 jobs will be lost or relocated due to the inundation of the business zones. on the other hand, the evaluation of the total trips for the proposed relocation scenarios reveals the extent to which the inundated zones may impact the model estimations. in one of the scenarios where the population would move out of the region, the total number of trips produced decreased significantly. 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(2019). resilience of transportation systems: concepts and comprehensive review. ieee transactions on intelligent transportation systems, 20(12), 4262-4276. mohamed mansour gomaa abstract 1. introduction 2. data and methods 2.2. sea-level rise analysis scenario 2.3. research design and datasets 2.4. population relocation scenarios 2.5. estimates of the capacity of the highway network 3. results 3.2. impacts on total loss of lane miles 3.3. impacts on total trips produced 3.4. impacts on total volume-to-capacity (v/c) ratio 3.5. impacts on total congestion 4. discussions 5. conclusions http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 14 april 2023, accepted: 15 june 2023, published online: 30 june 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i1.961 social sustainability and globalization; and the role of souq mutrah in muscat-oman fatma hilal al-habsi master of science in islamic art, architecture, and urbanism program at hamad bin khalifa university in qatar. email: fatma.alhabsi@gmail.com abstract this study examines the impact of globalization on the historic urban fabric of mutrah, with a specific focus on the coastal neighbourhood of sur al lawatiyah and the development of the souq mutrah in muscat, oman. the city's urban design reflects its challenging and fractured history, marked by fortified walls, towering forts, and a dense, clustered urban fabric, particularly during and after the portuguese occupation. additionally, the study explains how social sustainability, one of the key pillars of sustainability, has been affected by globalization. despite being separated from the surrounding neighbourhoods by massive walls and gates, the souq mutrah, located in the middle, is a crucial public space for people to gather, making it an essential element in islamic neighbourhoods. furthermore, the study examines the effect of the souq mutrah's development on the surrounding neighbourhood of sur al-lawatiyah. the souq has been redesigned and transformed into a larger market that attracts people from all over the world, reflecting the city's multi-cultural identity. although some residents have created physical and social boundaries to protect themselves from visitors, the souq remains an important public space for locals to gather, trade, and work. ultimately, the study concludes that the souq's development has increased social interaction and the sense of space without negatively affecting the surrounding neighbourhood's identity or way of life. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords globalization; neighbourhood; market; social sustainability; sustainable communities. 1. introduction the development of urban spaces and marketplaces plays a crucial role in shaping the social, cultural, and economic fabric of a community. one such example is souq mutrah in the coastal city of muscat, oman. this historic marketplace has undergone significant changes in recent years, influenced by factors such as globalization, tourism, and the evolving needs and preferences of residents and visitors. in this study, i delve into the impact of souq mutrah's development on the surrounding neighbourhood, particularly focusing on the al-lawatiyah neighbourhood. al-lawatiyah is a residential area characterized by a closed space with restricted access, fortified walls, and small dwellings. the neighbourhood's physical and social landscape has been shaped by its proximity to the souq, which serves as an important public space for local gatherings and community interactions. as the city of muscat has experienced rapid growth and transformation, the development of souq mutrah has become an integral part of the urban dynamics. the main aim of this study is to apply a framework for studying http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ al-habsi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 social sustainability in souq mutrah and its impact on the surrounding neighbourhood of sur al lawatiyah. the study also has the following related objectives:  to understand the impact of globalization on omani neighbourhoods, particularly in mutrah.  to identify the concept of social sustainability in neighbourhoods and marketplaces.  to analyze the effects of souq mutrah's development on the social fabric and cultural preservation of the surrounding neighbourhood.  to explore the residents' perceptions and experiences of the souq's development, considering factors such as privacy, community cohesion, and the preservation of their identity. to achieve these objectives, a combined research methodology consisting of a historiography study and a qualitative study will be employed. the historiography study will investigate the history of oman, the impact of globalization, and the interactions that have shaped the old neighbourhoods over time, with a particular focus on the history of oman during the portuguese occupation. the qualitative study will involve collecting and analyzing various types of data, utilizing phenomenology to describe and study the structure of human experience, the meaning of objects, and their relationships with other elements (sokolowski, 2000, p. 2). the study will be approached in three phases: data collection, data preparation, and analysis. information will be gathered from journals, books, articles, and other relevant sources. additionally, a case study of souq mutrah will be conducted to examine the social sustainability within the souq and its influence on the surrounding neighbourhood of sur al lawatiyah. by shedding light on the intricate relationship between souq mutrah's development and the surrounding neighbourhood, this study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the complexities and dynamics of urban change in the context of globalization and cultural heritage preservation. the findings will not only inform future urban planning strategies but also provide valuable insights into the delicate balance between development, social sustainability, and the preservation of local identities within historic urban neighbourhoods. 2. the impact of globalization on the old costal settlements in mutrah oman has a geological history dating back over 800 years and contains the most attractive vernacular and traditional heritage within the arabian peninsula, such as forts, castles, and traditional settlement quarters (hegazy, 2015, p. 2). the diversity of oman's heritage can be attributed to its strategic location on the silk road, which attracted numerous tribes and foreign forces throughout its history, leaving their mark on the urban fabric and building design (figure 1). for instance, the scalloped arches on the minaret of mutrah's mosque reflect mongol architecture, as depicted in figure 2 (benkari, 2017; hegazy, 2010). the dwellings in oman were built with traditional omani architecture and influenced by pre-islamic, islamic, persian, and portuguese styles (hegazy, 2015, p. 3). the trade routes also impacted traditional lifestyles, including language and clothing such as the national dress, "dishdasha", which ensured continuity in the urban context and influenced other countries under oman's rule, such as zanzibar (hegazy, 2010). al-habsi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 figure 1: interaction between traders in the western indian ocean. source:(bandyopadhyay et al., 2016). figure 2: the lavish minaret in mutrah’s mosque. (photos by the author,2022). during the first global era (1440-1770 c.e), european power colonies such as great britain, france, and portugal controlled the trade routes in the indian ocean and conquered massive lands and numerous ports (al-mahrouqi, n.d.). in the sixteenth century, oman was occupied by foreign armies such as the persians and the portuguese (al-belushi, 2013). around the coasts, the portuguese settled and built military structures (benkari, 2017). they recognized mutrah's best location, which is to the south of a harbour protected by two mountains. the portuguese constructed the famous twin forts, jalali and mirani forts, on each of these mountains and made muscat one of their strategic centres in the arabian sea and the indian ocean (gaube, 2008). al-habsi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 mutrah was a commercial district, or the heart of oman’s trading empire, filled with baluch and immigrant merchants (david, 2018). the houses in mutrah neighbourhoods were clustered closely together and belonged to one tribe and the same ethnic group. however, the most famous district and the only surviving example of historic buildings in mutrah is "sur al lawatiya," the shiite community. it encompassed its fortified wall, with expansion moving vertically rather than horizontally throughout time due to the challenges of procuring neighbouring construction plots. it consists of 218 houses ranging in height from three to four storeys and contains flat-roofed buildings with small windows on the street sides (dinteman, 1993; hawker, 2008b). whitewashed exterior surfaces, recessed pointed arches, profuse latticework on the windows (known locally as mashrabiyah), and pen-tiered balconies are characteristics of the historic houses in muscat (figure 3), which are mostly similar to those in zanzibar and mombasa (hawker, 2008b). figure 3: mutrah, sur al lawatiyah neighbourhood (photos by the author, 2022). according to salma damluji in her book the architecture of oman, the portuguese are assumed to have founded the settlement of sur lawatiyah because a portuguese army is mentioned there in the seventeenth century (damluji, 1998). however, al-ya'arubi imams freed oman's coastal areas from the portuguese in the 17th century under imam nasir bin murshid (al-belushi, 2013). this period saw the involvement and development of most of oman's traditional settlements, which had consolidated their strategic defensive character, highly influenced by portuguese defence methods (benkari, 2017). however, the ya'ariba imamate ended in 1737 due to a civil war, allowing the persians to retake oman (al-belushi, 2013). during the persian occupation, the most popular irrigation technique was underground tunnels from aquifers, which the persians had first used during the 2500 b.p. achaemenid dynasty (wilkinson, 1977). in 1970, his majesty sultan qaboos bin said's accession heralded the start of oman's modern period (al-belushi, 2013). over the past two decades, spurred by the oil boom, fast modernization, and pressures for fast growth, trade liberalization, and information and communications technology, people have moved from their old houses to newer and nearby residential areas in search of employment opportunities and modern infrastructure (al-belushi, 2013; alsayyad, 1995). although not all houses were abandoned, this affected the pillars of sustainability, namely economic, environmental, and social sustainability. urban development encompasses not only physical changes in cities but also economic, social, and cultural transformations and their underlying reasons (benkari, 2017). 3. problem statement around the world, most countries are losing their national identity, moving from vernacularism to globalism (alsayyad, 1995). however, in oman, the omani identity persists, thanks to the slower and more controlled urbanization process, which was more carefully managed than in other arab countries like dubai and doha (benkari, al-habsi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 2017). ronald hawker, in his book traditional architecture of the arabian gulf: building on desert tises, argues that the architecture of the arabian gulf evolved in response to social and environmental factors in the 18th and 19th centuries. the links between the tribe, trade, and outside powers shaped houses, mosques, market centres, and fortified buildings that provided protection and a place for worship, business, communication, exchange, and shelter from the harsh gulf climate (hawker, 2008a). according to ismael david, the neighbourhood of sur al lawatiyah, also known as “the forbidden city,” can only be accessed by members of the lawatiyah community. the neighbourhood is isolated from the souq (a local word for market) adjacent to it by two wooden gates and an enormous fortified wall, and no one knows why the walled quarter was closed for such a lengthy period (figure 4). some scholars speculate that because the lawatis were a small shiite group, they chose to live in seclusion, much like their contemporaries in najaf and karbala. although the walled quarter is no longer officially closed to the public, strangers are still not welcome, even if the gates are open today (david, 2018). nevertheless, souq mutrah, located in the middle of the neighbourhood, is still isolated from the surrounding buildings; there is no access from inside the neighbourhood to the souq, which should be a space for people to gather and socialize. figure 4: view of mutrah area showing sur al lawatiyah neighbourhood and the souq (major & tannous, 2020). in recent years, most countries worldwide have focused on studying the social life of cities and building sustainable cities with strong social sustainability. however, due to globalization, and urban development, some countries have become socially unsustainable (mehan & soflaei, 2017). what does social sustainability mean in neighbourhoods and public spaces such as the souq? can we consider souq mutrah socially sustainable, especially after the souq’s development? 4. social sustainability in neighbourhoods and public spaces the concept of sustainability was introduced by the united nations in the 1987 brundtland commission report, which defined sustainable development as the pursuit of current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. sustainability encompasses environmental, economic, and social dimensions and is often defined as the quality of the society (yoo and lee, 2016; mehan and soflaei, 2017). social sustainability specifically focuses on addressing the fundamental human needs of individuals, irrespective of factors such as ethnicity, age, religion, sexuality, social class, economic status, and abilities. it emphasizes the wellbeing of both individuals and society as a whole, as well as the sustainable development of the built environment (mehan & soflaei, 2017). in 2003, sustainable communities in the united kingdom defined social sustainability as al-habsi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 “places where people desire to live and work, now and in the future” (eizenberg & jabareen, 2017). in the urban context, yiftachel and hedgcock defined social sustainability as the “continuing ability of a city to function as a longterm viable setting for human interaction, communication, and cultural development” (yoo & lee, 2016). urban social sustainability has been scoped to three different urban units, starting with macro-level like city, to mediumlevel like urban districts, to micro-scale built environments like neighbourhood and urban public spaces (mehan & soflaei, 2017). figure 5: urban social sustainability has been scoped to three different urban units (prepared by the author). traditional islamic neighbourhoods are an example of harmonious integration between private and public spaces, with street and road networks morphing into thrilling walkways, leading to visual and intellectual delights. neighbourhood planning has several concepts, including privacy, hierarchy in open spaces, courtyards, souqs, neighbourhood councils, neighbourhood centres, streets, buildings, local materials, unity, harmonious community roles, protection, and security (fatani et al., 2017). the built environment of neighbourhoods is critical in achieving social sustainability, with essential environmental design ideas such as a feeling of place, equal access to essential services, appropriate housing, and amenities. meeting places, various building types, and a variety of land uses have all been linked to social sustainability (yoo & lee, 2016). public spaces in neighbourhoods are critical for meeting people's needs, and it depends on the space's functionality and activities (aram et al., 2018). traditional neighbourhoods contain public and private spaces, such as the mosque, parks, and souq, the most important public space in the neighbourhood. however, how can we say this souq is socially sustainable? so far, there have been few studies on how to improve the social role of these markets, which has resulted in increased social interactions among individuals (aram et al., 2018). 5. social sustainability in traditional souqs traditional souqs are typically centred in the city's historic old quarter as iconic inherits (elsayed et al., 2019). they are places for gathering people from different ethnicities and ages to meet their needs, including economic and sociocultural activities (aram et al., 2018). traditional markets reflect the community's lifestyle, history, heritage, and the solid connection of the people there. the traditional souq in the arabian islamic countries is consistently near or around the friday mosque, and it is essential in the urban context because of its functional diversity and social sustainability. these traditional public spaces provide a high level of social communication and interaction between people and play an important role as a hub for commercial and cultural exchange (elsayed et al., 2019). hebatallah a. elsayed and her colleagues argue in their article "traditional market design towards cohesion between social sustainability and bioclimatic approach" that some new traditional markets in the arab world were developed without regard for local identity and lifestyle; they do not promote social stability. they looked at three aspects of the design of al-zall souq in riyadh: morphological language, socio-cultural, and bioclimatic (figure 6) (elsayed et al., 2019). al-habsi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 6: typological formation analysis model (elsayed et al., 2019). the most important aspect is the socio-cultural aspect, which studies the traditional souq as a complex cultural space and reflects the social and local dimensions. the socio culture criteria are: (a) social interaction, which is the relation or the social communication between two or more individuals at deferent levels; (b) movement/walkability pattern, which enhances access to public spaces, primary nodes, and recreational facilities; (c) livability, which is defined as a set of physical characteristics that combine the natural and built environments to provide comfort and safety, attractive facades, and easy access to services and public transportation; (d) integration value, which examines the boundaries of the souq and how it integrates with the surrounding buildings in the neighbourhood; and (e) safety and security, which is a right for all individuals and groups to be protected and secured (eizenberg & jabareen, 2017; stanislava & chin, 2019). however, these five criteria will be used to study the social sustainability of souq mutrah. 6. case study: souq mutrah souq mutrah is oman's oldest permanent traditional market, dating back to the 19th century. it is known as "souq aldhalam," which means "darkness market," named for its dark and crowded alleyways (major & tannous, 2020). it stretches in a linear pattern from the main entrance on the mutrah corniche waterfront along the coastline in the north, facing al bahri road (corniche), splitting into two ways towards the southern gates facing mutrah high street (major & tannous, 2020). the souq cuts across the old residential walled neighbourhood of "al-lawatiyah," which came into being some 200 years ago (gutberlet, 2016). souq mutrah is a bustling marketplace that offers opportunities for commerce, entertainment, and social interaction, particularly for the local community (al-maimani et al., 2014). it is also a popular destination for tourists who visit to purchase antiques, jewellery, handicrafts, and traditional clothing (major & tannous, 2020). covering approximately 51,200 m2, the souq comprises around 800 shops, all of which are licensed by the municipality of muscat (gutberlet, 2016). most of the shops are owned by the lawatiyah. al-habsi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 7: view of the mutrah area (gutberlet, 2016). the mutrah municipality has taken various measures to ensure the long-term sustainability, survival, and viability of souq mutrah as a traditional marketplace. during the development process in 2004-2005, the municipality focused on improving the drainage system, electrical supply, security, safety, and accessibility by constructing northern and southern access points (major & tannous, 2020). they also provided water hydrants, reshaped sections of the souq, built public areas, and replaced the roof with more durable and safer materials (al-maimani et al., 2014). despite the expansion and addition of spaces to accommodate the growing population and development, the question remains: is souq mutrah socially sustainable? 7. social sustainability criteria to assess the social sustainability of souq mutrah, we can use several criteria. one important aspect is social interaction, which can be analyzed by examining social patterns, movement, liveability, and integration value within the community (elsayed et al., 2019). social interaction souq mutrah has three primary gathering node spaces. some of these spaces were open spaces at the souq's main entrances, while others were enclosed as central gathering nodes within the souq's urban fabric. the first is a massive watchtower located at the main gate, with the words "souq mutrah" engraved on it (figure 8). this area serves as a common drop-off point and a parking area for taxis and buses. however, the movement of people in this space is so fast the it reduces the amount of contact. the upper floor of the watchtower links to a tourist restaurant and provides an excellent space for social interaction, with a beautiful view of the sea (gutberlet, 2016). the boundaries and exits of this space provide a sense of safety and protection, and the shade at the entrance adds to the comfort. the lighting at night is appropriate and enhances the spirit of the place (al-maimani et al., 2014). al-habsi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 figure 8: main entrance to souq mutrah (photos by the author, 2022). the second node is the middle gathering space, which is the most significant enclosure gathering space in the middle of the souq. it has a circular roof covered with glass-reinforced plastic, allowing natural light to enter the space and artificial light from surrounding shops to illuminate the area. however, this space is primarily used for shopping, and people move through it quickly, reducing the amount of contact. the space is only accessible by walking or cycling, and there is no seating area. nonetheless, the space reflects omani identity and culture through the traditional omani jewellery shown in the glass roof (figure 9) (al-maimani et al., 2014). figure 9: the middle gathering space (al-maimani et al., 2014, p.). the third space is the open area at the back entrance from the southwest, which serves as a drop-off area and has a fixed sitting area made of brick blocks. it creates a physical border with the street and provides a sense of safety and support. this sitting area promotes significant social interaction among people of various ages, cultural backgrounds, and genders. it is a socially inclusive space among all three nodes, where users can visit the souq to shop, sit, relax, and socialize. the dimensions of the space, built-in seats, and visibility promote interaction. it can be reached through various modes of transportation (figure 10) (al-maimani et al., 2014). al-habsi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 figure 10: back entrance from the south-west. (photo source: https://mybrothertraveler.com/trip.php?continent=asia&state=oman&trip=ei_11). movement / walkability patterns the movement and circulation around the entrance and exits of souq mutrah are clearly defined, allowing visitors to navigate the space easily. the main corridor is wide, and all secondary narrower alleyways connect to it (figure 11). additionally, these corridors are designated solely for pedestrians (major & tannous, 2020). the three main public spaces are separated by varying distances and connected to each other by the main corridor. the use of these spaces enhances visitors' spatial awareness, as changes in level, proportion, height, and direction guide their movements and increase their sense of wayfinding, ultimately improving their overall user experience in the souq. however, the narrow alleyways of the souq have often experienced overcrowding, especially during weekends when a large number of visitors flock to the area. this overcrowding has raised concerns regarding safety (figure 12) (gutberlet, 2016). fortunately, with the ongoing development of the souq, significant progress has been made in addressing the issue of overcrowding, leading to notable improvements in safety conditions. additionally, while occasional crowding may still occur in the corridors, such instances are primarily attributed to the arrival of tourists from the ships docking at the port of muttrah. figure 11: circulation inside souq mutrah (major & tannous, 2020). fixed sitting area al-habsi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 figure 12: the main corridor in souq mutrah /26 february 2012, around noon (gutberlet, 2016). livability the strategic location of the souq, nestled between residential neighbourhoods, particularly al-lawatiyah, contributes significantly to its livability and enhances the overall quality of public spaces. as mentioned earlier, the majority of shops in the souq are owned by local residents, forging a strong connection between the community and the marketplace. the active involvement of local people in the maintenance and improvement of the souq plays a pivotal role in boosting the local economy. furthermore, the souq's livability is further supported by the presence of other tourist attractions in mutrah, such as museums, the fish market, and the sultan qaboos port (refer to figure 13). many visitors arrive at the mutrah market through cruise ships that dock at port sultan qaboos, enriching the diversity and vibrancy of the souq (gutberlet, 2016). nonetheless, it is noteworthy that the souq remains a popular destination for omanis themselves. its appeal lies in the affordability of goods, with negotiable prices and a wide array of offerings, particularly traditional items. this ensures that the souq caters to the needs and desires of a large number of people, reinforcing its significance as a valuable cultural and economic hub. figure 13: map of the district of mutrah, including souq mutrah and port sultan qaboos (gutberlet, 2016). al-habsi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 integration value the souq mutrah's location at the heart of the neighbourhood, seamlessly blending with the surrounding urban fabric, exemplifies a remarkable level of cohesive integration. the boundaries between the souq and its neighbouring areas foster a sense of unity and interconnectedness, as evidenced by their interlocking patterns and shared urban elements (see figure 14). this integration value is a testament to the souq's indispensable role within the community. the significance of the souq extends beyond its function as a marketplace. it serves as a vital hub that caters to the diverse needs of the local population, fulfilling various aspects of their daily lives. whether it's purchasing essential goods, engaging in commercial activities, or seeking social interactions, the souq seamlessly integrates into the neighbourhood's fabric, becoming an integral part of its structure. figure 14: view of the mutrah area showing the integration value (major & tannous, 2020). 8. the identity: the identity of souq mutrah has undergone some changes with the introduction of modern elements such as atms, but it has not lost its character as an omani traditional market. while some residents have concerns about the negative impact of the souq's development on their neighbourhood, they still use the souq as a gathering space, a place to meet their needs, and a place to trade and work. despite concerns about overcrowding, selling cheap mass goods, and the loss of omani identity, the souq's development has brought economic and social benefits to the area, which must be balanced with the needs of residents. according to manuela gutberlet, "mutrah consists of the multi-ethnic population (gutberlet, 2016)". it is a reflection of the vibrant cultural mosaic within the souq. this diversity is an integral part of mutrah's identity, highlighted by the array of stores and imported products available in the souq (figure 15). the rich diversity of cultures in oman is often attributed to the historical trade routes and the settlement of various tribes in the region. this unique blend of cultures is believed to have been shaped by the influx of different tribes and communities due to trade activities. in summary, while the identity of souq mutrah has undergone changes due to the introduction of modern elements, it has managed to preserve its traditional essence. the concerns expressed by residents regarding the souq's development should be addressed, considering the potential impact on overcrowding, commoditization, and cultural identity. however, it is important to recognize the positive economic and social contributions that the souq brings to the area. the diverse nature of mutrah's population and the multicultural offerings within the souq further emphasize its unique identity. finding a balance between development and preservation will ensure the continued success and sustainability of souq mutrah as a cherished cultural and economic landmark. al-habsi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 figure 15: imported souvenirs, displayed outside a shop at the entrance to souq mutrah (gutberlet, 2016). 9. the effect of souq development on the surrounding neighbourhood: the development of souq mutrah has brought about significant changes in the surrounding neighbourhood of allawatiyah. previously secluded with limited accessibility, the neighbourhood has now embraced a more open and welcoming atmosphere thanks to the expansion of the souq. while some residents have taken measures to protect their privacy and preserve their way of life, the souq remains a vital public space where locals can gather, trade, and work (gutberlet, 2016). the revitalized souq has emerged as a popular destination for people from around the globe, attracting a diverse range of visitors and reflecting the multicultural identity of mutrah. this increased interaction has fostered a greater sense of community among both residents and visitors (gutberlet, 2016). importantly, the development of the souq has not compromised the identity or character of the surrounding neighbourhood. the traditional architecture, cultural heritage, and historical buildings have been carefully preserved, and the souq coexists harmoniously with the neighbourhood. overall, the impact of the souq's development on the surrounding neighbourhood has been overwhelmingly positive. it has enhanced the neighbourhood's social sustainability by providing a space for community engagement and reinforcing a sense of place. the souq has breathed new life into the area while respecting and celebrating its existing cultural fabric. the ongoing integration between the souq and the neighbourhood contributes to the overall vibrancy and attractiveness of the community. figure 16: the exterior wall of sur al lawatiyah neighbourhood (photos by the author, 2022). main entrance to the neighborhood al-habsi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 10. conclusion the souq mutrah and surrounding neighbourhood of sur al-lawatiyah in muscat exemplify the resilience of historical districts in preserving their cultural heritage amidst the influences of globalization and trade. these areas have successfully maintained their unique character, architectural treasures, and cultural identity, serving as essential components of muscat's rich past. the development of souq mutrah has not only contributed to the social sustainability of the neighbourhood by fostering community cohesion and interaction, but it has also reinforced the local identity. by acting as a vibrant gathering space and a thriving trading hub, the souq has injected vitality into the community while respecting its residential nature. the seamless integration of the souq mutrah within the surrounding neighbourhood, its provision of essential goods and services, and its role as a social and cultural hub all contribute to its enduring significance and impact. this symbiotic relationship enhances the livability of the area, fosters a strong sense of identity among residents and visitors, and exemplifies the potential for sustainable urban development. sur al-lawatiyah, benefiting from its proximity to the souq mutrah, has embraced the advantages of being a secure and private residential community while actively engaging with the dynamic atmosphere emanating from the souq. as muscat continues to evolve, it is essential to strike a harmonious balance between modernization, economic growth, and the preservation of the city's distinctive character and cultural heritage. safeguarding the historic urban fabric, cultural treasures, and sustainable development in mutrah will ensure a thriving future for the city. moving forward, it is crucial to continue valuing and preserving the heritage and authenticity of the souq mutrah and its surrounding neighbourhood. by doing so, muscat can flourish as a multicultural city, attracting people from around the world, while serving as a model for sustainable urban development. this study makes a significant contribution by highlighting the social, cultural, and economic benefits of the souq mutrah's development. by embracing tradition alongside progress, the souq mutrah will continue to be a cherished symbol of muscat's remarkable history and promising future, perpetuating the city's legacy of sustainable growth. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval: not applicable. conflict of interest: not applicable. references al-belushi, m. 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(2016). neighbourhood built environments affecting social capital and social sustanability in seoul, korea. 1–22. how to cite/reference this paper: apa: al-habsi, f. social sustainability and globalization; a resilient quarter and suq mutrah in muscatoman. environmental science & sustainable development, 8(1), 10–25. https://doi.org/10.21625/essd.v8i1.961 acm: al-habsi, f. social sustainability and globalization; a resilient quarter and suq mutrah in muscatoman. environmental science & sustainable development. 8, 1, 10–24. doi:https://doi.org/10.21625/essd.v8i1.961. acs: al-habsi, f. social sustainability and globalization; a resilient quarter and suq mutrah in muscatoman. essd 8, 10-24. abnt: al-habsi, f. social sustainability and globalization; a resilient quarter and suq mutrah in muscat-oman. environmental science & sustainable development, [s. l.], v. 8, n. 1, p. 10–24,[s.d.]. doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i1.961. disponível em: https://press.ierek.com/index.php/essd/article/view/961. acesso em: 30 jun. 2023. chicago: al-habsi, fatma. n.d. “social sustainability and globalization; a resilient quarter and suq mutrah in muscat-oman”. environmental science & sustainable development 8 (1):10-24. accessed june 30, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21625/essd.v8i1.961. harvard: al-habsi, f. (no date) “social sustainability and globalization; a resilient quarter and suq mutrah in muscat-oman”, environmental science & sustainable development, 8(1), pp. 10–24. doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i1.961. ieee: f. al-habsi, “social sustainability and globalization; a resilient quarter and suq mutrah in muscatoman”, essd, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 10–24. mla: al-habsi, f. “social sustainability and globalization; a resilient quarter and suq mutrah in muscatoman”. environmental science & sustainable development, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 10-24, doi:10.21625/essd.v8i1.961. accessed 30 june 2023. turabian: al-habsi, fatma. “social sustainability and globalization; a resilient quarter and suq mutrah in muscatoman”. environmental science & sustainable development 8, no. 1 (n.d.): 10–24. accessed june 30, 2023. https://press.ierek.com/index.php/essd/article/view/961. vancouver: al-habsi f. social sustainability and globalization; a resilient quarter and suq mutrah in muscatoman. essd [internet]. [cited 2023 jun. 29];8(1):10-24. available from: https://press.ierek.com/index.php/essd/article/view/961 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i2.932 the design of a rural house in bushbuckridge, south africa: an open building interpretation wihan hendrikz a , amira osman b a researcher, architecture and industrial design, tshwane university of technology, pretoria, south africa; candidate architect, craig mcclenaghan architecture, johannesburg. bprofessor, architecture and industrial design, tshwane university of technology, pretoria, south africa; sarchi: dst/nrf/sacn research chair in spatial transformation: positive change in the built environment; director: platform 100. abstract this qualitative study argues that ongoing occupant involvement in housing design, construction, and maintenance processes leads to more appropriate buildings that can sustain their usefulness while undergoing change over time to adapt to dynamic user needs. this is demonstrated by the documentation of the design of a house in bushbuckridge, mpumalanga, south africa that uses open building (ob) principles so that the house adapts to the changing needs of the family and maintains its intergenerational value. this project centres on the occupant, not only at the outset with initial consultation but also throughout the lifetime of the project, as the house design is deliberately flexible and aims to allow many authors to participate in its future adaptations. based on this worldview, we use the following tools: a literature review on ob, an ob analysis of low-cost housing in general, and an analysis of the proposed design project. we compare low-cost housing projects using four ob principles: 1. how the project involves the occupant’s agency to build; 2. how the project separates its elements to facilitate this agency; 3. whether the project focuses on providing a housing product, or a housing process; and 4. how sustainably the delivered structure can accommodate the occupant’s current and future needs. the paper illustrates these ob principles in the design of a low-cost, rural house project in bushbuckridge to show that they also have value for the architecture at a small scale, and how a house can be designed to ensure that it adapts to the changing needs and creativity of the occupant. the paper concludes with the implications that ob principles have for the design process. the process no longer consists of a simple sequence that separated design and construction and ends with a housing product. rather, the design and construction focus on delivering a building process that the occupant can take ownership of, and sustain over the lifetime of the building. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords open building; architecture; rural house; bushbuckridge, south africa; 1. introduction south africans associate mass housing projects with the houses delivered through the post-apartheid outputs of the 1994 reconstruction and development programme (rdp) (moolla, kotze, & block, 2011). although these projects aim to house the homeless, they falter at addressing a fundamental divide in society: dignity (they are poor in quality and poorly located) and ownership (title deeds are often delayed and the method of delivery is exclusionary http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i2.932&domain=press.ierek.com wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 leading to reduced sense of participation and involvement). their greatest failure is their design. the houses are too rigid to evolve with the occupant’s needs and too poorly constructed to ensure intergenerational value. low-cost housing projects such as elemental’s half a good house (moore, 2016) and urban think tank’s empower shack (block, 2017) aim to involve the occupants in the completion of the unit. this goes some way to acknowledge the occupant’s agency to build and recognises at least some of the principles of open building (ob). ob principles were developed in response to the rigid, post-war housing developments that could not evolve to meet the changing needs of the occupants and their community. these principles focus on the occupant’s agency to build. central to these principles is separating the building into a long-term, infrastructural portion, and a shortterm, flexible portion. if we design houses with sufficient flexibility for the occupant to construct and change them to their future needs, we can sustain their usefulness and reduce the social and environmental impact of demolishing much-needed housing. to further clarify ob principles, we analyse three low-cost housing developments, each believed to be stepping closer to realising these principles. we then illustrate the use of ob principles in a single-house project for a family in rural bushbuckridge, mpumalanga, south africa and draw relevant implications for the design and construction process in the broader architectural context. 2. methodology this qualitative study documents a house design that uses ob principles to centre the current known and future unknown aspirations of the occupant in its design. it considers the house malleable and conceived by many makers, evolving to the changing needs of the users. we use a literature review on ob and low-cost housing projects, an analysis of the project site and its socio-economic context, developing a brief of the current and potential future needs of the family as possible scenarios, and a breakdown of the building elements based on ob. 3. open building: mass housing in post-war europe delivered the number of residential units needed but was considered too rigid to evolve with the needs of the occupants. these estates provided a series of typologies: an unmarried person, a small family, or the elderly. once the occupant’s situation changes by getting married or growing old, they had to move out of their current residence into a new type (habraken, 1972, p. 45). these units also failed to consider changing market demand and lifestyles. inevitably, as the needs of the occupants and communities changed, the rigidity of these buildings made them too costly for remodelling and developers had to demolish them to make room for new developments that met the new needs. all this is at a great environmental and social cost. in 1961, john habraken articulated a set of building principles for mass housing in dutch in de dragers en de mensen (1961), which was officially published in english in 1972 under the title supports (1972). his response to these monoliths gave rise to what we now call open building (ob) principles. his central argument is that mass housing disrupts the natural relationship between the occupant and their home. houses should be flexible enough to accommodate the occupant’s need to build to meet their current and future needs. many architects and theorists adopted and further developed these principles. we can summarise four key principles of ob as follows: 1. the occupant should build their space. to truly live in a place is to make it. ob affirms the occupant’s agency to build and rebuild their dwelling. habraken points out that we have a natural desire and a natural capacity to build. he advocated for occupants to take ownership of the houses and change them to reflect their individuality and needs. one of our strongest urges of is our desire for possession, a personal environment where we can do as we like (habraken, 1972, p. 15). possession is how we take our environment into ourselves and make it part of our identity. it is also how we project our identity on our environments and how we express ourselves through them. it is important that buildings respond to our need to build and rebuild our space. this is not wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 only true because different people might live in a place over its lifespan, but also because our needs change over the course of our lives. 2. ob separates building elements into levels depending on their lifespan and the competencies needed to work on each level (habraken, 1998, p. 22). we call this process disentanglement (kendall, 2016). long-term elements form part of the primary level that we construct from durable materials. short-term elements form part of the secondary level that requires less durability and technical competency. this separation allows different authors with different identities, needs, and economic situations to affect various levels of change throughout the building’s life. 3. the building is a process rather than an end-product. a building is not a product that the developer delivers to the occupant. we should see the building continually evolve as it engages with new occupants. rather than trying to predict all potential future forms that might suit its occupants, ob provides the occupant with a building framework. its focus shifts from providing a house product to providing a process by which a house can emerge and re-emerge (habraken, 1972). it develops an infrastructure around which it accommodates unpredictable and continuous rebuilding. 4. ob builds for the present and the future. ob provides infrastructure that is sufficiently flexible for present and future occupants. it should accommodate the lifestyles of households and the future form of households that occupy it without significant restructuring (kendall, 1999). constructing the primary structures with long-term flexibility reduces the need to demolish them when the economic and socio-economic climate of the occupant and community changes. 4. rdp, half a house, and the empowerment shack in this section, we draw on precedents to discuss the presence or absence of the above ob principles in low-cost housing projects. these projects are typical units delivered through south africa's rdp housing, elemental’s half a house, and urban-think tank’s empower shack. each of these projects recognises the first ob principle by aiming to accommodate the occupant’s building agency at some point or another, typically after constructing of a core structure. they rely on the occupant completing the construction of the house to increase the quality of the houses or serve a greater number of people. as expressed by elemental in chile, instead of producing a few complete houses, they build many half-houses. we will introduce each case study with its context and a short description of the building typology. in terms of the second ob principle, we discuss how each project organises the occupant’s territory between a primary (delivered) structure and a secondary structure (occupant’s construction) and how their design choices facilitate or limit the occupant’s building activity. the third principle focuses on the extent that the occupant is involved in the design process. this involvement contributes to focusing the project on being a housing process that the occupant can take ownership of and sustain versus focusing simply on providing a housing product. for the fourth principle, measuring the sustainability of an ob project lies in how well the delivered structure allows the occupant to develop and redefine their home before it must be adapted or demolished. we will discuss the extent of each project’s internal flexibility, the potential for expansion, and the extent to which the occupant can reuse the delivered materials. 5. rdp housing by the department of human settlement, braamfischerville, soweto, south africa, 1996. the south african government has implemented the reconstruction and development programme (rdp) since 1994. the programme deals with a matrix of infrastructural projects for human settlement such as water, electricity, sanitation, and housing developments, as well as financial subsidies for housing. for south africans, the most wellknown aspect of the programme is the rdp housing projects that deliver low-cost houses to people. rdp housing aims to bridge the property ownership gap left behind by the dispossession policies of colonialism and apartheid. local authorities appoint local contractors through a tendering process to construct the houses. rdp housing wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 focuses on providing a core structure that the occupant can expand on. the programme has delivered almost four million houses to people in its first twenty years (1994-2014) (nokulunga, didi, & clinton, 2018). the programme’s mandate is to provide as many houses as possible to fill the country’s housing shortage. to that end, its design strategy is to provide each household with a minimum structure that is inexpensive and easy to construct. 5.1. typology in the case of braamfischerville, typical of rdp houses elsewhere, the detached houses stand free on a plot of land which allows the occupant to expand their structure as they need, as well as grow crops or raise livestock. 6. delivered structure and occupant construction the delivered structure is a one-room house with a sink and an enclosed toilet (moolla, kotze, & block, 2011). there is no clear distinction between long-term and short-term spaces or elements. the project seems to operate on an internal, delivered structure and the surrounding plot for development. since these projects have had time to develop, we can study how occupants have made use of the project. figure 1 is a partial figure-ground of the braamfischerville project with 62 plots of land (each originally supplied with an rdp house) that indicates the delivered structure on its plot with iterations of attached and detached additions as well as new buildings built in their place. we can see that occupants build onto the delivered structure as well as boundary walls. most occupants (24) decided to build their additions completely detached from their rdp. occupants of only 16 rdp houses opted to build their additions attached to their rdp house (this number includes further additions detached from the rdp). in the cases where the occupants built new structures over their rdp house (as 15 occupants had), they do not seem to retain any traces of the delivered structure or its spatial logic. this seems to suggest that they reject, and perhaps demolish, the delivered structure when they can afford to upgrade the house. the remaining 7 occupants had made no additions or alterations to their rdp houses. figure 1: figure-ground of braamfischerville illustrating occupant construction. by author, 2022. 7. occupant’s opportunities and limitations there is little design or construction guidance for the occupant. the initial/starter unit, its shape and size as well as its placement on the site, does not offer any clues as to how the future additions or expansions could be. they may design and construct whatever spaces they need with whatever means they have available. the above figure-ground illustrates this diversity in the responses by owners and thus diversity in the form of the occupant-built structures. the fact that most built structures are detached from the core units probably implies complexity in connecting the wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 units either due to the limited skills of the occupants or due to some restrictions posed by the design of the core units and their placement on the sites. as successful as the rdp projects are in providing houses, there are significant issues with the quality and design of these houses. although it is important to know that the quality of the houses varies widely inside a community and between communities, the following two studies capture similar findings in two different communities, the first, in gauteng and the second in the eastern cape. in a study evaluating the residents’ satisfaction with their homes, 43.5% were dissatisfied with the delivered structure, which the researchers attributed to poor design and contractors attempting to minimise construction costs (moolla, kotze, & block, 2011). another study conducted in 2012 also revealed that approximately 95% of responding residents use their personal income to maintain the quality of their houses (zunguzane, smallwood, & emuze, 2012). this again points to poor construction that leads to the delivered structures rapidly deteriorating. occupants want to build, but they struggle to change these rigid houses and must use their resources to maintain a house that cannot respond to their needs. instead of being able to rely on the durability of the house, occupants must either build outside the provided structure or, if they have the means, demolish it to build a new house in its place. 8. occupant involvement in the design process there are no documented community engagement or participatory processes for housing development. local authorities construct the houses and allocate them to an occupant afterward. as such, the occupant is not involved in the design process of the delivered structure. 9. extent of flexibility the occupant can use the interior of their delivered house as they see fit. however, the size of the room limits to what extent it can be redefined or subdivided. all the walls that define the envelope are structural. this is the most obvious design problem that limits the occupant from effectively expanding their residential units. for the occupant to expand the house, they require additional support measures to make new openings that connect the original structure to a new addition or risk damaging the existing building. this presents an unnecessary obstacle to occupants. the walls of the rdp house are built of clay or cement bricks that are then plastered and painted. any changes to the delivered structure would lead to rubble that would be difficult to integrate into new additions, except for filling and levelling the ground to build over. as we see from the figure-ground above, most occupants built detached units on their plots and many occupants demolished their delivered house to build a new home. the design of the rdp restricts the possible expansion and redefinition of the delivered house. any expansion onto the delivered house requires adapting it and thus we should consider the rdp house as having a low level of sustainability. 9.1. half a house by elemental, iquique, chile, 2003. the project housed one hundred families who have been living on the site in informal structures for thirty years. the budget per unit was $7500 and afforded 30 square metres of living space (moore, 2016). elemental’s approach was to provide each family with “half a good house” to maximise the impact of the funding and expensive land costs. wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 2: elemental’s iquique development, chile. archdaily.com, 2016. 9.2. typology the project is a series of attached triple-storey houses. each house has one completed half and the rest of its space is primed for expansion. the completed half consists of a complete envelope, kitchen, and circulation to the entrance on the first floor. the overall structure of the houses guides the occupant to fill the gap between the houses. 9.3. delivered structure and occupant construction the delivered structure of the house consists of a three-storey block completed with plumbing and electricity. figure 3 illustrates the separation between the delivered structure (in blue) and where the occupant can expand into or adapt (in orange). the block consists of a cast concrete frame with concrete block infill to establish the envelope along with windows and doors. the concrete block infill allows the occupant to redefine their envelope with more or fewer apertures. the entrance to the unit is on the first floor with the ground floor unfinished. in between the units is a floor on the first storey that functions as a platform for expansion. wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 3: plan and elevation of half a house illustrating the delivered structure in blue and the intended additions and adaptations in orange. by author, 2022. along with the shared walls between the units, these elements form an indicative envelope and infrastructure that the occupant can fill in to expand their house. the occupant can immediately move into the delivered structure and in time develop the secondary structure as they need. from figures 3 and 4, we can see that the secondary structure is completely up to the occupant to design and construct. they may use whatever materials and technologies they have at their disposal. the simple geometry and uniformity of the delivered structure highlight each nuanced addition the occupant makes. figure 4: occupant infill construction at iquique. theguardian.com, 2016. 9.4. occupant opportunities and limitations the configuration of the delivered structure as a triple-storey building affords the units more living space on the expensive land. the void infill space between the units gives the occupant a clear guide on expanding their unit, especially as they can span structural elements between the units. wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 the triple-storey layout of the units limits the occupant’s definition of internal spaces. for example, an elderly person must either climb the stairs to enter the house or move to the isolated ground floor. as much as the delivered structure guides the occupant in constructing the secondary structure, it also functions as a boundary that stops further expansion. this being an urban site allows for the definition of external space and the creation of an urban block that has a strong urban presence. the residential unit becomes a part of a whole configuration, a building block of the city rather than an isolated element on the periphery of the city. concerning how flexible the delivered structure is to the occupant’s needs, iquique presents an improvement over rdp housing both in the quality of the construction as well as its guidance on expanding the house. occupants do not have to break through structural elements to expand their houses. the separation between the delivered and occupant structure is more three-dimensional than with rdp houses. however, when considering the whole house, the delivered structure is contained to one half, relying on the occupant to construct new structural elements to use the infill half. elemental’s villa verde project in constitución, chile, addresses the latter concern by including a roof and floor support beams in the incomplete portion of the house. this means that the occupant can simply complete the floor and fill in the envelope to define the spaces they need. figure 5: elemental's villa verde project, chile, with additional infrastructure over the incomplete half of the house. archdaily, 2016. 10. occupant involvement in the design process the distinct decision makers in the design of the house create distinct elements in the structure – a separation of levels (osman, 2022). one group of decision-makers, such as the architects and contractors, deliver the primary structure. the occupant along with local contractors form the second group of decision-makers who design and construct the secondary structure. extent of flexibility the occupant has the freedom to conceptualise the configuration and use of the interior spaces. the size of the houses makes them flexible for interior subdivision. the ‘half a house’ approach to the project gives the occupant sizable space to expand into. placing the entrance to the delivered structure on the side where the occupant would expand, ensures that there is already a connection between the original structure and its additions. however, this connection only exists on the first floor. should the occupant want to connect the original and new structure on other floors, or simply enlarge the original door-sized connection on the first floor, they must break through the delivered structure. the architect seems to have appreciated this eventuality as they constructed these walls from concrete infill blocks. if properly planned and executed, the occupant can reuse the removed concrete blocks in the additions or elsewhere to limit the construction waste. wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 empower shack by urban-think tank, khayelitsha, cape town, south africa, 2013. the empower shack aims to develop a methodology for upgrading informal settlement dwellings without the need to displace the residents. the house provides a core building with plumbing, electricity, and other regulatory features like firewalls. these walls help contain the spread of fires in settlements where the building density helps them spread and lead to large-scale devastation. local ngos fund the project with each empower shack running an average construction cost of r160 000 (block, 2017). the project is currently in its third phase with talks to include city funding in future phases of the development. typology the housing project aims to upgrade the existing footprint of the densely populated community. it also needs to provide economical means to distribute resources and mitigate the ever-present fire hazards of informal settlements. as such, urban think tank designed the units as double-storey rowhouses that shrink the layout needed for services compared to stand-alone units that are typical for the area. a firewall separates each unit to prevent the spread of fire. figure 6: phase three of urban think tank's empower shack prototype in khayelitsha, south africa. dezeen.com, 2017. delivered structure and occupant construction the empower shack delivers an immediately occupiable house to the residents. thus, the envelope and interior structure is already defined when the occupant arrives. the project allows the occupant flexibility by using soft materials (timber and sheet metal) and construction methods that are established in the community. it takes half a house’s approach with the infill cement blocks further into every element that defines the spaces. since all the elements are already delivered in the strict sense, figure 7 illustrates how the project separates the delivered structure into what the occupant would feasibly change (in orange) and the structure that limits change (in blue). wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 figure 7: elevation, section, and plan of the empower shack illustrating the hard structure in blue and the softer structure the occupant can readily adapt. by author, 2022. the delivered structure includes the foundations, the ground floor surfaced, firewalls made from concrete blocks, and the roof. along with these rigid elements, is also the internal first floor with a staircase made from timber. the construction also includes an initial secondary structure to fill in the envelope. these infill walls are made from a timber frame structure with sheet metal and polycarbonate cladding and include an entrance door and an openable window on the first floor. the occupant can further develop the interior of the unit with the materials and technologies at their disposal. timber construction is easier to manipulate compared to concrete or brick structures. occupants can redefine and build onto the envelope’s infill walls. wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 figure 8: ground floor interior of the empower shack. dezeen.com, 2017, figure 9: first floor interior of empower shack. architizer.com, 2017. occupant opportunities and limitations the infill and floor materials are within the construction culture of the area. these material choices make it easier for the occupant to redevelop the interior construction and envelope to suit their needs. the technical performance of the firewalls presents a clear boundary that the occupant should not interfere with, otherwise they would jeopardise its function. occupant involvement in the design process the project entered its third phase in 2018 and had gone through extensive prototyping and community engagement process in the form of traditional consultations and computer-based exercises to develop a three-dimensional integration strategy for space, resources, and micro-funding (low, 2018). extent of flexibility the empower shack allows the occupant to redefine the interior and façade of the building to a great extent because of the softness of the material and how these materials are already within the building culture of the community. the empower shack does not allow the occupant to expand the footprint of their house, even though the lightweight façade seems to be an obvious route to do so. expanding outward beyond the protection of the firewalls would risk their function and south africa’s fire safety regulations would not allow it (to the extent local authorities enforce them). similar to elemental’s approach, this also allows the houses in unison to have an urban presence and street edge. there would be no foreseeable expansion sideways either as the concrete block walls divide the units and their ownership. the softness of the materials and their presence in the building culture ensures that the occupant can reuse the timber and corrugated sheet metal without much effort. reflecting on the case studies presented in rdp housing, the occupant is provided with a core structure on a plot of land. they can build onto the provided structure or freely on their plot. there seems to be no separation in the building spaces or elements. the project is focusses on providing a housing product upon which the occupant can improve. however, occupants seem to struggle with the rigidity of the core structure as most additions are detached from the core structure. half a house provides the occupant with one-half of a rowhouse with the infrastructure to fill in the other half. the configuration of the houses gives the occupant clear guidance in expanding their houses. although the separation seems more three-dimensional, by including the ground floor as an in-fill space, it still separates spaces rather than separating building elements. the project provides a finished product to the occupant that they can then build onto. wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 the empower shack provides a similar row-house approach as half a house, however, the envelope is fully defined. the project separates building elements by using soft materials (timber and sheet metal) for internal floors and envelope walls. there seems to be greater flexibility for the occupant to redefine the interior spaces and exterior envelope. through its community workshops, use of local construction culture, and disentangling the building elements, the project seems to provide a building process, rather than a building product. empower shack seems to align closest with the identified ob principles. towards ob in low-cost housing each of these examples gives the occupant agency in building their spaces to a greater or lesser extent. in doing so, they respond to the rigid nature of mass housing projects that are used as emergency measures to house people. when considering the houses themselves, the projects divide the house into a delivered structure that is provided as a product to the occupant and the secondary structure that the occupant defines from scratch or builds into the delivered structure. in ob, the separation of a delivered (primary) structure and an occupant (secondary) structure is more fine-grained than what we have observed from the precedents. the disentanglement is more three-dimensional and separates building elements and services. another observation from these low-cost projects is that for buildings to respond to the occupant’s agency, the occupant must be able to adapt them with whatever means they have available. in urban, industrialised communities, we have a diverse selection of materials and elements to choose from. we can exercise discretion to ensure their sourcing and production mitigate the building’s strain on our environment. as these elements need maintenance or we develop better ones, we have the expertise on hand to fix or upgrade them. in a rural setting, we have a limited selection of building elements and materials. there must be a relationship between the materials and technologies used to construct the primary and secondary levels of the house and the materials and technologies available in the local area. this factor limits the potential use of prefabricated building elements to whatever is already within the local construction culture. sustainable building culture in rural ob projects relies on responding to existing building practices and materials. in principle, ob attends first to how we coordinate building elements and is less prescriptive of how we make these elements or how we source them. the occupant needs flexibility in what elements and materials they can use to accommodate varying availability. bushbuckridge house, bushbuckridge, south africa bushbuckridge is an experimental project designed by amira osman at the tshwane university of technology as part of a community engagement project, that aims to develop low-cost housing at a small-scale using ob principles. although the project is for a low-cost, standalone house, the family asked that it must steer away from the image of conventional low-cost designs such as rdp housing. the project uses the four ob principles as design strategies. first, it centres the occupant in the design and construction process. secondly, it disentangles the house at the building element level to increase its flexibility of the house and allow different authors to work on separate elements of the house. this strategy also ensures the house’s durability by spending enough resources on important structural elements and services. the third principle ensures that the occupant’s involvement in its design and construction provides the occupant with a housing process. the last principle ensures that the occupant can use the flexibility of the house to continually sustain their needs. bushbuckridge and family bushbuckridge is a rural community situated in mpumalanga, south africa. it is a low-income community where 46% of its citizens are unemployed and nearly half of its population dependent on the government for grant support (bushbuckridge local municipality, 2021, pp. 33-34). bushbuckridge has distinct developments along its ridges, each with a different socio-economic architecture, ranging from middle-income brick houses, lower-income cement block houses, corrugated metal houses, and traditional houses. the project is situated in a lower-income section of the community. the family requires a house that accommodates all its current members, but it will soon change as some younger members move out. the house must be flexible to allow future changes in the family structure. wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 typology the bushbuckridge project is a standalone house, like rdp housing developments, except it has only one iteration. it also differs from most ob projects by being a single, standalone house whereas most of ob’s principles were developed for large-scale, attached, multi-unit housing. the aim of this design is to ensure that the occupants have a great level of agency in constructing and reconstructing the house. delivered structure and occupant construction the design employs two levels of competency, the primary and secondary levels, whose design and construction will be dealt with independently. the primary structure (figures 10 and 11) supports the house and supplies its basic infrastructure. an institution funds the primary structure while professionals build it to ensure quality workmanship. the secondary structure is easier for the occupant to construct and manipulate as their needs and economic circumstances change. the load-bearing structure of the house has the greatest lifespan and requires the greatest technical competency, whereas the envelope and other space-defining elements need shorter lifespans as we can foresee them changing with time (kendall, 1996). they need less technical competency from the occupant and allow for greater creativity in definition, materiality, and construction. the building elements in the primary level include the foundations; floors; structural walls – including their doors and windows; the roof; and basic plumbing – such as toilets, basins, and showers; as well as the infrastructure needed to run these facilities, such the solar geysers. the plumbing forms part of the primary level for this project as having it completed to high technical standard benefits the longer lifespan of the house. the materials in the primary level include concrete for the foundations and floors; cement blocks, plaster, and paint for the walls; timber, sheet metal, and insulation for the roof; as well as building elements like doors and windows. along with these, services such as plumbing and water reticulation, electricity reticulation, and water heating are also part of the primary structure. these services must be easily accessible yet positioned to not prohibit foreseeable changes in the house. figure 10: primary level (blue) completed. by author, 2022. wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 figure 11: primary level: section through the bathroom. by author, 2022. the secondary level (figure 12) deals with the rest of the space-defining elements of the architecture that the family and local builders will design and construct with assistance from the architect. these are the room-defining elements of the building that were not part of the primary phase including the non-structural walls and their doors and windows; the connecting passages – that unify the three buildings into what can function as one house; the privacy screens; and the necessary landscape infrastructure. the materiality of the secondary level can be more diverse as they do not serve structural purposes. it can more closely reflect the local materiality and include creative uses of natural and inexpensive materials. figure 12: secondary level (orange) completed. by author, 2022. occupant opportunities and limitations: the layout of the house is detached into three buildings that are connected by an inner courtyard. this configuration allows the occupant to define multiple internal layouts to suit their needs as they are and as they change. the first iteration is a single-family home with four bedrooms (figure 13). the second iteration is a family home with two bedrooms and a separate structure with one bedroom for a tenant (figure 14). the third iteration has three separate dwellings which may function independently (figure 15). the family can reconfigure the house to suit their needs to a great extent before needing to extend the footprint of the house. wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 figure 13: scenario 1: one house with four bedrooms. by author, 2022. figure 14: scenario 2: one main house with two bedrooms and one rental unit. by author, 2022. figure 15: scenario 3: three independent houses. by author, 2022. should the occupant need to expand the footprint of the house, its detached layout gives them space to do so. defining the outer long walls as a secondary structure means that the occupant needs not to work through structural walls as is the case with rdp houses. wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 occupant involvement in the design process the bushbuckridge project differs from most housing developments in that the project has an intended occupant. the family is involved in a typical client-architect consultation process as with most architectural projects. this consultation process helps the architect develop a brief of what the occupant’s current needs are and how these needs could foreseeably change. along with professional experience and insight, the architect develops the primary structure. the primary structure should provide a decent infrastructure that would serve the family as well as allow for a great deal of flexibility to the secondary structure. after building the primary structure, the occupant cannot yet occupy the house as it lacks a complete envelope and space-defining elements. the occupant leads the design process in completing the house, where the architect takes on a facilitating and consulting role. completing the secondary structure is the first milestone in a liveable home. including the occupant at the primary level and handing over the design lead to them during the design and construction of the secondary level, helps the occupant take possession of the house as they have been involved in key decisions from its inception. the house is not a product they receive, but a familiar process they have helped initiate. extent of flexibility the bushbuckridge project allows the occupant to redefine the use of the house to a lesser extent by allocating certain uses to different spaces, and to a greater extent by reworking the secondary structure. the secondary structure allows the occupant to replace the material of the façade walls, its detailing, and its apertures. they can make the screen walls solid and remove internal walls to redefine the sizes of the rooms. the exterior walls that define the secondary structure allow for outward expansion of the house, whereas the detached configuration of the buildings ensures sufficient room for expansion while maintaining open spaces in between. separating the primary and secondary structures along building elements, rather than spaces, gives the occupant greater flexibility in how they want to define their spaces with materials, detailing, and openings. however, there are still a few limitations to the design. the primary structure serves as a limitation to the expansion in two cases. first, the roof height and angle, which stem from cost limitations, require consideration if there is extensive expansion against its lower end. the second case regards east and west expansion through the primary structure if this becomes necessary. this issue can be addressed in a similar way that elemental had in half a house by providing portions of secondary structure that the occupant can replace with doors or openings. although the project does not specify materials for the secondary structure, as the occupant would lead this design process, we can learn from the empower shack, in how it develops building elements from materials within the existing construction culture and in a manner that these materials can be disassembled and redefined for future uses. design process implications: the design process of an ob project differs from a typical design process as there can be multiple, sequential design-construction cycles in making the building. a typical, entangled, design process includes an occupant that the architect may consult. it usually involves a long design process where the architect determines the occupant’s needs, funding, and regulatory constraints and designs the building layout, spatial design for each room, material detailing, and furnishing. the design process concludes with the occupant’s approval of the design and the start of construction. during construction, there may be minor adjustments to the design, but the architect has made all the important design decisions. the occupant receives the building as a finished product. as the typical process relies on giving form to the occupant’s needs (habraken, 1972), it becomes increasingly challenging to design good housing in developments where there is no occupant. the architect has no one to consult to determine their needs and must rely on an abstracted version of 'the occupant' and define a reasonable form that 'the occupant' can inhabit. this abstracted process is what gave rise to unsustainable mass housing. wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 ob provides a differentiation and disentanglement of levels of the built environment as a solution addressing the absence of an occupant from the initial design decision-making process. its aim is not in providing a complete product, but an infrastructure within which, the occupant, when they arrive on the scene, may design and construct their space as they see fit – or alternatively, to provide elements and building components that may be adapted and changed at occupation. figure 16: comparison between entangled and disentangled design processes. by author, 2022. in bushbuckridge, the design process occurs on each level. the architect adopts ob principles along with the family’s input to design the primary level. this ensures that the building is suitable for the family but also flexible for the next level. once we have built this level, the architect and the family embark on another, the more detailed design process for the secondary level. by disentangling the building into levels, we can distribute the design process over a longer time. we can defer important design decisions to a later level. this can be useful where the architect does not have a full image of the occupant’s needs and it would be better to make these decisions when the occupant is on site. not only does this process allow the family to give more creative design input, they can also inhabit the primary level to make more meaningful design decisions in the space, as opposed to making all the decisions on paper, before construction. drawing out the design process and involving the occupant as a leading decision-maker improves the design decisions made in ensuring the building is suitable, flexible, and sustainable by the occupant. conclusions this paper argues that we can use ob principles to improve the sustainability of low-cost housing projects by ensuring they maintain their usefulness as the family’s context and needs change. we set out four relevant ob principles: the occupant should build their space; we should separate building elements into levels based on their lifespans and needed competencies; the building should be a process, rather than an end-product; and buildings should be sustainable by responding to future, unknowable needs. these aspects all contribute to the occupant taking ownership of the house as a process (versus a product) and being able to adapt it to their changing needs. in the three low-cost housing case studies we found that the rdp housing aligned the least with the ob principles. occupants seem to find it difficult to work with the rigid delivered structure and as such, is the least sustainable approach. half a house took a more three-dimensional approach to disentangle the spaces for occupants to build into. this aligns closer to ob principles and would seem to improve the extent to which the occupant can sustain the delivered structure as their need for different spaces changes. empower shack aligned the closest to ob principles. it separated the building elements into a rigid structure and space-defining elements the occupant can readily change. the project focuses on providing a building process that the occupant can sustain. we illustrated the use of the four ob principles in the bushbuckridge project to illustrate that they are not only applicable to large-scale, low-cost developments. it showed how we can disentangle a standalone house to ensure wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 18 that it can adapt to the changing needs of the family. the primary structure of the house receives the necessary investment to ensure a long-lasting structure and well-functioning services. ob disentanglement is beneficial to the design process, which is no longer a simple, linear sequence leading to construction and concluding in an architectural product. this is typically an issue in mass housing projects where the architect cannot consult an occupant to understand their needs. in ob, we can defer critical design decisions that require consulting a user/occupant/owner to when they arrive on the scene. the architect can develop the primary elements for the housing and the occupant can design and construct the infill based on their current needs on occupation and reconstruct and adapt this as their needs change. by using ob principles, we can develop housing projects as sustainable processes as opposed to static products. we can develop a framework for the building that is flexible and disentangled enough to accommodate the unknowable needs of the occupant. the occupant’s later involvement in the design and construction of the space-defining structure embeds their thinking and practices into the house. they take ownership of a familiar home. references block, i. (2017, december 28). urban-think tank develops low-cost housing for south african slum. retrieved from dezeen: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/12/28/empower-shack-urban-think-tank-low-cost-housing-khayelitsha-south-africa/ bushbuckridge local municipality. (2021, february). bushbuckridge local municipality final integrated development planning 2020/21. retrieved 04 09, 2022, from https://www.cogta.gov.za/cgta_2016/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/bushbuckridge-municipality.pdf habraken, n. j. (1961). de dragers en de mensen. amsterdam: scheltema & holkema. habraken, n. j. (1972). supports: an alternative to mass housing. new york: praeger. habraken, n. j. (1998). the structure of the ordinary: form and control in the built environment. cambridge: mit press. kendall, s. (1996). disentangling parts, disentangling parties: an open systems approach to building renovation. support/infill housing and open building: papers on principles and practice, 89-95. kendall, s. 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(2016, april 10). alejandro aravena: the shape of things to. retrieved from the guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/apr/10/architect-alejandro-aravena-pritzker-prize-elemental-housing-iquique-constituciontsunami-defences nokulunga, m., didi, t., & clinton, a. (2018). challenges of reconstruction and development program (rdp) houses in south africa. international conference on industrial engineering and operations management (pp. 1695-1702). washinton dc: ieom society international. osman, a. (2022). open building in the global south. in s. h. kendall, residential architecture as infrastructure (pp. 136-174). new york: routledge. zunguzane, n., smallwood, j., & emuze, f. (2012). perceptions of the quality of low-income houses in south africa: defects and their causes. acta structilia, 19(1), 19-38. figures figure 1: figure-ground of braamfischerville illustrating occupant construction. by author, 2022. figure 2: elemental’s iquique development, chile. archdaily.com, 2016. available from: https://www.archdaily.com/797779/half-a-housebuilds-a-whole-community-elementals-controversial-social-housing/580897bbe58ece3c6600018e-half-a-house-builds-a-whole-communityelementals-controversial-social-housing-image accessed on: 2022/08/25. figure 3: plan and elevation of half a house illustrating the delivered structure in blue and the intended additions and adaptations in orange. by author, 2022. figure 4: occupant infill construction at iquique. theguardian.com, 2016. available from: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/apr/10/architect-alejandro-aravena-pritzker-prize-elemental-housing-iquique-constituciontsunami-defences accessed on: 2022/08/25. figure 5: elemental's villa verde project, chile, with additional infrastructure over the incomplete half of the house. archdaily, 2016. available from: https://www.archdaily.com/797779/half-a-house-builds-a-whole-community-elementals-controversial-socialhousing/580897e4e58ece68aa0002dd-half-a-house-builds-a-whole-community-elementals-controversial-social-housing-image accessed on: 2022/08/25. wihan hendrikz, amira osman/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 19 figure 6: phase three of urban think tank's empower shack prototype in khayelitsha, south africa. dezeen.com, 2017. available from: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/12/28/empower-shack-urban-think-tank-low-cost-housing-khayelitsha-south-africa/ accessed on: 2022/08/25. figure 7: elevation, section and plan of the empower shack illustrating the hard structure in blue and the softer structure the occupant can readily adapt. by author, 2022. figure 8: ground floor interior of the empower shack. dezeen.com, 2017. available from: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/12/28/empowershack-urban-think-tank-low-cost-housing-khayelitsha-south-africa/ accessed on: 2022/08/26. figure 9: first floor interior of empower shack. architizer.com, 2017. available from: https://architizer.com/projects/empower-shack/ accessed on: 2022/08/26. figure 10: primary level (blue) completed. by author, 2022. figure 11: primary level: section through the bathroom. by author, 2022. figure 12: secondary level (orange) completed. by author, 2022. figure 13: scenario 1: one house with four bedrooms. by author, 2022. figure 14: scenario 2: one main house with two bedrooms and one rental unit. by author, 2022. figure 15: scenario 3: three independent houses. by author, 2022. figure 16: comparison between entangled and disentangled design processes. by author, 2022. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 48 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i2.837 towards a comprehensive climate adaptation framework for india’s port infrastructure and operations: lessons from global best practices pushp bajaj1, chime youdon 1 1 national maritime foundation, new delhi, india abstract the ever-growing impacts of climate change such as extreme heat, more frequent heavy precipitation events, intensifying tropical revolving storms, and sea level rise continue to pose major threats to india’s critical maritime infrastructure. as the country moves towards its ambition of becoming a leading blue economy of the world, a wide range of initiatives have been taken by the central and state governments to expand the maritime sector with a specific focus on the transport sector. however, there is little emphasis being paid on protecting the existing and planned seaport infrastructure against the deleterious impacts of climate change. none of the major ports in india have a dedicated climate action strategy and climate adaptation finds no mention in the policy documents pertaining to the maritime transport sector. in this context, this paper aims to highlight the need for a comprehensive, holistic and dynamic climate change adaptation strategy for india’s port infrastructure including support infrastructure and supply chains. the adaptation strategy, at the individual ports’ level and the national level, must be preceded by rigorous risk assessment studies to identify and prioritise the major challenges arising from climate change at the local level. the paper draws upon international best practices in climate risk assessments and adaptation measures to provide a way forward for indian ports. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords climate risk; climate adaptation; resilience; maritime sector; ports; shipping. 1. introduction coastal areas around the world are among the most vulnerable geographical areas to climate change. in addition to the generic impacts such as rising temperatures, extreme heatwaves, erratic rainfall patterns, etc., that are common to all land areas, coastal areas are exposed to two more dramatic impacts of climate change: a) sea level rise and b) increasingly frequent and intense tropical revolving storms (fuchs, 2010; williams, 2013; ranasingha & jongejan, 2018; kulp & strauss, 2019). they are typically also densely populated, primarily due to the myriad economic opportunities that are afforded simply by being in the vicinity of the ocean and having access to the rich marine resources. approximately 40 percent of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometers (km) of the coast. coastal zones around the world are also experiencing the fastest rates of urbanization and growth and undergoing remarkable socio-economic and environmental transformations in the process. as a result, even more people are moving to coastal areas from the hinterland to take advantage of the growth trends. http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i2.837&domain=press.ierek.com bajaj / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 49 in recent years, india, recognizing the immense potential of its maritime space, has launched a slew of measures to expand and enhance the maritime sectors of the economy and facilitate the transition from a ‘brown economy’ to a ‘blue economy’. the latest and most comprehensive development plan, in this regard, is the maritime india vision 2030 (miv-2030), launched by the prime minister in march 2021 on the inaugural day of the maritime india summit 2021 (mopsw, 2021). under the aegis of the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways (mopsw), the port-led development model outlined in the miv-2030 is focused on building world-class greenfield ports, creating ‘smart ports’ and modernizing existing ports, reducing logistics by enhancing land-connectivity, promoting port-led industrialization and public-private partnerships. over 150 initiatives have been identified so far under the 10-year plan which is expected to generate over inr 3 trillion in investment and 2 million new jobs. the plan also lays emphasis on building a sustainable and green maritime sector by increasing the use of renewable energy at ports, improving air quality at ports, reducing water consumption and improving health and safety standards. notably, no explicit targets for reduction of greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions have been defined yet. similarly, no mechanisms have been mentioned to calculate the life-cycle ghg emissions of the greenfield ports that will be constructed. nonetheless, the commitment towards improving energy efficiency and increasing renewable energy usage in the vision document denotes a significant step towards a sustainable transition. even though the motivation for sustainability measures such as improving efficiency and using technology may be rooted in the economics, to save on fuel costs and time, they could, in principle, be considered a part of the climate change mitigation strategy. however, there are no plans in this port-led development model to adapt to the impacts of climate change that have already occurred or those that are projected to occur in the nearand long-term future. currently, while almost all indian ports have extensive ‘disaster management strategies’ for natural disasters such as earthquakes, cyclones, floods, fires, etc., these disaster management strategies do not account for the ongoing changes that are occurring in the frequency, intensity, and behavior of these disasters due to climate change. none of the major indian ports have a dedicated ‘climate change adaptation’ strategy. this is, in fact, a common theme across most coastal states in the world, there is little emphasis on enhancing the resilience of the ports and shipping infrastructure and the critical supply chains to the impacts of climate change compared to the emphasis given to climate change mitigation by reducing carbon emissions from ports and shipping. as discussed in detail in the next section, everything from rising temperatures to flash floods to sea level rise and more frequent cyclones, will adversely impact port infrastructure and the personnel which could seriously hamper the ability of the ports to carry out their operations and meet their targets. this would, at best, result in frequent localized, short-term economic losses and, at worst, lead to increasing instances of shutdowns of one or more ports for weeks or even months causing crippling damage to the country’s economy. currently, india has 12 major ports (see figure 1), that are managed by the mopsw of the central government, and 205 minor ports, that are managed by the state governments of the states in which the port is located (mopsw, n.d.). india’s maritime transport sector accounts for 95 percent of the country’s total trade by volume corresponding to 70 percent of total trade by value. the absolute volume of trade is expected to continue to grow significantly under the miv-2030, in fact, capacity augmentation for maritime trade is one of the core objectives of miv-2030. of course, trade forms a significant portion of the indian economy. in 2020, india’s trade-to-gdp ratio was 36.47 percent; at its highest point, in 2012, the trade-to-gdp ratio was 55.79 percent (macrotrends, n.d.). in order to ensure the long-term security and sustainability of its maritime transport sector, india must make its ports ‘future-ready’ by making them ‘climate-resilient’. this paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the steps and guidelines that need to be followed to develop an exhaustive climate adaptation strategy for seaports in india, based on a discussion of international best practices. to set the context, section 2.1 highlights the observed and projected impacts of climate change on indian ports and the urgent need for an adaptation strategy. of course, the first essential step towards climate adaptation and building climate resilience is a robust ‘risk assessment’ which must include a study of the climate hazards to a particular region and type of infrastructure, the ways in which the region and infrastructure are exposed to those hazards, and the degree of damage that could potentially be caused by those hazards. section 2.2 discusses these elements and how they may be determined, through a review of risk assessment frameworks that have been utilised in recent years. section 3 provides an overview of the current and proposed adaptation measures by ports around the world to enhance their bajaj / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 50 resilience to the impacts of climate change. section 4 provides a way forward for indian ports and analyzes how these best practices can be molded-to and utilized-in the indian context. finally, the main conclusions of the paper are collated in section 5. figure 1: location of india’s 12 major seaports. 2. literature review 2.1. impact of climate change on indian ports before assessing the impacts of climate change on ports, it is critical to realize that the influence and interlinkages of ports extend well beyond their physical location. the road and railway networks in the hinterland are just as important for port operations as the maritime shipping network. industries, small businesses, and local communities, in faraway regions in the hinterland are dependent on the efficient functioning of the ports for their own operations. several port infrastructure assets, including the support infrastructure and supply chains, and human personnel, are vulnerable to climate-change-induced events such as sea level rise and climate-change-altered events such as extreme precipitation, tropical revolving storms, storm surges, and heatwaves. flooding due to extreme precipitation or after a cyclone could cause damage to radio and radar equipment, storage facilities, and inundate inland road and rail networks resulting in delay in operations. high speed winds during cyclones could affect loading/unloading crane operations and cause damage to communication and navigation equipment, in addition to generic damage to buildings and warehouses. in many cases, ports halt all operations during cyclonic storms, particularly during severe cyclonic bajaj / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 51 storms, to minimize damage. however, with more frequent and intense cyclones being predicted in the indian ocean due to climate change, the average annual economic loss caused by direct infrastructure damage or due to operational downtime, will likely increase in the coming decades. frequent and more extreme heatwaves and overall increase in high-temperature days could lead to significant increase in energy consumption of cold storage equipment and refrigerated containers, as also for air conditioning of office buildings. additionally, sustained periods of extreme heat could lead to damage to road and rail infrastructure and affect the health and productivity of human personnel due to harsher working conditions. in may 2021, when cyclone tauktae (which made landfall as an extremely severe cyclonic storm) hit the west coast of india, it caused significant disruptions in operations at the jawaharlal nehru port trust (jnpt) in navi mumbai in maharashtra. the jnpt is one of the youngest ports and the top container port in india. the port has a 39.54 km long main harbor channel with a draught of 14 km. the container traffic at jnpt constitutes about 50 percent of total container traffic handled by all the indian major ports (around 9 million teus) (jnpt, n.d.; parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture, 2018). following standard protocols, the port took preventive measures by evacuating most port areas before tauktae made landfall. only the control rooms at the ports were kept active for monitoring purposes for three days (15 to 17 may 2021). many vessels which were scheduled to route through the west coast were called off from berthing. jnpt has four dry port or dry dock sites in wardha, jalna, nasik and sangli that facilitate cargo aggregation in the hinterland away from the port; the roadblocks and cancellation of railway lines during the cyclone led to significant delays for shipping lines. overall, suspending all the operations at the jnpt resulted in congestion at the port and severely affected the supply chain. other non-major ports in the areas hit by tauktae were affected even more badly and operations were suspended for several weeks (shah, 2021). this setback, of course, added to the losses incurred due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic which had already caused a slow-down in port operations and disrupted supply chains due to labor shortages and force majeure during the global travel restrictions. additionally, more erratic and extreme monsoon rains and strong winds, due to climate change, are becoming an annual nuisance for the city of mumbai and the state of maharashtra, in general. frequent, heavy monsoonal flooding also affects port operations. in 2020, during a record-setting monsoon season, mumbai recorded a total rainfall of over 1,240 mm in the month of august, which was more than double the average rainfall of 585 mm for that month (pinto, 2020). in the same month, three high-capacity cranes deployed at the jnpt collapsed due to heavy rains and strong winds. however, no injuries or casualties were reported since operations were already halted, and personnel evacuated due to bad weather (nayak, 2020). the year before that, 2019 also broke several records for monsoon rainfall in mumbai (gupta, 2019). such events are expected to become more common all along the west coast as climate change continues unmitigated. in october 2014, cyclone hudhud hit the coast near visakhapatnam as an extremely severe cyclonic storm (escs) with a wind speed of 175 km/h, causing extensive damage to the city and its neighboring districts. hudhud was one of the two strongest tropical cyclones of 2014 within the bay of bengal (cheela et al, 2014). over 250,000 people were affected, and the city of visakhapatnam suffered billions in damages. within a few hours of hitting the coast, the cyclone caused significant impacts on the naval dockyard, vizag steel plant, hindustan petroleum limited, and other critical assets. an estimated four hundred boats conducting fishing and related activities were damaged and seventy-two were sunk without trace; thirty-eight trains were cancelled on 12 october 2014 (pti, 2014). around 2,250 km of roads were damaged, and the total loss incurred by the local industries was estimated to be around inr 100 billion. the indian navy suffered economic losses of around inr 20 billion. the estimated damages faced by the visakhapatnam port trust was around inr 3 billion (singh, 2016). several port services remained on hold even days after the cyclone. the damages to the road and railway infrastructure caused significant hindrance to the movement of trucks to the port, vital internet services remained unavailable, and consequent supply-chain disruptions posed considerable delays in providing essential services. these are just a few of the recorded examples of the ways in climate-change-related events are adversely affecting the port infrastructure and operations in india. unfortunately, the true extent of the damages caused by climatic events to indian ports cannot be accurately estimated due to the lack of robust data collection, monitoring and reporting in bajaj / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 52 the public domain. lack of data records is, in fact, one of the major challenges in the efforts to analyse and create awareness about these impacts and the growing trends. according to the 2020 climate change assessment report of the ministry of earth sciences of the government of india, there has been a significant increase in the number of heavy precipitation events and severe cyclonic storms over india since 1950 (krishnan et al, 2020). the climatemodels-based projections suggest that frequency and intensity of these events are expected to continue to increase throughout the 21st century primarily driven by the warming of the atrmosphere and the ocean which is creating favorable conditions for heavy precipitation events and rapid intensification of tropical cyclones (sarthi et al, 2014). 2.2. dimensions of climate risk the first and most critical step towards any climate adaptation strategy or policy is a comprehensive ‘climate risk assessment’. in the present context, the term ‘climate risk’ corresponds to risks or threats, arising as a result of contemporary anthropogenic climate change, to human lives, livelihoods, infrastructure and operations, and natural ecosystems and resources. this definition becomes more and more specific as the scope is narrowed down either in terms of the stakeholders or the specific impacts of climate change or a specific timeline. the fifth assessment report (ar5) of the un ipcc, released in 2014, laid great emphasis on and attempted to quantify the concept of ‘risk’ which is crucial for making decisions with respect to managing the effects of climate change (ipcc, 2014). the report described the risk posed by climate change as a combination of ‘hazard’, ‘vulnerability’, and ‘exposure’. wherein, hazard corresponds to a singular event or a changing trend that could have an adverse impact, exposure corresponds to the elements (people, infrastructure, livelihoods, ecosystems, etc.) that may be exposed to the adverse impacts of the aforementioned hazard(s), and vulnerability corresponds to the degree to which the adverse impacts can cause damage and the lack of capacity to cope with those damages. almost all climate risk assessment frameworks follow essentially the same general approach to measuring risk, however, they may use different terminologies and they may have different methods to quantify hazards, exposures, and vulnerabilities (scott et al, 2013; becker et al, 2018). while global scientific analyses, such as those published by the un ipcc, provide a broad overview of the major threats arising from climate change at the global scale, what are more relevant for policy-making are the national and local level manifestations of these threats. all three of these factors and the resultant climate risk vary widely across temporal and spatial scales and depend on a wide range of social, economic, demographic, geographic, cultural, institutional, political, and environmental parameters. these parameters are typically not easily quantifiable. even if they are quantifiable, they may not be recorded frequently and accurately enough to provide robust insights. this makes rigorous, quantitative climate risk assessment an extremely challenging problem. the task becomes even more difficult when analyzing future climate risks, several decades or even a century into the future, where the number of possible scenarios-of and uncertaintiesin climate hazards, exposures, and vulnerabilities, grow exponentially (wilby et al, 2009; dickson et al, 2012). therefore, in many cases, climate risk assessments, instead, rely heavily upon the stakeholders’ ‘perceptions’ of risk that are typically recorded through a series of surveys/ interviews which are then transformed to a numerical index or to risk-categories to facilitate comparative analysis. in the context of seaports, climate change risk assessments and adaptation planning are relatively novel areas of research. most of the literature in the area has come out in the last one to two decades, a majority of that has emerged from the more developed parts of the world (becker et al, 2012). in an attempt to fill the gaps in data and information availability for risk assessments and adaptation planning, asariotis et al (2017), under the aegis of the united nations conference on trade and development (unctad) secretariat, conducted a comprehensive online survey of stakeholders in the port-industry to understand the impacts of climate change and weather-related events on the ports around the world. a total of 44 ports (73 percent of which were located in developed countries), from 29 countries, participated in the survey which comprised questions related to the profile of the port, the history of climate and weather-related events that impacts the ports, the availability of information for a vulnerability assessment, and the level of preparedness. about 70 percent of the ports that participated reported that they had been impacted by climate or weather-related events in the past, in terms of operations and delays, and some of them also experienced physical damage to infrastructure. a significant number of them indicated that future infrastructure investment plans would consider weather/climate-related factors, however, this result should be interpreted with the caveat that most of the bajaj / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 53 ports that were surveyed were located in developed countries which are better equipped financially and better informed than the developing and least-developed countries. the survey also found that there is a significant lack of data availability in terms of local-level future projections of climatic changes and the port operational and infrastructure design parameters which would play a critical role in adaptation planning. while the global-level studies/ surveys such as those conducted by unctad provide critical insights into the broader issues and an international perspective, more nuanced risk assessment studies with nationaland local-level details are necessary to inform adaptation decisions for individual ports. nursey-bray et al (2013), conducted a nationallevel climate vulnerability assessment of ports in australia, through a systematic literature analysis and two stakeholder workshops. the authors followed the ipcc-prescribed definition of ‘vulnerability’ and focused on determining “(1) real or potential [climate change] impacts on the system [the port ecosystem]; (2) the systems’ ability to cope and adapt to these impacts; and (3) the extent to which coping capacity may be constrained by environmental or societal conditions.” the participants in the workshops comprised ports managers, workers and administrators within australia’s port-industry. the workshops were also supported by a survey questionnaire before and after the workshop to gather the participants opinions on how climate change has and will affect the ports. based on the literature review, the broader impacts of climate change on ports were divided in five key areas: (1) environmental impact, (2) infrastructure, (3) ports and people, (4) occupational health and safety impacts, and (5) supply chain impacts. the expert surveys were then used to assess the “the ability of the systems to cope and adapt to these impacts”, and the constraints that may limit the ability to build adaptive capacity as seen by the port authorities. as one would expect, the study found that while all ports will indeed be affected by the impacts of climate change, the vulnerability varies significantly between the different sections of port infrastructure and operations. importantly, the surveys revealed that most port authorities displayed high levels of confidence in their ability to adapt to the ongoing and projected changes. the authors called for a standardized national-level framework which can be applied to individual ports to assess the climate vulnerability of australia’s port infrastructure. the semiquantitative yet robust methodology of the study provides a blueprint for researchers in other countries on how to break down climate vulnerability into its critical components and systematically evaluate it through perception surveys. port-specific case-studies have also been conducted in the recent past. to mention a few, stenek et al (2011), published a comprehensive climate-risk assessment report, including financial impacts estimates and suggested adaptive measures for the terminal maritimo muelles el bosque (meb) in colombia. the authors categorized the impacts across a wide range of operational, financial, reputational, legal, environmental and social categories and across different future climate change scenarios. the study was accomplished through a combination of desk-research and modelling, and discussions with the port authorities, local government and climate change experts. the study also laid great emphasis on the interdependencies between the port operations and hinterland industrial activities and local businesses. following a similar methodology, cox et al (2013), conducted a climate risk assessment for the avatiu port in the cook islands. building upon previous studies the authors took specific steps to address the interconnectedness of port operations with the broader city infrastructure and included multiple stakeholders for a more holistic assessment. messner et al (2013), used the port of san diego as a case study to understand the impacts of climate change, sea level rise in particular, on ports and provided an evaluation framework for risk and vulnerability; chettri et al (2013), also studied the impacts of sea level rise on port infrastructure and operations using port kembla in new south wales as the case-study. all of the aforementioned vulnerability/ risk assessment studies utilize some combination of ‘desk-research’ and ‘expert interviews/ surveys’ or ‘stakeholder workshops’. the ratio of this combination may vary significantly depending on accessibility of data and port personnel. as discussed later in section 5, expert interviews/ surveys become particularly relevant for developing countries, such as india, where robust, long-term data records may not be available. it is important to remember that at the national or regional level all the ports taken together form the larger maritime transport network of a country. by corollary, it is also true that some ports may be more critical to the broader maritime sector than the others. arguing for a holistic, multi-port approach to climate risk assessment and adaptation planning, mcintosh and becker (2017) stated that “at the single port scale, decision makers such as port managers may consider the uninterrupted functioning of their port the number one priority. but, at the multi-port (regional or bajaj / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 54 national) scale, policy-makers will need to prioritize competing port climate-adaptation needs in order to maximize the efficiency of limited physical and financial resources and maximize the resilience of marine transportation system as a whole.” towards this end, the authors highlighted the lack of multi-port assessment studies and provided a critical review of the few indicator-based multi-port vulnerability assessments that have been published in recent years. the ‘indicators’ used in such studies typically include quantifiable, observable quantities, for instance, projected sea level rise, storm surge level, value of port assets, port efficiency measures such as turnaround time, etc., that can collectively be used to determine the vulnerability or risk of the system. one of the limitations of indicatorbased assessments at multi-port level is the fact that the indicators need to be generic enough that they can be applied to all ports under consideration. while this may allow for a comparative analysis to be conducted which would generate a relative ranking of the ports according to their risk level, it limits of the scope of the indicators which may lead to an incomplete assessment of the risk. nonetheless, a standardized approach to multi-port assessment would be highly relevant for india, since india has 12 major and over 200 non-major ports, and more ports are being planned under the central government’s long-term development plans. considering the limited financial and technological capacity of the country, it would have to prioritize the more vulnerable ports in the adaptation plans which would require a comparative multi-port assessment. 3. state-of-the-art in climate adaptation measures for seaports with growing literature and increased awareness of the ways in which climate change impacts will affect coastal regions, coastal state/ city planners are increasingly acknowledging the need for implementing adaptive measures to minimize damages to infrastructure. however, in the port industry very few ports globally have actually taken appropriate adaptive measures (becker et al, 2018). some studies have noted that this could partly be attributed to the difference in timeframes of port planning activities, which typically ranges between 5-15 years and the timeframes in which climate change impacts play out which could be over multiple decades, particularly in the case of sea level rise (becker et al, 2012; scott et al, 2013). this myopic approach to infrastructure planning is, of course, a hinderance to climate adaptation planning in all sectors and at all levels of governments. in almost all cases, the critical maritime transport infrastructure has a lifetime of many decades and therefore their planning and maintenance processes must ensure resilience to mediumand long-term threats arising from climate change. a wide range of adaptation measures for seaports have been proposed, analyzed, and some have been implemented, in recent years. adaptation measures could range from ‘soft measures’ such as changes in standard operating procedures, adaptation policies, emergency preparedness exercises, generating more accurate local-level climate projections, etc., to ‘hard measures’ which include infrastructural changes such as building seawalls/ storm surge barriers, expanding the dimensions of breakwaters, upgrading drainage systems, increasing elevation of infrastructure, etc., and everything in between. in this context, the city of rotterdam in netherlands provides an example of a holistic approach. the city set up the “rotterdam climate proof (rcp)” programme, as part of the broader “rotterdam climate initiative” of 2008, which aims to make rotterdam resilient to climate change by 2025 while simultaneously generating opportunities to make the city more attractive (rotterdam climate proof, 2010). the rcp is focused on five major aspectsflood management, accessibility, adaptive building, the urban water system and the urban climate. the rcp has laid specific emphasis on knowledge sharing, creating awareness, and promoting innovation in science and technology. the city founded the “connecting delta cities” knowledge network, in 2009, as a part of its initiatives under the c40 climate leadership group. some of the members of the knowledge network include tokyo, jakarta, hong kong, new york, new orleans, london, ho chi minh city, melbourne, and copenhagen. in 2021, the port of rotterdam authority and the municipality of rotterdam jointly launched the “flood management adaptation strategy programme” to protect the port and associated industries from the impacts of climate change including sea level rise, storm surges and increased likelihood of tidal flooding (port of rotterdam, 2021). the port authority of new york and new jersey (panynj) had integrated climate change mitigation and adaptation into their environmental sustainability policy in 2008 which recognized safety, resilience and environmental sustainability as its primary objectives. in 2009, the panynj engineering department released the climate resilience design guidelines that demand climate risk factors to be incorporated into the design and construction of bajaj / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 55 ports’ buildings and other infrastructure. the design guidelines were further updated in 2015 and again in 2018 (panynj, 2018a). the port authority completed the climate risk assessment focusing on flood-related risks across all port facilities in 2020. the follow-up multi-year programme was initiated in 2021 focusing on applying rigorous, engineering-based assessment techniques at the local level. notably, the panynj was the first public transportation agency in the usa that promulgated carbon emissions reduction targets to align themselves with the goals of the 2015 paris climate agreement. it made commitments to reduce its carbon emissions by 35 percent by 2030 and by 80 percent by 2050 (panynj, 2018b). the city of kaohsiung in roc (taiwan) which hosts the port of kaohsiung, roc’s largest international port, is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change including rising temperatures and frequent bouts of extreme weather events. in response to these growing threats, a number of measures have been taken by the city to enhance the resilience of its physical and social infrastructure, including large-scale restoration of wetlands to protect its coastline, upgrades to water management and drainage systems to mitigating urban flooding, construction of energy efficient ‘green buildings’, among others (urban climate adaptation, 2019; lai, 2012). notably, the port of kaohsiung received the 2021 world ports sustainability program (wpsp) award for resilient physical infrastructure. in australia, several ports have undertaken extensive climate risk assessment studies in recent years and incorporated measures to mitigate socio-economic damages from the impacts of climate change. for instance, the port of melbourne adopted corporate climate change policy in 2007, a climate change action strategy in 2009 and became a signatory to the world ports’ climate declaration (ng et al, 2013). other ports in western australia, northern territory and new south wales have taken adaptive measures against flooding from cyclonic storms and sea level rise (scott et al, 2013). the city of jakarta in indonesia is one of the largest coastal megacities in the world which is also considered to be one of the most vulnerable cities to coastal flooding, large parts of the city are already below sea level. studies have shown that the primary cause for increasing flooding events in jakarta is land subsidence being caused mainly by unsustainable and unmanaged extraction of groundwater for various industrial and domestic purposes (ng et al, 2012; chaussard et al, 2013). the extent and frequency of coastal flooding will be worsened by accelerating sea level rise in the coming decades. according to model-based projections, the potential flood area extent is estimated to increase by 110.5 sq km by 2050 relative to 2000 levels (takagi et al 2016a). the simulations also indicated that the rate of flood area expansion during the 2025-2050 would be 3.4 times faster than that in the 2000-2025 period. the ports of jakarta are severely affected frequently by tidal floods and storm surges. the sunda kelpa port is the oldest port in jakarta spanning 52 hectares of land area. some estimates suggest that the port is currently experiencing 5-10 cm of land subsidence per year, over the last two decades. according to port authorities, around 20 percent of the annual income is spent on adaptation measures including protective dikes and raising the elevation of port infrastructure which is being done in a section-by-section manner (esteban et al, 2020). similarly, the pelabuhan perikanan samudera nizam zaham port which is the largest fishing port in indonesia is experiencing 7-12 cm of subsidence annually. consequently, the port elevation was raised in 2002 and then again in 2012 by +1.4 m. the muara angke port was also raised three times, in 2006, 2011 and 2014, by 40-50 cm each time using sheet piles (esteban el al, 2020). other studies have argued that the protective dikes that have been built are themselves vulnerable to sea level rise and increased frequency and intensity of tropical storms (takagi et al, 2016b). moreover, measures such as increasing the elevation of port infrastructure are akin to “band-aid solutions”, and very expensive ones at that, which focus on short-term adaptation rather than increasing long-term resilience of the infrastructure. 4. molding to the indian circumstances as alluded to before in section 1, india has initiated a number of measures in recent years to expand its maritime transport sector and the broader blue economy. there is one thing that is common across all of these initiatives, that is the overwhelming emphasis on capacity augmentation and modernization. while that is commendable and necessary for economic growth, it is crucial to acknowledge and prepare-for current and projected threats arising from the impacts of climate change which may otherwise derail the ambitious expansion plans. there is an urgent need for a holistic and dynamic climate change adaptation strategy to ensure the protection and continued operation of the existing and planned port infrastructure. clearly, this adaptation strategy will have to be based on a series of risk bajaj / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 56 assessment studies at the national-, stateand local-levels. in this regard, the amount of literature in india is relatively sparse. for the first time in 2020, a comprehensive ‘climate change assessment report’ for india was published by the ministry of earth sciences (moes) (krishnan et al, 2020). this much-needed report highlighted the observed and future projections of temperature, precipitation, sea level, extreme weather events and the indian monsoon system, among other parameters, over the indian region. in 2021, the department of science and technology of the government of india published a report entitled, “climate vulnerability assessment for adaptation planning in india using a common framework”, which mapped all-india state-level and district-level vulnerability to climate change (dst goi, 2021). however, the report provided an incomplete picture because it was solely focused on determining vulnerability based on an analysis of the current state of infrastructure and stateand national-level policies. the report did not account for the current and projected evolution of climate-change related ‘hazards’ and the level of ‘exposure’ of the districts and states, which are necessary for quantifying ‘risk’. the authors acknowledged this caveat and mentioned that additional studies will be conducted on these aspects in the future. this lack of robust and reliable long-term data records and analyses of climate variables and local-level climate projections poses a major hurdle towards a quantitative climate risk assessment of ports in india. as discussed in section 3, this limitation is often remediated, at least partially, by conducting interviews and workshops with domain experts and stakeholders to collect qualitative information-on and perceptions-of risk to infrastructure and operations. insofar as adaptation measures are concerned, india would have to work within the national financial and technological limitations which may preclude the possibility of adopting the cost-intensive hard infrastructure solutions that have been adopted by the more developed cities/ countries, such as rotterdam, some of which were discussed in section 4. consequently, india would have to utilize a creative combination of hardand soft-measures, in other words, a combination of capacity building (that is the generation of material wherewithal) and capability enhancement (that is enhancing the human ability to manage the impacts), to build resilience against climate change. considering the national circumstances described above, the following interventions are recommended for policy makers in india at the nationaland state-level governments to enhance the resilience of the country’s port infrastructure: a) conduct comprehensive climate risk assessments of india’s major and non-major brownfield ports, including assetor area-specific details, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders including climate scientists, engineers, port authorities, local government officials, industry members, local businesses, and local community members including the fisherfolk. this could be incorporated as an actionable under the ‘portmodernisation’ goal of the maritime india vision 2030 (miv-2030) to ensure security and continued functioning of existing ports. additionally, preemptive climate risk assessments and adaptation planning for the current and projected impacts of climate change should be mandated for all greenfield projects proposed under miv-2030. b) a standardised framework is needed which can be applied to all ports to produce a comparative analysis of climate risk, which could then be compiled into a national-level assessment of the broader maritime transport sector of the country. this would allow the central and state governments, private entities, and port management authorities to identify the most vulnerable ports and the most vulnerable sections or assets within individual ports which should be prioritised for adaptation actions. c) as discussed in section 4, climate change adaptation measures for ports could include ‘hard measures’ or ‘soft measures’ or a combination of the two. due to limited financial resources in india, hard measures (which may include creation of protective infrastructure or retrofitting or relocating existing infrastructure) would require cost-benefit analyses to be conducted to identify the most viable options. nature-based protective solutions such as creation of coastal dunes, conservation and plantation of mangrove forests, etc., should be seriously considered, in combination with the man-made protective infrastructure, which would provide cost-effective ways to reduce the impacts of floods and storm surges. the protection and conservation of such ecosystems would also provide additional ecological and socio-economic benefits for coastal regions. conservation efforts are already being pursued by some of the coastal states in india; these efforts could be integrated with port planning and development to maximise the benefits. bajaj / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 57 d) since ports form integral components of the city, state, and country’s economy, and are inextricably linked with hinterland activities, there is a need for greater cooperation at these levels to generate a cohesive adaptation strategy. for instance, the resilience (or the lack of resilience) of hinterland road and railway networks, energy infrastructure, fisheries infrastructure, and other industries, against climate-changeinduced hazards would have direct consequeces for port operations and efficiency. therefore, city-wide or state-wide adaptation strategies that address the broader socio-economic systems would have to be developed accordingly. the examples of new york and new jersey in the usa and kaohsiung city in roc discussed in section 4 provide insights into combined port and city climate adaptation strategies that have been attempted. e) importantly, the adaptation strategy must account for the dynamic nature of climate change. the impacts of climate change are expected to continue to grow at an accelerating rate even in the more optimistic future scenarios. moreover, there are new phenomena that are being discovered constantly that challenge our past predictions, especially with regard to sea-level rise and the intensification of extreme weather events. therefore, the adaptation measures cannot be short-sighted, one-time efforts but should leave room for further changes and updates as we learn more about these natural processes and their interactions with human activities. this is also important because protective measures that involve construction of hard-infrastructure such as seawalls, breakwaters or support structures to increase the elevation of port infrastructure are capital and time-intensive and, therefore, require careful planning to ensure long term sustainability. along the same lines, it is necessary to put in place mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation of the adopted measures and re-assess the risks at regular intervals, every five to ten years. devising and implementing a holistic and dynamic climate adaptation strategy for seaports will not only ensure a secure and sustainable maritime transport sector but also facilitate india’s ambitions of becoming a leading blue economy of the world. f) finally, it must be recognised that some regions may be beyond adaptation and would be completely inundated by sea level rise in the coming decades. in india, this is particularly relevant for the bay of bengal region and the sundarbans delta in particular which is experiencing a much faster rate of sea level rise than the global average due to a combination of geographical and anthropogenic factors. the ports in such regions would have to be systematically decommisioned or relocated to other regions. therefore, planned retreat should also be considered as an adaptation action that may become increasingly necessary in the future. 5. conclusion as global warming continues unabated, the knock-on effects of rising atmospheric and oceanic temperatures such as more frequent and intense extreme weather events (heatwaves, heavy precipitation and tropical cyclones) and accelerating sea level rise pose major threats to coastal regions around the planet. for the maritime trade sector, these climatic changes will have direct impacts on the port infrastructure and the ability of the ports to maintain maximum operational efficiency. as discussed in detail in the paper, in india, more frequent extreme weather events are already affecting port operations which lead to downtime ranging from a few hours to several days. collectively, these operational downtimes can add-up to major economic losses for the country. in the coming decades, climate-changeinduced sea level rise will significantly worsen the impact of cyclonic storms and tidal flooding and will emerge as an irreversible threat to the port infrastructure. adapting brownfield ports to sea level rise may require significant modifications to the existing infrastructure (such as raising elevation) or building protective infrastructure such as breakwaters or storm surge barriers, all of which will require long-term planning and huge financial costs. while india has taken several measures in recent years to expand its maritime sector, there are no nationalor locallevel strategies to protect the port infrastructure and operations against the growing impacts of climate change. a stark example of this is the lack of emphasis on climate change adaptation in the maritime india vision 2030 which is the guiding document from the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways for the maritime trade sector for the next decade. in this context, this paper highlights the need for a holistic and dynamic climate change adaptation strategy for india’s port ecosystems and provides recommendations for a way forward based on a comprehensive literature review of international best practices. the adaptation strategy must be built upon rigorous and comprehensive climate risk assessments of the ports and interdependent supply chains to determine the internal and bajaj / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 58 external vulnerabilities to the impacts of climate change. a standardized national-level risk assessment framework would be critical to conduct a comparative vulnerability analysis of india’s major and non-major ports to identify the most vulnerable ports which may require priority action from the central government (in the case of major ports) or respective state governments (in the case of non-major ports). moreover, considering the dependencies of the port on the broader city activities and vice versa, the adaptation strategy must take an integrated approach and incorporate the needs and limitations of all stakeholders including the city authorities, industries, local communities and businesses. as discussed in the paper, the ideal adaptation strategy should be based on a combination of infrastructure-level and operational-level solutions which considers not only capacity-building but also capability-enhancement measures. devising and implementing a holistic and dynamic climate adaptation strategy for seaports will not only ensure a secure and sustainable maritime transport sector but also facilitate india’s ambitions of becoming a leading blue economy of the world. acknowledgements this research was supported by the 2021-22 fellowship of the coalition for disaster resilient infrastructure (cdri), application id 201104207. the authors would 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low-cost survey; point cloud methods 1. introduction one of the most important aspects to achieve good management of the urban and architectural heritage is to accomplish an accurate survey and documentation. these measurements will allow developing subsequent restoration, conservation, maintenance, dissemination, and enhancement of the built heritage. in recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of automated alternative methods that allow adding greater quality and accuracy to the survey of heritage, especially those buildings related to pre-modernist times, due to the amount of ornamentation that accompanies this type of architecture. in order to carry out better conservation practices, the use of digital documentation such as laser scanners is becoming popular (petrovic, meyer, rissolo, & kuester, 2015). however, the high cost of these types of equipment and processing, as well as their difficulty of operating, has discouraged its use in developing countries, which, although they possess a great and rich heritage, do not have the means and training to develop these complex and complete surveys. the preferred survey method in these realities is employing a tape measure and then drawn digitally in autocad at best, which implies a great possibility of error because they depend on the ability of who is doing the http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v5i1.714&domain=press.ierek.com zeballos-velarde/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 survey to achieve a reliable record of reality. even if the measurements are correct they are very time consuming and many details are lost in the process due to the simplification of these graphics. this paper makes a comparative analysis of different measurement methods, emphasizing its cost and operability, the difficulties of the process but also the advantages and disadvantages of the final product. many of these alternative processes have the advantage of being developed as a point cloud, which allows file sharing and uses for different purposes (meschini, petrucci, rossi, & sicuranza, 2014). this research aims to be a contribution to those who are new in the field of photogrammetry and, wishing to improve their surveying methods, have a limited budget for heritage conservation 2. the site the city of arequipa, second in importance in peru, houses a diverse built heritage, both from spanish colonial and early republican times, is a relevant example of these processes, leaving evidence of this in its urban layout of and in its unique mestizo architecture is an expression of the cultural richness of the city (gutiérrez, 2019; bailey, 2010) the domestic architecture of arequipa has followed a process that evolved from adobe constructions topped with wooden log roofs, covered with straw, to those of thick walls, made of a volcanic stone locally called “sillar”, which is a kind of ignimbrite. the vaulted roofs and domes, as well as the ornaments, were typically made of the same stone. due to continuous seismic events that periodically destroyed the city, several styles are superimposed in the structures of the city. the action of earthquakes destroyed roofs that were just placed (not joined) on top of walls, which easily collapsed to the strength of the geological thrust; the vault was a since it incorporated aesthetically as well as to resist earthquakes (quiroz paz soldán, 1983). the case study selected for this research is a mansion called "casa del corregidor abril y maldonado", whose origins date back to the 16th century. its architectural typology stands out for the use of “sillar” as a constructive material in almost the entire building elements such as walls, pretables, stairs, roofs, floors, niches, arcades, etc. this two-story house is arranged around two patios as it was a common way to spatially distribute and provide light for ventilation to the surrounding rooms. these patios also represented different types of privacy, as the most external one has a social role (and therefore it includes the stairways) whereas the inner yard ad a more intimate function. nevertheless, the latter is framed by a beautiful arcade. both patios are connected by an alley and many of the surrounding rooms are covered by vaults. currently, the casa del corregidor abril y maldonado, is restored, having a high percentage (65% approx.) of conservation from its original status. (fig. 1). figure 1. layout of the casa del corregidor abril and maldonado, drawn manually in autocad (rodriguez, 2002) the main façade of the building which is composed of two stories, made in the so-called a republican-style, which has fewer ornaments than the baroque style, yet it includes a wooden balcony and windows with neoclassical ornaments (fig. 2). zeballos-velarde/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 figure 2. façade of the building (zeballos, 2019) 3. surveying techniques peru is a country with a vast built heritage, but which has had considerable mismanagement in its maintenance, due to economic and political situations (belletich, 2015). the main problem for the protection and conservation of cultural heritage in peru is the lack of budget. there is not even the minimum necessary to start a process of surveying registration and cataloging, the first step that should be done, in order to undertake a serious work of conservation, restoration, and enhancement of archaeological assets. these neglects are being taken advantage of by land traffickers and robbers that harm the cultural heritage, especially affecting the most vulnerable archaeological sites and architectural places (baltazar, 2009). particularly there is a bias between the existing and registered heritage. at best, surveys have been developed using conventional methods, which in many cases have been incomplete, flawed, or expensive and time-consuming. 4. the use of traditional survey methods in peru these traditional methods include measurements made by hand, with metallic tape or alternatively, other manual measuring instruments include ultrasonic meter. these later types of equipment work as a “sonar” that emits sound impulses at the ultrasound level, and upon impacting these sound waves with the measuring surface, a return of this sound will be generated. the distance is calculated in relation to the return time of the sound to the equipment. these devices are useful to measure points of difficult accessibility. however, their reliability is not guaranteed as they depend on the consistency of the surface to be measured. the more solid and compact the surface, the more reliable the measurement. also, these devices have a limited range in terms of maximum distances to be measured, an obvious consequence of the sound wave system that inevitably tends to dispersion. a second stage is, already in the cabinet, to interpret and transcribe the graphic information in a scale drawing, usually drawn in a two-dimensional format in cad software, and whenever errors occur, oftentimes it is necessary to retake measurements. zeballos-velarde/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 another form of measurement traditionally used in peru for surveying large archaeological sites and occasionally architectural heritage includes the use of optical levels, theodolites, and the total stations. unlike the first group, require a higher level of training and experience, since they are the equipment of better performance, but also of greater complexity. their accuracy will depend on the correct reading made by the operator. unlike the manual methods, these systems are based on the placement of the equipment at a central point, from which radial measurements are made taken. an alternative to this method is the 3d metro laser. this technology will have to be placed in a central position from where the fully stabilized and leveled equipment will be ready to take the measurements. from there, the equipment is operated remotely from a tablet and is able to record several points in space, that ultimately will produce a vectorial 3d “wire” which can be exported to dwg, dxf, jpge, jpg, csv, etc. formats from the equipment’s software. the advantage of this equipment is that computer files are automatically generated, reducing possible errors during data recording, interpretation, and construction of plans. however, the system requires a lot of practice, as the operator must first establish a fairly organized measurement sequence, and the quality of the result will depend on the ability of the operator and the number of points taken in order to build a reliable model. in the best of cases, the final product will still need a manual retouch as several details are easier to take by hand. also, it will not consider the intricacy of finer details. 5. photogrammetry photogrammetry is a technique that aims to define precisely the shape, dimension, and position of an object in space; using one or several photographs to obtain coordinates in three dimensions (quirós, 2014). for many years this technique was analog, today since the emergence of new technologies in camera and computer equipment is mainly digital (schenk, 2002). the advantages of this system are that it is a much quicker survey method, it is low cost as it does not require professional photographic equipment. it only needs a few technical and human resources. it can obtain a large amount of information (color, textures, details, etc.) there is a variety of software to process the data (various license costs) and the results show significant quality detail. the disadvantages include that the degree of precision subject to equipment and experience, it requires knowledge of photography and management of specialized software. also, edited photographs often lose valuable information for the method (contrast adjustment, color correction, etc.) and data processing software is usually time-consuming and it requires a powerful computer to process a large amount of information, especially regarding complex surveys. another disadvantage is the difficulty to measure the external form of rooftops, as it is an ideal method for surveying interior spaces. while this method used to employ expensive aircraft flights in the past, nowadays it is carried out with unmanned aerial vehicles (uavs), popularly known as drones. later, 2d and 3d computer-generated models can be created, and as they can be georeferenced, they can accurately represent the dimensions and physical features of the measured buildings. studies on the use of drones have been carried out in several places in order to create accurate models of ancient monuments, showing the versatility of this process for the creating of point clouds that store the properties of the studied elements, particularly their materials and shapes. this method is excellent to collect information, from large scale landscapes and achaelogical sites to the geometry of a building and particularly of the shape of its roof (lo brutto, garraffa, & meli, 2014; brumana, et al., 2013), however, it has difficulty to measure interiors, especially in narrow places. use of drones is highly recommended for heritage management (sun & zhang, 2018) and it can be combined with othey methods of topographic acquisition (achille, et al., 2015). a careful flight plan should be design to achieve better results for georefecing and producing the model (barba, barbarella, benedetto, & fiani, 2019). the reduction in the prices of drones as well as software has allowed the use of these aerial vehicles to become more popular, although their use in peru is still not very widespread and the rental of these services is relatively expensive compared to traditional methods, at least for medium-size and small surveys. zeballos-velarde/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 18 on the other hand, to our knowledge, photogrammetry using a photographic camera has not yet been utilized in arequipa since it is a method that is basically unknown for cultural assessment and preservation in this city. 6. laser scanner also known as lidar (light detection and ranging o laser imaging detection and ranging), it consists of a highpowered laser moving horizontally and a mirror rotating around a vertical axis in order to cover large areas, scanning thousands of dots every second (izgarevic, 2018). laser scanning also requires a high-end computer that can store and handle large amounts of data and also special software to develop the process. this is a very time saving and very accurate and reliable technique for surveying historic buildings (nex & rinaudo, 2010), as it produces very fine-detailed point cloud models, particularly for façades or interiors, although there is also lidar equipment available for aircraft, both manned and unmanned. its cost-benefit would be related to the size of the surveyed area as well as its frequency of use, however, in developing countries, whose heritage offices usually operate under low budgets, the cost of a lidar scanner as well as the pricey software, not to mention the lack of trained staff to carry out the surveys would make this method definitely out of reach. although the use of laser scanner in peru and in other developing countries is very difficult due to its high cost, there are several documented experiences of its use for heritage surveying in developed countries, both isolated and in combination with photogrammetry using uavs, having obtained high-quality results in a short time (achille, et al., 2015; fassi, fregonese, ackermann, & de troia, 2013). 7. summary of different surveying methods as can be seen in comparative table 1, the manual method is affordable but has low quality and accuracy, particularly for historical buildings. semimanual methods are better in accuracy but difficult to use and expensive. on the other extreme, the lidar method has the best quality and accuracy, but the price of hardware and software makes difficult to afford. therefore, due to their high accuracy, ease of use, and affordability, three photogrammetric methods have been employed for surveying the house, in order to make a comparison between them. these are efficient and yet affordable ways to acquire data in historical buildings. table 1.comparative methods for surveying historical buildings method output format accuracy quality ease of use affordability traditional vectorial low low high high camera photogrammetry cloud point high high high high camera 360 cloud point high high high high aerial photogrammetry cloud point high high medium medium laser scanner cloud point very high very high medium very low 8. surveying the casa de abril y maldonado 8.1. photogrammetry using a semiprofessional camera a) equipment the equipment used was a nixon coolpix b500 camera, configured in a preset mode and with a resolution on 16 megapixels. the white balance was set to daily light and the iso sensitivity was set to 300. it is not recommended to set them in auto mode as they may vary from picture to picture. zeballos-velarde/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 19 as for the computers a desktop with cpu core2quad 2.8 mhz, graphic board gtx 770 with 2gb vram, ram 16gb and ssd was used, and also a laptop cpu i7 3610q 3.3 mhz, graphic board gt 650m with 4gb vram, ram 16gb and ssd. the photographic survey day lasted one hour, from 10:30 to 11:30 am, on a sunny day with good conditions of natural light, free of obstacles and people. b) software several types of software were used, as shown in table 2. table 2. software use for image processing in photogrammetry software affordability quality ease of use agisoft metashape profesional 1.5 medium medium high realitycapture 1.0 low low high 3df zephyr free free high high autodesk recap 2020 medium high high c) process to achieve the reconstruction of the architectural heritage by means of photogrammetry using a semi-automatic camera, a series of technical challenges had to be overcome in the different stages of the process, which we will summarize in two phases. the first stage was the survey using the camera. the ideal conditions for the photographic record are subject to issues of accessibility to the workspace, access to ceilings, alleys, and others specific to each building; as well as the absence of obstacles such as people, animals, or any other mobile element that obstructs the capture of images.the lighting conditions to obtain the best results are daytime with a cloudy sky, as sunny days with high light contrasts cause poor photographic records during data processing, and that is applicable also to the 360° camera method. while taking the photographs, it is better to avoid rotating the camera as it will affect the quality, accuracy, and position of the final result since the software positions the image based on coordinates. it is important to generate a sequence of images that share common areas to be overlapped and pictures should be taken orthogonally, in perspective, and at different heights. the second stage was to process the images. the specialized software for processing photographic data requires that the images should not be manipulated in any way, that is, rotating them, trimming them, adjusting contrast values, color, brightness or any alteration; since it produces loss of valuable information and in many cases, the software simply does not recognize the image file. images that are discarded usually mostly due to problems such as overexposure, dark surfaces or high contrasts (fig. 3) zeballos-velarde/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 20 figure 3. image processing in agisoft. 8.2. photogrammetry using a 360° camera a) equipment the equipment used was an insta 1x 360° camera, which has two 180° lenses and a resolution of 5.7 k. in the case of the façade, the camera was mounted on a tripod and the photographs were taken perpendicularly at 1.5 meters from it and horizontally at intervals of 1.5 m each, with a buffer area before and after the building. in the case of the inner courtyards, the camera was placed in several locations until the model was completed. b) software the results are uploaded in matterpoint, an application that can be downloaded both from apple store and google play, and it provides a cloud service which delivers a point cloud and a 3d model. c) process the model is built using the captured imagery and is stored on the mobile device using the matterport app. for the construction of the 3d model, a sequential workflow must be carried out that is progressively checked on a plan layout (fig. 4). figure 4. image processing in matterport. zeballos-velarde/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 21 8.3. aerophotogrammetry a) equipment the equipment used was dji phanton 4 pro drone, configured in a preset mode and with a resolution of 20 megapixels. for image processing a dell precision t5500 workstation was used. b) software two types of software were used, as shown in table 3. table 3.software use for image processing in aerophotogrammetry software affordability quality ease of use agisoft metashape profesional 1.5 medium medium high pix 4d low high high c) process for the survey of the façade with a drone, it has been experienced performing vertical flights every 2.5 meters, both horizontal flights, and vertical shots. subsequently, the imagery was processed in pix 4d as it produced a better point cloud result (fig. 5). figure 5. image processing in pix 4d. 9. discussion the methods used had different performances and qualities of the results. as for the façade, there were results were obtained by a combination of uav imagery and pix 4d software, as it was possible to obtain a point cloud of acceptable accuracy and consistency of materials, which can be clearly distinguished (fig. 6b and 6c). less accurate results were obtained in the photogrammetry method, which succeeded in showing the volumetry and general ornaments in the façade (fig. 6a). however, none of these methods was accurate enough to collect fine detail form details, such as metal latticework and other ornaments, as well as cracks in the frontage. to get enough quality of these elements the use of a lidar scanner is advisable. zeballos-velarde/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 22 figure 6. results of point cloud format in photogrammetry (a) and aerophotogrammetry (b and c). also, in the case of pix 4d, an obj file can also be created, which can be easily modified in software like 3d max and can be easily exported to autocad, sketchup, vectorworks or other vectorial software (fig. 7). figure 7. results of digital format in aerophotogrammetry (a and b). defects can be observed in the latticework of the handrail. zeballos-velarde/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 23 as for the inner patios, the best results were obtained by the use of the 360° camera, which proved to be both quicker and more accurate than the semiprofessional camera photography, as it reduces errors and blind points. also, matterport software can create 360° views than can easily be uploaded to vr glasses for educational purposes (fig. 8). regarding the process of photogrammetry using a terrestrial camera, a series of problems or challenges occurred at all stages of the surveying process. more than 20% of the photographic record has been discarded due to problems of photographic origin, the poor lighting conditions of various spaces; errors of parameter adjustment of the camera in certain lighting conditions or due to obstacles presented at the time of the shot. therefore, it is advisable to take some extra photographs to avoid various visits to the site. it is highly recommended to previously plan the photographic record, the position of the photos, the configuration of the camera, carry additional batteries, etc. to minimize time loss at the time of photographing the building since differences in time between shots produce errors in the photometric calculation. also, it is important to carry out preliminary tests to adjust parameters in the software to avoid wasting time at the final processing of the photometric model. figure 8. results of digital 3d model in a semiprofessional camera (a) and a 360° camera. also, in both methods, vectorial plans can be created in pdf reports, which in turn can be converted to cad by means of ocr software for further editing and easier distribution. also, several problems occurred at all stages of the process; as it was inevitable to discard more than 20% of the total photographic record due to problems of photographic origin, lighting conditions of several spaces or obstacles that appeared at the time of surveying. it is highly recommended to establish a protocol prior to the surveying process which should include the position of the photos, the configuration of the camera, visual angles, etc. it is also to take the pictures in the shortest time possible, as the time difference between shots may be subjected to changes in the lighting conditions, which produces errors in the photometric calculation. zeballos-velarde/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 24 10. further steps being this research a work in progress, the next steps will include elucidating ways to make a proper of these models to cad, as the totality of agencies in charge of heritage management in arequipa use this format in their daily work. also, from an educational perspective, a 3d reconstruction of past scenarios based in the final model and historical and archaeological research will be carried out, in order to have a better understanding of the evolution of this important colonial monument. these conservation techniques will be replicated in similar cases in peru. acknowledgements the authors would like to thank the universidad católica de arequipa, peru, for sponsoring the participation in this international congress and for funding the “uso de la realidad virtual y aumentada para el estudio, análisis, preservación del patrimonio edificado. caso de estudio: la casona del corregidor abril y maldonado-arequipa” (use of virtual and augmented reality for the study, analysis, preservation of built heritage. case study: the casona del corregidor abril and maldonado-arequipa) research project, to which the current paper is associated. references achille, c., adami, a., chiarini, s., stefano cremonesi, f. f., fregonese, l., & taffurelli, l. 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(2016, nov. ). drones over mediterranean landscapes. the potential of small uav's (drones) for site detection and heritage management in archaeological survey projects: a case study from le pianelle in the tappino valley, molise (italy). journal of cultural heritage, 22, 10661071. doi:10.1016/j.culher.2016.06.006 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 6 august 2023, accepted: 14 september 2023, published online: 30 september 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i4.983 study of public space use and design based on japanese and foreign perceptions dini hardilla1, bart j. dewancker2 1doctoral student, graduate school of environmental engineering, the university of kitakyushu, japan 2profeessor, department of architecture, the university of kitakyushu, japan abstract public space will be studied regarding history, use, and the evolution of urban space. through culture, architecture, and behavior, this paper investigates how japanese and foreigners use public space. foreigners use open spaces such as neighborhood parks more frequently than japanese people, who consider space sacred and private. because of this study, urban space will be analyzed from the perspective of japanese culture and customs as well as foreign culture to qualify the precise meaning of space, urban space, and cultural space, within the context of diverse conditions and ethnicities. residents who frequently use neighborhood parks recognize that foreigners are more welcome and that spatial accessibility contributes to the creation of a unifying space in their neighborhoods. understanding cultural views and ethnic behavior is critical to the design and implementation of effective and creative urban spaces. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords public space; user perception; culture; design; urban ethnicity 1. introduction traditionally, public space has played an important role both in terms of physical and psychological dimensions of people's day-to-day lives (carr, francis, rivlin, & stone, 1992, p. 3). in urban environments, the provision of public space as a place for physical and emotional regulation will indirectly create a platform for social community space (chitrakar, 2016). public space has two different shapes formal and informal, which is determined by the size of the created spaces. public spaces that focus on public life, activities, and events will play an important role in the city center, whereas public spaces that function as a place to rest or play offer a simpler look, are interior, and sometimes challenge users' perceptions both physically and socially of new spaces (cho et al. 2016). several research of public spaces support this assertion. overall, public spaces play an important role in decreasing stress, enhancing health, and sustaining spatial and social ties in residential areas (liu et al., 2017; tan & samsudin, 2017; wan et al., 2020; wang et al., 2021; zanon et al., 2013). in this context, it is important to design public spaces well and of high quality in order to provide enormous economic, social, and environmental benefits for the region and its people without encouraging ambition (cabe, 2004). there is a broader definition of public space, which includes a variety of places where people can participate in social interaction, including streets, city parks, and buildings. urban parks as public spaces are one of the most important components in urban planning, since they are accessible to all citizens and provide an opportunity for interaction between them and the city. however, parks, especially those in residential areas, have changed over time and have been influenced by various cultural traditions. as new environmental developments, including the case study area, http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i4.983&domain=press.ierek.com hardilla/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 public spaces are being provided and used in different ways. neighborhood park as a public space between kitakyushu science research park and orio station, japan remains unclear how such changes affect residents' perceptions of contemporary public space and their sense of community. there has been an ongoing debate in recent years regarding whether residents need parks or whether parks are just urban green spaces without any activities. specifically, this occurs due to the perception that parks are individual spaces that are closely associated with the place where the individual resides (caballero, 2007). as small private spaces, parks create fragmentation of separate space characteristics within the community. in turn, this creates a paradigm of content space for the community as a whole, resulting in parks becoming urban public spaces. as much as parks do not have a specific purpose as meeting places, they still represent an important part of people's daily lives for a variety of reasons (carr, francis, rivlin & stone 1993, p.3). through their dynamics, parks act as communication nodes that facilitate human well-being (hagenbjörk, 2011; and rupprecht, 2017). since public space is not simply a physical setting, it has several subjective meanings for its users that accumulate over time (cattell et. al., 2008). in reality, this dynamic is not well captured by some groups of people. this is due to several behaviors that are influenced by age, physical condition, gender, and ethnicity. physical condition and ethnicity have a major impact on the use and management of public spaces, especially parks in the neighborhood park as public space between kitakyushu science research park and orio station, japan. this raises the question of whether japanese or foreigners are interested in using parks as part of their daily lives. another question is whether the local community has the desire and time to manage parks as public spaces. individuality and urban lifestyle of japanese people have indirectly led to the loss of priority of parks as public spaces, where problems faced by local communities cannot be solved through neighborly cooperation and tend to be solved through the public administration system at the government level (kurasawa, 1987). however, japan’s resident has unique behavior practically all people join neighborhood associations (chounaikai) in most urban areas (nakata ed. 2003). according to nakata (2003:17), for parks to serve as community public spaces and not be neglected, the participation of urban communities in the construction of common public spaces is needed to increase community social mobility. the objective of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the existence of parks as part of a city and their usefulness to residents. as a result of this study, the researcher is able to observe how parks serve as community public spaces where no parks are unutilized or abandoned. during this research, the level of community involvement in the development and use of parks as shared public spaces will be observed to improve the social mobility of the community. this research shows that community involvement in activities has a major impact on stakeholders or the public. community perception is an important factor in the success of a design that inspires creativity and social equality (barton, et.al. 2003; njunge et.al., 2020). the social interaction created plays an important role in ensuring that people's needs and desires are met in public spaces. by applying this principle, not only can a certain type of group make better use of the public space, but it can also gain support for public life. 2. research motivation and methodology 2.1. research motivation to understand the motivation behind the proposed study of japanese and foreigner’s perceptions of the design and use of public space, it is important to understand the historical and cultural background of each of these societal groups. cultural knowledge of citizens can provide clues about people’s needs and desires for public space. in addition, theories, developments, and current issues of public space can also become map patterns of public space, particularly in japan. the function of public space as the urban instrument has a high responsibility to provide space for urban society to express itself. however, this perception will be difficult to capture in several public spaces in japan, which are considered standard and less flexible. therefore, by studying the use and design of public space based on japanese and foreign perceptions, the researcher will explore the concept of public space, especially neighborhood parks, and then evaluate the design of public space and the intensity of its use. these two factors design and intensity of use are examined from the point of view of japanese and foreigners through a questionnaire survey. in addition, the design of public spaces is examined based on a review of japanese government literature and hardilla/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 standards. finally, this research will be completed based on the results of the public perception assessment and the review of the japanese government's design standards. 2.2. research methodology in this study, a behavior mapping approach was employed, utilizing both observation and interviews. behavior maps serve as both an outcome of observational research and a valuable instrument for the analysis and design of designed places (cheung, et.al., 2022., han, et.al., 2022). this mapping technique was originally introduced by ittelson et al. (1970) to document the behaviors that transpire within the designed space (marušić and damjan, 2012). the process of behavior mapping entails two distinct stages of data collection and subsequent analysis. as the first step, the researcher conducted observations at 39 neighborhood parks located between kitakyushu science research park and orio station, japan. these observations were carried out on a daily basis, encompassing both weekends (saturday and sunday) and weekdays (monday to friday), during the morning (08.00 11.30), afternoon (13.00 16.30), and evening (17.00 19.00) periods. the data collection period spanned six months, commencing in october 2022 and concluding in march 2023. observational data will be divided into three main characteristics, i.e. • park condition (facilities, area, number of visitors, and history of park development), • users' behavior (visitor activities, gender and age, user house location, and a sense of resident's comfort) • city block pattern (location, building typology, traffic pattern) during the second phase of the mapping analysis, a series of interviews will be conducted with a sample of 50 individuals, comprising students, workers, and residents of the case study area. the respondents will be drawn from diverse ethnic backgrounds, including japanese and foreigners of malay, chinese, arab, indian, european, and american descent. the primary objective of these interviews is to elicit participants' perceptions regarding the presence of small parks in urban areas, particularly in residential neighborhoods. additionally, the interviews will serve to gauge the frequency and intensity of park usage, as well as to identify respondents' expectations for future park development. the present study aims to investigate the impact of park design and the presence of parks in residential areas on the intensity of use. to achieve this objective, two stages have been identified as the basis for analysis. furthermore, the study will employ behavior mapping in conjunction with spatial analysis to generate a people-moving analysis. this approach will enable park planning to align with the identity and desires of the community, thereby facilitating the creation of public spaces that are conducive to place-making. 3. public space: used and design 3.1. public space design initiative the debate over public areas in cities is advancing quickly. according to social geographers and urban planners, public space is a neutral, naturally occurring, and not just spatially bound container that has been produced by society. idealistically, public space serves as a platform for fostering a sense of community. nevertheless, according to some researchers, public space is defined as hardscaped, vacant space that is still present outside of buildings and transportation hubs. western nations, where public spaces are perceived as being rigid and having only a few uses, tend to hold this opinion more widely. public space is defined as accessible to all types of users, such as streets, parks, markets, libraries, museums, and so forth. public spaces have been thought to need physical forms that can be easily distinguished from their surroundings. numerous communities that use this area collectively create the appearance of a "private" area. the sense of closure that is produced will elicit various emotions, which will change based on the interests of those who are interested in public space. this opinion, which holds that public space can be used by one group to boost the economy and build a secure and sustainable urban environment, is largely unchallenged. this is due to the increased activity in public spaces, which has a strong correlation with welfare and property values (schmidt and jeremy, 2020). hardilla/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 the way that public space is perceived in western culture is not consistent with japanese cultural history. since the development of language literacy in japan, which divides hiragana ("vocabulary for japanese") and katakana ("separates vocabulary for foreigners"), the word "private" has not been historically recognized by japanese society. according to japanese culture, public areas are flexible and can be used for events, emergencies, or open areas at any time. this idea emphasizes how shared things do not include things with fixed locations or physical boundaries. this is evident in the way the japanese government categorizes public areas, such as parks and other public buildings. in terms of architecture and urban planning, parks and public facilities like schools serve a variety of purposes. according to hidaka and tanaka (2001), the idea of flexible public space fosters psychological closeness among users. when american culture first arrived in japan in 1964, it introduced the fundamental idea of privacy, which had an impact on how japanese spaces and barriers were created. a separate social space has been created in each society because of the western idea that "public" and "private" should be divided. urban space planning has become rich, complex, and diverse due to the shifting perceptions of the flexibility of public space. nevertheless, this perception has a detrimental effect on the atmosphere of modest public areas, such as neighborhood parks. other public structures that are in keeping with the design of urban space blocks can take the place of neighborhood parks that serve as public spaces at the level of neighborhood homes. in line with the trend of combining urban spaces, abandoned, useless, and disconnected park spaces in the city block. this pattern will offer opportunities for change. 3.2. community perception of public space public space use is a hot topic in urban spatial design, with the intensity of public space use being influenced by the concept of space shaped by community behaviors and spatial practices. the dynamics of urbanism are closed based on the stages of analysis of spatial conditions, and social and spatial change experiences (aelbrecht, 2010). in other words, the use of public space can be measured by public acceptance of the planning, design, and management of public space. the limitations of planning, design, and space management at the government level encourage a sense of indifference to the existence of public space. public space can be called public space when people use it in different ways, at different times, or simultaneously or sequentially, without considering a particular social group. the contribution of public space to the social life of the community will spontaneously develop the use of open space in ways that could not be imagined or designed. community initiatives for the inclusive use of public urban spaces can turn people into owners and designers of public spaces. however, this condition does not affect every public space equally (massip-bosch, 2017). behavior and cultural backgrounds are also factors that decide whether this concept can be implemented correctly. figure 1 relationship between space and people japanese people tend to be more individualistic and closed and interact on a small scale, which leads them to use spaces that are more private as living and interacting spaces. this condition was also affected when the covid pandemic hit, forcing people to stay at home, thus changing their social relationships with the community, including hardilla/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 park-visiting activities. parks are considered public spaces that are less attractive and require high maintenance costs, but their existence is something that is difficult to separate from people's lives. although the covid pandemic has ended, the existence of parks as public spaces for japanese society remains tenuous. this is due to a shift in the perspective of japan's younger generation, where the presence of streets and parking lots are seen as more attractive for use as art, commercial, and public spaces, rather than a park. projects and research on future urban design have shown that people in cities such as tokyo have a strong desire to use parks as public spaces, which can express themselves through festivals, exhibitions, and concerts (nikken sekkei ltd, 2021). there are limited parameters for the use of public spaces that may be more specialized, combining economic and social aspects to provide important points for the future development of the park. parks can create spaces that can draw the attention of japanese society, which is a need for increased branding of parks as public spaces, so the connectivity of japanese lifestyles and parks occurs more densely according to the characteristics of each public space user. in contrast, foreigners have a background that is more open than japanese society as a whole in terms of traditions and culture. some ethnic groups' shared religious beliefs or historical experiences have an impact on how similar their social customs are. muslims in japan, for instance, frequently greet and converse with one another in parks and other public areas without coming close to one another. liberal westerners also have a more open identity. the difference in habits between japanese and foreigners is evident when both groups spend the same amount of time in public spaces. the fear of japanese people especially those in small towns to interact with foreigners creates a large gap, so one of the groups reduces the intensity of visits to public spaces. therefore, to understand people's perception and desire for parks as public spaces, it is important to examine the development of public spaces in japan. the cultural uniqueness of japanese society must be appropriately associated in order to recognize the characteristics of citizens, allowing maximum appreciation of the design of park development and ensuring the fusion of public spaces with its owner, the japanese people themselves. some researchers have interpreted this relationship as a dichotomy between humans and nature in japanese literature, which regards parks as natural spaces rather than commercial and public spaces (rupprecht. et.al., 2015). small public spaces such as parks should be a priority for the design of community behavior approaches in order to build a design consistent with the community's desire 3.3. residents as stakeholders in public space’s sustainability development the concept of public space refers to a physical environment that can facilitate social exchange and interaction among neighbors (chitrakar, 2016). however, it is important to note that the mere presence of physical proximity does not necessarily guarantee social contact and interaction, as common ground is often required. public space is therefore considered a significant social territory (abu-ghazzeh, 1996), and its role in social integration is shaped by the meanings attributed to it by individuals (peters, 2011). as a key design feature of urban environments, public space has the potential to foster place attachment and encourage the development of place meaning through social interaction (abu-ghazzeh, 1996, 1999). in general, the design of public parks has a significant impact on the frequency of visits. nonetheless, the responsibility for this design does not necessarily fall solely on the designer or urban planner. rather, community participation, as a means of involving local residents in the conservation of parks as public spaces, is a straightforward process. through this process, residents can act as leaders or partners in ongoing planning efforts, and the long-term success of such projects is contingent upon the community's comprehensive understanding of the park's condition and its role in their lives (satherly, 2009). as proprietors and influencers, the inhabitants of a given locality play a crucial role in ensuring the long-term sustainability of a park as an accessible and functional public space. however, community participation is only effective if cultural considerations and community background are given due consideration. the sustainable development of public space has historically overlooked cultural considerations (fitnian, 2009), thereby diminishing the significance of public space as a component of community identity. the facets of identity, social cohesion, and creative development are heavily reliant on the preservation of cultural heritage (unesco culture agenda 2030, 2018), which in turn promotes local energy security and sustainable activities within public hardilla/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 spaces (ragheb, 2022). the design of public spaces, such as parks, that fail to acknowledge the international identity of urban spaces, risks erasing the unique identity of the locale and creating a sterile environment (aly, 2011). as a fundamental element of the city, public spaces must cater to the needs of the community while also promoting sustainability. by respecting social and cultural traditions, a deeper understanding of the community's perspectives can be gained, leading to a revitalization of urban identity. the cultural value of local communities will indirectly contribute to balanced development, and this value should be considered in future public space development plans. 4. case study: neighborhood park as public space between kitakyushu science research park and orio station a neighborhood park acts as a public space and serves as a place for physical activities at the neighborhood level. the japanese government provides neighborhood parks every 200 m from residential areas. in general, the neighborhood park is an ideal public space for residents of residential areas. this space can serve as a common space for the community around the park. in reality, however, the public spaces provided by the japanese government are not all used to a great extent, although neighborhood parks theoretically serve the function of emotional spaces, play, reading, and gathering spaces. the government's view, which emphasizes the city's development and focuses on economic development, creates a bustling society and uses more private or public-private space than housing (both formal and informal). as a result, the traditional functions of parks are often challenged by new trends in the provision and management of public spaces, and several important trends have emerged. the provision and management of public space are becoming increasingly privatized, with property developers, property managers, and local business associations taking the lead in park provision and maintenance. this condition then raises the question of how the neighborhood park as a public space relates to urban society. answering this requires an initial identification of the design and use of neighborhood parks, taking into account the background of park planning and development, as well as the culture of the community. for instance, between kitakyushu science research park and orio station, there are a number of public areas (neighborhood parks). the population in the kitakyushu science research park area is more diverse than that of other parts of kitakyushu. because there are three universities in this area, the japanese residents are very eager to interact with visitors. the park is the destination of choice for gathering and playing among the diverse backgrounds of foreigners who reside and commute as families and students, particularly young children. an online questionnaire survey was administered to a number of students or the families of students from japan, america, indonesia, malaysia, and india in order to determine how parks are perceived and how frequently they are used as public spaces. because non-student japanese people have a tendency to be closed-off and constrictive, the sources were chosen based on the author's proximity to the source. based on the identification results, it was found that 69.2% of japanese people in this area never visit the park as a public space or make 1 to 3 visits a year. the main cause of the low frequency of visits is the perception that japanese people cannot use neighborhood parks in accordance with their needs and wants. additionally, the majority of them do not consider parks to be lovely and enjoyable public areas. the mobility created in these areas is not as high as in large cities like tokyo, despite the fact that some parks are situated near supermarkets. the performing arts event, which took place in the park in front of the tokyo metropolitan theater, was organized by tokyo (baba, 2020). temporary structures, like cafes, were set up there for people to enjoy for a month after attending a performance. in western nations like the united states, utilizing neighborhood parks for fun public events is a major priority. it is thought to be quite difficult to apply public spaces, such as neighborhood parks in japan, including parks in the case study area, as picnic and festival areas, or shared spaces where there is the freedom to interact with strangers. the laws dictating how people should behave in public, which are cultural norms that have been passed down from generation to generation and have become ingrained in japanese society, inadvertently cause issues with how people use public spaces, particularly parks. however, the loss of parks as a component of public space also raises issues regarding the loss of a vital component of society. people still believe that they want parks close to their neighborhoods. hardilla/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 2 park visit frequency rate figure 3 usage time contrary to japanese society, foreigners from america, indonesia, malaysia, china, and india have similar habits in social interaction, although they have different histories and cultures. the results show that indonesians, malaysians, and indians who belong to the same religion, like islam, tend to share similar feelings of brotherhood. additionally, indonesian society is heterogeneous and fosters a sense of togetherness and mutual collaboration, making it easier for it to blend in with other communities. despite the fact that brotherhood and unity are not central to american culture, open-mindedness and willingness to speak in front of large crowds contribute to the group's ease in society. parks and other public areas become a beneficial part of daily life as a result of the need for a strong social life. this finding contrasts with the negative perception that japanese people have of public spaces as well as the urban gap, where parks are gradually replaced by empty spaces. ninety percent of visitors from outside countries visit parks two to four times per week, demonstrating the impact parks have on people's quality of life. figure 4 advantages of visiting a park figure 5 reason for visiting the park the existence of parks as public spaces in japan does not give benefit to improve social relations for both japanese and foreigners, as shown by the data graph above. this is due to the distinct personality differences between japanese and non-japanese people. it follows that neighborhood parks are seen by the japanese as a double-edged sword that simultaneously has negative and positive effects on society. although the views on stress relief are different in japanese society and among foreigners, both the japanese and foreign cultures agree that parks have a stress-relieving effect. the park is seen by foreigners as a place to relax, play, and engage in other activities that can strengthen ties between neighborhoods. while parks are seen as a place to engage in physical activities like sports to improve one's health by the japanese. 5. conclusion despite having a low usage intensity, it can be inferred from this study that public spaces, particularly neighborhood park, are essential a part of japanese society’s life. many strategies have been made by planners and designers to resurrect the park’s use, particularly in big cities like tokyo. a different strategy is needed to increase the level of park’s use, which is located between kitakyushu science research park and orio station. japanese citizens who live in big cities can easily accept foreigners to some extent, where social and communication patterns are formed naturally. small towns like kitakyushu have a more closed social pattern, where interaction with foreigners is rare. additionally, public space in a residential area is used less frequently than public space, which is located in commercial, educational, or main street. in other words, public areas that offer a variety of attractions tend to pique hardilla/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 japanese citizens’ interest more. foreigners including indonesian citizens perceive public space as an open space that is an integral part of life, which is a very different perception from the japanese. therefore, it can develop some recommendations and plans for public space – neighborhood park – through the influence of citizen perception. meanwhile, this paper did not provide a deeper analysis related to redevelopment strategies of public space, especially neighborhood park between kitakyushu science research park and orio station. because most of the analysis aims to the general evaluation of citizen’s (both japanese and foreigners), perceptions toward neighborhood parks as public spaces. there are many challenges in data technologies, including storage, organization, management, and analytics. acknowledgments we would like to thank the respondents who participated in the survey, especially japanese citizens and foreigners who live in japan for providing us with the necessary data and information. this research was performed under the supervision of the graduate program and bart lab, environmental engineering faculty, the university of kitakyushu, japan. funding declaration: this research did not 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identity in old quarter,melaka heritage city. planning malaysia, 2017. 15(2), pp. 123–134 http://dx.doi.org/10.6035/kult-ur.2017.4.7.7 http://dx.doi.org/10.6035/kult-ur.2017.4.7.7 https://doi.org/10.7748/phc.2016.e1162 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i2.559 natural urban heritage and preservation policies: the case of kyoto’s waterways. tyana santini1, takahiro taji2 1assistant professor, architecture department, universidad ort, uruguay 2associate professor in the graduate school of engineering, kyoto university abstract the value of natural heritage within urban areas is nowadays gaining recognition, but there are still no clear reference frameworks to confront the complexities of their management. in this discussion, the challenges of the association of historical preservation and urban nature are explored through the analysis of the management of kyoto’s waterways. the conflicts caused by the rapid modernization of japan at the end of 19th century find in kyoto a remarkable expression in the tensions between renovation and conservation, providing a fertile frame for discussion. relevant achievements and shortcomings of kyoto´s experience are here analyzed, considering how the preservation of historic landscapes affected the protection of urban rivers, the relationship between sustainability and heritage, and the new environmentally aware approaches to river improvement. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords urban waterways; heritage and sustainability; natural heritage 1. introduction kyoto’s natural and historical heritage the ancient capital of japan stands out from other urban centers of the country because of its rich historical heritage and unique natural setting. the city is located in a basin surrounded with mountains to the north (kitayama), east (higashiyama), and west (nishiyama), with numerous rivers running through its millenary layout. since the 8th century, its remarkable natural scenery inspired members of the imperial court to build palaces and gardens that blended with the surrounding nature, complementing the countless temples and shrines scattered in and around the city. this blend of historical sites and remarkable landscapes have become trademark of the city and it is said that they even saved it from the bombings of world war two. while in most japanese cities the limited green areas have contributed to the motto ‘rich japan-poor japanese’ (sorensen & funk, 2007), kyoto has been relatively favored by its strong preservation policies that have promoted maintenance of its natural areas. one of the natural features more prevalent across the city are its waterways, which are deeply associated to its culture and traditions. within japan, kyoto was known for the quality of its ground and underground water, which was believed to be the reason behind the outstanding quality of its vegetables, its sweets, and its sake. the water from kyoto also gained the reputation of having purifying and magical properties. one the most celebrated temples pg. 95 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i2.559&domain=press.ierek.com santini / environmental science and sustainable development, essd of the city, the kyomizudera (pure water temple), still carries the legend of the cleansing and wishing granting powers of the streams that run through its precincts, attracting tourists and locals in search of a change of luck. once a year, during the renowned celebration gion matsuri, the portable shrines of the procession are purified with the waters of the city´s main river, the kamo river (or river of the ducks). as in many other cities, commercial and industrial activities gathered around water sources that were essential for the life and economy of the city, and this way, many of kyoto´s waterways became intrinsically linked with urban areas of historic relevance. rivers provided water for households, industries, and agriculture, as well as serving as transportation routes. however, contrary to most european urban rivers, the shallow banks and irregular flow of kyoto´s watercourses were not suitable for transportation in their natural state. this situation, together with the frequent floods, prompted the early engineering and modification of river courses and the creation of channels since its early history. for example, the horikawa canal was dug during the 9th century with the main purpose of carrying goods along the city, and eventually, to osaka through the yodo river (kyoto city municipality, 2010). the canal was also used as means of flood control of its tributaries, to create the moat of the city´s castle (nijo), to feed the ponds of the gardens of shrines and temples of the area, and as water supply for the renowned textile industry of nishijin district. in 1868 the capital of japan was transfer to tokyo, and kyoto, the old imperial capital, started to suffer an economic decline. renovation and modernization measures were taken to confront this issue. one of the most important renovation works was the lake biwa canal. this unprecedented project, carried out by tanabe sakuro, became internationally renowned for its ingenuity and engineering prowess. the twenty kilometer canal provided running and irrigation water for kyoto city and its surrounding areas, and it fed the turbines of the first public hydroelectric generator that powered kyoto´s flourishing industries, its street lights, and the first electric trams of japan. the canal also brought new waterfront landscapes to the city along its main branch, heart of the okazaki district, and along its secondary branches that created new public spaces, as the promenade of the philosopher’s path. the rapid modernization that japan experienced at the end of 19th century radically changed many of its cityscapes. however, the natural and historic values of kyoto helped defined the city´s character as the keeper of traditional culture. although the economic pressures of development have been a constant challenge for the preservation of both natural and built heritage, the protection of these values was always important for the city managers who were aware of the importance of the touristic industry for the city´s economy. in 1898, naiki jinzaburo, the first major of kyoto, established the urban priorities that would define the city´s later development: gather the commercial activities in the south, maintain the historical districts and its traditional industries (as the textile industry or the production of sake), and preserve the natural landscapes of the east of the city. however, the natural areas protected were mostly those associated to historic places, and the protection of isolated natural features as rivers and canals was not considered. by mid-20th century the condition of urban streams and canals in non-historic areas gradually declined because the loss of their original functions and the effects of urban growth. in the suburbs, several water courses were buried or just disappeared. several of kyoto’s rivers were piped during the city’s modernization as a measure against floods, and following the industrial growth, a severe water pollution anticipated the environmental crisis of the 1960s. as a result of the ‘urban stream syndrome’ (walsh, et al., 2005) experienced by kyoto’s rivers, citizens turned their backs on the deteriorated streams. it was not until the 1970s and 1980s when the application of strict national and regional regulations led to an improvement the water quality of kyoto’s urban streams, and contemporary shifts in values are increasing the awareness of the potential of urban watercourses. in the following sections, some aspects kyoto’s management of nature and waterways as natural heritage will be discussed, considering how the preservation of historic landscapes affected the protection of urban rivers, the relationship between sustainability and heritage, and the new environmentally aware approaches to river improvement. pg. 96 santini / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 2. aesthetic landscapes, tradition, and sustainability files the preservation of natural areas has a long tradition in kyoto. the first measures for the preservation of natural areas in and around the city begun in 1930 with the designation of the scenic landscape districts. this first measure considered mainly the natural areas located at the limits of the city near the surrounding mountains and some patches of green areas within the urban fabric. all the protected green areas were related to places of historic importance as palaces or temples, as the kiyomizudera located in the eastern mountains (kyoto city bureau, 2016). among the few protected green areas of kyoto that were not associated with built heritage were the banks of kamo river, the main river of kyoto that has been for long one the city´s most popular public areas. the extraordinary growth of the city after world war 2 put under test kyoto´s preservation measures, but a number of new policies helped confront the situation. in 1964, what began as a dispute over the conservation of the forests of kamakura city near tokyo —the oyatsu dispute— ended in the ancient capitals preservation law of 1966, which provided kyoto’s municipality with more legal tools to protect the historic landscapes from the growing urbanization (asano, 1999). preservation measures could not always be applied efficiently, and because of the pressure of land development they needed constant updates. in the following years, several amendments and new policies were created to improve the protection legislation, as, among others, the act on urban green space conservation (created in 1973 to be valid in all kansai region) created to protect suburban greenery, the kyoto city ordinance on conservation of natural landscape (enacted in 1995) to protect the view of the mountain ranges from the city, and special regulations for specific areas as the riverside aesthetic landscape district (2005) made to control the development the areas near the margins of urban and suburban rivers. although today the preservation of urban natures makes emphasis on sustainability and on the benefits of nature for the citizens, the protection of kyoto’s urban natures has been traditionally related to cultural and aesthetic interests. it is for that reason that one of the most important conservation tools was, and still is, the protection of views (or vistas). the protection of urban and natural views is certainly not unique to kyoto or japan. vancouver for example has protected view cones to guard the mountain landscape as appreciated from the city, while in london, protected views corridors were established since the 1930s to protect the views of important landmarks as the st. paul’s cathedral (karaga, 2015). in kyoto, there are thirty-eight officially recognized vistas under the vistaed view creation ordinance (all of which include natural features) that were selected out of 597 options taken from literature and citizens choices (kyoto city bureau, 2007). despite the predominantly aesthetic emphasis of this approach, the city’s rivers and its waterfronts have nonetheless greatly benefited from these measures that have protected the green areas along the main urban rivers. the new ordinance includes the category of views from waterfronts, which includes the hori river, the uji river, and the lake biwa canal sluice, as well as the ‘pleasant views’ of the kamo river from its bridges (kyoto city bureau, 2007). in japan, the protection of views is associated with the traditional gardening design concept of borrowed landscape or shakkei (taylor, 2006). when applying this concept, the distant natural background is used in combination with the nearer features of the landscape to create the illusion of continuity. unlike the protection of the landscape as the object to be appreciated, shakkei focuses in the interaction of the different layers of the landscape. in kyoto, the intrusion of unwanted objects in borrowed landscapes is considered a major loss, as in the case of the garden of the entsu-ji temple, which is said to be now ruined by the construction of housing buildings that interrupt the illusion of a continuous nature. to prevent this from happening elsewhere, there are strict height restrictions in the areas surrounding buildings of historical importance, as the kamigamo shrine in the north of the city and in the traditional district of gion near the city center (figure 1). at several points along the kamo river for example, the protected views have helped maintain the illusion of a surrounding nature that hides the city behind the greenery (figure 2). pg. 97 santini / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 1. heights limitation to protect mountain views source: kyoto landscape.kyoto city bureau figure 2. view of kyoto from the kamo river source: taken by author, 2018 due to the abundance of natural values in kyoto and its close relation to built heritage, the preservation policies of the city are in close agreement with the historic urban landscape, which as defined by the unesco, is the resulting landscape of the historic layering of cultural and natural values and attributes. in the 2011 recommendations for historic urban landscapes, the unesco suggested that heritage conservation should be integrating into the broader management goals of the city, including sustainability. preserving existing resources is an essential part of sustainability, and therefore, the conservation of natural and built heritage is now considered a necessary task of sustainable urban management. but the relation between sustainability and heritage is not restricted to the preservation of resources. the compatibility of traditional practices and sustainability is a well-recognized fact in practices as varied as food production or architecture (parham, 2017; moor, 2017), and this agreement has also proven to be manifest in urban planning. in the case of kyoto, a good example in this respect are the measures taken in the historic togetsukyo bridge, that crosses the katsura river in the protected area of arashiyama. the current bridge was built in 1934, before the enforcement of laws promoting the use of lighting equipment, and therefore lights in the bridge were banned once pg. 98 santini / environmental science and sustainable development, essd the bridge reached the heritage status. however, after long negotiations, the installation of lighting on the historic bridge was finally accepted after proposing a sustainable solution that included a small hydraulic power generator powered by the flow of katsura river (national small-hydro council, 2015). the installation began in 2005, and it became the first micro-hydropower system to be installed in one of the major rivers of japan, illustrating the promising potential for the application of environmentally friendly strategies in historical areas. on the other hand, the increasing environmental awareness has also led to the modification of some of kyoto´s traditions, as in the case of the practice of ‘yuzen nagashi’. this old tradition was the final stage of the dyeing process of fabrics, in which silk stripes were placed along the rivers of kyoto to clear them of excessive glue and dye, creating the effect of a multi-coloured water. in the 1940s, because of the growing concerns with water pollution, this practice was gradually discouraged until it was eliminated under the water pollution control law of 1974 (diet library database, 2010). today, a modified version of this practice is recreated for special festivals during the summer, using non-polluting colorful fabrics placed along some of the rivers and canals of the city. since the protection kyoto’s rivers and their environments has been driven mainly by their association to historical heritage and aesthetic values, the waterways that have received more attention over the years have been the kamo river and its margins, the takano river in the north of the city, the shirakawa river, particularly the section that runs along the historic protected area of gion, and the lake biwa canal. however, for most of the 20th century, minor rivers and streams without an apparent scenic value that could justify its protection have disappeared or deteriorated. for example, the horikawa canal, which once had a tremendous importance for the activities of the west of the city, once it lost it original functions it was gradually covered in most of its course and, as a measure of flood prevention, its water source was cut soon after the second world war. it was not until 1985 that a group of citizens formed the horikawa beautification group to try to restore some of its former aesthetic qualities. after years of negotiations, a restoration plan was presented in 1995, and the canal that had been buried and dried for fifty five years was brought to new life with a plan that combines flood prevention, amenity, and recovered heritage (kyoto city municipality, 2010)(figures 3 and 4). this change of attitude towards urban watercourses is the reflection of a worldwide trend of renewed environmental awareness that leads contemporary citizens to increase the demands for the improvement of the natural infrastructure of cities, which is helping to build a more diversified approach to the management of urban natures. figure 3. horikawa canal during the early 1990s source: kyoto city official website pg. 99 santini / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 4. horikawa canal in 2013 source: biglobe news 2013/04/23 3. new approaches to the management of natural heritage besides the protections of rivers through the preservation of the natural urban landscapes, national and regional legislation for the management of rivers. however, the goal of these legal measures has traditionally been the control of floods, which is a priority of kyoto’s municipality. historically, floods have cause great damage to the city and its surrounding, specially along the courses of the kamo, the katsura, and the uji rivers, where many historic protected areas are located (figures 5 and 6). measures against floods started as early as the 9th century, but the changing conditions of factors affecting the flow of rivers, as the construction of dams, forestation or the surrounding mountains, and weather conditions, keep testing the improvements made in flood prevention. for example, the heavier rains occurring during the last years have caused serious problems since the infrastructure was not fit to bear the new precipitation levels. during the typhoon man-yi of 2013, more rain fell in one day than in the average of the month (masaki & kono, 2015), prompting the flood of the hozu-katsura river in the historic area of arashiyama, and causing considerable harm to the area. in 2018, the effects of the typhoon prapiroon forced the evacuation of hundreds of kyoto citizens living near the major rivers while the currents wrecked the city´s riparian infrastructure. improved flood prevention measures have greatly improved safety, and, since the risk of flood is cannot be completely eradicated because of the mutable nature of rivers, policies are focus on reducing flood damage (waley, 2000). figure 5. traditional street pontocho, 1936 flood. source: 1936, flood report, kyoto city hall pg. 100 santini / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 6. togetsukyo bridge, arashiyama, 2013 flood source: asahi journal news portal, 19/01/2018 although flood prevention is still one of the main priorities of national and regional river administration, the approach of the river law amended in 1997, has added water use and river environment protection as equally important purposes of river administration (ikeuchi and kanao, 2003). the full ecological potential of urban rivers is being explored and exploited only recently. a previous measure from 1990 from the ministry of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism established a policy called nature oriented river works, and with the amendment of the river law this measure took new force and nowadays is slowly reaching urban rivers minor urban streams. in addition to the increasing attention paid to river environment quality in legal measures and official administration, contemporary awareness on environmental issues has led to a growing influence of the japanese preservation movements, which are now reaching urban grounds. traditionally, the efforts of environmental activists manly targeted the wild and hard-to-find nature, located as a rule in areas distant from urban centers (asano, 2007). however, the interest in smaller ecosystems, as the ones that might exists within cities, is gradually increasing. the interest in the creation and preservation natural areas within urban contexts is broadening the approach to the management of water environments, expanding the initial safety and aesthetic concerns into a more systemic view that considers its ecological aspects. until recently, the way in which the manmade natural riverbanks were conceived tended to be uni-layered, focusing mainly in visual aspects, and therefore created meagre environments for biodiversity. today it is understood that the natural areas along urban rivers can be managed as ‘bio-highways’ (taylor & patrick, 2006), since they are the most propitious areas within urban environments to promote rich and complex ecosystems. it has to be noted that, when it comes to japanese urban watercourses, the categories of man made and original natures are extremely blurred. as pointed out before, kyoto’s rivers have been tamed since its foundation in the 8th century for purposes of irrigation, transportation, or flood protection, and countless canals have been created, rearranged, and removed. within the contemporary landscape plan of the city of kyoto, the riverside category of the aesthetic landscape districts includes mainly engineered rivers and man-made canals as the takase river, a transportation canal dug in the 17th century, or the famous biwa lake canal, which was designated as modernization heritage in 2007 because of its importance for the history of kyoto. the urbanized riversides of these canals might contrast with some sections of the landscaped margins of the kamo river designed to look natural, but it has to be considered that both of these contexts are equally planned and deliberately crafted (figures 7 and 8). the category of historic urban landscape includes built heritage as well as natural heritage in its border sense (without considering the level of human intervention), but when dealing with environmental issues the distinction between of original and modified nature (as in a natural stream or a designed canal) becomes more complicated because of the association with the debates on which natures should be preserved and how (baldwin, de luce, & pletsch, 1994). pg. 101 santini / environmental science and sustainable development, essd without attempting to address the ethical or philosophical implications of the debates regarding original and modified environments, some basic facts of nature within urban contexts need to be clarified. first, what is generally classified as natural in urban planning differs from the definitions used in environmental discussions dealing with wilderness, and considerations about original states of nature or rewilding approaches are not always suitable for the urban contexts. urban natures refer for the most part to areas where the majority of the integrating elements are living natural features, category which includes from relatively untamed urban forests to the most cultured versions of nature as parks or gardens. secondly, the action of preserving or creating natural environments within cities has usually a different purpose than the protection of nature in areas uninhabited by humans. within urban contexts, the role of nature as an amenity usually takes priority over the concerns on ecosystems, which is a relatively new concept that is only beginning to be included in the discussions of urban nature. figure 7. lake biwa canal, okazaki district source: taken bythe author, 2015 figure 8. kamo river landscaping, kita guard source: taken by the author, 2015 the expansion of the approach to river protection in kyoto is being achieved through the integration of the civil society into the management process, while also considering the local history and traditions, measures which are also in line with the suggestions of unesco for the preservation of historic urban landscapes from 2011. within japanese urban planning, the national and regional governments were traditionally seen as mere managers of infrastructure (sorensen & funk, 2007), without real engagement with the improvement of the urban quality of pg. 102 santini / environmental science and sustainable development, essd life. according the japanese scholar shun-ichi j. watanabe (2007), a new urban environmental administration with a bottom-up style of planning is currently growing in japan thanks to the machi-zukuri movements (which literally translates as city making). these civic associations grew out of the combination of the traditional neighborhood associations and the environmental movements of the 1960s and 1970s that confronted government strategies that favored economic growth over quality of life. since the collapse of the bubble economy in the 1990s, there have been important political readjustments, and local groups have been increasingly involved in the governance of urban space (sorensen & funk, 2007). the current river improvement policy of the city of kyoto has integrated the concept of river making (kawazukuri) and waterfront making (mizube-zukuri) into its measures to manage the city’s watercourses. in japan, these concepts have been applied since 1990s as pilot projects promoted by the ministry of construction´s river bureau to approach the re-landscaping or rivers with natural materials, minimizing when possible the use of concrete, which was for many decades the predominant material used to in the river interventions (waley, 2000). the idea behind the integration of civil movements with municipal activities in the particular case of kyoto is to complement the complex tasks of flood prevention, which need to be carried out by the government, with other responsibilities that can be executed by citizens and local businesses, as landscaping, cleaning, and maintenance of riversides (kyoto city bureau, 2012).with the integration of river making programs, smaller rivers of areas that were not considered significant from the perspective of kyoto’s official history are being renovated with a systemic approach. many of these projects are part of an effort to merge existing watercourses and flood control, but contrary to the infrastructural projects of the previous decades, current developments consider the cultural and ecological context, as well as the aesthetic factor. some examples of these projects are the improvements of the arizu river, or the nanase river, where a layered project placed the flood prevention measures underground liberating the surface to create a landscaped park (made by tanaka survey and design office, figures 9 and 10). a significant aspect emphasized in the river improvement policy is the importance of recognizing the history and cultural meanings associated with the water course. the policy points out that the original scenery of the river and its margins should be considered in the renovation projects (kyoto city bureau, 2012). it has to be noted that in the case of kyoto, as elsewhere in japan, references to the original state of the river as in its natural state or to the way the river environment was before human intervention, are not as common as references to the condition of the river before the late 19th century modernization. many renovation and re-landscaping projects in kyoto and other cities place educational images of past epochs (mainly edo period) showing the local traditions, industries, and activities that took place in and around urban rivers. the new approach recognizes the social relevance of watercourses of all sizes, acknowledging that rivers are an integral part of the material fabric of the city, and of kyoto’s local cultures. in the new policy, it is argued that the loss of contact with the water has caused the loss of the common wisdom on how to control flooding and manage watercourses, and the improvement plans include measures to restore the familiarity of the society with the rivers, a concept called shinsui, that even considers the consciousness to ‘fear’ water (kyoto city bureau, 2012, p. 20). many restoration projects are using the concept of shinsui park, and create designs that allow the public to approach and interact with the water instead of creating an environment that only allows to see the watercourse from the distance, and also include many features of traditional japanese gardens as waterfalls, bridges, and the creation of little islands (walley, 2000). although there are some critics of this landscaping concept in japan, shinsui parks in kyoto, as the one designed for the renovation of horikawa canal, have proven to be extremely popular, particularly for children. river making associations come in many shapes and administration styles (kusakabe, 2013). the participation of civil societies in city planning is not always easy, and there is it is concern that the alleged participation could be reduce to a mere supply of information on the official plans. still, the involvement of non-governmental entities as the kyoto environmental activities association (keaa) that promotes the public interest in the environment, the volunteer groups that clean the riverfronts, or the association of kyoto hotaru (fireflies) dedicated to study of these popular insects, has propitiated a more comprehensive approach to the urban river management. pg. 103 santini / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 9. nanase river, before intervention source: kyoto city official website figure 10. nanase river, layered plan source: kyoto city official website 4. final considerations although environmental concerns have entered the legal framework of river management relatively recently, kyoto’s interest on the preservation of the natural values of the city, particularly the interest on landscapes and vistas, have aided the protection of the city´s watercourses and its environments. unfortunately, the emphasis placed on historic relevance and aesthetic values to determine the landscapes to preserve led to the neglect and deterioration of most secondary streams and canals of the city, dedicating all the protection efforts to a few privileged examples as the kamo river or the biwa canal. there is still much room for improvement, however, recognizing the historical and cultural dimension of the natural and engineered urban streams, even when they have no touristic value, has helped kyoto’s municipality to improve the urban landscape while generating new and valuable ecosystems. the contemporary awareness on the importance of the protection of the environment by citizens and officials, have made sustainability a concept as valued as tradition in the management of kyoto’s heritage, as shown in the case of the togetsukyo bridge where new sustainable solutions coexists with age-old heritage. at the same time, this new consciousness of the importance of the environment has created a new sensibility towards nature that led to the reexamination of past solutions for flood control, and the concrete casements of urban streams are gradually being remodeled into landscaped urban parks. the current tendency in kyoto’s management of rivers is to create fine grained policies, each one adapted to the local characteristics and circumstances. despite the skepticism about the real power gained by civil society in the decision-making process of urban planning, the advantages of sharing efforts have been so far a positive experience. the evolution of the protection and management of kyoto’s urban rivers reflects the changing attitudes of society towards the natural environment. civil movements and researchers are addressing countless dimensions of the pg. 104 santini / environmental science and sustainable development, essd complex environment of urban rivers —as the influence of sound and light pollution, or the user’s interactions with the local flora and fauna— that could further enrich current practices. the citizen’s interest in environmental issues, together with the public acceptance of sustainable measures as a suitable complement of traditional settings has potential that is worthy of exploration. 5. acknowledgments this research is part of a larger investigation in kyoto’s waterways supported by japan foundation 6. references 1. asano, t. 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(2005) the urban stream syndrome: current knowledge and the search for a cure. journal of the north american benthological society,24(3) 706-723. 28. watanabe, s. (2007) “toshi keikaku vs machizukuri: emerging paradigm of civil society in japan, 19501980.” in a. sorensen and c. funk (eds.) living cities in japan (pp.189-205). london: routledge. pg. 106 introduction aesthetic landscapes, tradition, and sustainability new approaches to the management of natural heritage final considerations acknowledgments references http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 31 august 2023, accepted: 26 september 2023, published online: 30 september 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i4.1013 reinvigorating climate change education in universities a social transformative agenda xolani khalo1, benjamin damoah2 1,2lecturer, faculty of education, university of fort hare, south africa abstract many higher education institutions (heis) have implemented measures to enhance their sustainability efforts, such as integrating student-led organizations, research and innovation centers, and eco-friendly campus projects. in a unified effort to achieve sdg4, universities are collaborating to align their initiatives with the sustainable development goals. incorporating these goals into the academic curricula and exploring sdg-related themes are crucial steps in this process. the global community is faced with environmental threats due to climate change. the problematic process of societal transformation involved in responding to climate change. reviving climate change education in educational institutions can provide a strong impetus for societal change. future leaders, professionals, and citizens are significantly shaped by the knowledge, attitudes, and abilities they acquire in universities. this paper thematically reviewed relevant literature which then sought to unpack strategies employed by universities to advance climate change education. transformational paradigm and social change (structural-functional) theory are the underlying philosophical view for this paper. curriculum integration, a holistic approach, experiential learning, community engagement, faculty development, campus sustainability, policy advocacy, developing student leadership, partnerships, and collaborations are some approaches to reviving climate change education that came to light from the paper. by implementing these approaches, universities may position themselves as hubs for climate change education, research, and action, raising a generation of conscious, involved, and equipped individuals ready to lead societal transformation in the direction of a sustainable future. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review is under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords climate change education, social transformation, strategies, social change, sdg4, universities 1. introduction one of the main responses to the deteriorating state of the global environment is the formal education curriculum that facilitates quality teaching and learning of climate change education (damoah & omodan, 2022; damoah & adu, 2019). the threat of global temperature rises above 1.5 degrees celsius can be mitigated through climate change education (damoah & omodan, 2023). the most current global education monitoring report by unesco in 2020 highlights the role that education plays in reducing climate change and adapting to it, yet many nations do not acknowledge the significance of climate change education (cce) or make major investments in it (molthan-hill et al., 2022). stevenson et al. (2017) assert that universities all around the world are becoming more aware of their obligation to educate students and the general public so that they may actively participate in climate change adaptation http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i4.1013&domain=press.ierek.com damoah/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 and mitigation. universities adopting and supporting carbon-neutral objectives and behaviors are part of this responsibility. inside this bigger framework. these days, more and more higher education institutions adopt a dual approach. in implementing low-carbon operating procedures, universities first want to achieve carbon neutrality as an institution. in addition, academic institutions are creating curricula and pedagogical strategies to teach students about reducing climate change's effects and adapting to it (kiehle et al., 2023). pee and vululleh (2020) argue that future environmental auditors, community leaders, corporate executives, engineers, practitioners, technical professionals, policymakers, and, most importantly, the general public can all benefit from the education provided by higher education institutions (heis), which also helps to spread social and governmental reforms. practical environmental initiatives have a trajectory that is influenced by the responsibilities that civil society groups and institutions play in society (damoah & adu, 2022). the cumulative increase in societal awareness gradually permeates and shapes the policies and procedures of the business sector, community stakeholders, and local and federal governments on how to manage better climate change mitigation and adaptation in their many spheres of influence, including through advocacy, daily actions, and professional careers (kelly et al., 2015). leal filho et al. (2019) contend that universities are now aware of their obligation to develop climate change education modules and prioritize carbon neutrality, but sometimes organizational complacency, operational complexity, and an abundance of regulatory requirements that have an impact on governance in the higher education sector can stymie these efforts. among other ways, nature-immersive field projects, international case studies, and higher degree research can all be used in climate change education (cce) at universities, which can take the shape of formal, informal, or non-formal learning and teaching methods. over the past ten years, there has been a progressive global trend away from a limited focus on environmental preservation in curriculum toward broader aims and innovative teaching techniques, as shown by a literary study of university education on climate change and sustainability. corporate social responsibility, multiculturalism, community involvement, and ethics are some of these programs. they also take the form of recycled materials, greening campuses, embodied pedagogies, and outdoor education that immerses students in the natural world (kromydas, 2017). climate change education requires immediate attention due to global environmental challenges (damoah, 2023). universities need to orient themselves dynamically going forward. this will significantly close the knowledge gap between the generation and sharing of crucial information concerning climate change that has the potential to spread throughout many other areas. engagement in this area has become increasingly important to higher education providers in recent years. there have been more instances of institutions adopting responsibility for funding environmentally friendly initiatives to meet sustainability goals (saeed et al., 2019). in addition, recent trends have seen an increase in the number of universities worldwide deciding to actively divest their endowments from interest in fossil fuels. the road toward climate-driven education is strategic, integrative, and gradually integrates the sdgs (leal filho et al., 2021). hou and jacob (2017) intimated that the times higher education impact rankings are a mechanism for outlining the parameters that institutions employ to accomplish certain un sdgs. sdg 13 (climate action) is one of them. this assesses whether or not universities engage in climate change research, how they utilize low-carbon energy, and whether or not they offer educational initiatives targeted at achieving carbon neutrality. leal filho et al. (2021) argue that 376 universities from 70 different countries are included on the most recent list for the year 2020. the top five institutions are all located in new zealand, australia, or the united states; no african universities made the list. the world community is primarily concerned with climate change and climatic variability. critical inquiries together with reflexive and transformational educational techniques are required due to the complex interconnections between the earth's socio-ecological systems and the global climate. regarding sustainability issues and the difficulties posed to learning and pedagogy, this may assist in meeting the need for more radical social learning-centered reform (leal filho et al., 2021). therefore, there is a need to move away from basic, silo-based approaches to education and toward more systemic and in-depth research that combines biophysical, socio-economic, and socio-psychological conceptions (white & delaney,2021). in this context, ideas like education for sustainable development (esd), a damoah/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 crucial instrument for sustainable development and a crucial component of high-quality education, have acquired international traction. esd equips individuals to modify their perspectives and practices to move toward a sustainable future. by expanding chances for top-notch education on sustainable development, this may be achieved. through the reform of educational pedagogies and the empowerment of individuals to acquire the information, abilities, attitudes, and behaviors necessary for sustainable development which will foster social transformation. this emphasizes the importance of including sustainable development concepts in the curriculum, such as climate change (unesco, 2020). universities all around the world must make an effort to provide advanced curricula, programs, capacity building, and multidisciplinary collaboration to encourage meaningful learning on climate change. furthermore, since climate change is largely the result of interactions between humans and the environment, schools can help us do more than just understand these changes to our habitat and help us adapt to them (damoah et al., 2023). they can also help us slow down these changes and lessen their impact as we adopt sustainable practices and, possibly, even reverse them as we develop technologies that change the factors that cause climate change. people need to be prepared to adopt sustainable behaviors to lessen both their contribution to climate change and the effects of climate change on their daily lives (feola, 2015). this is accomplished through educating people about more sustainable ways to interact with their environment. when we make decisions about our consumption and way of life, these activities may be personal to us. human competencies, or people's knowledge, motivation, and skills, are essential for climate change adaptation and mitigation. however, acquiring those skills is a very difficult task that calls for concentration and expertise. climate change education, a branch of education for sustainable development, is a new educational area born out of the potential of education to influence human-environmental interactions. to help students comprehend, adapt to, and minimize climate change, a lot has been written and is being done in this area. to confront this grave peril that mankind faces, governments all over the world have created curricula and established policies in collaboration with civil society groups and other institutions (huckle & wals, 2015). læssøe and mochizuki (2015) intimated that international organizations like unesco have made significant efforts to promote climate change education and have created and disseminated materials to do so. wynes and nicholas(2017) argued that despite these efforts, education has not yet been able to significantly reduce the impact that our species has on climate change, nor have we been able to adapt to these climatic changes. as a result, much like polar bears, we are witnessing the destruction of our habitat, much of which is due to our own doing, and we are unsure of whether we will survive these changes alongside other species. the fact that no one nation can resolve it independently and that no nation can protect itself from its repercussions makes it the defining global dilemma. however, it is extremely doubtful that the necessary collective response will be generated. climate change may end up being the problem that defines the twenty-first century. 2. objective this paper thematically reviewed relevant literature on climate change education in institutions of higher learning and its implications. 3. methods this is a thematic literature review paper anchored on the transformative paradigm(pt). the revolutionization of the role of cce in higher education is imperative to mitigate the effects of climate change, as argued in this paper. the philosophical foundation of the tp prioritizes social justice and human rights concerns, including the climate and environmental crises that are affecting communities worldwide (mertens & wilson, 2012). the transformational paradigm assumes a complex world with various perspectives on reality emerging from socioeconomic and cultural viewpoints. knowledge is produced within a framework of power and privilege, with repercussions tied to whatever version of knowledge is granted privilege. no one technique is preferred; rather, methodological choices are linked to the goals of social justice. the methodology includes a structural analysis that promotes a critical and reflexive interaction between the evaluator and stakeholders (baker et al., 2021). universities need to integrate cce into their curriculum to bring environmental and societal transformation. tp entails altering how we see, experience, and damoah/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 behave in daily life, encompassing individual and societal transformation. this resonates with the philosophical view of social change theory. the concept of change is broad, encompassing alterations in social relationships and structures. social change involves observing changes in any social phenomenon over time. parson talcott's 1951 structural-functional theory is the basis for this paper. according to this theory, social structures have both structural and functional components. structures have a direct impact on function, and society is viewed as a balanced system, like the human body. social institutions make changes to stabilize the social order when external or internal events disturb it (parson, 1951). universities must implement policies that promote environmental advocacy and create a supportive atmosphere and defined curriculum to develop the necessary skills for a transformative society. universities have a social contract of designing pedagogical strategies that integrate cce into their curriculum and programs to bring the needed environmental and societal transformation. moreover, universities should prioritize research on pressing climate change issues. this is crucial for developing an environmentally conscious young generation that can protect ecosystems and contribute to society. this paper reviews the literature on the following thematic areas: the importance of climate change education in institutions of higher learning, strategies to reinvigorate climate change education 4. discussion the paper thematically discussed the relevance of climate change education and the strategies to revive climate change education in institutions of higher learning. 4.1 why climate change education is important for sustainable development the significance of climate change education cannot be overstated because it promotes sustainable behaviors, enhances awareness, and empowers individuals and communities to act, all of which are crucial for social transformation. therefore, the following vital aspects of climate change education should be given due consideration as they play a significant role in achieving this goal (gillard, 2016). corner et al. (2015) assert that to effectively combat climate change, education must prioritize raising public awareness of its causes, impacts, and urgency. this can only be achieved by providing accurate and accessible information on its scientific basis, as well as its connection to human activities and potential consequences on both ecosystems and human societies. it is essential to emphasize the interconnectedness of environmental, social, economic, and political systems, and how individual actions and choices can have a significant impact on the broader climate system (williams et al., 2017). failure to do so will result in irreversible damage to our planet, with catastrophic consequences for future generations mitigation and adaptation strategies are emphasized in climate change education. it offers useful information on sustainable practices that people and communities may embrace, such as recycling, sustainable agriculture, and alternative forms of energy and renewable energy. the development of critical thinking abilities via cce enables people to examine and analyze various sources, spot biases, and make well-informed judgments. to overcome the difficulties brought on by climate change, problem-solving abilities are stressed (niles et al., 2016). ojola (2015) argues that individuals are motivated to act and are given hope that they can improve the world through education on climate change. it highlights how both group and individual activities, from individual lifestyle decisions to civic activity and advocacy, matter. to ensure that marginalized populations have equitable access to knowledge and chances to participate in climate action, inclusion, and equality should also be promoted via education. education should recognize the interdisciplinary nature of the problem of climate change by including topics from the humanities, social sciences, and the sciences. this interdisciplinary approach fosters cross-disciplinary cooperation and promotes holistic understanding. cce is included in more comprehensive initiatives for education for sustainable development (esd). to build a just and sustainable society, people need to have the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes to do it. an all-encompassing and revolutionary strategy may be accomplished by integrating cce with esd. partnerships and teamwork among several stakeholders, including educational institutions, governments, ngos, corporations, and communities, are required for cce (takahashi et al., 2016). through such cooperation, damoah/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 shared accountability is encouraged and cce is relevant, contextualized, and successful in tackling regional and global issues information on the latest climate policy, its origins, effects, and potential remedies is a key component of climate change education. to make people more aware of how complicated the problem is, it discusses how numerous environmental, social, and economic variables are intertwined (smith & jacques, 2022). sustainability, social justice, and fairness are all ideals and ethical principles that cce upholds. it inspires people to consider their morals and actions, developing a sense of obligation and concern for the environment and future generations. building people's capacity to deal with climate change concerns should be a major goal of education. to do this, it is necessary to provide instruction, opportunities for skill growth, and assistance with sustainable activities including waste reduction, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy (owen-oliner, 2021). collaboration and networking among many stakeholders, including teachers, students, decision-makers, corporations, and nonprofit groups, are encouraged by climate change education (pucciarelli & kaplan, 2016). this encourages group participation, information sharing, and the adoption of best practices, which strengthens the effects of initiatives to educate people about climate change. cce is thought of as a process of lifelong learning. as new scientific discoveries and solutions materialize, they promote ongoing learning, adaptation, and creativity. individuals are therefore better able to keep educated about the issues related to climate change and adapt to them. these elements may be incorporated into cce to enable people to become aware, involved, and responsible global citizens who actively support social change and sustainable practices (cinner et al., 2018). 4.2 strategies to reinvigorate climate change education for sustainable ecosystems in universities a strong impetus for societal change may be provided by reviving climate change teaching at universities. future leaders, professionals, and citizens are significantly shaped by the knowledge, attitudes, and abilities they acquire in universities (weir et al., 2017). the following strategies can be used to advance climate change education as a social transformation agenda in universities: universities should include cce in a range of degrees and specialties, reaching beyond environmental sciences. consider incorporating themes related to climate change into the social sciences, humanities, business, engineering, and other pertinent areas. students are assisted in understanding the complexity of climate change and its importance to their particular areas by this multidisciplinary approach. higher education institutions (heis) ought to tackle climate change education holistically, considering its political, economic, social, and environmental aspects. universities promote cooperation across diverse colleges and departments to create thorough curricula that examine how various fields are related to climate change (molthan-hill et al., 2022) universities should provide students the chance to learn experientially through activities like field excursions, internships, and research projects that let them interact with the problems caused by climate change in the real world (lin et al., 2017). their comprehension of the effects, adaption strategies, and mitigation attempts of climate change is improved by this practical experience. to produce worthwhile educational opportunities, heis should promote partnerships and cooperation with nearby communities, ngos, and companies. this might include collaborative problem-solving activities, service-learning programs, and community-based research projects that address climate change challenges in the local area (tang, 2019). by giving platforms to student-led groups, clubs, and projects, the higher education community can encourage student participation in climate change activities. encourage students to plan activities, workshops, and awareness drives on campus and in the neighborhood (bodolica et al., 2021). this promotes a sense of ownership and responsibility among the student group as well as leadership skills development. assist lecturers in improving their expertise in teaching about climate change. provide tools, workshops, and chances for professional development to assist lecturers in successfully incorporating climate change subjects into their courses. to contribute to the academic conversation, encourage publishing and research in the area of climate change (richlin, 2023). damoah/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 by putting green campus programs into place, institutions may serve as examples of sustainable behavior. reduce carbon emissions, advance renewable energy, establish waste-management plans, and encourage environmentally friendly transportation methods. showcase sustainable solutions on campus as a living laboratory and include students in sustainability initiatives. encourage collaborations and joint ventures with other colleges, research centers, and international organizations that are involved in climate change teaching. to boost worldwide efforts in climate change education, exchange best practices, pool resources, and work together on research projects (leal filho et al., 2015). at the municipal, state, and international levels, universities are encouraged to participate in policy advocacy (damoah, 2023). encourage staff and students to speak out for climate-friendly legislation, participate in public discussions, and have an impact on the selection of policies that affect sustainability and the environment. expand the scope of climate change education beyond the undergraduate level by providing seminars, online courses, and continuing education programs for past students and the general public. to encourage continuous involvement and information sharing, create alumni networks centered on sustainability and climate change (monroe et al., 2019). 5. the role of higher education institutions in achieving the sdg 4 higher education institutions (heis) play a critical role in advancing the sustainable development goals (sdgs) and setting an example for other industries (damoah, 2021; ketlhoilwe et al., 2020). they have the power to influence public discourse on the sdgs and are instrumental in achieving the 2030 sustainable development goal agenda. although sdg 4 emphasizes quality and inclusive education, heis impact all the goals through research, teaching, and campus initiatives. they are a valuable source of ideas and solutions for global challenges, contributing to economic, environmental, and social development (unesco, 2020). unesco (2020) further stresses that heis are situated at the center of networks of partners from the public sector, private sector, and business community, amplifying their potential to effect positive change. heis have already taken measures such as implementing campus greening and community engagement programs (leal et al., 2015). universities are working collaboratively to achieve the sdgs, with a particular focus on sdg 4, while taking care to align their strategies with the sdgs. to further advance the sdgs, it is recommended that universities integrate the goals into their curricula and encourage ph.d. candidates to research and write theses on sdg-related topics. 6. conclusion education for social change should go beyond traditional teaching. it ought to promote involvement and active engagement, allowing people to use their knowledge in practical settings. projects, neighborhood efforts, and collaborations with sustainability-focused groups can all fall under this category. to solve the complicated and pressing issue of climate change, it is important to empower individuals, foster a feeling of urgency and responsibility, and foster a sense of community. we can develop a resilient and sustainable society that can mitigate and adapt to climate change by incorporating these ideas into educational institutions and practices. the promotion of sustainable behaviors and the acceleration of societal change are both facilitated by climate change education. people may make wise judgments and take the necessary steps to lessen the effects of climate change by raising their level of awareness, comprehension, and knowledge about it. implementing these techniques, universities may position themselves as centers for climate change education, research, and action, raising a generation of knowledgeable and engaged people who are prepared to lead the societal transformation toward a sustainable future. acknowledgments not applicable funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. damoah/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 ethics approval: not applicable. conflict of interest: the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references alasuutari, p. 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(2017). the climate mitigation gap: education and government recommendations miss the most effective individual actions. environmental research letters, 12(7), 074024. https://doi.org/10.1177/074171369404400403 https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/role-higher-education-institutions-achieving-sdgs-national-workshop-syria?tspd_101_r0=080713870fab2000b08daf42e895744f89f955722eb6c8b814af33e9137814cd9211a026a8411e09088a5b95921430008de7ed712599152ff70634aac9edf15a7bd0053ee7965ec84d7e28498ee2d8ebc51290e3513d8615f5c9e0e8670d140c https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/role-higher-education-institutions-achieving-sdgs-national-workshop-syria?tspd_101_r0=080713870fab2000b08daf42e895744f89f955722eb6c8b814af33e9137814cd9211a026a8411e09088a5b95921430008de7ed712599152ff70634aac9edf15a7bd0053ee7965ec84d7e28498ee2d8ebc51290e3513d8615f5c9e0e8670d140c https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/role-higher-education-institutions-achieving-sdgs-national-workshop-syria?tspd_101_r0=080713870fab2000b08daf42e895744f89f955722eb6c8b814af33e9137814cd9211a026a8411e09088a5b95921430008de7ed712599152ff70634aac9edf15a7bd0053ee7965ec84d7e28498ee2d8ebc51290e3513d8615f5c9e0e8670d140c http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 review article received: 19 august 2023, accepted: 25 september 2023, published online: 31 march 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i1.1005 climate change-related drivers of migration in east africa an integrative review of the literature reginald chetto1, makarius mdemu2, jacob kihila3 1economics and social studies department, ardhi university, dar es salaam, tanzania 2school of spatial planning and social sciences, ardhi university, dar es salaam, tanzania 3institute of human settlements studies, ardhi university, dar es salaam, tanzania abstract despite the growing academic concern and policy interest in climate change drivers of migration, scientific evidence on the topic remains contested, with divergent claims of positive and negative contributions of climate change on human migration and displacement. this review seeks to assess the climate change-related drivers of migration with a focus on three east african countries: tanzania, kenya, and uganda. they are among the most vulnerable countries in africa, with one of the most mobile populations. the study used the available literature on climate change and migration as the data source. about 22 research articles on climate change and migration were sourced from the web of science and scopus databases and critically reviewed. the review generally indicates that climate change effects such as frequent drought and flood disasters, livestock pests, and crop diseases influence migration and displacement in the region. on the other hand, rising sea levels pose imminent risks that can cause migration if adaptation measures are not taken. the review has also revealed that responses to drought or livestock and crop diseases, be it localized adjustment or out-migration, are determined by households' adaptive capacity. for rapid onset climate events such as floods, the most vulnerable are the less fortunate living in poorly constructed structures in flood-prone zones. this review proposes strengthening the climate policy framework by mainstreaming climate change migration in east african nations’ adaptation plans. it also calls for promoting alternative livelihood activities as an adaptation strategy in areas prone to climate change to lessen human-forced migration and displacement. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords climate; adaptation; drought; floods; livestock pests and diseases; sea-level rise 1. introduction climate change drivers of migration are a contemporary economic, political, and security concern that has surfaced in academic and policy discourses in recent years. the growing number of research reports on climatic drivers of migration in various parts of the world reflects this. for instance, the world bank report 2018 cautions that climate change will primarily drive human migration in africa and other developing regions (rigaud et al., 2018). similar warnings have also been echoed by the european union, which considers climate change-driven migration a matter of national security (parsons & nielsen, 2020). regarding displacement, the stern review on the economics of climate change (warner & boas, 2019) claimed that climate change has already forced 24 million people to relocate. other http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i1.1005&domain=press.ierek.com chetto/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 scholars, such as geisler and currens (2017), have further projected that by 2050, up to 1 billion people will be displaced by the effects of climate change. such views on mass migration due to climate change are held mainly by climate activists who seek to amplify climate change risks to influence climate change policy (risbey, 2008). in the views of the activists, the people compelled to migrate due to climate change are called environmental migrants or environmental refugees. burrows and kinney (2016) attempted to debunk the climate activist view by arguing that the estimated 1 billion climate migrants are uncertain and unrealistic due to a lack of data. furthermore, emerging research indicates that the linkage between migration and climate change effects such as drought and floods is complex, indirect, and mediated by various social and economic drivers (suckall et al., 2017; smirnov et al., 2022). for example, it is argued that drought reduces the ability to migrate due to a lack of resources, forcing people to stay within their vulnerable environment (foresight, 2011; de haas, 2020). moreover, research evidence by findley (1994), citing an example of mali, pointed out that when the country experienced a prolonged drought from 1983 to 1985, migration did not rise. instead, there was a shift to short-cycle circulation where ‘migrants’ stayed in their destinations for a short period, with 64 percent adopting a circular migration pattern (findley,1994). similarly, de haas (2021) claimed that for smallholder farmers who rely on rain-fed agriculture, the effect of drought on migration is paradoxical. he further argues that drought decreases migration by eroding resources needed to move out for long distances. this claim is also echoed by quiñones et al. (2021), who conducted a study in 115 countries and concluded that out-migration is reduced with increased drought. empirical studies have also suggested that migration decisions hinge upon the severity of climate events and the ability of households to afford migration (kaczan & orgill-meyer, 2019). for example, in rural farm economies, relatively well-off farmers are incentivized to migrate due to the decline in farm production due to drought (cattaneo & peri, 2016). other studies, such as the one by grey & mueller (2012) in ethiopia, have reported the opposite by suggesting that labor migration increases twice during intense drought. many scholars have also suggested that climatic-related hazards can facilitate and limit households' migration capacity (riosmena et al., 2018; bohra-mishra et al., 2017; cataneo & peri, 2016). such varied contentions on the climate change migration nexus imply some lack of consensus among migration scholars because the subject is complex due to the heterogeneity of migration contexts. african countries contribute less to global climate change through the emission of greenhouse gases. still, they are more vulnerable to climate change effects because of various factors, including their geographical location in the tropics, limited adaptive capacity due to poverty, and social vulnerability (ibrahim & menser, 2022; coulibaly et al., 2020). for instance, africa is warming at a more concerning rate than other regions, making it more susceptible to floods and drought (aberman et al., 2015). additionally, africa’s over-dependence on the natural environment for livelihood activities and low adaptive capacity motivate studying migration driven by climate change. with projections indicating that africa will be one of the regions most affected by climatic hazards (gemenne, 2011a), studying the climate change migration nexus becomes relevant. recent reviews of climate change and migration nexus have focused on a broader scope, notably, the whole world, the african continent or sub-saharan africa (borderon et al., 2019; hoffmann et al., 2020; priovashini & mallick, 2022). the reviews have also employed bibliometric and meta-analysis approaches to analyze the drivers of environmental migration, focusing on slow-onset climate impacts and fast-onset disasters. this review focuses on east africa since not much attention has been given to this region by the previous reviews. the quest to conduct this review is also attributed to the fact that much human movement in the east africa region happens in the form of nomadic pastoralism and seasonal migration. furthermore, climate change stressors, such as changes in rainfall patterns, have also been endangering the resilience of the population in the region and have affected migration patterns (rigaud et al., 2018). this study uses an integrative review of literature methodology to examine how climate change affects migration in east africa. this integrative study is entirely qualitative and is not meant to be a comprehensive evaluation of all papers that have been written (snyder, 2019). nonetheless, by fusing many points of view on the subject, it seeks to present an overview of the literature. thus, this study aims to respond to the following query. what drivers related to chetto/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 climate change have influenced migration in east africa? it is crucial to comprehend the relationship between climate change and migration so that the region's nations can implement the appropriate policies and measures. 2. climate change as a driver of migration: theoretical foundation this review is guided by theories explaining how climatic changes and associated hazards such as frequent drought, floods, and livestock diseases drive human migration. the theories include the push and pull, the social capital, and the adaptive capacity concept. the push and pull theory describes migration as a result of negative factors that push people towards areas with favorable climatic conditions or life opportunities. rapid onset environmental factors such as floods and wildfires are push factors and are known to displace people globally (idmc, 2018). although the literature review does not pinpoint a specific theory of involuntary migration, push factors of this nature may be categorized under forced migration. the risk of loss of life and properties is higher than in the case of slow-onset hazards (erdal & oeppen, 2018). chronic environmental stresses such as drought also act as a push factor, although less risky than rapid onset factors, while places with favorable environmental conditions are pull factors that attract migrants (hunter & simon, 2023). these push and pull factors have dominated much of the migration literature in explaining the drivers of migration. environmentalists and climate activists have warned the world of the potential mass migration due to climate-related push factors. however, scholars on climate migration do not ascribe to environmental push factors as the only drivers without the interaction with social and economic factors. on the other hand, the social capital theory claims that formal and informal relationships between family members and friends are essential in explaining migration drivers (ryan, 2011). through the networks of friends or relatives, potential migrants receive financial support and information on settlements and jobs. in this way, the network plays a risk-lowering function for migrants arriving at their destination (de haas, 2010). for example, when confronted with climatic hazards such as drought, a potential migrant who decides to migrate to seek alternative income elsewhere will more likely choose destinations where there are family members or friends. the social network is also believed to set the stage for the subsequent migration of family members. as a result, migration becomes selfperpetuating, even after the original causes of migration no longer hold. the adaptive capacity of a household is another crucial concept in understanding the climatic drivers of migration. it is the ability to adjust to climate change, moderate potential damages, or cope with the consequences (ipcc, 2017). the ability to make adjustments or cope with the consequences is determined by many factors depending on the nature of climatic hazards. however, much of the adaptive capacity literature mentions resources such as financial, technology, health, and information as higher-order factors determining the capacity to deal with the effects of climate change (siders,2019). such resources explain why some individuals can adapt more quickly and mitigate the damages caused by climate change than others (adger et al., 2019). the resources crucial for adaptive capacity amid climatic change are linked with migration in two ways. first, those with financial resources and relevant technology may not migrate due to hazards such as drought since the resources enable them to make crucial adjustments needed to continue their livelihood activities. similarly, financial resources are crucial for those who aspire to migrate, without which they may remain trapped. 3. research approach and search strategy the migration drivers related to climate change are examined in this literature-based research work. there are numerous methods for carrying out literature-based investigations, and they can be divided into three major groups: systematic reviews, semi-systematic reviews, and integrative reviews (snyder, 2019). this paper employed an integrative review approach since it aligns with the nature of the topic of this study. an integrative review is a relevant approach for studying emerging topics in which some significant propositions remain contradictory (torraco, 2005). climate change migration nexus is one such topic. for instance, various competing strands of knowledge exist regarding whether and to what extent climate change influences migration. different from the systematic review approach, an integrative review's goal is not to cover all articles that have been published, but rather, the focus is to provide an overview of the knowledge base, critically review, and potentially re-conceptualize the theoretical foundation of the phenomenon under study (torraco, 2005; snyder,2019). chetto/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 the search for data was conducted through the web of science (wos) and scopus databases to obtain journal articles relevant to climate change and migration. these are two important academic databases in terms of the accuracy of their journal classification system (wang & waltman, 2016). a search strategy was conducted using boolean operators and search strings including “climate change*” and “migrat*” and “tanzania*”, “climate chang*” and “migrat*” and “kenya*”, “climate chang*” and “migrat*” and “uganda*”. the short form “migrat” was used to capture all relevant derivatives of the noun migration, including terms such as migrants, migratory, or migrating. the short form for change, “chang” was also used for the same purpose to capture related derivatives such as change, changing, and changes. the search process also involved skimming through the list of references in journal articles to identify links to other papers relevant for inclusion in the literature. figure 1: geographical location of study countries 3.1. inclusion and exclusion criteria the following criteria guided the selection of relevant literature for this review: peer-reviewed papers written in english, papers that study climate change and migration nexus in east african countries, and papers published from 2000 to 2022. the first search produced 217 articles. further steps in sorting the articles for inclusion and exclusion (see table 1), including reading full-text articles for relevancy, finally produced 22 articles. exclusion criteria include papers written in languages other than english, studies on climatic drivers of migration before 2000, and papers on non-climatic drivers. after a thorough inclusion and exclusion exercise, 23 articles, summarised in table 2, were selected for the study. table 1: search terms and inclusion criteria used search terms used “climate chang*” and “migrat*” and “tanzania*” “climate change*” and “migrate*” and “kenya*” “climate change*” and “migrate*” and “uganda*” total number of articles initial search results 74 119 24 217 chetto/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 period: (2000-2022) 74 117 24 214 doc type: articles and reviews 71 117 23 212 topics relevant to climate and migration 32 50 14 97 language: english 33 50 14 97 relevant abstract 9 9 4 22 table 2: summary of papers included in the review no. authors name and year of publication title study country 1 call and gray (2020) climate anomalies, land degradation and rural out-migration in uganda uganda 2 oyebola et al. (2021) potential adaptation strategies for climate change impact among flood-prone fish farmers in climate hotspot uganda. 3 lwasa et al. (2017) weather forecasts for pastoralism in a changing climate: navigating the data space in north eastern uganda. 4 mubangizi et al (2018) smallholder farmers’ perception and adaptation to rainfall variability in mt. elgon region, eastern uganda 5 ocello et al. (2015) environmental aspects of internal migration in tanzania tanzania 6 afifi et al. (2014) rainfall-induced crop failure, food insecurity and out-migration in same-kilimanjaro, tanzania. 7 afifi et al. (2016) human mobility in response to rainfall variability: opportunities for migration as an adaptation strategy in eight case countries 8 kubik and maurel (2016) weather shocks, agricultural production and migration: evidence from tanzania 9 paavola, j (2008) livelihoods, vulnerability, and adaptation to climate change in morogoro, tanzania 10 nassor b and makame m (2021) assessing community adaptation strategies to floods in floodprone areas of the urban district, zanzibar, tanzania 11 myers et al. (2020) trends in urban planning, climate adaptation and resilience in zanzibar, tanzania. 12 kebede a.s and nicholls r.j (2012) exposure and vulnerability to climate extremes: population and asset exposure to coastal flooding in dar es salaam, tanzania 13 munishi, e.j (2013) rural-urban migration of the maasai nomadic pastoralist youth and resilience in tanzania: case studies in ngorongoro district, arusha region and dar es salaam city. chetto/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 14 huho et al. (2011) living with drought: the case of maasai pastoralist in kenya kenya 15 awuor et al. (2008) climate change and coastal cities: the case of mombasa kenya 16 smucker and wisner (2008) changing household responses to drought in tharaka, kenya: vulnerability, persistence and challenge 17 wafula et al. (2022) factors influencing migration and settlement of pastoralists in nairobi city, kenya. 18 ogalleh et al. (2012) local perceptions and responses to climate change and variability: the case of laikipia district, kenya. 19 mburu et al. (2015) climate change adaptation strategies by small-scale farmers in yatta district, kenya 20 oyieke (2000) implications of accelerated sea-level rise (aslr) for kenya 21 nguimalet (2018) comparison of community-based adaptation strategies for droughts and floods in kenya and the central african republic 22 fortnam m (2021) multiple impact pathways of the 2015–2016 el niño in coastal kenya. 3.2. analysis the thematic analysis method extracted information from the articles summarised in table 2. the method allows for identifying, analyzing, describing, and reporting themes (braun & clarke, 2006). based on the qualitative nature of this study, theme identification was made inductively as they emerged from the selected articles. the process of analysis was guided by steps suggested by renner and powell (2003), as presented in table 3. table 3: thematic analysis process steps activity conducted step 1: familiarization with the data selected articles (table 2) were thoroughly read to understand the climate change and migration nexus. step 2: coding the data text corresponding to climate change and migration was coded and recorded in a notebook. step 3: searching for themes similar codes were grouped into themes. six candidate themes, namely floods, drought, heatwaves, wildfires, salinization, sea level rise, and livestock and crop diseases were identified from the articles. step 4: reviewing themes themes with diverse data are dropped. those with data that form a coherent pattern are retained as main analytical themes: floods, drought, rising sea levels, livestock, and crop diseases. step 5: defining and naming themes a story each theme tells was identified and a detailed account and evidence of the presence of the themes (drought, floods, livestock and crop diseases, and sea level rise) and their relation with migration are presented. the end product of the thematic analysis process in table 3 is four major themes: drought, floods, livestock and crop diseases, and rising sea levels. the themes are presented in the next section as the study’s primary results. chetto/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 4. findings 4.1. drought frequent drought is linked to migration in east african countries because of the damage it causes to crops and livestock. migrants driven by climate change effects seek to find areas suitable for farming and livestock keeping or venture into non-farming livelihood opportunities elsewhere (gray & mueller, 2013). several empirical studies in the region have demonstrated the ways drought drives migration. studies by smucker and wisner (2008) and wafula et al. (2022) in the five eastern provinces of kenya revealed that drought-affected households resort to temporary migration to cities in search of casual labor. similarly, ogalleh et al. (2012) and mburu et al. (2015) also reported migration in search of employment and wage work as an essential coping and adaptation strategy following drought. in tanzania, repeated drought spells in the northeastern and northwestern parts of the country lead to the out-migration of farmers and livestock keepers (afifi et al., 2016; afifi et al., 2014; paavola, 2008). they mostly migrate to other rural areas where farming conditions are favorable. to further exemplify how climate change effects are linked to migration, kubik and maurel (2016) indicate that as small as one percent of drought-induced crop failure increases the possibility of migration by about ten percent in the next season. in uganda, farming households also engage in temporary labor migration during the short period of drought. however, after long periods of drought, households lose the ability to send temporary labor migrants (call and gray, 2020). for the pastoralists in the region, their mobility patterns have changed due to repeated drought spells. in uganda, the karamoja pastoralists are reported to migrate much longer distances (lwasa et al., 2017). some return to their places of origin with their livestock, while others do not. in tanzania and kenya, the pastoralist migratory behavior and distance are also influenced by drought severity. in kenya, for example, while the average migratory distance during moderate drought is about 22km, the distance increases to 46 during severe drought. a similar pattern of increasing migration distance is observed in tanzania, where distances increase from 9 to 12 km during severe drought (huho et al., 2011). 4.2. livestock pests and crop diseases concerns about pests and diseases associated with climate change exist in east africa. diseases such as east coast fever (ecf), foot and mouth disease (fmd), and rift valley fever (rvf) are known to weaken the health and productivity of livestock, and that is anticipated to influence migration to new areas (wafula et al., 2022). although crop pests and diseases are not new, their effects have been much more significant in recent years. jagnani (2020) argues that episodes of above-average temperatures due to climate change are linked to fungal diseases such as grey leaf and pests such as stem borer. these diseases have been causing a considerable loss in maize yield, creating conditions for farmers to seek alternative means of livelihood elsewhere. wafula et al. (2022) further claim that pastoralists exposed to pests and diseases are more likely to migrate permanently to other areas to evade the diseases. however, those who previously faced pests and diseases were unlikely to migrate because they had already developed some capacity based on indigenous technical knowledge (itk) to deal with the diseases (wafula et al., 2022). in tanzania, claims of crop pests and livestock diseases driving and inhibiting migration exist. for instance, ocello (2015) asserts that the prevalence of crop diseases or crop pests negatively affects the likelihood of migration. on the contrary, pirani et al. (2019) argued that crop diseases or pests are critical in determining internal migration in tanzania and that the chance of migrating increases when many households are affected. munishi (2013) observes that the decline in livestock-based livelihood among pastoralists due to livestock diseases and death drives maasai youth to seek wage work in urban areas. moreover, pastoralists’ cultural norms trigger migration as it is believed that the death of many livestock due to epidemics signals that they should move to another area (awinia, 2020). 4.3. sea level rise and coastal erosion coastal zones are often studied as destination points of migrants from the hinterland and rarely as points of origin (zickgraf, 2022). this is because coastal areas are usually more urbanized with economic incentives that pull migrants chetto/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 from the countryside. however, increased urbanization has put the most vulnerable people's livelihoods and the environment at risk due to the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels, coastal erosion, and flooding (nyadzi et al., 2020). the east african coastal zones of tanzania, kenya, and zanzibar islands face climate change risks. mombasa city, for example, is already affected by extreme climatic events such as floods and strong winds (awuor, 2008). such events are projected to increase in intensity and frequency. the author further argues that rising sea levels and frequent flooding will render many areas inhabitable and unsuitable for agricultural production due to salinization. in extreme cases, this can disrupt essential services and infrastructure and impede economic activities. in the face of deteriorating infrastructure and declining opportunities, people may migrate inland. according to oyieke (2000), a 0.3m increase in sea level rise will submerge 17% of mombasa county if adaptation measures are not taken. the inundation will damage homes and businesses, driving people to escape the dangers and move to safer areas. flood risks in tanzania’s mainland coast and the islands are also high and might worsen in the future, given the rising sea level (nassor & makame, 2021). in dar es salaam, about 8% of the city lies within the low elevation coastal zone (lecz), which exposes its inhabitants to coastal flooding. under the sea level rise scenario, the number of people potentially exposed to flooding is set to increase, given rapid population growth (kabede & nicholls, 2011). in zanzibar, the more vulnerable are in low-lying basins periodically inundated by runoff from the surrounding areas. such areas were initially waterlogged but have been informally developed and flooded whenever it rains. this leads to the seasonal displacement of affected households (nassor & makame, 2021; myers et al., 2020). 4.4. floods and weather-related disasters floods induced by excessive rainfall are also recurrent in east africa, often affecting the inhabitants of low-lying areas and those near rivers or lakes. literature on flood risk in developing countries indicates that the number of people exposed to flood risk has been growing (jongman et al., 2012), with sub-saharan africa leading for the percentage of the exposed population relative to other continents. in the east african region, the frequency of climateinduced floods has been increasing and is associated with most displacements (ipcc, 2007; kassegn & endris, 2021). this is because of low adaptive capacity, where displacement occurs even with low flood exposure (kakinuma, 2020). in uganda, the severe effects of floods in the eastern and northern parts of the country have destroyed infrastructure and displaced about 300,000 people (oyebola et al., 2021). the frequency of floods is projected to increase in such areas because of climate change. in areas near mount elgon, there have been more than five episodes of floods coupled with land and mudslides (mubangizi et al., 2018). migration as a response is attributed to the destructive nature of such events, with many farmers considering temporary migration. in contrast, a few considered the possibility of permanent migration out of the flood-prone areas. in kenya, displacement due to floods has also been observed. episodes of heavy rains have forced thousands to flee their homes (morel, 2011; nguimalet, 2018) following floods in the eastern and western parts of the county. fortnam et al. (2021) argue that most of those affected by the el niño floods during 2006 -2007 had their houses constructed of mud. such poorly constructed homes are occupied mainly by the socially and economically vulnerable population (fortnam, 2021). in tanzania, displacements due to extreme events such as floods have also been occurring. for instance, flooding in 2018 and 2020 damaged homes and displaced 29,000 and 57,000 people, respectively (diwakar & lacroix, 2021; rigaud, 2018). 5. discussion 5.1. drought this review has yielded mixed results regarding drought as a driver of migration. drought drives migration to cities for wage work. however, not all drought victims respond by migrating for alternative livelihoods. household economic and social factors and adaptive capacity cause such differences. for instance, household migration implies a limited capacity to deal with drought. moreover, most household economies are less diversified, with little or no alternative source of income apart from rainfall-dependent livelihood activities. this is a typical situation among chetto/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 households in rural east africa and other rural areas across sub-saharan africa (ssa). in ethiopia and sudan, for instance, it is reported that prolonged droughts lead to crop failure and food insecurity, triggering households to send some members to cities to look for temporary work (hermans & grabe, 2019); elasha & sanjak, 2006). these claims are supported by adaawen et al. (2019), who note that although rural societies in ssa have long adapted to droughts, the growing climate change impacts on food security and water, combined with population growth and natural resource scarcity, contribute to the increase in the number of internally displaced persons (idps) and migration in general. on the other hand, drought can deter migration, especially when it strikes for an extended period. this is because households’ capacity to afford migration is reduced due to a lack of financial resources amid drought-induced crop failure. this has also been reported in burkina faso and south africa, where incidences of inter-district migration are reduced following drought (henry et al., 2004; mastrorillo et al., 2016). reduced inter-district migration implies that long-distance forms, such as inter-regional, are even less likely to happen since they require more resources. however, for pastoralists, migration distance is influenced by the severity of drought. when drought is severe, they will migrate to faraway places more likely to have water and pasture. in east african countries, the average migration distance increases by about 40 kilometers during severe drought. conversely, migration is viewed in the context of social capital in that besides being influenced by other resources such as finance, the magnitude of the increase in migration is dependent on migrant recipients’ characteristics and the strength of their ties to sources/areas of origin (garip, 2008; entwisle et al., 2021). in other words, the likelihood of migration is determined by the level of available social capital resources and access to them the higher the level of social capital resources and access to such resources, the higher the probability of migration. this viewpoint is supported by coleman (1987), who describes social capital as a resource for action embodied in relations among persons. when a migrant leaves the household and village of origin, there tends to be an addition of a new tie to the destination, leading to an increase in the flow of information and other resources, including sending remittances back home or to other members of the household and village (warner & afifi, 2013; entwisle et al., 2021). the question of resources for migration emerging in this study aligns with the theoretical claim that the adaptive capacity of a household determines migration (de haas, 2021). therefore, those who can migrate amid drought have financial resources for logistical and settling costs. on the other hand, those who stay may also have some resources that enable them to adapt and survive. in other words, they tend to have relatively better livelihoods and available adaptive responses in situ (thiede and gray (2017). however, not all who stay can meaningfully adapt to drought. arguably, for some, cultural and spiritual connections to the homeland may also explain why they are immobile amid severe drought or other environmental challenges (blondin, 2021). other scholars link this phenomenon with the notion of place attachment or rather the personal, intimate feeling of being at home as individuals have a ‘desire for attachments’ be it to people, places, or modes of beings' (antonsich, 2010; yuval-davis, 2006; arhin-sam (2019). from a different viewpoint, discussing drought-induced migration in the context of pastoral societies, wafula et al. (2022) note that, to a greater extent, pastoral communities rely on kinship ties and networks to make migration decisions. to underscore this observation in their study in the city of nairobi, wafula et al. (2022) conclude that the presence of relatives significantly influences migration to the city. relatives often support migrants by assisting with the costs associated with settling. the social capital theory used in this review has also echoed relatives' role in facilitating migration. most of these migrants are temporary migrants who move towards urban areas temporarily. subsequently, they return home after it rains and the pasture has regenerated (wafula et al., 2022). of interest, however, is the argument that migration has become an important aspect of the pastoral community members and the maasai economy in particular, as it has created opportunities for many to profit by engaging in alternative livelihood activities such as selling honey, belts, wallet, and sandals (mccabe et al., 2015). migration distance in the search for water and feed for livestock is also reported to have been increasing (kimaro et al., 2018). more than that, long distance is preferred over short distance because of the belief that nearby places would also be affected by the changes that triggered migration in the first place. therefore, distant areas are considered safe. with the projected increase in climate change effects, long-distance migration is expected to continue with potential effects en route and at the destination. most movements are temporary since most migrants return home when it rains, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=entwisle%20b%5bauthor%5d chetto/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 as expounded by entwisle et al. (2021), that the timing and amount of rainfall affect crop yields. on the other hand, crop yields affect household assets, and in turn, household assets, along with the characteristics of household members, influence the outand return migration (entwisle et al., 2021). this may suggest that migration is just a means to get resources to support farming activities with no intention of migrating permanently. it is along the same line of thinking that warner and afifi (2013) argue that migration is used as a risk management or livelihood strategy when migrants face rainfall variability and food insecurity. nevertheless, the extent to which migration improves the adaptive capacity of the involved households depends on their vulnerability and sensitivity to climatic factors and drought in particular (warmer & afifi, 2013). this is mainly because household sensitivity to rainfall variability affects food and livelihood security outcomes and migration choices and patterns (warmer & afifi, 2013).) other factors, such as the age of migrants and their education level, also determine the length of stay. for example, more educated young people are more likely to stay permanently than middle-aged or older people. 5.2. livestock pests and crop diseases crops and livestock diseases have positive and negative effects on migration, depending on household circumstances. pastoralists with a low adaptive technical and financial capacity to treat their livestock will see pests as threats and likely migrate to pest-free areas or cities for alternative livelihood activities. as highlighted in the theoretical section of this review, adaptive capacity is an essential element that determines whether one should migrate or stay amid climatic hazards or livestock diseases. however, the result has also suggested that pastoralists with previous experience in dealing with diseases are unlikely to migrate because they have developed the capacity to deal with them using indigenous technical knowledge (itk). although itk has been used in many places to fight pests and diseases (majhi, 2008), it is less effective than modern medicines since it merely evolves from experience. the use of itk also implies that modern and effective pesticides are not accessible and affordable. disease control under climate change is also more complicated. reports of relatively new pests unrecognized by farmers and extension agents have been observed to cause massive crop destruction. managing such emerging diseases requires a scientific approach and modern medicine. furthermore, the prolonged life span of some pests is also a concern. andrew and hill (2017) report that destructive worms around lake victoria in kenya and uganda observed during the growing season were unusually seen in late cultivars, implying that they are practically around throughout the growing season. such year-round pests require a more reliable supply of modern pesticides to control. short of this, crop failure and livestock death will prevail, prompting a desire for migration to seek alternative means of livelihood elsewhere. 5.3. sea level rise and coastal erosion coastal zones in east africa face risks that can push their dwellers to retreat from settlements near the coast or migrate further inland. sea level rise and coastal flooding may be minor things to worry about now, but the risks are genuine as they threaten the built structures and livelihood of vast portions of the coastal population. for example, rigaud et al. (2018) argue that the rising sea level, compounded by storm surges in mombasa, will submerge a significant part of the city and could lead to out-migration as early as 2030. to control this, participatory planned relocation from the low-lying zone is proposed as a long-term solution. according to yoo et al. (2022), relocating is the best option compared to expensive engineering solutions such as building seawalls, bulkheads, and revetments. however, relocation operations are to be done carefully since they have limitations. on the ivory coast, the city of grandlahou was relocated inland to a distance of 15 km to avoid the damage caused by the rising sea level. however, the project was only partially successful as some residents returned to the barrier beach to continue with traditional livelihood activities such as fishing (alves et al., 2020). this implies that relocation can be a sustainable adaptation only if opportunities for alternative means of livelihood are available in the new location. the review has also found that rising sea levels and related seawater intrusion contribute to soil salinity and make agriculture unsustainable. elsewhere in africa, studies by eswar et al. (2021) in senegal and steyl and denis (2010) in mozambique have demonstrated how salinity intrusion is linked to the disruption of livelihood activities and drives migration inland. for example, seawater intrusion in mozambique has caused salinity to go as far as 82 km inland. chetto/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 crop production is potentially unsustainable within the 82km perimeter, leading to migration considerations to nonsaline soils. similarly, in benin, where tomatoes are produced along the coast, increased soil salinity has caused tomato producers to move from their fields close to the sea to faraway fields (ezin et al., 2012). salinization has not only been a problem in coastal zones. in ethiopia, increased length of dry periods and reduction in rainfall amounts are also believed to contribute to salinity development (asad et al., 2019). the result of increased salinization has been repeated yield loss, leading farmers to abandon their land and migrate to cities for non-farming livelihood activities (asad et al., 2019). however, other scholars have reported opposing observations regarding migration and its linkage with slow-onset events such as salinity intrusion. borderon et al. (2019) argue that such long-term events are unlikely to lead to migration since individuals prefer localized adaptation instead of uncertain and costly migration. such differences in responses to slow-onset events may be because of variations in adaptive capacity, social networks of migrants, and the level of natural resource dependence for livelihood. 5.4. floods and weather-related disasters the most vulnerable people occasionally displaced by floods are low-income people who live in unsafe zones in lowlying areas near rivers, lakes, and oceans. such areas are prone to flood during heavy rainfall and storm surges. quite often, such areas are informally developed with poor housing and infrastructures for accommodating stormwater. observations in east africa are similar to that of kakinuma (2020), who asserted that flood-induced displacements in poor settlements with poor drainage systems are typical in low-income countries and happen even with low flood exposure, implying high vulnerability. to reflect on how infrastructure makes a difference regarding exposure to floods and displacement, kakinuma (2020) observes that in developed countries such as the netherlands, no flood-induced displacement has been recorded despite high exposure to floods. the opposite is true for developing countries, where moderate flood exposure results in displacement, especially in cities (agbola et al., 2012). studies in south africa (ziervogel et al., 2016) and ghana (amoako & inkoom, 2018) have also revealed that incidences of floods lead to displacement, mostly in informal settlements with poor drainage systems. occupying flood-prone areas is contributed by poverty and lack of alternative means of livelihood. for example, in the zambezi river basin, about 80,000 displaced people by 2002, 2007, and 2008 floods had returned to the lowlying areas (stal, 2011). the fact that river basin areas are the most fertile land influences return to such areas. therefore, farmers with no alternative means of livelihood are bound to return to continue farming. this also implies over-dependence on naturally fertile lands since making other lands productive using modern methods is expensive and impossible for most farmers. 6. conclusion and recommendations the overarching aim of this review was to investigate how climate change has influenced migration in the east african countries of tanzania, kenya, and uganda. the reality that climate change has severely affected many areas in the region, and of which most people have a low adaptive capacity, has prompted the quest for this review. the review has found that climate change effects such as drought, livestock, and crop diseases have been contributing to the migration of farmers and livestock keepers. however, such climate change effects have been impacting farmers and livestock keepers’ by destroying their means of livelihood. as a result, farmers have been responding by migrating to areas with favorable farming conditions or seeking other sources of income in urban areas. the review has also found that rapid onset floods have displaced the most vulnerable, who often live in poorly constructed structures in low-elevation areas. other climate change effects, such as rising sea levels, and the associated impacts, such as salinization, have also been putting risks to many residents of low-lying coastal areas and could potentially cause relocation to safer zones inland. the review has further revealed that migrating in response to climate change effects is mediated by factors such as household adaptive capacity and social networks. this study generally points out that climate change effects, if not well managed and considering the low adaptive capacity of most people in east african countries, can cause displacements and endless migration to cities or rural areas. this chetto/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 review recommends the following. first is lessening the need for migration by promoting alternative non-farm livelihood activities through vocational skills training. this can potentially help to reduce the direct impact of climate change on the livelihood of farmers and livestock keepers. alternative livelihood could also enhance adaptive capacity through the generated non-farm income. second, when migration is the only reasonable option, such as during climate change-induced disasters, strengthening climate change adaptation policy by incorporating mobility options in national adaptation is essential. this will help ensure that migration in response to climate change is well governed and coordinated. acknowledgments not applicable. funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper. 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(2016). flooding in cape town's informal settlements: barriers to collaborative urban risk governance. south african geographical journal= suid-afrikaanse geografiese tydskrif, 98(1), 1-2 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i2.914 living on water and land: challenges and opportunities for the development of amphibious communities in the peruvian amazon rainforest gabriela p. vildosola a,b,d , jorge alarcon a,b , leann andrews a,c a centro de investigaciones tecnológicas biomédicas y medioambientales, peru b university of washington, c pennsylvania state university d universidad científica del perú abstract loreto, the largest amazonian region in peru, is home to more than 200,000 inhabitants that live in traditional riverside rural communities adapted to an amphibious lifestyle, with houses that rise or float on the river in times of flooding and perch on the dried riverbed in low water times. nevertheless, these amphibious communities are not exclusive to rural areas. iquitos, the largest city of loreto, is surrounded by alluvial plains, where more than 90,000 people live on the water and bring a rich social, cultural, and environmental vibrancy to the regions. however, poor infrastructure conditions and limited resources in this communities affect the ecosystem and the population's health. the objective of this qualitative study was to understand the physical, sociocultural, and environmental conditions in which these amphibious communities live and identify the political, legal, and cultural barriers that prevent their healthy urban development. data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews, surveys, and observation of physical and environmental conditions. the results suggest conflicts in the formalization processes of theses informal communities, from administrative and legal aspects to a limited definition of habitable territory. we identified the benefits of the current urban-architectural conditions of these communities, whose housing typologies, adapted to the seasonal change of the rivers, may provide a alternative model to adapt with resilience to the impacts of climate change and sea level rise. we also identified challenges in sanitation, accessibility, public space, and strengthe of community networks, as well as challenges in the response of the government whose proposals for relocation of the amphibious communities have not fully considered these communities' economic, social, and cultural values. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords built environment; urban resilience; amphibious communities; peruvian amazon. 1. introduction in addition to the recent global pandemic and climate emergencies, main challenges of the 21st century include coping with population growth in cities, the increase in slums and informal settlements, and providing adequate and affordable housing and infrastructure with accessible urban services for vulnerable population (un-habitat, 2022, 2016). according to the united nations update on sustainable development goal #11, sustainable cities and communities, by 2030 more than 60% of people worldwide are expected to live in cities, almost one quarter of the global population (over 1 billion people) currently are living in slum conditions lacking tenure, safe utilities or living space, and three times that many (or more than 3 billion people) are in need of adequate and affordable http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i2.914&domain=press.ierek.com author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 housing worldwide (unsd, 2019). acknowledging that adequate housing is a basic human right because of its impact on health and safety, equity and inclusion, and livelihood opportunities, the un calls for increased efforts to address policy barriers and built environment investments to address this global emergency that likely has only intensified with the recent global pandemic and climate change (unsd, 2019). peru´s urban development and built environment conditions reflect these challenges. according to the 2017 census, 43.7% of the population lives in slums, informal settlements, or inadequate housing (inei, 2018) and this number is expected to grow in the coming decade. the main cities of the peruvian amazon, including iquitos, have additionally unique challenges with rapid indigenous migration from the jungle leading to mass development of amphibious slums communities built within the urban floodplains. these communities contain wooden houses that float on the river or rest on stilts high above the floodplain. these designs, adapted from traditional houses design in rural amazonian areas where many residents have migrated from, adapt to the seasonal dynamics of the rivers in times of flooding or dry spells, characteristics that may promote resilience to climate change and sea level rise. however, these communities also suffer from poor infrastructure conditions and limited resources that affect ecosystem and human health. this article presents an overview summary of preliminary research findings on amphibian communities settled on the alluvial banks of iquitos, the most populous city in the peruvian amazon and capital of the department of loreto, the largest geographical region in peru. objective: the study´s objective was to understand the physical, social, cultural, and environmental conditions in which amphibious communities live and identify the political, legal, and cultural barriers that prevented their healthy urban development. methodology: this study had a qualitative approach. data collection was through semi-structured interviews, surveys, and observation of physical and environmental conditions during the months of may to november 2021. the team conducted 42 semi-structured interviews with officials, academics, and inhabitants of the amphibian communities. the team also conducted an open online survey with 23 multiple-choice questions about perception and conditions of amphibious communities, and received 147 responses from the general population living in the non-flood-prone highlands of iquitos. lastly, observations of physical and environmental conditions was carried out over five days in five different amphibious communities around the city. 2. the context loreto, located in northwestern peru, is part of the amazon ecosystem and occupies almost a third of the peruvian territory (ceplan, 2019). despite this large area, its population represents only 3.37% of the country's total and is predominantly urban with 68.7%, concentrated in the capitals of the provinces, and with iquitos being the most populated. however, in four of its provinces, more than 61% of the population is rural, where more than 200,000 riverside inhabitants live in traditional rural communities adapted to an amphibious lifestyle, with houses that rise or float on the river in times of flood and perch on the riverbed in times of low water (inei, 2018; desmaison, espinoza, jaime and gallardo, 2019). according to the classification made by jorge burga (2018, p.116-117), traditional amazonian housing can be: (1) settled on the ground, located in high areas that are not subject to flooding; (2) floating, based on wooden logs and (3) elevated on stilts. the last two adapt to the changing water level of the rivers in the summer and winter seasons. wood predominates as a material for the structure and partitions and irapay leaves for the covers. he also indicates that these houses are the ones that have had little influence from other cultures, maintaining over time most of their original traditional characteristics. currently, with increase urban influences, some of the houses´ materials are being changed, such as irapay leaves to metal or plastic corrugated sheets for roof coverage. amphibian communities are not only found in rural areas. more than 90,000 people live on the outskirts of the city of iquitos, on the alluvial plains whose landscape varies with the seasonal change in the water level of the rivers surrounding the city. to adapt to this situation, the people build their houses in the likeness of rural and traditional houses, floating or on stilts. elevated wooden paths, made by the community, connect the houses during the river's rising season. in other situactions, residentes have raised the level of their streets with fill material, gaining ground author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 from the river. when built properly, many of these homes are resilient and can cope with extreme fluctuations in water including the increasingly severe impacts of climate change. however, poor environmental conditions and lack of infrastructure including water and sewer services have a negative impact on the health of these communities and the ecosystems they live within. (alarcón, et al, 2018). figure 1 rural yanamono community, figure 2 salaverry urban amphibious slum in iquitos indiana, peru 3. key findings 3.1 physical conditions architectural typologies most amphibian communities use traditional architectural typologies, traditional construction approaches and traditional materials. the houses are floating or rest on stilts. their structures and partitions are made of wood. althougf, the traditional irapay sheet is still used, the materials and construccions systems are changing with urban influences, and many roofs are zinc calamine, like the rest of the city. the neighbors express these changes: “previously, the roof was made of irapay leaves, almost most of the houses, and before the 2000s, the houses were made of rafts, floating. almost all the houses were floating because that's how they started." currently, there is a gradual change towards contemporary materials and construction techniques, such as concrete columns, beams, and brick walls. residentes express that they make these changes respond to maintenance and time costs, durability and as a symbol of progress: "the house is emerging little by little. previously, the columns were made of horcones, that is, of sticks. and little by little, they are being built of concrete, column after column that has required a long time. it is not finished yet. because as we know, water grows in the area, so it means that the horcones do not last long due to humidity". there are some variants in houses on stilts. in stilted houses the first level is used for a warehouse, garage or shop during the river's low season. in the high river season, the warehouse moves to another place, and the shops go up to the second level. some houses may also have an additional level for bedrooms. accessibility and mobility accessibility and mobility within amphibious neighborhoods are conditioned by the dynamics of the rivers. in times of low water, when the riverbed dries up, residents may move between houses without inconvenience, either in smaller vehicles or on foot albeit they may need to climb down long stairs to reach the ground if they live in stilted houses. the most mobility difficulty is experienced in times of flood, when the water rises since it is necessary to build floating or stilted wooden bridges to access the houses. in the past, the local governments has supported some communities with materials for this bridges. however, for several years now, the local government supported only access bridges to educational and health facilities, not personal residences. a resident reveals: "the handmade bridges that are built when the water rises... the years began to pass and, the construction of the bridges was stopped, that is, they only built up to a certain point, up to the school...". in the belén amphibious area of iquitos, you have the alternative of using canoes to get around when the river rises, however, it demands an additional cost, author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 harming the household budget that could support food, water, healthcare or other living expenses. a resident of the aahh sachachorro states “the biggest problem is the issue of fares… you must have your [own] canoe or your [own] boat so that you can move, if you do not have it, you have to pay, so, i will carry (canoe)… ”. public space public spaces exist during the river's low season. soccer fields and recreation spaces are improvised in the dry riverbed and become vibrant communities places. a resident describes: “…when the river goes down… their activities are carried out at ground level, there are spaces where they set up their sports fields, or suddenly there are some [community] meetings, we have a slab that is exactly where it is going to be. the boardwalk, where they also hold their meetings”. the drawbacks to these succesful public spaces occur when the water level rises. these spaces disappear and the most affected are children and adolescents. as stated by a resident: "...children begin to swim in the water... and young people and adults begin to look for sports spaces, for example, visit [other] communities that have a space that is not subject to flooding and start playing sports, normally the school field is used…” access to public services in amphibious neighborhoods, the electricity service is communal and may be installed precariously above water level. usually, community organization pay for a conecction on highlands and they extend cords to the households living on the floodplain. in some cases, electric companys will install direct conecctions to the household when electric post can be secure and communities have some preliminary land tenure documentation. there are problems accessing clean running water the supply either lasts for only a few hours and may have contamination issues, or is lacking entirely and residentes need to purchase water form a neighbor. a resident states: "the neighbor supplies us with little water... she has acquired her little water, i think she has bought the water line." there is a discourse that the service is achieved equitably because residents describe that they “fight for it”, as indicated by the daughter of a villager: "if we have water... not all of them, for example, in my case, my father was the first to have water, as always when they seek to improve him, there are only a few...". few have sewage drains. the property title, or lack of it, impacts access to services, and, in most cases, a sanitation system. there are also problems with the municipal collection of solid waste and trash in the communities, especially in times of rising rivers. the neighboors reported that some of the options for waste management are burning trash, hiring local transportation to send it to areas where the municipal service is more reliable. 3.2 sociocultural conditions worked most of the inhabitants of the amphibious neighborhoods dedicate their lives to fishing, agriculture and trade, transport, and construction. the type of work may vary depending on the season when the river is low or high. there is a strong link between the river and employment and so families seek to live on the riverbank, with most of amphibious communities living in the lower area of belén, which allows them to access the belén market where resindest may have a stall, work at the port, or in related businesses. as a resident expressed: “this settlement, the lower area of belén, drives the city of iquitos, it is the driving force… because everything comes from belén, from the market… the market is so big, they all come from san juan or punchana… because of the things at lower prices. that is what attracts people…”. another neighbor confirms "my dad came to live here [in the floodplain], because it is accessible to the market, because they are from the daily bread, they work here in the port, and from here we make a living, and with which he has educated us." cultural life in the water parallels the traditional amazonian culture of rural areas because the initial settlers of amphibious communities comes from the riverside communities in the jungle. these communities have adapted to live in different ways depending on the season and the dynamics of the rivers. likewise, their ways of living are more communal. to most residents living in a flood zone is not always conceived as wrong or risky, rather it is traditional. "…and in that amazonian world, water, the forest and the rain, are an essential part... which implies the abundance of resources and creativity, in times of drought it is planting, it is living the forest, the land, they are author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 new sources of food. it is landscape beauty; in times of flood, water is an extraordinary source of life, water is pleasure for the amazon, it is an enormous pleasure.” organizational structure amphibious communities have representatives who are elected in community assemblies. theses representatives manage solutions to social and physical problems, and contact elected representatives such as congressmen, mayors, and governors, depending on the issue. as a representative says, “we have recently met with the high-level commission of the presidency of the current president… that until december they must build the educational and health buildings… and we are also coordinating with the ministry housing...". independetly of what is the organization structure, community organize mingas (collaborative work practices) to address community needs, such as cleaning the landscape of trash and weeds, dealing with citizen insecurity and crime, and solving built environment problems such as the construction of access bridges, elevation of grades, and water services. as one member of the community expressed "i did my things as an authority, i managed to have communal electricity, water with the neighbor, and so on..." interpersonal networks the neighbors thet were interviewed highlighted that community structure and collaborative work are fundamental for neighborhood, community and families development. mingas are developed to improve and clean the place and build wooden bridges but there are other dynamics to provide interpersonal sopports. for example, neighboords always collectivly save funds to support community projects. as a neighbor said, “we all collaborate with two soles, three soles, five soles. we have made a little bag to build our bridges, so as not to be bothering our authorities, we collaborate among neighbors ..." likewise, groups of young activists have been formed in the belén neighborhood in iquitos to carry out activities in favor of the community, environment, education, and culture. one of its members said, “…since 2016 [they have] been working in an articulated manner with the population [that gathers to form] community mingas, based on cultural festivals [and] participation among young people, that is why now you are currently seeing committed young people.” however, according to residents, in some cases, interpersonal relationships are affected during the time of rising rivers. living in confined spaces and limited access to public spaces for recreation may promote acts of domestic violence, "...but because of that (non-existence of public spaces) there are many problems. of course, the level of violence in the houses increases, the stress in the family, because it is a closed space." 3.3 environmental conditions the changes that are taking place in the houses, such as the change of materials or construction systems, were observed to not be very adaptive to the amazonian climate. corrugated sheets for roof coverage, without a ceiling, generate great heat and poor air circulation in an already hot location. traditionally the houses have been open and spacious with leaf roofs to face the heat. on the other hand, if this houses are built too high, they are negatively impacted by winds, with climate change making weather events more intense, more frequent, and more difficult to predict with certainty. these urbanization techniques avoid being able to prevent, adapt and plan with confidence. the neighbors also report that the flood usually brings snakes, and there are problems when water accumulates and stagnates for long periods of time because the puddles become breeding grounds for mosquitoes. without formal utility infraestructure, the contamination of rivers by dumping sewage and solid waste is a problem, affecting not only people but also the animal population and the ecological environment (wetlands, flora, and fauna). 3.4 barriers in the formalization process according to the interviews in this study, it was identified some of the reasons why the population settles in risky or non-authorized areas are the lack of a housing policy, the lack of urban planning, and the lack of urban land. “i imagine that what leads people to settle in these areas is the need for housing. it has not been adequately addressed by the government”. likewise, the lack of a territorial approach that considers traditional amazonian lifestyles adapted to the amazonian floodplain and its rivers does not allow exploring urban-architectural alternatives to author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 improve the habitat in amazonian amphibian neighborhoods. an interviewee states, “the laws are made from a mentality that does not reflect the lifestyle of the people. so, there is a large gap between what the laws say and what people do." this also critically means that the communities settled in the alluvial plain cannot be formalized because the law qualifies this territory as a "non-mitigate risk zone" due to the flooding caused by the increase in its waters during the amazon winter season. despite great efforts, many communities remain informal preventing or limiting public investment in services and infrastructure in amphibious neighborhoods. because of all these challenges, the state's proposal is to relocate these communities to high ground that is not prone to flooding along the iquitos – nauta highway, more than 14 km (or one hour by bus) from the amphibious neighborhoods. while well intentioned, this solution has not been optimal. of the four relocated experiences reviewed within this investigation, it was identified that three of theses neighborhoods do not have physical sanitation, water or property title. only one have lectricity. in other case,housing modules with light materials were inlcuded but not electricity hooh up. one resident of these relocated communities explains, “we have proof of possession, not title. there is a problem of overlapping land that is not solved. because of the slowness of the regional government office and the passivity of the president of urban empowerment”. the most recent development plans carried out by the ministry of housing faimed to relocate 2,600 families to the so-called new city of belen. after six years, the ministry has only managed to relocate 397 families. and it still does not have water and sewer services or equipment. one of the problems reported by residents is the distance to their work centers related to the belen market and the river since it requires more time and money. “i do not work, because i cannot work as the market is far from me, the [bus] ticket, coming and going, now if you have mobility, gasoline has risen in price, you have to invest fifteen soles in gasoline and, all that remains for us is a little awkward for us…”. another problem is housing, whose concrete and small living corridors has not considered the climate or culture of the families living within them. over the last decade, in order not to be relocated, some amphibious communities have asked the authorities to raise the level of the streets to access formalization and water and sewer and sanitation services. this avenue is not regulated but is faily accepted by the entity that performs the formalization process. some interviewees, mainly academics, do not believe that ground elevation is an adequate solution since it affects environmental health and causes ecological damage. while, most municipal officials interviewed do not agree with this practice, they sometimes accept it because they cannot think of another alternative, some residents demand these approach since they see the opportunity to access the benefits of formalization, such as access to the property title, services, and equipment. another barrier identified in the formalization processes of amphibious communities is the physical sanitation of the land because they are privately owned land or in the process of being reverted to the state. therefore, these processes usually last more than ten years. 4. conclusions the urban and architectural typologies of amphibious communities adapting to seasonal changes in floodplains can be strategies for the development of resilient housing and neighborhoods adapted to climate change. however, the lack of a territorial approach that incorporates the traditional and urbanizing amazonian ways of inhabiting, added to the relocation processes as the only currently proposed alternative solution for these communities, limits the exploration of technical alternatives to improve the living conditions of the amphibious communities. different barriers were identified in the formalization processes of the amphibian communities. which include the qualification as a non-mitigate risk area and, limiting the definition of habitable land. other obstacles are administrative processes, existing owners, and jurisdiction of floodplains. however, the communities have found some strategies to access formalization themselves, such as raising the street level. city planning must incorporate proposals for the sustainable and healthy development of amphibious and slums communities, as these communities continue to grow ans expand cities. for this, it is necessary to consider the author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 challenges identified in this research, such as water and drainage sanitation, accessibility and mobility, public space and recreation, improvement of construction systems, strengthening of community networks and cultural values, preservation of ecological resources and environmental responsiveness. 5. acknowledgements research reported in this publication was supported by the fogarty international center of the national institutes of health under grant #d43tw009345 awarded to the northern pacific global health fellows program. the content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the national institutes of health. the authors express their gratitude to the nih fogarty international center and joe zunt of the university of washington, who leads the northern pacific global health research fellows training consortium. to the architecture graduates wendy tresierra and selva sanjurjo; to all participants in the interviews: professionals, academics, officials, and members of the amphibian communities. without their collaboration, this research would not have been possible. references 1. un-habitat. envisanging the future of cities. world cities report 2022. retrieved for https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2022/06/wcr_2022.pd 2. un-habitat. urbanization and development: emerging futures, word cities report 2016. retrieved from https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/download-manager-files/wcr-2016-web.pdf. 3. united nations statistics division (unsd). 2019. report on goal #11, sustainable cities and communities. retrieved from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2019/goal-11/ 4. national center for strategic planning, ceplan. national report: peru to may 2020 "the protection of life in the emergency and after". second voluntary national report for sustainable development. unedited version. 2020. retrieved from https://www.ceplan.gob.pe/informenacional/. 5. peruvian national institute of statistics and informatics, inei. loreto final results 2017, volume 16. 2018. retrieved from https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/menurecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/est/lib1561/. 6. desmaison, b., espinoza, k., jaime, k. y gallardo, l. living together in the amazon in the 21st century, urban planning and design guide for cities in the peruvian low jungle. project self-sustainable cities in the amazon casa. lima: pucp publishing fund. 2019. retrieved from https://casapucp.com/publicaciones/guias/ 7. burga, j. folk architecture. history of peruvian architecture, volume i. lima: ed. faua. 2018. 8. alarcón, jo., alarcón, j.a. y andrews, l.. epidemiology, landscape architecture, "one health" and innovation: experience in an amazonian community. rev. peru med exp public health, 35(4), 2018. 66774. doi:10.17843/rpmesp.2018.354.4109. https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2022/06/wcr_2022.pd https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/download-manager-files/wcr-2016-web.pdf https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2019/goal-11/ https://www.ceplan.gob.pe/informe-nacional/ https://www.ceplan.gob.pe/informe-nacional/ https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/menurecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/est/lib1561/ https://casapucp.com/publicaciones/guias/ http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v5i2.756 value chain analysis of large cardamom in taplejung district of nepal keshav bhusal1,*, rishi ram kattel2, shiva chandra dhakal 2 1department of agricultural economics and agribusiness management, agriculture and forestry university, chitwan, nepal *corresponding author e-mail: agkeshavbhusal@gmail.com, telephone: +9779847147062 2assistant professor, department of agricultural economics and agribusiness management, agriculture and forestry university, chitwan, nepal e-mail: rrkattel@afu.edu.np, telephone: +9779841373843 2associate professor, department of agricultural economics and agribusiness management, agriculture and forestry university, chitwan, nepal e-mail: scdhakal@afu.edu.np, telephone: +9779845048704 abstract this study assessed the value chain analysis of large cardamom (amomum subulatum roxb) in taplejung district, nepal and explored the functional linkage and upgrading strategies among the key value chain actors. one hundred and sixty farmers were surveyed purposely along with 5 local and district level traders, 5 regional level traders and exporters and 5 enablers who were sampled using rapid market appraisal in march 2018. the study presents a comparative analysis among large holders (n=72) and smallholders (n=88) large cardamom farmers using spss and ms-excel. the majority of farmers used suckers as propagating materials which was a major source of disease conduction. 62.5% of farmers adopted traditional dryers for curing, which reduced the quality of large cardamom whereas about 30% of them used improved dryers for curing that enhanced quality. the majority of farmers had not adopted value addition practices like tail cutting, grading and packaging which were carried out at trader level. large cardamom prices were normally determined by the export market of india. the average land area of large cardamom per household was 21.56 ropani with 36.74 ropani for the large landholder farmers and 9.14 ropani for the smallholders. the key problems faced by farmers and traders were high price swing, lack of disease-free propagating materials, reliance on the indian market, aged orchards, shrinking productivity, and minimal collaboration among the chain actors. therefore, adoption of good management practices (gmps)upgraded bhattis, transfer of tail cutting technology and storage management, along with value addition activities like grading (color and size), tail cutting and packaging need to be adopted with strong adherence to export quality. this study revealed that necessary action needs to be taken to maintain a high level of collaboration among the value chain actors thereby increasing the value chain efficiency of nepalese large cardamom. © 2020 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords functional linkage; large cardamom; marketing price; problems; swot; upgrading strategies; value chain http://www.press.ierek.com/ mailto:agkeshavbhusal@gmail.com mailto:rrkattel@afu.edu.np mailto:scdhakal@afu.edu.np https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v5i2.756&domain=press.ierek.com bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 1. introduction large cardamom (amomum subulatum, roxb.) is an evergreen, perennial and herbaceous spice crop of zingiberaceae family, which is known as alaichi in nepali and renowned as queen of spices and black gold (shrestha, 2018). according to timsina et al. (2012), the record of large cardamom in nepal goes back to 1865 in illam, nevertheless commercialized cultivation commenced in ilam in around 1953. its cultivation is gradually spreading and reached 51 districts in 2017 (moalmc, 2017). nepal is the largest producer and exporter of large cardamom with 55 % of the average annual world production, followed by india and bhutan (gon & itc, 2017). since 1993 both the production and land area of large cardamom have increased with a compound annual growth rate (cagr) of 0.530 % and 0.490 % respectively (shrestha, 2018). the main districts in the cultivation and marketing of large cardamom in nepal are ilam, panchthar and taplejung where taplejung alone covered 33 % of productive area and 38 % of the overall production of large cardamom in the country (moalmc, 2017). among all, taplejung is identified as the lead district in terms of land area and production occupying 23.33 % of the total area with 45 % of the national production. the productivity of cardamom was also highest in taplejung with 0.7 mt ha-1 in comparison to the national productivity of 0.36 mt ha1 (dado, 2017). price variability has been a conscious problem of the large cardamom industry in nepal (poudel and chen, 2012). international market trends show that the demand of large cardamom is at the rate over 15% annually and nepal stands a good chance to become the leading exporter to the world market (flcen, 2016). “despite the significant contribution in rural and national economy, cardamom has failed to attract support in dealing with different problems such as pests and diseases problems, low quality cardamom, highly fluctuating market, narrow market base and lack of support services.” (chhetri, 2007); chapagain et al. (2014), illustrated that, “the heavy plantation of large cardamom within the community forest or any other national forests resulted in degradation of the natural forest, such as the alnus nepalensis (uttis). analyzing the situation, the dfo started interfering with large cardamom cultivation in any type of national forests. the market actors whose livelihoods are directly associated with large cardamom cultivation are fretful due to contemporary disease like chirkey and furkey, and concerned organizations are seen baffled to address the problem” (rai and chapagain, 2014). even though the marketing channel, being strong and district traders, are steadily involved, the weak coordination among the chain actors is hampering the production and marketing of the cardamom sub-sector. the value chain study of the large cardamom provides in-depth understanding of key agriculture stakeholders such as producers/farmers, traders, processors and exporters to work together to increase commercialization in large cardamom. various cross cutting issues related to production and marketing throughout the value chain, price at each stages of value chain, how the actors of value chains are linked, addressing the problems in the chain and recommending the appropriate upgrading strategies and methods of strengthening the market linkages with the major objectives to analyze the value chain function, enabling environment, market chain and inputs/service and to investigate the value chain upgrading and governance structure of large cardamom has been the major concern of the study. 2. materials and methods the site selected for the study was phungling municipality of taplejung district, province 1, nepal. according to the 2011 general census, the district has a population of 127461 inhabitants living in 26509 households and covering an area of 3646 km2 (1408 sq. mi). the district is the leader in terms of land area, production and productivity which justifies its choice as the case study for this research. a sample of 160 farmers was used and the sample size was determined with the help of a database management system, raosoft inc. with 95 % confidence level, 7.7 % margin of error and 50 % response distribution. five local level and district level traders were selected to determine market channel and value chain using snowball technique. five enablers were selected purposely at various levels and stages from local to national level. bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data required to carry out the research. the questionnaire was designed using kobo toolbox (https://kf.kobotoolbox.org/#/forms/axsxt7qmgrtb8att3 y9q7x) that dealt with issues specific to production and marketing of large cardamom. an effort was made to incorporate questions into the questionnaires, pertaining to key issues identified in addition to different checklists developed and used to collect information from the producers, local and district level collectors, wholesalers, exporters and enablers. the primary data were collected by household survey through pre-tested interview schedule, focus group discussion, key participant interview and direct observation while the secondary data were gathered from district profile, village development committee/s/rural municipality/s (vdcs/rms ) profile, published reports of ministry of agriculture and livestock development (moald), food and agriculture organization (fao), agribusiness promotion and marketing development directorate and central bureau of statistics (cbs), and supporting organizations publications like the federation of large cardamom entrepreneur associations of nepal (flcean), the international centre for integrated mountain development (icimod), the international trade center (itc) and the trade export and promotion center (tepc). the data were coded, tabulated and analyzed using statistical package for social science (spss) and microsoft excel. to compare the different chains, the recorded data was analyzed descriptively, using weighted and non-weighted averages, percentage shares as well as standard deviations. in depth discussion with key actors of value chain was made on swot analysis. in order to understand the traits of the value chain players and the interrelationships among them a value chain map of large cardamom sub-sector was prepared with all attempts to make the maps easily comprehensible. the enabling environment providers and institutions which govern the large cardamom value chain of nepal were identified and their functional relationship was analyzed. a number of variables like population distribution, family size, size of the land holding, household income, category of land, etc. were analyzed by using simple descriptive statistics such as percentage, frequencies, standard deviation and mean. according to the agriculture development strategy (2015-2035) (ads, 2014) “the rural population is classified into three groups; commercial farmers (with 1 to 5 ha of land), subsistence farmers (with 0.5 to 1 ha of land) and landless and near landless (less than 0.25 ha)”. this knowledge was referenced in the study to categorize the respondents as large land holders (farmers cultivating plots larger than 1 hectare) and small land holders (farmers cultivating plots less than 1 hectare) a five-point scaling technique was used to analyze the farmers’ perception on the importance given to the different production and marketing constraints. the direction and severity of thoughts of the respondents towards any proposition is obtained by a scaling technique. the index of importance of different production and marketing constraints was calculated using the following formula (equation 1). (1) where, i = importance/ severity index ∑ = summation si = scale value at ith importance/severity fi = frequency of importance/severity given by the respondents n = total number of respondents (∑fi) subedi et al. (2019a) adopted this scaling technique to explore the problems associated with potato production in terai region of nepal. they also used this technique (subedi et al., 2019b) to find the production problems associated https://kf.kobotoolbox.org/#/forms/axsxt7qmgrtb8att3%20y9q7x bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 with wheat. this above formula was also applied by shrestha and shrestha (2017) to “rank the problems with maize seed production”. the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats (swot) related to cardamom value chain were analyzed from the group discussion, interview and key participants. the analysis was carried out at each functional level of value chain i.e., input supply, production, collecting/trading, wholesaling and retailing. information thus obtained from different actors in the value chain was used in swot analysis. 3. results 3.1. socio-economic characteristics out of the total sample of 160 farmers, 45 % were large landholders (72) and 55 % smallholder farmers (88). the overall average age was 50.93 years (table 1). the overall average period of schooling was 6.14 years. the overall average family size was 5.81. the economically active household members were 4.04. the dependency ratio1 was 59.89 % with greater dependency among the smallholders 63.02 % followed by 56.11 % among the large land holders (table 1). the average number of people involved in the cardamom production were 2.49 per grower, with 2.69 members actively involved among large landholders and 2.33 among smallholders (table 1). the total land holding was 27.32 ropani2 where large landholders possessed 42.12 ropani and smallholder’s owned 15.10 ropani. the total irrigated land was 20.68 ropani with 32.03 ropani of irrigated land owned by large landholders and 11.39 % by the smallholders. the average cardamom cultivation area was 21.56 ropani with the cardamom cultivation area of 36.74 ropani for the large land holder farmers and 9.14 ropani for the smallholders. the overall experience of cardamom farming was 18.36 years. table 1. socio-demographic characteristics (continuous variables) variables overall (n=160) large landholders (n=72) small holders (n=88) mean difference t-value age of hhh 50.93 51.96 50.09 1.87 -0.931 year of schooling 6.14 8.06 4.58 3.476 6.013*** total family size 5.81 5.99 5.66 0.33 0.911 economic active hh members 4.04 4.20 3.90 0.29 0.961 dependency ratio (%) 59.89 56.11 63.02 -6.91 -0.659 members involved in cardamom production 2.49 2.69 2.33 0.36 2.564 total land holding (ropani) 27.32 42.12 15.10 27.14 5.89*** irrigated land (ropani) 20.68 32.03 11.39 20.63 6.03** cardamom cultivation (ropani) 21.56 36.74 9.14 27.60 9.196*** experience of cardamom farming in years 18.36 21.06 16.16 4.89 2.582** note: *** and ** indicate significant differences at 1 and 5 % levels respectively. 1 dependency ratio is the percentage of ratio of dependent population (children aged under 15 and older population above 65 years) to economically active population (aged 15-64 years) 220 ropani= 1 hectare bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 table 2 depicts the majority of male headed hh in the study area. the majority of the households, 56.2 % were literate. in terms of ethnicity, the sample comprised 55 % adivasi/janjati followed by 41.9 % of brahmin/chhetri and 2.3 % dalits (table 2). remittance was the major source contributing to the gross domestic product in the country. decisions regarding the cardamom cultivation and selling were mutually done. the majority of the farmers i.e. 97.5 % had access to loans. the majority of the farmers (96%) were associated in some sort of farmers group which indicates that the farmers were well aware about the benefits and opportunities of being together within the groups. overall, 36.2 % received training related to cardamom farming, of which 40 % were large landholders and 34 % of the smallholder farmers. the major source of training was i/ngos (78%) followed by governmental organizations (35.5%). the majority of the farmers (60.6%) received technical assistance regarding cardamom cultivation. table 2. socio-demographic characteristics (categorical variables) by land category variables large landholders small holders overall chi-square value gender of hhh male 61(84.7) 82(93.2) 143(89.4) 2.98* female 11(15.3) 6(6.8) 17(10.6) education illiterate 12(16.7) 58(65.9) 70(43.8) 39.10*** literate 60(83.3) 30(34.1) 90(56.2) ethnicity brahmin/chhetri 25(34.7) 42(47.7) 67(41.9) 2.94 aadibasi/janjati 44(61.1) 44(50.0) 88(55) dalit 3(4.2) 2(2.3) 5(3.1) decision about cardamom cultivation and selling male 26(36.1) 43(48.9) 69(43.1) 3.13 female 5(6.9) 3(3.4) 8(5.0) both 41(56.9) 42(47.7) 83(51.9) access to loan yes 71(98.6) 85(96.6) 156(97.5) 0.663 no 1(1.4) 3(3.4) 4(2.5) membership in social group yes 69(95.8) 85(96.6) 154(96.2) 0.063 no 3(4.2) 3(3.4) 6(3.8) bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 table 2 continued training yes 28(38.9) 30(34.1) 58(36.2) 0.394 no 44(61.1) 58(75.9) 122(63.8) technical assistance yes 43(59.7) 54(61.4) 97(60.6) 0.045 no 29 (40.3) 34 (38.6) 83 (39.4) notes: figures in parentheses indicate %. ***and * indicate significant difference at 1 and 10 % levels, respectively 3.2. status, value addition activities and marketing of large cardamom area and production of lc was figured to be in increasing trend in the study district. the area under lc plantation has increased from 2,925 ha in 2011/12 to 4,200 in 2017/18. similarly, the overall production has also increased from 1,410 in 2014/15 to 2,940 mt in 2017/18. however, productivity seems to be fluctuating in the given period. the productivity was lowest i.e.360 kg/ha in 2014/15 and greater productivity in before and after consecutive years. the highest area, production and productivity till date, 4,200 ha, 2,940 mt and 700 kg/ha was recorded in 2017/18 respectively (figure 1). figure 1 area, production and productivity of large cardamom in taplejung district (source: dado taplejung (f.y. 2009/10-2017/18) the overall production trend of lc as shown in table 3. depicts that the total production of the large cardamom seemed to remain relatively stagnant over the last five years with an average production of about 200 kg. among the large land holder farmers, the production trend seemed to be gradually increasing from 236.32 kg in 2013 to 307.34 kg in 2017 while the trend seemed to decrease in case of smallholders from 171.64 kg in 2013 to 113.71 kg in the year 2017. bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 table 3. production trend of large cardamom in the study area year overall large landholders small holders mean difference t-value 2017 202.88 307.34 113.71 193.63 6.30*** 2016 191.60 285.17 111.89 173.28 4.83*** 2015 202.74 280.00 130.85 149.15 3.37*** 2014 206.11 259.34 152.07 107.27 1.82* 2013 204.99 236.32 171.64 64.67 0.79 notes: figures in parentheses indicate %. ***and * indicate significant difference at 1 and 10 % levels, respectively mostly, the inputs for the production of lc were obtainable locally. the major inputs required were land and labor, seedlings, irrigation, fuel, machinery-tools and jute bags supply inputs. the farmers get the required inputs from regional and district level input traders through their district or local level distributors, agents, retailers or agro-vet supplier shops. ramshahi (73 %) followed by golshahi (16 %) and ramla (2 %) are some of the mostly grown varieties in the district. the majority of the farmers (80%) used the old stocks from their own farm or nursery while 99 % farmers used either old stocks, suckers or seedlings from others’ farm or nursery. agriculture development section and cardamom development center (cdc) provides 5 % of total share of seedlings and seeds. the farmers do not practice chemical fertilizers during the production which is considered an organic lc production in the districts. table 4. input requirements and suppliers’ network inputs required suppliers share (%) source or origin land and labor locally available 100 % locally nepal seedlings or seeds locally available (own farm/other farms and private nursery) dado, cdc 95 % 5 % nepal and india (sikkim ) water and electricity drinking water corporation, free running water and nepal electricity authority 100 % domestic nepal fuel nepal oil corporation 100 % imported india machinery and tools regional or district distributors regional-40% district-60 % india or nepal fertilizer and pesticides agriculture inputs co. or district distributors 100 % imported india jute bags jute products manufacturing companies in biratnagar 100 % domestic nepal jute bags, plasticcoated plastic and plastic bag manufacturing companies domestic-40 % imported-60 % india and nepal source: itc, 2019 and field survey, 2019 the major processing activities in large cardamom include curing followed by cleaning, grading, grinding and tail cutting. a majority of the households (88%) cured the product. tail cutting, grading and grinding is carried out mostly after cleaning and curing the product at local and regional levels. recently, around 1 % farmers were found to practice bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 tail cutting. the majority of the postharvest activities, including grading and tail cutting, was carried out at the regional level. table 5. post-harvest management of the large cardamom processing of large cardamom (1=yes) large landholders small holders overall chi square value cleaning 57(79.2) 66(75.0) 123(76.9) 0.387 curing 62(86.1) 79(89.8) 141(88.1) 0.507 tail cutting 1(1.4) 1(1.1) 2(1.2) 0.020 grading 2(2.8) 3(3.4) 5(3.1) 0.052 grinding 2(2.8) 1(1.1) 3(1.9) 0.580 note: figures in parentheses indicate % there were two types of bhatties3 for curing the cardamom. the majority of the households (62.5%) were still using traditional bhatties while 30.6 % were using improved smokeless bhatties (table 6). this study found out that a higher proportion of farmers in both categories were adopting traditional methods. curing technique was found to be statistically significant among the categorized farmers at 5 % level of significance. also a very few (about 7%) of the households cured their product directly in sun which can be attributed to the coinciding of harvesting season with rainy season followed by winter in the high hill regions. table 6. method of curing curing of cardamom (1=yes) large landholders (n=72) small holders (n=88) overall (n=160) chi square value traditional bhatties 39(54.2) 61(69.3) 100(62.5) 3.88** improved bhatties 28(38.9) 21(23.9) 49(30.6) 4.2** sun drying 5(6.9) 6(6.8) 11(6.9) 0.057 notes: figures in parentheses indicate %. *** and ** indicate statistical significance at 1and 5 % levels respectively. the major basis of grading among the few households (i.e. 3% of total) was based on size of the product followed by color and boldness of the product. among the categories, large land holder farmers were found to grade the product only on the basis of size while the smallholders were found to be grading by size, color and boldness in equal proportions. the grading’s tedious nature and the lack of standard grading criteria by vendors in addition to shortages of tools and techniques among the producers result in minimum grading percentages at farmer’s level. table 7. basis of grading of large cardamom basis of grading (1=yes) large landholders small holders overall chi square value size 3(4.2) 2(2.3) 5(3.1) 0.469 color 0(0.0) 2(2.3) 2(1.2) 1.657 boldness 0(0.0) 2(2.3) 2(1.2) 1.657 note: figures in parentheses indicate % 3 large cardamom capsules curing structure bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 the large cardamom is stored in air tight sacks by 58.1 % of the total sampled households followed by 10 % in wooden platforms and spread in naked floor by 5.6 %. storage of cardamom in wooden platforms was found to be significant statistically at 5 % level of significance as per observed p-value. table 8. storage practice of the large cardamom by the farmers storage of large cardamom (1=yes) large landholders small holders overall chi square value air tight sacks 43(59.7) 50(56.8) 93(58.1) 0.137 wooden platform 12(16.7) 4(4.5) 16(10.0) 6.465** spread in naked floor 6(8.3) 3(3.4) 9(5.6) 1.809 notes: figures in parentheses indicate %. ** indicates statistical significance at 5 % level. it was found that 95.6 % of the producers were selling their cardamom to district headquarter-phungling while 4.4 % of the producers sold theirs directly outside the district (neighboring districts). the similar result was found among the farmers’ categories regarding districts where to sell. farmers were commonly using two points of sale i.e. from home (95%) and from village market (93%) and some farmers adopting both points of sale. majority of the households (95%) sold their product via district level collectors followed by 36 % of the producers selling through village level collectors. majority of the large landholders and smallholders were selling their product to the district level collectors. also, 76 % of the total producers were found to have an oral agreement with the traders while no any sort of written agreement was found among the producers and traders. the major payment mechanism among the producers and the traders was down payment followed by the advance mode of payment. about 95 % of the producers receive hand cash at the time of trading while 74 % of the farmers received advance payment. similar results for payment mechanisms were obtained among the farmer’s categories. the farmers stored their product at the traders store without any charge. the farmers benefit themselves by acquiring the necessary logistics for running their livelihoods and basic cardamom orchard management from the traders. the producers cut the price of the product in consultation with the traders when they fetch the appropriate price or when they are in need of the money. table 9. marketing of large cardamom in the study site parameters (1=yes) category large landholders (n=72) smallholders (n=88) overall (n=160) t/chi square value district to sell taplejung 70(97.2) 83(94.3) 153(95.6) 0.798 place to sell from home 68(94.4) 81(92.0) 149(93.1) 0.356 from village level market 70(97.2) 82(93.2) 152(95) 1.361 collectors involved village level collectors 26(36.1) 32(36.4) 58(36.2) 0.001 district level collectors 70(97.2) 82(93.2) 152(95.0) 0.243 agreement oral agreement 57(79.2) 65(73.9) 122(76.2) 0.615 payment mechanism advance payment 55(76.4) 64(72.7) 119(74.4) 0.279 down payment 70(97.2) 83(94.3) 153(95.6) 0.798 note: figures in parentheses indicate %. *** indicates statistical significance at 1 % level. the leading actors in the value chain of lc were found to be farmers, local level collectors, district level collectors, regional level collectors and exporters. both categories of farmers, large land holder and smallholder farmers, solely depend on village level collector and district level traders for the distribution of the marketing of the cardamom. thus, bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 the regional level traders are the major stock center and a chain to the international markets. the regional level traders upgrade the value of large cardamom through various post harvesting techniques including cleaning, sorting, curing, tail cutting, grading and packing of the bulk mass of cardamom. the majority of the regional traders are also acting as exporters. figure 2 product flow of large cardamom various channels of marketing were identified in the study area. the service provided by the traders such as credit facility and input supplies followed by the farmer’s capacity to stock the product has been a major concern in determining the market channel. similar market channels in bhojpur district were reported (kalauni & joshi, 2019). mostly, farmers were selling their product to the village or local traders/agents. the marketing channels identified are presented diagrammatically in the figure 3 below: figure 3 marketing channels of large cardamom in the study area (source: self illustration, 2018) figure 4 value chain map of large cardamom in the study area (source: author, 2018) farmers district traders (district based) exporter (birtamod) local traders (village based) district traders (district based) regional traders (region based-birtamod) exporters (birtamod) exporters (region basedbirtamod) bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 3.3. major value chain actors farmers: individual farmers, representing almost 97 % of total production, were the main actors engaged in production of large cardamom. similarly, unnati (2016), estimated that more than 67,000 farmers are involved in lc farming all over nepal, which considers 25,000 hh from illam, panchthar and taplejung districts. the average cardamom cultivation area of farmers in the study area was 21.56 ropani with 36.74 for the large landholders and 9.14 for the smallholders. the average amount of the cardamom sold by individual farmers annually amounts to 153.2 kg with the large landholders selling the average amount of 236 kg and 85.2 kg sold by smallholders. the key functions these farmers mainly carry out include land preparation, inputs management, post-harvest practices like cleaning, tail cutting, drying, grading, bulk packing, storing and transportation to village collection centers or to the local level collectors. the washed and cleaned harvested products were taken to the dryer within a week. local collectors/traders: local collectors were found to be the agents of traders in district market centers, who work themselves for district traders (phungling) or wholesalers(birtamod). there were 65 local level collectors in the phungling municipality which is also the major market hub within the district. they were individually responsible to their district trader. the cardamom produced is packed in a jute sack as well as plastic inside a jute sack bag provided by the agriculture development section. local collectors have a crucial role of managing and transporting the products from village centers to district traders. district collectors/traders: in the district there were 2 to 5 market centers with 25 traders engaged in lc trading. the product from village collection centers was transported to and collected at district market centers. the district level traders do not practise any sort of processing. the traders receive clean and cured cardamom. the traders only store the cardamom till they fetch the reasonable price from the regional target, birtamod. the transport cost for trading to birtamod is carried by the district traders themselves. cardamom trading occurs throughout the year but the traders mainly start receiving the cardamom from the month of bhadra-ashoj while the remaining peak trades in the month of mangsir (75 % of the produced cardamom) and declining forth forward. the major functions of district traders include making provision for advance payments to farmers, arrange post-harvest management (such as cleaning, grading, repackaging and storage) until wholesalers in birtamod keeps the order, determine the final price as per regional price and finally arrange transportation of product up to wholesalers. they are affiliated to the cardamom traders’ association and follow the traders’ standards and product quality accordingly. most of the places in phungling municipality had road access and therefore a tractor was hired for collective transportation of the product either to the village collector or directly to the district traders or farmers carrying the load to the nearby collector depending on the quantity of product. a bulk of large cardamom at the districts were transported to the wholesalers at birtamod via tractor, truck or pickup. the cost of the transportation was covered by the selling parties. regional collectors/ traders/ wholesalers/ exporters: according to nepal national sector export strategy of large cardamom, 2017-2021, the number of wholesalers in birtamod were 30, of which the exporters of lc count were 4 of lc (gon & itc, 2017). the regional level traders rely on their work experience for trading the cardamom at an international level. they receive the major portion of the product in mangsir starting from bhadra-ashoj. the major cost for running the business was accounted for by storage, transport and processing. they were responsible for the transportation fair and custom tariffs for transporting the product. the wholesalers/exporters conduct purchasing lc from district traders and some large local level collectors and manage transport (up to birtamod) along with payments to district traders. grading, packaging, storage and transportation either from birtamod or biratnagar /jogbani border crossing point, preparation of export consignments and documentation for clearance at customs point is organized by wholesalers. the traders mainly called the government to establish and promote the brand “everest big cardamom” that might help in recognizing the domestic product in the international market and keep the importers secured about the quality standards and volume of the product. the traders had been appealing to the government for creating the congeal environment of trading directly to bangladesh by declining or supporting the duty free trading which may help to break down the monopoly of the indian market. approximately 98 % of the tail cutting is done at the regional level whereas only about 2 % is done among the farmers. tail cutting, usually done using simple scissors, bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 is a tiresome process and is usually carried out by females, charging per the volume/weight that they process. both males and females are involved in cleaning. regional traders grade the lc in three groups – jumbo jet (jj), standard / super delux (sd) and usual types known as chalanchalti or ilami for quality selling as well as making price variation to the producers. table 10. grade and specification of the large cardamom in nepal grade and specification jumbo-jet (jj) standard(super) delux (sd) chalanchalti/ilami (cc) hygiene dust free, smoke less and fungus free size larger larger smaller tail cutting yes yes less than 15% tail color natural natural natural moisture percent less than 12% less than 12% less than 12% medium sized less than 5% less than 10% source: flcen (2016) nepali collectors and exporters sell whole pods in superior jute handy bags, branded labeled bags are highly preferred. indian trucks enter nepal through birtamod and the consignments are loaded directly in the truck from the warehouse of the wholesaler and then transported to india through the biratnagar / jogbani customs point. only two indian transport companies had monopolized the transportation of lc from nepal to india. the average truckload of lc was about 10 tons (gon, 2017). the price information or the price is normally determined by the buyers in delhi, siliguri or kolkata market and subsequently respective prices by other traders in the central, wholesale, district and village market centers were determined. pricing for farmers and traders mainly relied on the grading of products within the country. lc is normally graded into three groups; jj, sd and cc, which determines the price range. size of capsules (the larger size fetches more price), tail cutting (fetches more price), moisture content below 12 % is considered ideal and color and appearance (light brown fetches more price) are the major factors determining the grade of lc. the price information collected from flcen revealed high price fluctuation of lc in subsequent years. in contrast, there was high fluctuation within month and day as per the farmers and traders involved. siliguri in india is the central market for lc but during the past decade the market hub shifted to delhi and kolkata. around 50% of nepali lc is marketed to outside nations (especially to pakistan) from delhi and kolkata along amritsar and mumbai. payment is cost and freight (cfr)–delhi table 11. major market centers for lc india pakistan bhutan nepal siliguri: alupatti new market karachi : jodia market phuntsholing auction market fikkal, new delhi : garodia market lahore : akbari mandi dhankuta kolkata : amartola and armenian streets rawalpindi : ganj mandi birtamod source: flcen (2016) the major organization, enablers and facilitators involved in the large cardamom sector with their roles are briefly tabulated in table 12 below. bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 table 12. organizations, enablers and facilitators institutions roles organization/sector associations federation of large cardamom entrepreneurs of nepal (flcen) birtamod wholesalers are organized under one umbrella, flcen, which assists only the trade making policy sector linked with government agencies. traders' rights, facilities are reflected with the government through the institutions. policy support cardamom development centre, fikkal (cdc) with the purpose of cardamom research and development, this institution has been working especially for seedling production and training the cardamom farmers and cardamom related activities. this is only one government farm, which is producing and distributing quality cardamom seeds and saplings in the country. national spice crops development programme (nscdp) nscdp, a national level institution, mainly focuses on cardamom policy development, implementation and assisting financial issues. technology transfer among lc growing districts and farmers, policy, implementing constraints, subsidies including national coordination is also governed by the nscdp. agriculture development offices its role and responsibilities in particular cardamom development includes cardamom area expansion, startup of cardamom nursery, training farmers, dissemination of seed and seedlings and cardamom plantation management along with coordinating district level dcci, flcen and traders while formulating district level policy and plan including processing/ drying facilities establishment. trade service network trade and export promotion centre (tepc) tepc maintains cardamom export import data from export import point. presently, the export brand logo as "everest big cardamom'' has been finalized by the tepc and flcen in order to facilitate trade of cardamom in addition to launching the processing /dryer construction especially in new areas of cardamom growth. federation of nepalese chamber of commerce and industries/ agro enterprise centre (fncci/aec) agro enterprise centre, a private sector under the fncci, gathers market rates of lc from various markets and updates it to centers providing market information. additionally, aec recommends for improvement of lc industries with gon and advocates export promotion programs. international trade center (itc) itc assisted nepal in framing a national sector export strategy for lc. this strategy is a comprehensive five-year roadmap for enhancing productivity and export promotion to achieve greater penetration in existing markets for lc. the strategy is underpinned by an overall vision of “developing nepali black and pink everest cardamom production and quality to increase export revenues and support sustainable economic development”. bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 table 12 continued research nepal agricultural research council (narc) the development objectives of narc are “to conduct qualitative studies and research, identify constraints and issues, and propose policy and strategic measures for the overall development of agriculture. narc also coordinates, monitors and assesses agricultural research activities conducted by other government and non-government agencies in nepal. the agricultural research station in pakhribas is involved in crop research and training on the agronomic, preharvest and postharvest practices of large cardamom. national commercial agriculture research programme (ncarp) in pakhribas is also responsible for conducting research on large cardamom varieties and agronomic practices”. 3.4. production and marketing problems in large cardamom different problems were faced by the farmers during the cardamom cultivation and production. five points scaling technique (1, 0.8, 0.6, 0.4 and 0.2) was used to detect the relative seriousness of the production problem. the value obtained from the ranking scale revealed that the attack of pest/disease has maximum index value (0.9) and minimum was for the lack of quality rhizome/seedling with the index value of 0.39. relative seriousness of the problem faced by the farmers followed the sequence of attack of the disease/pest followed by limited irrigation facilities or poor rainfall; limited technological knowledge mainly improved cultivation practices; scientific nursery management and post-harvest handling; limited farm labor and limited quality rhizome/seedlings. the major diseases prevailing were chirkey, furkey and sheath rot. table 13. various production problems of lc farmers in the study area problems major factor (1) to minor factor (0.2) weight index rank 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 attack of pest /disease 82 76 1 0 1 143.6 0.90 i irrigation/poor rainfall 77 55 10 9 9 132.4 0.83 ii limited technological knowledge 1 11 45 87 16 74.8 0.47 iii limited availability of farm labor 1 11 64 16 68 68.2 0.43 iv limited quality rhizome/ seedlings 0 7 41 47 65 62 0.39 v various problems were faced by the farmers during the marketing of the cardamom. five points scaling technique (1, 0.8, 0.6, 0.4 and 0.2) was applied to notice the relative intensity of the marketing problems. the value obtained from the ranking scale depicted that the low seasonal price/price fluctuation had the maximum index value (0.92) and minimum was for the distance to market with the index value of 0.23. relative intensity of the problems faced during marketing of the cardamom followed the sequence of low seasonal price or price fluctuation; more gap between farm gate and retail price; limited marketing knowledge; poor transportation and distance from market. bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 table 14. various marketing problems of lc farmers in the study area factors major factor (1) to minor factor (0.2) weight index rank 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 low seasonal price /price fluctuation 104 52 3 1 0 147.8 0.92 i higher marketing cost 48 75 34 1 2 129.2 0.81 ii limited marketing knowledge 6 30 104 15 5 99.4 0.62 iii poor transportation 3 3 13 126 15 66.6 0.42 iv distance to market 0 0 4 18 138 37.2 0.23 v 4. swot analysis the strength, weakness, opportunity and threats (swot) of cardamom was analyzed based on the interaction with the farmers, local traders, member of cooperatives, district level traders, regional level traders, organizations and enablers and facilitators. the production and marketing problems are illustrated in the table 15. table 15. strength, weakness, opportunities and threats of large cardamom production and marketing strength weakness production i. traditional knowledge on cultivation ii. long productive period iii. high value crop even with frequent price alteration and is known as black gold iv. long storage life v. conducive agro-climatic condition and diversified topography vi. best suited crop for small and marginalized farmers vii. marginal investment to garner continuous income viii. crop insurance (75 % subsidy on premium by government) i. ageing of crop and poor management resulting decline in yield ii. limited technical knowledge resulting poor quality product iii. weak extension services to transfer technology iv. limited quality inputs v. increased infestation of diseases and pests vi. inadequate research and development facilities vii. no insurance policy adopted by growers viii. shortage of skilled technical manpower ix. inconsistent government policies marketing ix. high value low volume crop x. long storage life xi. profit is relatively higher xii. steady growth in export volume and earnings xiii. established cash crop, prioritized and valued as top exportable commodity by ntis/mocs x. non-existence of auction practice xi. weak bargaining capacity of farmers xii. lack of market information & poor market access intelligence xiii. suitable branded logo yet to be finalized as everest big cardamom xiv. farmers lack their own organized marketing unit xv. price fixation mechanism is unknown x. adulteration bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 table 15 continued opportunities threats production i. suitable climate and geography possessing comparative advantage ii. high affinity of farmers towards lc production iii. prioritized crops in the country iv. attention of different organization (cadp, ads, unnati) v. enough land area. potential for new plantation/ expansion vi. potential for new plantation/expansion vii. high potentiality for technology adaptation as improved dryers i. declining labor availability ii. drying out of water sources iii. increasing trend of chemical pesticides usage instead of suitable organic method iv. diseases and pest incidence marketing viii. good demand in national and international market ix. increasing the awareness on value addition x. high demand in international markets xi. large market potential within the country xii. value addition possibilities through grading, tail cut, and smoke-free drying xiii. attempt to diversify market xiv. potential to employ large number of people v. poor quality product resulting declining international reputation vi. intense competition from neighboring countries vii. political instability viii. division forest office has stopped its cultivation in community forest due to threat in biodiversity ix. high price fluctuation x. invasion of duplicate cardamom in international market xi. dependency on foreign market xii. domestic consumption is very low (2 % or less) 5. upgrading existing large cardamom value chain the upgrading of the product can be done with the management of varoius dimensions of market i.e. 4p’s-product, price, place and promotion. the existing practices include a majority of traditionally cured, minimal graded and tail cut product which is available at nrs. 835 per kg. the local market, district (phungling), and regional market (birtamod) are the major trading routes with the major export market being india. promotion of the product through the brand “everest big cardamom” is underway. the major product upgrading strategies encompasses maximizing production and research suggesting commercially viable production, advance dryer promotion, technology transfer for tail cutting and national quality standards categorization. 10-15 % extra worth can be delivered by tail cut and graded cardamom. potential international markets (third world countries) need to be explored and trading agreements finalized by the government sector for export with strict adherence to product promotion activities like setting national standards, organic certification and branding the product. the process upgrading refers to the whole process from input supply to production, harvesting, post harvesting, and processing to marketing. process upgrading regarding large cardamom in the study district shows two major steps for upgrading this product. firstly, the cultivation process presently includes cultivation in private marginalized lands and community forests based on rhizomes from old stock-prone to disease and pests. this can be upgraded by bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 promoting seedlings based production from well managed nursery with adoption of good agricultural practices (gaps) and good management practices (gmps). secondly, the manual harvest followed by various post harvesting practices includes traditionally cured, no grading and poor storage management. this practice needs to be upgraded through management of improved bhatties, adoption of grading (export quality standards), storage management and dissemination of technology (like technology for tail cutting and improved curing). the functional upgrading of large cardamom value chain actors is one of the most important aspects of firm level upgrading strategies. in this study, four major actors with their present functions have been addressed for upgrading their functions. first, farmers can be upgraded through timely delivery of quality seedlings and associated inputs, incentive for replantation for disease prone cultivation, technical knowledge (gaps, gmps, quality standards, market information) and technology (improved dryer, grader, tail cutting, packaging material) insured for quality production. second, village level traders can motivate farmers to learn more and practice drying and grading in addition to trading graded and tail cut products at higher value to district and regional markets. third, district level traders need to motivate farmers and village traders for availability of final product (graded and tail cut lc) and trade graded and tail cut product to other district and regional markets. lastly, regional traders/exporters need to explore the international markets and export to third world countries along with enhancing capacity of national exporters/traders in expanding direct market access to the international markets. the channel upgrading can be done in either of the waysi) consensus development regarding premium price payment of processed product like tail cut, graded and smokeless cardamom or ii) existing channels of exporter who are exporting other high value products like coffee, tea, ginger exporters might be mobilized to include tail cut, graded and smokeless lc. inter-sectoral upgrading entails that the product or other remainings of lc could be used diversly for making papers and fiber utilized for making handicrafts. this practice has been initiated by establishment of cottage industries in the study area (taplejung) by development organizations like himalica. this can be further upgraded by exploration of potential for product diversification through research such as making papers and fiber utilized for making handicrafts. inter-firm upgrading can be assured through“support to link traders and farmers to flcen (an umbrella organization to all the value chain actors) and even facilitate to form flcen district chapter and strengthen these district level units so that they would start taking care of all issues and concerns related to large cardamom in their respective districts. consequently, this district chapter may become proactive for carrying out regional to national level policy issues.” business development services and finance services can be upgraded in the light of access to finance, quality seedling, technology for tail cutting, research on scientific management in community forest and incentive for replantation. first, although the provision of advance payment from traders is in practice, increasing the product holding capacity of farmers through lc based loan provision from financial institutions needs to be assured. second, limited and untimely availability of quality seedling is to be assured through timely availability, nursery management training and awareness on cultivation based on quality seedlings instead of old stock rhizomes. ownership and strengthening of this mechanism through government sectors such as agriculture development section, pmamp, cdc and narc is a must. third, the prevailing method of tail cutting through rubbing while curing (farm level) and using simple scissors (regional level) can be upgraded in a long run through associations with researchers in institute of engineering (ioe), research centre for applied science and technology (recast), narc, cdc etc. for identifying better technology for tail cutting. fourth, research on scientific management in community forest is a must owing to depletion of natural forest, such as the alnus nepalensis (uttis), and interference in lc cultivation. provision of land allocation for disadvantaged groups (dag) regarding lc production has to be enhanced. lastly, no incentive for replantation of old and disease prone orchards, except for limited technical support, has been found, which can be addressed through development of potential provision to compel agriculture development section and government agencies to provide incentive for replantation with detailed selection criteria and felt need. there is neither any enabling policy for encouraging investments from private sectors nor state's significant support to the producers. therefore, there has to be significant resource allocation from the government for the management bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 18 of lc nursery, capacity building through training, technical support, field visits, and incentives for replantation of disease prone cardamom gardens along with easy access for loan, price and market (local and export) regulation. 6. discussion the study suggests average area, production and productivity of the lc to be 1.08 ha, 202.86 kg and 187.83 kg/ha respectively. the similar status with production was found in terathum district by bhandari and bhandari (2018) with 200 kg large cardamom production and 232 kg ha-1 productivity from an average cultivation area of 0.86 ha, and average farming experience of 22 years. in the study area, 31 % were adopting improved dryer while a study by bhandari and bhandari (2018) in terathum district found that a“relatively lower proportion, only 7 % of the farmers with access to improved lc drying facility, while traditional type of dryer was used by 93 % of farmers.” we observed the average days to curing in traditional bhatties is 1.37 days while that of the improved bhatties is 0.48 days while deka, biswas, gopakumar and potty (2003) reported 17-24 hours drying time with improved dryer and the volatile oil content of 2-2.4 %. in this study, the relative seriousness of the problems faced during marketing of the cardamom followed the sequence of price fluctuation, more gap between farm gate and retail price, lack of marketing knowledge, poor transportation and distance to market. similarly, according to shrestha and shrestha (2018), key problems of cardamom producers and traders were“high price fluctuation, lack of disease-free saplings, dependency on indian market, very old orchard, declining productivity, drying out water resources, adulteration, lack of research and extension support services, lack of favorable government policy and least coordination among the chain actors.” the major actors involved in the value chain of lc in the study were farmers, local level collectors, district level collectors, regional level collectors and exporters similarly, shrestha et al. (2018) identified the two major marketing chains in sikkim district, india. in the study conducted in terathum district, bhandari and bhandari (2018) suggested that, “the farmers responded 87 % of them selling their product to traders located in the district directly, while the rest of the farmers sold their product through the local collectors.” 7. conclusion large cardamom is one of the major cash generating spice crops in taplejung district. this district is the leader district in terms of area of cardamom cultivation and total production. however, this has been facing severe threat in recent years and its productivity is declining. key problems facing large cardamom farming are pests and diseases, limited value addition, highly fluctuating market, and insufficient support services. the major marketing channel concentrates farmers to district level traders to the regional traders in birtamod. the marketing channel is robust and district traders are lively involved but the weak coordination among the value chain actors is constricting the production and marketing of the cardamom sub-sector. therefore, a new collective trademark, maintaining the quality standards, and pricing policy formulation and accreditation of nepalese certifying laboratories to global standards could be a major priority. the focus on using recent scientific technologies like healthy seedlings, scientific grading mechanisms, improved dryers with efficient marketing channel and destinations would definitely help the large cardamom farming industry become competitive in the international spice market while conquering the “last mile” of the export process and could also help put an end to youth migration in search of employment opportunities from the hills to various countries. to that effect a series of recommendations are presented below: − ensure better and healthy seedlings for farmers and thereby improving productivity by advancing good agricultural practices (gaps) concentrating on disease-pest management − improve production and post-harvest practices of large cardamom through adoption of good management practices (gmps)upgraded bhattis, transfer of tail cutting technology and storage management, to increase value retention. − the practice of value addition activities, like tail cutting, grading (color and size) and packaging are currently negligible at both local and district level markets. a collective grading mechanism with strong adherence to export quality standards, therefore, needs to be promoted locally. bhusal/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 19 − strengthening the coordination among marketing networks and institutions needs to be assured so that the fluctuation of price would be controlled and the quality standards be formalized. − to further strengthen its effectiveness in global trading, a national large cardamom policy needs to be formulated and an institutional mechanism with private sector association needs to be created for sectoral coordination and promotional activities. references adhikari, j. (2000). decisions for survival: farm management strategies in the middle hills of nepal. adroit publishers. ads. (2014). agriculture development strategy (2015-2035). singhdurbar, nepal: ministry of agriculture development (moad), government of nepal. bhandari, n., & bhandari, t. (2018). marketing and socioeconomics aspects of large cardamom production in tehrathum, nepal. journal of nepal agricultural research council, 4(1), 79-85. chapagain, d. (2011). assessment of climate change impact on large cardamom and proposed adaptation measures in eastern hill of nepal. kathmandu: ministry of environment. chhetri. (2007). mid-term review of cardamom sub-sector report. prepared for snv nepal. dado taplejung. (2017). annual agriculture development programme and statistics books of taplejung district. deka, t. n., biswas, a. k., gopakumar, b. and potty, s. n. (2003). large cardamom curing through icri improved bhati. j. hill res., 16(1): 5760. dharmendra kalauni & arati joshi | (2019) production economics, marketing and critical success factors of large cardamom in bhojpur, nepal, cogent food & agriculture, 5:1, 1701358 gon, & itc. (2017). nepal national sector export strategy large cardamom, 2017-2021. nepal. moac, m. of a. and c. (2008). statistical information of nepalese agriculture. kathmandu, nepal. moad. (2014). statistical information on nepalese agriculture, government of nepal, ministry of agriculture development. moalmc, m. of a. l. m. and c. (2017). statistical information on nepalese agriculture. singha durbar, kathmandu, nepal. rai, j. k., & chapagain, s. p. (2014). value chain analysis of forest products in koshi hill districts of nepal : challenges and opportunities for economic growth. (jailab kumar rai & suhrid prasad chapagain, eds.). forestaction nepal and rrn. sharma, g., joshi, s. r., gurung, m. b., & chilwal, h. c. (2017). package of practices for promoting climate resilient cardamom value chains in nepal. package of practices for promoting climate resilient cardamom value chains in nepal. sharma, g., sharma, r., & sharma, e. (2009). traditional knowledge systems in large cardamom farming: biophysical and management diversity in indian mountainous regions. shrestha, a., and shrestha, j. (2017). production, problems and decision making aspects of maize seed producers in banke district, nepal. azarian journal of agriculture, 4(6), 212216. shrestha, k., & shrestha, j. (2018). value chain analysis of large cardamom in ilam district of nepal. azarian journal of agriculture, 5(6), 179-189. shrestha, k. p. (2018). growth trends analysis of large cardamom in nepal. paper submitted to nepalese horticulture society. socioeconomics agriculture research policy division (sarpod), nepal agriculture research council (narc), nepal. subedi, s., ghimire, y.n., adhikari, s.p., devkota, d., shrestha, j., poudel, h.k., & sapkota, b.k. (2019b). adoption of certain improved varieties of wheat (triticum aestivum l.) in seven different provinces of nepal. archives of agriculture and environmental science, 4(4), 404-409 subedi, s., ghimire, y.n., gautam, s., poudel, h.k., & shrestha, j. (2019a). economics of potato (solanum tuberosum l.) production in terai region of nepal. archives of agriculture and environmental science, 4(1), 57-62 timsina, k., p shrestha, k., pandey, s., & h paudel, i. (2012). value chain analysis of cardamom (amomam subulutum roxb): a case study of taplejung district, nepal. agriculture development journal. 9. yadav, p. k., shrestha, k. p., & mandal, d. l. (2015). present situation and future strategies for research and development of large cardamom in nepal. in r. chaudhary & s. p. vista (eds.), proceedings of the stakeholders consultation workshop on large cardamom development in nepal. commercial crop division, narc, khumaltar, nepal. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 47 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i1.867 research and application of climate-responsive design of traditional vernacular houses in chaoshan, china jinglei li1, zhaoji wu1, yufeng zhang1 1state key laboratory of subtropical building science, department of architecture, south china university of technology, guangzhou, china abstract chaoshan vernacular house is an important branch of lingnan traditional houses in south china, with a long architectural history and excellent climate responsiveness to the hot-humid climate. the modern rural houses learn the traditional experiences mainly in the form but fail to inherit the climate-responsive design and wisdom of the traditional houses. this study took the widely distributed xiashanhu houses in chaoshan as the object, generated 128 xishanhu parametric models by combinations of various parameters on design factors of building, opening, shading, construction, and street layout, and investigated the climate-responsive design techniques by using the parametric methods. the results show that the hall width, room width, cornice height, orientation, and wall construction are the key climate-responsive design factors oriented towards thermal performance of xiashanhu houses. the optimized designs are: the smaller hall width (4.05m，4.32m，4.59m), the smaller room width (2.7m，2.97m，3.24m), the larger cornice height (4.92m，5.1m), the orientation ranged from 30° north by west to 30° north by east, and the brick and concrete wall. the rationality and validity were verified by applying the optimized climate-responsive designs to the re-construction of a new rural house. compared to the original case, the thermal performance is significantly improved by 5.18-9.98%. a detailed discussion was also provided on considering the actual situation and needs of the modern buildings in the process of "using the past for the present." this study is believed to provide valuable references for the research and modern applications of climate-responsive designs of traditional vernacular houses. it also contributes to the preservation of architectural and cultural regional characters and the inheritance of architectural climate responsiveness in contemporary times. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords traditional vernacular house; xiashanhu house; new rural house; parametric methods; climate-responsive design 1. introduction in the chaoshan region in south china, many traditional vernacular houses are widely distributed, and many projects are underway on the reconstruction or new construction of rural houses dominated by residents or the government. there is an urgent need to extract and apply the design strategies of traditional houses for contemporary projects. then we can preserve the architectural and cultural regional characters and inherit the excellent performances on architectural climate responsiveness. however, the related practices at present are mainly qualitative (imitating appearance and plan form or using materials and components) rather than quantitative ways. besides, the key design factors and techniques for maintaining the architectural performances are still not fully revealed. taking xiashanhu http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i1.867&domain=press.ierek.com li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 48 houses, the most representative traditional vernacular houses in chaoshan, as the object, this study aimed to investigate the climate-responsive design techniques of traditional houses and to apply the techniques to the new rural houses. nomenclature ch cornice height eol eave oversailing length hd hall depth hlw horizontal lane width htc_r heat transfer coefficient of roof htc_w heat transfer coefficient of wall hw hall width ppd the percentage of dissatisfaction pd patio depth rw room width rdd recessed door depth sar_w solar-radiation-absorption ratio of wall sc the sensitivity coefficient sl shading length sw street width tii_r thermal inertia index of roof tii_w thermal inertia index of wall tpr thermal comfort period ratio vlf_w visible light reflectance of wall vlw vertical lane width wwr window-to-wall ratio 1.1. site and climate lingnan traditional houses, mainly including guangfu, kejia, and chaoshan vernacular houses, are located in the hothumid area in south china. the hot-humid area is classified into the humid subtropical climate regions (cfa/cwa) in the köppen-geiger climatic map (beck, h. et al., 2018), as shown in figure 1. taking shantou city, where xiashanhu houses are mainly distributed, as an example, the local climate was analyzed as follows. li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 49 figure. 1 the present-day map (1980–2016) of köppen-geiger climate classification shantou is located at 116.4° east longitude and 23.21° north latitude, with an altitude of about 587m above sea level. the climate data of shantou were obtained from (china meteorological data network, 2020), which covered the climatological period from 1981–2010, as shown in table 1. the summer (june to august) is hot and humid, with temperatures around 27.5-29.1°c and relative humidities around 78-82%. the winter (december to february) is temperate, with temperatures around 14.7-16.6°c and relative humidities around 70-76%. the sunshine hours are long, and the rainfall is abundant in summer in shantou. table 1 average climate data in shantou from 1981 to 2010 month jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec mean temperature (°c) 14.7 15.8 17.8 21.6 25.2 27.5 29.1 28.9 27.9 25.1 20.8 16.6 max. temperature (°c) 19.0 20.0 21.9 25.4 28.7 30.8 32.8 32.4 31.6 28.7 24.9 20.9 min. temperature (°c) 11.7 13.0 14.9 18.9 22.6 25.1 26.4 26.1 25.1 22.0 17.3 13.2 rainfall amount (mm) 28.0 68.3 103.6 171.9 207.7 273.1 225.2 280.5 162.9 31.4 32.1 33.2 rainfall days (≥0.1mm) 7.2 10.8 12.7 13.3 15.3 17.1 13.4 13.7 9.9 5.2 4.8 5.2 mean relative humidity (%) 73 76 75 77 78 82 78 79 75 69 71 70 sunshine hours (h) 143.2 96.0 101.7 112.8 134.7 170.9 239.7 218.6 200.7 207.6 181.2 171.5 li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 50 besides, givoni's bioclimatic chart in shantou (b. givoni. man, 1969) was plotted using climate consultant 6.0 and photoshop as figure 2 shows. the comfort zones are centralized in transition seasons and winter, indicating that summer is the significant period for thermal performance improvement. by using different design strategies, thermal comfort performance can be improved to some extent in different seasons. in winter, moderate internal heat gain (such as lights, people, and equipment) can maintain indoor thermal comfort. in summer, both sun shading (preventing solar radiation) and natural ventilation (taking away the heat) can contribute to indoor thermal comfort. besides, even though active dehumidification and cooling are also effective, there are no discussions about them because the passive ways are focused on in this study. some strategies are not plotted in the figure on account of lower effects, i.e., high thermal mass and heating. figure. 2 the bioclimatic chart of shantou 1.2. climate-responsive design of lingnan traditional houses there are many practices of lingnan traditional houses in responsive to the hot-humid climate, such as small or no windows, plan form with patio, and compact street layout et al. xiashanhu houses are the most representative chaoshan houses. its layout is similar to that of lingnan traditional houses, i.e., patio, kitchen and storage rooms in the front, hall and bedrooms in the back, and single-storey (lu and wei, 1990; lu, 2008), as shown in figure 3. xiashanhu houses were chosen as the research object in this study as: they were widely promoted due to their economic and technical benefits, especially in modern times, and widely distributed now in many traditional villages with the comb layout (chen, 2014); the layout of contemporary rural houses follows that of xiashanhu houses, i.e., hall and patio in the middle, and bedrooms and other rooms on both sides (jin, 2014). figure. 3 the typical plans of xiashanhu houses li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 51 many studies investigated the climate-responsive design of lingnan traditional houses based on field observations or measurements. for instance, chen (chen, 1965) pointed out that the layout with patio was important for the traditional houses in aspects of natural cooling and indoor thermal comfort in summer. li (li, 1993) conducted a field study on the qing dynasty houses in foshan. he found that both the street layout and construction techniques contributed to the decrease and stability of the indoor temperature and the good natural ventilation. the studies (zeng et al., 2009; pan and gao, 2010) confirmed the good thermal performances of lingnan traditional houses by testing indoor temperature, humidity, and wind speed. by using pmv, they also confirmed good human thermal comfort in vernacular houses. simulation tools were adopted in some studies as well. for instance, ma (ma, 2011) used fluent to study the natural ventilation in chen clan temple. li (li, 2013) adopted envi-met and energyplus to study the pearl river delta villages, focusing on both outdoor and indoor thermal environments. it can be learned from the previous studies that thermal performance is important for understanding the climate-responsive design of lingnan traditional houses. meanwhile, the design factors influencing thermal performance include the parameters of the building, opening, shading, construction, and street layout. furthermore, only a case or small cases are focused on in the majority of previous studies. the key design factors determining the climate responsiveness of traditional houses are still not fully understood, even in the studies with cases in a large sample like (hui, 2016). 1.3. design guidances on new rural houses some guidelines and studies offered design guidances on the new rural houses in guangdong, china. a document recently issued by the local government (guangdong provincial department of housing and urban-rural development, 2021) stated that the new rural houses in chaoshan should fully consider the current situation of residential land and absorb the architectural elements of traditional houses. jin (jin et al., 2014) suggested retaining patios in the new rural houses as the semi-open spaces (patio and open hall) were effective for the traditional houses to adapt to the hot-humid climate. she also suggested organizing better natural ventilation by breaking the custom of not opening windows in the north. chen (chen, 2014) found that the traditional lane widths of 4m/2m (horizontal/vertical) improved the ventilation at the entrance, patio, and hall of traditional houses. based on the findings, he suggested the horizontal lane width of 6m in the new villages, together with the well-designed openings’ location and size in the new houses. jin (jin, 2014) recommended using louvered roof shadings for the new low-rise rural houses with patios and optimizing wall and roof materials to improve the indoor thermal comfort. yu (yu, 2011) applied his research result of the optimal patio height-to-width ratio (3:1-5:1) for the traditional houses to the design of a three-storey rural house, which resulted in a good performance. in summary, it can be known that the current design guidances on new rural houses in chaoshan are qualitative rather than quantitative: for the reconstructions, the guidances are mainly focused on materials, appearance, and traditional components (gables, courtyard walls, window panes); for the new constructions, the guidances are mainly focused on the inheritance of traditional elements, enclosed plan, and functional zoning. the qualitative guidances have some disadvantages. one is that the dimension rules and design strategies contained in the vernacular houses can not be completely followed, resulting in building performances being not guaranteed. the other is that even for the partial imitations, the operations are always arbitrary. 1.4. applying parametric methods to climate-responsive design of traditional houses the parametric methods had been widely applied in the performance-oriented modern architectural design. based on the genetic algorithm, tuhus-dubrow (tuhus-dubrow and krarti, 2010) optimized building form and wall-and-roof construction dimensions to reduce building energy consumption. based on energyplus and jeplus, delgarm (delgarm et al., 2016) optimized building orientation, dimensions of windows and shadings, and construction materials (heat transfer coefficient) to cut down the energy consumption. using grasshopper, ladybug, and honeybee, zhang et al. (zhang et al., 2017) optimized building orientation, depth of rooms and corridors, and wwr to improve energy efficiency, thermal comfort, and daylight. li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 52 in recent years, they were also applied in the traditional houses’ studies. for instance, wang et al. (wang and liu, 2002) investigated the effects of design factors and determined the key design parameters for the cave thermal environment by introducing the parametric design method. in a historical building in italy, roberti et al. (roberti et al., 2017) assessed the airtightness of doors and windows and ventilation performance, and proposed reconstruction schemes oriented towards cooling/heating loads and thermal comfort by using the parametric method. based on the grasshopper and plug-ins, zhu et al. (zhu et al., 2020) optimized the energy consumption, daylight factor, and predicted percentage dissatisfied (ppd), considering the plane layout, air conditioner setting temperature, and building shape and façade. it can be summarized from the above literature review that: only a case or cases in a small sample are focused in the majority of previous studies, and the key design factors determining the climate responsiveness of traditional houses are still not fully understood. the current design guidances on new rural houses are qualitative rather than quantitative. the parametric methods have unique advantages in generating large sample cases, studying the impact of multiple design parameters on various performances, and guiding the optimal design schemes. this study aims to study and apply the climate-responsive design of xiashanhu houses in chaoshan, china. the specific goals are as follows: (i) to investigate the basic design factors and to generate the parametric models in a large sample; (ii) to screen the key climate-responsive design factors oriented towards thermal performance; (iii) to determine the solution set of key design factors by objective optimization; and (iv) to verify the rationality and validity by applying the climate-responsive design of the traditional houses to a new rural house. this study will provide valuable references for the research and modern applications of the climate-responsive design of traditional vernacular houses. 2. methods a parametric platform was established for this study using the rhinoceros & grasshopper software and the referred plug-ins. the platform consisted of three modules: the parametric modeling module, the building performance calculation module, and the sensitivity test and optimization module. figure. 4 a xiashanhu parametric model (target building in red and surrounding buildings in gray) li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 53 2.1. parametric modelling the parametric modeling module generated the xiashanhu parametric models according to the design parameters of xiashanhu houses (see figure 4), with the generation order of single building, opening and shading, constructions, and street layout. the parameter values and the abstract plan are summarized as follows. the abstract plan for the xiashanhu parametric models (fig. 5) was obtained from the typical traditional plans (fig. 3) that slightly modified in the frontage door according to the common situations of contemporary rural houses. figure. 5 the abstract plan of xiashanhu parametric models the building parameters included the values of width, depth, and height for the spaces of the hall, room, side room, and patio (figs. 6, 7), and the data for xiashanhu houses were obtained from the refs. (lu&wei, 1990; lu, 2008), including both the interval and range as shown in table 2. figure. 6 the width and depth of xiashanhu houses(a1: hw, a2: rw, b1: hd, b2: pd, b3: rrd) li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 54 figure. 7 the height of xiashanhu houses (h: ch) table 2. the building parameters of xiashanhu houses (mm) parameter hall room side room patio width interval 270 270 =rw =hw range 4050-5670 2700-4320 depth interval 540 =hd =pd+rrd 2700 range 4340-7040 4050-6750 ch interval 180 =ch of hall =ch of hall =ch of hall range 2760-5100 slope value 25° the opening parameters were determined according to (lu&wei, 1990; lu, 2008; chen, 1963; gao, 2007; zeng, 2010; cheng, 2013; tang, 1996; tang, 2001) as shown in figure 8, with the wwr range and interval of 0.02-0.1 and 0.02. the opening shading parameters were obtained from (lu, 2005; zhang, 2015; qiu, 2017) as shown in figure 9, with the rrd range and interval of 340-1960mm and 180mm. the gable wall is a representative design of lingnan traditional houses, and the gable wall shading parameters of xiashanhu houses are shown in figure 10, with the range and interval of 310-1390mm and 180mm for the eave oversailing length (lu&wei, 1990; lu, 2008). figure. 8 the opening shading parameters of xiashanhu houses (unit: mm) li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 55 figure. 9 the gable wall shading parameters of xiashanhu houses the constructions of wall, roof, windows, and floor were determined for xiashanhu houses, referring to (tang, 2005) for the details. xiashanhu houses are in a low-density community layout, with the range and interval of 1100-2900mm and 300mm for the vertical lane width, and 0-1800mm and 300mm for the horizontal lane width (lu&wei, 1990; lu, 2008; chen, 2014; hui, 2016; qi, 2013). 2.2. thermal performance evaluation the building performance calculation module evaluated the thermal performances of all xiashanhu parametric models by using the ladybug plug-in to call simulation software of energyplus. as stated in the introduction, thermal performance is important for understanding the climate-responsive design of lingnan traditional houses. we adopted a thermal comfort index reflecting the integrated thermal impacts of temperature, radiation, wind speed, and humidity on inhabitants to evaluate the thermal performance of xiashanhu houses. based on a recent study in the hot-humid area of china combining climate chamber experiments and field surveys (zhang, 2018), a modified pmv-ppd model was used for the thermal comfort calculation of local people. the percentage of dissatisfaction (ppd) was calculated by (fanger, 1970) together with the modified equation by (zhang, 2018). for the calculation, the metabolic ratio and clothing insulation by (zhang, 2018) were used as tables 3-4 show, the indoor air and radiant temperatures and humidity were obtained by the building performance calculation module, and the indoor wind speed was estimated as the opening wind speed converted from the inflow air volume through low openings. table 3. the metabolic rate for thermal comfort calculation space main activities metabolic rate (met) hall sitting 1.0 room sleeping 0.7 patio standing 1.2 side room working (such as cooking) 2.0 li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 56 table 4. the clothing insulation for thermal comfort calculation space summer (apr 24 to nov 20) non-summer (nov 21 to apr 23) indoor spaces (room and side room) 0.30 clo 𝐼𝑐𝑙 = −0.040𝑡𝑜 + 1.517 semi-open spaces (patio and hall) 0.29 clo 𝐼𝑐𝑙 = −0.026𝑡𝑜 + 1.193 the ppd that no more than 20% was identified as comfortable, and the tpr was calculated by: 𝑇𝑃𝑅 = ∑ (𝑇𝑃𝑖/𝑡𝑖) 𝑁 𝑖=1 𝑁 × 100% (1) where tpi is the annual thermal-comfort hours of the i-th space; ti is the annual usage hours of the i-th space; n is the number of spaces in a house. for the indoor thermal environment simulation, the personnel density and per-capita calorific values were determined according to function and people’s activities in the space (table 5), the thermal disturbance values were all set to 0, and the hourly in-room ratios of people were estimated by the modern people’ timetable as follows: hall: 100% for 9:00-13:00 and 14:00-22:00, and 0 for the rest; room: 100% for 23:00-8:00, and 0 for the rest; patio: 50% for 9:00-13:00 and 14:00-22:00, and 0 for the rest. side room: 100% for 8:00-9:00, 11:00-13:00, and 18:00-20:00, and 0 for the rest. table 5. the personnel density and per-capita calorific values space hall room patio side room personnel density (people) 3 2 3 1 per-capita calorific value /w 108 72 126 207 2.3. sensitivity analysis and objective optimization the sensitivity test module tested the sensitivities of various design factors and screened out the key climateresponsive design factors based on the thermal performances of all xiashanhu parametric models. the local sensitivity analysis method was used, with the sensitivity coefficient calculated by equation (2) (lam and hui, 1996). the top five design factors in the ranking of sensitivity coefficient were identified as the key design factors and entered the objective optimization with the other factors maintaining constants. the objective optimization module determined the optimized designs among all xiashanhu parametric models oriented thermal performance by linking the calculation software and galapagos plug-in. the parameters set for the objective optimization were referred to (shen, 2012), as table 6 shows. we took the first 5% of the designs when the thermal performance indices were optimal as the optimized solutions. the optimized values of key design parameters that occurred most often in the optimized designs were determined as the optimal design to be applied in the new rural house (referring to section 3.2). table 6. the parameters for objective optimization parameter max. stagnant population initial boost maintain inbreeding value 20-50 50 2 5% 75% li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 57 𝑆𝐶 = ( ∆𝑂𝑃 ∆𝐼𝑃 ) ÷ ( 𝑂𝑃 𝐼𝑃 ) (2) where sc is the sensitivity coefficient; ip is the independent variable; op is the dependent variable. 2.4. application in a new rural house a modern chaoshan rural house in shantou was selected as the application case. the case is representative in the area, with the plan following xiashanhu houses and in a low-density village layout. the general plan, actual and interior photos, and plan dimensions are shown in figures. 11-13, and the design factors are listed in table 9 for the application case. figure. 10 the target village in shantou, china, captured from google earth (the target house in red) figure. 11 the actual and interior photos of the application case (chen, 2014) li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 58 figure. 12 the plane dimensions of the application case the reconstruction schemes were generated for the application case using the key design parameter values of the optimal designs. the first set of schemes were achieved by optimizing the key climate-responsive design factors (referring to section 3.1) one by one, and the last scheme was achieved by simultaneously optimizing all the key design factors. the new schemes are different from the original case only in the key design factors, and these various reconstruction schemes were proposed to adapt to the diversified situations in practice. lastly, the difference ratio was used to describe the performance improvement by optimization by equation (3). 𝑃 = 𝐴 − 𝐵 𝐵 × 100% (3) where p is the difference ratio; a is the performance index of the new case; b is the performance index of the original case. 3. results 3.1. key climate-responsive design factors totally 128 xiashanhu parametric models were generated by combinations of the various design parameters in section 2.2. based on the thermal comfort index calculation, the sensitivity coefficients of each design factor to the thermal performance of xiashanhu houses were obtained in figure. 14. since the parameters of tii_w, sar_w, and htc_w were all for wall construction, the five factors of ch, hw, orientation, rw, and wall construction that had the bigger sensitivity coefficients were identified as key climate-responsive design factors for xiashanhu houses. li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 59 figure. 13 the sensitivity coefficients of design factors for xiashanhu houses 3.2. optimized climate-responsive designs the 76 optimized climate-responsive designs were obtained by objective optimization for xiashanhu houses. the optimized results are shown in table 7, with all design parameter values listed on the right column, the optimized values marked in grey, and the optimized values that are most common in practices in the box. table 7 the parameters for optimized climate-responsive designs key design factor all and optimized values hw/m 4.05 4.32 4.59 4.86 5.13 5.4 5.67 rw/m 2.7 2.97 3.24 3.51 3.78 4.05 4.32 ch/m 2.76 2.94 3.12 3.3 3.48 3.66 3.84 4.02 4.2 4.38 4.56 4.74 4.92 5.1 orientation/° 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150 165 180 195 210 225 240 255 270 285 300 315 330 345 wall construction rammed earth wall adobe wall brick and concrete wall solid-brick wall double-brick wall triple-brick wall it can be known that the optimized values of hw and rw were the smaller ones, the optimized values of ch were the larger ones, the optimized orientation was from 30°nw to 30°ne (150°-210° in table 6), and the optimized walls were brick and concrete walls. the optimized values that occurred most often in the optimized climate-responsive designs were determined as the optimal design (table 8). li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 60 table 8. the parameters for the optimal climate-responsive design key design factor optimal values frequency hw/m 4.05 47/76 rw/m 2.7 38/76 ch/m 5.1 49/76 orientation/° 180 21/76 wall construction brick and concrete wall 71/76 3.3. reconstruction schemes of new rural house the six construction schemes of the new rural house were generated using the optimal climate-responsive design of xiashanhu houses, which design parameters are shown in table 8 together with those of the original case. the new schemes are different from the original case only in the key design factors, as shown in grey in table 9. table 9. the design parameters of new rural house for original and new schemes design factor original case scheme 1 scheme 2 scheme 3 scheme 4 scheme 5 scheme 6 hw/m 5 4.05 5 5 5 5 4.05 rw/m 3.8 3.8 2.7 3.8 3.8 3.8 2.7 ch/m 3.6 3.6 3.6 5.1 3.6 3.6 5.1 hd/m 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 5.8 pd/m 6.27 6.27 6.27 6.27 6.27 6.27 6.27 rrd/m 0.93 0.93 0.93 0.93 0.93 0.93 0.93 eol/m 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 wwr/m 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 sl/m 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 vlw/m 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 hlw/m 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 orientation/° 30 30 30 30 180 30 180 wall construction solid-brick wall solid-brick wall solidbrick wall solidbrick wall solidbrick wall brick&con crete wall brick&con crete wall roof construction tripling tiles tripling tiles tripling tiles tripling tiles tripling tiles tripling tiles tripling tiles li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 61 3.4. performance of optimized designs and reconstruction schemes the thermal performances of the original rural house and the reconstruction schemes are shown in table 10, confirming the validity of the reconstruction designs with the different ratios of 5.18-9.98%. furthermore, the design factors ranked in the aspect of performance improvement by ch, orientation, hw, wall construction, and rw, and the improvement of multi-factor reconstruction scheme was greater than that of single-factor. table 10. the tprs of the existing rural house and new schemes original case scheme 1 scheme 2 scheme 3 scheme 4 scheme 5 scheme 6 tpr 54.1 57.1 56.9 58.2 57.4 57.1 59.5 the different ratio/% 5.55 5.18 7.58 6.10 5..55 9.98 the rationality and validity of the optimized designs of xiashanhu houses and the reconstruction schemes of the new rural house were further analyzed by following the building physics and climate-responsive design principles. according to section 1.1, xiashanhu houses generally have good thermal performance in the transition seasons and winter, indicating that the summer is the time of concern for the thermal performance improvement of the houses. besides, during the summer daytime, the thermal performance of xiashanhu houses is mainly influenced by indoor radiation, opaque envelope radiation, and natural ventilation. the indoor radiation enters the room through windows and patio openings, the opaque envelope radiation is controlled by the area of the opaque envelope and building orientation, and the natural ventilation is mainly affected by the orientation and opening area. the hw affects the patio opening area and the corresponding opaque envelope area. smaller hw values were shown in the optimized designs of xiashanhu houses and in the reconstruction scheme 1 of the rural house. a better thermal performance was achieved by a smaller hw due to the less indoor solar radiation from the smaller patio opening area and the opaque envelope radiation from the smaller opaque envelope area, which had a similar principle with the sun shading strategy in figure. 2. similarly, a better thermal performance was achieved by a smaller rw due to the smaller areas of the relevant opening and opaque envelope. the ch affects the opening area as well as the shading from surrounding buildings. the larger ch value was chosen in the reconstruction scheme 3 of the rural house. a larger ch produces greater indoor radiation through a larger opening while providing more shadings from surrounding buildings. the two aspects have opposite effects on thermal performance. the optimized designs of xiashanhu houses are focused on the larger ch values, indicating that the positive effect of strengthening shadings is stronger than the negative effect of increasing opening area, which supports the rationality of the reconstruction scheme 3 as well. the orientation affects the received solar radiation and natural ventilation. compared with the orientation distribution of total solar radiation (fig. 15), it can be found that the orientations in the optimized designs and the reconstruction schemes fall well within the range of lower solar radiation, resulting in less solar radiation and better thermal performance. this demonstrated the significance of lower solar radiation in summer as figure. 14. figure. 14 the orientation distribution of total solar radiation li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 62 two thermal properties of wall construction, i.e., heat transfer coefficient and thermal inertia index, affect the thermal performance of buildings. the heat dissipation can be improved by a larger heat transfer coefficient and a smaller thermal inertia index, i.e., a smaller ratio of thermal inertia index to heat transfer coefficient (d/k), and the opposite is true for heat insulation. the thermal properties of the six wall constructions in xiashanhu houses are listed in table 11. the d/k values of the optimized designs are in the middle, indicating that the good thermal performance of xiashanhu houses can be achieved by balancing heat insulation and dissipation. this is consistent with the hot-humid climate characteristic of intense solar radiation in the daytime and low air temperature at night in summer, as well as the building heat transfer feature of heat insulation (heat transfer from outside to inside) in the daytime and heat dissipation (heat transfer from inside to outside) at night. this is also consistent with the low effects of high thermal mass strategy in figure. 2. the optimized d/k values of the wall were therefore determined to be in the range of 2-3 for xiashanhu houses, and that of the reconstruction scheme 5 fell well in this range. table 11. the thermal properties of wall constructions in xiashanhu houses wall constructions heat transfer coefficient k(w/(m2·k)) thermal inertia index d d/k double-brick wall 1.65 2.98 1.8 solid-brick wall 1.77 3.62 2.0 rammed earth wall 1.82 4.44 2.4 brick and concrete wall 1.74 4.78 2.7 adobe wall 1.27 5.17 4.1 triple-brick wall 0.96 4.67 4.9 it can be seen from the above analysis that the reconstruction schemes 1-5 can improve the thermal performance of the rural house through five key design factors respectively. although the action paths are quite similar, the effects of the five design factors are superimposed rather than offset each other, resulting in a greater improvement by multifactor reconstruction scheme than that of single-factor. 4. discussion taking the widely distributed xiashanhu houses as the object, this study discovered the climate-responsive design of chaoshan vernacular houses oriented towards thermal performance, and verified the rationality and validity by applying the design to a new rural house. in such a process of 'using the past for the present,' the actual situation and needs of the modern buildings should be fully considered and met to ensure usability and effectiveness. jia (jia, 2012) pointed out that the height of chaoshan vernacular houses was mostly 5m. in this study, larger ch values are shown in the optimized designs of xiashanhu houses (4.74m, 4.92m, and 5.1m), which are consistent with the majority of traditional ones. nevertheless, the results could not be suitable for all new rural houses as the traditional houses are mostly single-storey while the new houses can be multi-storey. the optimized climateresponsive designs for multi-storey houses should be further studied by taking into account the essential difference between multiand single-storey houses as well as the current limitations on building height (organized by the ministry of housing and urban-rural development, prc, 2014) and construction cost. the optimized values of hw (i.e., the patio width) for xiashanhu houses are 4.05m, 4.32m, and 4.59m in this study, corresponding to the patio height-to-width of 1:1. however, yu (yu, 2011) suggested the patio height-to-width of 3:1-5:1 as beneficial for modern buildings' solar radiation protection and ventilation. the main difference is that the former is for the single-storey houses while the latter is for the multi-storey ones. besides, dali et al. (dali et al., 2011) found that in semi-open areas of traditional buildings on the southwest coast of india, mrt was lower than the bedroom (about 1°c). it shows that the semi-open space has better performance than other areas. li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 63 hw and rw are closely related to the occupant's space usages. the current standard (organized by the ministry of housing and urban-rural development, prc, 2014) requires the double bedroom not less than 9m2, the living room not less than 10m2, and the straight length of the living room wall greater than 3m. accordingly, the optimized smaller values of hw and rw (hw: 4.05m, 4.32m, 4.59m; rw: 2.7m, 2.97m, 3.24m) in this study meet the usage requirements. the optimized orientation is from 30° north by west to 30° north by east for xiashanhu houses, and in an actual modern project, the orientation should be flexibly selected and adjusted considering both the topography and planning scheme. the wall construction is one of the key climate-responsive design factors of xiashanhu houses, with the rammed earth wall and brick and concrete wall as the optimal. for the modern rural houses, the latter construction is superior to the former from aspects of cost, environmental protection, and thermal performance. jin (jin, 2014) suggested optimizing the wall and roof constructions simultaneously for better building thermal performance. in this study, the roof construction is not screened as the key factor to participate in the optimization due to the very few and lowperformance roof constructions used in the traditional houses. more high-performance roof and wall constructions emerging in modern rural houses should be covered in future studies. chen (chen, 2014) pointed out that the street width affected both the indoor and outdoor ventilations of chaoshan vernacular houses, with the greater impact of hlw on the entrance wind speed than that of vlw. this is quite different from the present study, showing that the factors of hlw and vlw have only a few effects and the effect of vlw is slightly greater than that of hlw. this is because the ventilation and wind speed are focused on in the previous study, while the thermal performance that includes temperature, humidity, radiation, and wind speed is the focus of this study. the effect of solar radiation on the thermal performance of traditional houses is stronger than that of natural ventilation, as section 3.4 shows. the present study shows that wwr only has few impacts on thermal performance, and the small windows widely existed in traditional houses is the main reason. chen (chen, 2014) confirmed that both the location and size of windows affected the indoor ventilation. furthermore, jin (jin, 2014) found that in the low-rise rural houses with patios, the usage of roof louvered shadings was superior to the traditional façade shadings in thermal performance. the location of openings and the new shadings should be considered together with the wwr design in subsequent studies. to point out, at this time, it is confirmed that the present study can be applied to the rural houses in chaoshan region of china, with a similar plan following xiashanhu houses and in a low-density village layout. and based on the detailed identifications of climate-responsive performance in section 3.4, the application range can be further extended to the ones in the whole hot-humid climate area of china. on the other side, as a general method of learning the wisdom of traditional houses designs and applying to modern buildings by using the parametric method, the present study can be applied much more widely to various climates and regions. 5. conclusions this study took xiashanhu houses as the object and investigated their climate-responsive design factors in five aspects of building, opening, shading, construction, and street layout. totally 128 xishanhu parametric models were generated by combinations of various design parameters. five key climate-responsive design factors were identified based on a-year-round thermal performance evaluation, and 76 optimized climate-responsive designs were obtained by optimization. the optimized designs of xiashanhu houses were applied to the re-construction of a new rural house to verify rationality and validity. the main conclusions are as follows. to improve the thermal performance of xiashanhu houses, the summer daytime is the time of concern. the incident solar radiation, opaque envelope radiation, and ventilation are the main paths. the hall width, room width, cornice height, orientation, and wall construction are the key climate-responsive design factors. the optimized climate-responsive designs oriented towards the thermal performance of xiashanhu houses are: the smaller hall width (4.05m，4.32m，4.59m), the smaller room width (2.7m，2.97m，3.24m), the larger cornice li / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 64 height (4.92m，5.1m), the orientation ranged from 30° north by west to 30° north by east, and the brick and concrete wall. the rationality and validity of the optimized climate-responsive designs of xiashanhu houses were verified by applying the optimized designs to the re-construction of a new rural house and achieving significantly improved thermal performance by 5.18-9.98% compared to the original case. the actual situation and needs of the modern buildings need to be fully considered and met to ensure the usability and effectiveness of 'using the past for the present', and this study makes a detailed discussion on the case of chaoshan houses. this study is believed to provide valuable references for the research and modern applications of climate-responsive designs of traditional vernacular houses. acknowledgement this work was supported by the provincial science and technology plan projects in guangdong province “guangdong housing and urban-rural construction science and technology collaborative innovation 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(2014). residential design standards. china architecture & building press. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 29 april 2024, accepted: 23 september 2024, published online: 30 september 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i3.1080 a systematic review of current narratives on the capacitation of community leaders in addressing the challenges associated with climate change mitigation and adaptation shadreck muchaku1 1researcher, university of fort hare, centre for global change, alice campus, south africa abstract in many countries worldwide, community leaders (cls) play a crucial role in mobilizing efforts for climate change adaptation. however, due to a lack of capacity at the local leadership level, several local-level initiatives for climate change mitigation and adaptation have not been effectively implemented. most of these initiatives frequently exclude local decision-makers and key community stakeholders. this paper addresses the urgent need for the scientific community to develop innovative strategies that facilitate the meaningful implementation of informed climate change policies. it emphasizes the importance of collaboration among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to develop actionable solutions at the local-level. through a systematic literature review-based assessment, this paper aims to empower cls through multilevel governance, participatory learning, and transformative leadership initiatives. it highlights the benefits of proactive and effective community leadership. the findings underscore the need for capacity building, inclusive decision-making, and collaborative governance to ensure successful climate change adaptation. ultimately, this paper stresses the importance of timely action. by empowering cls, we can ensure the effectiveness of adaptation and mitigation initiatives, contributing to a more sustainable future. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords adaptation; capacitation; climate change; community leaders; mitigation 1.introduction in contemporary discourses on climate change adaptation and mitigation (ccam), one of the challenges that is being debated by many scholars is centered on how to enhance the abilities of community leaders (cls) to effectively address the persevering challenges posed by climate change (cc) (basupi, quinn & dougill, 2017; seddon et al., 2021). as our planet grapples with the impacts of cc, the role of cls in guiding local action becomes increasingly crucial. while there is substantial evidence that adaptation guidelines and cc mitigation strategies are becoming more available (ofoegbu et al., 2019), many of these resources tend to follow mundane and step-by-step approaches that do not advance the effective implementation of ccam strategies. in other words, the failure to meet cc targets raises questions about why the necessary actions have not been taken on the desired scales and at the desired pace (leck & simon, 2013; eisenack, et al., 2014). in isolated cases where rural communities show eagerness to take action, they often lack the required capacity and support to make progress (dixon and stringer, 2015; mcleod et al., 2019). however, cls have the potential to play an important role in co-designing and implementing cc guidelines (mcleod et al., 2019; antwi-agyei and stringer, 2021). this is because their influence can shape how their communities http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i3.1080&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ muckaku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 respond to cc risk mitigation and resilience building (roberts, 2008; beccari, 2016; ofoegbu et al., 2019). in this study, the term "capacity" refers to the ability to inspire, guide, and mobilize community members in their efforts to adapt to and mitigate cc. meanwhile, a community leader is an individual who influences, advocates for, and represents their community, often serving as a link between external organizations and authorities. therefore, this article sought to understand the challenges faced by cls and explore ways to enhance their ability to navigate the complexities of climate change adaptation. through this study, we endeavor to navigate the currents of ongoing discussions, examining the significance of empowering cls as catalysts for resilient and sustainable responses to the pressing challenges presented by cc. 2.literature review: community leadership in climate change adaptation as the impacts of cc become more evident worldwide, development agencies and policy actors are experimenting with different approaches to promote climate-adaptive development at the local level (naya s. paudel, 2013; sumner and mallett, 2013). scientists have raised significant concerns about the practical implementation of global cc protocols, emphasizing the need to bridge the gap between scientists and other stakeholders to promote coproduction, and shareability of knowledge, and enhance the development of more inclusive and effective policies and coimplementation. however, it is also recognized that the impacts of cc are diverse and context-specific. the findings from the intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc) highlight the need for further progress (steiner, 2018; cradock-henry, 2020). the successful implementation of scientific guidance requires active participation and capacity building among key stakeholders involved in the adaptation process but also capacitated. 2.1. the importance of localized climate action given the imperative to prioritize locally driven initiatives, the mantra "think globally and act locally" has gained recent prominence. for instance, in many countries, the is a growing recognition that local adaptation initiatives, such as community-level climate change mitigation, are increasingly seen as more feasible than global initiatives. echoing the oft-cited philosophy of "think globally and act locally," which encourages individuals to consider the world as a whole and take action in their communities to address global challenges (spires and shackleton, 2018; veness et at., 2022). geddes first introduced the phrase "think globally, act locally" as a philosophical imperative underlying progressive urban planning (roberts, 2008). thus, there is a need to promote a global vision of what should and should not be done to address cc, while also involving and supporting community members and their leaders in implementing global cc protocols. this study further argues that cls are often best positioned to implement adaptation measures (mavhura, 2017; musarandega et al., 2018) due to their extensive knowledge of the local environment and their access to resources. therefore, there is a need to focus on cc initiatives at the local level (agrawal et al. 2009). 2.2. the role of community leaders in climate change adaptation in cases where global policies must be applied, there is a perception that ongoing commitment is required, and local action serves as a modest step toward mitigating cc (leck & simon, 2013). for this reason, cls are seen as the linchpin for community-driven initiatives. this view is based on practical experience, as cls are often considered either catalysts or barriers to cc initiatives (eisenack et al., 2014; musarandega et al., 2018). conversations and activities to empower community leadership continue to be at the center of debates and actions to address cc in developing countries (ofoegbu et al. 2019). therefore, it is important to explore how cls can be empowered and how this shared responsibility can be embraced to achieve global cc goals. however, the transferability of this and other valuable insights is limited by a reluctance to acknowledge the necessary actions for meaningfully achieving the sdgs for a habitable planet. considering that cc is the story of two key issues: one is a risk, and the other is an adaptation, community leaders (lls) are expected to play a critical role in managing risk and helping local communities adapt to cc (musarandega et al., 2018). this is attributable to the fact that, in many regions-africa, the americas, and others-implementation of global cca initiatives has been unevenly effective (mcleod et al., 2019; ofoegbu et al., 2019; antwi-agyei & stringer, 2021). from a scientific perspective, while cls are expected to facilitate the implementation of cca muckaku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 strategies, the scientific community continues to provide little of the support needed to achieve this goal (roberts 2008; musarandega et al., 2018). moreover, despite all the evidence from the literature that cls are significant contributors to cc mitigation, there is little evidence to date on how we can build the capacity of cls to support the proactive implementation of climate-smart adaptation strategies. this communicative disjunction needs to be reconsidered, as cls play an important role in enabling their communities to translate cca strategies into actionable measures (musarandega et al., 2018). thus, while cc guidelines, policies, and strategies are important, it is crucial that there is adequate support to implementers and improve its uptake. 2.3. challenges faced by community leaders while all the evidence supports the relevance and necessity of empowering cls, it is equally important to consider the challenges they face. understanding these challenges is crucial for tailoring effective, context-specific strategies for implementing global guidelines on cc. as previously highlighted, the challenges confronting cls in implementing these guidelines are diverse and interlinked. for example, cls must convince external stakeholders, such as governments and businesses, to take meaningful action on cc, while also motivating their communities to act on cc and managing the conflicting interests of various stakeholders. by way of explanation, local politicians may be reluctant to support actions and initiatives aimed at mitigating cc due to pressure from their constituents or other vested interests (eisenack et al., 2014). other challenges, well-documented in the literature, include a lack of resources (nyahunda & tirivangasi, 2022), limited public awareness (mcleod et al., 2019), and lack of political will (eisenack et al., 2014). therefore, achieving successful implementation of cc policies requires a community-driven approach, underpinned by a commitment to understanding local contexts and substantial investment in capacitybuilding. therefore, this study aims to provide insights into enhancing the effectiveness of cc policies and improving the role of community leaders in addressing cc, with a focus on understanding the efficiency of policy implementation. the following research questions were used to guide the study objectives: (i) what challenges do cls face in coping with the risks and impacts of cc? (ii) what capacities do cls need to effectively communicate climate information and build resilience in their communities? 3.materials and methods in this study, the prisma (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses) scheme was used to guide the methodological process and filter the relevant literature from the databases. the prisma system was preferred because of its ability to improve the quality of reviews and analyses (moher et al., 2009) and its appropriateness for the synthetisation of empirical evidence in answering wide-ranging research questions (liberati et al., 2009). although the prisma process has some strengths, the search process can be challenging, and relevant studies might be missed due to issues with indexing, keywords, or publication bias (moher et al., 2009). therefore, the snowballing technique was used in this study to constantly update the literature used in this study and find those that were likely missed. figure 1. flow chart of literature review-based articles that were excluded and included in this study. (source: aurthors’ own based on sources from secondary sources) muckaku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 the above innovative triangulation approach allowed for a comprehensive and robust screening process, leveraging the systematic and transparent nature of prisma with the flexibility and adaptability of snowball sampling (liberati et al., 2009, moher et al., 2009). the initial search, with its primary focus on south africa, included a rigorous screening of all publications based on title, abstract, and keywords, that were designed to capture this study’s most relevant articles. in this explorative study, the following keywords were used as peg-mark guidelines for abstractbased articles: capacity, leadership, adaptation, community, and climate change (table 1). we were able to identify 126 articles were identified, 30 of which were excluded based on their year of publication. this current study limited the screening criteria to articles published between 2011 and 2023, ensuring a focus on the most recent and relevant research in the field, aligned with current issues and debates (moher et al., 2009.) the second phase of this initiative targeted peer-reviewed articles in internationally visible journals. this screening involved the exclusion of 65 publications that did not meet this study’s above-mentioned criteria (figure 1). thereafter, a total of 31 peer-reviewed articles were further assessed for their eligibility with none of them being excluded based on language as they were all written in english this sampling yielded 27 articles that we considered to be relevant for this study (figure 1). to enhance the global relevance of the study, additional articles (7) from the reference list were deliberately chosen` table 1: boolean operators were used to extract relevant articles for this explorative study. (source: author's own based on sources from secondary sources) table 1 above shows a step-by-step procedure on how articles for this study’s articles were retrieved from scopus with its boolean operators being created by combining pre-screened keywords. 3.1. data analysis thematic analysis of the qualitative data was carried out using the atlas ti.23 software. the data were systematically coded and organized into broader themes, such as "technical understanding of climate change issues," "leadership capacity," and "familiarity with community resources.". by way of definition, coding involves systematically labeling segments of qualitative data with shortcodes that capture key ideas, patterns or themes. thus, the process involved labeling key segments of data and refining these codes to create meaningful categories that reflect important insights. additionally, atlas.ti23 facilitated the creation of visual representations, like network diagrams, which enhanced our understanding of the relationships between different themes and data sources. 4.results having outlined the systematic approach employed in this literature review, which offers a detailed overview of the current narratives on capacitating cls to address ccma challenges. the following section presents the results of the current study. the results included the following, 1. technical understanding of climate change issues, 2. familiarity with community resources, 3. leadership capacity, 4. communicative acumen is imperative for community heads, 5. accountable for the accuracy of the information they present and 6, ability to mobilise resources for climate change mitigation. these findings highlight the critical role of cls in addressing cc challenges and underscore the need for targeted capacitation efforts to enhance their effectiveness.although this paper is premised on reasonings that are premised on the overdue need to capacitate cls. this paper provides an argument that is since the success of cls is contingent on collaboration with key stakeholders’ examples of which include ngos and other players. against this muckaku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 background, this study sought to answer the following question which dwells on what skills cls must develop to effectively communicate informative cc perspectives. figure 2: network diagram illustrating the capacity needs of cls. (source: author's own based on sources from secondary sources) 5.discussion 5.1. technical understanding of climate change issues based on instructive insights from the literature, cls often lack the technical and scientific understanding to effectively address the challenges of cc (figure 2). broadly, this circumstance limits their ability to implement appropriate measures for the effective co-optation of tractable adaptation strategies (leck and simon, 2013; musarandega et al., 2018). this is so because the literature on this narrative convincingly points to the overdue need for mentorship programs and trainings that bring together cls and experienced experts in the field to offer valuable guidance and instructive insights (antwi-agyei and stringer, 2021). some scholars however contend that an excessive focus on directly providing technical support diminishes the relevance of the wisdom that is inherent in community leadership (musarandega et al., 2018; muchaku et al., 2019). similarly, other scholars (seddon et al., 2021, muchaku et al., 2023) argue that the ‘only modern, and non-indigenous’ knowledge inclinations might inadvertently invalidate the relevancy of adoptable and adaptable ik. this reasoning is premised on the fact that technical skills are undeniably important for cls and, a balanced approach that integrates their skills with communally based wisdom. this goes beyond simplistic facilitation of the shareability of knowledge by creating space networking and collaborative sharing of ideas this is so because leadership in the context of adaptation to cc is not solely a straitjacket endeavor; that can be achieved without mobilizing communities and fostering their cooperation. 5.2. familiarity with community resources one of this review’s major findings is that cls need to be familiar with communally owned resources whose tutelage is bestowed on them by virtue of natural heritage (matewos, 2019, roberts, 2008). this and other understandings are vital for the meaningful espousal of communicative approaches that are centred on resilience-building. unfortunately, however, the lack of familiarity with community resources among cls continues to be one of the reasons why it is difficult for them to efficiently allocate resources (see figure 2) in terms of financial, pecuniary investments and human resources (matewos, 2019). this assertion is supported by the community development theory, which suggests that knowledge of local resources promotes of sustainable practices (gwenzi et al., 2016). in view of these and other considerations, it is apparent that our understandings of cc and how this is related to the sustainable bestowal of a habitable planet is intrinsically depended on our abilities to meld with nature. through the objectively informed assimilation of climate-friendly adaptation and mitigation strategies this argumentation is premised on the fact that, cls are obliged to collaboratively engage conjoint projects that involve informed resource mapping and wide-ranging data collection efforts. muckaku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 5.3. leadership capacity another notable finding of this study emphasises the necessity for cls to possess knowledge, foresights, and the ability to develop viable cc solutions (figure 2). this reasoning is supported by the fact that most of what is available in the contemporary literature repeatedly emphasises the pivotal role of leadership capacity in addressing the persevering challenges of cc. this perspective is widely espoused by scholars such as musarandega et al. (2018) and seddon et al. (2021) who argue that cls leaders must possess the necessary capacities to undertake vital actions in ccam. this is exampled by the fact that cls must possess the ability to motivate and engage a diverse range of stakeholdersspanning from youth to older people, women, and men in building resilience within their communities. this positioning is empirically informed by the fact that community-level leadership is indispensable and vital for the meaningful adoption and implementation of ccam strategies. these and other narratives provide usable insights that are potentially capable of advancing our way forward. given this background, it becomes crucial to identify and to empower simpletons but to go further by capacitating their limited capabilities. 5.4. communicative acumen is imperative for community heads. the literature illustratively demonstrates that the effective communication of skills to cls is pivotal in engaging the public and enhancing their understandings of the importance of addressing the challenges of cc (roberts, 2008; eisenack et al., 2014; musarandega, chingombe & pillay, 2018). toward an informed reconciliation of discursive narratives on cc what is apparent is that leaders must also possess abilities to actively inspire their citizens by instilling a sense of urgency for change. this communication is informatively useful because it not only holds community leaders accountable for their actions but goes a step further by offering useful insights on how to progress community efforts and awareness. given the fact that r most research findings suggest that, sound foundations of good and open communicative knowledge are dependent on inputs from other players i(leck & simon, 2013; mcleod, et al., 2019) it is apparent that there is urgent need to revisit our research agendas. scholars such as in the likes of roberts (2008 and and mcleod et al., (2019) underscore the importance of transparency, advocating for the informed assimilation user-friendly strategies that enables critics per. in this context, the timely dissemination of information about cc questions, and the sharing of critical issues feature as some of imported issues in the ongoing cc narratives. leaders must effectively communicate the scientific, economic, and social repercussions of cc to their constituents. accomplishing this requires informed communication of knowledge on the impacts of cc, as indicated earlier, proficient communication potentially enables cls to effectively address cc challenges by better informing their constituents about mitigation strategies t through the sharing of concise information without which cls are unable to initiate meaningful dialogues. this communicative approach extends to the dissemination of information about local initiatives that include but are not limited to renewable energy projects, energy efficiency measures and other endeavours that are aimed at reducing carbon emissions. these insights are critical in instilling a sense of urgency and fostering public participation in cca. furthermore, effective communication acts as a bridge between diverse stakeholders, such as local businesses, community groups, and government agencies, facilitating collaborative efforts in ccam. ultimately, this study concludes that successful communication methods are community-specific, necessitating constant adaptation and adjustment. 5.5. accountable for the accuracy of the information they present. researchers such as horne et al. (2021) underscore the crucial role of access to accurate and up-to-date information on local climate in addressing cc risks. beyond the emphasis on accessing precise information, there is equal importance in empowering cls, ensuring their comprehensive understanding of the significance of presenting information accurately, engagingly, and in a timely manner. the literature offers abundant evidence that political interference can result in misinformation about cc (oladejo and erondu, 2020). a notable example of this is the frequent encounter of cls with political resistance, which hinders the implementation of climate protection measures, thereby undermining effective climate action. this current study argues that their ability to resist pressure hinges on cls fully grasping the importance of disseminating accurate information. thus, addressing this challenge calls for the development of clear and standardised reporting protocols. these protocols should empower cls to provide muckaku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 feedback to their constituents on their progress and receive input on the most effective strategies for addressing cc. this approach ensures the consistency and accuracy of the information shared. 5.6. ability to mobilize resources for climate change mitigation. recent studies highlight the crucial role of cls in mobilizing resources for to empower their constituencies with the necessary tools to counter the effects of cc. in their capacity as community leaders, they are expected to mobilize resources by collaborating with local governments, encouraging businesses and local communities to adopt energyefficient technologies, and reducing emissions (mavhura, 2017; matewos, 2019). additionally, they should coordinate with other stakeholders and provide feedback to their constituents. scholars in the likes of musarandega et al., 2018) suggest that cls can contribute more by organising events and championing campaigns to educate local communities about the importance of climate action and the specific measures that must be implanted to reduce ghg emissions. this explains why, cls have immense potential to play a crucial role in enhancing the abilities of local communities to adapt to cc and creating space for the mobilization of resources that are needed to reduce the emission of ghg. the inability of cls, to mobilize sufficient resources has been identified as one of the factors that contribute to the inadequate implementation of cc strategies (dulal, 2014; gitonga, 2020). unfortunately, however, they are uniquely positioned to convince and educate people on the overdue need for immediate adherence to the assimilation and constructive implementation of ccam strategies (mavhura, 2017; meyer and börner, 2022). without their active involvement in doing so, achieving compliance will continue to be a challenge that needs to be confronted and addressed. after recognizing the challenges confronting the mobilization of resources that are needed to implement ccam strategies from the works of ofoegbu et al., (2019, antwi-agyei and stringer (2021), and many others, this study suggests that the time to act is now by empowering cls in tandem with similar initiatives to engage other key stakeholders. 6. recommendations for further studies one of the key themes in figure 3 highlights the importance of including cls in the codesign and coimplementation of the cca&m strategies. this ensures that local knowledge and perspectives inform decision-making and garner community support, enabling communities to adapt and align with global demands. further research can explore how community leaders can lead collective action on informed cc intervention strategies, addressing gender-based biases and dynamics that hinder effective implementation. additionally, continuous learning is crucial for cls to stay updated on cc information and technologies, such as mobile apps and online platforms, which can provide valuable data. this learning process should identify skills required to enhance their proficiency and prevent them from being left behind in cc efforts. sustained partnerships and necessary support are also essential for community leaders to work cooperatively with key stakeholders. figure 3: a synoptic overview of our recommendations on the way forward (source: aurthors’ own based on sources from secondary sources) muckaku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 6.1. implications for policy this study has the potential to provide useful insights that are helpful in guiding policy formulation and implementation. added to this is the fact that the lessons learned from this study are potentially capable of informing the design and implementation of different policy-oriented cc adaptation strategies. 7.conclusions this article provides an overview of the challenges that continue to undermine the assimilation of ccam strategies. it emphasizes the importance of empowering cls as leaders in addressing the challenges of cc. this is critical to ensuring that vulnerable communities are not left behind and that ccam efforts are equitable. to achieve this, cls need the necessary resources and training to lead ccam efforts. this research has uncovered several barriers that cls face, including limited resources, knowledge gaps, and communication skills. although the list of narratives provided in this submission may not be exhaustive, they still border on common challenges that confront cls when they attempt to address cc risks. additionally, this paper argues that collaboration with key stakeholders, such as ngos, is crucial for the success of cls. in light of these points, this study explores the skills cls need to effectively communicate informative cc perspectives. acknowledgments not applicable. funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the author(s) declare that there is no competing interest. references antwi-agyei, p., & stringer, l. c. 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https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2018.1447904 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.01.009 https://doi.org/10.1002/bsd2.160 https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247808096126 https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2020.1785734 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15513 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02762-x https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2017.1410088 https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004365018_002 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0295-x https://doi.org/10.1029/2022wr032165 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development doi: 10.21625/essd.v3iss1.277 nature as a healer for autistic children hadeer abd el razek barakat1, ali foaad bakr2, zeyad el-sayad3 1architect at united construction company, alexandria, egypt 2professor of architecture in the faculty of engineering, alexandria university, egypt 3professor of architecture in the faculty of engineering, alexandria university, egypt abstract according to estimates from the centre for disease control (cdc’s) in 2008 and the autism and developmental disabilities monitoring (addm) network in 2010, about 1 in 88 children had autism spectrum disorder (asd) in 2008 and about 1 in 68 children had autism spectrum disorder (asd) in (2010). the eighth scientific conference for autism held by the college of education in conjunction with the egyptian society for hydration capacities of children with special needs revealed that 1 out of every 80 children in egypt are suffering from autism and this number in egypt was expected to rise from 2.3 million in 2001 to 2.9 million in 2017. the reason for many of autistic children’s symptoms is sensory integration, it is the power to understand, organize and feel sensory data from the environment and body. the issues surrounding sensory integration are presented in hyposensitive and hypersensitive reactions by children with autism to the vestibular, proprioception, tactile, audio, visual, and olfactory senses. a great deal of research has been conducted on gardens and their effect on health outcomes and how a garden may provide benefit: 1. relief from physical symptoms or awareness of those symptoms. 2. stress reduction. 3. improvement in the overall sense of well-being. the aim of this paper is to establish a group of guidelines for designing a therapeutic garden for children with autism spectrum disorder to treat the sensory integration problems of children with asd by designing a sensory garden which should focus on therapeutic interference. by using the elements and principles of design, the guidelines for this garden are focused on producing calming effects for hyper reactive children with asd and stimulating effects for hypo reactions. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords autistic children; healing gardens; sensory integration; hyper-reactive children with autism spectrum disorder; hypo-reactive children with autism spectrum disorder pg. 42 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v3iss1.277&domain=press.ierek.com barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 1. introduction a lot of studies show the effect of environments and buildings on human health and how factors as circulation, temperature, noise and cost serve the environmental perception and human health. all these factors must apply to the design of outdoor space. there is about 1 in 88 children that have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. sensory integration problems may be the reason why many children have autism spectrum disorder symptoms. sensory integration is the power to feel and understand sensory data from the environment and body (addm). this study calls for finding links between sensory needs of children with asd and principles of design. design modulation will be used to create guidelines for landscape architects to use in creating spaces declaiming the sensory problems of children with autism spectrum disorder. fig.1 shows that the study intends to empirically study a sensory garden for autistic children by creating multilevel spaces and using a wide variety of landscape features. designing the sensory garden has helped to test the guidelines that have been established in this study. the literature review is divided into three sections. the first section discusses the behavior and profoundness of asd on afflicted children and the problem that may accompany asd and types of treatment methodologies. the second section discusses how nature is important in stress reduction and the health benefits resulting from contact with the outdoor and nature. the third section discusses a set of guidelines for designing a sensory garden for autistic children. 2. nature of autism autism spectrum disorder is known as a behavioral and neurological disorder that affects the performance of the brain in areas of communication skills and social interaction (gillberg & coleman, 2000). there are current facts about autism as it affects 1:150 children throughout a whole nation (american psychiatric association, 1994). it also does not discriminate based on race, education of parents, socioeconomic status, or other demographic variables (wong, lee, howlin, & asgharian, 1999). it is three to four times higher in boys than in girls and for the time being, experts still have not been able to determine the reason for its occurrence (autism resource foundation, n.d.). children with asd exhibit specific behaviors such as: – interaction impairment in social activities: failure to use eye contact, facial expressions and weakness in social interaction – weakness in communication: deficit in sustaining or initiating a conversation – repetitive and restricted behaviors and interests: intense absorption with one activity or subject and persistence on rituals or routines without a goal (autism resource foundation, n.d.). 2.1. problems that may accompany asd many problems may accompany autism spectrum disorder including seizures, mental retardation, and sensory problems. 3. nature of autism autism spectrum disorder is known as a behavioral and neurological disorder that affects the performance of the brain in areas of communication skills and social interaction (gillberg & coleman, 2000). there are current facts about autism as it affects 1:150 children throughout a whole nation (american psychiatric association, 1994). it also does not discriminate based on race, education of parents, socioeconomic pg. 43 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd status, or other demographic variables (wong, et al., 1999). it is three to four times higher in boys than in girls and for the time being, experts still have not been able to determine the reason for its occurrence (autism resource foundation, n.d.). children with asd exhibit specific behaviors such as: – interaction impairment in social activities: failure to use eye contact, facial expression and weakness in social interaction – weakness in communication: deficit in sustaining or initiating a conversation – repetitive and restricted behaviors and interests: intense absorption with one activity or subject and persistence on rituals or routines without a goal (autism resource foundation, n.d.). 3.1. problems that may accompany asd many problems may accompany autism spectrum disorder including seizures, mental retardation, and sensory problems. figure 1. paper structure diagram pg. 44 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 3.1.1. sensory problems “sensory integration theory was developed to explain an observed relationship between deficits in interpreting sensory information from the body and the environment, and deficits in academic or neuro-motor learning in some individuals who demonstrate learning disabilities” (wilson, 2006). the sensory systems can be divided into two main areas hyper and hypo sensitivity including taste, smell, vision, hearing, touch, vestibular and proprioception as shown in figure 2. for instance, some children may be hypersensitive to the texture. on the other side, children may be hypo-sensitive to pain and unable to protect themselves from hurting themselves (fisher, murray, & bundy, 1991). figure 2. shows what are the senses (falk & gross, 2011) 3.1.2. problems in playful experiences because children with asd have many problems emotionally and socially, there is a problem in playful experiences. wolfberg and schuler note that “qualitative impairments in reciprocal social interaction and symbolic play are hallmarks of autism spectrum disorder”. these children have difficulty in starting and supporting their playful activities and displaying delayed patterns of social interaction. inability to relate to others is one of the clearest signs of asd (wilkes, 2005).susanna miller states “play is the child’s method of exploring and coming to terms with the world and of learning physical coordination; the use of symbols and fantasy” (mastrangelo, 2009). 4. nature as a healer moore found that the sound of running water, wildflower meadows and the feel of the entire neighbored have great effects on social and psychological behaviors of the students. there is a sense of positive effect on children where birds and butterflies filled the air with their beautiful sound and colors (miller, 1968). it is very important to children with asd to be in constant contact with nature to maintain their cognitive, mental, and physical health and benefit socially and emotionally from nature. 4.1. cognitive benefits after interacting with nature – time in nature helps in observation and to be more creative: timely interactions with the outdoor environment help children to develop the great powers of creativity and observation (moore, 1996). – playing in natural environments reinforces collaborative skills and language development: playing in nature helps children to be more imaginative and creates components that reinforce collaborative skills pg. 45 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd language (crain, 2001). – outdoor skills education helps children’s health, lifestyle and learning: cottrell, s., & raadik-cottrell discuss the benefits of outdoor skills education as improving intrapersonal skills and the ability to learn and concentrate (fjortoft & sageie, 2000). – connecting to nature increases children’s skills: nature develops imagination and the sense of wonder which are very important in life-long learning (cottrell & raadik-cottrell, 2010). 4.2. mental benefits after connecting with nature – nature helps in reducing stress: nature decreases the stress of life on children and helps them become stronger. there are great benefits after being exposed to nature (louv, 1991; wilson, 1997). – nature reinforces positive feelings: when children play with each other in nature they have positive feelings about each other (wells & evans, 2003). – children with insufficient vitamin d are more likely to become fatty over time: after exposure to sunlight vitamin d is primarily produced. vitamin d deficiency is the main factor for childhood fatness (moore, 1996). – children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (adhd) after walking in outdoor space: frances kuo and andrea faber taylor explore the influence of three different outdoor environments on the attention of seventeen children diagnosed with adhd from 7to 12-year-old after 20 minutes of walking in different outdoor spaces (a downtown area, a residential area and an urban park). the children also answered several questions about their walking experience and completed a concentration test. after walking in the park, the children were able to concentrate more and this narrowed the gap between children with adhd and those without (huh & gordon, 2008). 4.3. physical health benefits after interacting with nature – social development: henniger found that playing outdoors encourages children to exercise parallel play but playing indoors only encourages individual activity. similar levels of collaborative play occurred in both environments (henniger, 1993). – emotional development: outdoor experiences lead to fewer bonds of children’s behaviors and enables them to find solitude away from adults and other children, engage in solitary activity or be in small, intimate groups. such private experiences are necessary for young children (greenman, 1988). 5. the design guideline for a therapeutic garden for autistic children in creating therapeutic gardens for children with asd the elements of design, visual principles, landscape features, and other considerations as therapeutic animals, play structures, safety and security were integrated into the guidelines. these guidelines were used in the design of a sensory garden which helps in calming hyper reactive children and stimulating hypo reactive children with asd. 5.1. visual principle as a therapeutic tool in landscape design, visual principles are used to design meaningful and functional outdoor spaces. visual principles include unity, balance/order, scale/proportion, rhythm/sequence and emphasis. the following tables show how visual principles can be used to create specific influence (johnson, 2006). pg. 46 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 1. how to use unity and harmony in creating a specific influence (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? -repetition of elements.proximity of elements.using predicable continuity of line (path-plant beds). variety in height, volume, etc.using unity of three (odd number).using unity by emphasis depends on contrast with adjacent objects. table 2. how to use balance and order in creating specific influence (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? create a ‘savannah’ type landscape by using gap plans and plants with clumps.-use of perspective balance. use of mass collection by organizing plant material according to masses around an open circular lawn space. use radial and symmetrical balance. table 3. how to use scale or proportion in creating specific influence (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? similar plant size and proportion of open space and planted space.create small space for the child as patio and terraces. different plant size.create large open space for the child. table 4. how to use rhythm and sequence in creating specific influences (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? -use colour sequences which give natural flow.use walkways with fluid lines use patterns in the planting beds. use colour contrast.provide changes in topography.change colours in grounds.-use unpredictable and spontaneous planting beds. table 5. how to use emphasis in creating a specific influence how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? use of natural objects for focal points.use dominant tree and shrub grouping. provide features to promote action for focal points like a bounce house.use focal point with different texture and shape 5.2. design elements as a therapeutic tool the elements of design include color, texture, line, form/volume and planes. the design elements are the visual qualities which affect the feelings and emotions of people, their responses after viewing a space and how people enjoy and use a space. the following tables show how design elements can be used to create a specific influence. table 6. how to use colour in creating a specific influence (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? -use pastels -green, blue, white and purple. -use monochromatic scheme and analogous scheme. use vivid – yellow, pink red and orange. -use complementary scheme (high contrast between colours). table 7. how to use texture in creating a specific influence (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? use fine-textured plants (smooth leaves, bark and flowers) and hardscape (smooth finished walls and walkways) plants with monochrome colours use coarse-textured plants (rough leaves, bark and flowers) and hardscape (rough finished walls and walkways) plants with varied colours. pg. 47 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 8. how to use lines in creating specific influences (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? use of meandering lines as organic and fragmented edges. use of (horizontal -spreadingvase shaped) plant and shrub forms.no variation in ground cover forms.use confining spaces. use of geometric forms (circularsquareirregular).use of (pyramid-weepingrounded) plant and shrub forms.use of multiple ground cover forms.create large open space for the child. table 9. how to use form and volume in creating a specific influence (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? use of straight, curved and horizontal lines with symmetrical design, which give natural relaxed character. use of low line, which create a feeling of calmness. use of vertical and diagonal lines, which encourage activities and exerting effort (skiing and running) and make spaces look larger. table 10. how to use planes in creating specific influences (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? -use of flat ground plan. use of one head plane. use of different topography on ground plan with different textures. use of vertical planes. 5.3. physical landscape feature as a therapeutic tool landscape features include microclimate, landform/slope, plant materials, views and circulation. to design a therapeutic garden for children with asd, these physical features and resources might apply. the following tables show how physical landscape features can be used to create specific influence. table11. how to use microclimate in creating specific influences (wilson, 2006) table 11. how to use microclimate in creating specific influences (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? -use of plants and buildings to provide a dense, shady area. use of design elements to relieve radiation provide tall walls to prevent wind effects for tactile sensations. use of tree leaf out to provide sunny areas for tactile stimulation. create open spaces to allow wind movement for tactile stimulation. table 12. how to use circulation in creating specific influences (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? create open spaces at the end of pathways. -create opportunities for repose in the circulatory pattern create heights and topography. transfer from shady area to sunny area. table 13. how to use views in creating specific influences (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? use of pastel colours in plants and flowerbeds. use of small sized dense shady views. use of vivid colours in plants and flowerbeds. use of large bright sunny views. pg. 48 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd table 14. how to use landform in creating specific influences (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? use of small slope which provides a challenge to help them. create grassy hills to roll down and gradually sloping areas. table 15. how to use plant material in creating specific influences (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? use fragrant plants downwind of some seating areas. -provide soft textured plant materials. -use of pastel coloured palette flowerbeds. -provide aromatic plants. -use plants with different textures for tactile stimulation. -use of vivid coloured palette flowerbeds. 5.4. landscape resources and materials as a therapeutic tool other important considerations are water features, ground covers, therapeutic animals and site furniture. to design a therapeutic garden for children with asd, these features and resources might apply. the following tables show how landscape resources and materials can be used to create specific influence. table 16. how to use water features in creating specific influences (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? create a trickling stream in water features which relaxes by the simple act of viewing create water fountain. provide swimming pools create waterfalls that slope down to a pool filled with small river rocks create embedded nozzles in a running zone table 17. how to use therapeutic animals in creating specific influences (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? provide white dove cote -provide plant material which attracts butterflies, birds and domestic animals. provide trained dogs. provide a fish tank to stimulate daily activity. provide trained dogs. dogs to play fetch and cats to brush and pet. create colourful bird feeders table 18. how to use site furniture in creating specific influences (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? use of hide light system. -use of bean bag chairs or ball pens tents for restorative time outs. -use of observed and clearly defined light system. -use of tactile signs at height 120 cm. -use of rocking chairs or hammocks. table 19. how to use site furniture in creating specific influences (wilson, 2006) how to calm over-sensitive children with asd? how to stimulate under-sensitive children with asd? use of fine-textured ground cover material. provide non-glare surfaces. use symmetry in colour and texture. -pastel coloured ground covers. use of coarse-textured ground cover material. create small turf areas. -variety of textures. -vivid coloured ground covers. -design of space using materials which retain cold and heat. pg. 49 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 5.5. design guideline to achieve the ideal healing garden design, there are some considerations to think about. – select a tranquil and quiet location: select a location with the least amount of distractions possible. highpitched, humming noise, adjacent traffic and noise from air conditioning compressors can be overwhelming. children should be able to hear calming sounds such as flowing water, birdsong and wind chimes (sachs & vinceta, 2011). – design for security and safety: children with asd may become confused or curious and wander through a nearby doorway. the design of the outdoor environment should enable administrators to ensure that strangers are not allowed inside (hebert, 2003; sachs & vinceta, 2011; yücel, 2013). – design for choice & control and create a variety of specialized spaces: choice and control helps the child make the decision of when to leave this space, where he or she can sit alone or when he or she wants to sit within a group. this can facilitate a sense of control (wilson, 2006) (cooper marcus, 2005). – design with special lighting conditions in mind: as people with asd are often photosensitive because of the nature of their sensory, they should be cautious to achieve visual comfort from the glare of the sun. besides, methods could be used to create spaces with dappled shade and filtered sun to decrease the effect of the shining rays of the sun (hebert, 2003; sachs & vinceta, 2011). – accommodate needs for both challenges and resting: provide a range of social/physical settings so that each individual can discover and explore his or her own level of challenge. an autistic child may be challenged by the idea of going outside. another will need to overcome shame in playing with other children (cosco, moore, & robin, 2005). – provide calming areas: use of calming activities to feel relaxed to share such as a fence panel with viewing holes, bamboo tunnel or a low growing tree to hide under (sachs & vinceta, 2011). – child-nature interaction: the child with asd benefits a lot from auditory descriptions of nature, seasons and earth processes which gives the child a chance to live in nature to provide habitats for wildlife, provide places to experience natural resources as the wind, sun, rain and shade and provide chances for planting and harvesting. one of the most significant activities for a child in a stressful situation is to be able to intermediate in the cycle of life (hebert, 2003; cosco et al., 2005). – provide opportunities for increasing coordination, motor skills, exercise and balance: provide a special area with different physical activities with various playing equipment along with spaces with quiet zones (hebert, 2003; sachs & vinceta, 2011). – design for ease of maintenance: design the therapeutic garden so that it is a low maintenance, easy care environment so that the caregiver, therapists and special educators aren’t expected to maintain the therapeutic garden. choose plants that don’t require attention. install sprinkler systems during the building phase. choose materials, structures, paving patterns, and furnishings for ease of care and strength (hebert, 2003). – design for future spatial flexibility: because the needs of the therapist change as new therapies and ideas are discovered, and because the needs of the children change as they learn and grow, the therapeutic garden should allow for flexibility. the space should allow for some change without time-consuming or costly renovations by providing non-fixed elements (hebert, 2003; sachs & vinceta, 2011). – provide visual cues for orientation: to aid the communication of children with asd with their teachers and family, the children use a picture exchange system (pict) in designing outdoor space. we should use incorporating signage with clear pictures to communicate ideas or intentional use of certain play and using elements is an important as sign language skill building to help in communication between nonverbal and verbal children (sachs & vinceta, 2011). pg. 50 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 6. case study (sensory garden) after studying the nature of autism and problems accompanying autism spectrum disorder & cognitive, it’s evident that there are physical and mental benefits to connecting with nature, and we can use design principles as therapeutic tools to calm hyper reactive children with autism and stimulate hypo reactive children with autism. this sensory garden is designed to show how the guidelines concluded studies might be applied through specific site arrangement. figure 3 shows the used therapies and how each design of space therapy provides a specific method of therapy. figure 3. diagram shows the design spaces 6.1. location king mariout zone is in the west of alexandria governorate beside amiriyah and the city of borg el arab. figure 4 shows the chosen site plan. properties of the chosen location: -tranquil, quiet and far from crowds -the weather is dry and humid -there are natural water sources like king mariout lake and there are fish farms in the lake. figure 4. site plan for the chosen site pg. 51 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 6.2. the site plan the garden is a sequence of 7 outdoor spaces designed to help the children with autism spectrum disorder and their families as shown in figure 5. figure 5. the site plan of sensory garden 6.2.1. entrance zone entry with three shaded symmetric circular patios included in the orientation maps. creating fluid lines for walkways, rounded edges, large open space, vivid colors and providing sunlight as shown in figure 7. 6.2.2. “become the animal” zone a unique kind of pet therapy by providing visiting animals (fish tank, therapy, cat, and trained dog), plants to collect butterflies, birds and domestic animals and by introducing animals step by step to overcome sensory integration issues as emotional awareness and regulation, behavioral improvements and management skills and engagement, reinforce task acquisition and completion, stimulate social interaction and conversation and provide opportunities for sensory integration as shown in figure 9. 6.2.3. sensory zone the sensory zone is divided into 3 zones: sensory play zone, vestibular and proprioception skills zone and fine and gross motor skills as shown in figure 11. 6.2.3.1. sensory play zone the sensory play zone is divided into 4 areas: aroma and acoustic zone, tactile zone, relaxation zone, and light and colour zone. the sensory play zone is an exciting area full of vibrant colours, scents and sounds are often requested to increase an area’s educational benefits and to further stimulate their senses by using sensory features as shown in figure 13. pg. 52 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 6. the location of entrance zone figure 7. shows the design consideration for the entrance zone figure 8. the location of “become the animal” zone pg. 53 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 9. shows the design consideration for the “become the animal” zone figure 10. the location of the sensory zone figure 11. zoning diagram for the sensory zone pg. 54 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 12. zoning diagram for the sensory play zone figure 13. shows the design consideration for the sensoryplay zone 6.2.3.2. fine and gross motor skills zone introducing a motor skills area with climbing and balancing elements and integrating creative movement activities, including hammock swings as shown in figure 15. 6.2.3.3. vestibular and proprioception zone by using specific equipment to foster sensory development as swinging, spinning, sliding, climbing, rocking, crawling and balancing equipment as shown in figure 17. pg. 55 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 14. the location of fine and gross motor skills zone figure 15. shows the design consideration for the fine and gross motor skills zone figure 16. the location of vestibular (balance) and proprioception (muscle and joint) zone pg. 56 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 17. shows the design consideration for the vestibular (balance) and proprioception (muscle and joint) zone figure 18. the location of “water world” zone 6.2.4. “water world” zone another form of physical therapy exercise used in treating autism is aquatic therapy by using different water features including waterfalls, water fountains, swimming pools and embedded nozzles running zone as shown in figure 19. 6.2.5. “bird area” zone another form of therapeutic and restorative therapy is carried out by providing a dove cote surrounded by flower beds, white dove cote and colorful birds’ feeder houses as shown in figure 21. 6.2.6. “natural trail” zone provide integrated spaces that encompass all elements in nature which help in balancing, climbing, elevating using rocks, red gum logs, dolomite boulders, stump, loose parts play and providing the opportunity to make a cubby, collect rocks and sticks, and research and discover as shown in figure 23. pg. 57 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 19. shows the design consideration for the “water world” zone figure 20. the location of “bird area” zone figure 21. shows the design consideration for the “bird area” zone pg. 58 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 22. the location of “natural trail” zone figure 23. show thedesign consideration for the “natural trail” zone c 6.2.7. gardening zone horticultural therapy provides gardening activities which increases opportunities for children to connect with each other and their world as shown in figure 25. figure 24. the location of “natural trail” zone pg. 59 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd figure 25. shows the design consideration for the gardening zone 7. conclusion it would be very important to design a sensory garden for children with asd to test the guidelines that have been confirmed in this study. moreover, it is important that a post-occupancy study be completed on the project to determine its success in meeting the needs of parents, students, teachers, staff and therapists. from this post occupancy evaluation, further recommendations could be made related to the design of future sensory gardens for children with asd. the concepts of the sensory garden should be appropriate to any place in any environment and weather. the creation of the wide variety of landscape features and multi-level spaces help the design to be more manipulative. the design is based on information from a variety of multi-disciplinary sources and is intended to provide a basis for forming theory regarding how the outdoor environment can be used in therapeutic ways and the effects of the outdoor spaces on children with asd. therefore, the sensory garden was created as a solution to supplement and utilize the outdoor space of any center, hospital or just a therapeutic garden. finally, the large number of diagnoses in our world today relate to how to deal with children’s’ needs. future studies should classify the effect of nature on children with asd and how exercises help in changing the attitude of children with asd. it is wise to recognize that tomorrow, these children will be adults. the needs of adults with asd will move far beyond the outdoor space of hospitals, care centers or schools. references 1. almon, j. (2009). the fear of play. exchange: the early childhood leaders’ magazine since 1978, 186, 42-44. 2. american psychiatric association. (1994). diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders fourth edition (dsm-iv). washington d.c: american psychiatric publishing. 3. autism resource foundation. (n.d.). physical therapy exercises for autistic children. retrieved from http://www.theautismresourcefoundation.org/ pg. 60 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 4. cosco, n. g., moore, & robin c. (2005). well-being by nature: therapeutic gardens for children. latis forum on therapeutic garden design, 35-50. 5. cottrell, s., & raadik-cottrell, j. (2010). benefits of outdoor skills to health, learning and lifestyle. a literature review. association of fish & wildlife agencies’ north american conservation education strategy. 6. crain, w. (2001). how nature helps children develop. montessori life. 7. davies, m. (1996). outdoors: an important context for young children’s development. early child development and care, 115-3749. 8. falk, s., & gross, c. d. (2011). sensory integration: understanding and meeting your child’s needs. le bonheur early intervention and development. 9. fisher, a., murray, e., & bundy, a. (1991). sensory integration: theory and practice. f.a. davis co. 10. fjortoft, & ingunn. (2001). the natural environment as a playground for children: the impact of outdoor play activities in pre-primary school children. early childhood education journal, 111-117. 11. fjortoft, i., & sageie, j. (2000). the natural environment as a playground for children: landscape description and analysis of a natural landscape. landscape and urban planning, 83-97. 12. gillberg, c., & coleman, m. (2000). the biology of the autistic syndromes. cambridge university press. 13. greenman, j. (1988). caring spaces, learning places: children’s environments that work. eric. 14. hebert, b. b. (2003). design guidelines of a therapeutic garden for autistic children(master’s thesis, louisiana state university and agricultural and mechanical college). lsu. retrieved from https://digitalc ommons.lsu.edu/gradschool theses/3288. 15. henniger, m. (1993). enriching the outdoor play experience. childhood education. 16. huh, s. y., & gordon, c. m. (2008). vitamin d deficiency in children and adolescents: epidemiology, impact and treatment. reviews in endocrine and metabolic disorders, 9(2), 161-170. 17. johnson, l. m. (2006). wildlife habitat design and creation in the schoolyard: with an emphasis on southwestern gardens. austin: university of texas. press. 18. louv, r. (1991). childhood’s future. new york: doubleday. 19. marcus, c. c. (2005). healing gardens in hospitals. interdisciplinary design and research e-journal, 1(1), 2-23. 20. mastrangelo, s. (2009). harnessing the power of play: opportunities for children with autism spectrum disorders. in teaching exceptional children (pp. 34–41). 21. miller, s. (1968). the psychology of play. london: cox and wyman, ltd. 22. moore, r. (1996). compact nature: the role of playing and learning gardens on children’s lives. journal of therapeutic horticulture, 72–82. 23. sachs, n., & vincenta, t. (2011). outdoor environments for children with autism and special needs. implications, 9(10), 1-7. 24. wells, n. m., & evans, g. w. (2003). nearby nature: a buffer of life stress among rural children. environment and behavior, 311-330. 25. wilkes, k. (2005). the sensory world of the autistic spectrum: a greater understanding. national autistic society under a memorandum of understanding with autism south africa. pg. 61 barakat / environmental science and sustainable development, essd 26. wilson, b. (2006). sensory gardens for children with autism spectrum disorders. university of arizona. 27. wilson, r. a. (1997). the wonders of nature: honoring children’s ways of knowing. early childhood news. 28. wong, h., lee, howlin, & asgharian. (1999). evidence-based practice and autism in the schools. national autism center. 29. yücel, g. f. (2013). hospital outdoor landscape design. in advances in landscape architecture. intech. pg. 62 introduction nature of autism problems that may accompany asd nature of autism problems that may accompany asd sensory problems problems in playful experiences nature as a healer cognitive benefits after interacting with nature mental benefits after connecting with nature physical health benefits after interacting with nature the design guideline for a therapeutic garden for autistic children visual principle as a therapeutic tool design elements as a therapeutic tool physical landscape feature as a therapeutic tool landscape resources and materials as a therapeutic tool design guideline case study (sensory garden) location the site plan entrance zone ``become the animal'' zone sensory zone ``water world'' zone ``bird area'' zone ``natural trail'' zone gardening zone conclusion http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 20 doi: 10.21625/essd.v5i2.757 a life-cycle cost-benefit analysis for rooftop photovoltaic systems in lightweight steel-structured industrial buildings xinyi hu1,*, junyu hu2, hong zhang1 1 school of architecture, southeast university, nanjing 210096, china 2 department of architecture, civil engineering and environmental sciences, tu braunschweig，braunschweig d-38106 ，germany *corrspoding author: xinyi hu (huxy.seu@gmail.com) abstract there is a widespread consensus that energy efficiency of buildings is an essential component of sustainable development and several kinds of renewable energy technologies have been widely used to achieve this sustainable goal. as a rapidly developing country, china’s manufacturing industry still occupies a prominent position, with a large number of industrial buildings that are also a crucial part of urban planning. compared with multi-story and high-rise commercial buildings, large industrial sheds have a much more usable roof area, where rooftop photovoltaic (pv) systems are increasingly used. however, due to the small structural margins of the lightweight steel-structured (lss) industrial buildings and the large initial investment of the thin-film pv system, few case studies are available for this kind of industrial buildings. in this research, three representative cities in china, with varying levels of solar radiation availability, are selected as typical external design factors. taking a typical lss industrial building with an added thin-film rooftop pv system as an example, a life-cycle cost-benefit analysis is conducted from environmental and economic aspects. the results of the analysis demonstrate the effectiveness of the rooftop thin-film pv system as a means to increase the energy efficiency of the lss industrial buildings. © 2020 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords industrial buildings; rooftop pv system; lightweight steel-structured; cost-benefit analysis 1. introduction it is well established that construction activities consume large amounts of natural resources that cause the release of carbon dioxide, entailing immense environmental load. in order to achieve energy efficient design, sustainable buildings consider the application of renewable energy technologies (chwieduk, 2003), such as solar energy. recent research on building integrated photovoltaic (bipv) is mainly focused on the residential and office buildings. industrial buildings are composed of production plants and auxiliary buildings. the auxiliary ones include warehouses and public auxiliary buildings. the sustainable development of industrial buildings also deserves attention. in 2017, china’s industrial power consumption reached 4.5×1012 kwh, accounting for 69.4% of china’s total power consumption (national bureau of statistics of china, 2017). according to the green development plan in industry (2016-2020), the industrial structure adjustment and the industrial transformation and upgrading promotion are mainly achieved through the transformation of traditional high energy-consuming industries and the resolution of http://www.press.ierek.com/ mailto:huxy.seu@gmail.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v5i2.757&domain=press.ierek.com hu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 21 excess capacity (ministry of industry & information technology of china, 2016). the power efficiency retrofit of production processes and equipment, the collection and utilization of waste heat, and other relevant methods are applied to decrease the industrial power consumption. clean power in industry also plays a vital role in improving china’s energy structure and achieving targets for saving energy and reducing emissions. large-scale utilization of industrial plant roofs, especially the large number of light steel-structured ones, to develop distributed photovoltaic(pv) systems is a feasible and effective way to increase the proportion of clean energy generation rapidly. compared with public buildings and residential buildings, industrial ones are mostly single-story, with low building density and large flat roofs, which means that more pv system capacity can be installed with more significant potential for solar energy applications. industrial buildings themselves require large energy demand. china’s average industrial and commercial electricity price in 2019 is $109.3/mwh, higher than the residential one of $75.56/mwh (national energy administration, 2017). electricity generated by the pv systems can be employed to satisfy their own electricity demand and save power expenses. in 2017, the on-grid electricity price of pv power generation was $134.3/mwh, which was 2.5 times that of coal-fired units and 3.7 times that of hydropower (national energy administration, 2017). the additional generated power can also be sold to the public grid, creating new economic benefits for enterprises. one of the factors restricting the development of rooftop pv projects in industrial buildings is the impact of the rooftop pv module weights on the roof carrying capacity, directly affecting the safety and reliability of pv projects. the total weight of conventional glass-based pv modules with brackets is about 15-20 kg/m2, which exceeds the load margin of most lightweight steel roofs. due to the load limitation of the lightweight steel roof, the cost of developing the rooftop pv system of the existing lightweight steel-structured industrial building and the roof reinforcement is relatively high. on the other hand, steel consumption in developing the pv system of newly-built ones is significantly affected. given other uncertain factors, such as system installation costs and insufficient technology promotion, decision-makers still doubt the investment as it leads to few actual application cases. however, in recent years, the cost of solar cells and pv systems continues to shrink as lightweight pv module technology gradually matures (state grid energy research institute co., 2019). the load of flexible thin-film pv panels is only 3kg/m2, much lower than that of traditional crystalline silicon ones, which results in little impact on steel consumption. therefore, the possibility of rooftop pv system application in lightweight steel-structured industrial buildings is steadily increasing. the objective of this study is the typical single-story lightweight steel-structured industrial building. the main goal is to study the difference in life cycle carbon emissions of the objective building before and after the rooftop pv system installation, and the economic cost-benefit analysis of the pv system. through the quantificational calculation of cost and gain from the environmental and economic perspective, this paper provides reasonable suggestions for the application of rooftop pv projects in industrial buildings. figure 1 the research structure. hu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 22 2. methodology the research conducted in this paper is a two-step procedure: (1) the design properties of the reference building should be decided (section 2.1), and three cities with high, medium, and low solar energy resources respectively are chosen according to the climate context (section 2.2); (2) before and after the rooftop pv system is installed, the life cycle carbon assessment of the industrial buildings in these three cities and life cycle economic cost-benefit of the pv system is calculated (section 2.3 & 2.4). the research structure is depicted in figure 1. 2.1. the reference scenario a reference scenario was set up for further comparative analyses, considering a building featured by basic properties. the reference object is a single-story lightweight portal framed industrial building with no crane (figure 2), the lifespan of which is assumed to be 20 years. the typical plan is 60 m×30 m, with a gross area of 1800 m2. the top height of the outer longitudinal wall is about 5.5 m, and the highest point is 7.5 m. according to functional requirements, the column spacing of the long side is 10 m, and the portal frame span is 30 m. the independent foundations under columns are adopted. the steel beams and columns are h-shaped steel with variable cross-section. the building is a new industrial building so that its thermal design and indoor design temperature of heating and cooling would meet the requirements of “unified standard for energy efficiency design of industrial buildings”(mohurd, 2017). the envelope adopts a combination of double-layer steel decks and rock wool insulation boards. the reference scenario includes the life-cycle phases evaluated using the following design conditions shown in table 1. figure 2 the envelope, structure, and simulation model of the reference building. table 1. basic properties of the reference building. construction structure lightweight steel structure (lss) height 5.5-7.5m shape coefficient 0.24 external wall u-value 0.607 [w/m2 k] roof u-value 0.533 [w/ m2 k] opening window ratio* external walls 0.08 roof 0.12 external windows glazing type clr 6+13a+6 (aluminium window frame without break) glazing u-factor 2.71 [w/m2 k] hu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 23 table 1 continued hvac heating system type / energy resource central heating / anthracite-fired cogeneration, combined heat and power (chp) units cooling system type / energy resource distributed air-conditioners / electricity environmental control heating set point 16 [°c] or 60.8 [°f] cooling set point 28 [°c] or 82.4 [°f] * window ratio of external walls = area of transparent components of external walls/ total area of external walls；window ratio of roof = area of transparent components of the roof / total area of the roof. 2.2. city selection due to various geographical locations, solar radiation intensities in china are quite different. in general, the total annual solar radiation in the western region is higher than that in the eastern region, except for tibet and xinjiang, and is lower in the south than in the north. since most southern areas are foggy and rainy, located between the 30-40° north latitude, solar radiation decreases with latitude decline (solar gis, 2019; tschopp et al., 2020). there are roughly five different districts in china, divided according to the amount of solar radiation (zheng and yi, 2010). solar district i has the most abundant solar energy resources, the highest value located in the qinghai-tibet plateau with a radiation amount higher than 2,200 kwh/m2·yr. the lowest value is found in the chuan-yu region of solar district v, with about 950 kwh/m2·yr (li et al., 2014). there are five major types of climatic regions in china, which are severe cold regions, cold regions, hot summer and cold winter regions, hot summer and warm winter regions, and temperate regions, and there are different building design requirements for different climatic regions (huo et al., 2017). most areas of the solar district i, ii and iii with abundant solar energy resources belong to severe cold and cold climate areas, while solar district iv and v belong to hot summer and cold winter regions, hot summer and warm winter regions, and temperate regions. most of china’s areas and populations are concentrated in the solar district ii, iii and iv. in this study, three representative cities are selected, namely ruoqiang in xinjiang in solar district ii, dezhou in shandong in solar district iii, and nantong in jiangsu in solar district iv. figure 3 (a) global irradiance in china and selected cities (solar gis, 2019); (b) outside dry-bulb temperature, global radiation, and average rainfall of ruoqiang, dezhou, and nantong (energyplus, 2005; weather atlas, 2020). hu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 24 the seismic design requirements and basic wind and snow loads of these three cities are similar. therefore, the difference in the amount of steel consumption for lightweight steel-structured industrial buildings can be ignored, and these cities can be used as the design contexts. the geographical location, solar energy resources and climate conditions of the selected cities are shown in figure 3. ruoqiang and dezhou belong to the cold region, while nantong belongs to the hot summer and cold winter region. 2.3. life cycle carbon emissions assessment methodology life cycle carbon emission assessment (lcco2a) considers all the carbon-equivalent emission output from a building during all five phases: materialization, transportation, on-site construction, operation, and end-of-life. the carbon emissions during raw material extraction, transportation and component manufacture period are defined as the carbon emissions during materialization period. the transportation phase in this paper consists of two processes: transporting building materials from the factory to the construction site and transporting the demolition waste from the site to the recycling factories or landfill. the end-of-life phase includes three parts, demolition, recycling, and disposal. the disposal phase is to transport the demolition waste which has been included into the calculation of the transportation phase. there is a lack of data on construction and demolition of industrial buildings, the carbon emissions which only share a little part according to the previous study (bonamente and cotana, 2015), so the calculation of these two stages is ignored in this paper. therefore, lcco2a of industrial buildings in this research is simplified as the following: 𝐶𝑂2 = 𝐶𝑂2𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 + 𝐶𝑂2𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 + 𝐶𝑂2𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 − 𝐶𝑂2𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 (1) where co2 represents the carbon emission of the whole life cycle of a building (kgco2e), 𝐶𝑂2𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 , 𝐶𝑂2𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 , and 𝐶𝑂2𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 represent the carbon emissions during the materialization, transportation, and operation (kgco2e), respectively. 𝐶𝑂2𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 is the carbon credits obtained from recycling (kgco2e). 2.3.1. materialization phase analysis during the materialization phase, the amount of carbon emissions includes not only the fossil carbon emissions released during the extraction, transportation and manufacture stages, but also the process carbon emissions resulting from the chemical effects, especially the concrete manufacturing. the amount of carbon released during this phase can be determined directly as: 𝐶𝑂2𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = ∑ 𝑖 1 𝜌𝑖𝑚𝑖 (2) where 𝜌𝑖 is the carbon emission factor for the ith type of building material (kgco2 e/unit), which can be extracted from an appropriate carbon emission database considering both fossil and process carbon emissions (mohurd, 2019). 𝑚𝑖 is the amount of the ith type of building material (kg or m3), which can be summarized from the component list of the revit model. the weight of connecting parts is estimated as the 10% of the steel. 2.3.2. transportation phase analysis the transportation phase is divided into two parts, the process when the building materials are transported from the factories to the construction site and the process of the demolished remains transported to the landfill and recycling site. the shipping distance applies the default values in the standard for building carbon emission calculation (gbt51366-2019) (mohurd, 2019). 𝐶𝑂2𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = ∑ 𝑖 1 𝑚𝑖𝐷𝑖𝜑 + ∑ 𝑗 1 𝑚𝑗𝐷𝑗𝜑 (3) where 𝑚𝑖 the amount of the ith type of building material used for construction (kg). 𝑚𝑗 is the amount of jth disposed or recycled material. 𝐷𝑖 is the transportation distance of the ith type of building material (km). the default value for hu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 25 concrete is 40km, and 500km for other materials. 𝐷𝑗 is the transportation distance between the construction site and landfill or recycling factory of the jth type of building material (km). for the steel, aluminium and concrete which are assumed for recycling, 𝐷𝑖 is equal to 𝐷𝑗 . as for the other disposed materials, 𝐷𝑗 is assumed as 200km. 𝜑 is the carbon emission factor for transportation [kgco2e/(t·km)]. in this research, the value is assumed as 0.129 [kgco2e/(t·km)] by heavy-duty diesel trucks with load capacity of 18t. 2.3.3. operation phase analysis the energy consumption required for different industrial activities varies a lot. therefore, in this study, the carbon balance during operation phase only considers emissions from minimum space heating and cooling requirements and credits from electricity generated by the rooftop pv system and combined heat and power (chp): 𝐶𝑂2𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝑇 × (𝐶𝑂2ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 + 𝐶𝑂2𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 − 𝐶𝑂2𝐶𝐻𝑃,𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 ) − ∑ 𝑡 1 𝐶𝑂2𝑃𝑉 (𝑡) (4) the annual primary energy consumption and generation are simulated by designbuilder, based on energyplus, where the labor intensity level inside the building is assumed as light labor (designbuilder software ltd, 2020). both the indoor design temperature and mechanical ventilation setting meet the current design standard (mohurd, 2017). the annual carbon emissions and credits during this phase are determined by multiplying the quantity of energy resources (coal or electricity) with its carbon-equivalent emission factor: 𝐶𝑂2ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 = 𝜌𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑙𝐸ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 (5) 𝐶𝑂2𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 = 𝜌𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝐸𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 (6) 𝐶𝑂2𝐶𝐻𝑃,𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 = 𝜌𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝐸𝐶𝐻𝑃,𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 (7) 𝐶𝑂2𝑃𝑉 (𝑡) = 𝜌𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝐸𝑝𝑣𝜂𝑃𝑉𝜎(𝑡) (8) where 𝐶𝑂2ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 and 𝐶𝑂2𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 represent the annual carbon emissions due to the heating and cooling system (kgco2e/yr). 𝐶𝑂2𝐶𝐻𝑃,𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 is the annual carbon credits from the chp unit (kgco2e/yr), while 𝐶𝑂2𝑃𝑉 (𝑡) is the carbon credits from the electricity generated from the pv system in the tth year (kgco2e). t is the building life span and is assumed as 20 years in this study. 𝐸ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 and 𝐸𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 are the annual energy consumption due to heating and cooling demand (kwh/yr). 𝐸𝐶𝐻𝑃,𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 is the annual amount of power generated from the chp units (kwh/yr). 𝐸𝑃𝑉 is the theoretical amount of electricity generated by the pv system (kwh/yr). 𝜂𝑃𝑉 is the efficiency of the generation system considering losses due to conversion and dirt, which is summarized as 89.3%. 𝜎(𝑡) is the solar module efficiency in the tth year, which is 97% in the first year and decays at a rate of 0.7% every year until the end of use. t is the lifespan of the building, assumed to be 20 years in this study. 𝜌𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑙 and 𝜌𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 are the carbon emission factor of anthracite and electricity grid, with the value as 0.34 kg co2e/kwh and 0.9914 kg co2e/kwh, respectively. 2.3.4. recycling phase analysis the credits during recycling are calculated as the emission difference between the original production and reproduction after recycling. 𝐶𝑂2𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 = ∑ 𝑗 1 (1 − 𝛼𝑗)𝜔𝑗𝐶𝑂2𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛,𝑗 (9) where 𝛼𝑗 is the ratio of carbon emissions between the reproduction and the original production of the j th building materials, calculated as 50% (mohurd, 2019). 𝐶𝑂2𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛,,𝑗 and 𝜔𝑗 are the carbon emissions during materialization and recycling rate of the jth recycled material. according to the previous study, the recycling rate of the steel, rebar in concrete, and aluminum are estimated as 90%, 50%, and 95% (yan, 2011). hu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 26 2.4. cost-benefit analysis of the pv system the two-slope roof is loaded with a flexible thin-film pv system of 128.4kw. its economic cost-benefit analysis, similar to the aforementioned lcco2a, includes three phases: the initial investment phase, the operation phase, and the demolition phase. there are obvious investment and income variables in the first two stages, and the third one is the estimated cost of dismantling and recycling after 20 years. considering that this project is a distributed pv project with a small installed capacity, and currently china’s pv panel recycling technology is not mature enough, the calculation of the third phase is eligible in this study. therefore, the cost-benefit analysis of the pv system can be based on the following formula: 𝐵𝑃𝑉 = ∑ 𝑡 1 𝐵𝑜𝑝(𝑡) − 𝐶𝑜𝑝 − 𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡 (10) where 𝐵𝑃𝑉 is the total benefit of the rooftop pv system during the 20-year life cycle ($), 𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡 is the initial investment, 𝐶𝑜𝑝 and 𝐵𝑜𝑝 are the cost and benefit during the operation phase ($). 2.4.1. initial investment the initial construction costs include the equipment procurement cost, design and installation fees, and other subcharges. it is generally calculated by multiplying the installed capacity by the cost per unit of installed capacity: 𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡 = 𝑊 × 𝐶𝑤 (11) where w is the installed capacity of the pv system (kw). 𝐶𝑤 is the unit cost of the system ($/w), which is the summarized cost of the sub-items in table 3. table 2. cost breakdowns of the industrial distributed pv system (manman, 2019; patel, 2020) sub-item cost ($/w) category sub-item cost ($/w) category solar module 0.650 equipment procurement design fee 0.029 design inverter 0.055 engineering insurance 0.007 installation and debugging combiner box 0.017 system debugging 0.017 dc/ac cable 0.036 installation fee 0.080 monitoring system 0.043 others 0.014 total 0.948 2.4.2. cost and benefit during the operation phase the system’s operation cost includes annual maintenance and insurance fees, as well as the replacement cost of the inverter in the 10th year. the self-generation of power is firstly supplied for self-use, and surplus power is sold to the public grid. the benefits are divided into three parts: state subsidies for pv power, the cost savings of self-use electricity, and the revenue of on-grid surplus power. 𝐶𝑜𝑝 = 𝑇 × 𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡 × (𝛽𝑚 + 𝛽𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟) + 𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡 × 𝛽𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟 (12) 𝐵𝑜𝑝(𝑡) = 𝑃𝑠𝑢𝑏 × ∑ 𝑡 1 𝐸𝑃𝑉𝜂𝑃𝑉𝜎(𝑡) + 𝑃𝑥 × 𝑇 × 𝐸𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 + 𝑃𝑦 × ∑ 𝑡 1 [𝐸𝑃𝑉𝜂𝑃𝑉𝜎(𝑡) − 𝐸𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔] (13) hu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 27 𝛽𝑚, 𝛽𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟 , and 𝛽𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟 represent the system maintenance rate, insurance rate, and inverter replacement rate, which are 1.20%, 0.25%, and 8.56%, respectively. 𝑃𝑠𝑢𝑏 , 𝑃𝑥, and 𝑃𝑦 are the state subsidy, general industrial electricity price, and feed-in tariffs for pv power in ruoqiang, dezhou, and nantong, the value of which are presented in the table 4. table 3. the state subsidy, industrial electricity price, and on-grid price of pv generation in three typical cities. general industrial electricity price ($/kwh) feed-in tariffs for pv power ($/kwh) state subsidy ($/kwh) ruoqiang 0.066 0.057 0.014 dezhou 0.094 0.064 nantong 0.100 0.079 3. results and discussion 3.1. results of the life cycle carbon emissions assessment in this paper, process-based analysis is applied to obtain detailed results presented in figures 4-6, respectively. the embodied carbon amounts and distribution of each raw material for the reference building are presented in table 4 and figure 4. 1136 tons of concrete is used to construct the building, which corresponds to about 89% of the overall weights of the building. most of the embodied carbon emissions are contributed from steel with five types (50.04%), concrete (30.70%), and mineral wool (14.53%), and the remaining is the materials used for skylights and windows. the higher amount of embodied carbon for steel and concrete compared to other materials is due to the larger volume of steel and concrete. electrolytic aluminum is a high-carbon emission industry. however, due to the low density of aluminum, the total weight of the aluminum window frames used is small and its carbon emissions only account for 0.03%. table 4. the embodied carbon emissions of different materials used in the reference building. components type of building material mass (kg) carbon emissions (kgco2 e/m2 floor) columns, beams, wind columns hot-rolled carbon h steel 32734.50 42.74 column bracing and roof horizontal bracing hot-rolled carbon steel bar 5573.50 7.25 purlins cold-rolled carbon steel coil 14836.50 20.85 external walls and roof, shutter doors hot-galvanized carbon steel coil 26974.58 46.61 independent foundations hot rolled carbon steel rebar 1470.90 1.91 connecting parts 5314.45 7.08 independent foundations and the floor with apron concrete c30 1135752.00 77.56 skylights and windows aluminum 7.45 0.08 glass 18939.60 11.89 insulation material mineral wool board 33364.13 36.70 note: the density of mineral wool board used in the reference building is 180 kg/m3 . hu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 28 figure 4 carbon emissions of different materials used during the production phase. the heating demand is satisfied by the anthracite-fired chp units with heat and power production simultaneously, offering a number of environmental benefits over traditional heating methods, particularly other fossil fuels. as shown in the below figure 5 and figure 6, ruoqiang and dezhou are located in the cold region, with the annual heating demand and chp power generation higher than that of nantong. this latterre is located in hot summer and cold winter regions, where the carbon emissions increase significantly in july and august due to cooling devices. for these three cities, the carbon credits obtained from chp generation are smaller than carbon emissions during winter months (from january to march and from october to december). no heating demand in other seasons means that there is no extra carbon credit from chp generation. but with the pv system installed, as shown in figure 6, the buildings will gain carbon credits all year around. the monthly carbon credits obtained from chp and pv generation are even bigger than carbon emissions from heating or cooling. figure 7 presents the life-cycle carbon balance of the reference buildings with or without the pv systems in three typical cities. due to climate differences, the carbon emissions during the operation phase vary a lot in the three cities. the proportion of carbon emissions during materialization, transportation, and operation is 11.71%, 0.71%, and 87.57%, respectively in ruoqiang. this proportion is 13.97%, 0.85%, and 85.18% in dezhou. while it changes to 24.34%, 1.48%, and 74.18% in nantong. without the pv system, the carbon emissions in three cities are all bigger than credits from chp generation. if the pv system is installed, the buildings will be converted into more environmentally friendly ones. the carbon balance is achieved by pv power generation alone, with the values of 2222 kgco2e/m2, 1999 kgco2e/m2, and 1706 kgco2e/m2 in ruoqiang, dezhou, and nantong. figure 5 monthly carbon emissions and credits during the operation phase. hu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 29 figure 6 monthly net carbon emissions during the operation phase. figure 7 life-cycle carbon balance of the buildings with or without pv systems. 3.2. cost-benefit analysis of pv system taking into account the decay rate of pv systems, the actual total power generation of the buildings in ruoqiang, dezhou, and nantong within 20 years is 4000mwh, 3599mwh, and 3071mwh, respectively. figure 8 shows the distribution of the life-cycle pv generation power and the corresponding share of revenues. the building in nantong has the largest proportion of self-use electricity at 21.12%, with electricity savings accounting for 21.68% of the total revenue. the self-use proportion of the building in dezhou (16.08%) is slightly smaller than that of ruoqiang (17.21%). however, ruoqiang’s industrial electricity price is lower, resulting in the proportion of cost savings in dezhou (18.25%) more significant than ruoqiang (15.66%). during the whole life-cycle, the annual cumulative cost and benefits are shown in figure 9. the initial investment is $121,723. except for the additional inverter replacement in the 10th year, the annual fixed cost during the operation period is $1,765. the net profits of the ruoqiang, dezhou, and nantong pv projects are $122,747, $130,621, and $131,810, respectively. the specific costs and benefits are shown in table 5. in the 20-year cycle, the initial investment accounts for about 72.70% of the total cost, and the profit margin is 42.30-44.05%. the net profit of pv projects was firmly related to the initial investment cost. the simple payback period of the project in ruoqiang is 10 years, and that of dezhou and nantong are 9 years, which means that the revenues expend the cost or reach the breakeven point at this time. the ruoqiang area has the best solar resources among the selected cities with the largest power generation and state subsidies. however, due to the low industrial electricity price and low on-grid price of pv power, the net profit in the whole cycle is the smallest and the payback period is the longest. therefore, the net profit of pv projects is not positively correlated with local solar radiation. hu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 30 figure 8 the distribution of the life-cycle pv generation power and revenues. figure 9 annual cumulative cost-benefit analysis. table 5. life-cycle cost-benefit analysis of the reference buildings in selected cities 𝑪𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕 ($) 𝑪𝒐𝒑 ($) total cost ($) state subsidies ($) savings of selfuse ($) revenues of surplus power ($) gross revenues ($) net profits ($) ruoqiang 121723 45719 167442 55999 45436 188754 290189 122747 dezhou 50383 54395 193286 298064 130621 nantong 42998 64873 191381 299253 131810 4. conclusion a life-cycle cost-benefit analysis of a typical lightweight steel structure industrial building is conducted. the aim of this study is to quantitatively analyze the effects of applying the rooftop thin-film pv system on this kind of buildings from both environmental and economic aspects and provide reasonable suggestions for decision-makers. in terms of environmental loading, the total carbon credits from pv systems of the reference buildings in three typical cities with different solar radiation intensities balance the carbon emissions throughout the life cycle. during the operation phase, the monthly carbon revenue generated by chp units and pv systems is greater than the emissions due to heating and cooling. as for the absence of pv systems, the carbon revenues from the chp production and material recycling of the reference buildings in selected cities are less than the total carbon emissions. in terms of economic benefits, the profit margin of this pv project in three cities is 42.30-44.05%, with the payback period 9-10 years. because of the different industrial tariffs of electricity and on-grid prices of pv generation in different regions, the net profit of the project and the abundance of solar energy resources is not a positive correlation, where various influencers, such as construction environment, state policy and market price, should be considered. hu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 31 taken together, these findings suggest a positive role for the application of rooftop thin-film pv projects for the lightweight steel structure industrial buildings from both environmental and economic perspectives, which provides reasonable references for decision-makers. it would be interesting to compare the environmental and economic benefits of lower-priced silicon solar panels applied to the reference building with some structural reinforcement, to those of the thin-film solar panels, as part of a future research. references bonamente, e., & cotana, f. 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(2011). research of energy consumption and co2 emission of buildings in zhejiang province based on life cycle assessment. zhejiang university: hangzhou, china. zheng, w., yi, r., (2010). utilization and development of solar energy industry in china. resources & industries, 12(2), 89-92. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 received: 1 october 2023, accepted: 29 november 2023, published online: 31 december 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i2.1029 urban morphology and housing stock granularity: a cross-scalar analysis cem s. kayatekin 1, lorenzo uribe2 1assistant professor, ie school of architecture and design, segovia, spain 2junior architect, oma, rotterdam, netherlands abstract do urban morphological parameters trickle down to impact the diversity and granularity of a district’s housing stock? do urban morphological parameters impact housing rental values? these are the main questions underpinning this mixed-method study of four districts across madrid and barcelona—two districts developed in a bottom-up manner and exhibiting high morphological heterogeneity, and two developed in a top-down manner and exhibiting high morphological homogeneity. the large-scale statistical analyses conducted from october 2021 to may 2022 via the course of this research delves into the cross-district variations and commonalities of residential values, dwelling unit sizes, plot sizes, block sizes, and street widths. three findings of import are uncovered—(1) possessing an intricate urban-morphological (or housing stock) granularity does not come hand-in-hand with having high urban morphological (or housing stock) diversity; (2) despite not possessing a higher diversity of urban morphological elements, the bottom-up districts still behaved as slightly-divergent and more-affordable real estate bubbles when compared to the top-down neighborhoods; and (3) across all the districts examined, smaller-scale plots consistently supported more than their expected share of smaller-scale dwelling units. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review is under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords urban morphology; housing stock; cross-solar analysis; granularity 1. introduction how does a district’s urban morphology impact the affordability and diversity of the neighborhood housing stock? this is the question at the heart of this paper. as the background section will attempt to show, there is a substantial amount of literature focusing on how urban morphology can be (or has been) shaped in order to influence a neighborhood’s housing stock, or more broadly, its residential fabric. however, there is a noteworthy scarcity of literature investigating the potential cross-scalar relationships between urban morphology and housing stock affordability and variety—two critical housing parameters actively supported by various contemporary urban initiatives, most notably the 15-minute city framework being adopted by a range of significant cities worldwide (pozoukidou and chatziyiannaki 2001, 9) within urban history and theory, there are in turn two discursive poles concerning this topic. on one end of the discursive spectrum, there is the hypothesis that repetitive and homogeneous urban-morphological conditions (i.e., a grid) offer the most egalitarian building stock for residential and non-residential activities (kostof 1991, 100). on the other end of the spectrum, there is the hypothesis that urban morphological heterogeneity will support the formation and maintenance of wide ranges of footholds for residential and non-residential activities within the built environment (kostof 1991, 75). both of these hypotheses however remain untested. http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i2.1029&domain=press.ierek.com kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 operating within this discursive gap, this research attempts to gain insight into how the urban-morphological heterogeneity or homogeneity of selected districts (two in madrid, two in barcelona) impact the affordability and diversity of the neighborhood housing stock. this line of inquiry is focused around four domains: • the precise physical differences between the morphologically heterogeneous versus homogeneous neighborhoods being studied. • the differences observed throughout each district’s rental residential real estate market. • the differences in the affordability and diversity of the housing stock of each district • the cross-scalar relationships that may potentially weave together some of the layers noted above. 1.1 background how can urban morphology be shaped in order to influence a district’s housing stock? more specifically, in order to influence the variety and affordability of its housing stock? in order to understand the scope of the discourse relevant to this topic, an array of searches for academic journal articles was conducted. a first search for literature with the terms urban (or city), morphology, and inclusivity (or inclusion) in their titles produced one article. this piece, tadi et al. (2015), is framed primarily around the topic of urban energy / environmental performance. while the text does spend some time delving into the relationship between urban morphology and urban inclusivity/inclusion, this subject is addressed more from the lens of social cohesion, public space, mixed-use spaces, etc., as opposed to housing stock specifics. a second search for literature with the terms urban (or city), morphology, and diversity in their titles was slightly more productive, producing eight articles. six of these however were not relevant to the work at hand, as they focused on: (1) diversity of flora and fauna (five articles); and (2) energy consumption (one article). the remaining two pieces included marcus and bobovka (2019) which delves into the relationship between urban land divisions and urban economic diversity, and da silva and samora (2020) which focuses on the morphological diversity inherent to informal settlements in brazil. the latter work of da silva and samora (2020) is less applicable to the subject at hand due to its sole focus on morphological parameters, however, the former article (marcus and bobovka 2019) is of clear relevance. one of the main questions investigated by marcus and bobovka (2019, 2) is whether plot diversity impacts the economic diversity of a neighborhood. that is, whether high plot diversity supports high economic diversity; and low plot diversity in turn low economic diversity. while the results uncovered therein are “still far from conclusive” (marcus and bobovka 2019, 19), the text does note that there is a clear and important connection between plot diversity and economic diversity. important to note however, that marcus and bobovka (2019) look at the diversity of economic actors, but not the diversity of shop sizes or shop rental rates, which would have been more comparable to what this paper is investigating. a third search was conducted for literature with the terms urban (or city), morphology, and housing in their title. this produced seventeen pieces. thirteen of these were not relevant to the work at hand, as they focused on: (1) daylighting, thermal comfort, or energy performance dynamics (four articles); (2) the architectural oeuvre of a specific architect or city assessed as historic or cultural heritage (four articles); (3) crime, antisocial behavior, community cohesion (three articles); and (4) top-down policy initiatives to alter certain neighborhoods’ density metrics (two pieces). the remaining four pieces that appeared to be of greater relevance to this work included: da filicaia (2007), xiao (2016), zhang et al (2019), and kostourou (2021) da filicaia (2007), looking at three neighborhoods in london, focuses on the relationship between urban morphology and income brackets. a key finding here is that dead-end urban morphological conditions (i.e.., cul de sacs), establish niches within the urban fabric that are isolated from the broader urban network; and that these niches tended to support a residential population from the lower economic echelons, at least for the geography (i.e., three neighborhoods within london) and for the period of time (i.e., the early 2000’s) around which the research is focused (da filicaia 2007, 61-65). although dealing with a somewhat specific urban condition (i.e., cul de sacs) this finding begins to hint at a possible relationship between urban morphology and residential real estate values. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 xiao (2016) offers an in-depth literature review of the research being done around urban conditions impacting residential real estate values—namely scholarship looking at variables ranging from accessibility networks, proximity to urban externalities and infrastructures, environmental parameters, and neighborhood quality. what begins to become clearer with regard to the broader literature, via looking at xiao (2016), is that much of the research being done around urban morphology and housing stock seems to be focused on developing more robust predictive real estate models that can take into account wide ranges of urban dynamics. within these types of studies, block and street patterns, and their actual spatial parameters (as opposed to accessibility/mobility characteristics), seem to be used primarily to frame historiographic or qualitative descriptive backgrounds for the neighborhoods being studied. zhang et al. (2019) delve into the proximity of housing stock to certain urban infrastructures, e.g., “water bodies, green space, transit systems, or [central business districts]” (zhang et al 2019, 15) and their positive or negative impact on housing values. the urban morphology (in terms of street and block patterns) of the geography being studied (wuhan city, china), while noted, is once more not the focus of the piece, but rather serves as a qualitative backdrop for the areas being studied. and lastly, kostourou (2021) offers a cleaner link to the question at hand. the text focuses on built-environmental conditions, and how initial pilot-scale and building-scale design decisions impact the incremental densification of an urban locale. the analyses are conducted around parameters of plot area, plot geometry, building volume, footprint, gross floor area, etc. (kostourou 2021, 63). while the dwelling units inside the residential buildings are not examined to the same depth as buildingand plot-scale parameters, kostourou (2021) does offer a robust analysis of how the shaping of built-environmental conditions can impact, over the shortand long-term, the residential character of a neighborhood. these were the three searches, conducted among a wide range of others, that produced the results most relevant to the research question at hand. one point to note—searches for urban form as opposed to urban morphology in conjunction with the keywords noted above, initially seemed to produce quite a high amount of literature. however, upon closer inspection, a nearly ubiquitous pattern was observed, was that urban form primarily was used as shorthand to denote varying scales of urban density, and their associated overarching built-environmental qualities—sprawling suburban settlements versus high-density urban cores, being the two ends of that urban form spectrum. the intricacies of urban morphology, and the associated cross-scalar focus on plot, street, and block patterns, were not taken into consideration with the same rigor as those that appeared under the urban morphology searches noted above. after this approach was exhausted to its full potential, the bibliographies of the relevant articles were mined to try to obtain further pieces of import. through this process, the work of siksna (1997), marcus (2005), ryan (2008), doherty et al. (2009), ko (2014), rode et al. (2014), danenberg et al. (2018), long et al. (2019), meng and xing (2019), narvaez (2019), li et al. (2020), thai et al. (2020), and lucato (2020) were homed in upon. while these discursive pieces offer some cleaner connections to the topic at hand, the relationship between urban morphology and housing stock diversity is once more not addressed directly. rather, this remaining discursive landscape seems to broadly fall under two areas of inquiry: (1) the relationship between urban plot patterns/morphologies and urban economic diversity; and (2) the intricacies of “urban vibrancy” within urban neighborhoods, a term linked back to the work of jacobs (1961). in the first area of inquiry, one can locate marcus (2005), danenberg et al. (2018), and thai et al. (2020). these works look at (1) the relationship between urban plot density and the density of economic actors (marcus 2005); (2) the role played by the subdivisibility and diversity of plots in supporting urban economic diversity (danenberg et al. 2018); and (3) differences in urban businesses in street-facing versus courtyard-facing conditions in hanoi (thai et al. 2020). kropf (2011) can also be placed within this discursive landscape, as it pushes the methodological framework for analyzing urban plot systems in the context of such research questions. siksna (1997) also falls within this area of discourse, taking a highly specific stance with regard to urbanmorphological elements and their idealized dimensions. the author asserts a precise optimal block size for a pedestrian-friendly city—i.e., square blocks that have a width and length of 60-70m (siksna 1997, 29). plot sizes are idealized at 15-20m widths and 30-40m depths, or around 450 – 800 sq.m. in area. these plot sizes are argued to be kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 optimal for producing small-to-mid-scale “traditional and contemporary building forms” and for developers to amalgamate multiple lots together as required (siksna 1997, 29). ryan (2008) although not giving such specific dimensions, reaffirms the idealized smaller-scale block size, pointing to the negative impacts triggered by the superblock typologies utilized to remake the urban fabric of detroit in the 20 th century. rode et al. (2014, 156) for instance suggest creating compact urban blocks or tall multi-family building typologies to better support thermal efficiency at the unit scale. ko (2014, 342) echoes these points but also stresses the importance of maximizing northern and southern exposures of plots in order to maximize potential solar gain as well as solar control. once more with this literature, the ideal of the small-to-moderate block re-emerges. idealized plot sizes are not noted, however, in the case of ko (2014), the importance of controlling plot orientation is brought to the forefront. doherty et al. (2009) also echo the energyand thermal efficiency of compact small-to-moderate urban blocks, however underscore that this type of urban morphology should not be imposed upon cultures whose social networks are accustomed to less dense settlement structures—i.e., the less-dense suburban structure ubiquitously observed throughout australia. within the works of long et al. (2019), meng and xing (2019), and li et al. (2020), in turn, the topic of ‘urban vibrancy’ is the underpinning area of investigation. a key dilemma framed by li et al. (2020, 3) is that “no definition of urban vibrancy is uniformly accepted among scholars and authorities.” yet some cornerstones of a vibrant neighborhood are understood to include: “small-to-moderate blocks with dense street networks, diverse and intense construction, multilevel/multiple city configurations [...] [and] intensity of human activities in urban space” (li et al. 2020, 3). diversity of housing stock, although presumably falling under the umbrella of diverse and intense construction, does not seem to be directly accounted for. the works of narvaez (2019) and lucato (2020) were the two pieces that didn’t fall within the above two discursive umbrellas. narvaez (2019) offers a combined analysis of urban block systems and accessibility/mobility network analysis, confirming the strong relationship between accessibility and real estate values. lucato (2020) in turn frames a historico-cultural counterpoint to this argument, noting that welfare estates in madrid exhibit high accessibility but support lower property values due to their underpinning nature as affordable housing structures. in looking at the literature in its entirety, three summarizing points can be drawn: (1) a substantial portion of the discourse, anchored around a network-analysis methodology (oftentimes linking back to space syntax), is primarily geared towards the assessment of real estate values or economic activities in relation to mobility/accessibility networks, and proximity to positive/negative externalities; (2) while the spatial intricacies of streets, buildings, plots, and blocks are accounted for to some degree, these parameters are largely overshadowed by the methodological structure, and the data that said structure is focused around, noted in the prior point; and (3) while some work does delve into the dynamics of the housing stock, those that attempt this inquiry in a cross scalar manner (e.g., working across the block-plot-unit spectrum in a rigorous manner) are few and far in between (kostourou 2021 being the primary example noted in this literature review). looking across this literature, certain urban-morphological qualities are consistently underscored in relation to supporting idealized built environmental dynamics. although not directly addressing housing options and variability, these urban morphological qualities include small-to-moderate blocks, fine-grained plots, and fine-grained street patterns. this paper is geared towards addressing the discursive gap noted herein while keeping these urban-morphological parameters in mind. 2. methodology within this study, four neighborhoods in madrid and barcelona (two per city) were analyzed in terms of parameters concerning urban morphology, the rental real estate market, and housing stock. the districts were selected based on their possession of widely differing (as widely as was possible) urban morphological qualities. two districts (one in madrid and one in barcelona) were selected for their more kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 homogeneous urban morphological character, and two (again one in each city) were selected for their more heterogeneous urban morphological character. the price of housing (sold/purchased), most recently coded by the two municipalities in 2019, was used as a control variable so as to compare neighborhoods of comparable income levels. conventionally, median family incomes would have been a more useful measure, however, this data was not readily available via municipal archives for all districts. while socio-political narratives were not a discursive layer of focus within this study, it was still deemed important to filter out potentially conflicting urban development trajectories in the selection of these districts. both of the morphologically heterogeneous districts were developed in a bottom-up manner beyond the confines of a top-down urban plan set in motion via centralized urban authorities; and similarly, both morphologically homogeneous districts were heavily shaped via preconceived top-down plans. for the remainder of the paper, the term bottom-up will be used (interchangeably with morphologically heterogeneous) to denote the morphologically heterogeneous districts; and top-down (interchangeably with morphologically-homogeneous) to denote the morphologically-homogeneous districts. the districts selected were bellas vistas (bottom-up, madrid), palos de la frontera (top-down, madrid), vila de gracia (bottom-up, barcelona), and nova esquerra de l’eixample (top-down, barcelona) the price of housing (sold/purchased) for these areas, obtained via the digital municipal archives of madrid and barcelona, were 3,943 euros / sq.m. (palos de la frontera) and 3,365 euros / sq.m. (bellas vistas) for madrid; and 4,198 euros / sq.m. (nova esquerra) and 4,836 euros / sq.m. (vila de gracia) for barcelona. while a nearly identical range of real estate values would have been ideal, this was the closest fitting pairing of morphologically divergent districts noted in these two cities. figure 1a, b, c, d. satellite photos at 5,700 ft. altitude taken via google earth, of madrid’s top-down palos de la frontera (figure 1a, top left) and bottom-up bellas vistas (figure 1b, top right); and barcelona’s top-down nova esquerra de l’eixample (figure 1c, bottom left) along with bottom-up vila de gracia (figure 1d, bottom right). historically, both madrid and barcelona set in motion comprehensive urban plans in the mid-nineteenth century. these are known as the plan castro in madrid, and the cerda plan in barcelona. the two top-down districts in kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 barcelona were portions of the cities directly shaped via these two comprehensive plans. the two bottom-up districts being studied were either: formed in a concurrent timeline to the urban plan but in a bottom-up manner outside of the plan’s boundaries, as in the case of bellas vistas; or seeded prior to the urban plan’s conception, as in the case of vila de gracia (ayuntamiento de madrid, 2022; ajuntament de barcelona, 2022) in terms of urban morphological data, block widths, block lengths, block areas, plot areas, and street widths were documented and coded. the publicly-accessible and digitized national cadastral map of spain maintained via la sede electrónica del catastro, was the main resource utilized for this process. for the rental real estate market, idealista, one of the two most actively used real estate websites in spain (the other being fotocasa), was mined for dwelling units for rent during october december 2021. a total of 755 rental units were found and coded: 137 in palos de la frontera (madrid), 132 in bellas vistas (madrid), 206 in nova esquerra de l’eixample (barcelona), and 280 for vila de gracia (barcelona). for each unit, the following information was mined and coded: location, area (sq.m.), number of bedrooms, rental price, and whether the units faced the street front (i.e., listed as “exterior”) or an internal courtyard (i.e., listed as “interior”). the rental price and area were the primary variables used in the results and findings section. whereas the location, number of bedrooms, and internal/external orientation were used in order to ensure comparable assortments of rental units were being analyzed across the districts. this required the omission of 12 units from vila de gracia, 7 from nova esquerra, 3 from palos de la frontera, and 4 from bellas vistas. after this filtering, all of the rental unit assortments fell within +-4% range of each other. more precisely, 91.3% (+/-3.2%) were found on non-mainstreet/boulevard and non-block-corner conditions; 6.4% (+/-2.8%) were found on main-street/boulevard conditions; and 2.3% (+/-0.8%) were found on block-corner conditions. for the housing stock specifics, the digital archives of the sede electronica del catastro were the resource utilized. for each neighborhood, randomized systematic sampling was used, with a sample size calculated to achieve a 95% confidence interval, with a 5% margin of error. the final sample sizes required to achieve this level of confidence were: 66 out of 79 blocks for bellas vistas (randomized systematic sampling required, in this case, the systematic skipping of every 6th block to achieve the desired sample count), 45 out of the 50 blocks of palos de la frontera, 137 out of the 211 blocks of vila de gracia, and 59 out of the 68 blocks of nova esquerra de l’eixample. for these blocks, all of the plot areas and dwelling unit areas were manually coded (in april-july 2022), as there was no means of downloading the information en masse via said archives. these datasets amounted to 780 plots and 8,193 units for bellas vistas; 507 plots and 12,204 units for palos de la frontera; 2,525 plots and 14,941 units for vila de gracia; and 1,181 plots and 20,959 units for nova esquerra. this data collection and coding phase took place from october 2021 – may 2022. beyond data analyses involving distribution curves; minimum, maximum, median, and mode values; calculations of quintiles, etc., the simpson diversity index (sdi) was used in order to quantify and compare the diversity of dwelling unit sizes, plot sizes, block sizes, and street widths in each neighborhood. the use of sdi calculations was based on the work of marcus and bobkova (2019), although within that work it was used to quantify the diversity of economic actors, as opposed to spatial conditions. in order to conduct sdi calculations, for each variable, size-based categories were first established. for instance, for block sizes, categories based on increments of 1,000 sq.m. were set up—e.g., blocks with an area of 0-1,000sq.m. fell within one category, blocks with an area of 1,001-2,000sq.m. another category, and so on. the sdi value was then calculated based on these 31 categories. while the details are explained further wherever the sdi appears in the subsequent sections, a close variation of this method was the basis utilized throughout the paper. the use of this metric was not pre-structured into the initial research design but rather was introduced during the data analysis stage, in order to try to check and quantify the suppositions of a neighborhood being more or less diverse than its counterparts when looking at distribution curves. the formula used for calculating this metric is: kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 within this formula, n represents the number of individuals of a single category (e.g. blocks of a neighborhood that are between 3,000-4,000 sq.m. in area) and n represents the total number of all elements (e.g., all the blocks in said neighborhood). the maximum value of the simpson diversity index is 1.0 (indicating infinite diversity), and the lowest value is 0.0 (indicating no diversity). 3. results the results that follow are framed around the following four domains: • the urban morphological differences between the neighborhoods being studied, and whether there are common patterns that emerge across the bottom-up and top-down pairs of districts. • the differences in rental residential real estate markets in said districts. • the differences in the ranges and distributions of dwelling unit sizes supported in the bottom-up versus topdown neighborhoods. • the cross-scalar relationships weaving together some of the layers and parameters noted in the above three areas. 3.1 urban morphology in assessing the urban-morphological differences between the four neighborhoods, analyses were centered around three variables—block sizes, plot sizes, and street widths. for these variables, data is presented in the form of (1) distribution graphs; (2) differences in minimum, maximum, and median values; (3) differences in urbanmorphological diversity, with diversity being calculated around the simpson diversity index (sdi) values; and (4) differences in urban-morphological granularity—that is, whether districts supported relatively higher or lower densities of the morphological elements in question. 3.1.1 blocks kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figures 2a, b. distribution curves showing block sizes for top-down (figure 2a, top image) and bottom-up (figure 2b, bottom image)) districts in madrid and barcelona. the minimum block sizes in the bottom-up districts were 245sq.m. (bellas vistas) and 457sq.m. (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 1,574sq.m. (palos de la frontera) and 732sq.m. (nova esquerra). this indicates that the top-down districts in madrid had a minimum block size of 542.4% larger than the bottom-up, and in barcelona, the top-down had a minimum block size of 60.2% larger than the bottom-up. the maximum block sizes in the bottom-up districts were 17,200 sq.m. (bellas vistas) and 21,400sq.m. (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 18,500sq.m. (palos de la frontera) and 59,700sq.m. (nova esquerra). this indicates that the top-down districts in madrid had a maximum block size of 8.6% larger than the bottom-up, and in barcelona, the top-down had a maximum block size of 179.0% larger than the bottom-up. the median block sizes in the bottom-up districts were 3,206 sq.m. (bellas vistas) and 4,048sq.m. (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 8,295sq.m. (palos de la frontera) and 12,500sq.m. (nova esquerra). this indicates that the top-down districts in madrid had a median block size 158.7% larger than the bottom-up, and in barcelona, the top-down had a median block size 208.8% larger than the bottom-up. across the board in both cities, whether it be minimum, maximum, or median values, the top-down had larger blocks when compared to the bottom-up. what of the diversity of block sizes? in order to calculate the simpson diversity index (sdi), blocks were first categorized by size. these size categories were based on increments of 1,000 sq.m., meaning that blocks with an area of 0-1,000 sq.m. fell within one category, blocks with an area of 1,001-2,000 sq.m. another category, and so on. a total of 31 categories were created, the final one being blocks greater than 30,000 sq.m. in area. the sdi value was then calculated based on these categories. the sdi values observed in the bottom-up districts, with regard to block sizes, were 0.87 (bellas vistas) and 0.88 (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 0.92 (palos de la frontera) and 0.72 (nova esquerra). this indicates that in barcelona, the bottom-up district is 22.2% more diverse in terms of block sizes than the top-down. however, this is not reflected in madrid. unexpectedly, while the sdi values for palos de la frontera and bellas vistas were relatively close, the top-down actually supported a 5.7% higher diversity of block sizes than the bottomup. with the madrid districts leaning one way and the barcelona districts the other, the case of top-down versus bottomup variations in urban morphological diversity at the scale of the block, in this case, remains inconclusive. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 the final metric of import for this section concerns urban-morphological grain or granularity. what does granularity entail? plots and blocks are inherently two-dimensional morphological elements. a plot cannot be placed on top of another plot, nor a block on top of another block. a 10,000 sq.m. district with a high density of blocks and plots, when compared to a 10,000 sq.m. district with a low density of blocks and plots, would exhibit a more intricate urbanmorphological granularity. plots and blocks, in order to achieve higher densities, would naturally have to be smaller than those in the other less-dense districts. hence the grain of the first district would be of a finer nature. another suitable synonym for this could be urban-morphological intricacy. however, having a high density of elements and having a highly intricate urban fabric are not always synonymous. this equivalency does not carry so cleanly into the third dimension. unlike plots and blocks, dwelling units can be stacked on top of other units. a district with a homogeneous grid of very tall residential buildings, with minimal setbacks between neighboring buildings, with each building supporting thousands of units—this district would exhibit a highly dense housing stock. however, if all the dwelling units were large-scale units (e.g., over 200 sq.m.), then this district, while still being high-density, would not exhibit intricate granularity in its housing stock. with regard to block-scale granularity, within the areas of the districts studied, the bottom-up contained 79 blocks (bellas vistas) and 211 blocks (vila de gracia), whereas the top-down contained 50 blocks (palos de la frontera) and 68 blocks (nova esquerra). with differences in overall geographic area corrected for, this indicates that the top-down district in madrid had 55.1% fewer blocks than the bottom-up, and in barcelona, the top-down had 60.4% fewer blocks than the bottom-up. the bottom-up districts therefore exhibited a much higher density of blocks, in both cities. put another way, the bottom-up consistently exhibited a more intricate (but not more diverse) urban morphological granularity with respect to block sizes. 3.1.2 plots kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 figures 3a, b. distribution curves showing plot sizes for top-down (figure 3a, top image) and bottom-up (figure 3b, bottom image) districts in madrid and barcelona. the minimum plot sizes in the bottom-up districts were 39sq.m. (bellas vistas) and 18sq.m. (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 75sq.m. (palos de la frontera) and 44sq.m. (nova esquerra). this indicates that the topdown districts in madrid had a minimum plot size of 92.3% larger than the bottom-up, and in barcelona, the topdown had a minimum plot size of 144.4% larger than the bottom-up. the maximum plot sizes in the bottom-up districts were 3,549 sq.m. (bellas vistas) and 2,976sq.m. (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 10,376sq.m. (palos de la frontera) and 21,176sq.m. (nova esquerra). this indicates that the top-down districts in madrid had a maximum plot size of 192.4% larger than the bottom-up, and in barcelona, the top-down had a maximum plot size of 611.6% larger than the bottom-up. the median plot sizes in the bottom-up districts were 207 sq.m. (bellas vistas) and 199sq.m. (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 417 sq.m. (palos de la frontera) and 356sq.m. (nova esquerra). this indicates that the top-down districts in madrid had a median plot size that was 101.4% larger than the bottom-up, and in barcelona, the top-down had a median plot size 78.9% larger than the bottom-up. in order to calculate the simpson diversity index (sdi), plots were first categorized by size. these size categories were based on increments of 100sq.m., meaning that plots with an area of 0-100sq.m. fell within one category, plots with an area of 101-200sq.m. another category, and so on. a total of 21 categories were created, the final one being plots greater than 2,000 sq.m. in area. the sdi value was then calculated based on these categories. the sdi values in the bottom-up districts were 0.80 (bellas vistas) and 0.73 (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 0.87 (palos de la frontera) and 0.87 (nova esquerra). this indicates that the top-down district in madrid had 8.2% higher diversity of plot sizes than the bottom-up, and the top-down in barcelona had 18.0% higher diversity than the bottom-up. with regard to granularity, the total number of plots observed in the bottom-up districts was 780 (bellas vistas) and 2,525 (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 507 (palos de la frontera) and 1,181 (nova esquerra). with differences in overall geographic area corrected for, this indicates that the top-down district in madrid had 53.4% fewer plots than the bottom-up, and in barcelona, the top-down had 42.5% fewer plots than the bottom-up. at the scale of the plot therefore, the data shows that while bottom-up districts supported smaller plot sizes across the board (minimum, maximum, and median) when compared to the top-down, unexpectedly the top-down consistently supported higher levels of plot-size diversity than their bottom-up counterparts. this indicates that at the plot scale, kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 bottom-up districts had less diverse but more intricate urban morphology—underscoring the discrepancy between urban morphological diversity and granularity noted in the prior section. 3.1.3 streets figures 4a, b. distribution curves showing block sizes for top-down (figure 4a, top image) and bottom-up (figure 4b, bottom image) districts in madrid and barcelona street widths are of particular importance to understanding the variations of public space that permeate throughout a neighborhood. their dimensions have significant influence over outdoor environmental qualities of light, air, and noise—qualities that exert influence over the indoor environmental quality of dwelling units. the minimum street widths observed in the bottom-up districts were 5m (bellas vistas) and 2m. (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 8m (both palos de la frontera and nova esquerra). the maximum street widths observed in the bottom-up districts were 40m (bellas vistas) and 26m (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 40m (palos de la frontera) and 50m (nova esquerra). the median street widths observed in the bottom-up kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 districts were 9m (bellas vistas) and 6m (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 15m (palos de la frontera) and 26m (nova esquerra). aside from the maximum street widths being equivalent in bellas vistas and palos de la frontera, once more the topdown had larger street widths when compared to their bottom-up counterparts (across minimum, maximum, and median values). in order to calculate diversity, street widths were sorted into categories according to size, starting with widths of 02m, and increasing in increments of 2m, with the final category being 30m+ wide streets. with these categories, the sdi values in the bottom-up districts were 0.73 (bellas vistas) and 0.55 (vila de gracia), and for the top-down districts 0.63 (palos de la frontera) and 0.26 (nova esquerra). this indicates that the bottom-up districts supported 16.3% (madrid) and 111.8% (barcelona) higher levels of street-width diversity when compared to their top-down counterparts. with regard to granularity, the total number of streets observed in the bottom-up districts was 66 (bellas vistas) and 133 (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 35 (palos de la frontera) and 26 (nova esquerra). with differences in overall geographic area corrected for, this indicates that the top-down district in madrid had 62.4% fewer streets than the bottom-up, and in barcelona, the top-down had 75.9% fewer streets than the bottom-up. unlike the prior calculations regarding blocks and plots, the morphological behavior of streets is fairly consistent across the board. the bottom-up supported smaller street widths (with regard to minimums, maximums, and medians), more diverse street widths, as well as a more intricate street network. 3.1.4 synthesis taking these three layers of urban morphological analyses into consideration—concerning block sizes, plot sizes, and street widths—what emerges? aside from one result (maximum street widths in the top-down and bottom-up districts of madrid being equal), the top-down districts consistently supported larger morphological elements when compared to the bottom-up (for minimum, maximum, as well as median values). the top-down supported 57.8% fewer blocks, 48.0% fewer plots, and 69.2% fewer streets, on average, when compared to their bottom-up counterparts. this clearly indicates that the bottom-up districts exhibited a more intricate morphological grain across scales. diversity is a more complicated picture. with block sizes, the findings were split—the bottom-up outperforming the top-down in barcelona, and vice versa in madrid. with plot sizes, the top-down was found to support a higher diversity than the bottom-up, in both madrid and barcelona. and with street widths, the bottom-up consistently exhibited higher diversity than the top-down, in both cities. these findings underscore that there is a clear and significant discrepancy between urban morphological diversity, and urban-morphological grain (i.e., urban morphological intricacy). namely, that diversity does not come hand-inhand with intricacy, and vice versa. 3.2 rental real estate values do the bottom-up neighborhoods sampled support different rental residential real estate markets when compared to their top-down counterparts? the hypothesized answer to this query was in the affirmative. the bottom-up neighborhoods studied were expected to behave as anomalous real estate bubbles within the urban fabric, offering a significantly wider, and on the lower end of the spectrum, more affordable, range of rental rates (euros / sq.m. / month) when compared to their top-down counterparts. this speculation leaned on the cross-scalar supposition that: (1) bottom-up districts will tend to exhibit a higher diversity of public space conditions; (2) this heightened diversity of public-space conditions will create diversities of outside-environmental qualities of light, air, views, noise, privacy, etc.; and (3) this will help to shape a wider range of appealing and unappealing real-estate conditions, directly impacting the range of rental rates throughout the neighborhood. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 figure 5: hypothesized distribution curves of the real estate values of the top-down versus bottom-up districts. the minimum rents in the bottom-up districts were 9.8 euros / sq.m. / month (bellas vistas) and 8.1 euros / sq.m. / month (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 10.0 euros / sq.m. / month (palos de la frontera) and 9.2 euros / sq.m. / month (nova esquerra). this indicates the top-down districts in madrid had a minimum rent 2.5% higher than the bottom-up, and in barcelona, the top-down had a minimum rent 13.9% higher than the bottom-up. the maximum rents in the bottom-up districts were 37.8 euros / sq.m. / month (bellas vistas) and 72.5 euros / sq.m. / month (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 87.5 euros / sq.m. / month (palos de la frontera) and 89.2 euros / sq.m. / month (nova esquerra). this indicates the top-down districts in madrid had a maximum rent 131.6% higher than the bottom-up, and in barcelona, the top-down had a maximum rent 23.4% higher than the bottom-up. the median rents in the bottom-up districts were 15.1 euros / sq.m. / month (bellas vistas) and 18.7 euros / sq.m. / month (vila de gracia), while for the top-down they were 15.8 euros / sq.m. / month (palos de la frontera) and 14.9 euros / sq.m. / month (nova esquerra). this indicates the top-down districts in madrid had a median rent that was 4.9% higher than the bottom-up, and for barcelona, the top-down had a median rent 20.3% lower than the bottomup. looking at minimum, maximum, and median values, the rent per square meter rates of dwelling units in bottom-up districts were consistently lower than those found within top-down districts. this was particularly exaggerated around maximum values, wherein the top-down district in madrid had a maximum rent 131.6% higher than the bottom-up, and the top-down in barcelona had a maximum rent 23.4% higher than the bottom-up. these results indicate that bottom-up districts offered more affordable footholds throughout both cities when compared to their top-down counterparts. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 figures 6a, b. distribution curves showing real estate values of palos de la frontera (top-down) and bellas vistas (bottom-up) in figure 6a (top image); and nova esquerra (top-down) and vila de gracia (bottom-up) in figure 6b (bottom image) beyond minimums, maximums, and medians, however, the distribution curves visualize another metric that is critical to capturing the real estate picture in full—namely, the mode. the mode marks the most frequently repeated real estate value range in the market. for all the districts, the mode rental range was 12-16 euros / sq.m. / month. for the bottom-up districts, 45% (bellas vistas) and 27% (vila de gracia) of all rentals fell within this range; and for the topdown districts, 47% (palos de la frontera) and 41% of all rentals fell within this range. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 the second-most frequent range was 16-20 euros / sq.m. / month. for the bottom-up districts, 33% (bellas vistas) and 19% (vila de gracia) of all rentals fell within this second range; and for the top-down districts, 26% (palos de la frontera) and 22% (nova de esquerra) of all rentals fell within this second range. diversity calculations also echo this point of comparable real estate behaviors across districts. in order to calculate sdi values, categories based on price / sq.m / month were established, starting with 0-4 euros / sq.m. / month, and increasing in 4 euro / sq.m. / month increments. this created a total of 19 categories, the final one being 72+ euros / sq.m. / month. the calculated sdi values for the bottom-up-districts were 0.89 (bellas vistas) and 0.92 (vila de gracia), and for the top-down districts, 0.93 (palos de la frontera) and 0.94 (nova esquerra). here the top-down (again unexpectedly) outperforms the bottom-up in terms of diversity of rental rates, however in this case the differences are quite minimal. in madrid, the top-down had an sdi of just 3.9% higher than the bottom-up, and in barcelona, the top-down had an sdi value of just 2.5% higher than the bottom-up. based on these findings, the initial hypothesis is simultaneously challenged and supported. minimum, maximum, and median values indicate a slightly more affordable behavior of the real estate market in bottom-up districts when compared to the top-down districts. however, the distribution curves and mode calculations indicate identical most frequent rent per month values. similarly, sdi values indicate comparable diversity levels of rental values. the bottom-up districts therefore seemed to support real estate markets that were slightly more affordable, slightly less diverse, and with the highest portion of their units falling in the same cost range (12-16 euros / sq.m. / month) as their planned counterparts. 3.3 housing stock do the bottom-up and top-down neighborhoods studied support different compositions of dwelling unit sizes across their housing stocks? kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 figures 7a, b. distribution curves showing dwelling unit areas of the housing stock of palos de la frontera (top-down) and bellas vistas (bottom-up) in figure 7a (top image); and nova esquerra (top-down) and vila de gracia (bottom-up) in figure 7b (bottom image). as opposed to minimum and maximum values used in prior sections, due to the sheer size of housing data, the use of quintiles proves to be more effective in first presenting the housing data succinctly. within dwelling units of bottom-up districts, the upper delimiter of the first quintile range was 47 sq.m. (bellas vistas) and 57sq.m. (vila de gracia), whereas with top-down districts this delimiter was 51 sq.m. (palos de la frontera) and 71sq.m. (nova esquerra. within dwelling units of bottom-up districts, the upper delimiter of the second quintile range was 62 sq.m. (bellas vistas) and 71sq.m. (vila de gracia), whereas with top-down districts this delimiter was 69 sq.m. (palos de la frontera) and 85sq.m. (nova esquerra). within dwelling units of bottom-up districts, the upper delimiter of the third quintile range was 76 sq.m. (bellas vistas) and 85 sq.m. (vila de gracia), whereas with top-down districts this delimiter was 85 sq.m. (palos de la frontera) and 99sq.m. (nova esquerra). within dwelling units of bottom-up districts, the upper delimiter of the fourth quintile range was 97 sq.m. (bellas vistas) and 111sq.m. (vila de gracia), whereas with top-down districts this delimiter was 109 sq.m. (palos de la frontera) and 116sq.m. (nova esquerra). based on these quintiles, the bottom-up districts are seen to consistently support smaller-scale dwelling units in comparison to their top-down counterparts—indicating a finer-grain housing stock, or more intricate housing stock granularity. median values further confirm this point. the median dwelling unit area for the bottom-up districts was 69 sq.m. (bellas vistas) and 78sq.m. (vila de gracia), compared to the top-down district median values of 76 sq.m. (palos de la frontera) and 96sq.m. (nova esquerra). this indicates that the bottom-up median dwelling units were 10.0% (madrid) and 23.1% (barcelona) smaller than their top-down counterparts. does this finer-grain however carry over to values of density? the total dwelling unit counts for the bottom-up districts were 8,193 (bellas vistas) and 14,941 (vila de gracia), and for the top-down districts 12,204 (palos de la frontera) and 20,959 (nova esquerra). with differences in overall geographic area corrected for, this indicates that the top-down district in madrid supported 5.6% more dwelling units than the bottom-up, and in barcelona, the top-down supported 69.7% more dwelling units than the bottom-up. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 do these variations in dwelling unit density carry over to actual population density? based on 2022 municipal demographic data, the density for the bottom-up districts was 416.6 persons/hectare (bellas vistas) and 398.2 persons/hectare (vila de gracia), and for the top-down they were 421.5 persons/hectare (palos de la frontera) and 433.3 persons/hectare (nova esquerra). this indicates that the top-down districts were slightly denser than the bottom-up—by 1.2% in the case of madrid and 8.8% in the case of barcelona. these findings indicate that the bottom-up districts, across both cities, consistently supported more-intricate housing stock granularity, but slightly lower district-scale population densities. what of housing stock diversity? in order to calculate the diversity of dwelling unit sizes, categories based on dwelling unit area ranges were established. starting with 0-10sq.m., and moving up in increments of 10sq.m., a total of 20 categories were established. calculated based on these categories, the sdi values for both bottom-up districts were 0.90 (bellas vistas and vila de gracia), and for the top-down districts, the values were 0.91 (palos de la frontera) and 0.89 (nova esquerra). regardless of bottom-up or top-down, all the districts fell approximately within the same diversity range, only deviating from one another by 1.1% in either direction. looking at the overarching picture, the question remains—does the housing stock of the sampled bottom-up neighborhoods consistently differ from their top-down counterparts? the answer is in the affirmative, however, in addition to the discrepancy between grain and diversity noted prior, density has now been added to the equation. the bottom-up districts exhibited finer-grain housing stocks, no significant differences in housing stock diversity, and slightly lower district scale population densities when compared to the top-down. even if real-estate market behaviors were identical across bottom-up and top-down districts, the more intricate housing-stock granularity noted here would indicate bottom-up districts supporting more affordable residential footholds, when compared to their top-down counterparts. naturally, smaller-scale units will cost less than largerscale units, when priced at the same rent-per-area values. however, there is a compounding effect that emerges here. in the prior section, it was demonstrated that the real-estate behaviors were not identical across the board. rather, the bottom-up exhibited slightly lower rental costs in maximum, minimum, and median metrics. in this section, these same bottom-up districts were found to support a more intricate housing stock granularity (across all quintiles). smaller-scale units, priced at slightly cheaper rent-per-area values, will of course be more affordable than larger-scale units, priced at slightly higher cost/area values. this strengthens the capacity of the bottom-up neighborhoods to offer cheaper residential footholds than their top-down counterparts. to put this in real terms, the upper delimiters of the first quintiles and the minimum rents of madrid can be taken as an example—that is, a 47 sq.m. one-bedroom apartment valued at 9.8 euros / sq.m. / month in bellas vistas (bottomup, madrid) and a 51 sq.m. one-bedroom apartment valued at 10.0 euros / sq.m. / month in palos de la frontera (topdown, madrid). the bellas vistas apartment would cost approximately 461 euros/month. the palos de la frontera apartment would cost approximately 510 euros/month—10.9% higher than the bellas vistas unit. 3.4 cross-scalar synthesis across sections 3.1-3.3, the following findings have emerged: • the bottom-up districts consistently supported a more intricate urban morphological granularity (in terms of block sizes, plot sizes, and street widths) when compared to their top-down counterparts. this granularity however was not consistently accompanied by heightened diversity of urban-morphological elements. • based on minimum, maximum, and median values, bottom-up districts supported slightly lower rents / sq.m. however, the rental ranges supported by top-down and bottom-up districts had nearly identical levels of diversity. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 18 • the bottom-up districts exhibited finer-grain housing stocks, no significant differences in housing stock diversity, and slightly lower district scale population densities when compared to the top-down. this more intricate housing stock granularity, combined with the slightly lower rents / sq.m. noted above, further supports the heightened affordability offered by bottom-up districts. table 1: collation of the diversity and granularity assessments emerging from the datasets analyzed throughout sections 3.1-3.3. note the mixed results with regard to diversity metrics, but the consistent results with regard to granularity metrics—with the bottom-up districts consistently supporting a finer grain, but not necessarily higher diversity, of urban morphological and housing stock parameters. parameter neighborhood type relative diversity (comparing top-down and bottom-up) relative granularity (comparing top-down and bottom-up) block sizes top-down mixed results coarser bottom-up mixed results finer plot sizes top-down more diverse coarser bottom-up less-diverse finer street widths top-down less diverse coarser bottom-up more diverse finer dwelling unit sizes top-down equal coarser bottom-up equal finer based on these findings, a subsequent question that arises is whether the smaller-scale dwelling units in the bottomup districts were situated in the smaller-scale plots of said districts. that is, whether there is a cross-scalar link between the plot stock and housing stock granularity in these neighborhoods. to begin this calculation, the average of all four districts’ median plot size (calculated to be 295sq.m.) and the average of all four districts’ median dwelling unit size (calculated to be 80.m.) were used to differentiate smaller-scale plots and units (plots below 295sq.m. or units below 80sq.m.) from larger-scale plots and units (plots greater than 295sq.m. or units greater than 80sq.m.). in bellas vistas (madrid, bottom-up), it was found that smaller-scale plots made up 39.6% of the district stock of plots, but supported 45.2% of the smaller-scale unit stock. in vila de gracia (barcelona, bottom-up) smaller-scale plots made up 59.1% of the district stock of plots but supported 65.7% of the smaller-scale unit stock. in palos de la frontera (madrid, top-down) smaller-scale plots made up 16.2% of the district stock of plots but supported 22.6% of the smaller-scale unit stock. in nova esquerra (barcelona, top-down), smaller-scale plots made up 21.5% of the district stock of plots but supported 37.3% of the smaller-scale unit stock. median areas of dwelling units situated on smallerversus larger-scale plots also confirm this pattern (see table 2). across all four districts, these median values indicate that smaller-scale units consistently tended to be situated on smaller-scale plots, and larger-scale units on larger-scale plots. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 19 table 2: median dwelling unit sizes for smalland large-scale plots (less than or greater than 295 sq.m. respectively), for the four districts studied. median dwelling unit size (sq.m.) neighborhood for small-scale plots (less than 295 sq.m.) for large-scale plots (greater than 295 sq.m.) bellas vistas 62 74 vila de gracia 76 95 palos de la frontera 63 80 nova esquerra 63 80 these analyses confirm that smaller-scale plots exhibited a higher likelihood of supporting smaller-scale housing units. a critical point to underscore is that this took place regardless of a district’s bottom-up versus top-down qualities. this indicates a significant relationship between the grain of urban plots and the grain of urban housing stock. a comparable cross-scalar relationship between smaller-scale blocks supporting the formation of smaller-scale plots however could not be verified. the inherent limitations to the design of urban buildings, and the tendency of urban multi-family buildings to aim for both front (street-facing) and rear (courtyard-facing) units, even within smaller-footprint buildings (kayatekin 2021, 891+902), support this relationship between small-scale plots and small-scale units. small plots, when setbacks and maximum plot coverage are taken into account, will produce even smaller building footprints. building plans, when communal/egress areas, wall widths, areas for building systems, etc., are taken into account, will produce even smaller total rentable areas. and when the aforementioned tendency of urban multi-family buildings trying to produce both frontand rear units is taken into account, this even smaller total rentable area would be divided in two. if these steps are followed for plot areas of 295 sq.m. or less, the remaining rentable units would seem to naturally fall within the smaller-scale ranges being discussed. this echoes the work of (pont et al 2019, 1239), “that fine-grain, compact plots are more often found in association with [compact mid-rise] building types” (1239). the reason for bellas vistas and vila de gracia outperforming their top-down counterparts in supporting a finergrained housing stock, therefore, seems to rest upon a basic issue of plot numbers. the two bottom-up districts simply had higher numbers of smaller-scale plots, which gave them a stronger urban morphological foundation for supporting higher numbers of smaller-scale units. the differences in the density of smaller-scale plots across districts are quite noteworthy. bellas vistas had a density of 167 smaller-scale plots (under 295 sq.m.) per hectare, compared to 33 plots per hectare for palos de la frontera; and vila de gracia had a density of 196 smaller-scale plots per hectare, compared to 56 plots per hectare for nova esquerra. these findings underscore the critical (and largely hidden) role played by intricate urban-morphological granularity in the context of urban housing stock diversity, as well as the critical need to understand granularity metrics in tandem with diversity metrics, to have a more precise picture of what is taking place within such complex built-environmental relationships. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 20 4. conclusions and implications three critical findings emerge from this research. first—granularity is not synonymous with diversity. more specifically, possessing an intricate urban morphological (or housing stock) granularity does not come hand-in-hand with having high urban morphological (or housing stock) diversity. within this work, the two bottom-up districts analyzed consistently exhibited a finer-grained urban morphology when compared to their top-down counterparts. however, these bottom-up districts were also often outperformed by their top-down counterparts in terms of the diversity of specific urban morphological elements. second—despite not possessing a higher diversity of urban morphological elements, the bottom-up districts still behaved as slightly divergent real estate bubbles when compared to the top-down neighborhoods. with regard to some variables (i.e., mode values), the real estate market of the four districts exhibited nearly identical behaviors. however, with regard to minimum, maximum, and median rent values, the two bottom-up districts consistently exhibited slightly cheaper, but not more diverse, rental rates than their top-down counterparts. third—across all the districts examined, smaller-scale plots consistently supported more than their expected share of smaller-scale dwelling units. this indicates the presence of a relationship between the intricacy of plot-scale urbanmorphological granularity, and the intricacy of a district’s housing stock. a comparable cross-scalar relationship between smaller-scale blocks supporting the formation of smaller-scale plots however could not be verified. to be clear, there do not appear to be any significant differences in how such small-scale plots operate whether they are situated in morphologically heterogeneous or -homogeneous districts. this indicates that regardless of morphological conditions, should a district’s plot stock be artificially incentivized or directly shaped to have greater numbers of smaller-scale plots, over time these plots should be able to comparably support the formation and maintenance of disproportionately elevated numbers of smaller-scale housing units. this is a finding of significance for urban design, urban planning, and urban policy. the affordability and variety of housing options are critical factors espoused by a range of contemporary urban initiatives, most notably within the fifteen-minute city framework being adopted by a range of municipalities worldwide (pozoukidou and chatziyiannaki 2001, 9). the findings within this paper of course do not offer full-fledged solutions for achieving the full range of housing stock variety and affordability required. however, the observed beneficial behavior of smaller-scale plots in supporting 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(2019). complex spatial morphology of urban housing price based on digital elevation model: a case study of wuhan city, china. sustainability 11, no. 2: 348. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11020348 https://journal-buildingscities.org/articles/10.5334/bc.140/main-text-b22 https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.75 http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-53314 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 25 doi: 10.21625/essd.v5i1.715 conservation techniques of architectural heritage and private property legal rights – case study alexandria, egypt khaled el-daghar 1 1 assistant professor beirut arab university, faculty of architecture design and built environment tripoli branch, lebanon e-mail: k.eldaghar@bau.edu.lb abstract conservation projects of architectural heritage primarily aim at preserving the cultural character and protecting the historical and value buildings through a set of techniques/approaches and concepts that deal with valuable urban heritage. these concepts and approaches are sometimes a major obstacle to community development. thus, for a better understanding of the debate over conservation versus development in terms of ownership and private property legal rights, the study will review the classification of different techniques by applying them at the level of architecture, urban and society. hence, these have been classified into three basic levels: building, urban and community, whereby policies for each type will be reviewed. these arguments will be discussed within the alexandrian experience in architectural heritage listing and management. moreover, the study also explores evaluation criteria of historical and value buildings, clarifying the attempts to conserve the architectural heritage in alexandria. the study focuses mainly on the conflict between conservation techniques and concept of private property legal rights, and hence, proposing some future measure to address the conflict of interests between conservation on one hand and private property ownership legal rights on the other. in addition, it will present some recommendations for preserving the unique architectural style of the mediterranean sea that distinguishes the city of alexandria. it will also adhere to the remains of this heritage by taking into consideration the legal rights of private property, which can contribute to the conservation techniques of architectural heritage for alexandria. © 2020 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords conservation; architectural heritage; private property; legal rights; alexandria egypt 1. introduction it is noticeable in recent years that there are many initiatives and real endeavors in alexandria governorate to conserve and protect the culture of this city. the culture is represented in preserving the historical and cultural heritage of the city; these initiatives and endeavors have followed a period of neglect resulting from the poor economic situation that occurred to the city in the past years (hanafi, 1993; alex med, 2008). this situation has caused a decrease in the resources spent by the state on the projects of development and conservation of the city buildings. this led to a clear violation of the urban and architectural heritage manifested in the historical and valuable buildings that are considered to be a national treasure and a special character of this city, distinguishing them from other egyptian and international cities (ministry of culture, 2010). http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v5i1.715&domain=press.ierek.com el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 26 private property legal rights are embedded in the conservation heritage processes practices in many societies worldwide. it is premised on the philosophy of community ownership and benefit/use. however, the legalistic public property concept, where ownership and benefit/use is vested in the state and the people, can only access and use with permission of the state. the state prevents the property owners from benefit/use, which leads to conflict, manipulate the law or even given away the building to external group with minimal benefit or common good for the people (guiso & sapienza & zingales, 2006). occasionally, this conflict maybe based on goodwill and some societal norms without necessarily any legislation (hezel & francis, 2009). 2. conservation techniques of architectural heritage 2.1. building level the building is the basic unit of the urbanization and there are numerous types, which can be classified for the buildings (el esawy, 2012), each type and classification has its own policy that can be dealt with through the building (as shown as figure 1): figure 1: the conservation techniques of architectural heritage – building level (author) 2.1.1. classification of building types monumental buildings: every property or movable produced by different civilizations or created by the arts, sciences, literature and religions from the prehistoric era and during the successive historical eras until a hundred years ago is considered as a monument. it is considered as a monument when it has an archeological or historical value or significance as a manifestation of different civilizations, or has a historical connection to it as well as the remains of human breeds and their contemporary beings (harrison & huntington, 2000; al-manshawi, 2013): heritage buildings: the total number of buildings, structures and formations, which form the product of what we have inherited from our ancestors and predecessors of cultural achievements and civilization features. value buildings: historical buildings, buildings associated with important events, visually distinct buildings of the city or have aesthetic value, visually distinct buildings (landmarks), important buildings in the formation of the public character, buildings with important function or functional value, buildings related to an important figure or symbolic value and buildings with architectural value. buildings that are not valuable but must be conserved: existing buildings, which are considered to be an urban heritage and a treasure to be preserved, especially if this heritage has an important significance on the basis that it completes the urban fabric. el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 27 2.1.2. building-level policies the conservation of the building has three basic determinants through which the policy of dealing with it can be decided. firstly, determining the main value of the building, i.e. the more important the building, the less freedom of choosing the handling policy; secondly, the current state of the building, i.e. the extent of damage: ruins, poor or good condition; and finally, the purpose or aim of the conservation process whether it is preservation of the original state of the building or the development and modification to suit with the modern era. accordingly, policies of dealing with buildings can be divided into the following (el esawy, 2012; al-manshawi, 2013): protection, retention and prevent deterioration of the building: these include maintenance, preservation and conservation policies. re-establishment and renewal of the building: these include restoration, reconstruction, renovation, up-grading, expansion, development and conversion policies. re-use of the building: these include the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse policies. substitution, transition and elimination of the building: these include replacement, saving and clearance policies. 2.2. urban level urban is the architecture or the continuation of countries by industry, trade and construction. the relationship between man and place is reciprocal. urbanization is considered as a reflection of the specificity and culture of the society and its features. it is the translation of a set of social relations, and the culture and heritage of society is the basic form that shapes its architecture. the urban environment is defined as the physical fabric that expresses the results of human interaction with its environment, in order to satisfy the material and spiritual requirements of man within the limits of his cultural, social and intellectual background (el borombaly, 2015). the urban environment consists of all that is constructed and man-made buildings/blocks and spaces (solid and void, and urban patterns), which is the rule governing the relationship of blocks with spaces (el esawy, 2012; al-manshawi, 2013): (as shown as figure 2): figure 2: the conservation techniques of architectural heritage – urban level (author) 2.2.1. classification of urban types urban is defined as the environment dominated by human additions, its material and non-material products, its human stable climax and its direct ranges (el borombaly, 2015): historical / archeological urban with a character: urban fabric or the heart of old cities where there are many distinctive features that indicate the ancient culture and nature of the users at the time. random urban (informal settlement): this is an urban construction that is built without permission or license on agricultural land basins, or built-up areas through actual possession or occupancy by laying primitive materials. the problem of this construction lies in the proximity or overlap of archaeological areas. el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 28 new cities: new towns and communities, and governmental and public housing are among the easiest areas to monitor and deal with, as they are pre-planned contrary to the above-mentioned types that grow progressively with no planning. 2.2.2. urban-level policies new urban communities: only maintenance and follow-up are required to prevent their degradation or the appearance of infringements in them (harrison & huntington, 2000): random urban: it varies according to its type, where dealing with built-up areas through actual possession or occupancy applying primitive materials must be by clearance and replacement. this is different from informal settlement, so it is better to deal with it through the policies of up-grading and renovation / renewal. in the worst cases, the policy of clearance and replacement is to be applied. historical and archeological urban: this is different in terms of the handling directions with this rare type of urbanization, between conservation and other approaches of development and improvement. this is based on the historical conditions of the region (urban, social, economic, etc.) and according to its location and worldview at the national and regional levels. 2.3. community level the community is considered among the most important pillars of conservation. if there is an indigenous community or an authentic craft in a historical place, it must be dealt with especially if it is complementary to the nature of the place (el borombaly, 2015). community is the third pillar and complementary to conservation, so the culture of society is reflected in its surrounding urbanization (as shown as figure 3): figure 3: the conservation techniques of architectural heritage – community level (author) 2.3.1. classification of community types each type of the classification has its own properties that it adds to its urbanization. if the community changed in some place, this would be one of the imbalance factors affecting urbanization. for example: if a rural community migrates to cities, i.e. to an urban community, this would be considered as an outlandish community, just like extraneous additions to buildings. therefore, a distinction must be made between the two words community and society (el esawy, 2012; al-manshawi, 2013). accordingly, existing communities in the archaeological areas can be divided into: local community of the region: it is considered as the heritage to be conserved, especially if this community is one of the historical societies that has an integrated role and has a social heritage of traditions and customs associated with it. it contains static and dynamic values reflecting the cultural characteristics of the society that in turn mirrors this architectural and urban heritage (el borombaly, 2015). therefore, one of the objectives of conservation projects el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 29 in this case is to preserve the original craft and the original community. in this case, we stand among several basic policies; preservation of the original craft, which cannot be moved or the nature of the place cannot exist without it, conservation of the same people inhabitants and artisans of the area, while having effective development control on the addition methods to the workmanship to ensure continuity of life in this area. that is the introduction of modern techniques in the existing crafts but with limits so as not to cause distortion of the general character of the place. in addition, this community can be dealt with through up-grading and rehabilitation to enhance community efficiency. a community can be taught a craft and many non-governmental organizations (ngos) work to raise the cultural and educational level, i.e. to return to its original craft, but with a modern perspective through which the standard of living and culture of the existing community can be raised (harrison & huntington, 2000). new community socially and culturally compatible: these are the non-indigenous communities in the region but the ones that share many common attributes among them and the indigenous/original community. otherwise, these communities work to sustain life or re-develop, and re-use of a particular area (el esawy, 2012; al-manshawi, 2013). mixed community socially and culturally incompatible: communities that cannot reconcile with the place and the intensity of the phenomenon often occur as a result of migration from the countryside to the cities due to high population density and lack of housing. they form a different fabric that is not homogeneous with urbanization or with the existing indigenous/original community. this community can be dealt with by the gradual replacement policy, which results in renovation / renewal of the community by moving them to other state housings and finding another alternative to the usage of these buildings. for example: the agency, whose primary function was to trade and accommodate traveling merchants, can be worked on by one of two ways; either by restoring its original function as commercial stores (bazaars), or exploiting them in a new use that ensures their survival and renewal by additive reuse them as studios (workshops) and places for artists to sell their paintings and their artistic products in the same archaeological agency. hence, the gradual replacement and renovation / renewal of community mean that community which does not conform to the place and to be replaced by another community that can be compatible with this place (el borombaly, 2015). 2.3.2. community-level policies (as an urban entity) there are many methods and policies to deal with the community, but compatibility of this community with the place must be identified through observing the extent of the deterioration caused by the community to the urban environment; therefore, the most appropriate policies of dealing with the community can be determined (harrison & huntington, 2000): compatibility of population categories with the existing areas: the characteristics of the population vary according to their urban areas. if this community is indigenous in the region, i.e. it is the community that has existed since the beginning of this region; this community is more compatible than any other exogenous/outsider community (el esawy, 2012; al-manshawi, 2013). community relationship with the extent of deterioration: there are many reasons caused by the community affecting the deterioration of urban areas, including (el borombaly, 2015): ▪ weak perception of the aesthetic or historical abstract value of the building and the inability to translate it into economic value, making some owners tend to distort and destruct the archaeological building deliberately, in order to cause damage that lead to its demolition, selling and benefit from the land. ▪ neglecting the necessary periodic maintenance needed for the conservation of this type of buildings. ▪ perform careless and distorted maintenance processes of the monument. ▪ the infringement of the architectural style by changing the building character, through modifying or adding technological innovations without considering the aesthetics of the building. ▪ damage caused by misuse of unsuitable function of the building. ▪ the redundancy of some buildings. ▪ the socio-economic incompatibility between current users and the original setting of the buildings (areas). el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 30 3. methodology as the study is exploring legal rights of private property as one of the conflicts that may impede the implementation efforts to conserve the architectural heritage, it will attempt to do so by reviewing conservation approaches of architectural heritage at three different levels: building level, urban level and community level. a number of case studies will then be presented in terms of their property legal rights within the conservation process by analizing the evaluation criteria of historical and value buildings, clarifying the conflict between conservation of architectural heritage and private property legal rights and the attempts for conserving the architectural heritage in the city of alexandria. taking into account the guidance of all local enitites to restore areas of historical interest to be preserved, the participation of all parties in the conservation projects to ensure continuity, and the reuse of heritage buildings in other functions that may serve the community. furthermore, the role of concerned international organizations is to be investigated, as well as the role of private investments in the continuation of these conservation projects, which can contribute to the process of conserving the architectural heritage in its different forms at the city of alexandria. 4. case study preserving the architectural heritage and private property legal rights 4.1. background of alexandria, egypt alexandria is the second-largest city in egypt and a major economic center, extending about 32 km along the coast of the mediterranean sea in the north central part of the country. alexandria was founded around a small, ancient egyptian town 332 bc by alexander the great, king of macedon and leader of the greek league of corinth, during his conquest of the achaemenid empire. alexandria became an important center of hellenistic civilization and remained the capital of ptolemaic egypt and roman and byzantine egypt for almost 1,000 years, until the muslim conquest of egypt in ad 641. hellenistic alexandria was best known for the lighthouse of alexandria (pharos), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and alexandria great library that was the largest in the ancient world. the city was at one time the second most powerful city of the ancient mediterranean region, after rome. from the late eighteenth century, alexandria became a major center of the international shipping industry and one of the most important trading centers in the world (alex med, 2008). 4.2. evaluation criteria of heritage and value buildings in alexandria conservation and preservation of architectural heritage represent a message in preserving the values of public and private properties. these values help to set priorities in the conservation or preservation and maintenance of historical buildings. for example, the buildings that were established in alexandria during the end of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the beginning of the twentieth century, many architects/artists created beautiful iconic landmarks/memorials that soon chronicle the history of the nation (abdel fattah, 2012; ministry of culture, 2010), this can be shown in the monument of saad zaghloul in 1923, where it stands tall, attracting tourists from all around the world (as shown as figure 4): figure 4: the monument of saad zaghloul, raml station alexandria (imgrum, 2018) el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 31 the values of public and private property come in three main axes: firstly, emotional values, i.e. admiration of the building, sense of identity or subjectivity, continuity through the ages and spiritual symbols; secondly, cultural values, i.e. documentaries, historical, archeological, architectural, urban, scientific and natural reserves); and finaly, usage values, i.e. functional, economic, social, traditional and political (abdel fattah, 2012; ministry of culture, 2010). for example: historical values: a famous owner (resident or beneficiary of the place), rare (according to the place's history) and precedence of construction (the first building of its kind at this time) (abdel fattah, 2012; ministry of culture, 2010), such as the egypt station (as shown as figure 5), the oldest railway station in alexandria. it was built in the thirties of the last century and was mentioned that the egyptian station, in its current form, was opened in 1927 (part musings, 2015), a pioneer building such as the first municipal council in egypt, and the old wooden buildings of the fish market in anfoushi in alexandria. figure 5: egypt railway station building alexandria (part musings, 2015) architectural values: the symbol (the building has an aesthetical character), the style (construction and building by one of the pioneer architects), the materials (materials of construction and building were used for the first time in that era) and the elements of construction (such as handwork ornaments or landscape of rare trees) (abdel fattah, 2012; ministry of culture, 2010), such as montaza palace in 1892 (as shown as figure 6), the khedive abbas ii built the palace to serve as a summer residence for his family. until king farouk rose to egypt's throne, the montaza palace remained the royal summer residence of the royal family. the beauty of the palace lies in its unique location on the alexandria beach, where it was built on a high plateau surrounded by gardens and forests on an area of 150 acres. its architecture combines french and islamic ottoman styles, and its gardens include basins of flowers, plants, trees, playgrounds, children's garden, a summer stage and a center for marine sports (egypt travel link, 2004). figure 6: montaza palace (montaza royal gardens 150 acres) alexandria (egypt travel link, 2004) el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 32 functional values: it can be defined as any building performing a certain function for the first time in history (abdel fattah, 2012; ministry of culture, 2010), such as collège saint marc in 1928 (as shown as figure 7). it was the first school in alexandria that taught all pre-university levels at that time. the history of collège saint marc dates back to 1921 when the monks managing st. catherine school thought that they needed a new school to accommodate the increasing number of students, so they went to king fouad asking permission to build a new school, and the foundation stone was laid in 1926 on an area vacant of any buildings in el shatby. the school opened in 1928, and the monks themselves supervised the building and proposed some designs based on their knowledge of architecture sciences (aaha index, 2008). figure 7: collège saint marc, el shatby alexandria (aaha index, 2008) 4.3. conserving architectural heritage and private property legal rights in alexandria one of the main problems facing the conservation of heritage buildings is the dispute/conflict between the freedom and legal rights in privately owning these buildings (regardless the civilizational and cultural considerations) and the holding or controlling those buildings through governments (regardless the individual considerations of private property). this adopted the idea of the welfare of the community over the rights of individuals, supported by those advocating the process of conserving the architectural heritage. these are mostly the class of intellectuals and academics. it is clear that these policies are quite unfair to the rights of the owners of those buildings. in addition, it is clear that these policies did not bring about any positive results to preserve the architectural heritage. rather, they had a negative impact on the plans to conserve the historical and value buildings, which likely outweigh the economical aspect more than the cultural issue in most cases. consequently, when evaluating the conservation cases of architectural heritage, consideration should be given to the issue of the private ownership/property of these heritage buildings in order to conserve and preserve them. the main obstacle in the conservation process of architectural heritage is money because the property of those buildings belongs to ordinary people who took the position of defending their legal rights in their own ownership of that heritage and to benefit from it. recently, the increase in the value of construction lands in the city and the spread of the increasing temptations of businessmen led the owners of those unique buildings to sell them to some construction companies. as a result, this demolished these historical and value buildings through legal methods and was replaced by residential towers to earn a large amount of money. for example, villa checorail in 1930 (as shown as figure 8) was built by the art deco style. it was designed by three of the most famous french architects: leon aziman, jack hardy and george park, and was especially famous for the wealthy checorail and his heirs until the nationalization laws of the 1950s and 1960s were passed and it was nationalized. it has been expropriated to become like the rest of what was nationalized then as the property of the egyptian state. regardless of the moral or legitimacy of this nationalization, it has become the property of all egyptians. then, in the 1970s, the villa was a presidential residence. finally, the harsh blow to this wonderful villa comes from a decision issued by a former prime minister, removing it from the list of heritage, as el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 33 well as removing it from the list of the archaeological / historical buildings of the city (el mwatin newspaper, 2016). thus, there is nothing to prevent its demolition, after obtaining the necessary permits. figure 8: villa checorail, ahmed shawki street; roshdy alexandria (el mwatin newspaper, 2016) therefore, it is necessary to think in an unusual way to conserve or preserve such works of unique cultural heritage by taking into consideration the private property’s legal rights and the cost of conserving these buildings with the help of the regional and international cultural organizations and communities. this is made to prevent the reoccurrence of disasters against architectural heritage, such as what happened in villa gustave aghion 1922 (as shown as figure 9). at the beginning of the twentieth-century, gustave aghion commissioned the french pioneer architect auguste perret to build a villa in the wabour al mayah district in the center of alexandria, where construction began during this period. unesco has listed a number of buildings designed by perret in the world heritage list due to their high value to become a heritage for all humanity not for one nation. however, villa aghion is listed as a monument within the french architectural heritage only and not on the unesco's list according to what was released by sources in the egyptian ministry of antiquities, following a wave of protests in the alexandrian community on the demolition of the historical villa (news, 2014). the technical secretariat for the conservation of architectural heritage in alexandria warned in a report that "the governorate is facing a historical disaster, after the removal of 43 historical villa, palace and building from the list of heritage in alexandria, and entering into the preparations for demolition". unfortunately, the last of these demolished buildings was villa gustave aghion in 2010s. figure 9: villa gustave aghion, ahmed ismail street alexandria (news, 2014) el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 34 4.4. attempts for conserving the architectural heritage in alexandria the possibility of compatibility between conserving architectural heritage and private property legal rights may clearly be demonstrated in the incident of the u.s. consulate general in alexandria. the consulate was a royal palace for several decades known as the magnificent basili palace 1928 (as shown as figure 10) on el-horeya road (formerly known as fouad street), which was a villa of the greek timber merchant basili, built in modern italian style and remained until 1954 and then sold to the u.s. consulate, which remained until it was bought by the supreme council of antiquities in 1996. it was decided to be closed at the end of the twentieth century and was for sale. a businessman offered to buy it for 22 million egyptian pounds and to turn it into huge residential buildings. however, the egyptian ministry of culture presented an offer to buy the consulate and use it as a museum for the history of alexandria. the offer was approved by the u.s. consulate. although the ministry of culture's offer was only 8 million egyptian pounds, the u.s. consulate has accepted the much lower price so that this palace again would be used for the noble purpose as (alexandria national museum). the museum mainly focuses on three collections: ancient egyptian, coptic and muslim, and includes a collection of about 1800 artifacts covering all ages from the old kingdom to the modern era and completes the collection contained in the greek museum. it remains a rare and unique building of the mediterranean architectural heritage (home-sis., 2016). the incident does not need more comments, but may serve as a message "to whom it may concern". figure 10: alexandria national museum (formerly known as basili palace), el-horeya road alexandria (home-sis., 2016) 5. conclusions the reason for these crimes against the architectural heritage of alexandria is the increasing cases of selling those unique and value buildings through their owners in an attempt to make money since this is considered as their constitutional right. the government of the july 23, 1952 revolution excluded a few rare cases, where it confiscated a number of villas and palaces used to serve governmental purposes. however, there were some owners who preferred to sell their villas and palaces to banks, companies and organizations suited to their activities. therefore, it is necessary for the government and the concerned bodies to intervene, in order to conserve these architectural heritage and value buildings. this intervention is considered parallel to the application of the laws that prevent the demolition or modification of these buildings. definitely, this must be done by legal means that address the investment and economic companies and the banks by obliging them to use these buildings for the purposes of their departments and companies while ensuring their commitment to regular maintenance without any interference that could damage the value of these buildings. this proposal can be supported by a legal mechanism/technique guarantees the state to conserve these heritage and value buildings by self-financing, as long as it is done through a team work with high technical capabilities in conservation and preservation fields. there have been successful examples of major banks, institutions and companies that have stimulated their efforts and strength to support this noble objective in order to conserve this national wealth. at the same time, they support el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 35 the private property legal rights for owners of these buildings and compensate them financially in a rewarding, civilized and respectful manner. furthermore, increase awareness and motivation for public participation while clarifying the value of those heritage buildings. likewise, it is also possible to increase the awareness of future generations by adding these concepts and information to educational programs, enabling these children to recognize the importance of conservation and development policies and values for valuable heritage and historical buildings, alongside the following: 1. the importance of increasing popular participation and cultural awareness of the value of alexandria city architectural heritage to unite the public opinion to face the overwhelming materialistic/economic ambitions prevalent in those days. 2. the importance of adherence to the implementation of conservation laws and policies very firmly, which helps to develop the national wealth and heritage, while updating the inventory and conservation lists of heritage in alexandria, and activating the role of the conservation committees in the city, such as the technical secretariat for the conservation of architectural heritage in alexandria, and not issuing weak administrative decisions that would lead to the loss of these architectural heritage and value buildings. 3. the importance of amending law no. 144 of 2006 regarding the regulation of the demolition of buildings and non-fallable buildings and preservation of architectural heritage, and the attempt of filling the existing gaps in its executive regulation, beside the revision of ministerial decree no. 301 of 2016 and in coordination with the national organization for urban harmony. 4. the importance of re-reviewing the judgments issued by the administrative court of justice in the last twenty years, which approved the removal of 43 villas and palaces in alexandria from the heritage folder/report, while putting a deterrent punishment for demolition contractors when they demolish buildings without obtaining the necessary permits. 5. the importance of creating unusual ways to motivate institutions, major banks and companies to adopt the process of conserving and developing the architectural heritage of alexandria, through the enactment of appropriate legislations and fair legal settlements for the private property legal rights of the historical and value buildings owners. 6. acknowledgement my profuse thanks and gratefulness go 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(2014). sport and opinion from the guardian's us edition. demolition of alexandria architectural gem begins, world news, the guardian. retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/06/demolition-alexandria-architectural-villa-aghion part musings. (2015). part travel blog. page 2 – part musings, part travel blog. retrieved from http://qtplum.wordpress.com/page/2/ http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 11 june 2023, accepted: 13 september 2023, published online: 30 september 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8.i4.972 ethics, care, and the architect’s responsibility to society and environment jasmine fraser1, andrew burgess2, megan burfoot3, charles walker4 1phd student at school of future environments, auckland university of technology (aut), new zealand 2head of department – architecture, school of future environments, auckland university of technology (aut), new zealand 3lecturer, school of future environments, auckland university of technology (aut), new zealand 4head of school, school of future environments, auckland university of technology (aut), new zealand abstract in the context of both a crisis of affordable housing and a climate and biodiversity crisis, what is the architect’s responsibility to society and the planet? new zealand architects’ code of ethics is set out in legislation: architects rules 2006. these rules address the obligation of the architect to the client, and to the profession. however, beyond a requirement to uphold the law and to report on risk to public health and safety, there are no specific rules addressing the impact of architecture on future occupants, wider society, the climate, or the biosphere. arguably, architects are legally obligated to meet the needs and goals of their clients, over any responsibility they may feel to design socially and environmentally sensitive and resilient buildings. feminist ethics of care emphasises the importance of our relationships with others. fundamental to care ethics is attentiveness to the needs of others who we are in relation with, and increasingly, our understanding of these relations is being extended beyond the direct relationship to a global and planetary view. taking an ethics of care lens to the code of minimum standards of ethical conduct for registered architects, we contend that these rules are inadequate to equip architects to face present and future challenges. we argue that responsible design needs to be embedded as an ethical obligation of architects. the underlying ethical framework of architects’ professional ethics should be reconsidered in relation to the needs of our society and our planet. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review is under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords feminist ethics of care; professional ethics; responsibility; 1. why should we care? globally and locally, humanity is grappling with a series of interconnected crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, the implications of the covid 19 pandemic, the cost of living and unaffordable housing, as well as democratic and social struggles impacting community wellbeing. architecture plays a role in creating and exacerbating these issues, but can also play a role in the mitigation and resolution of them (fernandez-antolin et al.. 2022; motta 2020; schindler http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i4.972&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 2019). at the least, architects could strive to not further contribute to these crises, and at best could be part of working towards a better future for all. yet, this paper argues, the scope of and framing of our professional role can limit architects’ agency to act and thereby their perceived responsibility to act. care is our first experience and we intuitively understand what it is to care (held 2006) – to have a care for, to take care of, to care about – though the word care and the concept of care can seem elusive or open to interpretation. care incorporates the practical act of providing for life and well-being – including the provision of shelter and its creation and maintenance (krasny 2019). care as “attention and minding” is “functionally nearly essential” (baier 1990). care also encompasses the emotional experience of worry, concern, affection; worry for events real and imagined, and worry for one’s own well-being and the wellbeing of others whether particular others or more general care for others in society (o’dowd 2016). incorporating both action and intention, care is both “practice and value” (held 2006). the role of the architect incorporates these elements of care (cohen & fenster 2021; krasny 2019), and how they are articulated and prioritised can affect the qualities of the outcome. if the architect cares more for the client’s concerns regarding profitability, or more for their reputation and the winning of awards, than for the long-term social and environmental impacts of their building, they risk what is first deemed a successful building becoming problematic over time (power & bergen 2019, hurk & siemiatycki 2018). yet the risk of prioritising social and environmental outcomes over other more immediate concerns may be professional or business failure. discussions of ethics often deal with competing rights (waldon 1989); architecture, however, is the art of balancing competing considerations such that they are in concert rather than competition (khoury 2021, radford 2009), and architects “are uniquely qualified to exercise ‘moral imagination’ when it comes to situations where moral deliberation is needed” (collier 2006). this article forms part of ongoing research into architectural professional ethics and architects’ accountability and agency. starting with a brief outline of the architects’ role, especially in relation to the aforementioned crises, followed by a review of professional ethics and the ethics of care, we then undertake a review of the current new zealand architects’ code of minimum standards of ethical conduct (2018), including a comparision with selected international codes of ethics and/or conduct, to assess the adequacy of the new zealand architects’ code of ethics, in the face of these multiplicitous crises. this paper has not undertaken a historical review of previous interations of the architects’ code of ethics, which is an important part of the next steps in this research. related to both ethics and care, are te ao māori notions of kaitiakitanga (guardianship and care for the environment), manaaki (support and care of others), and whanaungatanga (relationship, kinship); while this paper does not explore these concepts, any ethical framework for architects in aotearoa new zealand should incorporate tikanga māori. 1.1 the architect’s responsibility understanding the architect’s role, and the place of ethics with it, requires understanding architecture as a profession. professionalism is at core a social contract or bargain (marcuse 1976) made between “knowledge communities” (larson 2018) and society, wherein those experts are accorded certain privileges and protections in exchange for selfpolicing and serving public interest (larson 2018; salloch 2016; marcuse 1976). but professionalisation is more than just a “search for status, trust and autonomy through the certification of superior knowledge” (larson 2018), the value of the work to the professional is greater because of its value to the individual and to society than of its market value (larson 2018; salloch 2016). it is broadly and relatively uncritically accepted within the profession, that architecture is a public good (spector 2014). the establishment of a professional body to regulate both education and registration, minimum standards of knowledge and competency, and having a code of ethics are all taken to be evidence for this (larson 2018; fisher 2010; marcuse 1976). architects’ professional organisations set out the role of architects and the necessary areas of competency required to perform that role. a range of activities make up the scope of architects professional services, from site selection through to construction completion (nzia). there are points all along the process of creating new buildings and urban spaces, at which architects’ skills and knowledge can positively impact the social and environmental outcomes of our work – or indeed negatively impact these outcomes (fernandez-antolin et al 2022; motta 2020; schindler 2019; dooling 2009). architects: fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 influence the framing and goals of the brief. inform and/or determine the siting and bulk & location of the building. resolve the organisation of space and the relations of activities and needs. advise on and make decisions for the selection of materials. advise on and coordinate consultation with interested parties and affected groups. manage tendering, negotiation, and the establishment and administration of the construction contract. observe the construction of the building, ensuring compliance with the design documentation and intent. 1.2. ethics and care feminist ethics of care was first articulated in the 1980s in response to a perceived gap in traditional western ethics, in that it did not address the domestic sphere, only the public (held 2006). further, traditional ethical traditions also typically centre on the rational autonomous agent, a way of being that does not reflect many women's reality or experience of the world (held 2006). carol gilligan’s seminal 1982 work a different voice identified that psychology and ethics at the time only studied men and were missing half the population, half the sample (gilligan 2018). in listening to the voices of women on moral issues, gilligan heard “the voices of psychological theory [of the time] intoning separation, autonomy, and independence, and…women’s voices speaking about relationships and interdependence” (gilligan 2018). her work highlighted “the tension between human psychology and the culture of patriarchy” (gilligan 2018). following on from this work, nel noddings set out to formulate a theory of ethics based upon the care perpective that gilligan identified (davion 1993). care ethics focuses on the relations between people, emphasising that the ethical response is dependant on circumstance and the nature of the relation (held 2006). in this way care ethics can grapple with dependent relations, disparate need, and questions of power (sander-staudt 2006) – an intersectional lens deepens the abiltiy of care ethics to address these imbalances (hankivsky 2014). while at first care ethics was adopted principally into domestic relations and caring professions (eg medical professions) since the early part of this century, care ethics has increasingly been used to examine wider social, political, and global concerns (held 2006). although the current nz code of ethics is not explicitly grounded in any particular ethical tradition or framework, the political and theoretical space that the code was developed within can be understood as informed by the dominant western ethical traditions of consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics (fisher 2010). consequentialism/utilitarianism (driver 2022): the rightness of an action is determined by the consequences of the action. emphasises impartiality and agent neutrality. deontology (alexander & moore 2021): sets out duties and rules. emphasises the intention of the autonomous moral agent. virtue ethics (hursthouse & pettigrove 2022): centred on the moral character of the agent. practical wisdom from lived experience. action and intention are important. ethics of care (held 2006): caring relations. relationally autonomous. fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 requires both caring action and caring intention. a key difference between care ethics and the dominant western traditions is the focus, not on an autonomous disinterested agent, but on the caring relations that we all experience and operate within, and what that means for our responsibilty to care for others (held 2006). virginia held argues that these dominant moral theories are too abstract and that they approach moral questions as “conflicts between egoistic individual interests… and universal moral principals”, overlooking the everyday space between these extremes – it is this liminal zone that care ethics is particularly interested in (held 2006). due to this relational aspect of care, care theorists acknowledge that rather than being truly autonomous, people are relationally-autonomous or heteronomous agents (mackay 2020). the agency dilemma suggests that an agent who is not autonomous – who is influenced or dominated by an other cannot be considered to be moral, or held morally responsible for their actions (mackay 2020). similarly, the concept that “ought implies can” (that is if a person cannot act then they cannot be morally obligated to do so) removes moral agency and responsibility in the absence of the ability to act (buckwalter 2020). some feminist theorists have argued for the ability of heteronomous agents to be held morally responsible (mackay 2020), and despite the wide acceptance of “ought implies can”, there are arguments against this concept, buckwalter (2020) suggests that whilst we may not blame someone for failing to act where they cannot, that does not necessarily remove their moral responsibility. this has impacts for professionals obligated to serve their client’s interest – are their actions truly autonomous, and if not can they be held morally accountable? professional codes of ethics include requirements to act autonomously, or disinterestedly, yet also to serve the client interest within the bounds of the law (larson 2018, marcuse 1976). though not a heteronomous agent (subject to rule from outside themself) the architect’s decisions are subject to building and planning codes, client needs and preferences, cultural influences, economic conditions. mackenzie (2008) makes the case for “relational automony” as a means to assert the normative autonomy of an agent whose autonomy is “impaired”, using the example of a patient in a heathcare scenario. whilst the scenario of a healthcare patient, and that of an architect are dissimilar, the concept of relational autonomy holds potential as a way to consider the intersecting roles and obligations of professionalism. while some theorists locate ethics of care within virtue ethics, and others consider it the ‘primary virtue’, held (2006) maintains that without care nothing else can exist (that one’s survival, from birth, is dependant on care) and frames care as the broader design within which all other ethical traditions should be located. regardless of social status, life experience, or health, everyone will experience care – either giving or receiving – over the course of their life (hankivsky 2014), and will have a sense of the quality of that care, whether good, bad, or indifferent (held 2006). sander-staudt (2006) addresses the “unhappy marriage” of virtue ethics and care ethics, making the case for each to maintain “theoretical autonomy”, avoiding entanglement or domination of one over the other, whilst providing mutual benefit. in a similar vein, helga varden (forthcoming) argues that “bringing kant's philosophy into dialogue with care theorists…advances the insights of both traditions by showing one way to arrive at a multifaceted, yet unified account of human care relations where our embodied, social as well as our rational natures are given due consideration.” criticisms of care ethics include the care-giver dominating the care-reciever, and conversely the care-giver subsumming themself to the act of care, putting the needs of others ahead of their own (sander-staudt 2006, puka 1990). toxic forms of care do exist and are part of why an ethics of care is necessary, as is an understanding of justice ethics to support it (held 2006). ethical care should involve enabling people (both care-givers and care-recievers) to realise their own agency (held 2006). chadha-sridhar (2023) addresses the contradictory conceptions of care – as complex and often problematic social practices, and as a moral ideal and frames care as a “thick ethical concept” conveying both discriptive and evaluative concepts. feminist criticism of care ethics includes concerns that cares ethics reinforces traditional gender roles and attitudes (puka 1990), and takes a narrow (white, western) view of womanhood and care (hankivsky 2014). the importance of ‘feminist’ in feminist ethics of care is that care ethics is for all genders (held 2006). care ethics takes a critical view of traditional practices of care and the patriarchal conditions under which they are created (held 2006). these traditional practices can obscure and oppress reciprocal values of care, and care ethics seeks to bring attention to these fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 values and extend them “as appropriate throughout society, along with justice.” (held 2006) hankivsky (2014) sets out an argument for an “intersectionally inspired care ethics”, and the corollary of incorporating care into intersectional theory. stating that “care ethics and intersectionality share normative ideals towards social justice”, hankivsky suggests that care ethics in dialogue with intersectionality can “punctuate attention to social diversity and inequities of power” (hankivsky 2014). “it is the relatedness of human beings, built and rebuilt, that the ethics of care is being developed to try to understand, evaluate, and guide.” – virgina held (2006). 2.the current code the registered architects act 2005 establishes the new zealand registered architects board (nzrab) and requires the board to formulate a set of rules for registered architects. these are then established in law as registered architects rules 2006, and were last updated in 2018. the act requires those rules to contain minimum standards of competence, minimum standard for demonstrating competence, and minimum standards of ethical conduct. the current rules have a broad outline of the areas of competence for registration, a detailed accounting of the process to maintain registration, and then a set of specific rules for ethical conduct, which is also reproduced as a two page document, the new zealand architects’ code of minimum standards of ethical conduct, by the nzrab. the current act replaced the architects act 1963, under which the architects education and registration board (aerb) was responsible for the registration of architects, and the creation of a code of ethics. the ministry of business, innovation and employment (mbie) has recently begun a review of the architects act 2006 as part of broader building industry reforms. these reforms are guided by the 1999 cabinet policy for occupational regulation, which requires occupational regulation where there is a risk of significant harm to the public. the ministry’s consultation document poses several questions, including whether architects still need to be regulated by legislation, and how the gap between registered architects and licensed building practitioners (lbps) could be closed (mbie 2023). 2.1. comparison with other codes this study involved an analysis of the new zealand architects’ code of minimum standards of ethical conduct 2018, alongside selected codes of conduct and ethics for architects from australia, the united kingdom, the united states, and the european union, as well as the codes of ethics for licensed building practitioners (lbps) and engineers in new zealand. these are set out in table 1. table 1 codes included in study country / union organisation/authority title year status aotearoa new zealand nz registered architects board (nzrab) architects’ code of minimum standards of ethical conduct 2018 legal aotearoa new zealand ministry of business, innovation & employment: licensed building practitioners code of ethics for licenced building practitioners 2022 legal aotearoa new zealand engineering new zealand institute of engineering professionals code of ethical conduct 2016 prof united kingdom architects’ registration board (arb) the architects code: standards of professional conduct and practice 2017 legal united kingdom royal institute of british architects (riba) code of professional conduct 2021 prof australia architects’ accreditation council of australia (aaca), and the royal australian institute of architects (raia) architects’ model statutory code of professional standards and conduct 2003 model fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 usa national council of architectural registration boards (ncarb) model rules of conduct 2018 model usa american institute of architects (aia) code of ethics and professional conduct 2020 prof european union architects’ council of europe (aca) deontological code for providers of architectural services 2016 model as previously noted, the new zealand code of ethics is embeded in legislation. the arb architects code is also required by legislation, architects act 1997, and can be used in disciplinary matters relating to registration. the australian model code contains “the core requirements to be adopted in each state and territory” to meet the requirements of the 2003 act, where it would then be enforceable (aaca & raia 2003). the ncarb model rules are also designed to be adopted by the registration boards in various states, and to be enforceable in relation to architects’ legal status and ability to practice. the aia and riba codes of ethics are only enforceable over those architects who choose to join these professional institutes. the eu deontological code is not “legally binding unless it is made binding either by european union or national legislation or by contract between a provider of architectural services and a client or other user or otherwise as a matter of public or private law” (ace 2016). the various codes have different degrees of organisation and categorization. out of the codes for architects, the nzrab code is the most simple, having been reduced to a two-page document, with no preamble and no categories organizing the seventeen. the arb code has a simple format, with a list of twelve headline rules, for a total of fortyone clauses. like the nzrab code the arb code has not organized these twelve headline rules into categories. the aca model code has organised their forty-two rules/clauses into four sets of obligations: general obligations, obligations to the client, obligations to the profession, and obligations to the public. the australian model code is structured in two parts. part a are the professional standards and part b is the service and conduct standards. this creates a clear distinction between the disciplinary and legal function of the code, and the aspirational ethical guidelines of the code. within part b, the australian model code is organised under seven categories, similar to those of the aca model code, with some additional specific categories. the aia code of ethics is also similar to the aca code with obligations to the profession being split to add obligations to colleagues as a separate category, and obligations to the public being split into categories for both public and environment. following the organization of the various codes, this research identifies five areas of attention: general professionalism responsibilities to client responsibilities to profession responsibilities to society responsibilities for the environment whilst there is often overlap between the application of particular clauses , we have reviewed the different codes, and attempted to determine the weighting/prioritisation given to these five areas of attention by each code. appendix a contains a table of these allocations. fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 1 number of standards in each architects’ code (for registration) associated with the five areas of attention figure 1 shows the number of rules or standards in each code of ethics for architects (excluding the professional organisations), and how they are assigned to the five areas of attention identified above. the first observation is how much leaner than the other codes, the new zealand architects code is. australian, british, and european codes are fairly similar in the number of standards/rules included, but vary in weighting. the weighting of the codes is clearer in the pie charts shown in figure 2 (which includes the professional orgnaisations). the new zealand code does not include any requirement to have a care for or consider impacts on the environment, and the only public interest matters it covers is health and safety. the code is weighted towards the service provided to the client and the protection of the profession. this weighting is apparent in the other codes as well, and is in line with observations made by others, including hossien sadri in a similar review of architectural professional ethics in 2021. professional ethics in architecture and responsibilities of architects towards humanity compared the 2008 draft text of the chamber of architects of turkey deontological codes in architecture, the riba code of professional conduct 2005, and the aia code of ethics and professional conduct 2007. sadri observes that “these documents are written in order to identify the boundaries of the profession, and aim to protect its market share, improve its image, obtain cultural capital and get public approval for the profession” (sadri 2021). the riba and aia codes have been updated since this earlier study, and it is interesting to note that the aia 2020 code of ethics is the most evenly distributed code across the five areas of attention. fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 2 percentage of each international architects’ code associated with the five areas of attention as previously noted, the australian model code is in two parts: professional standards, and service and conduct standards. comparing the service and conduct standards alone to the new zealand architects’ code of ethics, suggests that the new zealand code is a service and conduct code, rather than a code of professional ethics. the new zealand code is also very similar to the ncarb model rules of conduct which is explictly a set of conduct rules for disciplinary purposes only, not a code of ethics (ncarb 2018). looking at responsibilities to society more closely, the inclusion or exclusion of equity issues is a significant difference across the codes. note that this study has allocated compliance with laws under general professionalism rather than responsibilities to society as this is principally referencing building and planning legislation, construction law, contract law, fraud, tax law, etc, though a broad interpretation would include complance with non-discrimination laws. neither the new zealand code nor the ncarb code include any rules or standards regarding discrimination or equity. the ace, riba, and aia codes all include requirements to pay employees and interns equitably, and an obligation to attend to the education of students and trainees working under a registered/licenced architect. interestingly, while several codes include requirements to provide ‘fair’ service fees, the ace code also has clauses specifically addressing low fees and “unscrupulous under-resourcing” (ace 2016). there have historically been issues in anglo-american countries with professional organisations being criticised or even sued for being “antitrust” due to professional codes containing rules against competive fees and client ‘poaching’ (khoury 2021, fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 wickersham 2015). the ace phrasing of ‘unscrupulous under-resourcing’ appears to be a way to address the concern of fees becoming too low to provide a professional service without conflicting with anti-trust legislation. marcuse (1976) addresses the importance of whistleblowing with regard to matters of public health and safety, and all of the codes including the new zealand code, do include requirements to report on matters that affect public health and safety. the uk and us codes all include a requirement to report on colleagues for breaching the code, which may be more about protecting the reputation of the profession. an interesting inclusion in the australian model code is the requirement to inform the client, not only of the client’s legal obligations, but also of their obligations to moral rights raised by the project (aaca & raia 2003). figure 3 number of standards in each new zealand code (for regulation) associated with the five areas of attention figure 4 percentage of each new zealand code associated with the five areas of attention comparing the new zealand registered architects’ code of ethics, with the new code for licenced building practitioners and the engineers’ code offers shows a greater similarity in the goal of simplicity and brevity. figure 3 shows the number of rules or standards in each code and how they are assigned to the five areas of attention. the architects’ code has more clauses related to general professionalism and significantly more for responsibilities to profession, where the lbp code has none. the engineers’ code is the leanest, but also the most evenly weighted, though profession, society and environment add up to one third, with professionalism and client responsibilities each a third (see figure 4). both the lbp and engineers’ codes have requirements to avoid harm to the environment, which as previously noted is lacking in the architects’ code. while, like the architects’ code, neither the iep or lbp codes address te tiriti o waitangi or any matters under tikanga māori, both codes are available te reo māori, and the lbp code is also available in chinese, hindi, and samaon. the lbp code does require acknowledgement and respect of “cultural norms and values of clients and colleagues.” 2.2.is the new zealand code adequate? in his 1976 article professional ethics and beyond, peter marcuse, sets out nine “ethical prescriptions” with the source of obligation, and the nature of enforcement, for planning as a profession. these are: allegiance (to client) autonomy (independent advice) fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 knowledge and competence (skill and specialised knowledge) guild loyalty (to professional colleagues and to the professional body) concern for the public interest (an essential ingredient in definitions of professions. dissent (whistleblowing and organisational flexibility) loyalty (to employer) advancement of knowledge (commitment to research and development) statutory responsibilities (building code, contract law) figure 5 new zealand codes (nzrab, lbp, iep) related to marcuse’s ethical prescriptions of planning note: marcuse’s original diagram has ‘social sciences’ in place of ‘academy’ reflecting planning’s relationship with social science, and describes the aspirational elements of professional codes as being hortatory, meaning to exhort or encourage. situating the new zealand architects’ code of ethics within marcuse’s framework highlights how, other than the requirements to comply with legislation and to report on risk, the rules all fall under the professional obligation and are enforceable, rather than aspirational or hortatory. more concerning is how heavily weighted to client allegiance the lbp code of ethics is, and its complete lack of clauses relating to autonomy. the requirement to inform and educate the client comes closest to the idea of professional autonomy but is framed such that it returns responsibility to the client: “you must provide your client with sufficient information and advice to enable them to make an informed decision to enable you to continue with your building work.” (building (code of ethics for licensed building practitioners) order 2021). while the existing new zealand architects’ code of ethics deals only with that which can be clearly defined for the purposes of discipline (the architect either did or did not do), it does address ethical considerations such as honesty (though this is a fraught concept in itself (baier 1992)), conflicts of interest, and abuse of authority. these are, however, principally in relation to the client or the contract, or to the profession. no part of the current code requires new zealand registered architects to be responsible in their design work and professional or community relationships, beyond the minimum financial and technical matters. as sadri (2021) also found “issues such as [the] construction industry, construction techniques and materials which are directly related to the field of architecture but are not included in architects’ job descriptions, remain outside of the interests of architectural ethics.” fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 by weighting the architect’s ethical obligations to the service provided to the client, the existing code leaves open the question of whether the architect is truly autonomous with respect to public and environmental considerations, or whether their decisions and actions are pre-empted by their duty to the client (larson 2018). arguably, this puts the profession in a position where society may not be able to hold architects morally responsible for their actions in relation to these matters, if they cannot be deemed to be acting autonomously from their clients’ goals and intentions (mackay 2021). this framing casts architects as passive in the face of our collective crises (sadri 2021). the existing nz code does not address matters of environmental responsibility, and the only matter of public interest is health & safety, and the architect’s obligation to report on risk. a glaring absence is any reference to our obligations under te tiriti o waitangi or considerations of tikanga māori. viewed through a care ethics lens the current new zealand architects’ code of ethics is biased towards legal and contractual issues and to the maintenance of reputation, rather than care and the maintenance of relations. we conclude that the existing new zealand architects’ code of ethics would be more accurately described as a code of conduct only. as peter marcuse (1976) said: “if a given task is harmful, executing it professionally is not desirable” and with regard to ethical considerations the code is woefully incomplete and is not adequate to deal with broader public and environmental issues, let alone the crises that we currently face. 3.towards a new design professions are founded in a position of disinterest, the idea that the professional acts not in their own interest, but for what is right (larson 2018). that disinterest creates distance, exacerbating accusations of elitism (larson 2018), suggesting that disinterest as an ideal may no longer serve professions, creating mistrust where once it served to create trust. care being opposite to disinterest can provide a new model to underpin ethical principles, that is responsive and reflective of an increasingly pluralistic society. the principle of disinterest aims to put good outcomes and best practice ahead of the professional’s own interests, even ahead of client interests where those go against the public good. ethical care can still provide this intended outcome of ethical disinterest, as care serves the needs of the particular other(s) rather than one’s own interests (held 2006). this requires an understanding of who and whatis included in the care relation beyond the client. to recreate trust the profession needs to build and maintain relationships with society and communities outside of the profession and industry (mbie 2023, larson 2018). architecture is a “weak profession” and its “main collective task as an organised profession seems to be patrolling and defending boundaries against encroaching professions” (larson 2018). exacerbating this issue is the lack of “moral guidance” such that the potential role of the profession in “the protection of social community and wellbeing, education and proficiency” fails to come to fruition (khoury 2021). a strong ethical foundation – through education and the profession is key to architects retaining and excercising agency in the areas of their expertise (ray 2005). although typically framed in close conjunction, professionalism and ethics are distinct (salloch 2016). “professionalism as a group-specific moral orientation” limits the scope of the ethical discourse within any profession, unless that profession engages in “participatory and inclusive discussion … particularly focused on the voices of those who have been overlooked in the past” (salloch 2016). ethics constitutes an integral component of the self policing that forms part of the “professional bargin” professions make with society (marcuse 1976), and any professional ethical framework must start by asking “what are experts for, what are they expert in, who should the public trust and why, and most emphatically, to whom are experts accountable?” larson (2018). part of the answer to larson’s questions, is that an ethical framework should equip and support architects to address considerations of public good, including the environment, in addition to their professional and contractual obligations to clients (spector 2014). what might a new architectural ethical framework look like? the comparision of codes of ethics and conduct identified areas of attention focused upon the responsibilities of architects. building upon the distinction between autonomous and relationally autonomous, and the idea that the autonomy of architects is relational to external factors and influences, these areas of attention can be refocused onto the ‘relational’ aspect of each area, enabling them to be reframed as loci of relation: general professionalism → autonomy fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 responsibilities to client → service responsibilities to profession → colleagiality responsibilities to society → public responsibilities to the environment → ecosphere figure 6 from marcuse’s ethical prescriptions to loci of relation figure 6 shows how the loci of relation relate to peter marcuse’s ethical prescriptions (1976). statutory responsibilities are left to the side in this configuration, as the obligation to comply with legislation is the fact of legislation. dissent is related to automony, which alongside competence is the foundation of general professionalism. marcuse seperated out advancement of knowledge (something not addressed in the current new zealand architects’ code) in his analysis of ethics within the planning profession in the united states. advancement of knowledge is related to education and training, and raising standards of excellence, and is here relinked back through the guild to colleagiality. ethics of care theorists have generally argued that as care is situational and responsive, a code is not the way to achieve ethical relations and that care ethics must be embedded in practice to avoid it becoming a box checking exercise (held 2006). collier argues that “universalistic principles and rules are of little use to [architects]” due to the difficulty of knowing which set of rules in a pluralistic society to apply and how to apply them “in complex human situations where exceptions are the rule and conflicts of interest prevail” (collier 2006), as well as the dissonance between relational and rule-based expectations (gilligan 2018, collier 2006). individual architects may vary in the degree of their conscious engagement in ethical practice, and the framework of other international codes may provide some pathways for this. structuring a code as the arb has done, offers a poster format with the core intentions, and then further discussion and specifics in subsequent sections. combining this with the split between aspirational ethics, and disciplinary conduct standards, as does the australian model code, may begin to approach a code (or set of codes) that could provide both ethical guidance for complex situations and rules of professional behaviour. different situations do call for different responses, and architects should be supported by our code of ethics to navigate these tricky situations (khoury 2021). the decisions of relationally autonomous moral agents are not made in isolation and disinterest (mackenzie 2008, held 2006). situate a relationally autonomous moral agent within a pluralistic society and the judgements that the moral agent – the architect – needs to make, become unable to be reduced to a set of universal rules (collier 2006). determining how to deal with complex and sometimes contra-indicated issues is part of an ethical practice (khoury 2021, collier 2006), and it is arguably in that place of practice that professional ethics needs particular strengthening rather than simply in a written code (ray 2005). collier (2006) makes the case for the use of ‘moral imagination’ within architecture to aid in these judgements. architects are comfortable and confident at working with a range of components (services, structure, function, budget) that may have conflicting needs and priorities, and weaving them together to create a cohesive set that can be understood as a whole (khoury 2021). held (2006) describes a design of feminist moral theory as being like a “stained glass window” with components from justice, utility, and virtue ethics situated within caring relations. “the whole should be harmonious, but that does not mean that the components cannot differ significantly.” (held 2006). fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 a new design for architects’ professional ethics should incorporate the five loci of relation within a broader ethical framework based in an ethics of care. figure 7 preliminary schema for proposed loci of relation in professional ethics these five loci of relation would then be located within an over-arching philosophy of care and relation, as illustrated in preliminary form, in figure 7. building on virginia held’s proposition for an overall moral theory, each loci would incorporate ethical principles from te ao māori, justice ethics, virtue ethics, utilitarianism, and further, as appropriate to the relevant relation. 4. conclusion the current new zealand architects’ code of ethics is incomplete, and serves to limit the responsibilities of architects to the measureable and the disciplinary. a more complete code of ethics, incorporating social and environmental relations, could equip and support architects to address both public good and environmental considerations, in addition to their professional and contractual obligations to clients. appendix a architects’ codes of ethics/conduct focus of attention code general professionalism responsibilities to client responsibilities to profession responsibilities to society responsibilities for the environment nzrab 5 2 honesty, fairness (2) 6 2 act with skill, care, & diligence (2) 4 1 malicious criticism (1) 1 1 obligation to report on risk (1) 0 0 1 professional judgement (1) 2 conflicts of interest (2) 1 must not misrepresent the status of employee (1) 1 misrepresentation (1) 2 terms of employment (2) 1 conflicts of professional appointment (1) 1 abuse of authority (1) 2 communication (2) 2 own merit; acknowledge others (2) 1 competency (3) 2 renumeration & inducements (3) 1 renumeration & inducements (3) 1 uphold the law (1) 2 competency (3) 1 confidentiality (1) arb 2 2 honesty, integrity (4) 6 5 trustworthy, look after client’s money (5) 2 4 maintain architects’ reputation (5) 1 1 discrimination/respect for others (1) 1 1 consider wider impact (1) 4 insurance (4) 3 faithful, conscientious (4) 2 co-operate with arb (2) 1 competent (4) 3 competent (4) 1 faithful, conscientious (4) 5 honest, responsible self promotion (5) 1 maintain architects’ reputation (5) 2 honesty, integrity (4) 3 deal with disputes or complaints appropriately (3) 6 business competency (6) aaca & raia 2 1 demonstrate a consistent pattern of care & competency (1) 0 2 1 endeavour to ensure that confidence in and respect for the profession of architecture is engendered. (1) 3 1 fundamental & overriding obligation to serve and promote the public interest (1) 1 2 contribute to quality and sustainability of natural and built environment (4) 1 professional responsible communication (1) 1 responsibility to other architects (1) 1 must not discriminate (1) 2 contribute to quality and sustainability of natural and built environment (4) fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 code general professionalism responsibilities to client responsibilities to profession responsibilities to society responsibilities for the environment 9 1 service & conduct standards: integrity & reasonable care (1) 18 2 service & conduct standards: conflict of interest (2) 9 2 service & conduct standards: withdraw from services (3) 0 1 service & conduct standards: withdraw from services (3) 0 0 1 service & conduct standards: fairness & impartiality (1) 1 service & conduct standards: promptness (1) 1 communication with the public: display registration status / number (1) 1 service & conduct standards: honest & truthful opinions & public statements (1) 1 service & conduct standards: maintain documentation after completion of services (1) 1 communication with the public: attribution (1) 1 service & conduct standards: signing of consent/construction documents (1) 1 service & conduct standards: services outside skill & competency (1) 1 obligations to other architects and to the profession of architecture: dealings with other architects (1) 1 service & conduct standards: misrepresentation (1) 3 client relationships: provide information for decisions (3) 1 obligations to other architects and to the profession of architecture: sustain confidence of the public (1) 1 insurance: have & maintain pi (1) 10 client relationships: contract (10) 1 obligations to other architects and to the profession of architecture: promote the advancement of architecture (1) 1 continuing professional education: maintain & improve skills (1) 1 client relationships: thorough knowledge of services (1) 1 obligations to other architects and to the profession of architecture: inform client of their obligations to moral rights (1) 1 communication with the public: qualifications, experience, & authorship (1) 1 client relationships: inform client of decisions (1) 1 obligations to other architects and to the profession of architecture: regard for codes of associated professionals (1) 1 communication with the public: clear identification (1) 1 client relationships: fair cost of services (1) 1 obligations to other architects and to the profession of architecture: conflicts of professional appointment (1) 1 client relationships: client confidentiality (1) 1 client relationships: inform client of barriers to service (1) 1 client relationships: responsiveness (1) 2 client relationships: statements of account / deposits (2) 1 client relationships: architect in charge (1) 1 client relationships: client review of documents (1) 6 dispute resolution: provide for in contract (6) 1 communication with the public: inducements (1) 3 communication with the public: renumeration (3) 11 18 11 3 1 ncarb 2 1 conflict of interest (5) 1 1 competence (4) 1 1 competency (4) 1 2 compliance with laws (5) 0 0 2 compliance with laws (5) 3 conflict of interest (5) 1 compliance with laws (5) 2 competence (4) 3 signing and sealing (3) 6 full disclosure (9) 3 full disclosure (9) 1 conflict of interest (5) fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 code general professionalism responsibilities to client responsibilities to profession responsibilities to society responsibilities for the environment aia 5 1 general obligations: (es) knowledge & skill (1) 8 1 obligations to the public: (r) law (6) legal advice to client 8 1 general obligations: (es) standards of excellence (1) 8 1 general obligations: (es) natural & cultural heritage (1) 7 1 obligations to the public: (es) environmental equity & justice (1) 1 general obligations: (r) demonstrate a consistent pattern of care & competence (1) 1 obligations to the client: (es) timely & competent (1) 1 general obligations: (es) allied arts & industries (1) 1 general obligations: (es) human rights (1) 1 obligations to the public: (r) reasonable effort to inform client of environmental impacts (1) 1 obligations to the public: (es) uphold the law (1) 3 obligations to the client: (r) performance of professional services (3) 1 obligations to the profession: (r) honesty (3) file complaint 2 general obligations: (r) harassment & discrimination, rights of others (2) 1 obligations to the environment: (es) energy conservation (1) 4 obligations to the public: (r) law (6) law, fraud, bribery 1 obligations to the client: (es) conflict of interest (1) 1 obligations to colleagues: (es) fair & equitable working environment (1) 1 general obligations: (es) design for human dignity & health & safety (1) 1 obligations to the environment: (es) water use (1) 1 obligations to the profession: (es) honesty & fairness (1) 2 obligations to the client: (r) conflict of interest, impartiality (2) 1 obligations to colleagues: (r) mutual respect & equitable working environment (1) 1 obligations to the public: (r) law (6) disclose violation or risk 1 obligations to the environment: (es) building materials (1) 1 obligations to the profession: (r) honesty (3) signing of consent/construction documents 1 obligations to the client: (es) candor & truthfulness (1) 1 obligations to colleagues: (es) intern & professional development (1) 1 obligations to the public: (es) public interest services (1) 1 obligations to the environment: (es) ecosystems (1) 1 obligations to the client: (r) do not intentionally mislead (1) 1 obligations to colleagues: (r) assistance to interns/graduates (1) 1 obligations to the public: (es) civic responsibility (1) 1 obligations to the environment: (es) climate change (1) 1 obligations to the client: (es) confidentiality (1) 1 obligations to colleagues: (es) professional recognition (1) 1 obligations to the public: (r) disclosure of compensation or interest (1) 1 obligations to the client: (r) confidentiality (1) 3 obligations to colleagues: (r) recognition & intellectual property (3) 1 obligations to the profession: (r) honesty (3) public statements ace 11 1 general obligations: integrity, competency, professionalism: maintain & develop skills & knowledge (1) 13 1 obligations to the client: brief & compliance (1) 13 1 general obligations: integrity, competency, professionalism: seek to raise standards of excellence (1) 4 1 general obligations: integrity, competency, professionalism: adequate fee & unscrupulous underresourcing (1) 1 1 obligations in the public interest: environmental design (1) 1 general obligations: integrity, competency, professionalism: appropriate internal procedures for review & monitoring (1) 1 obligations to the client: competency (1) 1 obligations in the public interest: observe & comply with code (1) 1 obligations in the public interest: crime & unethical conduct (1) 1 general obligations: integrity, competency, professionalism: competency of staff/sub-contractors (1) 1 obligations to the client: renumeration (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: reputation (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: must not discriminate (1) 1 general obligations: integrity, competency, professionalism: right to resign from services (1) 1 obligations to the client: inducements (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: promote the dignity & integrity of the profession (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: fair payment of staff including students & graduates (1) 1 obligations in the public interest: misrepresentation (1) 1 obligations to the client: conflict of interest (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: intellectual property of colleagues (1) 1 obligations in the public interest: impartiality & integrity (1) 1 obligations to the client: impartiality (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: competition & protection of intellectual property (1) 1 obligations in the public interest: responsible public communication (1) 1 obligations to the client: written agreement (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: competition & evaluation (1) 1 obligations to the client: have & maintain pi (1) 1 obligations to the client: confidentiality (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: competition & fee confidentiality (1) fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 code general professionalism responsibilities to client responsibilities to profession responsibilities to society responsibilities for the environment 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: impartiality & fairness (1) 1 obligations to the client: skill, care, & diligence (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: assessor of competition & conflict of interest (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: professional finances (1) 1 obligations to the client: timely provision of services (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: malicious criticism (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: signing of consent/construction documents (1) 1 obligations to the client: communication (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: conflicts of professional appointment (1) 1 obligations to the client: complaints (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: professional opinion (1) 1 obligations to the client: dispute resolution (1) 1 obligations in the interest of the profession: comply with complaint proceedings (1) lbp 4 2 act within the law – must comply (2) 10 2 take responsibility – explain risks (2) 3 1 work safely – take responsibility 1 1 work safely – avoid harm to environment 1 uphold the law – duty to report (1) 1 take responsibility – educate client (1) 1 work safely – report unsafe behaviour (1) 1 take responsibility – licence class (1) 1 take responsibility – be accountable (1) 1 behave professionally – respect (1) 1 behave professionally – business conduct (1) 1 take responsibility – communicate (1) 1 take responsibility – actin client interest (1) 2 take responsibility – follow client instructions (2) 1 behave professionally – act in good faith (1) 1 behave professionally – price work fairly (1) 1 behave professionally – conflict of interest (1) 1 behave professionally confidentiality (1) iep 2 2 obligations relating to personal conduct – competency (2) 2 1 obligations relating to personal conduct – inform others of risks (1) 1 1 obligations relating to personal conduct – report breach (1) 2 1 obligations in public interest – health & safety (1) 1 1 obligations in public interest effects on environment (1) 2 obligations relating to personal conduct – behave appropriately (2) 3 obligations relating to personal conduct – confidentiality (3) 1 obligations in public interest – report on adverse consequences (1) riba 17 4 integrity: impartiality & undue influence (4) 46 3 integrity: conflicts of interest (3) 51 3 integrity: bribery & corruption (5) 29 1 competence: time, cost, quality (4) 8 8 competence: the environment (9) 2 integrity: statements (2) 7 integrity: confidentiality & privacy (7) 6 integrity: criminal conviction (6) 7 competence: health and safety (7)2 2 competence: skill, knowledge, care, ability (15) 4 integrity: handling client money (4) 7 competence: skill, knowledge, care, ability (15) 3 competence: heritage & conservation (3) 2 competence: town & country planning (2) 2 integrity: bribery & corruption (5) 2 competence: record keeping (5) 2 competence: community & society (2) 1 competence: law & regulations (2) 6 competence: skill, knowledge, care, ability (15) 4 relationships: copyright (4) 7 relationships: equality, diversity, & inclusion (7) 1 competence: certification (1) 8 competence: terms of appointment (8) 4 relationships: previous appointments (4) 5 relationships: modern slavery (5) 1 competence: the environment (9) 3 competence: time, cost, quality (4) 4 relationships: peers (4) 1 relationships: ndas (1) 4 relationships: insurance (5) 2 competence: keeping the client informed (2) 8 relationships: employer responsibilities (8) 3 relationships: whistleblowing (3) 3 competence: record keeping (5) 3 relationships: competitions (3) 1 competence: inspection services (1) 10 relationships: advertising/ branding (10) fraser/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 code general professionalism responsibilities to client responsibilities to profession responsibilities to society responsibilities for the environment 2 competence: building performance (2) 1 competence: law & regulations (2) 4 relationships: complaints & dispute resolution (4) 1 relationships: insurance (5) references journal: baier, a. trusting people. philosophical perspectives 6, 137–153 (1992). baier, a. what emotions are about. philosophical perspectives 4, 1–29 (1990). 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(2004). https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2021/entries/ethics-deontological/ https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2022/entries/utilitarianism-history/ https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2022/entries/ethics-virtue/ https://networkservices.aut.ac.nz/ezproxy.cgi?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/routethics/moral_imagination/0?institutionid=5349 https://networkservices.aut.ac.nz/ezproxy.cgi?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/routethics/moral_imagination/0?institutionid=5349 https://philarchive.org/rec/varkc http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i1.787 built morphology and the impact of planning policies: case of small towns in karnataka, india aparna shastri1 1professor and dean (examination and evaluation) at the dayananda sagar college of architecture, bengaluru, india abstract the morphology of a city undergoes transformation over time due to a variety of factors. one such factor is the master plan. the master plan is a powerful legal tool, the implementation of which has a lasting impact on the morphology of a town both built and unbuilt. the template for the master plans in india is the same be it a metropolitan city or a class iii town. the resultant triggers and impact of this master plan are questionable more so in the case of smaller cities and towns. this paper investigates one such small city in the hinterland of karnataka through a descriptive analysis of the compact historic city and the new developments; the impact of the master plan and the resulting changes. through the analysis and arguments presented in the study for the reading of small towns and non metropolitan cities we support alternative readings of these towns and cities. additionally through the analysis of compact city planning methodologies both historical and current we understand how the two aspects; that is small town urbanization and compact planning methodologies can be enmeshed to create new templates for master planning for small towns and cities. our study is limited to the master planning exercise in the context of karnataka and gadagbetageri in particular and needs to be further explored with respect to other urban development policies in order to be applicable to small towns and cities in general in india. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords built morphology;master plan; urban compactness; sustainable urban form; 1. introduction historically cities evolved for a variety of reasons. the making of a acity and the pattern of urban form has been the subject of much discussion by many renowned theorists. kevin lynch proposed the three categories or models of city forms, the cosmic model, the practical model, and the organic model in the good city form (kevin lynch. 1981). spiro kostof talks about the planned cities and the unplanned cities wherein the first type is a created city, its pattern determined once and for all by some overseeing authority (spiro kostof, 1999, p 43) and the other kind is the spontaneous city which develops and grows due to the passage of time, the lay of the land and the daily life of the citizens (spiro kostof, 1999, p 43). edmund bacon talks of the city as an act of will (edmund bacon, 1967). irrespective of their origins, cities grow and expand over a period of time. while historically this expansion evolved with and in answer to the needs and requirements of the city and its people especially in india, in many of tier ii and tier iii cities this expansion was slow and organic in nature. all this changed with the introduction of the jnnurm scheme in 2005 by the government of india. the jawaharlal nehru national urban renewal mission (jnnrum) was launched in may 2005 with four key objectives in mind: namely; the urban services, inner-city regeneration http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i1.787&domain=press.ierek.com shastri/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 through services, housing for the urban poor, and implementation of the 74th amendment of the constitution which enabled urban local bodies with more powers in the decision making aspects of the cities. the first beneficiaries of the scheme were 65 cities identified by the goi and subsequently more cities were added to the scheme so as to accelerate the development of small towns and cities in india. in order to be a beneficiary of this mission, the cities or towns had to draft a cdp (comprehensive development plan) that outlined the vision for the city and identified the funds required for the implementation of the same. since this envisioned the future development of the city, the development plans invariably laid out a scheme that parceled the city into zones and converted agricultural lands to plotted developments in anticipation of housing and commercial needs, industrial zones, and so on. thus the city which was originally compact and contained was now given permission to sprawl. unfortunately the resultant development pattern; in the built environment, material usage, scale, and many other dimensions are neither sustainable nor critical to that particular region. gadag also known historically by the names of karthu, karduga, gaduga traces its history to the rashtrakutas from the 8th century. it is a city municipal council as well as the administrative headquarters of the new gadag district in the state of karnataka, india with a population of 172,813 and a density of 229 per sq km. gadag is famous for printing, handlooms and is also an important seat of hindustani music in north karnataka. gadag is also an important junction for the south western railways with the railway line bifurcating gadag from betagiri. historically gadag was the center for printing and literature and betagiri was known for its handlooms. together the twin cities were the second largest urban center in the undivided district of dharwad as well as the market center for the surrounding towns and villages. gadag is also an important part of the jain pilgrimage circuit since the first jain temple complexes that came up around the 10th century in lakkundi. the planning exercises that have been in practice since the late '80s have been conservative in their outlook faithfully following the principles of colour coding and zoning and separating the various functions as per the traditional planning rules. this approach to master planning while serving some functions like allocation of resources, finances, infrastructure, and so on fails to look at the unique aspects that are prevalent in that context. should all planning exercises be looked at through the same lens? the planning methods for a metropolitan city like bengaluru should be different from that of tier two cities like gadag, yet the documents differ only in terms of geography and contextual requirements but not the approach itself. this paper investigates one such small city in the hinterland of karnataka through a descriptive analysis of the compact historic city and the new developments and the impact of the master plan and the resulting changes. it questions the singular approach to master planning and investigates other approaches with the intention of finding a new perspective to master planning of small towns and cities that can be tailored to the individual city especially in the context of karnataka. 2. literature review 2.1. sustainability and historic planning historic town planning in india can be traced back to the indus valley civilization which followed the grid iron pattern with a citadel and fortification. evidence suggests a good road network with wide arterial roads and excellent drainage system. the second type was during the vedic period when texts like the manasaram, mayamata and the shilpashatra were written that based town planning on cosmic theory. these texts give elaborate descriptions on the type of planning required based on the topography, location, function and so on. there are few surviving examples of this kind of planning, madurai in south india being one such temple town. here the town/city is planned as a series of enclosures that follow a clockwise direction of movement with preordained spatial designations the third category is the numerous towns scattered across india that came into being for a variety of reasons from as early as the 5th century ad until the 19th century with some intent on planning that were based on the vedic principles. these are administrative capitals, defence towns, commercial towns, religious towns and centres of learning. in the context of karnataka we have historical towns that range from capital cities, administrative cities, defence towns, temple towns, port towns and so on. examples for the various types include, the capital cities or towns like badami, vijayapura; religious towns like sringeri, gokarna; defence towns like anegundi, chitradurga; trading towns like bengaluru, hubballi and administrative capitals like mysore, hampi and so on. eventually all these towns have grown, and transformed into present day towns and cities with the historic districts merging into the town fabric. while there is no evidence to prove that the cosmic theories were applied in the town planning of these towns and cities, we can see shastri/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 evidence of intent in the planning and the zoning of the city and the circulation networks with respect to the cardinal directions. the settlements were planned around or in close proximity to a water body either natural or man made with the place of work and stay linked by a pedestrian network. the cadastral patterns respected the topography with the settlements at the higher elevation and the water bodies at a lower elevation. examples for this kind of planning include the pete area of bangalore the old town of badami and many more as also the old town of gadag. this aspect of planning has been intuitively followed in the organic growth of these towns and settlements where the central spines have mixed use and the place of work and stay are closely linked and built form responds to the climatic aspects of the place. thus the tropical sun and the heat generated is countered by narrow lanes that are shaded by the buildings abutting them, a verandah or jagali as it is termed colloquially which acts as a shaded seating area and as a transitional element between the public street and the private house, courtyards and narrow openings with thick walls and skylights in the utility areas like the kitchen and wash area. main streets that were also the commercial spines usually have their own typical mixed use typology which houses the shop on the ground floor at the street level and the residence at the top. throughout karnataka we find such settleforms that have survived for centuries with very little change. the introduction of rcc and the increase in vehicle ownership as well as change in lifestyles is transforming these settlement morphologies that are losing the pedestrian scale as well as the advantage of climate friendly construction. compounding this issue is the planning methods currently followed that are exacerbating and incentivising the move away from traditional which should be translated as sustainable methods to borrowed models of planning. 2.2. analysis of literature on planning methodology of compact cities compact city as a policy became popular in europe in the 1990s as a way of finding sustainable solutions for city planning. first coined by george b dantzig and thomas l satty in 1973, it was a notion that existed prior to that in the form of high-density compact city as proposed by le corbusier in the radiant city concept and jane jacobs's ideas of mixed-use, high density, and pedestrian-oriented living. the ideas gained traction in the 1990s in europe as an answer to the automobile-driven planning that led to sprawl in cities which were increasingly seen as unsustainable. catalyzed by the global sustainability goals as outlined in the brundtland commission report (wced, 1987) and the unced agenda 21 proposals (1993) the theories diverged from the earlier ideas of environmentalism as proposed in the garden city and regional planning theories of howard (1898) and geddes (1968) in the sense that their focus is about the consequences of energy production and consumption and how this is influenced by the urban form. the rationale for this concept stems, according to tadashi matsumoto, "from the fact that urban spatial form may substantially influence the economic, social, and environmental performance of cities" (matsumoto, 2012, p 01) for example, a compact urban form with an efficient transportation system can reduce intra-urban trip distances, which reduces the cost of transporting goods and services as well as the consumption of gasoline (matsumoto, 2012). the literature on compact city concepts is extensive as are the definitions of the compact city. over time the compact city model has found favour with the green and sustainable urban form models as high densities combined with mass transit models are seen as an answer to suburban sprawl. some of the key characteristics of a compact city as defined by many of the definitions are contiguous development patterns, dense built-up areas with mass-transit linkages, accessibility to diverse local services and jobs (matsumoto, 2012) decreasing car dependency; lowering per capita rates of energy use; limiting the consumption of building and infrastructure materials; mitigating pollution; maintaining the diversity for choice among workplaces, service facilities, and social contacts; and limiting the loss of green and natural areas (bibri et al., 2020) increasingly a lot of the research is looking into how urban forms can be more sustainable and a compact form along with good transport and linkages is seen as a sustainable urban form. the world over there is a renewed interest in reading and understanding of historical urban forms as scholarly studies have shown that historical settlements have compact urban forms that are climate and context sensitive. the historical cities of the middle east too followed a compact urban form where the city consisted of mixed use communities with clusters of residential communities with their own urban facilities together formed an urban agglomeration. according to shirazi and falahat (2015) this type of urban form persisted almost until the pre-modern times after which the new developments were a poor imitation of western urban planning patterns. thus the historic cores of cities like tehran, cairo and many others have compact urban forms that are well suited to the climate and culture of the place and new shastri/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 developments that surround and in some cases superimposed on the older forms that are more haussmanian are decidedly not compact in their urban structure. the oecd report 2012 lists the benefits of the compact city that include environmental benefits due to reduced automobile dependency thus reducing carbon emissions, economic benefits due to efficient infrastructure, easier access to a diversity of local jobs and services as well as the impetus to new technological innovations and finally social benefits due to lower cost of living and a better quality of life. many models have been tried to achieve the compact urban form; the high rise high-density redevelopment model with mass transit and self-contained new towns; second is the concentrated decentralization where a polycentric model is preferred over the monocentric model where development corridors and transportation networks act as connectors; third is the linear transport oriented development as explore in curitiba very successfully; fourth is the urban regeneration models that explore regeneration of core areas, historic centers, and disused industrial and other lands (burton et al., 1996). according to the latest literature on compact cities from around the world "compact cities emphasize the intensification of development and activities, create limits to urban growth, encourage land use and social mixes, and focus on the importance of public transportation and the quality of urban design" (bibri et al., 2020). while a huge body of empirical work is available on the compact cities in the form of case studies, these perspectives range from planning theory, planning practice, design practice, urban theory, spatial analysis, regenerative design, economics, and discursive theories (bibri et al., 2020) this study approaches the topic of compact planning from the perspective of historic cities in karnataka and how these can aid us in achieving the three goals of sustainability namely the social, economic and environmental aspects of the city.. 2.3. analysis of literature on small town planning in india the indian definition of urban has three criteria that need to be fulfilled, first is a population density of 400 people per sq kilometer, the second that at least 75% of the male working population are in nonagricultural pursuits, and third, a population of at least 5000. the indian definition of urban has three criteria that need to be fulfilled, first is a population density of 400 people per sq kilometer, the second that at least 75% of the male working population are in nonagricultural pursuits, and third, a population of at least 5000. the classification of towns in india is based on the census data and is thus based on the population statistics. therefore, class i towns are those with a population of 1,00,000 and above, class ii towns are those with a population of 50,000 to 99,999, class iii being 20,000 to 49,999; class iv: 10,000 to 19,999; class v 5000 to 9,999 and class vi: less than 5000. thus all towns with a population of 1 lakh and above are placed in the category of class i cities. therefore, both gadag-betageri with a population of 1,72,813 and bangalore with a population 8 million plus are classified as class i cities. while bangalore is acknowledged as a metropolitan and megacity the census classification does not consider this nomenclature. mukhopadhyay et al. (2000) have come up with a classification where class ia is above 5 million, class ib is between 1 and 5 million, class ic is between 100,000 and 1 million, class ii towns are between 50,000 and 100,000, class iii between 20,000 and 50,000. as per this list they classify all towns in class ii and below category as small towns. apart from this a town can be declared a statutory town or a census town. a statutory town will be a town that will have a local body and a census town will not require an urban local body and thus will be declared a village. these classifications are important as they affect the performance aspects of the said town or village. as per the 74th amendment of the constitution of india the urban local bodies and the panchayat raj are given a lot of powers to enable better participation at the grassroots level thus strengthening the democratic process. this coupled with many central government schemes that are aimed at the betterment of villages results in a lot of funds allocated to the panchayats vis a vis town municipal corporations. due to this, there are instances in states where a town has reversed its status from a statutory town to that of a village. in this background the argument of planetary urbanization as espoused by brenner and schmid where they question the boundaries of rural and urban and call for new epistemologies where urban and rural are not geographically defined does not hold much ground as denis et al posit in their theory of subaltern urbanization that "the urban-rural nomenclature remains performative, even as the relevance and the frontier of these binaries are questioned" (denis et al, 2012, 14). in india thus a large part of small-town urbanization is caused due to an increase in the population of a town or village rather than migration, termed as insitu urbanization by mukhopadhyay (mukhopadhyay, 2020). the theory of subaltern urbanization in india demands that small towns shastri/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 in india cannot be seen through the lens of megacities or metropolitan cities and be studied for their own autonomous economic linkages and performance. district headquarters like gadag-betageri, badami, kampli, sirsi to name a few in karnataka are the produce markets for the surrounding villages. the huge apmc yards in these cities are where all the surrounding village farmers sell their produce, cattle, buy necessary equipment, and farm necessities. concomitantly, towns like badami with their historical significance have developed a tourist economy that is slowly gaining traction and envied by other towns such as gadag that cannot claim a similar share. mukhopadhayay et al. (2000) have classified the small towns in india under four categories; the first is an influenced town which is in close proximity to a metropolitan town and is thus influenced by it. malpe near udupi is an example for this. the second is an entrepreneurial town that is composed of entrepreneurs and skilled workers and forms industrial clusters. tiruchengod in tamilnadu with its drilling rig industry is a good example for this category. the third category consists of market or administrative towns that have historically been centers of commerce and or administration and governed by urban local bodies. kampli in karnataka is a good example for this category. the fourth category is the emerging small towns that are either large census towns or large urbanizing villages which have a significant portion of their working population moving away from the farm sector. gopalpur in west bengal with its yoghurt industry is given as an example for this category. to this list, i would like to add a fifth category of towns that have a strong historical layer and thus become a part of the tourist circuit which has a significant impact on their growth and development (shastri and subrahmanian, 2021, p. 321). while the population statistics by the census of india classifies gadagbetageri as a class i city, for the purpose of this study we will view gadag-betageri from the perspective of a small town. we will consider the parameters of density, economic diversity and transport to strengthen the argument of why gadag-betageri needs to be seen from the perspective of a small town. gadag-betageri has a density of 3,200 per square kilometre for an area of 54 square kilometres which translates to 32 pph.thus the density parameter shows that gadag-betageri has a density on the lower side compared to the other class i cities which have a density >50pph. the economic mainstay of gadag-betageri is the agro based industries, the apmc yard and other agricultural and administrative related services due to it being the district headquarters. this suggests that the economy of gadagbetageri is not very diverse but mainly dependent on and related to agricultural and administrative functions. the third point is about the transport system of gadag-betageri. the old city area which comprises districts 2 and 4 is mostly pedestrian with private and paratransit vehicles supplementing the foot traffic. the city does not have a transit oriented development where transport nodes attract higher densities and development. apart from the city bus station and the railway station there are no transport nodes in the city and of these the railway station only caters to intercity and interstate traffic and not to the city itself. thus in view of all the above stated factors it is more prudent to view gadag-betageri from a small town perspective rather than a class i city perspective. the above-stated analysis about small towns in india helps us draw two sets of conclusions; the first that small towns are not always dependent on big metropolitan cities for their growth and commerce and second that while boundaries between urban and rural are getting blurred increasingly, the nomenclatures matter in the performative and governance aspects. thus we need to look at small towns away from our current understanding of cities and deepen our understanding of them so that it can lead us to a planning process that is more nuanced and discerning than the current processes that only differ in scale but not approach. 3. historical planning in the context of gadag gadag district has many structural temples from the badami chalukya’s reign between the 6th and 8th centuries. historical evidence shows the existence of gadag and its twin city betageri since the rashtakutas rein in the 8th century in the form of stone inscriptions found in the area. ruled as a part of the belavolu three hundred (belavolu munnuru in kannada) administrative area (fig 1), the place was a fortified settlement with learning centers for scholarly pursuit as well as warfare and martial arts. established as an argraharam or brahminical settlement with a royal grant from the kalyani chalukyas the trikuteshwara temple was a walled enclosure within the fort. lakkundi, situated about twelve kilometers from gadag as well as gadag were both known for these argraharams where scholars of both the jain and hindu traditions were engaged in scholarly pursuits. bhisma tank situated towards the south of the fort wall fulfilled the water requirements of the settlement (fig 1). the presence of more than sixteen hero stones or veeragallus dating back to the rashtrakuta period which narrate the battle fought by the hero and his profession as well as the details of the battle tell us that the betagiri area may have had a battlefield in its surrounding and shastri/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 probably housed an army contingent as well to protect the settlement. in the 12th century, another walled enclosure was added within the fort with the building of the veeranarayana temple during the hoysala rule. this was an agraharanm as well and the famous kannada version of mahabharatha by the writer/poet kumaravyasa is said to have been composed in the presence of the deity veeranarayana in the 15th century during the vijayanagara rule when the temple was expanded with a larger enclosure. with the change in regimes in the region, gadag-betageri too came under various rules until it was won over by the british in 1818. during the british era gadag was a part of the dharwad region which in turn was part of the bombay presidency and continued to remain a historical town.the establishment of the railway line in 1882 gave impetus to the modernization of gadag. the railway line which first linked gadag to hotagi in maharashtra was later linked to the hubli line (fig 2). gadag with its black soil was a cotton growing region and the establishment of the first mill in gulbarga in 1884 was soon followed by setting up of mills in the gadag region. these mills were set up outside of the old town area towards the north adjacent to the railway line and towards the east beyond the trikuteshwara temple walled enclosure. the setting up of cotton mills led to the first expansion of gadag and its transformation from a historical town into an urban centre. the mills attracted workers and labourers and this led to the densification of the old town between the veeranarayana and the trikuteshwara temple enclosures. the mills attracted ancillary industries of oil extraction and the handloom industry. thus a weaving community was established across the railway tracks to the north in the betagiri area by the early 1910's. the new burgeoning urban centre attracted businessmen from bombay and the javeri bazaar or the jewellers street came up to cater to the new clientele. the introduction of printing presses during the colonial rule and the existing learning and scholarly tradition of gadag from historic times helped set up a strong print and publishing culture which meant the presence of many printing presses in the old gadag area in around the tontadarya matha and the javeri bazaar.while there is no evidence of any specific planning policies applied to the town during the british regime, the railway line and the subsequent establishment of mills impacted the layout of the settlement from an organic form to that of a planned development. while the town did spread due to the interventions during the british rule, it still retained a pedestrian scale. post-independence with the setting up of the taluk offices and other administrative buildings the town gradually expanded east (fig 2). planned residential plots with services started to appear to the east of the hubli bellari highway in gadag and around the missionary hospital in betageri. this was the extent of the town until the 1990's when the first master plan exercise was mooted and the new district of gadag was carved out of dharwad district in 1997 figure 1. historic map showing the walled enclosures of the veeranarayana and trikuteshwara temple precincts and the bhishma tank to the south of the fort. source: joshi, r. 2005 shastri/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 2. map showing the old town of gadag and the subsequent developments 4. master plan for gadag and its impact on the town the first comprehensive development plan (cdp) for gadag was approved in the year 1991 for the horizon year 2001 and was deemed to be valid for 10 years. accordingly, a fresh survey was taken up in the year 2001 and a new cdp for the horizon year 2021 was drawn (fig 3). the old town has a compact arrangement with the bus stand at the center with the tank and the railway line forming its boundaries. with a radius of 1.5 kilometers, the town has a very pedestrian scale to it that is slowly getting eroded with every new master plan proposal that keeps expanding the city limits. since gadag-betageri is the district headquarters it is the seat of the government, thus the municipal buildings and the district courts are situated in gadag. old gadag had cotton mills and printing presses and betageri had the looms that provided employment to the townspeople and this was possible due to the cotton fields that surrounded the town which grew the cotton required for the mills. over time the number of farmers who grew cotton diminished as many second-generation farmers chose to migrate to the city to make a livelihood instead of farming; gradually this led to a decline in cotton production which further led to the closure of the mills. the boom in the internet and technology meant that fewer books were getting printed, thus the once-thriving printing industry got hit too. therefore, the two major employment opportunities in gadag gradually became obsolete and the land occupied by the now defunct mills also became obsolete (fig 4) the forming of a new district meant that new government institutions had to be set up in gadag and the fact that this was the town center for all the surrounding villages meant that the government appointed agricultural market yard is situated here as well. the government became the major employment generator in the town and a new kind of planning was required that could house all the employees that were to work in the government offices. thus the planning exercises carried out for gadag had new extensions planned in a sprawl around the old city such that plotted developments to house individual housing units for the expected government employees to stay. as a result of this, the two master plans of gadag thus far have spread gadag farther and farther out into the countryside in anticipation of the expected housing demand. this has resulted in a development that is very sparse and removed from the city center with very poor connectivity and completely at odds with the original pedestrian scale and formation of the city. it has also resulted in huge tracts of land in the city center that are lying waste or underutilized due to the presence of the now-defunct mills. the apmc yard that occupies more than three huge city blocks is also functioning below par as are the newly identified industrial areas in the outskirts of the city. the new farm reforms proposed by the government of india may result in the obsolescence of shastri/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 the present way of functioning of the apmc. the city on the other hand continues to grow with new residential extensions sprouting along the highways towards the west and south-west and in the north towards the north-east. . figure 3. comprehensive development plan of gadag-betageri. source: department of town and country planning, gadag figure 4. map showing the apmc yard and the mill areas shastri/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 while master plans are obvious requirements and give much needed direction and vision to the growth of the city as well as the allocation of funds the end result is not always right for the city in question. the comprehensive development plan for gadag 2021 divides the city into five planning districts and proposes a slew of infrastructural plans and zoning regulations for the city. the central core of the city falls under district 2 and 4 where in district 4 is the old city and district 2 has all the commercial areas including the apmc yard, while district 5 and 3 form the outlying residential areas. the key areas of focus as per the comprehensive development plan are the population projections for the horizon year 2021, a comprehensive zoning of land use for the planning area together with zoning regulations, traffic circulation pattern for meeting immediate and future requirements, areas for new housing, new areas earmarked for future development and expansion and the stage by which the plan is to be carried out. the cdp which was formulated for a population projection of 15% increase based on the growth rate between 1991 and 2001 but there has been a decline in the growth rate from 2001 to 2011 to 11%. this means the expected land use projections as outlined in the cdp may not be required. further the land use map identifies the existing mill areas and the other light industries in the central district 2 as industrial land use and the now reclaimed land from the squatters in the central district adjacent to the old bus stand as commercial land use. the proposed residential land use is relegated to the outer rings of the city with new industrial land use zoning also proposed at the far edges of the city in all quadrants. this archaic method of zoning the residential separately from the industrial and commercial land uses is resulting in unnecessary spread of the city. the cdp notes that 253.75 hectares of land is vacant within the developed area, which works out to 17.62 % of the total developed area and this could be available for residential development. yet, it does not specify how this can be made possible. mixed land use zoning is completely missing from the proposed land use. a new bus terminus is planned and is already partially operational towards the southeast of the bhisma tank. although this caters to city bus service as well, this terminus is meant for intercity buses and is operated by the state road transport corporation. this is supposed to divest the existing main city bus terminus in the old city of intercity bus traffic and cater exclusively to intra-city bus traffic. two ancillary bus stations at betageri and the pala badami road complete the public traffic infrastructure for the city. these are highly inadequate to cater to the newer extensions of the city which have no other mode of transportation. the cdp does not propose any other means of public transport for the city. with respect to water, the main water source for gadag is the tungabhadra river at a distance of 54 kilometers downhill from the city. during the summer months when tungabhadra has a reduced flow many parts of the city face water shortage. a proposal to increase the water pumped to gadag betageri from tungabhadra by building a new higher capacity pipeline has been approved, which is meant to solve the water problems of the city. the cdp does not propose any alternative methods of augmenting water supply. 5. discussion and strategies on how compact and sustainable planning principles can be integrated into urban planning in the context of small towns in karnataka compact city models as discussed previously in the literature review have innumerable benefits and our historic cities were compact and revolved around the idea of people work and place as suggested by geddes [after munshi, 2000] whose argument that geography, economics and anthropology are closely related and essential to the understanding of cities was substantiated by his studies of cities in india. hence it begs to be reiterated that the social, economic, and environmental aspects of the city are very important for the development of a city. in the backdrop of this our cities continue to reject the benefits of the existing historical planning tools and methodologies while choosing to adapt the global north approach of planning cities that do not resonate in the context of the cities of the global south. the climatic condition of gadag that falls in the arid hot and dry belt of northern karnataka encourages a compact dense built development than a sparsely built spread out city. a similar model can be explored for future city development where the climatic conditions of the city, the lifestyle and the environmental impact of development needs to be assessed. plotted developments that encourage single housing units are a model that has been eschewed of late as unsustainable. the colonial hangover of an idyllic bungalow like setting in the countryside is resulting in master plans that are unsustainable in the present context. in the context of gadag betageri the master plan fails to address how the defunct industrial spaces will be reutilized. the sustainable dimensions of the old city are its pedestrian scale, dense built form and compact arrangement. comparing this with the dimension of compactness and sustainability as inferred from the literature reviews we can look at formulating strategies that would help in gadag retaining its compactness and thus its inherent sustainability in the city structure. shastri/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 5.1. strategy 1: the land use dimension strategies to enable a compact city development must look at mixed-use zoning that will prevent sprawl and compact the development within the city limits. the proposed industrial park at the western end of the town on the huballi highway which is functioning below par is a failure of the planning and zoning principles that are borrowed from metropolitan city planning. cotton mills and the other attendant industries associated with it can continue to work within the city center and need to be revived with a component of housing added to it. the industrial park which is currently working below capacity at the city outskirts can house agro-related industries like medicinal herbs, food and fruit processing units, and so on. cotton farming is on the wane due to the non-availability of labour at the harvest time, the seasonal labor that is required to pick the cotton has to be incentivized with the job and housing security. by realigning the land use of the industrial land in the core of the city, affordable housing can be made available for the migrants and the laborers. about 86 acres of land (fig 4) is available in the core of the city that is either lying vacant or is housing defunct mills. even a quarter of the land used for housing and related amenities could make a staggering difference to what the city can offer to attract and retain labour. the proposed master plan allocates a good portion of the land in the city center to commercial use. mixed-use should be given priority over single-use at city centers so that these prime areas are equally accessible to all. 5.2. strategy 2: intensification of activities in the economy of cities (jacobs, 1961) jane jacobs talks about how cities grow and the reason for a few cities to continue to grow and thrive while a few perish. jacobs gives the example of cities like birmingham (jacobs 1961, pp 87-89) having smaller businesses that support the bigger businesses and gradually developing their own competencies leading in turn to a new cycle of innovation that triggers further growth and diversification. similarly, bengaluru in karnataka is a good example where the psu's in the 80's encouraged higher education institutes in the city which in turn attracted mnc's to set up a base in the city due to the availability of a qualified workforce. this resulted in many homegrown software companies. the millennium turn saw the start-up culture taking off in a big way, again due to the presence of a highly motivated and qualified workforce. thus the core strength of the city is being leveraged enabling growth and diversification while intensifying the core competencies. identifying the existing and inherent strengths of gadag-betagiri, which include its cotton and handloom industry could diversify into cotton baling; thread making, cotton textile, and cottonseed oil industries. oil press industries for cottonseed and sunflower seed and groundnut can be encouraged as small-scale industries. gadag houses the apmc yard for the entire district; this asset is currently not optimized to the full extent. infrastructure that can augment the apmc activities like rest houses and truck parking and driver resting facilities need to be bolstered. training centers and skill up-gradation centers need to become a part of apmc yards. strengthening and reviving existing capacities in agriculture, industry, and services would be a sustainable way of planning rather than bringing in a new typology of industries that may not be a good fit for the existing capacities. 5.3. strategy 3: urban form in her essay on urban informality ananya roy argues for a new epistemology of planning that raises three crucial issues about distributive justice, the object of development, and questioning of the best practice model. roy's critique of the best practices model, termed as blueprint utopias are their inability to provide a more realistic sense of politics and conflicts (roy, 2005, pp 156) the old mill areas of gadag are being converted to residential use and this conversion is gradually leading to the displacement of the labor force that was formerly housed close to the mills, especially the dc mill and the old bus station road area. by applying the model planning blueprint, the master plan is proposing a cleanup drive that is already in motion which is relocating the informal settlements to the peripheral areas of the city. thus the poor are relegated to the outskirts away from their source of livelihood and forced to depend on public transport for their travel while they once could sustain all their needs in a walkable radius. this injustice of spatiality as edward soja terms is as much a social evil as a spatial fact. described as a socio-spatial dialect with social processes shaping spatiality at the same time sociality being shaped by it soja calls for a new spatial consciousness that makes us aware of the geographies we live in, as these can intensify our experiences in all aspects of living (soja, 2010, pp 18-19). the urban form and structure of the city cannot just be based on the visual sense and shastri/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 be about the aesthetics as described by jaques rancier but has to take into consideration the quality of life for all its citizens in terms of livability, walkability, and other dimensions of sustainability. a compact urban form that ensures the poor and marginalized are not displaced or pushed out to the peripheries will not only continue the historical form of the city with the pedestrian scale retained but also fulfill the sustainability goals as well. 5.4. strategy 4: transport and urban structure sustainable city examples from curitiba to bogota, to the smart city initiatives by the government of india all talk about an urban structure that revolves around an affordable, efficient and accessible transport system. a pedestrian friendly city that allows people to access all their immediate needs in a walkable radius is increasingly seen as the ideal blueprint for city development. yet cities like gadag are moving away from their original model of pedestrian scale planning to unsustainable sprawls. cities do expand and grow, but this need not have to come at the expense of losing their inherent advantages. strengthening the public transport reach and accessibility and planning clusters of development around it could be one way of ensuring spatial justice. the new bus stand located on the south eastern edge of the bhisma tank suffers from poor connectivity from the rest of the city. more nodes of public transport, which can be multi modal to include the local favorite, the three wheeled auto rickshaw, need to be included in the master plan. a comprehensive walkability report that can link the various transport nodes to residential clusters is essential to develop a sustainable transport and connectivity plan. the urban structure should facilitate such a plan with pedestrian friendly neighborhoods and dense clusters of development that are connected through transport corridors. 5.5. strategy 5: climatic considerations climatic strategies could be explored in the following aspects. first in the architectural form; the old city of gadag has narrow lanes which vary between 3 to 6 meters and a dense built form configuration that is typical of hot and dry climates in karnataka. thick walls with recessed narrow openings and a verandah or jagali in the front are typical architectural responses to the climatic conditions. the bigger residences have an inner courtyard with a passage or breezeway around it and the rooms opening off it. the verandah is another architectural element that is common in the older residences of the city. this is both a climatic and a cultural response of the built form. the verandah or jagali as its known colloquially acts as a transitory space between the public and the private, allows for social interaction without having to cross over one's property as well as offers a place of rest for travellers weary from the hot sun; a street thus lined with veranda's becomes a community space that is vibrant and cohesive. these house forms are slowly getting eroded with the introduction of plotted development. plotted developments were introduced to india during colonial rule and have now become the norm in all master plans to accommodate residential development. row housing and walk ups that adhere to the health and safety norms with the incorporation of climatic responses like verandahs and breezeways could be provided in the land now made available in the old city. the planning should distinctly earmark areas that are designated for plotted developments and those that are designated for high density housing. second, with respect to water harvesting; old gadag and its surrounding areas had tanks and step wells that would store and supply water to the settlement around. the average precipitation for gadagbetageri is 668 mm. this suggests that a harvesting system could be explored for the city. third would be with respect to the green networks of the city, the terrain of gadag-betageri is fairly flat with adequate soil fertility levels as per the department of agriculture report, urban forestry could thus be explored in the reclaimed mill lands along with rain water harvesting. clusters of green with water harvesting could be the nodes around which dense built up area could be planned. this would result in a master plan that is more contextual and climate responsive and thus more sustainable. 6. conclusion space is a socially produced construct according to henry lefebvre. he talks of the perceived city that is lived by the people who occupy it and the conceived city as that which is conceived by the planners, urbanists, bureaucrats, and social scientists which is the dominant space and the dominated or the representational space that is the lived space which connects the perceived and the conceived spaces (lefebvre, 1975). the urban revolution theory by lefebvre shastri/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 contends that nonurban life ceased to exist in a way that globalization was prevalent everywhere. thus according to lefebvre, the term urban takes on a new meaning where it is not just about a spatial aspect but about a way of life. the twentieth-century urban studies largely debated the categorization of the socio-spatial terrain based on a certain type of settlement units, be it the city, the metropolis, megacity, conurbation, and so on. this epistemological assumption was the base on which most of the urban theory was built upon. the dawn of the new century has brought with it a change in the way we look at urban and the associated epistemological frameworks in the wake of new spatial restructuring that is taking place all around us. new scholarly discourses are questioning these epistemological assumptions [soja, 2010, see also brenner and schmidt, 2015, roy 2005] and as per the united nations world urbanization prospects 2018 report; more than 50% of the population will be residing in urban areas not just in india, but also the world by 2050. urban settlements will thus increase throwing up challenges to house the increasing population and the accompanying amenities. more than a century ago, long before sustainability goals were raised and discussed, patrick geddes suggested that regional studies were important in order to understand the historical evolution of cities and stressed the need for ecological and sociological studies prior to any planning exercise. we need new epistemologies in the planning of cities in india that look at the smaller cities in the hinterlands with respect to the larger regions they are situated in and reimagine the way settlements are planned. master plans are more than spatial plans as they foreground the spatial aspects of the city with the economic, infrastructure, and social aspects. but we may need to move away from viewing and planning for settlements that are geographically contained as cities or urban and rural and return to a more holistic way of planning that includes the natural ecosystems, the terrain and the landscape, and the inherent uniqueness of the place and do away with the rubberstamp approach of planning our cities. in this context, this study proposes a new template for the planning of smaller cities in the context of karnataka and maybe across india. this study demonstrates how small towns and cities differ from large metropolitan cities and how small towns need to be read independently and not understood through the economic and social processes of the large towns. the arguments stated here also clarify a few key takeaways about the planning of small towns. first compact and sustainable planning principles were evident in the earlier morphologies of these settlements and new planning policies are moving away from this. second, the horizontal linkages between these cities and their hinterland and the larger engagement with the national and global economy are autonomous and independent of the larger cities. these needs are strengthened further with the intensification of existing activities and policies to incentivize this. third cities like gadag are complex having banal everyday economic activities that are very settlement specific like the weaving and handloom industry of betageri and the cotton mills and printing industry of gadag which are linked to the natural and human resources that are available locally. fourth private education and tourism and the related hospitality industry are the new employment generation activities that suggest a shift away from agrarian activities preferred by the next generation. the theoretical frameworks suggested here may help in a more complete understanding of cities like gadag such that the planning exercises can be more specific to the town or city and its requirements as the existing generic planning methods have not proved fruitful. references appadurai, a. (2002). deep democracy: urban governmentality and the horizon of politics. public culture, 14(1), 21-47. https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-14-1-21 bacon, e. (1967). design of cities, 3rd ed, new york: penguin books. bibri, s. e., krogstie, j., & kärrholm, m. (2020). compact city planning and development:emerging practices and strategies for achieving the goals of sustainability, developments in the built environment, 4(june), 100021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dibe.2020.100021 brenner, n., & schmid, c. (2015). towards a new epistemology of the urban?. city, 19(2-3), 151-182. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2015.1014712 comprehensive development plan: gadag-betageri 2021, department of town and country planning, gadag, 2010, retreived: dec 10, 2019 denis e, mukhopadhyay,p., & zérah, m. (2012). subaltern urbanisation in india, economic & political weekly; xlvii(30), pp.52-62. halshs00743051 jacobs j. (1961). the death and life of great american cities. new york:random house. jacobs j. (1969). the economy of cities. new york:random house. jenks, m., burton, e., williams, k., jenks, m., & burton, e., (1996). the compact city : a sustainable urban form ? in williams, k., & hillman, m. (eds.), favour of the compact city; routledge. joshi, k. s. (2005). the forts of gadag district, in gopal, r. (ed), the history and archeology of gadag district, department of archeaology and museums, mysore. shastri/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 kostof, s. (1991). the city shaped; urban patterns and meanings through history. london, uk, thomas and hudson; p43. lefebvre, henri. (1974). the production of space, (nicholson-smith, d., trans.), cambridge, ma, basil blackwell; 1991. lynch, k. (1981). good city form, cambridge, masachusatts institue of technology, mit press. matsumoto, t. (2012). compact city policies: a comparative assessment, the world bank seminar, 18. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264167865en shirazi, m., & falahat, s (2012). compact urban form, question or solution? examining the compact city in the middle eastern context: challenges and opportunities, international journal of urban sustainable development, 4:2, 246-259, doi: 10.1080/19463138.2012.694817 mukhopadhyay, p., zérah, m., & denis, e. (2020). subaltern urbanization: indian insights for urban theory. https://doi.org/10.1111/14682427.12917, accessed: jan 5, 2021 munshi, i. (2000). patrick geddes: sociologist, environmentalist and town planner. economic and political weekly, 35(6) 485-491. roy, a. (2005). urban informality: toward an epistemology of planning. journal of the american planning association, 71(2), 147-158. shastri, a., & subrahmanian, r. r. (2021). historic cities in karnataka: policies for conservation, growth and sustenance, the case of badami and kampli. in nabil m. et al. (eds.) cities’ vocabularies: the influences and formations (pp. 311-324). springer, cham.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51961-2_24 soja, w.e. (2010) seeking spatial justice, minneapolis, min, university of minnesota press. https://doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2012.694817 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 32 doi: 10.21625/essd.v5i2.758 façade solar control and shading strategies for buildings in the mediterranean region santina di salvo 1 1department of architecture of university of palermo *corresponding author e-mail: (arch.santinadisalvo@gmail.com) abstract in recent years, the growing awareness of the possibilities of biomimetic and adaptive materials in architecture has assumed a fundamental importance in the scientific domain, for the high performance of the building façades from an environmental point of view. to meet the housing and comfort needs in climates, such as the ones in the mediterranean zones, characterized by ever-increasing temperatures, architectural technology must collaborate with nature in an even more decisive way, through increasingly smart and sustainable solutions. the paper reviews a collection of good practice examples of advances in material science, and the method used is to analyze the current performance of and building envelopes with smart façade skins, in order to suggest some potential applications in the mediterranean basin and regions of the world with similar climatic characteristics. the latter case studies, especially, show built examples of adaptive buildings that could be adopted for use in mediterranean regions. when the climate characteristics are somehow different, the good practices from elsewhere can be implemented in an innovative way. © 2020 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords shading; building envelope; adaptive façade; mediterranean region, warm climate; biomimetics 1. introduction in the last century, the globalization of the building industry and the almost total reliance on building services engineering for internal comfort, have increasingly led to the construction of standardized buildings that are not related to the local climatic, cultural, and material context. buildings are made the same way in stockholm and nairobi, in shanghai and in sao paulo, suddenly sweeping away millennial building principles (butera, 2004). until recently architecture was considered almost a sort of challenge launched by man to nature, to demonstrate that they are capable of building and living in any context and in any climate. air conditioning systems and technology actually make it possible to live under low ceilings in the tropics, behind thin walls in the arctic and under uninsulated roofs in the desert. all precepts for climatic compensation through structure and form are rendered obsolete (banham, 1969). however, today, the environmental issue and climate change require radical reflections with respect to the indiscriminate use of energy. although within a contemporary technical-constructive language and methods, only a renewed design, capable of integrating choices oriented towards the optimization of both climatic and material local resources, can really open up new eco-efficiency scenarios. http://www.press.ierek.com/ mailto:arch.santinadisalvo@gmail.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v5i2.758&domain=press.ierek.com di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 33 1.1. principles of bioclimatic design and passive buildings a design attentive to the reduction of energy consumption and living comfort and capable of exploiting local natural resources and the climate is generally based on a bioclimatic approach which aims to address three aspects of the design at the same time: climatic-environmental, typological and technical-construction. if we try to read a connection of mediterranean architectures with respect to these three facets, it is possible to identify some typical features (lavagna, 2008). mediterranean architecture has always had a climate characterized by notable seasonal variations in temperature, humidity, wind, and solar radiation, which impact the environmental and physical performance of buildings in different ways and requires solutions capable of adapting to these seasonal variations. in addition to the mediterranean climate, the individual buildings respond to the microclimatic conditions of the site, that is to the specificity of the individual places in relation to the conformation of the urban or landscape settlement that influences, and sometimes modifies, the typical climatic conditions of temperature, humidity, wind flow and solar radiation, characterizing the single context with local conditions. with regards to the typological aspects, mediterranean constructions are characterized by the search for a balance between a compact shape in winter, based on the most advantageous ratio between surface and volume with respect to heat loss, and open in summer, based on the possibility of favoring natural ventilation, with variable spaces, openclosed, between winter and summer: porches, loggias, patios, filter spaces, greenhouses. for instance, the typical mediterranean typology is the compact but porous house (fig. 1). the porosity of a building, in this context, describes the fraction of openings in the external envelope used for ventilation. equally effective is also the in-line or terraced typology, which makes it possible to favor compactness but also to identify two privileged exposures, one to the south (to take advantage of the winter solar gains) and one to north (to have a cool side in summer that triggers natural ventilation through the building). in mediterranean architectures, the distribution and orientation of transparent surfaces and their relationship with the opaque surface are particularly critical. transparency is a very important aspect in relation to obtaining an adequate level of natural lighting and the exploitation of direct solar contributions during winter but requires great control of the solar radiation in summer. essentially, mediterranean architecture is therefore characterized by the presence of elements of solar protection, such as shelters and shading devices. with regard to the control of the technical-constructive aspects, mediterranean architecture is characterized by the passive use of solar energy through the exploitation of sunlight both directly (through the windows) or indirectly (through the heat accumulators) and by the presence of an adequate capacitive mass (and thermal inertia) to conserve the heat of the winter contributions (solar capture without inertia is ineffective, since the hours of irradiation in winter are few and the transparent surfaces, during the hours in which they are not irradiated, are very dispersing) and dampen temperature peaks (attenuation and phase shift of the thermal wave input) in summer. mediterranean architecture is, therefore, a traditionally massive architecture, characterized by the use of materials with high thermal inertia, such as stone or brick, in a varied range of construction solutions. to ensure good protection of the building, the orientation, the shape of the building and the characteristics of the envelope building are the aspects on which the designer must focus more (musco, 2006). in mediterranean climates, compactness is advantageous in the winter while porosity is advantageous in the summer: the most interesting examples of mediterranean architecture try to mediate these opposite objectives, designing elements with variable structure that can allow the closure of atriums, patios, galleries and verandas in the winter while also allowing their opening in the summer. di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 34 figures 1. typical mediterranean massive houses the shape of the building must also be related to the orientation. in mediterranean architecture, southern exposure is preferred as the surfaces thus arranged receive the maximum winter radiation, while in summer the most affected surface is the roof and those located to the east and west. the mediterranean buildings are characterized by a conformation that tends to favor the side facing south, in order to capture the sun's rays through the windows in winter, when the sun is low, and easily shield the glass surfaces from the sun’s rays in summer, when the sun is high, with horizontal overhangs (balconies, loggias). the east and west sides are limited as much as possible since the openings on these sides carry little energy in winter, when the sun is weak and of limited duration (the solar path in winter is short), and overheating in summer, when the sun is low and goes deep. generally, the north side, which never receives the sunlight (except at sunrise and sunset in summer), is characterized by openings reduced to a minimum to avoid dispersion and by a significant increase in the thermal insulation of the walls of buildings (lavagna, 2008). 1.2. building envelope and thermal comfort in mediterranean climates with regard to what has been written so far, it is clear that the building envelope has the task of modulating the external environmental conditions in order to create a more comfortable environment inside. it is a task that it has carried out for centuries, so much so that it has differentiated itself in relation to climatic conditions ( 2004). serra florensa and coch identify six main characteristics that define the energy behavior of the building envelope: insulation, heaviness, permeability, transparency, protection from the sun, color (serra florensa and coch 1995). the insulation of the building must be different in relation to the climatic zone and the orientations (for example, greater insulation of the north-facing facades and the roof is required). reasoning only on the outgoing heat flows in winter and entering in summer, a current of thought has been generated that promotes thermal insulation as the main control element of living comfort and reduction of energy consumption. this interpretation, born in northern europe, is driving the creation of hyper-insulated environments also in the mediterranean areas, with the belief that this can allow for more efficient buildings. but the insulation, in mediterranean climates, is not enough. the wooden envelope, thanks to its insulating power, reduces heat loss to the outside. the stone or brick one does something more: in addition to insulating, it allows thanks to thermal inertia to accumulate and release heat, and therefore allows the internal temperature to remain higher than the external one during the night. in a building with very thick walls, when the windows and doors are not always open, the internal temperature in the absence of heating remains almost constant, and very close to the daily average outside (aelenei, 2016). in warm climates, the envelope must take advantage of the day-night temperature range, in order to maintain an intermediate temperature between the two extremes inside and prevent the entry of solar radiation. so, in these climates, the traditional house is characterized by heaviness, that is, it is made of heavy masonry to take advantage of the thermal inertia of the structure (mordà and duma, 2013; scarano, 2013). erlacher and erlacher, in the book casaclima in massive masonry, emphasize the advantages of massive construction in mediterranean areas and propose a manual of construction solutions for obtaining low energy consumption buildings based precisely on the use of thermal mass. in summer, the effectiveness of the thermal mass in mediterranean climates is linked to the association with natural ventilation. if adequate free cooling at night is not achieved through natural ventilation, by discharging the heat accumulated by the wall during the day during the night, di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 35 the thermal mass is ineffective for the purposes of comfort and energy saving. here, then, is another element that characterizes mediterranean architecture: the permeability of the walls (erlacher and earlacher, 2007). permeability refers to the presence of openings in the building, which allow the passage of air, and depends on the size and position of the openings themselves. in mediterranean architectures, a reduced permeability in winter is sought (in order not to dissipate heat) and a high permeability in summer (to improve ventilation) through variable configuration solutions. the openings to the south, south-east and south-west allow the entry of warmer air, while those to the north allow colder air: if placed on opposite facades, they favor cross ventilation in the interior. the permeability and breathability of the facade are important in all seasons, also in relation to humidity control and indoor air quality. currently, housing models typical of northern europe are being imported, characterized by a high air tightness to avoid excessive heat loss. however, in this way, in hot-humid mediterranean climates, there is a risk of a worsening of the indoor air quality, which can only be remedied through sophisticated mechanical ventilation systems. mediterranean architecture is also particularly confronted with the management of the transparency of the building envelope. while nordic buildings are characterized by high transparency, dictated by the search for the maximum contribution of natural light, mediterranean architecture is characterized by “closed” solutions, where opaque surfaces or at least screened transparencies prevail. overly transparent buildings, in mediterranean climates, create unlivable environments due to the greenhouse effect. if this condition can be advantageous in winter, it produces overheating in summer, transforming the rooms into real ovens, which can only be air-conditioned with very high energy costs. therefore, the design of the size, orientation and position of the windows must address several other important aspects: the winter solar gain, the summer sun and the consequent overheating, natural lighting and any glare phenomena. in the mediterranean areas, the transparent surfaces of the building are oriented to the south, south-east and south-west to favor thermal gains in winter, providing adequate shading in summer. one of the main solutions is the correct design of the building envelope which must respond effectively to the control of solar radiation. in regions with warm climates, such as in the case of mediterranean countries, shading is one of the most important design strategies for controlling exposure and intense solar radiation; it is not a new approach in terms of architectural solutions. just look at the construction techniques of the greeks who thought of the development of their cities based on solar availability. the solar shading element can be fixed, such as overhangs, balconies, loggias, or mobile and are chosen in relation to the orientation. horizontal shading is used for south-facing facades because the sun is high in the sky, while vertical shading is used for east and west facing facades when the sun is low. to ensure optimal energy efficiency, they must be sized in such a way as to guarantee irradiation in winter and total shade in summer. an objective that can be achieved through the “variable structure” envelopes, achieved thanks to the use of mobile systems that allow to change the ratio between solids and voids, transparency and opacity, insulation of the envelope during the day or over the seasons (santamouris, 2001). mediterranean architecture is characterized, on the one hand, by the use of light colors and, on the other, by the choice of non-reflective materials and surfaces, which could create glare in the surroundings and heat islands. in this regard, studies relating to the control of the microclimate and comfort of open spaces are multiplying in relation to the design choices with regards not only to the morphology of the structures, but also to the materials and colors chosen for the claddings that cover the walls of the buildings and the paving of outdoor spaces. the suitable use of colors for the facades of buildings has been known since ancient times. colors such as light gray, cream, soft yellow and white are highly reflective and reflect up to 75% of the light that strikes surfaces of that color. in fact, the use of white in the mediterranean construction tradition is very widespread and is the result of experimentation and a wise use of local materials that today distinguish a very typical architectural style, also meeting requirements of comfort and livability. (morello and ratti, 2009). since in ancient times the laws of physics were not known but each discovery was made casually or empirically, the reasons that led to prefer white in construction were mainly two: − easy availability, low cost and simple processing / installation of the available white raw materials; di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 36 − having discovered, through its use, that white reflects solar radiation and makes the spaces in which it is used appear larger (martellotta, 2020). 2. materials and methods obtaining the ideal temperature and lighting levels inside buildings with adequate levels of comfort is fundamental. however, environmental conditions change from context to context and it is clear that every existing or newly designed building must be treated in a unique way. therefore, it is essential to focus on the methodological approach of analysis which, according to this contribution, is both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary. with the support of different disciplines, through the tool of knowledge, we identify the morphological, typological and technical-constructive solutions most suitable for a given context with its typical climate. furthermore, the design of a protection, a shading, an envelope for buildings located in territories characterized by warm climates as the mediterranean area is both a technical and aesthetic architectural operation, since the first impact of an envelope is visual. reading and interpreting the complex relationships between the natural/climatic context and added anthropogenic systems, defining what to design and build to protect and why, in terms of sustainability, even before knowing how to build, provides a valuable tool for a reliable intervention. the analysis of the geographical location and the knowledge of the function of the building built or to be built in an area characterized by a warm climate is an investigation tool with generative, morphological, typological, technological and material parameters which, if not adequately assessed, risk to make any functional building envelope project ineffective. in this article, we have highlighted the main factors to be taken into consideration to design smart solar shading systems and building envelopes in areas characterized by a mediterranean climate, therefore variable. the historical, anthropic and climatic aspects that characterize the mediterranean region intervene both for the value of resources such as history, climate and multiculturalism, and for the critical factors offered by highly anthropized territories and generally resistant to shared transformations. we have correlated the energetic and technicalconstructive aspects to those concerning the improvement of the comfort of the contexts, to reach advances in technological culture. the conscious holistic approach to the system of knowledge, methods of fruition and cultural stratifications structures methodologies and phases of the current research. on the basis of the analysis of some case studies relating to virtuous projects and experiments, conducted in places characterized by warm climates, its potential application in mediterranean areas is evaluated. with regards to the place where a building is located, the first phase is to collect data on environmental and climatic conditions, on the type of protection intervention that can be performed, specifying dimensional and cost data, materials and design guidelines. with regards to the building envelope or shading system, we must collect technical assessments, relating to performance, maintainability, reversibility, duration and effectiveness, both in terms of visual, climatic / environmental impact and its relationship with the landscape. the approach to the concept of protection of living comfort always starts from the deep respect for the place and from the study and knowledge of the identity of the context in which they are located (norberg-schulz, 1979). the place is the physical point in which the site is located, the climatic context that characterizes it, the culture that generated it and the contemporary one that should preserve it. one of the most discussed topics in architecture concerns the common goal of operating in harmony with the environment, having at heart the protection of the building and the context, considering as previously stated, the climate and specific culture of a particular place. norman foster states that the architectural project must be related to the climate and culture of the place (greco, 2002; iacobone, 2016). therefore, in the design of a shading or building envelope we deal with three fundamental issues: di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 37 • the relationship with the natural and geographical context, to guarantee the correct urban and landscape integration; • the relationship with the climate, to guarantee the most adequate protection to preserve the building from atmospheric agents and above all from solar radiation, guaranteeing, at the same time, an adequate natural lighting; • the function of the building, allowing the perception of what happens inside the building. as portoghesi (1999) argues, to operate beyond stylistic fashions and exasperated individualism, today it is necessary to re-propose the persistent validity of archetypes, in a general vision that gives them the authority that can derive from the relationship between history and nature: to build, consolidate, protect the built environment as part of nature, with which people should ally, always setting different conditions corresponding to different levels of understanding of the relationship between nature and architecture. we are aware that contemporary architecture is often called upon to integrate physically and constructively with preexisting structures, which is why a reliable methodology must be valid for both existing buildings and new constructions. nowadays, technological innovation is revolutionizing the shapes that surround us. however, often this new global language does not take into account the identity and climatic conditions of a site. the history of local materials, of construction traditions, as well as of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, is a repertoire of signs to always draw on, to operate within every historical-geographical context and, consequently, to realize architectural and structural solutions more reliable and appropriate. this is why the specificity of building envelopes have to be read as a combination of morphological, climatic, usage, management and technical aspects. the results of this study support a better understanding of how to increase the adoption of sustainable interventions in mediterranean area. 3. case studies 3.1. bioclimatic pergolas the architectural design of a protective canopy or cladding must also take into account the use and consumption of energy in maintaining the comfort of the building and the energy necessary for its use: natural or artificial lighting, ventilation, heating and cooling. the thermal capacities of a shelter represent a fundamental functional aspect on which to reflect. in this regard, the distinction made by hartwig schmidt between protection systems that do not delimit the building, the canopies, and closed protection systems, the building envelope, is paradigmatic. in the case of the building envelope, other energy consumption needs arise, not met by canopy systems, such as internal air conditioning, artificial lighting in addition to or in place of natural lighting or entrance lighting. today, the energy consumed in the production and construction phase with 0 km materials, or local recycled materials such as wood, sand, mud, straw and leaves, is called “embodied energy” (ranellucci, 2009; ferrari 2009). pergolas, when properly designed, can act as passive solar systems and help reduce thermal loads (fig.1). when, in addition to being composed of a roofing solar shading system, they include curtains on the sides to screen the sun in summer and windows that allow solar gains during the winter, they become very simple bioclimatic systems, yet capable of providing enormous energy benefits in all seasons. traditionally, in the mediterranean area the pergolas are structures made up of thin vertical supports and a grid of roof beams, which in addition to providing stability to the structure, act as a support for the vegetation. typically, pergolas are found in gardens and climbing plants characterize the roof, creating a shaded but permeable and ventilated space, in which to shelter from the sun's rays in summer and find relief from the heat. in less natural contexts, the covering vegetation is replaced by alternative solar shading systems, such as packable pvc fabric or slats. in the most innovative systems, the covering lamellas are adjustable to shield the sun's rays but allow the breeze to pass, and waterproof for preventing the passage of rain once closed. di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 38 figure 2. vegetable pergola of the giardino della minerva, salerno. figure 3. bioclimatic pergola (gibus) the pergolas, which offer protection from atmospheric agents, can be completed with opening windows. the pergola, closed on all sides, with the possibility of opening the windows in summer and combining them with shading awnings, offers an ideal microclimate all year round: in summer, the windows that can be opened favor natural ventilation and the curtains shield the interior of the pergola from the sun. in winter, however, the closed windows protect against atmospheric agents. there are companies that have patented systems that, in addition to allowing the structure to be delimited with opening windows, integrate systems for the drainage of rainwater for clean architectural results. an italian company has patented three systems (side seal, twist motion and inner guide) which also make it possible to isolate the perimeter coating and integrate shading blades that rotate to shield the sun’s rays. these can be completed by motorized mechanisms, audio and lighting systems. (fig. 3). when the pergola is placed next to the building it also helps in reducing thermal loads. it contributes to the improvement of comfort in the building, reduces the need for air conditioning, with positive consequences on indoor well-being and energy saving, and creates a new semi-outdoor environment in which the climatic conditions are as comfortable in summer as in winter. di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 39 3.2. the bamboo shell for transpiring buildings in the mediterranean area in mediterranean climate, bamboo is an excellent material for creating breathable buildings in the context of sustainable architecture. an energy-saving breathable building is able to control the internal / external microclimate and to sweat for emitting internal heat and cool naturally. one of these techniques is borrowed from japanese natural architecture. in some areas of japan, the most sun-exposed facades of buildings were covered with an outer shell of bamboo canes. later, water was poured into the pipes which, by evaporating, allowed the temperature to lower even inside the structure. this technique was borrowed from the japanese studio nikken sekkei with the bioskin project of sony city osaki in tokyo, in 2012 (fig. 4). the bamboo canes that define the building envelope have been replaced by thin ceramic pipes, which converge in a collection system of the rainwater. the system allows you to lower the temperature inside the building by 2 ° c, resulting in a reduction in co2 emissions due to a reduced use of air conditioning systems (watanabe, 2001). another relevant example of how contemporary architectures are able to reread the local construction tradition in an innovative way is represented by the bamboo roof (fig. 5). it is an installation created in houston, in texas in 2002 for rice university art gallery, designed by the japanese architect shigeru ban. he has developed a promising construction method in terms of sustainability and efficiency, that uses bamboo and cardboard tubes for its constructions, both residential homes, buildings for emergency situations, and large tensile structures made with unconventional materials. the bamboo roof is characterized by a free-form roof structure that develops with unlimited geometric possibilities. the concept is both simple and complex at the same time. the structure is created by fitting together a series of units of parts, each made up of four bamboo boards connected together by metal pins. finally, the corrugated roof is supported by metal supports. bamboo roof conveys a great sense of lightness and transparency, so much so that one has the perception of being under the canopy of a forest. these techniques represent an important reflection on the developments in the use of bamboo for construction in italy. figure 4. bioskin of sony city osaki,tokyo di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 40 figure 5. bamboo roof, houston figure 6. bamboo forest in the project of bamboo forest, the designer thibaut deprezo uses permanent bamboo scaffoldings as a driving force to promote the revival of these two tower buildings. each scaffolding is fashioned to the needs and wants of the building, giving each a unique identity. the bamboo shell allows residents to expand their dwelling outward in the form of fresh air spaces and vertical gardens. furthermore, towers and bamboo scaffoldings create symbiosis, favoring the stabilization of structures during earthquakes and support an ecological production of energy (figs. 6). di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 41 figure 7. bamboo brise soleil in the stam europe green place office building in milan 3.3. a good practice in milan: stam europe by goring and straja architects the sony city osaki was built taking into account the exposure of the winds blowing over tokyo bay. therefore, in the direction of the winds, the sides of the building are thinner and tend to stretch on opposite sides. the photovoltaic slats, on the other hand, are on the south facade to collect more sun rays. however, their purpose, in addition to producing energy, is to shield the rooms that overlook this side of the building, which is notoriously warmer. the same solar shading system was used in milan. the facade of the stam europe green place is characterized by an external envelope with a side completely covered with a bamboo brise soleil. bamboo creates a filter between the outside and the inside. the green place on viale certosa in milan remains “covered” by bamboo canes, to obtain a green effect and shield it in the parts most exposed to the sun (fig. 7). the building was designed to obtain leed gold certification. the ground floors of the building complex are intended for laboratories, main building entrances and a showroom. the floors are all intended for offices. in addition, it is characterized by the widespread use of glass, aluminum, concrete and bamboo string course structures for the shading systems on the east, south and west fronts. bamboo brise soleil receives a heterogeneous amount of sunshine, thins out, thickens and adjusts according to the inclination and solar radiation, creating a play of density and rarefactions that makes the facades vibrant and changing (giglio, 2017). 3.4. adaptive structures and meteorosensitive shelters adaptive coverings and innovative shelters react to external stimuli and regulate energy flows, heat, ventilation and lighting in relation to seasonal or daily climatic variations, while still guaranteeing the wellness requirements of the site and users (reichert et al., 2015). this goal can be achieved with the adaptive architecture, which involves the construction of structures able to change their shape and react to the surrounding environment. the mechanisms of adaptation between organism and environment provide us with, by analogy, a possible key to interpret the interactions that some structures establish with the places where they fall, places full of meaning and characterized by a ‘dominant nature’ (di salvo, advances in research for biomimetic materials 2018). in this regard, biomimetic or bio-inspired materials applied in the design are revolutionizing the way we invent, heal ourselves and exploit energy (pohl, 2015). these are surfaces, envelopes or ‘technical skins’ made up of special layers, capable of reacting like membranes in which exchanges of attenuated, transmitted, absorbed or reflected energy occur. hygroskin pavilion, designed by achim menges of the university of stuttgart, was commissioned for a permanent exhibition at the frac center in orleans. its envelope building has been realized by superimposing a series of wooden spruce panels over a steel structure, in the central part of which very thin triangular wooden sheets are collocated forming particular openings (fig. 8). di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 42 figure 8. hygroskin pavilion, stuttgart the millimeter precision with which these elements have been carved, thanks to a 3d laser printer robot, allows hygroskin to react naturally to the change of external weather conditions: simulating the behavior of the scales of the pinecone, when it rains and the humidity increases, the openings close up on themselves; while during the sunny days when the internal temperature increases the thin wooden sheets contract, increasing the width of the openings (menges et al. 2015). 3.5. the new frontier of parametric architecture for shading the use of parametric modelling for design allows us to overcome geometric limits and obtain unique shapes and solutions. all thanks to data and parameters that, when modified, create infinite possibilities. new programming and coding languages, modelling and 3d printing, such as grasshopper by rhino, allow to faithfully reproduce the cellular functions and structures of organisms, as well as the systems of organization and evolutionary adaptation typical of natural habitats. this is the sector in which biomimetic architecture, a relatively young science that combines biology and technology, develops (tedeschi, 2011; oxman, 2017). since the era of industrialization, areas closely related to architecture, such as materials science, engineering and construction, have always been seen as separate disciplines in the logic of a rather linear design process. current research in computational design reveals the potential of their integration and interconnection for the development of an architectural project, with particular attention to biomimetic and performance-based eco-friendly materials. the high degree of kinematic freedom that is obtained opens up the possibility of building complex, high-performance, single-material structural connections never made before. buildings become envelopes and structures at the same time (loonen, 2013; alini, 2018). 3.5.1. computational design, the innovation of digital manufacturing for biomimetic buildings the first prototype of a wooden structure made by a robot in the world dates back to 2014. thanks to the computational design it was possible to create, for the first time with the aid of a robot, a biomimetic wooden building. the shape of the shell resembles the skeleton of sea urchins, a modular organism composed of individual elements of connected calcium carbonate. similarly, in the landesgartenschau exhibition hall 2014 pavilion designed at the university of stuttgart (fig. 9), this structure made up of thin multilayer beech plates is created. these sheets are interlocked with each other by means of jointing on the edges, with a precision never achieved before. characteristics of materials, measurements and manufacturing principles are part of a simulation and optimization system in which shapes are drawn robotically. this is an interesting project for future development, because it shows the new opportunities that arise from the integration of design, simulation and numerical control manufacturing processes and resource efficient construction from local and renewable sources of the wood. to sum up, the innovation of digital manufacturing is di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 43 characterized by speed of construction; very precise manufacturing; efficient and advanced detection methods; having a building shell and structure at the same time and striking visual effects inside and outside. figure 9. landesgartenschau exhibition hall, stuttgart 3.5.2. zaha hadid’s architectural and design visions: al janoub stadium, qatar. with regard to the characteristics of permeability and porosity, typical of classical mediterranean architecture, visions of the zaha hadid studio deserve a reference, because thanks to these “we were able to move away from closed forms and perimeter blocks to create a buildings and urban landscapes that are porous, accessible and welcoming” (www.zaha-hadid.com). the malleable nature of the architectural material is essential to be adapted to the context. all elements of architecture are becoming parametrically malleable and thus adaptive to each other and to the context (bifulco, 2019; peluso, 2019). in the case of the al janoub stadium (fig. 10), thought for the world cup to be held in qatar in 2022, inaugurated in al wakrah in 2019, the zaha hadid architects designed the building in conjunction with a new precinct so that it sits at the heart of an urban extension of the city, creating community-based activities in and around the stadium on nonevent days (www.zaha-hadid.com). the shape is inspired by the sails of the traditional arabian dau boats, used by the pearl fishermen of the region. the curvilinear roof and exterior reference al wakrah's history of seafaring, in addition to giving spectators the feeling of being on a ship. the entire structure is therefore designed to resemble the hulls of boats overturned and arranged almost at random to provide shade and shelter. beams placed “in the bow” support the roof system. the main feature of the stadium is the possibility of completely closing the retractable roof with a tensile structure designed by schlaich bergermann partner (sbp.de/en/project/al-janoub-stadium). the roof is made of fabric and ptfe pleated cables, with large arches reaching a length of 230 meters. according to the supreme committee for delivery & legacy (sc) of qatar, detailed microclimatic analyses have shown that the shape of the arena, the aerodynamics and the optimal shading resulting from the roof structure, with a minimum amount of glass present, contribute significantly to control the temperature. a roof like this, which encompasses various functions, could be very useful in terms of energy and shading in mediterranean climates. di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 44 figure 10. al janoub stadium, qatar 4. discussion and conclusions integrating photovoltaics into building facades in italy is an interesting and complex challenge. the areas of the mediterranean, attractive for the strong sunshine, are suitable for an energy issue in step with the times. the identification of integrated systems in the mediterranean house, through the choice of innovative solutions, will make it possible to transform specific architectural components of the building envelope into energetically active components. in particular, solar screens are configured as a characterizing element of the tradition of mediterranean living; fundamental response to the energy saving needs of a building, to guarantee shading, solar control and reduction of the thermal load of a building. the uni 8290 standard for residential houses (www.store.uni.com/catalogo/uni-8290-2-1983) does not consider the shading component and, moreover, in the definition of legislative decree 311/2006 (www.camera.it/parlam/leggi/deleghe/testi/06311dl.htm) it is defined as a system applied to the outside of a transparent glass surface. in mediterranean architecture, the shading component interacts synergistically with the building envelope. now, shading is not just the pergola or the garden, but it is often a device, a technique applied to the envelope. so why not consider it part of the envelope itself? if it were part of the transparent facade, it would contribute to the enhancement of thermal resistance; as part of the opaque envelope, it would instead contribute to insulation. on the one hand, we want to grasp the suggestions of tradition, identifying the new needs for an adaptation of the built and a better design of the new. on the other hand, we stimulate the research and cataloging of new materials on the market and characterizing national and international research in order to identify new services to meet contemporary needs. buildings built in warm climates are affected by severe overheating problems in summer, which negatively affects people's comfort and health. for these reasons, many users are forced to install cooling systems, leading to an increase in costs, consumption and a meaningful impact on the environment. the examples discussed show the desire to grasp the suggestions of tradition, in response to people's current needs for comfort and well-being. research and experimentation on innovative materials are carried out starting from the analysis of best practices at national and international level, thanks to which performing performances have been identified, suitable to meet the contemporary needs of climate adaptation, energy efficiency and sustainability. in mediterranean architecture, shading systems are configured as a characterizing element of the tradition of mediterranean houses where the shading component interacts synergistically with the building envelope. now, di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 45 usually the system is not just the pergola or the garden, but it is often a device, a structure connected to the design of the envelope. one consideration is that the components could be directly integrated into the enclosure. if, for example, the shading were part of the transparent façade, it would contribute to the enhancement of the thermal resistance. as part of the opaque envelope, it would instead contribute to insulation. it represents a fundamental answer to the energy saving needs of a building where it guarantees shading, solar control and reduction of the thermal load of a building. the results put in evidence that different solutions are considered in order to reach a high level of internal comfort in a building, ensuring the designer identifies the best choice of building materials that compose the envelope. a shading element can also contain integrated photovoltaic elements. the integration of photovoltaic panels in the facades of buildings in italy is an interesting and complex challenge. the areas of the mediterranean, attractive due to the strong sunshine, lend themselves to an energy issue in step with the times. the identification of integrated systems in the mediterranean housing, through the choice of innovative solutions, would make it possible to transform specific architectural components of the building envelope into energetically active components. to sum up, the case studies serve to understand the potential development of multifunctional adaptive facades, stimulating and promoting the translation of multifunctionality of nature into architecture. levels of biological organization can help transfer multiple functions into a single, multi-level hierarchical structure of an adaptive facade. the aforementioned experiments on bio-adaptive structures offer important insights into the potential offered by technological innovation for sustainable protection in the mediterranean buildings. digital technologies can help to provide adequate solutions to the formal and technical complexity of protection systems, causing unprecedented changes also in the conservation process: process transformation, digital design (algorithmic, parametric and generative) based on performance, computational design, simulations with virtual and augmented reality, digital manufacturing and new construction methods, which contribute to a paradigm shift in architecture and a transformation of the contemporary practice (terenzi, 2017; tucci, 2017; bilir mahciek, 2018). the reflection on some intervention strategies assumes a general character that goes beyond the examples discussed and can offer a register of useful guidelines for all designers, which once elaborated can be used in geographical contexts with similar climatic characteristics. innovative applications provide food for thought for an original reading of issues already current for some time on the agenda of those who govern the city and represent a stimulus for new insights on biomimetic-adaptive shelters to be implemented in mediterranean areas. if the copious literature of the last decade promises a central role in the architecture of this millennium for biomimicry, it will increasingly have to characterize the design of shading or buildings envelopes in warm climates, thus stimulating the development of environmentally responsible, socially reactive structures and revolutionary, radical design solutions. an important open question is that a successful facade project should meet several functional requirements and regulate multiple environmental factors. in nature, there is a wide range of organisms specializing in different functions. the translation of biological solutions into adaptive facades would benefit from billions of years of evolution. multifunctionality in nature is the integration of more than one function into a single system where a unified structure is able to control a variety of functions. that is why current studies focus on monofunctional elements assembled into a single system, which is subsequently multifunctional. for instance, the components of a window are designed separately to meet different requirements, such as daylight and exterior view controlled by the properties of the glass, while glare and solar gain are controlled by shading. the facade can manage multiple aspects to meet the functional requirements of a building and protect the interior from environmental factors such as wind, precipitation, humidity, outside temperature and solar radiation. finally, facade systems aim to meet a wide range of various functional requirements which are often contradictory. for example, obtaining optimal illuminance with minimum glare and having a high thermal accumulation with light and permeable structures. di salvo/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 46 many considerations on the development of multifunctionality in facades, always thanks to the integration of the lessons learned from biological structures, can pave the way for further stimulating developments in research and experimentation. references aelenei, d., aelenei, l. &vieira, c. 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(2018). costruire e abitare green – approcci, strategie, sperimentazioni per una progettazione tecnologica ambientale | green building and dwelling – approaches, strategies, experimentation for an environmental technological design, altralinea editrice, firenze. uni (n.d.). ente italiano di normazione. retrieved december,14, 2020, from www.uni.com/ watanabe, h. the architecture of tokyo: an architectural history in 571 individual presentations. edition axel menges, 2001. willis, d. (2016). energy accounts: architectural representations of energy, climate, and the future. routledge. zaha hadid architects (n.d.). architecture. retrieved december, 14, 2020, from www.zaha-hadid.com/ http://www.uni.com/ http://www.zaha-hadid.com/ http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 21 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i2.835 rejuvenation in rural ireland in response to the covid-19 induced urban-to-rural migration phenomenon shreya sen1 1 student, bk2ac1 bouwkunde als wetenschappelijke discipline bsc bouwkunde, technische universiteit delft abstract the aim of this paper is to discuss the paradigm shift in residential choices induced by the covid-19 pandemic in europe. firstly, the resilience of the rural regions belonging to the northern periphery and arctic program will be explored—the challenges brought about by covid-19 within their tourism sectors, and the opportunities for rural revival generated by the current shifts in workplace mobility. the paper will then delve deeper into the case study of ireland. the pre-existing issue of ireland’s one-off housing and suburban sprawl will be explored, and the extent to which the regional plan “our rural future” will tackle these issues by optimizing building density and dwelling typology in the post-covid-19 era. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords northern periphery and arctic program, rural rejuvenation, “one-off” housing, second homes, regional planning development, remote working, building density, dwelling typology, covid-19 ; 1. introduction we live in an era of intense urbanization. global trends indicate that populations are projected to increasingly concentrate in urban regions— leaving small towns and rural areas to face youth out-migration, brain drain, and increasingly ageing populations (fisher, 2021). these trends are also evident in the case of the 9 partners of the northern periphery and arctic program (2014-2020), a transnational cooperation between norway, sweden, iceland, finland, ireland, northern ireland, the uk, faroe islands, and greenland (npa, 2021). the northern periphery program aims to help these remote communities based in the northern fringes of europe to harness their potential for innovation, entrepreneurship, and growth (npa, 2021). the covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact in disrupting old patterns and attitudes, from employment practices to perceptions regarding urban versus rural living (nordic talks, 2021). several factors defining the periphery such as a low population density, localized services, and higher levels of civic engagement have added to the resilient nature of the periphery during the pandemic. covid-19 has impacted not only the daily lives in rural communities of these npa regions, but also their local tourism (fisher, 2021a). the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have demonstrated the economic and social consequences of an excessive dependency on international tourism during crises—with threats of further spreading pandemics, and significant drops in trade and income (fisher, 2021a). advocates of sustainable tourism believe that the lessons from covid-19 will reinforce the need to balance sustainable community development with the well-being of inhabitants (benjamin et al, 2020). this form of http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i2.835&domain=press.ierek.com sen / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 22 “regenerative tourism” may promote trends of tourism equity and a revival of the rural areas in the post-pandemic age. the current pandemic-induced shift in workplace mobility could help achieve such a rural revival. as lockdowns and social distancing restrictions force the greater part of the global population to stay home for extended periods, access to green spaces and large private spaces have become a luxury for many (åberg et al., 2021). competing trends of a second-home boom, advancements in ict and teleworking, and a prevailing counter-urbanism sentiment have the potential of spurring rural rejuvenation by attracting city dwellers to relocate, at least seasonally, to sparsely populated rural areas (åberg et al., 2021). understanding the broader context and characteristics of the npa regions in europe provides further insights into the case study of ireland. similar to the other regions part of the northern periphery and arctic program, rural ireland has also been confronted by several pressures with the advent of the coronavirus pandemic. a large elderly demographic and difficult access to healthcare facilities have critically hindered the ability of some of ireland’s largely dispersed rural regions to counter the pandemic as effectively as their urban counterparts (oecd, 2020). a large contributor to this issue is the pre-existing tradition of ireland’s suburbanized settlement patterns with its “oneoff” housing estates. these are detached, private properties in the countryside; c.a. 26% of the two million occupied housing in ireland can be categorized as “one-off” housing estates (central statistics office, 2021). these dwellings are representative of a deeper issue linked to ireland’s conservative socio-political culture and fondness for the rural idyll (mcdonald & nix, 2005). rural communities are worried about the constant threat to rural institutions and the lack of critical infrastructure essential towards maintaining the cohesiveness of communities (ifa, 2015) presently, the covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the suburbanization process. this is due to a shift from on-site to remote working in cities, which has softened the demand for commercial office spaces (noonan, 2021). several irish towns and villages have thus transformed into low-density, temporary, green havens for the urban generated rural dwellers. this has consequently led to an increase in demand for affordable individual housing units in the outskirts of counties galway, west cork, mayo, westport, roscommon, kerry, and donegal (hutton, 2020). amongst homebuyers, the focus has shifted from the traditional commuter belts, and to the rural, west coast (meehan, 2021). northwest ireland generally has the highest proportion of one-off housing; the region is also one of the most economically disadvantaged of the country with few urban settlements (central statistics office, 2021). reflecting upon the shift in attitudes of potential home buyers, the irish government decided to execute its regional development plan “our rural future: 2021-2025”, to tackle the dispersed suburban settlement issue (dept., 2021). the plan aims to reverse acute rural decline and address rural housing in a broader regional development and settlement context (dept., 2021). in addition to dealing with the historical pattern of dispersed development, the plan seeks to protect regions under strong urban influence from unsustainable over-development. this will be achieved with the introduction of sustainable, carbon-neutral, and well-integrated walkable communities that are in proximity to amenities and collective services (dept., 2021). alongside socioeconomic rejuvenation, the country’s cultural identity will be enriched by the urban-to-rural migration since ireland’s heritage lies in the heart of its rural landscape, flora, and fauna (corcoran, 2018). the aim of this paper is to discuss the paradigm shift in residential choices and explore the policy approach to rural development in light of the needs and opportunities highlighted by the covid-19 pandemic. firstly, the phenomenon of peripherality and the impacts of the pandemic will be investigated in the larger context of the npa regions. aspects such as the resilience of the peripherality and impacts of the pandemic on local tourism in the npa regions will be further evaluated. next, the paradigm shift regarding workplace mobility and the favor for varied typologies of second homes—cabins, cottages, seasonal holiday accommodation, and one-off housing—will be discussed in order to tackle territorial inequalities and evaluate opportunities for rural revival. the paper will then further delve deeper into the case study of ireland—first discussing the dominant issue of ireland’s suburban sprawl and the prevalence of “one-off” housing. then the paradigm shift from urban to rural regions during covid will be explored alongside the contributing socioeconomic factors. finally, the government’s regional development policy, “our rural future: rural development policy, 2021-2025” will be evaluated, which offers solutions to these issues. sen / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 23 2. covid-19 impacts and recovery in the northern periphery and arctic program the northern periphery and arctic program (2014-2020) is a transnational cooperation between 9 partners: norway, sweden, iceland, finland, ireland, northern ireland, the uk, faroe islands, and greenland (npa, 2021). despite variations in geographical features, these regional partners share a number of opportunities and joint challenges such as low population density, low economic diversity, peripherality, abundant natural resources, and high susceptibility to climate change (fisher, 2021). a sparse population growth, youth out-migration, brain drain, and an increasingly ageing population are their defining demographic characteristics (fisher, 2021). the northern periphery program aims to help these remote communities harness their potential for innovation, entrepreneurship, and growth in a resource-efficient way, thus paving the way toward self-sufficient, circular economies (npa, 2021). as covid-19 spread throughout europe in spring 2020, the npa monitoring committee initiated the “npa covid19 response call,” supporting seven projects that aimed towards understanding the impact of covid-19 across the npa regions with regard to (a) clinical aspects, (b) health and wellbeing, (c) technological solutions, (d) citizen engagement/community responses, (e) economic impacts and (f) emerging themes, focusing on care homes and university campuses (npa, 2021). investigating the impacts of the pandemic on npa’s peripheral regions reinforces the need for a fresh perspective regarding peripherality and localism, as well as a proper assessment of assets, strengths, and opportunities that these remote regions offer during times of crisis. 3. resilience of peripherality in the npa regions during covid-19 during the pandemic, a common trend across all npa regions was that rural communities—due to their size, smallscale networks, and interdependent nature with inbuilt cooperative systems—had a more dramatic response to the pandemic through community-based initiatives (nordic talks, 2021). rural regions with their smaller populations and close-knit communities were able to provide greater civic engagement through volunteering, voting, and immunization (fisher, 2021b). in the context of the faroe islands, iceland, and greenland, the general population was permitted to book covid-19 tests utilizing a contact tracing app. developed in just 10 days by volunteers, the app functions without the intervention of a doctor—thus streamlining the testing process, quickly shutting down community transmission, and reducing the workloads of doctors (fischer, 2021b). in the case of islands uist and barra in the outer hebrides, scotland, the covid-19 outbreaks were effectively suppressed by bottom-up initiatives of island communities, often going a step further than public mandated measures (nordic talks, 2021). a survey by scottish rural action suggests how well-resourced local organizations and stakeholders such as community councils, development trusts, local businesses, and statutory sector organizations were able to respond to local needs in targeted, dynamic ways (scottish rural action, 2020). such micro-and small enterprise sectors often act as breeding grounds for new business developments and innovations within a wide range of economic sectors, ranging from the bioeconomy in the nordic regions to the healthcare technology of northern ireland (fisher, 2021b). micro-businesses in the primary sector are crucial in the delivery of critical services, from food through servicing machinery to retail, which cannot be easily imported from outside to the local economy (fisher, 2021b). these are aspects that contribute to the resilient nature of the peripheral economy, which is often characterized by a loyal local customer base. the resilience of the periphery is evidenced by the relatively low mortality rates, hospitalization numbers, and infection rates per capita—a staggering twofold difference between urban and rural centers (nordic talks, 2021). finland saw that its peripheral districts, in contrast to its capital city helsinki, have been able to keep the infection rates comparatively low (fisher, 2021). this phenomenon can be attributed to the low accessibility, low population density, and increased dispersion of the remote areas. these aspects are inhibitory factors, generally perceived as negative in the context of modern-day globalization—yet in the light of the pandemic, they have aided in quick organization and reaction (nordic talks, 2021). the highlands and islands of scotland suffered from less severe impacts of covid-19 due to high levels of vaccination (fisher, 2021b). by february 2021, the outer hebrides had the highest proportion of its population vaccinated of scotland’s health board, orkney the second-highest, and shetland the fourth-highest (fisher, 2021b). in the case of ireland, the pandemic has brought a new appreciation of sen / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 24 community health care with successful campaigns such as “no doctor no village,” especially general practices in remote peripheral locations that enjoy high patient trust (nordic talks, 2021). this has been transformative within irish health services seeking to strengthen relationships and lines of communication and integration” (nordic talks, 2021). investing in localized services and preventative health care is economically beneficial if delivered locally so that patients do not incur the travel going to centralized services in cities. however, there have also been outliers—several individual communities and peripheral regions have been hit harder by the second and third waves of covid-19 than the first. for example, the regional comparisons in sweden demonstrate a mixed picture (svanberg, 2021). in july 2020, northern sweden demonstrated the highest covid-19 cumulative death rate—23.6 per 100,000—in the arctic region (svanberg, 2021). a shift in workplace mobility and opportunities for remote working contributed to lower rates in the arctic region from mid-march through june—with the exception of northern sweden, which exhibited a sharp rise of infections due to its relaxed cross-border policies (petrov et al., 2020). a number of island communities in scotland, northern ireland, and ireland have been hit significantly higher by covid-19 compared to finland and norway—which can be linked to eased travel restrictions, general seasonality of the coronavirus, and vaccination numbers (fisher, 2021b). implementation of targeted measures in the arctic region, based on the vulnerability of locations, businesses, and population composition, are potential means that could have helped avoid hard-hit regions (petrov et al., 2020). 3.1. impacts of covid-19 on tourism across npa regions prior to the pandemic, the development of mass tourism had been one of the major economic drivers adopted by the national governments and peripheral communities in the npa regions to help provide jobs, diversify economies and address demographic challenges (fisher, 2021a). tourism had been noted as one of the fastest-growing economic sectors across npa regions such as the nordic countries, scotland, and ireland (world tourism organization, 2020). the faroe islands, iceland, and greenland are examples of fishing-based economies that have recently transitioned into tourism-based economies (fisher, 2021a). mass tourism however involves key challenges—an imbalanced seasonal distribution of visitors across the year, short-term employment opportunities, coupled with an increasing trend of outmigration to urban areas leading to an ageing labor force (nordic talks, 2021). during the summer tourist season, some small irish islands receive thousands of day visitors every day, which puts huge pressure on public and community infrastructure, community life, and priorities (nordic talks, 2021). this results in often limited, poorly distributed, low-skilled employment opportunities in remote regions. adding to the detrimental nature of mass tourism, covid-19 and subsequent lockdowns have demonstrated the economic and social consequences of an excessive dependency on international tourism during crises—with threats of further spreading pandemics, and significant drops in trade, income, and employment (fisher, 2021a). the shrinking demand for tourism during the pandemic occurred almost overnight amongst overseas overnight tourists, cruise boat passengers, festivals and event attendees, and business visitors. the aviation sector belonging to the highlands and islands region of scotland was seriously affected, with passenger numbers falling by 78% between april and november 2020 (fisher, 2021a). in the context of the nordic countries, the wto indicates that the region had been affected by an estimated 75% decrease in international tourism between april and june 2020 (fisher, 2021a). overall, covid-19 has demonstrated that local and regional economic growth depending solely upon tourism is no longer a viable strategy when confronted by crises such as pandemics and the climate crisis. advocates of sustainable tourism believe that the lessons from covid-19 will reinforce the need to balance sustainable community development with the well-being of inhabitants (benjamin et al, 2020). this form of “regenerative tourism” will promote tourism equity and a revival of the rural areas in the post-pandemic age (benjamin et al., 2020). there is significant evidence of businesses that have adopted and survived this sudden downturn in international tourism. for example, 52% of the bccdc survey participants belonging to the tourism sector in greenland, iceland, and the faroe islands believe that covid-19 has prompted business models and tourism development strategies to accommodate local tourism, remote or distant tourism, staycations, and second homes (fisher, 2021a). for many communities and businesses, this focus on domestic markets has brought tourist businesses closer to all-year-round trade and income (nordic talks, 2021). sen / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 25 3.2. paradigm shift in workplace mobility across npa regions an excessive dependency on international tourism has been one of the driving factors diminishing economic resilience in peripheral communities during the pandemic. npa regions now have the opportunity to encourage rural revival amidst another emerging theme—a paradigm shift in workplace mobility and a renewed interest in rural living among urban dwellers (åberg et al., 2021). covid-19 has significantly disrupted old patterns and attitudes, from employment practices to perceptions regarding rural living. over the course of the pandemic, peripheries have become a refuge for maintaining health, strengthening community ties and local economies (nordregio, 2021). as lockdowns and social distancing restrictions force a greater part of the global population to stay home for extended periods, access to green spaces and large private spaces have become a luxury for many (åberg et al., 2021). in several instances, these “digital nomads” and “knowledge workers” are escaping to the rural regions to access assets like affordability, space, and access to nature (nordregio, 2021). however not all rural communities will be able to capitalize on this rural renaissance without a sufficient supply of services, communal amenities, and infrastructure (åberg et al., 2021). as people increasingly divide their time between their urban permanent home and their rural second home—this trend may further suggest the need for improvement within the connections between the urban and rural areas (åberg et al., 2021). the eu biodiversity strategy for 2030 states, “the recent covid-19 pandemic makes the need to protect and restore nature all the more urgent, the pandemic is raising awareness of the links between our own health and the health of ecosystems,” – urging for investment and policy development promoting the revitalization of rural areas (european commission, 2021). effective implementation of infrastructure and use of distance-spanning technologies could also help contribute to a change of employees’ preferences regarding residence, which would, in turn, revitalize the counter-urbanization processes and counteract the brain drain from peripheral areas to urban centers (espon, 2019). the ability to offer suitable housing options like zero-energy and shared housing solutions is also vital to these communities to remain attractive to the highly educated, and at the same time maintain a source of revenue for local craftsmen and businesses (nordregio, 2021). norway, sweden, denmark, and finland have noted a rise in people relocating to their seasonal residences or second homes during lockdowns and stay-at-home orders (fisher, 2021). second homes are not a new trend in nordic cities; historically, the region has had a strong tradition for second homes (slätmo et al., 2019). as a result of the ongoing urbanization patterns and the increasing compactness of the nordic cities, many choose to acquire a second home in the outskirts of the citiesequipped with private gardens and access to nature (slätmo et al., 2019). half of the population in the nordic region has access to a second home or “cabin” that is utilized during summer or winter seasons or during weekends. there is thus a prevalence of a counter-urbanism sentiment amongst the second-home owners and seasonal tourists, also known as the “voluntary temporary populations” (slätmo et al., 2019). the changing dynamics of the nordic labor markets, provided by the shift to remote working and off-site learning, are strengthening the culture of second-home ownership and cabins (nordregio, 2021). inari, finland’s largest municipality, is an example of this. demographic analysis shows that the majority of people buying second homes in inari are wealthy migrants from the capital helsinki and other large cities. remote working possibilities for workers within the fields of it or teleworking (one million fins are now engaged in the field of teleworking) permit them to work off-site and reduce commute (nordic talks, 2021). in another case, swedish media (dn) reports an emerging post-covid trend of young swedish families moving from stockholm to other peripheral regions in search of more spacious facilities where work and family life can both be combined, after over 40% of working professionals were sent into work-from-home mode (fisher, 2021a). this counter-urbanism sentiment is strengthened also after persistently booming housing prices in urban areas and expensive flats with smaller living areas in dense urban settings (fisher, 2021a). similarly, north iceland enjoyed an active tourist season in 2020 based entirely around domestic tourism—reporting an increased interest in staycations, as well as their own regional history, nature, and traditions. there have been reports of people normally based in norway and denmark who have moved to the faroe islands since they can work remotely with fewer covid-19 restrictions (fisher, 2021a). the islands and idylls of rural scotland are attracting the lockdown-weary (cundy, 2020). after scotland’s first lockdown froze the market for three months, parts of the country experienced interest in suburban and rural properties sen / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 26 (cundy, 2020). the massive growth in popularity of the isle of skye in scotland is an example of this (fisher, 2021a). 40-50% of the local housing stock in the isle accounts for holiday accommodation, cottages, and seasonal homes (cundy, 2020). the area is hugely popular with incomers, often retirees, buying second homes and retiring to the island. they are not part of a cultural heritage that has been passed down generations in islands like skye, and price local families, who might continue this cultural heritage, out of the housing market (cundy, 2020). this postlockdown paradigm shift exacerbates the already unsustainable situation in many islands which are struggling to sustain tiny communities in the face of youth depopulation as well as the survival of gaelic languages in the heart of island communities (fisher, 2021a). in this way, the apparent welcome trend of skilled professionals moving into peripheral regions can undermine the sustainability of the peripheral communities that they find so attractive (scottish rural action, 2020). the retirees migrating to peripheral areas may not be able to contribute much longer to economic activity and may well require significant health care in the future (cundy, 2020). this negative demographic development in remote and peripheral areas is partly rooted in unfavorable house market conditions over the last few decades, including higher costs to build social housing in peripheral areas, the poor quality and often low value of housing, and significant land issues for securing housing plots (scottish rural action, 2020). this fondness for the rural idyll and the presence of second homes part of the cultural heritage in scotland is to an extent reflected in the case of ireland. the urban to rural migration phenomenon has been underway for generations and the pandemic-induced transition from on-site to remote working in cities has further accelerated this inverse process (nordic talks, 2021). several irish towns and villages have transformed into low-density, temporary, green havens for the urban generated rural dwellers (noonan, 2021). the commute is no longer of the essence given remote working. among migrant workers, families, and retirees, there has been an increased interest in buying detached private properties or “one-off housing” in the outskirts of ireland, especially the rural west coast (hutton, 2020). the irish government intends to take advantage of this shift in the psyche—by moving away from mass tourism, which has indeed aided in economic diversification in the past but has worked as an extension to the urban market (nordic talks, 2021). instead, irish policymakers intend to promote a sustainable, rural revival by considering the rural perspective. factors defining peripherality such as closely-knit communities, and a pluralistic work-life balance have allowed irish rural communities to effectively respond to covid (fisher, 2021a). these are strengths that can be further developed with investment in physical infrastructure like high-speed broadband and sourcing suitable buildings to make rural towns viable for remote work (fisher, 2021a). the case study of ireland will be explored further in this paper. 3.3. “one-off” housing and ireland’s suburban sprawl figure 1: percentage of homes constructed since 2011 that are one-off houses, 2016 (central statistics office, 2021) sen / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 27 similar to the other partners of the northern periphery and arctic program, ireland’s permissive housing policies continue to facilitate widely dispersed, suburbanized settlement patterns—“one-off” housing estates being one of its defining features (meehan, 2021). “one-off housing” refers to self-built, detached properties in the countryside, see figure 1 (meehan, 2021). the one-off housing debate in ireland sparked in april 2001 when the department of the environment revealed that 30-40% of the annual home completions are single houses (characterized by their 58-meter-frontages) in the countryside—these were properties that were becoming increasingly opted for by urban migrators (nix, 2003). currently, 26% of the two million occupied housing in the country can be categorized as “one-off” housing estates (central statistics office, 2021). for perspective, 60-70% of all new housing in counties galway and wexford is categorized as one-off housing (nix, 2012). an “urban generated rural dweller” is said to live in a single house in the countryside, but commutes to a city or town for work (nix, 2003). according to the central statistics office, the demographic commuting to work for greater than 30 minutes have higher incomes, which suggests that much of the “counter-urbanism” is largely based around the middle-class flight (central statistics office, 2021). urban-based rural dwellers opt for one-off housing since they promote privacy, allow families to reside near relatives, bear minimal site costs, and can be selfbuilt to fit taste. moreover, these estates allow farmers to effectively live on their land, with time-saving and security benefits (meehan, 2021). however, the current irish one-off housing phenomenon is generally disconnected from agricultural practices—the teagasc farm survey indicates that there are 140,000 farms in ireland compared to the 442,669 one-off dwellings (dillon et al., 2021). the construction of one-off housing estates in the countryside is the most graphic manifestation of suburban sprawl (epa, 2008). over the past two decades, this dispersed settlement pattern has consequently led to the footprint of dublin to double or even triple that of european cities with similar-sized populations (see figure 2) (epa, 2008). figure 2: average household carbon footprint (hennigan, 2020) the widespread construction of single dwellings in the periphery of urban centers is an unsustainable manner of living in contrast to closely-knit housing developments (with c.a. 5-meter-house-frontages) that feature collective service sen / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 28 functions: mail delivery, waste collection, septic tanks, phone and electricity connections, footpath provision or public lighting (see table 1) (nix, 2003). despite the trend for commuter living, the infrastructure and transport links from the sprawling suburbs to the city have been inadequate (mullen, 2014). these suburbs experience a constant process of infrastructure catch-up on the building of new roads, services, and amenities that attempt to connect homes with places of work—contributing to ireland’s high levels of car dependence (npa, 2019). these poorly serviced commuter towns are in need of structural reforms and rural revitalization if they were to sustain the migrating population post-covid. table 1: distance of one-off housing from town by year built, 2016 (,20) distance from town built before 2011 built 2011-2016 not stated total less than 500 metres 500 metres – 1 km 1-5 km 5-10 km 10 km or more total 28,252 40,567 275,706 58,330 4,447 407,302 775 1,179 8,745 1,773 114 12,586 429 561 4,043 845 74 5,952 29,456 42,307 288,494 60,948 4,635 425,840 according to the irish rural dwellers association, rural institutions like schools, post offices, and the lack of critical infrastructure are under constant threat of suburbanization (ifa, 2015). the dispersed “one-off” housing properties further amplify these issues. for instance, parts of ireland are categorized as “too rural” for the provision of ambulance services and hospitals—thus requiring people to travel long distances for receiving health care (ifa, 2015). additionally, given the greater range of commercial services and infrastructural networks in cities, more people are likely to bypass local towns and villages, and settle in the suburbs. “one-off housing” properties thus rob rural towns and villages of their collective service functions, vibrancy, and local economies—further dragging the rural hinterlands into the commuter catchments of larger cities (mcdonald, nix, 2005). this form of dispersed living erodes local services and amenities that are vital towards maintaining socially cohesive, vibrant rural communities. 4. paradigm shift from urban to rural during covid the coronavirus pandemic has induced a transition from on-site to remote working in cities—softening demand for commercial office spaces and in turn accelerating the urban-to-rural migration process (noonan, 2021). several irish towns and villages have thus transformed into low-density, temporary, green havens for the urban generated rural dwellers. online property search data is indicative of an attitude shift amongst home buyers, with an increased interest in affordable individual housing units in the outskirts of counties galway, west cork, mayo, westport, roscommon, kerry, and donegal (hutton, 2020). the preference is decreasing for traditional commuter belt counties like wicklow, kildare, and meath, as home buyers opt for developments in the rural, west coast (hutton, 2020). the regions with the highest share of one-off housing are in the west coast (42%), mid-west (31%), and south-west (29%). northwest ireland generally has the highest proportion of one-off housing (see figure 1); the region is one of the most economically disadvantaged of the country with few urban settlements (central statistics office, 2021). the following subsection aims to discuss the socio-cultural and economic factors in ireland that contribute to the shift in preference from urban to rural housing during covid. 4.1. sociocultural and economic factors with the opportunity of remote working during covid, potential home buyers are opting for houses in the outskirts with picturesque greenery and pastoral landscapes (hutton, 2020). the pastoral backdrop of the countryside holds particular resonance in ireland (corcoran, 2018). according to rowe, “pastoralism continues to serve as a critical lens through which to mark human progress and as an optimistic source for dealing with threats encroaching from either a natural or suburban wilderness” (rowe, 1992, p. 226). historically, irish nationalism has maintained an sen / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 29 uneasy relationship with urban life, and the status of dublin as the center of ireland has long since been ambiguous (horgan, 2004). since ireland’s independence in 1922, the view that irishness and urbanity were in a contradictory relationship became prevalent (horgan, 2004). whilst the idea of the rural peasantry became the essence of irishness, it also articulated a view that was anti-urban. the trope of anti-urbanism is still deeply embedded in irish culture and politics. in contemporary ireland, dublin’s rapid expansion and increased cosmopolitan essence have received cynicism from those who feel that these changes have led to material impulses perceived contrary to the identity of the irish (horgan, 2004). the large-scale conversion of former agricultural lands into “one-off housing” properties in the suburbs is in part reflective of the people’s fondness for the rural idyll and their aversion to high rise (mullen, 2014). according to the 2020 census, only a staggering 8.2% of the irish population lives in apartments (eurostat, 2020). the rest of the population does not prefer apartments regardless of their convenience; a strong attachment to the land is in the psyche of many irish people (mullen, 2014). the shift in lifestyle choices prompted by covid and the urge to move back to the rural regions is partially reflective of ireland’s historical “counter-urban” sentiment. although the agricultural sector has been categorized as essential activity during covid and maintained during lockdowns, labor-intensive sectors (agriculture, food-processing, mining, and forestry) that are critical for the rural economies are experiencing shortages in workers and a disrupted food supply chain; this is primarily associated to border closures, disruptions in logistical services, and additional impacts of brexit (oecd, 2020). future threats of climate change, brexit, and automation will be felt more harshly in the outskirts of dublin and cities located further away—leading to even more unbalanced regional disparities and an escalated housing crisis in the capital (social justice ireland, 2021). if a sustainable shift does not take place in the rural regions and companies revert to “business as usual”, the population shift and any rural policy action will be inefficient in maximizing equal economic recovery for all parts of the country (oecd, 2020). 5. scope for revitalization in rural ireland the irish government aims to capitalize on and utilize the inclination of potential home buyers to live in rural areas, as an opportunity to tackle the dispersed suburban settlement issue post-covid (dept., 2021). “our rural future: 2021-2025” is a government initiative with the aims of reversing acute rural decline and addressing rural housing in a broader regional development and settlement context. it seeks to tackle ireland’s dispersed suburban development and protect these areas from unsustainable over-development (dept., 2021). the current urban generated hemorrhaging of scattered “one-off” housing isolates dwellers from supermarkets, gps, and pharmacies, and is associated with increased roads and commuting costs (taylor, 2008). it is key to develop spatial strategies focusing on how dwelling typologies and building density can be optimized in response to the urban-to-rural migration, which is predicted to escalate the suburbanization process. two such spatial strategies, as opted for in the post-covid regional plan in ireland will be discussed in the following subsections. 5.1. remote working hubs and revitalized town centers in order to stimulate innovation within local economies, the government intends to invest in enterprise space with remote working facilities and co-working hubs in rural towns (dept., 2021). a network of 400 remote working hubs— a pilot scheme converting local pubs into multi-purpose communal spaces—and revitalized town centers (parks, green spaces, and recreational amenities) aim to spur rural rejuvenation, whilst relocation grants and tax incentives will be introduced for businesses to support home working (noonan, 2021). covid containment measures instigate remote working practices, remote learning, and e-services—which are of the essence in rural regions regardless of covid— where the commute tends to be longer; indeed, the increased connectivity of services through broadband and investment in public infrastructure aim to further spur employment opportunities and encourage rural-urban linkage (department of rural and community development, 2021). with its rural investment, the government seeks to acknowledge the commercial and communal activities in rural areas but also recognize the challenges faced by the dwellers (dept., 2021). these challenges include the effect of vacant and derelict properties on the vitality of towns and the impact of online shopping on town-center retail. the sen / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 30 pandemic has highlighted the importance and convenience of shopping locally, and the government intends to invest further in rural revitalization to support the viability of local businesses and further promote residential occupancy in town centers (dept., 2021). 5.2. optimizing dwelling typology & building density “our rural future” aims to place town centers in the heart of decision making. locating communal services such as schools or medical services in town centers rather than in the outskirts aids in town revitalization by increasing footfall and by creating a sense of space (dept., 2021). another approach involves utilizing existing buildings and unused land for new development to promote residential occupancy (dept., 2021). the new regional plan is inspired by the new urbanism movement—an urban design movement popularized in the us during the 80s, which seeks to foster ecologically-sensitive, walkable neighborhoods (nix, 2003). this transitoriented development (tod) suggests an end to cars and the commute for remote workers. shops and houses are arranged to ease commute by foot or bike (npa, 2019). well-laid out parks, green spaces, and town squares are key to creating a vibrant center. new urbanism also involves sensitive and effective land use with the aim of reducing under-utilization and dilapidation. the national planning policy thus aims to deliver a minimum of 40% of ireland’s new housing within the existing build-up of cities, towns, and villages on infill/landfill sites (npa, 2019). new urbanism also dictates high-quality design development and architectural diversity within communal living (nix, 2003). since the ability to self-build a family dwelling suited to one’s needs at an affordable cost in the countryside is a key driver to ireland’s settlement pattern—it can be used to foster creativity and innovation. for example, by providing an option for people to upsize and build a house of their own layout on a larger site yet within walking distance to amenities such as schools, churches, and sports facilities (dept., 2021). 6. evaluating “our rural future” the rural communities of ireland in 2025 will be determined by the extent to which they can successfully adapt to support the future of work, whilst transitioning into a more sustainable society. with the execution of “our rural future”, the government seeks to exploit the shift in workplace habits promoted by covid (hutton, 2020). flexible workspaces a short commute away from home, alongside grants and tax incentives are measures promoting workers to remain in or move to rural ireland in the thousands (dept., 2021). trade unions such as the irish congress of trade are in complete favor of this shift, claiming that remote working has the potential to be a win-win opportunity for both workers and rural areas (wall, 2021). remote digital connectivity and increased capacity of remote learning will enable the youth in rural areas to access higher education within local communities— helping reverse generations of depopulation, brain drain, and ingrained migration (wall, 2021). reducing the digital divide through broadband rollout will help address shortcomings in physical infrastructure such as transport links (noonan, 2021). although remote working will drive people back to rural areas, an overreliance on home working must be avoided since not everyone has a suitable area at home to work from. thus, as lockdowns ease, the availability of office spaces and working hubs in towns and villages becomes critical to the success of the strategy (noonan, 2021). in order to achieve social cohesion, the 400 working hubs need to focus not only on start-ups and creatives but also on integrating local communities by facilitating classrooms or gatherings of people. key to the rejuvenation plan is an integrated, place-based outlook in order to maximize investment and meet long term needs of rural areas (dept., 2021). this is achieved through a “town-first” approach, with the intention of attracting retail and commercial premises to the center of towns rather than the outskirts (dept., 2021). inspired by the new urbanism movement, all new houses will be built in clusters close to the main street and dispersed one-off housing will be avoided. according to reports from the central statistics office, currently, the average distance to most everyday services for rural dwellings is 3 times that of urban dwellings (central statistics office, 2021). provision of adequate services and infrastructure close to home is thus critical to the success of the plan. the covidinduced psyche of shopping locally is also reflected in the plan; the plan will support local businesses and retail stores sen / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 31 in order to promote residential occupancy in town centers (dept., 2021). the plan also focuses on converting preexisting vacant and derelict properties into remote workspaces, green spaces, and recreational amenities to make vibrant hubs for community engagement (npa, 2019). improved land use in turn aids in promoting green tourism, and employment opportunities in the rural communities within the fields of renewable energy, bioeconomy, and sustainable economy (npa, 2019). these factors will assist rural ireland to move past the aftereffects of brexit and post-covid recovery (social justice ireland, 2021). 6.1. skepticism ireland has previously experienced the consequences of a decentralized program; this has led to business organizations like dublintown resisting the government’s regional development plan (kelly, 2021). ireland's last decentralization push, now labelled as the “decentralization debacle”, occurred in 2003 when government department buildings and civil servants were moved from the capital dublin to different towns across the country (noonan, 2021). it involved the dispersal of 10,992 public servants based in dublin to 58 different locations in 25 counties (mccreevy, 2017). the headquarters of 8 government departments were moved to counties as far apart as cavan and killarney (mccreevy, 2017). this initiative however granted fewer employment opportunities and policy changes than expected (noonan, 2021). the program did not comply with what is traditionally understood as “decentralization”, which involves a proper transfer of power from the center to the elected authorities at the local branches who receive some degree of autonomy in relation to policymaking— an idea that is more complex than simply moving around buildings of the central government (mccreevy, 2017). the 2003 decentralization initiative was essentially about spreading development, but the development remained in dublin. no new policy formations thus came into effect in these rural outskirts, and the “dublin-mindset”, the idea of central decision-making limited to the capital, thus remained (mccreevy, 2017). with its “decentralization”-inclined approach, “our rural future” seeks to achieve balanced development across the country; however, this approach has been historically proven elusive and regarded as a hindrance to long-term national growth (dept., 2021). the proposed plan aims to balance growth throughout ireland and reduce rural decline by ensuring that provincial cities like waterford, cork, and donegal can act as a counterbalance to dublin (hutton, 2020). from an inclusive point of view, this proposal appears great. but regional disparities, that exist due to underlying economic competencies and varying industrial dynamics, make it difficult to achieve balanced growth across regions (crowley, 2019). this is the reason why agglomerations like dublin exist—as services linked to technology, culture, education, and leisure are easily accessible by people, a cluster of firms, and organizations in geographical proximity (crowley, 2019). moreover, larger cities have always had larger labor pools, improved infrastructure, and access to resources. dublintown argues that “our rural future” with its work-from-home incentives is “anti-dublin” bias, and they fear for a loss in foreign direct investment from organizations seeking the quality of life provided by urban settings (noonan, 2021). they believe that shifting major businesses to areas in the far outskirts of dublin will be fruitless, since these regions are lacking in the technology frontier, skilled labor and as a result, in their ability to attract customers (crowley, 2019). they also suggest that under-resourcing the capital city will place the irish economy on the wrong trajectory. it will also contribute to a misallocation of the taxpayer’s money (noonan, 2021). dublintown claims the government’s redevelopment approach to be overly optimistic and believes that the shortterm approach only draws on the current psyche of the people dissatisfied with urban living during lockdown (kelly, 2021). given the attractiveness of urban centers for modern life, encouraging workers to stay away from the capital is guaranteed to fail (noonan, 2021). before the pandemic, cities had proven how urban centers can encompass educational, leisure, entertainment, and cultural opportunities (kelly, 2021). dublin has disproportionately borne the brunt of the virus containment measures, but lessons from the past prove that cities are the best place to rebound and regenerate economic activity (kelly, 2021). dublin will thus continue to play a predominant role in ireland’s future, where the population growth will predictably outweigh that of surrounding regions by 2040 (crowley, 2019). despite the argument of over congestion, dublin’s growth-share in jobs has been rising over the last two decades (kelly, 2021). it is therefore short-sighted by the government to forgo these opportunities in its regional development plan. sen / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 32 6.2. the case for “real decentralization” ireland is fertile ground for a decentralization initiative given the “counter-urban” sentiment of the people when it comes to housing development (horgan, 2004). but in order to reap the benefits of such a plan, the government needs to aim for “real decentralization”, which proper transfer of power from central dublin to the local authorities who gain control over decision-making regarding revenues, spending on services, infrastructural policies, housing, education and health (mccreevy, 2017). consequently, with an increased need for providing services and collecting revenues at a local level comes the need for a share of civil servants from dublin who will be relocated to rural towns (noonan, 2021). the minister of rural development heather humphreys claims “our rural future” to be a “modernday, worker-led decentralization” movement, with the 300,000 civil servants/remote workers playing a key role (wall, 2021). in contrast to the “decentralization debacle” of 2003, the government outlines in its regional plan that the paradigm shift will be carried out by the people (wall, 2021). this manner of gradually increasing local government capacity in order to facilitate policy changes is already in play in the nordic countries and switzerland (crowley, 2019). the outskirts of dublin and regions further out will be most affected by the threats of climate change, brexit, and automation—leading to even more unbalanced regional disparities and an escalated housing crisis in the capital (social justice ireland, 2021). this is why the government considers “our rural future” as the much-needed intervention to disrupt the pro-dublin development bias (dept., 2021). despite its optimistic growth plans outside of dublin, there are indeed limitations to the plan associated with the per capita spending at the county level—dublin will be receiving the highest financial support in the context of ireland’s 2018-27 budget (crowley, 2019). this will undoubtedly restrict the ability of “our rural future” to meet regional convergence and its population target growths set for areas outside of the capital. vast areas of the country such as the northwest will be receiving little financial aid, which will worsen urban sprawl and dispersed development (crowley, 2019). one of the biggest limitations of the regional development plan may be that it is being executed with a largely unchanged institutional top-down approach, with the exception of some proposals for change at the regional level. a top-down national approach should ensure place-based, spatially blind policies and institutions in pivotal developmental areas (crowley, 2018). the topdown approach dictates that the priorities of the government must shift to connective infrastructures like roads, railways, and broadband to reduce the economic distance for firms (crowley, 2018). to futureproof the vibrancy of villages, “our rural future” indeed mentions successful bottom-up tactics. a bottom-up approach deals with local and regional governance; it focuses on the different needs and structures of the individual counties to maximize their growth potential (crowley, 2018). it demands local and regional policies that cater to their needs, which in turn affect the residential and local investment needs of the areas. to deal with the issue of under-resourced regions, one idea is the provision of funding through substantial land value tax to reduce inefficiency and fund local services (crowley, 2018). dublintown claims that a decentralized plan will lead to a misallocation of the taxpayer’s money, but the unsustainable, widely dispersed settlement patterns in the suburbs already consume more tax income than they generate and the properties are cross-subsidized. additionally, the affordability of servicing and maintaining basic services such as roads, post offices, and broadband in dispersed settlements has a direct cost on one-off dwellers themselves. this results in the frequent withdrawal of services, leading to disparities in the provision of amenities and services in the rural regions. this further reinforces the importance of a combined bottom-up, top-down approach. the relocation of workers to the regional hubs is designed to generate further business and encourage autonomy in decision-making so that they can guide their own growth in the future (noonan, 2021). waterford, donegal, and cork have great potential for socioeconomic rejuvenation (hutton, 2020). the implementation of both top-down and bottom-up rejuvenation strategies by the government in rural ireland will help determine the success of the current plan in comparison to the 2003 decentralization debacle. ireland’s population is expected to grow by a factor of a million in the next two decades—which means 550,000 more houses and 660,000 new jobs (dept., 2021). expansion of smaller cities and villages in the north, south, and the midlands thus becomes critical in order to ease congestion in dublin. with its plan, the government intends to ensure that rural ireland does not suffer drains in experience as people continue to relocate to dublin for employment (dept., 2021). the main way of achieving this is by encouraging people to live in town centers—as opposed to relocating to sen / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 33 the capital—and by redistributing employment per region by decentralizing various industries (dept., 2021). this will help in achieving viability and economies of scale in smaller cities. pandemic or not, the dispersed living is unsustainable from the urbanism point of view and must be tackled by the government. a dispersed settlement increases car dependency and the cost of providing services such as broadband, electricity, and ambulances leading to car dependency whilst diminishing the social life and viability of rural communities (ifa, 2015). with the building of integrated neighborhoods modelled on the basis of new urbanism, green parks, and town squares— the government simply plays the role in infrastructural catchup by facilitating hubs for remote working, clusters of housing around the existing build-up of villages, broadband rollout, schools, roads, hospitals, etc. (npa, 2019) the government believes in the need to futureproof the vibrancy of both cities and villages in ireland (dept., 2021). decentralization will help ease the housing crisis, reduce transport congestion in the city, and will help provide much sought-after office space by repurposing pubs in rural towns (dept., 2021). whilst the government’s plan is to be welcomed, it is not without its challenges. it has received a fair amount of opposition from city-based businesses and organizations, claiming that it will hinder dublin’s ability to attract foreign direct investment and that workers seek the quality of life provided by cities (noonan, 2021). even though ireland is still at an early phase in building a remote working culture, the government’s plan shows a step in the right direction. in order for this plan to succeed, remote working can no longer be a one-off deal between employees and employers. a systematic approach is required to embed remote working into the economy, for example, with incentives to maintain remote jobs as remote, as outlined in “our rural future” (dept., 2021). remote working brings the opportunity for a much-awaited cultural shift. businesses, the government, and the community need to make a collective approach in driving the occupancy of the co-working hubs. companies need to advertise open roles as location-agnostic, such that rural communities have the visibility of opportunities. “our rural future” is fundamentally about equal access to opportunity. the government must manage a drift to towns and villages rather than one-off housing since that increases the cost of provision of basic services like gps and schools (npa, 2019). there are a few other limitations associated with “our rural future”, for example, the manner in which its success can be measured. the plan simply outlines that the government intends to maximize the number of families living outside of big cities, but that is not a concrete manner that helps decipher the extent of rural rejuvenation or progress made in sustainability. a few potential ways of measuring success are, for example, the number of jobs generated, the number of new start-ups and entrepreneurship, the number of enrolments in school, or the reduction in one-off housing per county. the planning framework indeed encourages the cluster living permitted around a given radius surrounding towns and villages. no more one-off housing will be permitted in extremely rural areas with the exception of farmers who cultivate surrounding land. this raises a number of questions. what happens when someone inherits that piece of land—will they be expected to continue farming? what is to be done with the existing one-off housing? how can a distinction be made between the one-off urban sprawl, accounting for c.a. 70% of incidents, and the more sentimental irish rural housing idyll that is so important to its culture? 7. conclusions the 9 partners of the transnational cooperation northern periphery and arctic program—norway, sweden, iceland, finland, ireland, northern ireland, the uk, faroe islands, and greenland—share a number of aspects in common: a sparse population growth, youth out-migration, brain drain, and an increasingly ageing population are their defining demographic characteristics. the defining features of the northern periphery regions such as close-knit communities, pluralistic work-life balance, and localized services have helped remote regions respond more effectively to the pandemic (nordic talks, 2021). covid-19 has impacted not only the daily life in rural communities of these npa regions but also their local tourism. the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have demonstrated the economic and social consequences of an excessive dependency on international tourism during crises (fisher, 2021b). advocates of sustainable tourism believe that a form of “regenerative tourism” is needed to promote trends of tourism equity and sen / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 34 a revival of the rural areas in the post-pandemic age. this form of rural revival may be supported by the pandemicinduced shift in workplace mobility. as lockdowns and social distancing restrictions force the greater part of the global population to stay home for extended periods, access to green spaces and large private spaces have become a luxury (åberg et al., 2021). competing trends of a second-home boom, advancement in ict and teleworking, and the longing for the rural idyll have the potential of spurring rural rejuvenation by attracting city dwellers to relocate, at least seasonally, in sparsely populated rural areas. understanding the broader context and characteristics of the npa regions in europe allows further investigation of the case study ireland. similar to the other regions part of the northern periphery and arctic program, rural ireland has also been confronted by several pressures with the advent of the coronavirus pandemic. “one-off housing”, the rural residential typology common in ireland, refers to self-built, detached properties in the countryside and is the most graphic manifestation of ireland’s suburban sprawl (epa, 2008). census data shows that the main drivers of “one-off” housing is a suburbanized lifestyle, permissive policies, affordability, and proximity to large towns which can offer employment and services within easy reach by car—whilst having a backdrop of the pastoral landscape (central statistics office, 2021). covid has induced a shift in attitude amongst home buyers; the opportunity of remote working has increased interest in affordable individual housing units in the outskirts of cities (hutton, 2020). the irish government took this as an opportunity to execute its regional development plan “our rural future: 2021-2025” with the objective of tackling dispersed development in ireland and protecting areas from inappropriate over-development (dept., 2021). alongside socioeconomic rejuvenation in the brexit climate, the country’s cultural identity will be enriched by the urban-to-rural migration since ireland’s heritage lies in the heart of its rural landscape, flora, and fauna (corcoran, 2018). with the building of integrated neighborhoods modeled on the basis of new urbanism, green parks, and town squares— the government aims to play the role in infrastructural catchup in a “modern-day, workerled decentralization” movement (wall, 2021). by encouraging migration from urban to rural whilst tackling the overall historical pattern of dispersed development, the regional development plan will protect areas that are under strong urban influence from unsustainable over-development (dept., 2021). it is critical to note within the scope of this paper that ireland, in comparison to many other european countries, has a more fertile ground for the implementation of a such policy given its fondness for the rural idyll. its “counter-urban” sentiment is rooted in its culture, reflected in the dispersed development and lack of high rise in the capital city (mullen, 2014). these factors will largely contribute to the success and acceptance of the government’s redevelopment plan. however, there are a number of limitations to “our rural future”. the plan seeks to achieve balanced development across the country; however, this approach has been historically proven elusive by the 2003 “decentralization debacle” (noonan, 2021). the current plan does not have an exit strategy for dublin in the long term. city-based businesses and organizations thus fear a loss in foreign direct investment from organizations seeking the quality of life provided by urban settings (noonan, 2021). dublintown claims the government’s redevelopment approach to be based on a potentially short-term trend and believes that it only draws on the current psyche of the people dissatisfied with urban living during lockdown (kelly, 2021). furthermore, regional disparities will make it more difficult to achieve balanced growth across regions (crowley, 2019). this is one of the main contributors to why agglomerations like dublin exist—as technological, cultural, educational, leisure and entertainment services are most easily accessible by the people and clusters of firms in geographical proximity (crowley, 2019). dublin’s growth-share in jobs has been rising over the last two decades (kelly, 2021). indeed, it would be short-sighted by the government to forgo these opportunities in its regional development plan. the success of the plan is to a large extent dependent upon the attitudes of how employers adapt to the new norm. the plan does not propose a concrete solution to the existing one-off housing or ways to assess the success of the “rejuvenation” objective. given the government’s relocation grants and tax incentives, the shift from urban to rural will be gradual; it is unrealistic to expect a mass exodus of people to move to the rural because of the attractive opportunities provided by an agglomerate like dublin. the plan must be executed keeping in mind both top-down and bottom-down approaches, or else it may risk 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(2021). a reaction-driven rural renaissance on a swedish island post covid-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212895 https://www.interreg-npa.eu/ https://www.interreg-npa.eu/ https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212895 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 92 doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i3.679 development of an open-source water consumption meter for housing miguel arzate1, gerardo arzate1, javier aguirre1 1 department of the environment, division of art and science for design, metropolitan autonomous university, mexico city, mexico, mape@correo.azc.uam.mx abstract this article reports on the project "design and development of water and gas p.l. measurement devices in the housing: an approach to sustainable consumption in mexico", prepared at the metropolitan autonomous university in the department of the environment, whose objective was to develop a device to measure water consumption in the housing, which allows users to know their spending and can make decisions in favor of efficiency through the reduction of water use in household activities. the meter is made up of open source, programmable or reconfigurable software, which receives the signal from a water flow sensor and a casing designed to contain the hardware and facilitate the user's installation. both the hardware and the casing can be purchased, downloaded, manufactured and assembled at home (do it yourself). as specific results were obtained: hardware programming and housing design and as a final result: the assembly of the functional prototype with which measurements of water consumption were made in a housing in mexico. with this work we conclude that through the development of new accessible and common measurement technologies for the users of a house, it will be possible to promote efficiency in the use of natural resources in cities, increasing availability and promoting a more sustainable urban development. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords meter; water; housing; town planning; design; efficiency; sustainability. nomenclature f= flow (liters per second) f= frequency (number of pulses) cf= conversion factor (7.5) v= volume (liters) t= time (seconds) iws= inhabitants with water service (people) dcsi= daily consumption in the shower per inhabitant (liters) y= 365 days of consumption (year) 1. conceptual framework the water fundamentally sustains the environment, society and the economy. ecosystems such as wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes are indispensable for life on the planet and essential to directly guarantee a set of benefits and http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i3.679&domain=press.ierek.com arzate/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 93 services such as drinking water, water for food and industry, habitats for aquatic life and natural solutions that purify water, mitigate floods and overcome periods of drought, so they are essential for sustainable development, peace and security, and human well-being (pnuma, 2017). according to the world health organization (who) in 2017, there are 2100 million people in the world who lack access to drinking water services and 4500 million people who lack safe sanitation services. recall that 70% of the planet's surface is covered by water, but only 1% is consumable (oms, 2018). in mexico, according to estimates of the national population council (conapo by its acronym in spanish), between 2012 and 2030 the population of the country will increase by 20.4 million people. in addition, by 2030 approximately 75% of the population will be in urban locations (agua.org.mx, 2018). the increase in population will cause the decrease of renewable water per capita nationwide so it will be important to reduce demand by increasing the efficiency of water distribution systems in cities and consumption in homes, as it poses the national water plan (nwp) “…operate and manage our national waters in a sustained, sustainable and responsible way, considering climate change, population growth and the needs of industry, the countryside and urban public supply.” (gobierno de la republica, 2018, pág. 11), as well as the sustainable development goals (sdg) in goal 6.4: significantly increase the efficient use of water resources in all sectors (onu, 2018) and 11.b: increase the number of cities that adopt plans to promote the efficient use of resources (onu, 2018). according to data from the national institute of statistics and geography (inegi by its acronym in spanish), in mexico, 95% of households with potable water availability were counted in 20151, what represents that about 30 million homes or 111 million people who have this public service (inegi, 2018). however, although this number is favorable to the development indexes of the country, we must monitor and preserve this resource, since its availability over the last hundred years has been significantly reduced from 31,000 m3 to only 4230 m3 for every mexican (conuee, 2018). another significant aspect is the increase in water consumption per capita: in 1955, each mexican consumed about 40 liters a day; it is estimated that in 2012 consumption increased to 280 liters by person per day (agua.org.mx, 2018). the use of water in the domestic sector can be classified as: hydration: water that people ingest to satisfy human biological needs; food repair: water used to wash, prepare and cook food; personal hygiene: includes shower, washing face, teeth and hands; washing kitchen utensils used in the preparation of food; washing machine clothes; water closet (wc): the water used in each wc and other discharge, such as irrigation, washing, recreation (castillo ávalos & rovira pinto, 2013). in mexico there is a large number of homes that do not have drinking water measuring equipment, a fixed quota is applied to them, which causes a great disparity between the water consumed and the water that is paid; therefore if the user does not have information that indicates his daily expenditure generates disinterest in being more efficient in saving the vital liquid (sacmex, 2018). “the measurement of household water consumption may be desirable for reasons of equity and to allow volumetric charges that better reflect the costs of the water consumed by each family”. (solís, m., 2005) the growing increase in the demand for water resources increasingly requested for a greater number of uses makes it limited and highlights the fact that more efficient ways must be found to take advantage of it and take measures that allow using less water in any process or activity, for the conservation and improvement of water resources (castillo ávalos & rovira pinto, 2013), for these reasons and taking into account some nwp strategies such as improving measurement systems in urban and industrial public uses as well as promoting scientific research and technological development (gobierno de la republica, 2018, págs. 70,72) the design and development of a water consumption meter for housing in mexico is proposed, which will allow users to know their water expenditure and can make decisions that promote efficiency through the reduction of the use of water resources in their domestic activities. 1 in mexico, water uses have been classified into two main groups: consumptive use (the main ones: agriculture, urban public, industry, aquaculture and domestic), which in simple terms refers to the consumption of water by different sectors, and nonconsumptive use, which involves the use of the motor energy of water to produce electricity (hydroelectric). arzate/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 94 2. investigation methodology in order to fulfill the main objective of the project to solve the design and development of a water consumption meter for housing in mexico, the analytical and experimental method was used, performing an applied research where knowledge was sought to integrate technologies and improve the quality of life of people. the methodology is described below: 2.1. get the set of elements that make up a system (hardware) 2.1.1. select the elements of a water consumption meter for a housing the arduino yun card (see figure 1) was selected, consisting of a microcontroller based on the amtel atmega 32u4 and the atheros ar0331. linux support based on openwrt, ethernet and wifi communication, usb-a port, micro sd memory slot, 20 digital pins configurable as inputs and outputs and 16mhz clock. figure 1. arduino yun card the ½ "water flow sensor model yf-s201 was selected, it consists of a valve with a plastic body, a water rotor, and a hall effect sensor. the sensor internally has a rotor whose vanes have a magnet, the chamber where the rotor is completely isolated avoiding water leakage, externally to the chamber has a hall effect sensor that detects the magnetic field of the magnet of the vanes and with this the movement of the rotor, the hall effect sensor sends the pulses through one of the sensor cables where they are converted into flow through the arduino yun card. 2.1.2. program software a code was programmed in wiring, based on the processing platform with c/c++ language to read water consumption in the home, where the basic syntax was used, as well as operators of control structures, variables, constants, types of data, conversions and analog functions through an integrated development environment (ide) offered by arduino. 2.1.3. download software with the ide, we download the code to the arduino yun card, execute and purify it until all the operations that will make the selected water intake, the water sensor and the arduino yun card function properly. to obtain the flow rate, the following equation was used: f = f/cf (1) to obtain the volume, the following equation was used: v= f x t (2) arzate/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 95 2.1.4. connect elements that make up the system (hardware) the necessary physical connections between the water sensor and the arduino yun card were made for the correct functioning of the parts. 2.2. get the design of the hardware casing (see figure 2(b)) 2.2.1. design shape, function, ergonomics and usability of the casing in which the hardware will be housed a design methodology was used that includes six stages: plating the concept, analyzing form, analyzing function, analyzing ergonomics, analyzing materials and developing final volumetry (digital file in .stl format). 2.2.2. build the casing designed by means of three-dimensional printing for the manufacture of the casing, the robo3d plastic injection printer (see figure 2 (b)) was used, which has a printing surface of: 25.4 cm long x 2.86 cm wide x 20.32 cm high, the thermoplastic acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (abs) although the printer can adapt to various materials as it reaches a melting temperature higher than 290°c. figure 2 (a). final volumetry of the 3d casing figure 2 (b). plastic printer 2.3. obtain final prodduct: water consumption measurer 2.3.1. couple casing/hardware the final product was a water consumption meter made up of the arduino yun card (in which the developed code was downloaded), the water sensor (yf-s201) and the casing which was designed to integrate with the hardware. 2.3.2. connect water meter connect the water sensor cables to the arduino yun card. connect the water sensor to the source of origin. connect the arduino card to the electric current. identify and connect the wireless network to a computer the access point of arduino yun. open a browser and access the arduino yun configuration with the address: arduino.local/ become a client of a gateway that has an external and wireless network. search in the gateway in your local area network the ip assigned to the arduino yun. write in a browser the assigned ip more:/arduino/start/1 to start the measurement. a b arzate/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 96 to consult the data obtained write the assigned ip more:/arduino/consecutive/1 or consult the microsd in the file "datalog.txt" 2.3.3. take measurements of water consumption many tests were made to verify the correct functioning of the meter: energize the system, verify the communication between water sensor and arduino card, verify communication between arduino card and gateway, check resistance quality and casing assembly, check connections of each one of the components, check that the flow of water flowed correctly and various measurements for the final calibration. figure 3. diagram of connection and sending of meter data then an experiment (see figure 4), which is described below was performed: to demonstrate the information provided by the meter water consumption in housing presenting spending data from a thrifty shower in the toilet of a person in one day. general characteristics of the home: located in mexico city, multi-family, apartment on the third floor, water supply to basic services per elevated tank with a capacity of 5 thousand liters, has two full bathrooms, step heater, money-saving showers brand: dica, model: 4502dp. the variables considered are the time a person takes to bathe and the liters consumed in this interval. the variables that could modify the measurement are the working pressure, the flow rate and the temperature. figure 4. measurement of water consumption arzate/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 97 3. analysis of results with an ide supported by arduino (version 1.8.2), a digital file with the extension ".ino" was obtained, which contains the programmed code and all the parameters to measure and deliver water consumption data in a certain time, this file is free to use and can be downloaded in any digital medium with internet access. using computer assisted drawing software, a digital file with the extension ".sldprt" containing the three-dimensional model of the housing that was integrated into the aforementioned hardware, was later exported to the ".stl" extension, which defines geometries. of 3d objects to be manufactured in a plastic injection printer, this file is free to use and can be downloaded in any digital medium with internet access. with the development of the code and the design of the housing the objective of this project was obtained: a water consumption meter for the home ready to be used, which we verified with the proposed experiment, inviting the person who lives in the apartment to participate through 2 samplings; the first consisted of taking an average shower of 10 minutes (see figure 5) and the second consisted of taking an effective shower of 5 minutes (average suggested by the who) (see figure 6), with this it was possible to verify the amount of water which is consumed in the time indicated in each sample in a daily shower. figure 5. water consumption taking a 10 minute shower figure 6. water consumption taking a 5 minute shower with the obtained results we can propose two scenarios with the equation described below: iwsxdcsixy 1000 = 𝑚3/𝑌 (3) arzate/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 98 • average scenario according to the who in mexico: take a shower in 10 minutes. 111 million inhabitants x 25 liters x 365 days 1000 = 434 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚3 (4) • efficiency scenario according to who in mexico: take a shower in 5 minutes. 111 million inhabitants x 10 liters x 365 days 1000 = 217 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚3 (5) total water that can be saved per year in mexico if we take into account the second scenario: 217 million m3. i would have a 50% saving in the use of water with only the time it took to take a shower, information that the meter gave us and that the user could consult every day. this also shows us that the longer we use water, the more data servers it does not matter if the systems are savers. the user confirmed that 5 minutes is enough time to shower. 4. discussion and reflections in mexico, there are current problems in water management such as a low revenue collection, illegality and irregularities in the water and sanitation system, informal potable water vendors, high costs for operation and maintenance, and unjustified tariffs and poorly applied subsidies. by this, in the country there are people who receive the water at no cost, others pay for it with subsidies, and even, there are people who pay exorbitant prices. in mexico city, the local government values the water for the housing sector considering the following factors: 1. the classification of the property (popular, low, medium, high), 2. the type of water intake, 3. the type of meter (which is not installed in all the houses and only can be read by the government), 4. the measure of the general consumption, 5. and a high percentage of the subsidy that is provided by the government. this methodology makes the final price very variable, difficult to calculate and unrealistic (since important environmental and economic aspects are not taken into account), causing confusion and disinterest in people about the use of water in their daily activities. the proposed meter (with an approximate cost of us$100) is a necessary tool for the housing sector in mexico since it enables people to take a clear measurement of their water consumption helping to improve the current regulation and to strengthen social participation which is important to achieve equity in water distribution, to guarantee its availability and quality, and to educate people about the importance of caring and respecting this vital source of life. the meter will also help people to save some money since it allows them to make decisions for reducing their water consumption. we can say that an action to reduce the expense of the water resource is to provide the user of a home with the immediate information of daily water consumption provided by devices (meters) that are installed in the home in an easy and simple way so that people they can carry out an adequate management obtaining as a result, a much more efficient consumption avoiding waste and excessive use of water. the search for new technologies in developing countries that are accessible in cost, manufacturing and simple installation can be found in arduino, since it is a microcontroller widely used by areas related to electronics and robotics, but currently other professions are beginning to use it to solve important needs of society, in this case, has been used by the architecture to obtain a product that helps users of a home to know their water consumption can make savings decisions and efficiency in the daily use of this vital liquid. this project has fostered multidiscipline with the participation of architecture, urbanism, industrial design and electronic engineering, this must be considered in an important way in the design and development of new products that are more friendly to the environment. the architecture contributes the proposal of the project, the urban planning and growth of the place, the industrial design brings the creativity and technique of devising useful and aesthetic objects that a society may require to satisfy its needs; one of the most important tools that currently has this profession arzate/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 99 are 3d printers, as they are technologies that have transformed the way of producing all kinds of objects and electronic engineering that controls industrial processes through microprocessors; one of the most used tools in this profession is the arduino since it has an integrated circuit through which instructions can be written using a programming language that allows establishing programs that interact with electronic circuits. through the proposal of the development and design of a water consumption meter in which an open source platform has been selected and a housing has been designed to be coupled in the hardware, it will allow users to share, use, and even freely build the meter in your home. in addition, this project promotes access to new technologies to be used in housing in favor of efficiency and saving of natural resources. 5. conclusions the water is fundamental for the survival of the human population and for the ecosystems that make up the earth, most of the water used by anthropogenic activities is in the activities of agriculture, in the transformation of energy, in the elaboration or transformation of consumer products and in the distribution and supply for cities with the infrastructure that requires it. the constant growth of the human population has generated greater pressure on the water resources resulting in little availability of the resource, which in many cases has brought impacts on public health in many towns or cities. in addition, we can include the current problems of climate change that have altered the rainfall patterns and poles with the melting of the main glaciers where fresh water is distributed, complicating even more, the management and distribution and obtaining of the liquid. to plan measures to conserve water resources, work should be done to develop and implement adequate technology related to the supply and consumption of water; with systems of recovery and reuse of water, with the infrastructure that allows us to infiltrate and replenish aquifers and retention to capture rainwater and reuse it and with a systematized management where consumption can be controlled, leaks can be detected and educate people efficient use to meet their basic needs. because mexico faces a problem of water loss per inhabitant in the last 100 years, it must take efficiency measures in each of its existing cities since it is projected that in 2030 75% of the population will be in urban areas. the water conservation in cities should be sought through education through programs that promote the saving of this liquid, an action that would bring great benefits would be the installation of meters in each of the homes since there is currently a large number of homes does not have such measurement equipment. this growth should guarantee universal access to adequate, safe and affordable housing, as well as access to green and public spaces, this represents a great opportunity to design and build efficient infrastructures that bring us closer to more sustainable lifestyles. implementing constructions that generate low impact on the environment, that save resources and energy in the different phases of construction and habitation, arises as a demand of society indispensable in the future growth of cities, where the lifestyle must be sustainable, promoting a behavior change that encourages an efficient consumption of resources. the main benefits of the implementation of technology to measure the consumption of water in a house and be more efficient in their use are water savings; decrease in co2; the reduction of expenses; the preservation of water resources for future generations, reduction of pressure on the state or municipal water supply network, use of water savings in other important sectors that influence the quality of life of the human being. acknowledgement we thank the metropolitan autonomous university, azcapotzalco for supporting this project entitled "design and development of water and gas p.l. measurement devices in the housing: an approach towards sustainable consumption in mexico" 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(2005). la escasez, el costo y el precio del agua en méxico. economía unam, 2(6), 24-42. recuperado el 10 de noviembre de 2018, de http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=s1665-952x2005000300002&lng=es&tlng=es. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 101 doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i3.680 load shifting assessment of residential heat pump system in japan xueyuan zhao1, weijun gao1,3*, yanxue li1,3, yoshiaki ushifusa2 1faculty of environmental engineering, the university of kitakyushu, kitakyushu, 808-0135, japan 2faculty of economics and business administration, the university of kitakyushu, 802-8577, japan 3college of architecture and urban planning,qingdao university of technology, 266033,china *corresponding author: gaoweijun@me.com abstract with the economic growth and increasing requirement of indoor thermal comfort, the load of building sector presents a greater variability.this paper aims at analyzing the energy consumption characteristics and influencing factors of the residential heat pump system. firstly, we selected residential households as investigated objective in kitakyushu, japan, and compared the energy saving performances of heat supply systems between heat pump and natural gas boiler. the results were based on real measured residential load during winter period, and calculated the cost saving performance of residential heat pump system compared with traditional natural gas boiler. we also did a survey of residential occupation behavior for the 12 selected residential customers. the result indicated that there was low relationship between power consumption and occupation hours, and the number of family members had a significant impact on the power consumption. the results indicate that residential heat pump system presented promising energy saving and cost reduction potential. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords heat pump system; eco-cute；economy analysis 1. introduction the heat pump is one of the most promising heating technologies for energy-efficient building. in recent years, heat pump was also proven to be an economical efficient option for the residential heating supply system via power to heating transform. residential heat pump system has gradually become a hot topic in research in various researches. brian drysdale pointed that residential daily load had a significant seasonal and daily variations. there was a significant energy saving or economic benefit potential to manage the flexible load through optimal demand side management, such as power to heat transforms application (drysdale, wu, & jenkins, 2015). s. n. petrović proposed optimized model to improve the performance of residential heat pump system, and his simulation results indicated that coefficient of performance(cop) presented a higher value during summer period. however, it shown a lower value in winters when heating demand was higher (petrović & karlsson, 2016). jenny love compared the heat pump and gas boiler operation, and discussed daily mean and peak power under different external temperatures. the aggregate profile shown two peak heating period at the same time as those found in homes heated by boilers, but with lower peaks and more night time operation (love et al., 2017). primož poredoš did a thermo-economic analysis based on the field-test results for a residential air-to-water heat pump. the results revealed that the considered air-to-water http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i3.680&domain=press.ierek.com zhao / environmental science and suctainable development pg. 102 heat pump represents the most thermo-economically efficient system in terms of the aver final costs for heat production (poredoš, kitanovski & poredoš, 2017). viorel popa implemented an air to water heat pump in galati city to calculated medium value of the coefficient of performance of the heat pump system. comparing with other heating system, heat pump system has low operating and maintenance costs and shows promosing environmental performance (popa, ion & popa, 2016). research on residential heat pump systems is analyzed based on the energy market in japan. this research is composed as follow. section 1 based on the measured data, we analyze the economic benefits of residential heat pump systems, according to the factors such as temperature, coefficient of performance and the distribution of residential electricity consumption. section 2 introduces the objective and data resource. section 3 presents the method. section 4 does a detail analysis that consider the energy saving and economic performance, and the occupation impact. in the last section, the conclusion is provided. 2. objective and data resource according to the data book from kyuden electrical company (kyuden electrical company, n.d.), it can be seen that the kyushu area is presenting a full electrification trend. all electrified housing number in kyushu area has increased twice from 2008 to 2017. according to (zhang, qin, & wang, 2015), numerous heat pump water heaters have been developed for the residential sector, alongside the promotion of all-electrification households over recent years. energy for hot water accounts for about 30% of total residential energy consumption in japan. as evidenced in many empirical studies, the energy consumption of each household was statistically investigated for different outdoor temperatures, family composition, house time and economic conditions. in addition, load flexibility is closely related to the load consumption patterns of different customers. as shown in figure. 1, this research selected 12 households located in higashida district, northern part of kyushu island, japan. analyzing their residential electricity usage during weekly period in winter in 2017. this section analyzed the time series power consumption by each appliance at 1-hour interval, compares the residential energy consumption after the application of heat pump system, figure. 2 presents the detail structure of residential heat pump system. customers can use electricity from power grid, evaporator absorbs the heat form air, and transfer it to the thermal storage system. and the stored energy in the tank will be used later in the residential house. we also did a survey of family members' basic information for the 12 selected customers, the survey can be seen in table 1. figure 1. location of higashida region in japan. zhao / environmental science and suctainable development pg. 103 power grid demand sidethermal storage e v a p o ra to r compressor expansion valve c o n d e n se r heat from air heating supply tank boiler city gas figure 2. structure of residential household with heat pump water heater system. table 1. basic information of customers room number family member occupation hours(weekday)(h) occupation hours(saturday)(h) occupation hours(sunday)(h) i101 3 42 60 72 i111 4 65 82 88 i205 5 70 93 70 i210 4 68 79 67 i409 4 56 60 68 i410 3 48 48 42 i411 5 81 94 97 i1001 4 60 79 79 i1101 4 62 75 89 ii308 2 36 43 44 ii411 3 33 38 48 ii804 4 63 92 80 3. methodology the performance of cop is strongly dependent on changes of outdoor temperature. the daily heat consumption of the house also changes. there is an uncertainty in the cost savings, and the application of heat pump system provides a cost saving chance. we compare the performance between heat pump systems and traditional methods of extracting heat from natural gas. the power consumption of heat pump ehp (kwh) can be calculated as follow: re hp hp q e cop = (1) zhao / environmental science and suctainable development pg. 104 the equivalent consumption of natural gas vgas (m³) can be calculated as follow: re gas lhv q v = (2) the fuel cost of natural gas cgas (yen) can be calculated as follow: gas gas gasc v price=  (3) the power cost of heat pump cre (yen) can be calculated as follow: re electricre qc price=  (4) the cost saving puser (yen) can be calculated as follow: user gas rec cp = − (5) where, qre refers to the heating consumption of residential house (kj), cophp refers the cop of heat pump, lhv is the heating value of city gas (kj/m³), pricegas is the price of natural gas, and priceelectric refers to the electricity price. 4. result and discussion 4.1. energy saving performance selecting one household to analyze the power consumption of eco-cute. as we all know the power consumption of eco-cute has a close relationship with outdoor temperature.as we can see in figure. 3, when the outdoor temperature increase the power consumption of eco-cute is shown a decreasing trend. taking one household as an example, when the outdoor temperature dropped from 6 degrees celsius to minus 2 degrees celsius, the hourly power consumption increased by 14%. in the following, we will calculate thermal load in different value of cop. figure 3. power consumption of eco-cute under different out temperature. base on he measured data, we analyze the power consumption of eco-cute between the different customers. as we can see in figure. 4, the power consumption of eco-cute of each building shows a peak of usage is presented before 0 to 8 o'clock, and the peak is reached during 3 and 4 o'clock. zhao / environmental science and suctainable development pg. 105 figure 4. comparison of power consumption of eco-cute between the different customers. 4.2. economic performance we do an economic performance by comparing performance between eco-cute and natural gas boiler. the cost of the eco-cute and natural gas boiler for the same amount thermal load is calculated. as shown in the figure. 5, ranging the value of cop from 2.5 to 3.5, it shows that the cost saving is obvious at higher cop value. zhao / environmental science and suctainable development pg. 106 figure 5. cost saving by using eco-cute under the different value of cop. we also calculate the cost savings performance among customers. as shown in the figure. 6, we fix the performance of cop at 3.5, the cost savings can reach up to 5000yenand the lowest is around 2500yen. it indicates that eco-cute is shown an economic advantage. figure 6. cost savings performance among customers. 4.3. occupation impact as we all know, occupation has an impact on the load consumption. the survey result shows that the number of family members of the selected households ranges from 2, 3, 4, and 5 people, we calculated the power consumption of ecocute for these customers, respectively. the relationship between the number of family members and power consumption of eco-cute is shown in figure. 7. the result present that the power consumption is in linear relationship with the number of family members. the impact of occupation hours on the total power and eco-cute consumption are shown in figure. 8. based on figure. 8, it indicates that the number of family members has significant impact on the power consumption of eco-cute. zhao / environmental science and suctainable development pg. 107 figure 7. relationship between power consumption of eco-cute and number of family members. figure 8. the impact of indoor hour on the eco-cute consumption. 5. conclusion this study utilized the monitored history data to analyze the energy consumption characteristics and influencing factors of the residential customers, which equiped with heat pump heat supply system in kitakyushu, japan. considering that load flexibility is closely related to the load consumption patterns of different customers. we selected 12 households located in higashida district to analyzed their residential electricity usage, the daily demand curves and load consumption pattern of heat pump system were investigated in detail. the characteristics of energy saving performance indicate that power consumption of eco-cute shown a decreasing trend with increasing outdoor temperature. according to the economic performance comparison between eco-cute and natural gas boiler, the result shown that eco-cute exhibited an economic advantage, and the cost saving by using eco-cute was obvious at higher cop value. as for the impact of occupation on the load consumption, we did a survey of family members' indoor hour for the 12 selected customers, the result show that there was a low correlation between power consumption and indoor hour, and the number of family members had a significant impact on the power consumption. zhao / environmental science and suctainable development pg. 108 references drysdale, b., wu, j., & jenkins, n. (2015). flexible demand in the gb domestic electricity sector in 2030. applied energy, 139, 281-290. petrović, s. n., & karlsson, k. b. (2016). residential heat pumps in the future danish energy system. energy, 114, 787-797. love, j., smith, a. z., watson, s., oikonomou, e., summerfield, a., gleeson, c., ... & stone, a. (2017). the addition of heat pump electricity load profiles to gb electricity demand: evidence from a heat pump field trial. applied energy, 204, 332-342. poredoš, p., čož, t., kitanovski, a., & poredoš, a. (2017). thermo-economic and primary-energy-factor assessment based on the field test of an air-to-water heat pump. international journal of refrigeration, 76, 19-28. popa, v., ion, i., & popa, c. l. (2016). thermo-economic analysis of an air-to-water heat pump. energy procedia, 85, 408-415. kyuden electrical company. (n.d.). data book in kyushu. retrieved august 2018 from http://www.kyuden.co.jp/var/rev0/0149/5535/data_book_2018_all.pdf. zhang, j. f., qin, y., & wang, c. c. (2015). review on co2 heat pump water heater for residential use in japan. renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 50, 1383-1391. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i1.788 regional resource urbanism, envisioning an adaptive transition for the urbanising periphery of kathmandu ashim kumar manna1 1 urbanism and architecture (osa), faculty of engineering science, ku leuven, 3001 leuven, belgium abstract despite a strong tradition of harmony between the landscape and its settlements, kathmandu's periphery now stands altered due to the contemporary challenges of modernisation. it has become the contested territory where rapid urbanisation and infrastructure projects conflict with the valley's last remaining resources. i.e., fertile soil, floodplains, water sources, forests and agricultural land. the periphery is essential in preserving the remaining agricultural landscape, which is the mainstay of the numerous traditional communities of kathmandu. both the occupants and the productive landscape are threatened due to haphazard urbanisation and future mobility projects, resulting in speculative and uncontrolled sprawl. a detailed investigation was conducted on a site 15km south of kathmandu to address the city's landscape challenges. the chosen investigation frame presented the suitable conditions to study and test strategies posed by the research objectives. the research utilises landscape urbanism and cartography to reveal the landscape's latent capacities, identify the spatial qualities, stakeholders and typologies involved in the production and consumption of resources. the study identifies existing resource flows and their ability to generate future scenarios. systematic design strategies were applied in resource recovery projects by optimising enterprising capacity building within communities after the earthquake. the research recognises the merit in existing practices, community networks, the ongoing post-earthquake rebuilding efforts in offering an alternative design strategy in which landscape becomes the carrying structure for the sustainable reorganisation of kathmandu's periphery. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords kathmandu; landscape urbanism; periphery; resource management; systemic design. 1. introduction kathmandu served as an important trade centre between india, nepal, and tibet and urbanised in capacity by managing natural and cultural resources. settlements flourished with a careful understanding of the landscape and climate, supported by indigenous water and agricultural systems. kathmandu, situated within the central himalayan region and surrounded by high mountains on all four sides (korn 1977). traditionally settlements occupied the higher plateaus, and the productive lowlands were cultivated. sloping lands were used for cultivating forests, orchards and vegetables. production and consumption resulted in the valley's socio-cultural development, marked with celebrations linked to sowing, harvesting crops and water management (korn 1977; slusser 1982; tiwari 2001). significant landuse changes have been observed along the valley's periphery since the adoption of the first land-use plan in 1976, accelerating after the 2015 earthquake (bhattarai and conway 2010; rimal et al. 2017). as one of the crucial employment sectors, the valley's agriculture has now transformed into fertiliser and labour-intensive practice, drawing seasonal migrants from rural nepal (pradhan et al. 2007; rijal, bansal, and grover 1991). the gradual occupation of http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i1.788&domain=press.ierek.com manna/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 agriculture, forests and floodplains highlight the increasing conflicts between the landscape and the occupants. haphazard urbanisation and post-earthquake reconstruction have also increased water extraction, removal of topsoil for brick manufacturing, and riverbed sand for construction. additionally, fossil fuels used in the construction industry contribute significantly to the valley's deteriorating environmental quality (raut 2003; uprety et al. 2019). declining soil quality, water shortage, climate change and post-earthquake distress are also impacting the traditional farming and animal husbandry sectors. figures 1a-1f provide glimpses of the ongoing transformation in the form of housing, infrastructure, and urban expansion. the periphery's role is critical, as it preserves the agricultural landscape managed by the traditional farming communities. in addition, kathmandu is further exposed to water shortages, growing air pollution, and forest cover's destruction (dicarlo et al. 2018; pradhan et al. 2007). increased urbanisation results in waste generation, which further impacts the peripheral landscape (alam et al. 2008; dangi et al. 2011). the increasing environmental challenges, underlying risks of recurring earthquakes, and the projected urbanisation of the valley add to its vulnerabilities. this research investigates one of the predominantly agricultural peripheries, transforming rapidly to accommodate the urban growth and located in the southern fringe of the kathmandu figure 1. the vignettes from kathmandu's landscape; (a) kirtipur village highlights the traditional logic of occupying higher plateaus for settlements and valley for agriculture; (b) haphazard urbanisation is consuming the productive farmlands; (c) new mobility infrastructure and brick manufacturing in bagmati valley; (d) farmer-craftsmen, engaged in crafts between the planting and harvesting; (e) construction of new road infrastructure gradually consumes the terraced landscape; (f) small vegetable lots utilising household wastewater provide much-needed employment opportunities to peripheral communities during the post-earthquake rehabilitation. source: author. this research analyses urbanising regions such as kathmandu within the himalayan region. it aims to reveal the ecological distress, ongoing contestations and reduced resilience in adapting to climate change in the himalayas (eriksson et al. 2009). it attempts to highlight the challenges of mountain communities that require awareness and innovative response towards environmental change. the study contours the critical issues of the landscape in response to the following questions. first, can a landscape-led recovery guide the future urbanisation in kathmandu? second, can design research help in capacity building in the post-earthquake rebuilding efforts? the paper builds upon the premise of landscape urbanism's ability to offer alternative land-use planning methods using resource potentials within an urbanising context. 2. methods and materials the paper combines interdisciplinary learning, cartography and design research to explore future opportunities within a rapidly urbanising territory. the theoretical lenses of landscape urbanism and concepts of systemic design have been combined to analyse the productive landscape and develop design scenarios. the fieldward and primary data collection for this research was conducted during the post-disaster mission to nepal after the 2015 gorkha earthquake. a detailed spatial investigation was conducted on a study frame of 8 km by 6 km. observations were collected through walking and interviews with farmers, workers, entrepreneurs, artisans, community leaders and local experts. base manna/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 maps were prepared by combining open-source geospatial data, archival data and numerous photographs. interpretative mapping synthesised the opportunities, conflicts, and risks for guiding future urbanisation through spatial design. the statistical and quantitative data was estimated from archival research, case studies, peer-reviewed articles and expert interviews. the author does not claim complete accuracy of the quantitative data presented but provides an accurate representation of the ground conditions and possible opportunities. the results are discussed in two parts. section 3 provides insights into the dynamic qualities of the landscape and transforming relationships over time. it helps identify typologies, wasted potentials and opportunities that guide design strategies. section 4 describes the various design strategies that integrate the historical qualities, combining latent landscape qualities and human ingenuity possibilities through cooperation. the research concludes by reflecting on disasters and how post-disaster reconstruction efforts can stimulate urbanisation as a dialectic process between existing and new development. 3. assessment of landscape resources within a productive periphery since its origins, the valley's geography has been instrumental in kathmandu's resource flows and development. the unique bowl-shaped valley also impacts the availability of essential resources. figure 2a-2c constructs the flows of resources (energy, fuel, water, food and waste) while allowing us to study the urban functioning of kathmandu within nepal. by following the material flows, it is possible to understand the system's functioning and its weaknesses. it can be concluded that the high there is external dependence that is vulnerable due to the valley's position. the material flows are also subjected to the long-distance relationship between material and user through transport corridors subjected to earthquakes and political blockades. most internal flows are subjected to vulnerabilities due to urbanisation, lack of water, and climate change impacts. figure 2. interpreting the geopolitical landscape and its impact on the resource flows within kathmandu valley; (a) nepal's landlocked position; (b) the section of the kathmandu valley highlighting its unique landscape condition; (c) interpreted flows map of critical resources, i.e. energy, water, food and waste; source: author. this section investigates specific cases but positions them to critically review the ongoing transformations of landscape typologies within the landscape. a detailed spatial investigation has been conducted upon an urbanising periphery near bungamati and khokhana, 15 km south of kathmandu. the research utilises a 'framework' measuring 8 km by 6 km to explore the research questions and possible design strategies. the frame is bound by the rivers and mobility corridors and defined by the valleys of bagmati, nakkhu, kodhku and godavari rivers, as shown in figure 3a. the land use in the frame is mainly agricultural, its population involved in farming and crafts, and its landscape threatened by the uncontrolled, mushrooming practices which induce sprawl. the investigation frame is further threatened by urbanisation and future mobility projects, such as the ring road, the fastrack expressway and a rapidly growing brick industry to support the post-earthquake redevelopment that rapidly consumes kathmandu's southern periphery. figure3b-3e illustrates the composition of the landscape. the agriculture practices alternate between dry and wet seasons, irrigated and non-irrigated and the village slopes. water needs for agriculture and animal rearing is manna/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 met chiefly through rainfall, artificial ponds and indigenous water canals. urbanisation and land-use changes have aggravated the loss of irrigated land by the destruction of the water system. most of the agricultural periphery present during the 1950s has been consumed by urbanisation along the ring road and continues to date (shrestha 2013). it further explores the spatial impact of interaction among the natural and human resources. it reveals multiple overlaps of daily and socio-cultural rhythms of life within the valley. the research draws relations between the interplay of ecological and socio-economic activities, intending to highlight associated meanings and collective action related to production and consumption. the periphery produces many products based upon the location of raw materials. each product has distinct or overlapping cycles due to its manufacturing processes, scales of operations, and labour availability, including its impact on the region's social structure. yet each product draws upon the capacity of the natural and human resources potential within the study frame. figure 3. defining the productive frame & impact of resource extractions landscape impacts; (a) map; urban expansions happen quite randomly leading to interesting intertwined urban-landscape morphologies; (b) rainfed farming slopes outside khokhana; (c) traditional settlements ;(d) farming cooperatives in the along the river valley; (e) brick factories within agriculture fields. source: author. figure 3a, shows the productive valleys, traditional settlements and suburbs along roads, brick kilns and farmland within the 8 km by 6 km investigation frame. productive flows concentrate along with the villages, and the critical mobility corridors connecting convey the finished products to markets located within the city. the fieldwork and mapping revealed that bricks and sand mining were some of the most harmful practices within the landscape. many subsistence products and local sales, such as livestock management, floriculture and cooperative farming, require technical upscaling as their efficiency dramatically depends on water and soil. figure 3b-3e highlight the key typologies related to production and resource management. these typologies were distinguished into subsistence agriculture, small scale animal and vegetable farms, commercial farming, and brick kilns during the fieldwork. these print plates are engaging themselves over the base layer of the valley landscape, and they become the producer, processor and consumer of resources. the resource flows' spatial position can provide clues towards continuities, disruptions, scattered, or concentration. it reveals meanings associated with collective actions related to resource availability and productivity, including workforce patterns provided by individual farming households, often by migrant labourers. the impact due to resource extraction is increasing daily due to demands for the growing city. the irrigated lands are getting impacted by the soil extraction for bricks. the loss of irrigation is coupled with water extraction of groundwater by commercial vegetable farming enterprises. they reduce farmlands' productivity, and climate change also impacts farmers to opt for fertiliser-based farming practices. the existing production practices are simultaneously removing soil fertility and also depositing chemicals within the landscape. the post-earthquake rebuilding frenzy has already accelerated the brick making and construction industries, further threatening landscape qualities. yet, these mobilisers of the landscape have significant potential if guided within a framework of cooperation. further manna/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 18 investigation on resources revealed that these landscape mobilisers leave significantly underutilised or wasted opportunities within the landscape. available as latent, leftover or wasted, these material and human resources can be utilised in meaningful ways. wasted resources were classified into; crop residues, waste or losses from commercial, cooperatives and animal farms, wastewater from residential areas, residual heat and unutilised workforce from the brick kiln and transport network poor producer-consumer relationships. figure 4a-4d presents the interpreted wasted potentials, which can be devised into resource-based recovery processes providing the much-needed opportunities for sustainable growth of the valley's periphery. figure 4a becomes the underlying basis for three key design strategies elaborated in the next section. the resource system analysis highlights the importance of landscape, traditional villages, and specialised markets as equally crucial to the valley's urbanisation. it also highlights environmental degradation, deposition of chemicals, topsoil loss, increased carbon emission, and linear systems creations. figure 4. wasted potentials within the landscape; (a) map highlighting the capacities of crop residues, waste from farms, and waste produced by human activities and brick kilns, combined with market-transport, and workforce; (b) occupation of the productive land for housing plots and commercial farming; (c) soil extraction, removal of topsoil, disruption of irrigation and topography, reduction of farm yield; (d) commercialscale vegetable farming, seasonal migrant families come due to lack of employment and low turnover from agriculture. source: author. 4. connecting resources, envisioning a systematic transition through strategic projects highlighting the spatial relations and underutilised capacities of the landscape previously, the following section elaborates upon three incremental design strategies linked to resource pooling and community collaborations. these projects combine landscape urbanism and systemic design principles to synergise the desired transition (berger and sijmons 2009; shannon 2009). the village armature project reimagines the existing household-farm relationship into an upscaled resource grid connecting bungamati and khokhana. it combines the key public spaces, social and educational institutions, waste collection points, sewage outfalls, and the various crafts/small workshops along its length. household night soil and biodegradable waste are converted into biogas, and manure for the kitchen gardens are enhanced with an anaerobic digester. the strategy allows an average household of five members to extract usable energy in biogas at 2kwh/household, thereby removing methane from the environment and leaving usable manure of approximately 0.3kg/household. it is estimated that household utilisation of 3 kg of wood per day for energy can be covered by the biogas plant (rijal and yoshida 2002). the strategy is scaled from household to village level with the help of the compact urban form of the villages (thomsen, woerum, and haagensen 1968). village or cluster digestors can replace individual anaerobic digesters, increasing efficiency and reducing capital and operational costs. the centralised facility fosters participation and assists in post-disaster rebuilding efforts through efficient energy-nutrient relationships, as illustrated in figure 5. the armature further pools solar energy at the rate of 4kw/10sqm of rooftops as additional electricity to the craftsmen to overcome electricity shortages (jha, stoa, and uhlen 2016). analysis of energy bill during the fieldwork revealed manna/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 19 that the average household and a craft cluster utilised approximately 8 kwh of energy per day. the combined efficiency of the household biogas at 2kwh (voegeli 2014) and rooftop solar of 4kwh/sqm (gautam, li, and ru 2015; irena 2014) can suffice for most of the energy needs. in the future, the armature can support craft tourism and enable densification. the microgrid allows resource pooling and distribution for energy (solar & biogas), extracting valuable nutrients from human waste as manure for agriculture and promoting agriculture and crafts within energy scarce rural areas. the nature and position of the armature allow us to think beyond its social and spatial capacities, where solid waste, wastewater and energy production, and consumption become the critical elements of the resource armature. it incorporates the existing small-scale infrastructure, with investment from participants and subsidies from renewable energy projects to supply the energy collected from the community biogas digester and rooftop solar harvesting. solar harvesting through rooftop collection produces power for the production units and institutions. the surplus energy can be conveyed to the micro-energy grid, benefiting the small-scale commercial enterprises along the armature. as a collector and generator, a microgrid enables capacity building through pooling its resources, serve as a future tourist trail and enable incremental densification. it will promote upscaling and new economies along the armature, as visualised in figure 6a-6c. figure 5. design strategy developed around the individual household and scaled up at settlement scale. source: author. figure 6. the village-level public path strengthened as the resource armature; (a) sectional expression; (b) key plan of the village street highlighting the 'pooling' nature of the village level armature; (c) aerial view of the incremental transformation at an individual level. source: author. manna/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 20 the second project demonstrates medium-scale strategies by combining agricultural production, cooperatives, and brick kilns. the brick industry's unidirectional resource flows are a threat to the landscape at large. the brick kilns are temporal and change their location after every seven to ten years. within this period, they exhaust the fertile topsoil essential to local farmers. the entrepreneurial character of the brick kilns combines capital and workforce in altering the landscape. the brick kilns' position and movement can be structured positively for guiding the flow of resources within the landscape. two different sites were chosen for demonstration, one close village and the second along the ring road were selected to test the brick kilns as a hybrid resource management centre. the waste heat from the brick kilns can be utilised for dehydrating and preserving farm produce or incinerating crop wastes, farm waste and household biodegradable waste. on average individual brick kilns results in wasted heat of 25,000mj by burning a tonne of coal in producing between 8000 to 10000 clay bricks within nepal (shah and nagpal 1997). it was calculated that this wasted heat could be utilised to dehydrate or process 1.0 to 1.5 mt/hr of agricultural waste into biomass pellets (unep 2009). the processed farm wastes can be used efficiently as briquettes for household fuels or even within the brick kiln. it can be further used to generate electricity, produce biomass pellets or even electricity if appropriate technologies can be utilised (kafle et al. 2016; nilsson, bernesson, and hansson 2011). cooperative farm units within the proximity can also use the wasted heat and workforce to process the farm produce to increase farm crop longevity. such economic cycles and sharing process allows the nearby settlements enable the villages to engage in entrepreneurial activities and generate additional incomes to offset food costs, promoting food security. the brick kilns can help recharge the shallow aquifer during the wet season through clay ponds and pump the shallow aquifer during dry season use, cutting dependencies upon water from irrigation channels significant to downstream farmers, as shown in figure 7. figure 7. design strategy developed around the brick kiln. positioning the brick kilns' entrepreneurial nature as a hybrid resource centre for rural and suburban kathmandu, with capacities to treat agricultural produce, rural and urban household waste. source: author. the suburban demonstration site highlights the potentials of the valley's brick kilns, their resource pooling capacities, and the city's long-term objectives (bisht and neupane 2015). suburban brick kilns can help deal with waste, as their heat capacities can be utilised for incineration, drying, and biomass energy production to meet various needs of the suburban (shrestha et al. 2014). the energy generated by these kilns can be transferred to the nearby vegetable farms, which can use this energy for cold storage or food processing. the existing transportation system of both brick supply and vegetable farming can connect to the city. the resource armature plays a vital role in the systematic structuring of the landscape. it promotes commercial activities such as recovery from agricultural waste, vegetable processing, and energy by-products. the phasing of armatures aims to achieve the design strategy's dual goals, where the soil excavation results in the creation of developable zones at different levels within the valley. these developable zones can absorb future urbanisation, support the production of high-value crops, and the deepest plinths can be suitable for pisciculture or paddy cultivation. as a collective strategy, we understand the frame study as a dynamic and everchanging region because of the fast urbanisation and external pressure such as landscape risks. as such, we are manna/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 21 foreseeing a flexible and evolving project that has the means to accommodate future and unpredictable scenarios, as shown in figure 8a-8d. figure 8. sequencing the armature of connected resources and strategising village and suburban resource grids; (a) design plan, highlighting the 'pooling' nature of the armature;(b) view of the central waste collection and processing areas within the village; (c) suburban resource grid and housing; (d) view of the central waste collection and processing areas. source: author. the systemic design strategies combine linear resource cycles into closed or shorter, or recurring loops. they strategize resource management into opportunities for the valley's inhabitants. these strategies draw upon the concept of sharing and producing energy, managing waste, and playing an essential role in the city's southern periphery's structured intensification. agricultural by-products, waste to resources, permanent employment, landscape management shall provide new livelihood opportunities. presently increased animal farming and commercial practices are concentrated along the periphery of the traditional settlements and suburban frame. these farms focus on high-value food production to supply the city markets and manage the organic waste. their position along the city periphery and utilising the market-producer links, the waste can be brought back and converted into helpful animal feed or manure for farms. such processes manage biodegradable waste, prevent greenhouse emissions, and promote new economies that can absorb both the migrant and local populations. the assembly of the design strategies is imagined as an urban-rural transect. the transect enables resource recovery, fostering cooperation amongst communities, entrepreneurs, producers, consumers, and local and regional scale. figure 9a & 9b highlights collaborative loops across scales that promote resilience within the rural landscape, enabling the communities to gain self-sufficiency and become a vital partner to the urban areas and provide sustainable resource management alternatives as a critical role for the periphery. studies have highlighted the importance and benefits of resource recovery, waste management, landscape led opportunities to mitigate urban challenges. though these initiatives are yet to realise their full potential and can be adopted at large, they highlight appropriate landscape urbanism strategies to help the periphery become a more vital partner in the city's growth (lohani et al. 2021; shrestha et al. 2014). returning to the research site in february 2020 revealed that small and medium-sized entrepreneurial activities have commenced within the study areas to support livelihood and food production. lack of robust institutional and financial mechanisms has displayed collaborations amongst producers in waste segregation, composting, poultry and fish farming recycling benefit from agricultural and farming wastes. manna/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 22 figure 9. envisioning a systemic transition to generate shorter loops and directing resource flows into meaningful processes. (a) existing systemic sections interpreting the existing linear cycles and flows of resources; (b) proposed systemic change helps in closing resource loops and promote resilience within the rural landscape. source: author. 5. conclusions the ongoing urbanisation of kathmandu is a classic example of planning-led expansion in the south asian context, where the regional landscape is undermined in planning processes. kathmandu's landscape has been essential to its development in the past, and its absence can expose the city' vulnerabilities, exhaust natural resources and impact livelihoods in future. the transition from a land-use approach into an integrated system requires long term vision, planning and cooperation among society and planning agencies. disasters or large-scale shocks bring forth resilient capacities which enable collaboration and encourage adaptation towards the crisis (solnit 2010). the earthquake is an opportunity to reorganise the crisis problem long-term adaptation strategy through planning. landscape and systemic design approach argue for sustainable interactions amongst ecosystems; resource flows, human linkages, which get disrupted due to disasters and climate change, impacting the 'ambitious' urbanisation processes within the himalayan region and elsewhere in south asia. the research advocates urbanism, which evolves like nature, creating opportunities for small, medium, and large-scale activities to sustainably expand the population. the research also points towards the importance of data collection, surveys and mapping, identifying key stakeholders, utilising entrepreneurship and governance structures. demonstrated design strategies also require the capacity building of the stakeholders, favourable policies, capital and technological investments to foster the sustainable transition. this research advocates an alternative to creating new developments with objectives set to enhance the landscape's capacity by bringing forward its structuring capacity as part of the planning process. the research outlines a possible vision towards avoiding urban sprawl and takes advantage of the ground reality of fostering a 'reimagined' role of the periphery. references alam, r., chowdhury, m. a. i., hasan, g. m. j., karanjit, b., & shrestha, l. r. 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(2014). anaerobic digestion of biowaste in developing countries: practical information and case studies . eawag-sandec. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 52 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i1.791 impacts of land-use transformation on agriculture land in afghanistan, kabul city as case study hamidullah amin1, mansour rifaat helmi2 1msc. urban and regional planning, king abdulaziz university 2lecturer at architecture and planning faculty, king abdulaziz university abstract the change in land-use over a certain period of time is inevitable. this paper investigates the issue of land use change on agricultural land that has become a phenomenon affecting the economy and environment in kabul, the capital city of afghanistan. agriculture is the main economic source of afghan cities, however, due to rapid population growth, population densification, and inability to apply kabul city’s master plan and regulations, a large portion of land cover transformed from agricultural areas to unplanned developments and have shifted the function of communities from productive societies into consumer and dependent societies. the study sheds light on yakatoot as a study farmland area in kabul city to present an alive example of what is happening in the reality of agricultural land in kabul. therefore, approaches for sustainable conversion of agricultural land in kabul city is a vital quest that needs to be followed seriously. the study illustrates afghanistan's land laws. it identifies the social, economic and environmental impacts of land-use change. this paper applies qualitative methods, where data and analysis worked by using field surveys, aerial photographs from google earth and data collected from crida. it also investigates international experience regarding land-use change and sustainable solutions. therefore, due to positive implications of urban agriculture practice as a feasible and sustainable approach to tackle the ongoing challenges related to land-use change in kabul city, this paper suggests inducing this approach in kabul city’s master plan and other urban initiatives because it will not only lead to environmental protection, but also, it will re-establish economic stability, enhance social welfare, revive city’s historic identity. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords land-use change; urban agriculture; land-use impact; informal settlements; afghanistan; kabul city 1. introduction land-use is defined as the mode of the utilization of land by humans, like, farming, mining, and felling (soja & kanai, 2021). accordingly, land-use change is the transformation of a land-use type by humans either through another form of land-use (such as the change from an agriculture land into informal settlements) or through changes in management practices inside of a land-use type (for example, the intensification of agriculture in an area). usually, these changes in land-use occur next to human habitats (cowell, 1995). land transformation of agricultural land has become a global phenomenon plaguing, especially, in developing countries that rely in their economy on agriculture. in afghanistan agriculture is the primary resource in achieving food security and economic development, where it represents 31% of annual national income. afghanistan was also known for its quality agro products. according to usaid agriculture http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i1.791&domain=press.ierek.com amin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 53 was once the historical identity of afghan cities (usaid, 2019). kabul city for example has once produced all its food need inside its city and districts. it supplied food for a two million population in 90s (jica and dcda, 2009). a considerable amount of land-use change has occurred in the kabul city in recent years. the reason behind these changes is mainly war conditions which led to population concentration in kabul and high housing demand. it resulted in rapid population growth, problems in land laws and regulation and economic deficulties of farmers in their land. the kabul city was designed for a two million population in 1978 (un-habitat, 2015). while it reached 4.5 million in 2011 which indicated how fast growing it is (jica and dcda, 2009). the acres of cropland, pastureland, and rangeland decreased predominantly, which has created so many unplanned and slum areas. there are plenty of places in kabul city facing this phenomenon, in this paper yakatoot area has been considered as a sample for the research study. because the area is very close to the city center and once was totally an agriculture land. yakatoot is located five kilo-meters south to kabul airport, in the ninth district of kabul city. due to changes in the last two decades residential houses covered a large space of the yakatoot agriculture area which occupies about 214.6 hectares of the total 332 hectares. in 2009 there was 117.2 hectares of agriculture land in yakatoot which was further transformed into illegal development since then. there are some government organization as well specially, the lots which are located along the main streets and corners are mostly covered by government institutions and local commercial units. now due to problems stated above there are only a few involved in agriculture inside the city. according to crida’s (capital region development authority of afghanistan) survey, about 34 percent of agricultural land has been transformed to informal settlements in a period of 2009-2016, which means only 40 hectares is left for agriculture purposes. these settlements do not have proper infrastructure, so it caused environmental contamination in the area. which has driven the community and its surrounding area to serious urban challenges. in order to understand how land-use change affect the productivity of a city, we need to explore the socio-economic and environmental impacts of land-use change. in addition, the international case studies have been reviewed in this study to find ways of fighting the land-use change inside the kabul city and other similar cities. the studies featured how urban agriculture could be a feasible solution to avoid land-use change. this paper aims to investigate the land-use transformation issue and its relation with socio-economic and environmental imperfections created by these transformations. it will also elaborate the causes of the land-use change and the parallel practices affecting the phenomenon and their policy implications. the research will finally go through the urban agriculture practice which is the craft of cultivating corps and other agro products which has been a potential solution for many similar land-uses change cases around the world. in other words, the study indicates that how an emphasize on inducing the urban agriculture in urban laws and regulation could restore the kabul city`s historical identity. it would revive the craft of urban agriculture in yakatoot in specific and in kabul city plus other afghan cities as a whole. moreover, it will stop informal developments in agriculture land inside the cities which will predominantly reduce the socio-economic and environmental negative impacts of land-use transformation. figure 1. the location of yakatoot municipal area in kabul city amin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 54 2. literature review 2.1. land laws land laws and regulations are one of the main causes of good land values around the world. in a global context the insecurity of land tenure and poor administration of land rights are the main causes of poverty and inequality (united nations, 2021). studies have shown that the better the land regulations, the higher its price and productivity will be (han et al., 2020) (glaeser et al., 2003). in addition, it is also interpreted from above articles that more efficient land laws led to economic development and high social welfare rates. that’s why the international organizations invest in strengthening the land regulations in developing countries to support sustainable development and justice in land access ( dowall & clarke, 2018). moreover, there are some viable regulations exist in some developing countries but due to poor enforcement of these laws many developing cities suffer from urban, social, economic and environmental issues. a joint un, un-habitat and world bank report reveals that most of the land development policies are inefficient in poor and developing countries ( dowall & clarke, 2018) (unama, 2015). for instance, in india the rapid urbanization and inefficiency in urban development policies have led to creation of slums and densely populated areas where sustainability fades away. the study suggests government intervention in providing enough land access and housing for poor also provision of public facilities by reforming those land policies which are solely based on business activities and revenues generation for the governments and private sector. it’s also believed that the transformation of agriculture land which is in some cases inevitable should be taken first on low quality agro-land (niemand, 2011). developing countries like jordan experience the land-use change due to poor land-use planning laws. land-use change especially change of agricultural land to residential built area has caused an urban sprawl and serious environment degradation in jordan, shihan, which is considered a waste of agro-land and costly servicing the sprawled areas (al tarawneh, 2014). another example could be india with vast green and agriculture land, experiences sever land-use change due to new developments and rapid urbanization process ( dowall & clarke, 2018). the land laws in afghanistan are mainly based on national land policy prepared by national land authority of afghanistan and decreed by cabinet under the supervision of president (arazi, 2017) (arazi, 2007). violating the national land laws is one of the major causes of land-use change in afghanistan. the problem arises because these national laws are not broke down and interpreted to the local level. another problem, most of the properties in afghanistan have never been surveyed. a majority of landowners do not hold legally recognized deeds to their property but rather have customary land deeds with poorly defined property description. these properties are grabbed and sold many times. the lack of clear boundaries is a major factor in land-use change, it often leads to land disputes. years of war and conflicts also prevented the import of modern survey and mapping technologies by which boundaries could be easily determined. however, there are some efforts in this area by urban sector including afghan geodesy and cartography head office (aghco) and arazi authority of afghanistan but it remains ineffective because of the land grabbers and incoordination between different urban sector organizations (fhcraa & usid, 2009). 2.2. administration of land in afghanistan: in most of the developing countries the administration of land is centralized which bring lots of problems from budget issues to lengthy development documents processing that makes them inefficient ( dowall & clarke, 2018). on the other hand, most of the developed countries try to decentralize the land management and authorize the local authorities for an efficient land administration ( dowall & clarke, 2018). the government of afghanistan consolidates the land to its own support. the decree 99 was issued in april 2002 to stop the distribution of public-land to undeserving beneficiaries. the distribution of public land is the responsibility of national government which limits the misuses of public and government land in the country. unfortunately, during conflicts, most of public and state land was under the control of previous war commanders. formally the arazi land authority and municipalities administrate the land issues in afghanistan. the local government needs to follow what is stated in national land policy and assigned to them by central government (arazi, 2017). a combination of amin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 55 customary, statutory and religious laws determines the ownership of land. communities sometimes interpret the laws and ownership of land without consideration of any government document. land disputes are also judged based on these interpretations and islamic laws regarding land ownership (un-habitat, 2015). informal housing on the other hand is growing in kabul city because of poor land administration in kabul city (fao-un, 2013). 2.2.1. role of courts in land administration the judgments on disputes and sales of land are usually managed by courts in an international level (united nations, 2021). they facilitate the protection of rights and provision of deeds in many countries. they are also important entities in archiving property deeds and judging the land claims. there are courts at provincial and district level in each province of afghanistan (un-habitat, 2015). the provincial courts which are about 34 in number, usually gather and archive all documents and land dispute cases in one book. the local courts report all those documents to central courts in paper-based activity and progress reports (un-habitat, 2015). the problem this lengthy process creates affects the people’s desire on grabbing land. in fact, the land laws and its related government bodies indirectly help the land grabbing which supports land-use change. 2.2.2. land-use change and urban agriculture a study on land-use changes in kabul city covering the years 2000 to 2010 reveals that deforestation and a decrease in overall agricultural land has been occurring due to multiple development and demand factors on residential plots (najmuddin et al., 2018). an empirical study in china indicates that on one hand, a controlled land-use change would have positive impact while on the other hand, uncontrolled change of land-use may have negative socio-economic consequences for people (wang & sun, 2016). studies also imply that there is a far more demand of land-use change in countries like china and nigeria because of housing needs (worku, 2020) (a.e, 2017). china is intensively experiencing the land-use change due to high demand for industrial and residential land. thus, it seems controlled by housing demand and economic development (jin et al., 2015). another study from minnesota describes that land-use changes may benefit the private land owners but in the cost of harming the ecosystem and decreasing net social benefits from it (polasky et al., 2010). it is also believed that the positive social and cultural impacts of urban agriculture is more important than its economic impact (robert et al, 2020). accordingly, the urban agriculture make an outstanding 15 percent of sydney`s food supply with much better social and cultural positive impacts (robert et al, 2020). in italy a study examines the environmental impacts of agricultural land-use changes into built areas due to poor management based on economic considerations, it caused urban expansion and kept italy in a challenge to tackle the environmental problem and contribute in reducing the climate change up to 2030 (martellozzo et al., 2018). the land-use change even in most developed communities affect the sustainable development especially when there is a change in agriculture land (niemand, 2011). the changes could also include affecting the social behavior of people and the natural resources in an area (jiang et al., 2013) (niemand, 2011). the farmland around the world in total is experiencing development interventions and being decreased enormously (jiang et al., 2013). due to urbanization dilemma urban agriculture could support food production as the world would experience food shortages. it would provide more urban jobs especially for poor which will reduce poverty expected of urbanization trends (rooyen & langer, 2021). there are evidence that population growth made governments to undermine the food production initiatives for the sake of housing and development demands (a.e, 2017). despite the fact that urban agriculture reduces hunger and support food supply, it would also contribute in environmental preservation, waste management and sustainable development (krishnan et al., 2016). a study reveals that due to significant increase in the world`s urban population urban agriculture would contribute in food supply and sustainable development of cities with the fact that 25 to 30 percent of urban population is involved in urban agriculture now (orsini et al., 2013). a study from delhi in india, which has more socio-economic similarities with the kabul city was carried out by josef martinez and harpreet kaur. the research was on agriculture activities (in both sides of yamuna river in 2017), there are about 7000 farmers in delhi who cultivate corps and grain inside the city and present it to local markets (martinez, 2013). the study says: "these farmers live along the banks of the yamuna river. the indian government may not accept their doing, but they unwillingly created urban agriculture practice inside the city and farm in urban areas to support their families and take part in supplying the local markets (martinez, 2013). they farm smaller plots amin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 56 of land but can get higher profits by growing three or four seasons and selling their products directly into the local markets, avoiding middlemen entirely ". despite the conflicts between these farmers and their government, this practice (urban agriculture) has contributed a lot in economic and environmental protection of the city (martinez, 2013). in response to rapid urbanization of kabul city and to avoid the land-use transformations from agriculture to urban areas, a comprehensive study suggests consensus or community-based development and decentralization of land development practice to the local authorities in order to limit further transformations and speed down the urbanization process (hidayat & kajita, 2019). it would be responsive if the officials work on supporting the agriculture inside the city and avoid further illegal developments and accordingly to decrease socio-economic and environmental negative impacts. 2.3. land-use change imperfections 2.3.1. socio-economic impacts the land is considered as an important factor of production and a vital supporter of the economy through its involvement in food and housing production. so, land is the main pillar of agricultural based economies and it provides considerable socio-economic benefits (fao-un, 2013). whereas, land-use transformation in kabul caused so many socio-economic negative impacts. for instance, illegal developments in agricultural areas may provide landowners with some benefits but also, it causes soil contamination due to daily use of chemicals by humans and decreases the quality of agriculture products. as a result, the income from these products decreases intensively (faoun, 2013). as the urbanization process continues, land-use transformation speeds up. in the case of kabul city, these transformations target agricultural areas. while targeting this land, it also affects the input and output scales of adjacent land as well (najmuddin et al., 2018). when the farmers find their land like squatter island inside the informally developed areas having difficulties to move their machinery toward it, they change their mind on how to utilize their land in a profitable way (sell it for homeless people and they construct informal residential units on it). agriculture presents important opportunities for farmers (rooyen & langer, 2021). if they are not encouraged to find alternative ideas of selling parts of their land for development purposes (niemand, 2011) (crida, 2016). the concept of producing agro-products will gradually change in areas located near to the cities. farmers are affected by urbanization and produce less but expensive products. instead, they use part of their land for construction purposes. for example, no farmer in ykatoot area, farm low-value products like potatoes but they farm fruits and high-value vegetables instead. hence a huge part of yakatoot area is being transformed into residential informal areas annually. major socio-economic impacts found: • conversion of agriculture land to informal settlements reduce the food productivity of cities and increase dependence on imports. • land-use change removes agriculture craft from kabul city. • construction process reduces land quality and productivity • conversion of agricultural land to irregular developments reduces the public spaces and green landscape of areas • land-use change in kabul city produces a vast number of informal settlements in which, no infrastructure is provided. 2.3.2. environmental impacts land-use change is probably one of the deadly forces which harms the ecosystem and devours green areas in afghanistan. this phenomenon transformed the landscape of kabul city and deprived more than three million people of safe drinking water. additionally, underground water has been lowered up to 30 meters (world bank, 2010), the soil contamination and air pollution reached the sever levels, and the whole scene of the city is transformed with 70 percent informally developed areas (mostly in agricultural land) (un-habitat, 2015). amin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 57 agriculture and greenery provide many unique services. they lay the ground for biodiversity and promotes wildlife habitat, they decrease the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and they avoid soil erosion by recharging underground water. these services directly affect the ecosystem. if they are ignored it could lead to a lot of urban challenges. for example, if the illegal land-use changes continue in kabul city there will be a lot of extra informal settlements added to the existing 70% informal developments. as a result, the soil & water contamination and air pollution will increase predominantly which could make kabul inhabitable (worldbank, 2021). there are currently three urban sector organizations (crida, kabul municipality, and ministry of urban development) and one international organization (un-habitat) working on upgrading and redevelopment of informal settlements in kabul city, but unfortunately, they only could provide some basic needs to these settlements so far (fhcraa & usid, 2009). major land-use change environmental impacts found: • land-use change without any previous planning has negative effects on natural resources including water, air, soil, nutrients, plants, as well as ecosystem and animals. • land-use change specifically changing to informal areas without infrastructure causes degradations and contamination of water, soil, and air. • in kabul city, where the only drinking water source is underground water, water levels have faced sever descending which cost both people and the environment. 3. the research methodology this research studies the phenomena of agricultural land transformation in afghanistan by examining the impacts of this transformation on socio-economic and environmental aspects. the methodological framework used in this study has explored the existing land laws and regulations regarding land development and agricultural land in afghanistan, according to which, all public and private land in afghanistan should be utilized. this study examines the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of land-use change within the area based on qualitative studies. also, different international and national case studies in the field have been investigated. international case studies regarding the land-use change and urban agriculture are reviewed to understand the depth of the issues and how to avoid further decrease in agricultural land within the city, and to investigate for a sustainable solution. yaktatoot, is a local case in kabul to illustrate alive example of what is happening on agricultural land in kabul city. the indian model was selected as an international example to take the advantage of scientific studies in the subject of urban agricultural as an experience proven usefulness in tackling and reducing the impacts of land use changes in kabul. the evaluation of socio-economic and environmental problems created by land-use change in the area also needed primary data. thus, several socio-economic and environmental analysis surveys have been conducted by crida in kabul city (yakatoot area) in 2016 (crida, 2016). a detailed land readjustment report was also prepared by crida in 2016. moreover, secondary data and gis satellite images have been prepared to compare the changes between 2009 and 2016 in yaktatoot. the similarities of the land-use change and its factors in the area with the international land-use change cases have driven this study toward urban agriculture. so, several agricultural cases like the case from sihan city, world bank investigated cases and the study from sarada krishna were also investigated to promote an effective solution for the problem in the area and other agriculture land within the country. furthermore, the poor access to updated data and few studies on the topic could be mentioned as limititions in this study. 4. results and discussion 4.1. yakatoot area afghanistan with 34 provinces has one of the historical capitals in the world. kabul the capital of afghanistan has a history of 3500 years which was famous for having gardens, palaces and an ancient transit way named silk road in the region (l. planet, 2019). due to decades of conflict in this country the kabul city`s infrastructure is destroyed and now it is the home of nearly 70 percent informal settlements (un-habitat, 2015). the new established government amin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 58 in afghanistan prepared some urban rules and regulations to avoid the transformation of agriculture land to informal developments but it seems inefficient. this study picks the yakatoot as the study area because the area is very close to the kabul city`s center and once was totally an agriculture land (crida, 2016). the area was supplying the vegetables to its surrounding areas. the important thing about this area is that it was once a productive green agriculture land inside the city. yakatoot is located five kilo meters south to kabul airport, in the ninth precinct of kabul city. the residential houses covered a large space of the yakatoot area which occupies about 214.6 hectares of the whole area which is 332 hectares in total (crida, 2016). the lots which are located along the main streets and corners are mostly covered by government institutions, military base, and private companies. previously the area was barely used for agriculture and food production purposes but now unfortunately the illegal and informal developments changed its face and created many urban challenges to the area and its surrounding. figure 2. pictures of the area showing the transformation of agriculture land in year 2009 agricultural land was covering about 117.2 hectares of the whole area (crida, 2016). figures (3a and b) below illustrate that 34 percent of agricultural land transformed into informal settlements from 2009 to 2016 which is a clear example of how land-use change can be challenging. figure 3.(a) satellite image of yaktoot 2009 (unfccc, 2018) figure 3.(b) satellite image of yaktoot 2016 (unfccc, 2018) amin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 59 4.2. urban agriculture urban agriculture is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around a village, town or city. urban agriculture can also involve animal husbandry, agriculture, agroforestry, urban beekeeping and horticulture, these activities occur in suburban areas as well. thus, urban agriculture plays an important role in making food more affordable and in providing emergency supplies of food. in addition, urban agriculture can reflect varying levels of economic and social developments, urban and sub-urban agriculture expands the economic base of the city through production, processing, packaging, and marketing of consumable products. which results in increasing the entrepreneurial activities and creation of jobs as well as reducing food costs and improving quality. the urban agriculture reduces demand pressure of vigitables and fruits on rural areas (robert et al, 2020). additionally, it provides employment, income, and access to food for the urban population, which help to relieve chronic and emergency food insecurity. chronic food insecurity refers to less affordable food and growing urban poverty, while emergency food insecurity relates to breakdowns in the chain of food distribution. there are a number of social benefits that have emerged from urban agriculture, such as increasing overall social and emotional well-being, improved health and nutrition, good income, employment, food security within the households, and community social life (rooyen & langer, 2021). based on a report a person may have decreased levels of stress and better overall mental health when he/she has opportunities to interact with nature through a garden (wu, 2007). urban gardens also offer a space of retreat in densely populated urban areas (crida, 2016) (niemand, 2011). there are many documented cases by junjie wu in which community gardens lead to improved social relationships, increased community pride, and overall community improvement and mobilization (wu, 2007). it can also be connected to decreased levels of crime and suicide rates (wu, 2007). the urban agricluture should be considered above the land development initiavies because of its importance for future food scarcities and sustainable development (a.e, 2017). while urban agriculture supports walkability aspects, it can also be supportive to change the travel behavior of residents and avoid their reliance on car transport system (wu, 2007)(crida, 2016).in afghanistan agriculture sector accounts for up to 40 percent of afghanistan’s gross domestic products. agriculture is considered critical to afghanistan’s food security and a driver of economic growth. the majority of afghans rely on agricu lture of their family’s sustenance. prior to decades of conflicts, afghanistan’s agricultural products earned a global reputation for excellence. kabul university produced a report in 1988 which found that agricultural output was 45 percent less than the 1978 level which was approximately 50% of gdp and it continued to get worse now (fhcraa & usid, 2009)(crida, 2016). based on the socio-economic and environmental vulnerability of yakatoot and other similar areas in kabul city, we found urban agriculture as the best and most effective solution to avoid land-use changes. thus, based on socio-economic and environmental benefits of urban agriculture and the similar case of delhi city and the number of 7000 employment opportunities which it made as well as suppling food to the city, this paper found urban agriculture as an effective defense against informal land-use change in kabul city and a protective shield against negative socio-economic & environmental impacts caused by land-use change in kabul. the study also generate the figure 4 which elaborates the patterns and solutions to prevent the affect of land-use transformation based on findings of this study; furthermore, it shows the direct and indirect impacts of urban agriculture as the solution to the socioeconomic and environmental imperfections of land-use change. the diagram further illustrates that from economic point of view the urban agriculture could be more efficient if we increase the impact value of produced products by inflicting supportive policies. as well as in social part we need new development initiatives to avoid urban segregation and provide more housing in a densification process. amin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 60 figure 4. urban agriculture as a feasible solution 5. conclusion land-use change as it was defined in this study could be more challenging and negatively impactful if not controlled, especially, if we put it in afghanistan context. the state of its impacts depends on how well it is guided towards a controlled and manageable process that will lead to socio-economic and environmental sustainability, otherwise, it will turn out to be an unpleasant process that will affect the overall sustainability of an area. as it can be seen in the case of kabul city, land-use change is leading to the creation of informal settlements. the agricultural and green land decreased predominantly, which has created so many unplanned and slum areas. generally, a poor land management, problems in laws, inconsideration of housing needs, and inexistence of support for urban agro products could be the main motives for land-use changes in kabul city. it has caused serious challenges to various urban sectors. dense informal settlements, lower living quality in more than 70% of kabul’s residential areas, dissatisfying economic stability, and insufficiency in public services are some of the negative impacts of land-use transformation in the city. for instance, yakatoot area is one of the many agricultural areas of the capital city that has faced land-use transformation. going deeper to the causes of land-use change in yakatoot area, this paper found that there are three main causes that led to the transformation of agricultural land: rapid population growth, demand for housing, poor infrastructure and planning laws plus lack of enforcement of these laws. the residents sold parts of their land to the amin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 61 homeless and received money instead of cultivating the land. subsequently the trend continued until the area was full of informal settlements facing sever socio-economic and environmental problems. the yakatoot area and many more similar areas are experiencing the above-mentioned transformation and caused negative impacts to the environment as well as socio-economic conditions of the city. for instance, the areas are changing to consumer places in terms of food and agro-products. these land use transformations affect the overall productivity of adjacent land and removes the agriculture craft from the city. it also created so many informal developments without any infrastructure and facilities which will surely decrease the quality of life by affecting the soil, water and air qualities. to come up with a sustainable solution for the current situation, this paper recommends promotion of urban agriculture as a feasible option to avoid further land-use changes. the study went through the implications of urban agriculture in an international context and evaluated the land-use change imperfections. the lessons drawn from the study suggests a viable support of agriculture inside the cities and locating markets near to agricultural villages, which is known as urban agriculture. the study also revealed that urban agriculture has led to the sustainable environment by increasing economic activities, creating eco-friendly neighborhoods, lowered waste production, production of food inside the city, and reasonable product prices. we need an urban agriculture strategy to establish eco-friendly neighborhoods, and stop the ongoing land-use change trend in the yakatoot area and the kabul city. meanwhile, the urban agriculture itself is 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(2020). urban agriculture could provide 15% of food supply to sydney, australia, under expanded land use scenarios. land use policy, 94, 104554. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i2.909 development plan for decreasing crime rates at el amir hamad archeological site rasha ali el-ashmawy 1 , yasmin moanis hatem 2 1,2 department of architectural, faculty of engineering, delta university for science and technology email:rasha51177@yahoo.com1,dr.yasmin.moanis@hotmail.com2 abstract recently, the direct causal relationship between the built environment and well-being has been shown to affect the quality of life as well as the performance of the urban environment. while it is often difficult to establish, the urban built environment plays a major role in shaping the way people act inside it. (thwaites, kevin, et al., 2016) while urbanisation takes place in a transforming society, societal development leaves its signature in urban spaces. when industries and development plans decline in some parts of the city, especially those with archaeological value, those parts will have been abandoned due to migration. urban pockets or gaps inside the built environment are left behind to suffer from informality, deterioration, and increasing crime and unemployment rates. the aim of that research is to find some possible solutions in the direction of improving those public abandoned spaces that accommodate dangerous buildings, high rates of unemployment and unsafe urban areas in the regional range of meet-ghamr, dakhlia governorate. (aggnieszka lisowska, 2017). the targeted area of the study is "minaret el amir hamaad" in meet-ghamr, dakahleia, egypt, one of the most important archaeological sites in the islamic heritage of dakhlia governorate, which is well known for its unique mosques and mosque minarets. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords archeological sites,heritage crime,urban open spaces,development plans,conservation ,safety 1. introduction without a doubt, accurately identifying and improving historical sites and buildings is extremely important because it allows communities to continue to exist while preventing history from fading and being demolished. abandoned sites may intentionally cause the deterioration of the assets and the surrounding urban area. (jon m. shane, july 2012). the complex problems of abandoned historical sites pose a threat to surrounding structures and present a direct risk to the type and rate of crime in a process known as "house stripping," "scavenging," or "urban mining." in those cases, the offender destroys the asset and then sells it away. abandoned urban areas are highly linked to naturally increasing and developing crime rates and types, which increases the value of the asset as well. (jon m. shane, july 2012). http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i2.909&domain=press.ierek.com rasha ali ,yasmin moanis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 this empirical research will demonstrate the importance of involving the preservation of archaeological sites that should be linked to a long-term conservation plan to prevent them from being abandoned and demolished, as well as discussing the term "heritage crime" and the relation between crime and abandoned heritage areas. that will be discussed through studying the local area of "el amir hamad corner," which is considered to be one of the extensive archaeological areas at meet-ghamr dakahleia, egypt. and it also states what the area suffers from; like negligence, demolishing, and fewer amenities and services by the recent users of the space, from criminals to displaced people. 2. research aims and objectives the study aims to properly prepare a development plan for the archaeological site of el amir hamad corner, taking into consideration the area's physical built environment on an urban scale. throughout: -examine the current situation of el amir hamad corner, and carefully investigate the physical and social conditions of the local area. -study the crime rates, specific types, and distribution inside the historic area to carefully evaluate the situation and properly establish an operational plan. -the preparation of several planning alternatives and reasonably achieving the potential target related to conserving the historic site by exploiting the extensive archaeological history of the area. 3. research methodology • a quantitative and qualitative field study for el amir hamad corner to determine the number of residents, building conditions, and types of economic activities in the area. • from both practical and theoretical perspectives, an analytical study of the existing case of historic buildings and street network, as well as the behavioral attitude of active users; sufficient strengths and critical weaknesses. • a sustainable development plan for the historical region within the comprehensive framework of the strategic concept of a social and alternative relationship with complex nature and regional levels. a conclusion will be obtained at the end based mainly on the analytical data and research results to create an optimum solution for that archaeological site of el amir hamad 4. el amir hamad corner, dakahlia, egypt (case study) since tourism remain a common phenomenon in egypt as a modern country consists of 1/3 of world-historical sites, so it is clear for various reasons that developing and conserving those sites in a way to improve social, sociological, and psychological aspects of that district is a must. and not abandoning them and which in consequence will perceive as an explicit and healthy image for space. (mohamed kamal mohamed ghodya,2021). tourism leads to a temporarily increased number of people from outside the local district to enter in a relatively compact area, it can easily change a hazardous site from being unsafe to safe, once introducing the tourists (allowed stranger) to the local district which lead to transform the area character to better one especially if it was already suffering from certain types of crime like drug dealing, theft, prostitution, and vandalism. (: postma,a. and schmuecker,d. (2017). for a city that have many archeological and historical sites , the unused urban space and abandoned urban gaps between buildings and other physical built areas with no community attention will cause many problems concerning social, psychological and physical spaces. those spaces have high potential for reconstruction and conservation, and integrating them to the surrounding community gradually with well-designed plans of conservation will help in developing those areas through time. and for taking case study of el amir hamad corner to prepare an economic and social development plan to improve regional security and reduce the local crime rate as it already consists of some historical buildings (el ghamry mosqueel amir hamad minaret-el arwam church), also suffering from neglecting and low conservation and maintenance level, also accommodate certain types of criminal acts which merely make it an unsafe area for local citizens. it was constructed by el amir hamad ben mekled beik in the year 1615 and it was considered as an islamic an archaeological site in 21 of november 1951 with an official declaration no.10357. it typically consists of el amir rasha ali ,yasmin moanis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 hamad minaret which is close to el grand ghamry mosque founded on the mamluk period and the historic mosque occupies a significant position with a nile view of meet-ghamr, egypt. 4.1 problem definition the gradual deterioration of certain historical areas leaves a negative impression about the cultural aspect and safety of that social space that carries islamic and coptic history. it was detected that in the study area of el amir hamad minaret, the gradual deterioration and low conservation rates separate the area gradually from the surrounding fabric, leaving the inner space with no definite building shapes, archaeological remains, high unemployment and crime rates, and concentrated fabric in the middle of the local area. the ruined mosques and the graceful minaret were left for ruthless destruction, and it was abandoned as well, so it acts as an adequate space for potential criminals and disordered behavior to scarcely appear. figure 2: case study el amir hamad minaret, analysis and problem definition. source: authors one of the acutest problems inside the proposed site is that the surrounding buildings are typically considered to be a slump informal area with no specific shape or social structure, and it was announced to be an unsafe urban area by the governorate of dakalhia, unit of informal settlements. the study area of el amir hamad corner naturally suffers from condensed building fabric in the middle of crumbling used buildings, which shows the gradual deterioration of the historic site around the graceful minaret and ruined ghamry mosque and most of the iconic buildings typically found to be owned by the endowment "awqaf", and it was also neglected by the private owner, which leads the abandoned area to be a suitable host for illegal criminals, disordered acts, and urban crime to show up. the local area in the middle with low-rise buildings typically causes a marked decrease in the viable option of natural surveillance and decreases direct contact with the surrounding fabric as well. on the other hand, the visible outline of the area includes the more towering buildings, which merely make it a suitable option to typically leave the middle severely deteriorated and less connected to the outer district. according figure 1: deterioration of the historical heart of the proposed site of el amir hamad corner.dakhlya,,meet-ghamr.eygpt from 2004-2018. source: authors figure 3: shows the surrounding built environment for the area. figure 4: shows the minaret of prince hamad mosque and its deterioration value and historical monuments of grand ghamry mosque. source: https://heritage.weladelbalad.com rasha ali ,yasmin moanis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 to the most recent surveys on that area, which suffers from drug dealing, theft, prostitution, and vandalism, the two great mosques have been left for demolition with no maintenance and neglect, as well as a high rate of crime. 4.2 el amir hamad corner and safety the area lies on the distinguished shore of the nile river in the city of ghamr, at the corner of which is el amir hammad, which is considered a unique archaeological architectural work. the area suffers from harsh environmental conditions, as the surrounding area, which includes 104 old, dilapidated houses, was classified as a slum area and entered the government development programme several years ago without progress or achievement until it became a breeding ground for piles of dirt and was considered to be an unsafe zone. (government slump development unit). the site acquired great importance as a religious, spiritual, and commercial symbol as it was a port for transporting goods and was helped by its proximity to the nile river, noting that it is one of the individual models of archaeological angles in lower egypt and needs to be highlighted for development and inclusion in tourism programs. (archaeological awareness and cultural development, dakahlia archeology). among the most important islamic shrines: al-mowafi mosque one of the most famous mosques in mansoura, founded by king al-saleh “nagm el-din ayoub” in 583 ah – 1187 ad. al-ghamry archaeological mosque and minaret it is located in meet ghamr city; this unique minaret dates back to the reign of mamluks muhammad ibn abi bakr alsedik mosque it is located in meet demsis at markaz aga. it is the mosque of mohammad ibn abi bakr al sedik, son of the companion sahabi of prophet mohammad (pbuh) and the first caliph of the muslims. his tomb was discovered in 1950 prince hammad corner it is located next to alghamry mosque; and it dates back to the mamluks era. among the most important coptic shrines saint mar-gerges church it lies in meet demsis at markaz aga. it is composed of two buildings; one of them dates back to more than 1,600 years. monastery of st. damiana: located in damiana village at markaz belqas. it includes five churches; one of them is an archeological church in gothic style that was discovered in late 1947. figure5: shows a detailed map for the site problem definition. source: authors table 1 shows the most important archeological areas at meet gamr, dakahlia ,egypt. source: national organization of urban harmony rasha ali ,yasmin moanis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 the el amir hamad mosque is one of the historical monuments at meet-ghamr, and it is suffering severely from the possible danger of demolishing and erasing the cultural history of a significant period where a number of owners of the surrounding buildings demolished their rented houses from the endowments and started construction of modern, undefined buildings, which in turn will damage the local area’s history and architectural heritage to build their own homes away from the regulations and government rules. most of the demolished buildings are extremely damaged, which is owned by the endowment that was severely neglected for years, and many acute problems are caused by that exact reason. the mosque is considered to be one of the rare suspended mosques in the eastern delta region in the era of the ottoman period, thanks to the establishment of "wedoa" places at the bottom of the corner, as well as the creation of an external corridor under the southern area and lower rooms with intersecting domes. (https://gate.ahram.org.eg/daily/news/808123.aspx) 4.3 site analysis the area's condition was objectively analysed to expose the difference between positive and negative points inside the area, starting from the solid and void maps, which show the real, condensed, used fabric of the private buildings with a very appalling condition inside the area near to el ghamry mosque and el amir hamad minaret, which caused the demolishing of the rest of the surrounding buildings in bad condition and leaving the area for potential criminals and prostitution. deep study for the building types and occupation was carefully taken to generate the right design decision for that used area. the analysis shows that most of the land ownership irretrievably goes to the endowment of the authoritarian government and the rest is citizen ownership "which causes the problem at first" and by counting the proper ratio, it was found that 65% is for the endowment and 35% acquires citizenship. building number floor no r f o 16-17-18-19-20-21-28-29-30-31-65-91-91 ground floor 1 1 e 4-3’’-6-7-8-11-12-13-14-15ground floor 1 1 e 44-55-45-46-47-49-52-62-63-64ground floor 1 1 e 3 ground floor 1 2 e 1-2 demolished e 9-10-24-25-32-35-37-39-43-48-102 ground and first floor 2 2 e 22-23 ground +first floor 1 2 e 36-38-46 empty land e 40-51-92ground +2 floors 3 3 e 41-42-56-59ground +5 floors 5 5 e 95 ground +6 floors 37 37 c 97 ground +6 floors 7 5 c 96 ground 5 shops+4 floors 12 12 c 78-82 ground shop+4 floors 5 5 c 83 ground 2 shops+4 floors 5 5 c 90 ground 2 shops+4 floors 6 6 c 79 ground 3shops+4 floors 7 7 c figure 6: shows the entrance and the shape of el amir hamad mosque and minaret, and the rate of deterioration rasha ali ,yasmin moanis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 5. understanding heritage crime for the study area. inheritance crime is a concept attached to any heritage site that means "any offence which harms the value of heritage assets and their settings to this and future generations or which impairs their enjoyment." in other words, it could be said that it’s a punishable offence in which any individual intentionally harms the moral or physical value of inheritance assets and their historical settings. robin bryant (2020).) according to yaron gottlieb, there are many different types of crimes against our heritage, including: theft of lead and other metals from churches and other historic buildings; architectural theft; illegal metal detecting; unlawful alteration and damage to listed buildings; unlawful demolition of buildings and structures in conservation areas; damage to monuments; arson; graffiti; and other forms of antisocial behavior in proximity to heritage assets. (yaron gottlieb, 2020). most heritage assets are properly protected by specific legislation to typically prevent harm intentionally caused by possible damage or unlicensed alteration. however, other crimes such as apparent theft, criminal damage, aggravated arson, and anti-social behavior offences can also damage and harm inheritance assets and interfere constructively with the allowed public's social enjoyment and personal knowledge of their cultural heritage. (korsell et al., 2006). 104 parking 1 1 g 105 storage c 81 ground floor shop s s c 84-85 empty land c 86 ground 1 shop+3 floors 4 4 c 0 ground+11 floors 12 12 c 89 ground shop +2 floors 3 3 c 103 2 shops 2 2 c 70 3 shops 3 3 c 54 mosque e 50 el amir hamad minaret e e=endowment c=citizen o=ownership r=residence = none s=store f=family table 2shows the total analysis of the site. source: authors figure7, 8, 9, 10 and 11: shows the total analysis of the site and building conditions. figure 12: shows the effect of low maintenance for the mosque. rasha ali ,yasmin moanis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 in egypt, the touristic sites are carefully secured, most of them by the established rules and local legislation, but in some lesser cities that typically have a lot of local historical heritage and valued assets, they suffer severely from being away from the excessive regulations and political rules and are scarcely left for gradual deterioration, as in the proposed area of meet gamer dakhalia, egypt. it could easily be affected by heritage crime. h. tavakoli and m.h. marzbali (2021). the proposed study area typically contains one of the famous and valued minarets of el amir hamad and also the ruined gamry mosque, which is similar in a unique design to "azahar el sharif." they suffer from some types of heritage crime that include architectural theft of some ornaments from the mosque and church (particularly of wood and stone); criminal damage (e.g. graffiti on a scheduled monument); illegal remain detecting; anti-social behaviour (most particularly occupying and living inside historic sites and some activities); unauthorised changes to historic buildings and the illegal trade in cultural objects. robin bryant (2020) abandoning that historic site without merely maintaining it has naturally led to radically increasing violent crime rates through time, with some specific types of punishable crimes that intentionally harm the abandoned properties and local habitations, and consequent crimes that inevitably take place and develop as well. han, hye-sung, and helm, scott. on august 1, 2010, this entry was published. 6. tourism industry and safety for the abandoned historic sites the potential tourist and resident users of a certain space simply propose an economic diversity of possible options to some more economic improvements to typically increase the nominal income for both stack holders and local habitats of that local area. the idea of the local tourism industry on the economic scale naturally involves many alternative options, so it offers and generates continuous occupations in many altered areas. (wto, 2002) by encouraging local tourism through the introduction of a suitable development plan, the local economic value of the urban space will increase, which will help to bring investments to the area and local hotels, cafes, food courts, gathering pedestrian points, tour guide agencies, retail, and souvenir giveaway shops will typically help to reliably deliver many diverse levels of gainful employment for local people in the neighborhood. (oecd, 2020)) according to a study in philadelphia, which is considered to be one of the heritage cities that suffer from vacant and abandoned buildings, the city is using an abandoned building remediation strategy to reduce blight and crime, stabilize real estate value, and encourage economic development. the result was that the low-cost method of possible renovation could possibly be an effective means to reduce crime. and other outcomes, this study provides useful evidence of the potential effect of abandoned building remediation policies on decreasing crime rates in cities. (kondo mc et al., 2015). 7. proposed development plan for the study area cultural tourism positively receives a massive consequence in flourishing any archaeological site by its vast impact of radically increasing pedestrian safety, social balance, positively enhancing criminal attitude, and economic balance to the place, so it was humbly proposed to conserve the historic site with all the great archaeological buildings inside it (elamir hamad minaret, el local ghamry mosque, and el arwam church) and to widely establish a current path for tourists to instantly get inside the site to enjoy the magnificent scenes offered by the historic buildings and mosques inside after carefully restoring it to the past situation, and from outside, the extensive view of the nile and el arwam church. the solution proposal indicates precisely the following steps of considerable improvement: the touristic path proposed according to the arrangement of the significant archaeological building inside the site with profound respect to the main streets, secondary street, car pathways, pedestrian walkways, and empty land distribution. figure 13 shows the historic site potentials. source: authors. figure 14: shows proposed solutions based on current potential of the site. source: authors rasha ali ,yasmin moanis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 • first step: carefully explore all the vacant land to properly manage in solving the problem positively related to considerable space. • second step: state the archaeological lots that will involve in the touristic path. • third step: start rearranging the local inhabitants inside the area at the visible edge of the historical site and conserve all the historic buildings. • fourth step: use all empty lands inside the area to make amenities and services for the tourists and manage the sites belong to the endowment in refreshing the history of those buildings again. • the fifth step: properly plan a touristic path for the typical tourist to naturally enter the site as indicated in the leading figure (8 and 9). three possible pathways came clear to the specific plan proposed as following: 7.1 first proposed path: the first route will start from one of the main streets of the area that looks over the river nile, "el horya road", leading directly to the middle of the historic site towards the arwan church and then through "ez el dein road", which faces the "ghamry mosque" with its fantastic, then leading the tour to the proposed pedestrian area that starts from "zawiya street" and ends by the main gathering point to end the official trip. as illustrated in the following diagram. 7.2 second, proposed path: start from the main street "el horeya road" and the proposed main waiting and gathering point, and then inside the historic site towards the arwan church, and then inside the site from "eez el dein road" which faces el ghamry mosque, and then to a pedestrian area starting from "hamad street" and ending at the proposed main gathering point to end the official trip. as illustrated in the following diagram. 7.3 third proposed path: start from the main street "el dakhakny road", reaching to el ghamry mosque and then to prince hamad minaret, passing through the other conserved buildings and finally to the nearest gathering point proposed, which will include all the amenities that any tourist needs. figure 15: shows the second proposal for the site proposed by the researchers. source: authors figure 20: shows the first proposal for the site proposed by the researchers. source: researcher figure 16: shows the third proposal for the site proposed by the researchers. source: authors rasha ali ,yasmin moanis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 according to previous research and reading, the rate of potential crime will gradually will be decreasing over time with proper maintenance and management. the development of the area and the introduction of tourism gradually will effectively increase the activity inside the area and bring a new economic factor to the area. this humble effort would help in developing the surrounding area and also stimulate the local governorate to integrate the idea of developing abundant historical sites into their management plan, further helping other middle eastern government agencies to propose integrated management tools for the stimulation of historic cities. 8. conclusion the potential problem of abandoned buildings and vacant lots is that they are devastated structures seen daily by urban residents, may create physical opportunities for violence by sheltering illegal activity, and ignoring the historical assets and areas and enabling them for destruction, abundance, and ignorance could lead to severe radical changes on the minor scale of urban fabric and also in crime typology and rates. a complete management plan should be applied by the government to improve those sites and to improve them gradually, not barely maintaining the case as it is. an essential part of the potential problem was because of the endowment policies and how they properly treat the old assets of the local area. by following the lead of abandoned building remediation by introducing the historical tourism resources to the site, many problems will be easily rectified by time. it also contributes to the elimination of crime and fear of crime rates, which will ensure the continued development plan proposed to the captive population of those areas. and the economic factor of the site comprises a crucial factor that will affect the factors of development. urban planning studies for heritage areas that involve tourism as their main source of income in order to benefit from their development, the creation of new economic value that is supportive to the wellbeing and lifestyle of the inhabitants and users. improving the behavioral, social, and psychological conditions and wellbeing of the local community represents a significant challenge to typically decreasing the prime rate of possible crime and fear of crime 9. recommendations it truly supports the successful completion of the work and appropriately regulates cultural tourism at such archaeological sites. the alternative relationship between crime rates and cultural tourism undoubtedly remains a sensitive spot of debate for a long time. some researchers suggest that tourist destinations can clearly increase the rate of crime and the area image, and most research states that relation. but on the other hand, involving a modern type of active users from different cultures inside any space can definitely affect the crime rates that will gradually decrease by the time the local area is improved as a recent economic source for work will take place and also a new lifestyle will be developed under the supervision of the authoritarian government and will affect economic and social seriously. -taking into consideration the explicit image of the local area, which naturally makes it a unique space to explore despite the heritage site itself, like (culture, hospitality, infrastructure, and local attractions), uniform management of the security of the site, introducing the site to the local tourism that will make it safer time by time. -the allowed public and privet sector should voluntarily undertake the civic responsibility to properly maintain and to instantly improve the historic site from all practical sides of possible crime and demolishing. -promptly introduce alternative activities and historical events gradually held in the local area related to the most common heritage buildings inside, like celebrating islamic and christian religions. -carrying out public meetings with local users and local stakeholders to inform them about the historical importance of radically improving the standard of living inside the area and to identify the importance of safety and security problems. -promptly introduce a long-term plan of possible risks that could be critically involved by introducing cultural tourism inside the protected area and should be positively related to the emergency plans of the used site. rasha ali ,yasmin moanis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 -an allowed public or private force should typically take place inside the local area to instantly solve and interfere whenever necessary. -enthusiastically endorsing the complex relationship between local police officers instantly surrounding the protected area, tourism authorities, and personal representatives from the local stakeholder to radically improve the site's performance. empirical data on the area of crime types and sufficient quantity should be sufficiently cleared from time to time to identify hot spots and initiate the exact action at the right time. and crime data that will be generously offered by the communist government for the general public to ensure the key role of local awareness and encourage inhabitants to help in solving crime issues, and to increase the inhabitant's self-ownership feeling that will lead to increasing the perception of safety and decreasing crime rates. references territo ,l. ,hasted ,j.b. ,&bromley ,m.l.(2004).”crime and justice in america: a human perspective .upper saddle river” ,nj :pearson education ,inc. un habitat.(2007).kenya slum upgrading programme (kensup),nairobi,kenya. pizam a., (1999), a comprehensive approach to classifying acts of crime and violence at tourism destinations, journal of travel research, 38, 1, pp. 5-12. harper d.w. jr., (2000), planning in tourist robbery, annals of tourism research, 27, 2, pp. 517-520. bennett, l.( 2008). assets under attack: metal theft, the built environment and the dark side of the global recycling market. environmental law and management, 20: 176-183. mathilda van niekerk , abraham pizam ,( 2016)’’ how do terrorism and tourism co-exist in turbulent times? an introduction to a conflicting relationship’’ university of central florida, 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(2006). cultural heritage crime-the nordic dimension. brottsförebyggande rådet mark harrison fsa (2016)“heritage crime a guide for law enforcement officers”, hertfordshire constabulary. kondo mc, keene d, hohl bc, macdonald jm, branas cc (2015) a difference-in-differences study of the effects of a new abandoned building remediation strategy on safety. plos one 10(7): e0129582. pmid:26153687 (oecd (2020), oecd tourism trends and policies 2020, oecd publishing, paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/6b47b985-en.) han, hye-sung & helm, scott. (2020). does demolition lead to a reduction in nearby crime associated with abandoned properties?. housing policy debate. 1-24. 10.1080/10511482.2020.1800776. tavakoli, h.; marzbali, m.h. urban public policy and the formation of dilapidated abandoned buildings in historic cities: causes, impacts and recommendations, sustainability 2021, 13, 6178. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su13116178. wto, tourism and poverty alleviation ,published: 2002 pages: 115,eisbn: 978-92-844-0549-7 yaron gottlieb, “attacks against cultural heritage as a crime against humanity”, 52 case w. res. j. int'l l. 287 (2020) bryant, robin. (2020). project 7708 understanding heritage crime in kent and medway -a data analytical approach final report report prepared. 10.13140/rg.2.2.35934.87368). postma,a. and schmuecker, d. (2017), "understanding and overcoming negative impacts of tourism in city destinations: conceptual model and strategic framework", journal of tourism futures, vol. 3 no. 2, pp. 144-156. https://doi.org/10.1108/jtf-04-2017-0022) mohamed kamal mohamed ghodya, yousry abd-elkader azzam, ibrahim el-sayed maarouf, strategy of integrating egyptian sites into world heritage property: rashid city as a case study, ain shams engineering journal,volume 12, issue 3,2021,pages 3381-3387,issn 2090-4479) thwaites, kevin & romice, ombretta & porta, sergio & greaves, mark. (2016). urban design and quality of life. 10.1007/978-3-319-314167_14.) https://doi.org/10.1787/6b47b985-en https://www.e-unwto.org/author/wto https://www.emerald.com/insight/search?q=albert%20postma https://www.emerald.com/insight/search?q=dirk%20schmuecker https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/2055-5911 https://doi.org/10.1108/jtf-04-2017-0022 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i3.934 improving urban resilience through formal integration of waste pickers in jordan’s solid waste management 1muna hindiyeh, 2talar oghlenian 1,2 school of natural resources engineering and management, civil and environmental engineering dept., german jordanian university, amman jordan, p.o. box 35247; muna.hindiyeh@gju.edu.jo; ta.oghlenian@gju.edu.jo abstract the main aim of this project is to study the situation of waste pickers around the world and to analyze the situation of the informal sector of solid waste management in jordan specifically. different methods like surveys and desk reviews did the study. it included studying their behavior, the places they work, the types of materials they collect, the method of collection, and much more. after this analysis, the focus was to find the most suitable method to formally integrate this sector with the government to benefit the waste pickers, the government, and the whole solid waste situation in the country. based on the results of our study, recommendations for the waste pickers’ situation in jordan were given. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords solid waste management; waste pickers; jordan; survey. 1. introduction 1.1. municipal solid waste in jordan: throughout the past years, jordan’s population has rapidly increased for many reasons, such as the refugee crisis, the improvement of medical care, and political stability. whenever there is an increase in the population number, there is an increase in the generation of sw, and based on the giz (2014) report, jordan produces 2,077,215 tons of msw per year, as shown in figure 1, with an annual growth rate of 3%. figure 1. composition of different types of msw in jordan from giz (2014) report. http://www.press.ierek.com/ mailto:muna.hindiyeh@gju.edu.jo mailto:ta.oghlenian@gju.edu.jo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i3.934&domain=press.ierek.com muna hindiyeh, talar oghlenian / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 studies have shown that sw differs in type and from one area to another depending on the income rate, urbanization, and general lifestyle. the gwmo (2015) report showed that 34% of the msw generated in high-income countries is organic waste, while 53% of the msw is organic waste in low-income countries. since jordan is considered a lowincome country, 50% of its msw is organic, the highest among all types of msw present. although 90% of the waste in the rural areas and 70% of the waste in urban areas is being collected, no waste is being composted in jordan, 7% of it is being recycled, 48% is sanitarily landfilled, and 45% is illegally thrown in dumpsites as shown in figure 2. figure 2: percentages of waste disposal methods by giz (2014) report [1]. 1.2 landfills in jordan: all the waste generated throughout the years resulted in 21 domestic landfills in jordan, with the al ghabawi landfill being the only engineered one [2]. the landfills are operated by 100 municipalities and 21 jordan securities commissions. moreover, two public authorities are directly responsible for swm in jordan; gam is mainly responsible for the greater amman area (the capital of jordan), and aseza is responsible for the special economic zone of aqaba. the gam is responsible for collecting, transporting, and disposing of the waste to the al ghabawi landfill site, considered the largest landfill in jordan, serving ten other major cities besides the capital. as for aseza, the mission of collecting and transporting the waste is managed by a private company that disposes of the collected waste in a landfill operated by the common services council [3]. 1.3 informal sector of solid waste management one of the main problems in the swm sector is the informal sector, known as waste pickers, who are, based on the definition of ilo, individuals or small and micro-enterprises that intervene in waste management without being registered without being formally charged with providing waste management services. usually, they are engaged in collecting and recovering reusable and recyclable solid waste from the source of waste generation to sell them to the recyclers directly or through intermediaries to earn their livelihood. although this sector is not recognized or controlled by any official authority, it highly contributes to managing the city’s msw, as they collect, sort, reuse and sell it, retrieving its value in the recycling chain. figure 3 illustrates the basic root of mswm in jordan [4]. muna hindiyeh, talar oghlenian / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 figure 3: flow chart for msw streams and waste pickers’ role in jordan from tafila case study [4]. in most developing countries, the structure of this sector is pyramidic, as in figure 4, where at the top of the pyramid are the industrial shop owners or the scrap buyers who buy small quantities of waste (plastic, paper, glass, metals, etc.) from households. below them come, numerous traders, including retailers and wholesalers, several of whom are not registered as businesses. at last, comes the waste pickers who freely collect waste from dumpsites, uncontrolled landfills, and municipal garbage bins. as we move up the pyramid, trade value increases [5]. figure 4: the structure of the informal sector in developing countries by cwg-giz [5] in this paper, the waste pickers’ situation in jordan will be discussed further in detail, parallel to case studies from different countries worldwide. the first stage was to analyze and understand the full meaning of waste picking to identify the category of the society we are dealing with. the next step was collecting all the necessary laws, regulations, and instructions that concern or affect waste pickers in any way from the ministry of environment and the ministry of municipal affairs. in addition, it is important to see what other companies have done on this topic, so a couple of reports were collected discussing waste pickers in jordan. after that, the social aspects had to be considered from both the waste picker’s point of view and the people of the society themselves. therefore, a survey was done and filled out by the society, and a questionnaire was set and asked to the waste pickers themselves. 2. methodology this study was performed using the following methods:  desk reviews: scientific and academic references related to the informal workers of the waste management sector as well as best practices followed in the world from middle to low-income areas, have been used.  surveys: an online survey was filled out by 160 people to identify the society’s thoughts regarding the social condition of waste pickers in jordan and to see how much people are willing to collaborate with the sector. muna hindiyeh, talar oghlenian / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4  questionnaires: a set of questions was prepared and answered by waste pickers in order to have a clear view of their lifestyle and their challenges. discussion sessions: several discussion sessions took place with experts regularly to discuss each result and find the most suitable recommendations. 3. results and discussion 3.1 waste pickers and landfills in jordan waste pickers can collect waste from many different places. they can collect waste from houses, streets, sanitary landfills, and dumpsites. unfortunately, there is not enough data or statistics in jordan to summarize the exact amount of waste in each collection area [6]. however, different studies in different governorates in the swm sector involved studying waste pickers. the focus is on jordan’s three landfills: al-akider, al-husyniat, and madaba. tables 1 to 4 illustrate the number, age, gender, and education level of waste pickers in each of these three landfills: table 1. the number of jordanian and syrian waste pickers. landfill number of waste pickers number of syrian waste pickers total number al akaider 22-32 13-18 35-50 hussenyat 10-11 20-24 30-35 madaba 6-7 14-21 20-30 total 38-50 47-63 85-115 table 2. ages of waste pickers landfill under 16 years 16-20 years 36-50 years over 50 al akaider 0 0 1 0 hussenyat 0 0 2 0 madaba 0 4 0 0 total 0 4 3 0 percentage 0% 21% 16% 0% table 3. genders of waste pickers. landfill male female al akaider 1 0 hussenyat 8 2 madaba 8 0 total 17 2 percentage 89% 11% muna hindiyeh, talar oghlenian / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 table 4: education level of waste pickers landfill primary school middle school secondary school al akaider 1 0 0 hussenyat 6 2 0 madaba 6 2 0 total 13 4 0 percentage 68% 22% 10% did not attend schools these three landfills are examples of ones that support the informal sector by allowing them to collect waste through contractors that handle all their issues. other landfills do not allow waste pickers to enter the landfill, with al-ghabawi being one of them. 3.2 laws and regulations until 1980, the environment was not a known word in jordanian laws and regulations when the ministry of municipal affairs added the environment to its name, becoming the ministry of municipal and environmental affairs. this lasted for only 23 years; in 2003, a ministry specializing in environmental affairs was created called the ministry of environment. several legislations related to the environment have been enacted since the ministry’s inception until now [2]. the first environmental law in jordan was published in 2003, along with the establishment of the ministry, and then in 2006, a new version of the law was published, canceling the law of the year 2003. as for now, the current active environmental law is environmental protection law no.6 of the year 2017, containing 31 articles [7]. in february 2005, regulation no.27 for solid waste management, based on article no.8 of the environmental protection law no.1 of 2003, was published, holding only seven articles. these articles involved the basic measures of handling solid waste. unfortunately, the phrase “waste picker” was not mentioned in the law or the regulation. based on these articles, we can deduce that although the environmental protection law did not mention any specific articles related to waste pickers, these two articles affect them based on their daily activities of collecting wastes from public trash bins in an unsafe method, classifying them as illegal activities with legal consequences. in 2019, instructions for solid waste management based on article no.7 of regulation no.27 of 2005 for solid waste management was published, having sixteen articles [8]. for the first time, “waste pickers” were mentioned in the definitions and the articles as follows: “waste pickers: the people who pick up recyclable waste as waste management operations.” article 13 states that: “general provisions for solid waste management facilities (landfills, sanitary landfills, and transformer stations): the following shall be taken into consideration during the management of solid waste management facilities: 1. not allowing informal waste pickers to collect waste under any circumstances in facilities dealing with solid waste. 2. facilities officials assigned to dealing with solid waste must coordinate with the government to develop a simple infrastructure that allows waste sorting and helps waste pickers create micro-enterprises to sort waste formally. allow only authorized users to enter the site, exclude children and animals, and prepare a record for visitors to the site”. muna hindiyeh, talar oghlenian / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 although the waste pickers were noticed and identified in these instructions, they were not allowed to enter and collect waste from landfills and transport stations. this is due to health and administrative control, as most informal waste pickers do not follow the basic safety measures and bring children to work at the site. on the other hand, the government obliged the facilities’ officials to help the informal waste pickers by establishing small businesses integrated with the facilities’ operation to formalize and legalize their work with the appropriate licenses and approvals. in the year 2020, law no.16 for solid waste management was published called the solid waste management framework law containing thirty-two articles and four appendices that explain the categories, properties, and disposal and returning methods of solid waste. the following articles had direct effects on waste pickers [9]. article 27 prohibits informal waste pickers from collecting solids as they do not follow the appropriate procedure for each type or have no legal approval or license. anybody who does not follow these law articles will face legal issues. the main conclusion from all the laws, regulations, and instructions since the beginning is that each new one has more details and specifications in solid waste management and waste pickers topics than before. this indicates that although the changes are slow and not major, they still indicate that a developing country like jordan is moving positively. building accurate simulation will significantly influence building predicted energy consumption [10]; many studies covering the building thermal performance in different climate zones to optimum building thermal performance [1114], even the feasibility of using photovoltaics in terms of reducing the construction cost and saving energy [15]. the informal solid waste management sector has become a vital component of the system worldwide. waste pickers play a significant role in the collection and recycling of waste, yet they face numerous challenges that hinder their integration into the formal sector. this literature review will explore the existing literature on waste pickers and their integration into the formal solid waste management system, specifically focusing on jordan. to earn their livelihood, waste pickers collect, sort, and recycle waste materials, mainly from the streets, dumps, and other public places. according to the world bank, approximately 15 million people earn their livelihood through waste picking [16]. in developing countries, waste picking has become an essential livelihood for marginalized groups and contributes significantly to solid waste management. however, waste pickers face numerous challenges, such as low wages, lack of recognition, and unsafe working conditions [17]. integrating waste pickers into the formal sector has been discussed for many years. formal integration can give waste pickers better working conditions, higher wages, social security, and health benefits. several countries, such as brazil, india, and south africa, have initiated programs to integrate waste pickers into the formal solid waste management system [18]. however, integrating waste pickers into the formal sector requires collaboration between the government, waste management companies, and waste pickers’ organizations. waste pickers are crucial in the informal solid waste management system in jordan. waste picking has been a common livelihood in jordan for many years, contributing significantly to the country’s recycling efforts. however, waste pickers in jordan face several challenges, including unsafe working conditions, lack of recognition, and low wages. several studies have explored waste pickers’ situation in jordan and recommended solutions to integrate them into the formal solid waste management system. for example, a study conducted by al-sari et al. (2017) recommended establishing a waste picker association, providing them with training and education, and integrating them into the formal solid waste management system [18]. waste pickers play a vital role in the solid waste management system worldwide. however, they face numerous challenges, such as unsafe working conditions, low wages, and lack of recognition. integrating waste pickers into the formal solid waste management system can provide them better working conditions, higher wages, and social security. in jordan, waste pickers contribute significantly to the country’s recycling efforts but face several challenges. several studies have recommended solutions to integrate waste pickers into jordan’s formal solid waste management system, such as establishing a waste picker association and providing them with training and education. muna hindiyeh, talar oghlenian / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 the study by albatayneh et al. (2018) aimed to present an alternative approach to simulating wind effects on the thermal performance of buildings. in another study, albatayneh et al. (2022) explored the potential of rooftop photovoltaic systems as a shading device for uninsulated buildings. juaidi et al. (2022) experimentally validated the impact of dust on grid-connected photovoltaic system performance in palestine, while albatayneh et al. (2020) evaluated the effectiveness of infiltration against roof insulation aimed at low-income housing retrofits in jordan [1922]. abdallah et al. (2022) investigated the effects of soiling and the frequency of optimal cleaning of pv panels in palestine. al-omary et al. (2021) developed a hybrid moving average algorithm for predicting energy in solarpowered wireless sensor nodes. muhaidat et al. (2021) emphasized the significance of occupants’ interaction with their environment in reducing cooling loads and dermatological distress in east mediterranean climates [23-25]. albatayneh et al. (2020) highlighted the significance of sky temperature in assessing the thermal performance of buildings and compared temperature versus energy-based approaches in the thermal assessment of buildings (albatayneh et al., 2017). monna et al. (2021) simulated the potential energy use reduction in residential buildings in palestine towards sustainable energy retrofitting. finally, albatayneh et al. (2018) adapted cfd modeling for building thermal simulation. these studies highlight the importance of sustainable and energy-efficient building design and management, focusing on contexts like jordan and palestine [26-30]. 3.3. a survey that tackled society’s view of waste pickers an online survey was completed in jordan to study where waste pickers stand in our society. one hundred sixty people filled out the survey; 105 (65.6%) were females, 133 (83.1%) lived in the capital amman, and sixteen were educated university bachelor graduates. the next part of the survey was regarding waste pickers and their interactions with society in specific. the following questions were asked: 1. how often do you run into waste pickers? as shown in figure 5, 10 (11.3%) people barely see them each month, 37 (23.1%) see them weekly, 59 (36.9%) notice them daily, and 46 (28.7%) do not see them anywhere near them. figure 5. how often do people run into waste pickers? muna hindiyeh, talar oghlenian / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 2. have you ever witnessed a waste picker involved in any illegal activity? as part of the survey, it was important to see if anybody witnessed a waste picker involved in any illegal activity. in order to prove that most of them are decent people, and fortunately, people proved us right as 144 (90%) of them answered that they have never seen any waste picker involved in any illegal activity. the other 16 (10%) mentioned that they have seen them steal or destroy public properties. 3. have you ever interacted with a waste picker? although most people who filled out this survey see waste pickers on a different time basis, 112 (70%) never interacted or even spoke with them. in comparison, 46 (28.7%) interacted with them and found it a comfortable experience; the rest 2 (1.2%) felt that their interaction was scary and uncomfortable. 4. are you with legalizing their work by forming a waste pickers’ syndicate? 129 (80.6%) of people were against forming it, and the rest were against it. this could be due to financial issues that could occur between the waste pickers themselves. 5. would you mind having regular direct contact with waste pickers? for example, them coming to your home and collecting the waste? most people mentioned that they had never faced a problem or witnessed illegal activity regarding waste pickers. moreover, they support formalizing and integrating them with the government. however, 86 (55.1%) of them were against increasing the interaction between them and the waste pickers by allowing the waste pickers to come and collect waste from households on a regular organized basis. this number is considered relatively good; maybe if more people filled out the form, more people would approve. 6. are you providing health insurance and education rights for child waste pickers? one important aspect of waste pickers is child waste pickers. these children do not have basic human rights like access to schools or even health insurance. therefore, part of this survey was regarding these children, where 153 (95.6%) of them expressed that children should not be allowed to work like this but should have the basic opportunities like any other child. 3.4. questionnaire for waste pickers themselves the survey gave a clear image of how society looks at waste pickers, but another important part was to see the waste pickers’ side, so we decided to interview them. the interview was held on november 21, 2019. the waste pickers interviewed lived on the land next to the industrial area in al bayader, amman. figure 6 shows one of the waste pickers living places. figure 6. the picture was taken during the interview. muna hindiyeh, talar oghlenian / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 there were inconsistencies in the answers of those who were asked. some said they are originally from palestine to feel more socially accepted. however, they are actually from turkmenistan, a sovereign country in central asia. they speak their turkmen language, and they came to jordan during the rule of the ottoman empire, and during the days of king hussein, they were granted jordanian passports. they also did not give us accurate numbers regarding the money they earn from selling the waste as it comes to money (usd14 to usd35). they feel threatened that people might think that they earn a lot from it or that they might even create businesses that might affect their work. what was also noticed from this interview is that they always feel threatened that they might be evacuated from the country, even though many of them have jordanian passports. also, waste pickers do not have a negative social effect on society as much as they have a positive one; they help society. in addition, the way that people look at them as normal people with tough jobs and living conditions shows cultural development. 4. conclusions and recommendations informal solid waste management via waste pickers was studied and analyzed in jordan. the main conclusion from all the laws, regulations, and instructions since the beginning is that each new one has more details and specifications in solid waste management and waste pickers topics than before. this indicates that although the changes are slow and not major, they still indicate that a developing country like jordan is moving positively. many different solutions can be done regarding waste pickers; these solutions can be categorized into three main methods. the first method would be integrating them into the national solid waste management plan of the government; the second would be establishing small enterprises by the private sector, and the third would be community based organizations. moreover, before the government decides to integrate them into its plan, it should have full knowledge of the costs of managing solid waste and compare it to the costs that will be saved when the informal sector is integrated. to begin with, dealing with waste pickers is not very easy, especially when it comes to the most important thing to them, which is waste, as it is their main source of income. therefore, when working with them, we should ensure they still have access to waste and the right to own it, adding that the government will hold a share of the total income. therefore, the government can assign waste pickers many different jobs, such as: 1. collecting waste from a household level regularly. (raising awareness to people regarding the separation of different types of wastes before this would result in benefit). 2. collecting waste from landfills, sanitary landfills, and dumpsites. 3. sorting the collected waste. 4. in some cases, reselling it to consumers. these jobs also apply when it comes to small enterprises as well. they would hire waste pickers to collect waste according to the national solid waste management plan. the difference between small enterprises and the government is that the private sector runs small enterprises; therefore, the income would be shared with the waste pickers and the owners. these enterprises will reduce the governments’ costs of managing solid waste. the third solution would be community based organization (cbo); in a community-based organization, people develop a suitable method to collect, sort, and sell its generated waste. the workers of the cbo are all from the same community, which provides more job opportunities. in addition, all the money earned after the expenses have been paid can be invested in improving the local community. studies from around the world have shown that these three methods were the most efficient ones when the following rules are followed: 1. providing shelter for most of the homeless waste pickers. 2. providing them with at least the basic health insurance of the company. muna hindiyeh, talar oghlenian / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 3. providing with safety wear during working hours. 4. providing them with the necessary facilities like bathrooms in their working areas. another important recommendation would be to sort out all the numbers of waste pickers organizations and join the global alliance of waste pickers or even create a national alliance of our own. when this sector is integrated, different parties benefit from it, some financially, others socially, and for most of them, better life quality is provided. references giz, inception report, 2014. instructions for solid waste management of year 2019, ministry of environment. ebtihal a. aldayyat, motasem n. saidan, mousa a. abu saleh, sudki hamdan, colette linton, solid waste management in jordan: impact and analysis, 2018. mohammad aljaradin, kenneth m. persson, emad sood, the role of informal sector in waste management, a case study; tafila-jordan, 2015. giz, inception report, 2019. undp, solid waste value chain analysis irbid and mafraq, jordan, 2015. environmental protection law no.6 of year 2017, ministry of environment. solid waste management regulation no.27 of year 2005, ministry of environment. the solid waste management framework law no.16 of year 2019, ministry of environment. albatayneh, a., alterman, d. and page, a., 2018, january. adaptation the use of cfd modelling for building thermal simulation. in proceedings of the 2018 international conference on software engineering and information management (pp. 68-72). albatayneh, a., 2021. optimising the parameters of a building envelope in the east mediterranean saharan, cool climate zone. buildings, 11(2), p.43. albatayneh, a., 2021. optimisation of building envelope parameters in a semi-arid and warm mediterranean climate zone. energy reports, 7, pp.2081-2093. albatayneh, a., jaradat, m., alkhatib, m.b., abdallah, r., juaidi, a. and manzano-agugliaro, f., 2021. the significance of the adaptive thermal comfort practice over the structure retrofits to sustain indoor thermal comfort. energies, 14(10), p.2946. albatayneh, a., alterman, d., page, a. and moghtaderi, b., 2017. temperature versus energy based approaches in the thermal assessment of buildings. energy procedia, 128, pp.46-50. albatayneh, a., alterman, d., page, a. and moghtaderi, b., 2018. renewable energy systems to enhance buildings thermal performance and decrease construction costs. energy procedia, 152, pp.312-317. lopez, c., onzere, s. n., & omondi, g. a. (2017). integration of informal waste pickers into the formal waste management system: a review of the literature. waste management, 69, 347-356. medina, m. (2010). informal recycling and occupational health in santo andre, brazil. international journal of occupational and environmental health, 16(2), 182-189. wilson, d. c., velis, c., cheeseman, c. r., & restrepo, i. (2006). waste management and recycling in the developing world. london: earthscan publications ltd. al-sari, m., al-adamat, r., & malkawi, m. (2017). situation of waste pickers and recommendations for the future in jordan. waste management & research, 35(1), 3-12. albatayneh a, alterman d, page a, moghtaderi b. an alternative approach to the simulation of wind effects on the thermal performance of buildings. international journal of computational physics series. 2018 feb 27;1(1):35-44. albatayneh a, albadaineh r, juaidi a, abdallah r, montoya md, manzano-agugliaro f. rooftop photovoltaic system as a shading device for uninsulated buildings. energy reports. 2022 nov 1;8:4223-32. juaidi a, muhammad hh, abdallah r, abdalhaq r, albatayneh a, kawa f. experimental validation of dust impact on-grid connected pv system performance in palestine: an energy nexus perspective. energy nexus. 2022 jun 16;6:100082. albatayneh a, assaf mn, jaradat m, alterman d. the effectiveness of infiltration against roof insulation aimed at low income housing retrofits for different climate zones in jordan. environmental & climate technologies. 2020 dec 1;24(2). abdallah r, juaidi a, abdel-fattah s, qadi m, shadid m, albatayneh a, çamur h, garcía-cruz a, manzano-agugliaro f. the effects of soiling and frequency of optimal cleaning of pv panels in palestine. energies. 2022 jun 8;15(12):4232. al-omary m, aljarrah r, albatayneh a, jaradat m. a composite moving average algorithm for predicting energy in solar powered wireless sensor nodes. in2021 18th international multi-conference on systems, signals & devices (ssd) 2021 mar 22 (pp. 1047-1052). ieee. muhaidat j, albatayneh a, assaf mn, juaidi a, abdallah r, manzano-agugliaro f. the significance of occupants’ interaction with their environment on reducing cooling loads and dermatological distresses in east mediterranean climates. international journal of environmental research and public health. 2021 aug 23;18(16):8870. albatayneh a, alterman d, page a, moghtaderi b. the significance of sky temperature in the assessment of the thermal performance of buildings. applied sciences. 2020 nov 13;10(22):8057. muna hindiyeh, talar oghlenian / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 albatayneh a, alterman d, page a, moghtaderi b. temperature versus energy based approaches in the thermal assessment of buildings. energy procedia. 2017 sep 1;128:46-50. monna s, juaidi a, abdallah r, albatayneh a, dutournie p, jeguirim m. towards sustainable energy retrofitting, a simulation for potential energy use reduction in residential buildings in palestine. energies. 2021 jun 28;14(13):3876. albatayneh a, alterman d, page a. adaptation the use of cfd modelling for building thermal simulation. inproceedings of the 2018 international conference on software engineering and information management 2018 jan 4 (pp. 68-72). pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i2.849 geospatial data acquisition using unmanned aerial systems (uas); a paradigm for mapping the built environment of the niger delta region of nigeria leonard m.o aminigbo1, joshua brown2, precious n. ede3 coastal research group (coreg) department of geography and environmental management, rivers state university, portharcourt nigeria. p. m. b. 5080, nkpolu-0roworukwo, rivers state, nigeria email:leonard.aminigbo@ust.edu.ng1, joshua.brown@ust.edu.ng2, precious.ede@ust.edu.ng3 phone numbers: 08030899971, 08033126784, 08062964674 abstract the rivers state university campus in portharcourt is one of the university campuses in the city of portharcourt, nigeria covering over 21 square kilometers and housing a variety of academic, residential, administrative and other support buildings. the university campus has seen significant transformation in recent years, including the rehabilitation of old facilities, the construction of new academic facilities and the most recent update on the creation of new collages, faculties and departments. the current view of the transformations done within the university campus is missing from several available maps of the university. numerous facilities have been constructed on the university campus that are not represented on these maps as well as the qualities associated with these facilities. existing information on the various landscapes on the map is outdated and it needs to be streamlined in light of recent changes to the university's facilities and departments. this research article aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of unmanned aerial systems (uas) in geospatial data collection for physical planning and mapping of infrastructures at the rivers state university port harcourt campus by developing a uas-based digital map and tour guide for rsu's main campus covering all collages, faculties and departments and this offers visitors, staff and students with location and attribute information within the campus. methodologically, unmanned aerial vehicles were deployed to obtain current visible images of the campus following the growth and increasing infrastructural development. at a flying height of 76.2m (250 ft), a dji phantom 4 pro uas equipped with a 20-megapixel visible camera was flown around the campus, generating imagery with 1.69cm spatial resolution per pixel. to obtain 3d modeling capabilities, visible imagery was acquired using the flight-planning software dronedeploy with a near nadir angle and 75 percent front and side overlap. vertical positions were linked to the world geodetic system 1984 and horizontal positions to the 1984 world geodetic datum universal transverse mercator (utm) (wgs 84). to match the uas data, gcps were transformed to utm zone 32 north. finally, dense point clouds, dsm, and an orthomosaic which is a geometrically corrected aerial image that provides an accurate representation of an area and can be used to determine true distances, were among the uas-derived deliverables. environmental science and sustainable development http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) mailto:precious.ede@ust.edu.ng http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i2.849&domain=press.ierek.com pg. 2 leonard m.o aminigbo, joshua brown, precious n. ede/ environmental science and sustainable development © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords uas, geospatial, acquisition, orthophoto, mosaic, flying –height. 1. introduction remote sensing is a technique for gathering data about items or the environment without having to come into direct contact with them. the electromagnetic energy (eme) reflected and/or emitted by such items is the primary medium of interaction. the radiant energy's intensity/brightness readings are gathered by a sensor, which is then calibrated and recorded as digital recordings of point-wise data. while the spatial groupings of intensities contain very specific geometric information about an object, the magnitudes of the intensities portray specific thematic or attribute information about the object. thus, it is feasible to infer the features of such objects both in terms of geometric (physical dimensions) and attribute characteristics by analyzing the patterns generated by the spatial distribution of intensities and variations in the magnitudes of the intensities of such recorded radiation (nature). remote sensing is a technique for gathering information from a distance. the atmosphere reduces the contrast of all objects observed by aerial imaging in general. when two objects consisting of sand with a reflection coefficient of 30 and a coniferous forest with a reflection coefficient of 1, the object contrast, k can be stated as follows: ……… eq. 1 the visual contrast is then influenced by the 3 percent diffused ambient lights. thus: ……… eq. 2 this illustrates that resolutions of generally low-contrast aerial photographs should not be compared at a contrast of 1000:1, but at a contrast of 1.6:1, for which the modulation of 1 diminishes to 0.23. thus, the modulation transfer function, as shown in figure 2.38, is flattened, and its intersection with the limiting function of the eye is lowered in resolution. pg. 3 leonard m.o aminigbo, joshua brown, precious n. ede/ environmental science and sustainable development aerial survey camera systems with image motion compensation are, in practice, achieving a resolution of between 40 to 50 lp/mm for black-and white images and of between 30 and 40 lp/mm for color images. fig. 1: image resolution at low contrast fig. 2: imaging through an objective. 1.1. concepts for image mapping filtering each pixel's neighbouring pixels are used in filtering procedures. local filters work with an image matrix, d(x, y), that has a finite, usually small size, such as 3 3 or 5 5. a weight matrix, w, has been allocated to this matrix (x, y). a convolution of the image matrix, d(x, y), with the weight matrix, w, yields the outcome of the filtering process for each pixel, d(x, y) (x, y). image (x, y) pg. 4 leonard m.o aminigbo, joshua brown, precious n. ede/ environmental science and sustainable development image w (x, y) figures 3 and 4 illustrate examples of a 3x3 image matrix, d(x, y), and a number of key weight matrices, w(x, y). from a practical standpoint, we can define image mapping as the science and art of capturing images of an object or environment and obtaining accurate geometric measurements from the images for various purposes such as the construction of planimetric and topographic maps (showing object surface details), classification of soils (object body makeup), interpretation of geology, military intelligence acquisition, and so on (mosaic). image acquisition and image metrology are the two procedures that make up this system. image acquisition is the process of planning and photographing the target object to be mapped, whereas image metrology is the art and science of recovering precise geometric measurements (size and shape) of the photographed object for positioning, mapping, navigation, and applications. we describe image mapping in this monograph as the dual processes of image production and object reconstruction from images. the image generation technique turns the three dimensions of the frequently enormous object space into a convenient two-dimensional image space, sacrificing one dimension of space in the process. on the other hand, image metrology (object reconstruction) aims to recover the original image, skow, et al, (2017). the image generation technique turns the three dimensions of the frequently enormous object space into a convenient two-dimensional image space, sacrificing one dimension of space in the process. on the other hand, image metrology (object reconstruction) aims to recover the three dimensions of the object space from the two dimensions of the picture space, which necessitates the discovery of the missing dimension. this sets the setting for a major engineering challenge in attempting to map the physical environment using a remote sensing instrument. this problem will be referred to as an image mapping problem in this book. we'll also recognize the technique of capturing an image of a target item (commonly referred to as imaging or photography). the process of object reconstruction is known as the inverse problem of image mapping, while the direct problem of image mapping is known as image coverage. in some real-world picture mapping applications, problems are frequently simplified by assuming that the target object or environment is flat and two-dimensional. carlson, et al, (1997). this assumption is impractical and it considerably simplifies the problem to that of data transformation between two planes. this simplification is useful in situations where the target object's or environment's height isn't a concern. in general, a variety of techniques and methods have been used to solve the mapping problem. one popular assumption is to treat the image's flat 2d space as a virtual 3d space, transforming the problem into a virtual 3d to 3d translation. another new feature is the use of many images to cover the same target object or area du, et al (2017). this opens up a lot of possibilities for solving the inverse problem we're dealing with. for example, the object can now be reconstructed using either a direct mathematical calculation or an indirect route of relative and absolute orientation, which can be done in a wholly mathematical or partially analogue and partly mathematical manner. it is also possible to extend the basic projector model to account for nuisance variables and perform an integrated object reconstruction with additional but different data types in what is known as spagio. the image mapping procedure can also be used as part of a set of sensors for dynamic applications like navigation and real-time position monitoring. the options are truly limitless. pg. 5 leonard m.o aminigbo, joshua brown, precious n. ede/ environmental science and sustainable development the photographs are captured from space, from the air, or from a ground station. we're talking about photographs collected using a camera placed on a plane flying over the area or sensors on a satellite platform in this note. this is to make the presentation and understanding of the universal and adaptable principles and formulations for all mapping contexts easier. the optimum mapping approach for huge projects has yet to be developed: mapping using aerial pictures in addition, satellite-based image mapping is becoming increasingly common, particularly for planimetric features, maps and revisions on a small to medium size. the civilian and military mapping agencies of government are the primary consumers of aerial mapping methods. the essential characteristics and algorithms for gathering data for map construction from photos are thus; the film-based or digital cameras or sensors mounted on aircrafts pointing vertically downward, understanding the process of image generation and developing the mathematical relationship between points on the picture and points in the object space are both required for image metrology, picture formation is conceptualized as an optical projection of the item onto the image plane, the imaging ray, projector, optical bundle, or simply ray is the optical ray that enables this projection, perspectivity assures that all infinitely many rays from the object space travel via the same point on their way to the picture space, the projection center, perspective center, or exposure point are all names for the same place. this notion is utilized to create projective equations for single camera to object space imaging as well as two or more cameras to object space imaging in the next sections. we should mention that in the multi-camera instance, two or more cameras cover the same region of the object space (i.e, overlapping images). the derivations are purely dependent on the theory of analytical vector geometry for ray tracing or modeling, whose basic equation is the straight line equation, which has been thoroughly explored in earlier chapters. we simply state that the equations used to solve the inverse problem of image mapping are the inverses of the equations used to solve the direct problem of mapping. 2. materials/methods 2.1. data gathering following the expansion and increased infrastructural development at portharcourt campus of rivers state university, uas surveys were conducted to obtain current visible imagery of the study area. the study area was subdivided into four major quadrants a, b, c, d and e from a base map as shown in figure 1. uas surveys were done to obtain current visible images of the campus following the growth and increasing infrastructural development at rivers state university's portharcourt campus. at a flying height of 76.2m (250 ft), a dji phantom 4 pro uas equipped with a 20-megapixel visible camera was flown around the campus, generating imagery with 1.69cm spatial resolution per pixel. to obtain 3d modeling capabilities, visible imagery was acquired using the flight-planning software dronedeploy with a near nadir angle and 75 percent front and side overlap (westoby et al. 2012;). over 2000 photo images of the study area were acquired on the 18 may 2020 in mostly cloud-free sky and excellent light circumstances (low zenith angle) to reduce cloud shadows. ground control surveys were carried out to guarantee the data's geographic accuracy. trimble geo7x ground control survey equipment with global navigation was used to collect ground control points (gcps). with a precision of 60.4 cm, this device permitted high-accuracy ground surveying and precise point measuring. the 10 points (gcps) were gathered using 1m-31m targets placed around the study area and at various elevation levels. vertical positions were linked to the world geodetic system 1984 and horizontal positions to the 1984 world geodetic datum universal transverse mercator (utm) (wgs 84). to match the uas data, gcps were transformed to utm zone 32 north (utm 32n). the data gathered was transferred from the uas storage devices to a laptop, which was running on a generator. it was an immense effort, resulting in an unprecedented amount of information (almost 10,000 photos totaling 50gb) with a resolution of roughly a square inch per pixel. all images were processed into a single pix4dmapper file in just under 46 hours, producing a 3d densified point cloud, a 3d textured mesh and a high-resolution 15gb orthomosaic map. pg. 6 leonard m.o aminigbo, joshua brown, precious n. ede/ environmental science and sustainable development figure 1: ortho-photo base map of rivers state university portharcourt campus. 2.2. data preparation agisoft metashape professional (agisoft 2019) was used to process uas footage and create post-event imagery and 3d-modeling solutions (dsm and point cloud). to reduce positional distortions of 1–10 cm caused by camera gps location inaccuracies, uas pictures were co-registered to gcps (johnson et al, 2018). due to changes in lighting conditions, color corrections were made using the calibrate color technique in agisoft metashape professional to equalize brightness values over the entire dataset. dense point clouds, dsm, and an orthomosaic, a geometrically corrected aerial image that provides an accurate representation of an area and can be used to determine true distances, were among the uas-derived deliverables. 3. results and analyses in zone a the open space beside geology department opposite law faculty is the largest vacant space with a total area of 2,543.20 sqm whiles in zone b the largest vacant space of 62,143.86 sqm is located at the back of the department of forestry and research farm. in zone c, open space adjourning the main gate opposite the catholic church is the largest vacant space within the zone with a total area of 32,666.07 sqm while in zone d, open space in front of s.u.g secretariat and love garden is the largest vacant space with a total area of 6,543.87sqm. in zone e, open space along the amphitheatre/old faculty of management science and back of faculty of engineering is the largest vacant space within the zone with a total area of 6,453.65sqm. finally, the largest vacant space of 62,143.86 sqm is located at the back of the department of forestry and research farm which is in zone b. using pix4dmapper, a number of outputs including topographic maps were used to plot carefully the built portions of rivers state university portharcourt campus. the drone survey was also used to create a ‘fly-through’ video which was presented to the university management. pg. 7 leonard m.o aminigbo, joshua brown, precious n. ede/ environmental science and sustainable development figure 1: 2021 uas acquired imagery of rivers state university portharcourt campus. pg. 8 leonard m.o aminigbo, joshua brown, precious n. ede/ environmental science and sustainable development figure 2: 2015 sentinel imagery of rivers state university portharcourt campus. figure 3: 2005 orthophoto imagery of rivers state university portharcourt campus. pg. 9 leonard m.o aminigbo, joshua brown, precious n. ede/ environmental science and sustainable development figure 4: composite imageries of rivers state university portharcourt campus, 2021, 2015 and 2005. open spaces in zone (a) table 1: location and sizes of open spaces in zone (a) s/n open space identification cordinates easting (meters) northing (meters) elevation (meters) area (sqm) 1 open space beside geology department /opposite law faculty 275617.308m 530913.943m 8.60 2543.20 2 open space between needs assessment and medical centre 275585.950m 530688.805m 1.28 2276.45 table 1: location and sizes of open spaces in zone (a) in zone a, the open space beside geology department is the largest vacant space within the zone with a total area of 2, 543 sqm. pg. 10 leonard m.o aminigbo, joshua brown, precious n. ede/ environmental science and sustainable development open space in zone (b) table 2: location and sizes of open spaces in zone (b) s/n open space identification cordinates e (meters) n (meters) z (meters) area (sqm) 1 open space within the faculty of environmental sciences 275929.347m 530906.575m 10.55m 2754.86 2 open space in between the central library and convocation arena 275928.985m 531033.854m 12.47 44372.86 3 open space at the back of department of forestry, environment of teaching and research farm and central library 275803.015m 531364.656m 13.25 62143.86 4 open space between information technology centre and engineering faculty 275715.758m 530424.619m 6.50m 2875.86 table 2: location and sizes of open spaces in zone (b) in zone b, the open space open space at the back of the department of forestry and research farm is the largest vacant space within the zone with a total area of 62,143.86 sqm. open space in zone (c) table 3: location and sizes of open spaces in zone (c) s/n open space identification cordinates e (meters) n (meters) z (meters) area (sqm) 1 open space behind management sciences 276128.555m 530694.479m 14.56 9822.7 2 farm land between security village and convocation arena 276215.134m 531365.487m 10.22 135447.48 3 open space adjourning the main gate opposite the catholic church 276599.231m 531118.142m 12.63 32666.07 4 open space of maracana stadium and nddc female hostel 276152.679m 530153.019m 11.33m 16782.54 table 3: location and sizes of open spaces in zone (c) in zone c, open space adjourning the main gate opposite the catholic church is the largest vacant space within the zone with a total area of 32,666.07 sqm. pg. 11 leonard m.o aminigbo, joshua brown, precious n. ede/ environmental science and sustainable development open space in zone (d) table 4: location and sizes of open spaces in zone (d) s/n open space identification cordinates e (meters) n (meters) z (meters) area (sqm) 1 open space behind catholic church, motor park and security village 276411.385m 531266.225m 17.42 184600.71 2 open space in between the senate building and works department 276342.996m 530729.560m 13.51 15618.7 3 open space behind f and g/h hostels 2766319.618m 530374.609m 15.66 7286.78 4 open space adjacent to the filling station 276453.816m 530639.481m 16.10 11940.59 5 open space behind the college of medicine and nddc female hostel 276084.516m 530350.933m 12.35 5377.49 6 open space adjoining back gate behind the f.c.b.b p/g hostel 276435.493m 530019.948m 8.52 4426.97 7 open space in front of hostel e and basketball court 2756104.142m 529808.830m 9.21 2384.93 8 open space along road (c) opposite old v.c complex 275968.679m 529819.988m 7.44 28635.05 9 open space directly opposite the u.b.a/polaris bank 276060.182m 530072.917m 9.89 6048.76 10 open space in front of s.u.g secretariat and love garden 276180.704m 530084.099m 10.48 6543.87 table 4: location and sizes of open spaces in zone (d) in zone d, open space in front of s.u.g secretariat and love garden is the largest vacant space within the zone with a total area of 6543.87sqm. open space in zone (e) table 5: location and sizes of open spaces in zone (e) s/n open space identification cordinates e n z area (sqm) 1 open space along road a and road b junction adjoining the lecturers quarters 275612.237m 530126.427m 9.33 12648.79 2 open space along the amphitheatre/old faculty of management science and back of faculty of engineering 275679.174m 530245.010m 12.70 6453.65 in zone e, open space along the amphitheatre/old faculty of management science and back of faculty of engineering is the largest vacant space within the zone with a total area of 6453.65sqm. pg. 12 leonard m.o aminigbo, joshua brown, precious n. ede/ environmental science and sustainable development figure 5: spatial distribution of open spaces in rivers state university. figure 6: spatial distribution of open spaces in rivers state university. pg. 13 leonard m.o aminigbo, joshua brown, precious n. ede/ environmental science and sustainable development 4. conclusion from the image data obtained from dji uas, pix4dmapper application was used to generate a 3d point cloud and 2d orthomosaic of the campus in high resolution. the on-site flight and ground survey took one day, and processing this data required an additional two days. combined with data gathered on the ground with handheld gps units, the university now has a comprehensive map of built and vacant areas that will be used to plan and manage infrastructure assets within the campus. this lofty ambition is built on the basemap created with uas. “the basemap becomes a two-way source of conversation, connection and interactions within the university community and the general visiting public and the results of this project will have undoubtedly impact on policy making by university authorities. the output of this study will act as a baseline that can be compared to future images to monitor potential changes over time and will be of vital importance in physical infrastructural planning and management within the university campus. finally, dense point clouds, dsm, and an orthomosaic which is a geometrically corrected aerial image that provides an accurate representation of an area and can be used to determine absolute and relative locations of places and features on campus. true distances and bearings between two points can also be computed from the uas-derived orthophoto mosaic dataset. references agisoft, 2019: agisoft metashape user manual: professional edition version 1.5.agisoftllcdoc.,145pp., https://www.agisoft.com/pdf/metashapepro_1_5_en.pdf. ahmed, n. s., 2016: field observations and computer modeling of tornado-terrain interaction and its effects on tornado damage and path. ph.d. dissertation, the university of arkansas, 247 pp., http://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/1463. bosart, l. f., a. seimon, k. d. lapenta, and m. j. dickinson, 2006: 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environmental monitoring. remote sens., 12, 1001, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12061001. http://www.agisoft.com/pdf/metashape-pro_1_5_en.pdf http://www.agisoft.com/pdf/metashape-pro_1_5_en.pdf pg. 14 leonard m.o aminigbo, joshua brown, precious n. ede/ environmental science and sustainable development wagner,m., andr.k.doe, 2017: usingunmannedaerialvehicles (uavs) to model tornado impacts. 2017 fall meeting, san francisco, ca, amer. geophys. union, abstractnh31a-0198. johnson, z. chen, j. das, and r. s. cerveny, 2019: unpiloted aerial systems ( uass) application for tornado damage surveys: benefits and procedures. bull. amer. meteor. soc., 100, 2405–2409, https://doi.org/10.1175/ bams-d-19-0124.1. wang, x., m. wang, s. wang, and y. wu, 2015: extraction of vegetation information from visible unmanned aerial vehicle images. nongye gongcheng xuebao, 31, 152–159, https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1002-6819.2015.05.022. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i2.833 the role of value engineering in government housing projects in developing countries to improve value mahmoud zaki1, nermeen omar2, alaa zoair 3 1 professor, tanta university, faculty of engineering, department of architecture 2professor, tanta university, faculty of engineering, department of architecture 3 demonstrator, tanta university, faculty of engineering, department of architecture abstract government housing projects are among the complex issues facing developing countries’ governments. there have been many attempts to solve problems related to this issue and a lot of effort has been made in this direction. the main problem is lowering the cost of lodging, without sacrificing its quality and the effectiveness by which it fulfills the needs of its occupants. this became possible upon the use of the value engineering technique. value engineering is an effective tool used to solve problems related to housing, by lowering cost on one hand and sustaining or even ameliorating quality and performance. the purpose of this study is to try to identify a series of proposed solutions and value indicators and to describe their role in improving value in government housing projects. this process may assist the designer in choosing and managing, value indicators during the creative phase, using references from the literature and the analysis of case studies. the literature review identified the reasons for high costs and poor performance, which are often a result of misunderstanding of the fundamental principles of design criteria and value indicators, followed in government housing projects. the review also pinpointed the most important considerations that improve value. results obtained in this study feature the positive effects of methods under the umbrella of value engineering, applied in government housing projects. it was found that savings of 15% to 40% can be achieved in the total cost of a certain project, using this technique. generating ideas in the creative phase is one of the most important stages in value engineering studies. a set of value indicators and proposed solutions in the form of a checklist were derived and can be used in the future, during the creative phase of value engineering studies in the initial design stage of government housing projects. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords value engineering; government housing; value; cost ; 1. introduction the value engineering (ve) theory and its application are currently among the most popular and rapidly spreading methods, in most developing and less developed countries around the globe. this has taken place as designers and http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i2.833&domain=press.ierek.com zaki/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 other players in the construction field are currently under pressure to find methods to fulfill their customers’ expectations in terms of quality and function, while maintaining costs under tight control. strategies related to ve have been able to produce this effect, obtaining value for money (othman et al., 2020). project managers and contractors face a lot of problems while managing their projects. these problems include, but are not limited to, issues related to materials used, such as poor quality, high cost, waste, and loss. other problems include poor planning, management, control, and communication; as well as over-budgeting, delayed deliveries, unexpected changes in weather, and shortages in various fields, including labor (ravish et al., 2016). these problems lead to conflicts within the project and can cause delays in its timeline, as well as increased cost. as a result, there is a great need to find methods to reduce and control costs, so as to achieve effective control in such projects. contractors can suffer greatly from cost reduction; however, current cost reduction techniques can lead to lesser costs without losses to contractors, during the performance of their various duties. ve has not been fully integrated into the processes of the government housing projects in developing countries value engineering (ve) has achieved prominence in projects in the housing field. since construction can bear some negative impact, along with its positive ones, on both the environment, as well as the people it serves, ve has a role in achieving the latter by improving the quality of housing projects, along with their durability, reliability, and work performance (zimmerman, 1982). the purpose of this study is to identify a series of value indicators and suggested solutions that may assist the ve team in choosing proposed solutions and managing value indicators during the development phase. the paper makes use of literature review dealing with the subject of the application of ve, a method with specific steps and stages, which serves the purpose of improving value. it explores value standards for government housing projects, analysis of examples, and ve reports to understand the pattern of proposed ideas in government housing projects, major value criteria, and suggestions of value engineering and classifies them. figure 1 explains the method applied in this paper. figure 1. the structure of the paper and the methodology applied. source: authors. 2. literature review several studies dealing with projects that applied value engineering were discussed. value engineering is a robust approach, which uses continuous improvement to ameliorate performance within a project, through the application of a systematic analysis of its various aspects. as for value, it is defined as the ratio between function and cost. (tom and gowrisankar, 2015). to achieve this purpose, ve analyzes function and applies creativity along with teamwork (sharma and belokar, 2012). value engineering is a creative step-by-step approach that attempts to raise the value of a certain system. the most important step of this process is idea generation. members of a value engineering team depend on their knowledge and expertise for idea generation. they also employ them to evaluate the different scenarios obtained from ideas generated to replace original ideas (moon et al., 2012). to improve value, ve works on reducing costs and enhancing quality by working on features within the design of residential buildings, for increased customer satisfaction. the availability of information facilitates idea generation (ravish and vinoth, 2016). among the principles of the value methodology, the generation of ideas and the evaluation of a selection of construction systems come first to achieve low-cost and good-quality housing in the extended egyptian urban first a literature review, which explains the role of ve, as well as the value of houses second: an analysis of examples, on which ve was applied. it explains the case before ve and the improvement that occurred after the application of each of its phases third: the identification of the items of the value indicator checklist and the suggested design solutions zaki/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 landscape (agrama et al., 2014). the literature review indicates that generating ideas in the creative phase is one of the most important phase in value engineering studies, so it is necessary to find a checklist that classifies value indicators and proposed solutions. 2.1. value in project manzagement in his research, (al-yousefi, 2007) defined value as a relation between cost and function or performance. according to (hiley and gopsill, 2000), when these items are added together and are optimized, the greatest value is achieved, i.e., function and quality are raised to the highest point, while cost is reduced to the lowest point. value identifies users’ desires, needs, and requirements, along with the project’s goals, functions, and objectives and focuses on achieving effectiveness, by using the stated definitions of each of the previously mentioned factors. following this step, the quality characteristics that make the project appealing are identified. in conclusion, value proposals are generated. they would usually achieve the requirements at minimum cost (over the life cycle of the product). figure 2 identifies the meaning of value, in terms of achieving a balance between cost, function, and quality. value = function or performance/cost or price (hiley and gopsill, 2000). figure 2: the three main issues of value. source: (al-yousefi, 2007). function is the feature in a product/service that serves the purpose for which it was created (i.e., meeting the needs and wants of users). in studies on ve, function is expressed by two words. the first is a verb indicating the activity or movements and the second is a noun that is measurable, to enable estimating the product/service’s cost and comparing it with other substitutes. the purpose of this analysis is to find substitutes to achieve the same function. value studies depend on job analysis, so as to reduce cost and ameliorate value (walk, 2012). in general, there are two types of functions:  basic function is determined from the point of view of the userwhere the user is a member of the value engineering team. it represents the main reason for an item to exist.  secondary function does not help in achieving the basic function, but only supports it; in the sense that it helps in marketing it (younker, 2003). cost represents the amount of money that a buyer pays to own a product or to have a service performed. it is divided into three constituents: 1. direct cost of materials 2. direct cost of labor 3. overhead cost zaki/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 for the purpose of this study, cost is applied to describe the design value, meaning the amount of money paid for the function to be achieved, as per the design. costs expressed are those related to maintenance, spaces, and their construction (el sadawi, 2008). quality is known as the achievement of the desired level of performance or function, through the properties and possibilities offered by the product or service efficiently throughout its life span. this takes place if the product/service is used for the purposes, it was created for and according to operation principles (alfraidi and ibrahim, 2018). 2.2. ve methodology as per save international, there are six successive phases in a ve study. they are divided over three workshop stages: before the workshop, the workshop itself, and after the workshop. figure 3 shows the methodology followed by save international, with its phases and stages (rachwan et al., 2016). this study investigates stage 2, the workshop stage, representing the technical part, along with its phases. the phases constituting this stage include the following:  information  function analysis  creativity  evaluation  development  presentation figure 3: ve methodology. source: (rachwan et al., 2016). the information phase is the information gathering phase, where data is collected regarding the background of the project, its requirements, and its constraints, as well as the suggested design and its estimated cost. also, during this phase, a functional analysis is performed for the purpose of identifying the parts of the project that could be high in cost. the design team has an important role during this phase, it gives out more information related to the chosen design and is present during the first meeting of the ve team (sharma and belokar, 2012). in function analysis phase, the ve team provides a definition for each of the project’s functions. this takes place using the previously described method, i.e., providing a two-word explanation, the first word being a verb and the second being a noun that can be measured. for each function, whether primary or secondary, and that by using zaki/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 function analysis system technique (fast diagram) it is graph used to organize the relationship and specify the correlation among the different functions that have been defined by a sentence beginning with a verb composing of two words. by techniques, relationships among functions are arranged under logical relationships and being placed in particular order depending on importance of each. the relationship between its cost and its value is identified (tang and bittner, 2014). during the creative phase, the ve team uses its skills of creativity to find the different methods that can be used to achieve the different functions of the project. the creative phase aims to look at functions and possible areas of high cost or low value and attempts to generate alternative solutions and methods for the project to be able to achieve these function(s). a brainstorming session is held by the value team, using the information supplied and generated from their initial studies and thoughts (save, 2007). in evaluation phase, the ve team conducts a specific type of evaluation to identify the ideas that can achieve improvement in value, while performing the required function(s), using available resources and following the requirements related to performance (dell'isola, 1997). the development phase is the proposal making phase, where documentation supporting the various alternatives is thoroughly prepared, so as to allow decision-makers to choose the optimum ones for implementation. this phase seeks to perform additional analyses, in order to choose the alternative with more added value from the previous phase (clifford, 2013). the objective of the presentation phase is to present to decision-makers, managers, and stakeholders, the proposed value suggestions. this information is delivered through a presentation and a report with explanation about the various alternatives and the opportunities that each one presents (save, 2007). 2.3. government housing projects the population increase is the biggest challenge faced by developing countries. one of the major issues related to this increase is housing. thus, a lot of effort is made to solve the problem related to the construction and management of housing projects. further, the major changes in the construction market and innovation in building methods have a strong effect on the execution of such projects (marzouk et al., 2010). construction systems influence the way these projects are managed, a process that requires their characteristics to be thoroughly identified (agrama et al., 2014). various methodologies are available in the field of housing to assess value, however, the main issue in this context is determining the definition of value. different meanings are available to explain the value of a house, they are all applicable at the same time and can be summarized as follows (de jonge, 2005): the value of a house:  relates to its total building costs.  varies as a result of a mix between maintenance and diminishing performance.  relates to where it is located and depends on status and quality that makes it socially acceptable, in a tradeoff between the former and the two latter factors. 3. analysis of the application of ve on government housing project examples the coming part of this research is considered the second step towards fulfilling its aim. in this section, the authors were able to analyze two selected housing projects for which value engineering has already been applied, as well as the impact of applying ve on improving their value and to identify their value indicators. table 1 summarizes the basic information of the two selected projects, including project names, basic data, and selection criteria. in the information phase, it is important to understand the background and decisions that influenced the development of the design. the ve team leader prepared a cost model from the assessed costs provided by the project’s team (rachwan et al., 2016). zaki/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 table 1. summary of the projects’ basic information. source: updated from (jeyakumar, 2013 & bashir, 2015). example (a) example (b) name of project ruwais housing complex expansion ‒ phase iii merowi dam housing project housing type (a basic data location: abu dhabi, united arab emirates owner: emirati ministry of housing type of building: type f4 (7 buildings) type f5 (10 buildings) for a total of 17 six-level buildings total built-up area: 80,700 m2 cost of the project: 427.76 million uae dirhams project duration: 24 months location: merowi, sudan owner: sudanese ministry of housing type of building: housing type a (10 buildings) for a total of 10 three-level buildings total built-up area: 40,100 m2 cost of the project: 407,235,080 sudanese dinars criteria used for choosing the project high construction cost (estimated) and high value indicator high construction cost and requirements to satisfy clients’ expectations ve team certified value specialist (cvs) architect civil engineers end user certified value specialist (cvs) three civil engineers two architects owner in the analyzed example projects, the ve team produced a generic study of the project’s elements as a whole and their cost ratio to that of the entire project. this stage also included further refinement of the cost, space, and other models, prepared before the workshop session. these models were updated based on information received from the owner/designer. function analysis is the single most distinguishable feature of ve, as it creates a specific view of the project. this analysis aids in garnering different ideas for the project, which eventually leads to a list of recommendations that provide improvement in quality and/or less cost (al-yousefi, 2007). the architectural and structural systems were among the examples studied in the functional analysis by fast diagram of the two previously described sample projects. each of these projects’ items and their costs were analysed. this analysis was conducted to choose the items that have the most effectiveness, in terms of cost on the totality of the project. figure 4 shows the cost model for example (a). example (a)’s architecture system had a significantly high percentage of cost than the project’s other systems. this has been a guiding point for the ve team. as for example (b), its structural system had the highest cost effectiveness as shown in figure 5. the fast diagram, which was prepared by the value engineering team leader just prior to the value engineering workshop, was used as a baseline for both examples for guidance and to answer why these functions are important to the owner. zaki/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 4. cost model for example (a). source :( jeyakumar, 2013) figure 5. cost model for example (b). source: (bashir, 2015). the creative phase involves producing creative ideas to achieve the same basic functions at the lower level costs or to achieve the necessary improvements and feeding them to the evaluation phase for evaluation by the team, clients and/or users who collaborate together to accomplish this task. table 2 shows the most important proposals and final ideas resulting from the value study in projects a and b. in these two examples, a group of ideas were proposed, evaluated, analyzed, and divided into value indicators. the main techniques for the creative and evaluation phases were applied to both projects, however, the results were different as each has its unique characteristics. during the development phase, each idea resulting from the ve study was developed, so as to yield a working solution. these solutions were presented in the form of written proposals, such that the owner(s) and stakeholders can understand each one and its benefits. supporting material for each proposal should involve diagrams, calculations, sketches, cost comparisons, and text that includes the purpose of the proposal. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 percentage of total cost percentage of total cost zaki/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 table 2. summary of proposal ideas after applying the creativity and evaluation phases on the two examples. source: authors as per the information in jeyakumar, 2013 & bashir, 2015. value indicators example (a) example (b) cost 1eliminating foldable or sliding doors between dining and living rooms as needed and changing the function of their spaces 2changing the materials of some items from imported to local to save cost and time, while maintain the level of quality 3changing the finishing material of façades 4trying to reduce the excessiveness in the safety factor, leading to a decrease in the amount of concrete and steel 5selecting landscaping materials that are easy to maintain 6changing the pavements of internal roads to interlock pavements 7handling balconies in a way that guarantees privacy within the residential unit (need for privacy) 1changing the finishing material of floors 2changing the supplier of some items from international (imported) to local to save cost and time, while maintaining quality 3changing the specifications of the material of the corridors between residential units 4changing the finishing material of the exterior, while preserving its quality 5changing the method of implementation 6changing the method of finishing ceilings quality 1optimizing landscaping 2optimizing the number of children’s playgrounds 3optimizing the number of service blocks 4modifying the shape and material of the main doors from solid to veneered and fire-rated. 5revisiting the external light of buildings 1studying the relationship between buildings, in terms of height, spacing, and orientation to provide more shade function 1optimizing or minimizing shaded areas 2re-arranging walkways 3.1. results of the analysis of the examples the analysis described above of the application of the ve study on the two specified projects has proven that this process leads to an increase in value. in the first example, the analysis showed that applying ve has the potential of decreasing the initial costs of the project by 30.44 million uae dirhams, a cost saving of 7%, while savings in life cycle costs can reach 4.79 million uae dirhams, a cost saving of 1% (jeyakumar, 2013). these results can be seen in table 3. regarding the other example, it was found that applying the ideas of the proposals can achieve improvements in the quality of elements, they were suggested to replace and reduce cost by about 18.76%, leading to savings of 76,407,000 sd (bashir, 2015), distributed as seen in table 4. through the results and the suggested ideas from the analysis of the examples, a checklist was made for the development of the creative phase. this checklist is divided into indicators of value and the proposed criteria for each indicator, which can be seen in table 5. table 3. summary of the outcome of ve on example (a). source: jayakumar, 2013. description result percentage of cost saving total number of ideas 150 potential initial cost saving – uae dirhams 30,441,970.00 uae dirhams 7% zaki/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 table 3 continued life cycle costing – uae dirhams 4,793,694.00 uae dirhams 1% total initial and life cycle cost savings – uae dirhams 35,235,664.00 uae dirhams 8% table 4. summary of the outcome of ve on example (b). source: bashir, 2015. item proposal cost in sd percentage of cost saving 1 change aluminum doors and windows to steel doors and windows 23,303,000 s.d. 5.72%. 2 change the ceramic tiles to cast in-situ terrazzo tiles 10,725,000 s.d. 2.63%. 3 use walls with tri-di panels in their finishing 42,379,000 s.d. 10.41% total value engineering potential savings 18.76% table 5. checklist of value indicators and suggested design solutions. source: authors. value indicator criteria for the proposed solutions reason for choosing the proposed solutions cost 1canceling an item (unnecessary costs) cost saving 2design modification cost saving 3change in specifications reducing the cost of raw materials 4change in the method of implementation reduced implementation cost 5energy conservation cost saving 6maintenance/operation reducing the cost of use (maintenance/operation.) quality 1environmental considerations and sustainability criteria improving quality 2application of user's needs the desire of the owner or user 3application of security and safety standards improving quality function 1design modification increase in performance 2adding an item 3change in the location of an item 4. conclusion value engineering is considered a robust methodology for improving the value of government housing projects. it works on ameliorating the quality of a project, reducing its cost, and improving its different design features, for the benefit of clients. this takes place through the generation of creative ideas that reduce cost, while maintaining quality and functionality. this research aimed to provide a checklist for the creative phase. this list contains value indicators zaki/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 and suggested solutions for the creative phase, enabling the adoption of ve in developing countries, to increase the use of the method within government housing projects. it was obvious from the projects given as an example for the application of ve and the analysis performed that idea generation is the most important part of the ve job plan. the savings achieved were the result of the proposed solutions presented by the ve team in both projects. they were presented in table 5, which was divided into value indicators (cost, quality, and function) and the criteria for the proposed solutions in each item. the results achieved the aim of this study and suggested methods to increase the use of ve in government housing projects, to achieve better value. this list is a reference for the most important value indicators and ideas suggested by ve for government housing projects. this checklist can effectively encourage the adoption of ve in developing countries. it is the intention of this paper to provide more opportunity to promote the adoption of ve in government housing projects when these projects are carried out in a similar style and using similar methods, to achieve improved value. references agrama, f. a., al-nemr, m. t., and abdo, m. a. (2014). value engineering for low-cost housing construction in egyptian expansion urban. advanced research in engineering sciences (ares), 2(2), 1-6. alfraidi, y. n. and ibrahim, a. o. (2018). value and quality in architecture: a study of the principles of value engineering. journal of al-azhar university engineering sector, 13(47), 514-529. al-yousefi, a. s. and cvs-life, f. s. a. v. e. i. (2007). value engineering application benefits in sustainable construction. riyadh, kingdom of saudi arabia: project management institute persian gulf. bashir, m. (2015). derivation of a mathematical model for the application of value engineering in the construction industry. khartoum, sudan: university of omdurman islamic university. clifford, b. (2013). application of value management in a holistic approach. a presentation organized by the hong kong institute of value management, 26, 1-43. de jonge, t. (2005). cost effectiveness of sustainable housing investments. dell'isola, a. (1997). value engineering: practical applications... for design, construction, maintenance and operations (vol. 35). john wiley & sons. el sadawi, u. (2008). a value engineering methodology for low income housing projects in gaza strip. hiley, a. and gopsill, g. (2000). the implementation of value management as a design management tool in the uk construction industry. management, 2, 657-66. jeyakumar, r. (2013). the implementation and effectiveness of value engineering in the united arab emirates. university of south wales, united kingdom. marzouk, m. m., omar, o. a., hamid, m. s. a., and el-said, m. e. (2010). an optimization algorithm for simulation-based planning of lowincome housing projects. journal of advanced research, 1(4), 291-300. moon, s., ha, c., and yang, j. (2012). structured idea creation for improving the value of construction design. journal of construction engineering and management, 138(7), 841-853. othman, i., kineber, a. f., oke, a. e., khalil, n., and buniya, m. k. (2020). drivers of value management implementation in building projects in developing countries. journal of physics, 1529(4), 042083. rachwan, r., abotaleb, i., and elgazouli, m. (2016). the influence of value engineering and sustainability considerations on the project value. procedia environmental sciences, 34, 431-438. ravish, m. and vinoth, k. (2016). a study on the application of value engineering in residential building projects. shanlax international journal of arts, science & humanities, 4(1). save, i. (2007). value standard and body of knowledge.the value society, northbrook, il, usa, june, 12. sharma, a. and belokar, r. m. (2012). achieving success through value engineering: a case study. proceedings of the world congress on engineering and computer science, 2, 24-26. tang, p. and bittner, r. b. (2014). use of value engineering to develop creative design solutions for marine construction projects. practice periodical on structural design and construction, 19(1), 129-136. tom, n. and gowrisankar, v. (2015). value engineering in residential house construction. international journal of civil engineering, 6(6). walk, t. (2012). value engineering approach to increase cost efficiency. engineering and construction, 2, 1-4. younker, d. (2003). value engineering: analysis and methodology (vol. 30). crc press. zimmerman, l. w. and hart g. d. (1982). value engineering: a practical approach for owners, designers, and contractors. van nostrand reinhold company. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 37 doi: 10.21625/essd.v5i1.716 critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving for improving education performance – case study thermal retrofit to ensure health and wellbeing of historic built environment in lebanon khaled el-daghar 1 1 assistant professor beirut arab university, faculty of architecture – design and built environment tripoli branch, lebanon e-mail: k.eldaghar@bau.edu.lb abstract the global ecological crisis is an indispensable issue that needs to be solved. the importance of developing critical thinking and communication skills in teaching-learning methods will help to enhance education performance; as well, the students would become informed participants in environmental decision-making. lebanon is suffering from multiple ecological problems due to the environmental mismanagement, particularly energy problems. for this reason, training the lebanese students mainly in architecture schools should to think critically about environmental issues, and using collaborative problem-solving as one of teaching-learning methods and techniques, which will be directly reflected in finding solutions to the problem under investigation. the researcher aims to experiment and apply this method in a history of architecture class at faculty of architecture, to improve the environmental quality of health and wellbeing in historical built environment. this will increase the awareness for conservation aspects of architectural heritage in students, on the one hand. in addition to spread the spirit of teamwork, to facilitate the concept of integrated design process between the different disciplines when practicing professional life, on the other hand. therefore, the study aims to produce a new methodology for integrating teaching-learning method in architecture, presenting various international attempts of thermal retrofit in historical built environment, guiding the architectural students to follow the same approach of such projects, which will save energy in a country that has a major problem in electricity. the case study is based on a real problem in a realistic situation in tripoli old souks at north lebanon, in which the instructor and the students will analyze and propose some solutions of building thermal retrofit within this historical context, using collaborative problem-solving strategy that could clarifying its reversal extent on the validity of health and wellbeing with the continuity of conserving the architectural heritage. © 2020 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords critical thinking; collaborative problem-solving; education performance; thermal retrofit; historic built environment 1. introduction the global ecological crisis is an indispensable issue that needs to be solved. in his article examining development education in testing times, fielder (2009) says that people are craving good news in times of global crises, but to http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v5i1.716&domain=press.ierek.com el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 38 have honest good news has become a scarce luxury, especially to someone working in the area of developmental education and global justice. hence, a developmental education response to the current crisis has to be framed as an educational perspective that accounts for the seriousness of the current economic state. unfortunately, the crisis has affected people on a subconscious level where people's confidence in the political, social and economic system in which they grew up has been radically put into doubt by reality. this crisis has opened our eyes to reconsidering the ways we do things, live our lives and – as educators – teach, learn and think about the world. thus, critical thinking skills should be developed in the curricula to help educators and students solve problems because our learners will need not only to anticipate and figure out what the problem is, but also have the skills, confidence, knowledge and interpersonal/management capabilities to be able to deal with problems as they arise. for this reason, teachers' professional and personal concerns are considered crucial factors that will bring about the change (peacock 2009). collier believes that "to build a unity of purpose, thinking needs to change, not just within the development agencies but among the wider electorates whose views shape what is possible. without an informed electorate, politicians will continue to use the bottom billion merely for photo opportunities rather than promoting real transformation" (collier 2008: xii). the teaching-learning methods or active learning techniques enhances the students' knowledge and understanding of the course content, thence, developing friendships and networks through active learning course activities could also assist students in establishing a certain identity in the social communities of their universities. active learning methods are specific educational techniques that are related to the skills of the instructor(s) and the way they deal with the students. through active learning techniques, students can produce wide variations in quality and educational objectives that can be achieved, such as project-based learning, problem-based learning, research-based learning, problem-solving, simulation-based learning, design-build, etc. (braxton et al. 2000; donnelly & fitzmaurice 2005). because our environmental crisis is due to the inability of humans to think about ecological patterns, systems of causation and long-term effects of human actions, ecological literacy should be included in education (orr 1994), especially in architecture. fortunately, individuals with ecological awareness have started to prefer nature-friendly products as they gain awareness of an ecological life. öztürk-demirbaş (2015) maintains that building one's life on ecological values is only possible through raising awareness about the subject through education. in his article, teaching eco-literacy during a period of uncertainty, peacock (2009) addresses the difficulty of developing an appropriate eco-literacy curriculum, and suggests that key skills and attitudes are needed, including respect for evidence, understanding risk and predictability in relation to ethics, and communication skills and action competence. the study also contributes to a broader understanding for the practice of thermal retrofit of historic and heritage buildings, in order to improve environmental quality in historical built environment, where the students with the aid of their instructor analyze and propose some solutions of building thermal retrofit within the historical context using collaborative problem-solving strategy. however, more future studies using quantitative methods as tools of measurement, simulation and development to prove the effectiveness of these solutions should be considered. 2. improving education performance techniques 2.1. critical thinking and communication skills the importance of developing critical thinking and communication skills in teaching eco-literacy will help the students become informed participants in environmental decision-making. thus, the goal is to train students to think critically about environmental issues, and there is a wide variety of critical thinking approaches that can profitably be brought to bear on environmental issues. six critical skills that underlie critical thinking in the environmental science can be identified, as follows (yurtoğlu 2018): 1. healthy skepticism and awareness of political and social biases in oneself and within the environmental science. 2. familiarity with and willingness to use simple quantitative reasoning to tackle unfamiliar problems. 3. ability to use simple models to formalize thinking about unfamiliar problems. el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 39 4. effective use of what you already know to tackle new problems, especially an awareness of how just a few basic scientific laws help clarify problems. 5. understanding of how variability influences what we know and what we can know about the world around us. 6. ability to think quickly and informally about scientific claims, and especially developing an effective ability to say "that makes sense" or "that sounds implausible" when presented with quantitative estimates. when students in architecture schools apply these skills, they are not only pinpointing the problem but also finding a solution for the problem, which is considered a target in education. thus, it is important to think critically and try to find variable solutions for the environmental problems. having a new generation of critical thinkers will be reflected in a bunch of decisions that are made to protect our environment (peacock 2009; yurtoğlu 2018). there are many practical applications for ecology in critical thinking and communication skills. there has been a high emphasis on literacy in the primary phase in recent years, though in the uk this has tended to focus on reading and writing, to the detriment of listening and speaking. such skills are crucial in relation to what has been called action competence, i.e. the skills needed to get things done and achieve change (peacock 2009). this proves that literacy in ecology can be acquired through presenting the material and exposing the students to texts, audios, videos, presentations, etc… and discussing these issues whether in writing or in speaking. this will familiarize the students with the terms that are related to the environment and enrich their knowledge in the area (yurtoğlu 2018). the ever-increasing consumption, use of pesticides and egocentric behaviors in people's lives ruin everything natural. to choose the natural and minimize the individual consumption is the essence of ecological life (yuce 2018). unfortunately, our world is changing in many ways that threaten the sustainability of life on earth where human activity is considered as the major corruptor of this planet (zeunert 2017). ecologists believe that an ecosystem approach is essential for addressing the environmental issues facing our world today. not only should the scientific community understand this, but also managers, policy makers, teachers/instructors, and citizens must grasp the concepts of ecosystem function for environmental change. sadly, there is a gap in society's understanding of ecosystems (maybin 2006; zeunert 2017). to see the world from an environmental lens, ecological literacy is needed. thus, we need to go beyond text books and engage learners in the real world of ecosystems where it will combine research and education to help address threatening concerns facing our society. ecological literacy highlights the interrelationship between ecology, economy, and society. it places humans as central parts of ecosystems and recognizes the effects of relations between humans and other species. therefore, it is crucial that our society develops a new understanding and a new awareness of human's relation to his environment (maybin 2006; yuce 2018). 2.2. collaborative problem-solving methods collaboration is a working practice whereby individuals work together to a common purpose to achieve business benefit. collaboration enables individuals to work together to achieve a defined and common business purpose; collaboration concept is "the way a team plays as a whole determines its success. you may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime" (babe ruth, legendary baseball player; 1895-1948). it exists in two forms: synchronous; where everyone interacts in real time, as in live sessions or online meetings through instant messaging and/or via skype, and asynchronous; where the interaction can be time-shifted, as when uploading documents or annotations to shared workspaces (slimani et al. 2006). one of the principal differences of the process is that the architect is not simply the form-giver, but an active participant in exploring alternative ideas within a broader team of experts who play active roles earlier in the process, "everyone is a co-learner in the process" (bill reed, sefc idp workshop; april 2006). in particular, there is collaborative problem-solving and collaborative decision-making between building technology system designers/professionals (as shown as figure 1), rather than team members simply taking their assignments away to work on and bringing them back to be re-integrated. it has been proposed by some that integrated design process (idp) could be equally called integrated decision-making (zimmerman 2011). el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 40 figure 1: integrated building technology system designers/professionals (author) collaborative team members often work in parallel, with different distributed and heterogeneous architecture/engineering tools around the world. concurrent architecture brings new ways of organizing design and execution/manufacturing activities, inducing deep modifications such as the concurrent realization of product life cycle tasks. this approach emphasizes the integration of all the disciplines that contribute to the project development, beginning in the earlier design activity so that important decisions are made considering the entire project life cycle (as shown as figure 2). concurrent architecture/engineering practices are applied to reduce time and improve the performance as a whole (slimani et al. 2006). figure 2: phases of idp project life cycle (author) el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 41 architects/engineers have long understood the performance benefits of collaborative problem-solving and integrated design process. when the whole design team works closely in early design, the result is often reflected on wellbeing (as shown as figure 3); big reductions in energy use, better daylight performance, and improved thermal comfort, often without increasing capital cost that lead to more control over design as following (slimani et al. 2006; zimmerman 2011): 1. capital cost savings. 2. improved project delivery. 3. improved architect/engineer workflow. 4. improved occupant wellbeing. figure 3: benefits of collaborative problem-solving and integrated design process on improve wellbeing (author) integrated design process in construction projects creates a foundation for increasing efficiency, by good communication, transparency, and a focus on the overall project delivery method (as shown as figure 4). this design is considered as game-changing design solutions that greatly benefit owners and result in more fulfilling outcomes for all team members involved (slimani et al. 2006): ▪ iterative nature: one of the biggest benefits of the integrated design process is that it eliminates random acts of design (rad). ▪ minimizes the risk: with integrated design system, companies take the risk of guaranteed price and ensure that the client's project does not go penny over the assigned budget. ▪ design from a developed perspective: owner's project requirements (opr) documents the top priority list for any successfully integrated design process. ▪ cost-shift investment: project teams often try to overcome the challenge by cutting areas that have a more long-term impact. el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 42 figure 4: integrated design process in construction projects delivery (author) collaborative problem-solving facilitate integrated project delivery (ipd) to open communication and build trust in the relationship, as collaborators discover that all are working together for a shared outcome. this increases the joint commitment in the relationships and in the organization. it also indicates a commitment in helping others in order to reach their goals and objectives, also to improve everyone's performance in the development of the project (as shown as figure 5). moreover, collaborative communication encourages in finding creative solutions. this increases the likelihood that others will take the ownership of an issue and its solution (daigle et al. 1996; zimmerman 2011). figure 5: integrated project delivery (ipd) behavior (author) el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 43 the national science foundation nsf (1994) task force report states that the ability to work in groups is an expected skill of graduates. although the recent curriculum documents call for such activities, the recommendation for the early use of groups is often ignored. choosing a collaborative approach in education is a departure from the traditional model of the controlled, as lecture-driven classroom is familiar to most instructors and students. collaborative approach contrasts with the traditional approach in terms of the attributes of each. the traditional approach is characterized by: competition, focus on one's own work, destructive criticism of others, manipulation of the system for one's benefit, and a general lack of trust. the collaborative approach is characterized by: cooperation, compromise, flexibility or roles, trust and respect of others, questions as well as constructive criticism, and group problem-solving (daigle, et al. 1996). the use of groups and teams is not without perceived disadvantages; macgregor (1992) identifies seven belief shifts that must take place to enter into such a collaborative problem-solving learning environment (daigle, et al. 1996; fiedler 2009): 1. from listener, observer, and note taker to active problem solver, contributor, and discussant; 2. from low or moderate expectations of class preparation to high ones; 3. from a low-risk, private presence in the classroom to a public one with many risks; 4. from attendance dictated by personal choice to attendance dictated by community expectations; 5. from competition with peers to collaboration with them; 6. from responsibilities and self-definition associated with learning independently to learning interdependently; 7. from notions that teachers and texts are the sole sources of authority and knowledge to the notion that peers, oneself, and one's community are additional and important sources of authority and knowledge. students and instructors must be guided in making this transition to overcome the bias for the traditional approach. the use of groups often results in greater time demands. these collaborative skills do not occur spontaneously. research has shown that process related issues of group activities consume as much faculty time as issues related to course content. dysfunctional group behavior often occurs when members have not mastered a common problemsolving strategy or are not synchronized among the members. another major concern is that of accountability. slavin (1990), cautions that both group goals and individual accountability are essential in a collaborative environment. the influence of individual psychological types in group situations also is a potential source of communication dysfunction if not properly managed. thus the individual psychological types of team members influence the effectiveness of teams applying formal problem-solving methodologies (daigle, et al. 1996; peacock 2009). learning is more active and more effective when students work in peer groups to develop problem solutions and reach the results. the instructor cannot leave the use of collaboration to chance, but must establish an environment conducive to collaboration and encourage the student's transition from passive listener to active contributor. the instructor should create a "culture" in which groups can succeed. therefore, the instructor's responsibility is to train, guide, and manage the activities of the groups. curricula documents call for the use of groups; researches demonstrate the benefits of collaborative learning environments. however, individual skills, especially problem-solving skills, cannot be sacrificed for a collaborative approach (daigle, et al. 1996; wiersma & henry 2005). the main theoretical basis for designing the collaborative problem-solving (cps) learning goals, which proposed by the organization for economic co-operation development (oecd) are obtaining inter-correlations for the students' performance to assess the overall collaborative problem-solving skills, which could be as follows (daigle et al. 1996; wiersma & henry 2005; fiedler 2009): 1. establishing and maintaining shared understandings. 2. taking appropriate action to solve the problem. 3. establishing and maintaining team organization. el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 44 an integrated team in an integrated design studio offers distinct advantages when compared to the traditional project team. if, as zimmerman says, "the future of building design is found in idp", then a better future for the idp is found in the activities of an integrated design studio (wiersma & henry 2005; zimmerman 2011). unfortunately few teams possess these attributes (as shown as figure 6). for example, some team members may work more than others or complete entire projects by themselves, but their efforts go unnoticed. this scenario can lead to workplace conflicts, frustration and loss of motivation (slimani et al. 2006). figure 6: successful teamwork's key attributes (author) 3. thermal retrofit in historical built environment 3.1. thermal retrofit impact on health and wellbeing the term built environment, or built world, refers to the human-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from buildings to parks. it has been defined as the human-made space in which people live, work, and recreate on a day-to-day basis. the built environment encompasses places and spaces created or modified by people including buildings, parks, and transportation systems. in recent years, public health research has expanded the definition of built environment to include healthy food access, community gardens, and mental health. within the field of public health, built environments are referred to as building or renovating areas in an effort to improve the community's wellbeing through construction of aesthetically, health improved, and environmentally improved landscapes and living structures (hensel 2010; aelenei et al. 2011). thermal comfort according to the american society of heating, refrigerating and air-conditioning engineers (ashrae) is "that condition of mind which expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment and is assessed by subjective evaluation". there are two main approaches to thermal comfort: the steady-state model and the adaptive model. the adaptive model is mainly based on the theory of the human bodies adapting to its outdoor and indoor climate. in addition to three adaptive thermal comfort standards that are comprehensively reviewed: the american ashrae 55-2010 standard, the european en15251 standard, and the dutch atg guideline. although thermal sensitivity varies from one person to another, according to age, gender, activity, cultural habits, etc., the basic principles behind thermal comfort are largely universal (taleghani et al. 2013). thermal comfort is experienced via number of conscious interactions between three personal and environmental factors: physiological: the way our bodies work and interact with our environment; physical: the main parameters of the environment around us (air temperature, air humidity, air movement, and room surface temperature); socio psychological: the way we feel as a whole (tired, stressed, happy, etc.) and the kind of social environment we live in (taleghani et al. 2013; du et al. 2015). thermal retrofit have received increased attention in recent years as a result of constant concerns for energy supply constraints, decreasing energy resources, increasing energy costs and rising impact of greenhouse gases on world climate. promoting whole, building strategies that employ passive measures with energy efficient systems and technologies using renewable energy (torcellini 2006; aelenei et al. 2012; du et al. 2015). what was not identified in any of the studies was the need for assessing the impacts of building retrofit measures on occupant health and wellbeing. for example were there any changes in indoor air quality and also thermal comfort, and how did they affect the building and subsequently the occupants themselves? are occupants healthier post retrofit, or have they experienced any health issues? of particular concern is the highest exposure for wind driven rain and therefore any retrofit measures of insulation to the exterior façade could have unintended consequences of moisture crossing the exterior face onto the interior face of exterior walls. as a result this potential moisture ingress can impact upon internal https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/steady-state-model el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 45 occupant comfort. therefore, thermal retrofit is seeking to improve the monitoring and evidential base of information in relation to the impact of retrofit energy efficiency measures in relation to general health and wellbeing, the improvements in energy performance and reductions in carbon emissions, and thus alleviation from fuel poverty and impacts upon health and wellbeing for occupants (sartori 2012; wimmers 2012; littlewood et al. 2017). the impacts of retrofits on health and wellbeing varied by buildings, mainly including: 1) full facade (including the base) thermal insulation (usually 20-30 cm of expanded polystyrene eps or in some cases mineral wool on external walls); 2) roof thermal insulation (solar collectors were installed on the top of the roof in some cases); 3) improving heating and hot water systems (e.g., replacement of heating system trunk pipelines with new ones, new thermal insulation for piping system); 4) improving ventilation and heat recovery systems (e.g., new fans in attics/roofs; installation of adjustable air vents on the top part of the plastic windows; 5) replacement of old windows with more efficient windows, glazing of balconies or terraces, replacement of doors, etc. (du et al. 2015; littlewood et al. 2017). 3.2. thermal retrofit of heritage and historic buildings retrofitting means; providing something with a component or feature not fitted during manufacture or adding something that it did not have when first constructed, while energy retrofit is recognized as a measure to help with protection of heritage by providing healthy indoor environments that can have a longer lifespan. retrofits in places of cultural and historical significance are often described as a balancing act between optimization and conservation of original features. the concept of thermal retrofit considers upgrades to energy efficiency and thermal comfort, in the building stock does not provide adequate indoor comfort conditions (besen & boarin 2018). thermal retrofit of historic and heritage buildings or improve environmental quality in historical built environment can take place when the buildings have elapsed useful life or are reaching their end of useful life (as shown as figure 7&8), and it take place in three conditions; conversion of heritage buildings, adaptation of building's function, and reconstruction of damaged buildings. (el-darwish & gomaa 2017): figure 7: christchurch cathedral after the earthquakes in 2011 (telegraph 2011) figure 8: urm building on barbados st. damaged after the earthquake (schwede66 2011) el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 46 the improvement of envelope thermal insulations, lighting and glazing, where thermal performance of a building relies on its ability to resist air penetration as well as its ability to prevent heat exchange through structure. therefore, if retrofit is applied on energy efficient retrofit methods at the building envelopes, annual fuel cost would be reduced approximately one-third of the current situation of the building. also, off-the-shelf thermal upgrade measures with suitable attention to detail to design, specification and installation can realize the reduction in u-values anticipated, and hence it can significantly reduce heat requirements for space and in term co2 emissions. as well by envelope retrofit, efficient solar protection, high thermal inertia, and hybrid ventilation strategies; in addition to domestic water heating, photovoltaic panels and solar thermal air conditioning (a combined strategy of retrofit) achieved up to 83% total reduction in electric energy demand. thus, building retrofit objectives can be recognized as follow (el-darwish & gomaa 2017; besen & boarin 2018): ▪ make buildings more thermal efficient and sustainable. ▪ help cut carbon emissions. ▪ contribute to overcoming poor ventilation and damp problems, therefore improving the health of occupants. ▪ improved energy efficiency. ▪ increased staff productivity. ▪ reduced maintenance costs. ▪ decrease 40% of total energy consumption. ▪ increase building adaptability, durability and resiliency. ▪ improve amenities for the building's occupants and improve the performance of the building. hence, building and environmental conditions from outdoor to indoor, whose variation may influence the intercoupled variables (as shown as figure 9), are outdoor air temperature, solar radiation in environmental conditions; radiation cooling/heating and ventilation type in hvac systems; internal heat gains and schedule of occupancy and operating conditions; wall, ceiling, floor and window to wall ratio's (wwr) of building envelope properties; and finally floor area and ceiling height in building size can determine the whole building thermal and indoor airflow behaviors, whereas individual characteristics may have distinctive influence (el-darwish & gomaa 2017): figure 9: environmental variables that can affect the interior of buildings (les bodwell 2012) thus, thermal comfort that plays a major role in energy consumption can be achieved through adding slight modifications to previously constructed buildings, and by the use of the following selected issues based on their efficiency and feasibility for retrofit (el-darwish & gomaa 2017; li et al. 2017): 1. insulation and thermal bridge. 2. air tightness and infiltration. 3. window glazing. 4. solar shading. el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 47 4. methodology architectural heritage is a valuable asset and its adaptation to future is an important aspect that contributes to its preservation. this paper has provided an overview on issues and opportunities related to thermal retrofit of historic built environment generally, and heritage buildings in lebanon particularly, providing the basis for subsequent stages of this research. the study will handle the great importance of developing critical thinking and communication skills in teaching-learning methods and strategies, in addition, to collaborative problem-solving methods to improve education performance. the research depends on a systematic methodology via reviewing the thermal retrofit in historical built environment. moreover, it will illustrate thermal retrofit impact on health and wellbeing, especially in heritage and historic buildings. the paper concludes with a realistic case study (thermal retrofit of tripoli old souks, north lebanon) in which the proposed "interactive" teaching-learning strategy in architectural education has been trilled. this strategy suggests a framework based on critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving methods in four phases: analyze the historical built environment of the study area (tripoli old souks in north lebanon) in different historical periods, identify the problem of the study that can negatively affect lebanon, review in international attempts of thermal retrofit in historical built environment, and finally an application of thermal retrofit in the study area (students' final submission), to enhance health and wellbeing with preserving the cultural and architectural heritage, in addition to, the context image and social activities of these historical built environment. the experiment was conducted in beirut arab university, tripoli branch, lebanon on a mandatory course (history of architecture iii) for faculty of architecture design & built environment students. the sample was 27 students of the 3rd level that were attending the fall semester, academic year (2019-2020). 5. case study critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving to improve education performance for the purposes of this paper, the researcher is considering the group activity involved in critical thinking accompanied with collaborative problem-solving as part of architecture students' education in beirut arab university on a particular course (history of architecture iii, 3rd year students). specific intervention will be implemented to improve environmental quality in historical built environment (thermal retrofit for old souks of tripoli, north lebanon), which will increase the awareness for the students of health, and wellbeing aspects and its impacts on conservation aspects of architectural heritage. in addition to, spread the spirit of teamwork to facilitate the concept of integrated design process between the different disciplines, which will expose them to a real problem in a realistic situation. this teaching-learning method will be experimented through four phases: the first is an archival review to analyze the historical built environment of the study area (tripoli old souks in north lebanon) at different historical periods. the second is an analytical review to identify the problem of the study. the third is an identical review for international attempts of thermal retrofit in historical built environment. the fourth is an application of thermal retrofit in the study area with the continuity of conserving the architectural heritage to ensure health and wellbeing of historic built environment in lebanon. as a result of the interactive strategy in architectural education and by comparing the outcomes before and after assessment of students' level, it is obvious that applying critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving increased the environmental awareness for the students, which is completely distinct from the ordinary methods on research activity, where it becomes clear after this experiment a radical change in students activity occur, the way of thinking, outputs, solutions and proposals that were distinguished in greater depth. 5.1. phase i (analyzing the historical built environment of the study area in lebanon) the instructor with the third-year students divided into groups illustrates and analyzes the historical built environment of the study area (tripoli old souks in north lebanon). tripoli is considered as lebanon's second capital. it is situated 85 km north of beirut along the mediterranean coast; the city was founded on the mediterranean seaside during the 14th century bce. it was not until the middle age that tripoli became a city with two poles: the marine city (el-mina); original site of tripoli, and the medina; currently the mamluk core (tripoli old souks). in 1289 the mamluk conquered the crusader city that was situated on the peninsula and razed it to the ground and built a city at the foot of el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 48 the crusader citadel along the abu ali river, around 3 km to the west. this strong structure can clearly be seen as a form of historic built environment that largely determines cultural and architectural heritage (ginzarly & teller 2016). in 1953 the directorate general of antiquity (dga) in lebanon asked unesco to conduct an urban study about the mamluk core in tripoli. they identified 44 monuments that should be conserved. moreover, the survey was very punctual and was centered on specific buildings treating them as frozen icons that stand alone in the architectural heritage without looking at different social and spatial relationships between the built and the natural environment. the selection of listed buildings was mainly based on age, function, and architectural characteristics of the buildings. selected buildings are religious and public buildings include the citadel, churches, mosques, khans, schools, and public baths. the mission recognized the historical significance of residential houses and their role in constituting the specific character of the city but it did not include these in the list. in 1955 under the surveillance of the association for the preservation of the archaeological heritage of tripoli a new heritage survey was conducted. this time the scope of heritage was extended to include sites, comprising cemeteries, gardens, residential blocks, and pedestrian commercial streets. this time the early ottoman developments outside the boundary of the mamluk core had its portion of listed monuments (al-harithy 2005; ginzarly & teller 2016). 5.2. phase ii (identifying the problem of the study in lebanon) thence, the instructor with the students starts to study and identify the scope of the problem, as lebanon is suffering from multiple environmental problems due to the environmental mismanagement. ngos, education, and the government are trying to raise the awareness of the lebanese people. unfortunately, this is not sufficient and is not reflected in their practices. the energy crisis in lebanon is one of the most problems that need to be solved. although the lebanese people are suffering from the lack of electricity, yet they scarcely try to find ecological solutions in their buildings. international studies show that thermal retrofit of buildings will be an effective solution for both the government and the citizens. thus, the application of such projects will be an efficient solution for the energy crisis that is facing lebanon (khoury & khoury 2011; ginzarly & teller 2016). for this reason, architects are considered an essential part of the solution i.e. increasing their attention to thermal retrofit will be positively reflected in finding solutions regarding this crisis, and will also improve the built environment, where the problem facing lebanon after the civil war is concerning the ecological issues. lebanese students in higher education and architecture schools programs are normally not even familiar with the term sustainability except some universities. moreover, research proved that a handful of ngos, global corporations, local businesses and the ministry of the environment are currently addressing ecological issues in lebanon but on a surface level (khoury & khoury 2011). 5.3. phase iii (international attempts of thermal retrofit in historical built environment) then, the instructor and the participant groups began to study different international attempts of thermal retrofit in historical built environment. one of the international attempts was the jama masjid in the kalbadevi neighborhood near crawford market at the south mumbai region in india. the construction of the mosque started initially in 1775 with rising of foundations on the tank (water reservoir) that was situated at this site in the midst of gardens and open land. the date of a one-story building completion (ad 1802 / ah 1217) and was erected over the tank and formed the original nucleus of the present jama mosque. a top floor was added with the munificence of a prominent konkani merchant mohammad ali roghay in 1814. the thermal retrofit of mumbai mosque decreased electricity bill by 67% (as shown as figure 10). it saved 35 tons of carbon dioxide (co2) a year and switched to solar energy for 70% of its electricity requirements, which made jama masjid to have the highest capacity to generate solar power, through 31kilowatt power (kwp) rooftop solar system with 92 panels that was installed in the mosque. this thermal retrofit will help not only the mosque, but also the areas around the city that don’t get sufficient supply of electricity. they have installed a net-metering system, which will export the surplus power generated by solar back to the grid (bhardwaj 2017). el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 49 figure 10: international attempt 1; thermal retrofit for improving the mumbai jama masjid in india (author & participant students) another international attempt was the st. michael and all angels church in withington, england. the current structure, the third church building on the site, was built between 1879 and 1881 although parts of the original medieval church building (chapel has existed on the site since 1488), notably the tower, survive from earlier periods. this house of worship has undergone a thorough thermal retrofit to become britain's first zero carbon church (as shown as figure 11). featuring a biomass boiler for heat, and a solar array on the roof, the church is now running on 100% renewable energy. the 12th century building is now powered entirely by renewable energies: the solar energy is generated with 24 solar modules with a total output of 3.12 kw, which are installed on the roof of the church. the modules were carefully installed to meet strict regulations concerning historical buildings by using a special ladder system that did not affect the structure of the building or the visual appearance. given that many churches were traditionally built on a strict east/west axis, they have plenty of south-facing roof space that is ideally primed for solar energy (grover 2012). figure 11: international attempt 2; thermal retrofit for improving the st. michael and all angels church in withington, england (author & participant students) 5.4. phase iv (thermal retrofit to ensure health and wellbeing of historic built environment in lebanon) the students with the aid of their instructor worked on special design criteria for improving environmental quality (thermal retrofit) to ensure health and wellbeing aspects of historical built environment, specially, within the study area (tripoli old souks in north lebanon). for example, one of the participating groups created solutions for improving the taynal mosque in tripoli, lebanon, which is an oblong structure of sandstone, and have been founded by sayf ad-din taynal an-nasiri al-ashrafi (d. 1343), he was a prominent emir "prince" and mamluk of an-nasir muhammad, the bahri mamluk sultan of egypt. he served as the nawab "sovereign ruler" of tripoli for three terms, and gaza for one term, in the mid-14th century during the reign of al-nasir muhammad. he ordered the construction of the taynal mosque in tripoli in 1336. the mosque peculiarities reflect the remnants of a crusader church built by the carmelite fathers at the time of the crusades. their design criteria include the installation of photovoltaic solar panels and solar thermal power plants, the reduction of drinking water consumption, the conversion of lighting and the installation of a centralized technical management system. this last mechanism will facilitate the control of el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 50 various installed equipment and control doors. through these certain modifications, students were able to resolve the problem (as shown as figure 12). figure 12: sample 1; thermal retrofit for improving the taynal mosque (author & participant students) another example, other participant group created solutions for improving the mansouri great mosque in tripoli, lebanon, which also known simply as the great mosque of tripoli. it was built in the mamluk period, from 1294 to 1314, around the remains of a crusader church of st. mary. in any case, the two christian elements in no way detract from the traditional muslim nature of this great royal mosque, the first building erected in mamluk tripoli. the mansouri mosque was named after the mamluk sultan who conquered tripoli from the crusaders in 1289, al-mansur qalawun. the mosque itself was erected by his two sons, al-ashraf khalil, who ordered its construction in 1294, and al-nasir muhammad, who had the arcade built around the courtyard in 1314. their design criteria include installing a vertical pv system to make renewable energy in the wind direction, composing solar panels on the roof of the building to make renewable energy through the sun direction, and closing the arched openings by low-e glass to enter more light and reflect the heat. through these certain modifications, students were able to resolve the problem (as shown as figure 13). figure 13: sample 2; thermal retrofit for improving the mansouri great mosque (author & participant students) el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 51 6. conclusion action should be taken to solve the energy crisis problem, and students should be ecologically literate. for example, the focus of beirut arab university in lebanon is to let staff members, researchers and students support their researches and projects by environmental studies and inspire concepts from environmental approaches, based on the capability of its environmental labs. whereby, the most significant development challenges of sustainability are associated with climate change, global poverty, social and economic inequality, population growth, as well as, demographic changes and adaptation to rapid global economic changes. hence, the role of architects, decision makers, and engineers working in the domain will acquire further significance. the research has addressed a limited scope within the quest of viable strategies to achieve thermal retrofit, therefore, energy consumption for historical buildings of the study should be measured after using retrofit strategies (double glazing, air tightness, external wall insulation, and solar shading), to conclude how much is energy reduced by regular/simulation-based measurement tools, in order to ensure that the proposed solutions of building thermal retrofit within the historical context have been succeeded on health and wellbeing with the continuity of conserving the architectural heritage. as a broad perspective, it could be concluded that retrofit strategies of historic built environment affects human comfort and hence energy consumption which is a vital one, also needs to be considered/addressed through a number of recommendations, guidelines and special measures, as follows: • encourage historic building thermal retrofit technologies that can reduce cooling energy demands, although in some case it can decide cooling appliances as unnecessary. • further studies can be made in order to enhance thermal human comfort or to address the cost-effective measures on short term and long term. • retrofit measures can target visual comfort or other human comfort issues. • support research on new innovative materials and techniques that can reduce energy consumption. • support other retrofit strategies on historic built environment and study their cost effect on long terms. • different types of buildings can also be studied. furthermore, the use of groups is accomplished throughout the curriculum, as well as larger more complex projects are addressed, the students will be better prepared to meet their career demands. the perceived benefits of the initial attempts at integrating the critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving in the curriculum are based on the observations and feedback, which can contribute in improving education performance as follow: 1. teaching architecture students the literacy of ecology, in addition to applying in their design projects, will help in improving health and wellbeing and the ecological life attitude towards the community. this education will drive the students' attention towards ecological buildings, and subsequently thermal retrofit. 2. architecture and construction work needs to foster environmentally friendly practices and students have to be aware of built environment glossary and practices. 3. the schools of architecture at the university level can inspire architecture students as well as encourage and support ecological designs that incorporate sustainable thinking in their design projects. 4. enhancing the importance of sustainability in buildings design would drive the students' attention towards the environment as well as the community. 5. the integrated design process idp with operations and training provides stronger wellbeing integration than either might achieve in isolation. 6. when people work together, they can share ideas, provide feedback and keep each other accountable. teamwork allows for brainstorming and often leads to better decision-making. employees can share the workload and help each other, which leads to greater productivity and faster turn-around times. el-daghar / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 52 7. strengthening the socio-cultural aspects in research and education curricula will create new sustainable solutions for human, urban, industrial and business, thereby reflected on health and wellbeing in the built environment. acknowledgement my profuse thanks and gratefulness goes to all my colleagues at beirut arab university and ms. maya safar for their support, also, to all my bau 3rd year students (class 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(2011). the integrated design process guide. canada mortgage and housing corporation, cmhc schl home to canadians, years ans, canada. 1(1), 1-18. retrieved from https://moodle.polymtl.ca/file.php/1047/idp-charettes/article_design_guide_en_aug23.pdf http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 60 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i2.838 towards programs sustainability: assessment of institutional determinants for effective community participation in development programs in tanzania daniel wandera clief naku1*, jacob kihila2, eluether mwageni3 1*geography department, st john’s university of tanzania, dodoma, tanzania 2institute of human settlements studies, ardhi university, dar es salaam, tanzania 3school of spatial planning and social sciences, ardhi university, dar es salaam, tanzania abstract this paper brings to the fore an assessment of institutional determinants for effective community participation in development programs for the case of tanzania. it is highly acknowledged in various scholarly literature that there is a strong link between community participation and development programs. in fact, literature shows that communitybased development programs that have allowed community members to be fully involved in various programs have been successful when compared to those where community members are seen as spectators. however, in order for community members to take part in the programs, there are several determining factors, ranging from socio-economic, socio-cultural to institutional based factors. this study therefore sought to assess institutional determinants with the aim of identifying the major institutional determinants capable of influencing effective community participation in development programs. the study used four programs that were categorized as locally funded, government funded, donor funded and joint funded development programs. a combined sample size of 316 participants from all the four programs was employed. collected data were analyzed through the within-case analysis and the comparative analysis approaches. results of the study revealed that program benefits, objectives and leadership were the major institutional determinants for promoting effective community participation in development programs. when compared to methods used in the other three examined programs. hence, the study concluded by emphasizing on the need to ensure these institutional based factors (program benefits, objectives and leadership) should always be given due attention in any development program. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords community, participation, development, programs, institutional determinants 1. introduction the need for effective community participation as one of the means for enhancing program sustainability is increasingly becoming a pre-requisite for successful implementation of development programs in tanzania and worldwide. unfortunately, there is inadequate empirical research to generate information and knowledge on the determinants for effective community participation for enhancing program sustainability in tanzania. http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i2.838&domain=press.ierek.com naku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 61 although scholars such as evan et al. (2019), apsalone (2013) masanyiwa and kinyashi (2008) have, from a theoretical point of view, indicated that some of the key determinants to effective community participation could be categorized as institutional, socio-economic and socio-cultural determinants, the inadequacy in information and knowledge on these determinants creates a knowledge gap that needs to be addressed. hence, this study seeks to explore this knowledge gap with emphasis on institutional determinants. in this study, the concept of program sustainability is conceptualized to largely refer to the continuation of a program’s goals, principles, and efforts to achieve desired outcomes as stressed by riggs, (2012). simply put, it involves making sure that the goals of the program continue to be met through activities that are consistent with the current conditions and resources that are available (op.cit). hence, as revealed by sabastian et al., (2018), program sustainability contributes to the attainment of sustainable development at the community level through influencing the social, human, economic and environmental aspects of the community. this paper therefore, adopts the concept of sustainability in development programs from a general perspective as reflected in the concept of sustainable development. similarly, according to bamber et al., (2010), development programs at the community level are normally designed and implemented with the intentions of achieving the desired objective of enhancing community development and that they remain sustainable. sebastian et al., (2018) further stress that when a program is not sustainable; its impacts decrease leading to unmet expectations and thus affecting development efforts of the community as a whole. however, in order to achieve this, wasilwa (2015) suggests that active participation which is open and allows community members to actively take part in all stages of the program is essential for the sustainability of a program. according to wasilwa (op.cit), it leads to capacity building, which enables the community to be more effective and efficient in the process of identifying, monitoring and evaluating the program and thus contributing to its sustainability. in addition, akumu and onono (2017) also echo that community participation allows beneficiaries to influence the direction and execution of development programs rather than merely receiving a share of the program. similarly, according to undp, (2013), in order to walk in the human development pathway, people should engage fully in activities that reform lives and they should be able to participate in policy making process and results. odoyo (2013), further argues that effective community participation in development projects and programs need to be fully embraced if sustainable development is to be attained in communities. the author emphasizes that, in order to achieve effective community participation in development programs, there is a need to pay close attention to key factors that serve as determinants for effective community participation in development programs and thus ensure that such factors are supportive to the process of community participation in development projects and programs. in support of this view, masanyiwa and kinyashi (2008) among other scholars point out that these key factors or determinants to effective community participation could be categorized as institutional determinants which include aspects of rules, leadership, program policies, program objectives, program instruments as well as program benefits and their distribution. it includes as well socio-economic determinants which focus on issues such as resource availability, literacy level and economic structure (ethnicity, income, class). another category of determinants is the socio-cultural determinants relating to aspects of attitudes, values, skills/capacity, beliefs, awareness and gender. this study therefore sought to assess institutional determinants for effective community participation in development programs. specifically, the study focused on the case of tanzania. 2. background of the study as pointed out by beck and crawley (2002), community participation is fundamental to achieving sustainable community development in any community. however, in order to achieve this, odoyo (2013) suggests that there is a need to pay close attention to key factors that serve as determinants for effective community participation in development programs and thus ensure that such factors are supportive to the process of community participation in development projects and programs. naku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 62 in the context of this study, such factors are seen as determinants for effective community participation and may be grouped as socio-economic, socio-cultural and institutional determinants (masanyiwa and kinyashi, 2008). these are pre-requisite determinants for effective community participation to occur in development initiative such as programs and project may be contextual and specific to particular locations. the focus of this study is on institutional determinants and according to (masanyiwa and kinyashi, 2008), these determinants are institutional related. they originate from the institution implementing the program and the regulations that have been put in place for the smooth implementation of the program. hence, these factors may among others include; rules governing how people participate, leadership, program policies, program objectives, program instruments and program benefits including how such benefits are distributed. an empirical study by asaduzzaman (2008) revealed that some invisible but serious institutional issues affected the extent of people’s participation in development programs and projects. for instance, the lack of effective institutional mechanism which gives the poor and marginalized people to take part in the development project planning, supervision and or implementation. similarly, nkonjera (2008) did a study on community participation in development projects that had interest in water supply in mbeya district, tanzania. the study used descriptive statistic with a sample size population of 120 and revealed that the level of participation in development projects was still low despite of the government’s commitment to promote community participation in development projects and programs. this situation was largely attributed some institutional factors such as leadership of the projects. hence, as noted from literature, the above explained factors that include rules, policies, program objectives, program benefits and how they are distributed as well as program leadership are key institutional determinants for effective community participation. these factors must be well spelt out to people so that they can effectively participate in the program. 3. methods the study employed a cross – sectional research design and a case study research strategy. the cross-sectional research design was used because it is best suited for studies that aim at finding out the prevalence of a phenomenon, situation, problem, attitude or issue, by taking a cross-section of the population. in addition, kumar (2011) stress that cross sectional designs are useful in obtaining an overall ‘picture’ as it stands at the time of the study and designed to study some phenomenon by taking a cross-section of it at one time. as such, this design was chosen in line with the above stated views whereby the researcher was interested in examining institutional determinants for effective community participation in development programs. on the other hand, the case study research strategy was used because it is open to use of other approaches of analysis including both qualitative and quantitative approaches that the study intended to use. yin (2003) observed that case study research strategy can accommodate both qualitative and quantitative approaches, thus allowing the researcher to get a rich mix of data for the study. sampling procedures included purposive sampling for key informants and random sampling for program beneficiaries. using a 95% confidence level and yamane 1967 formula for sample size determination, a sample of 316 program beneficiaries. this sample size was drawn from four examined program categories that included the locally fully funded program, government fully funded program, and donor fully funded program as well as the joint fully funded program. all the 316 program beneficiaries (study subjects) participated in the study through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. both primary and secondary data were collected and employed in the study. primary data was collected through focus group discussions and interviews with key informants. data collection tools involved semistructured questionnaire, key informant questionnaire and audio recorder. secondary data was collected by making reference to relevant text books, past studies and reports both in hard and soft copy. all collected data were analyzed based on two analysis approaches that included the within case analysis and comparative case analysis. in the context of this study, the within case analysis was used as an analytical approach in naku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 63 which each single case in the study was examined independently and in detail while the comparative case analysis was an analytical approach used to compare findings from different single analyzed cases. three study areas that included arusha, morogoro and iringa within tanzania were involved in the study as shown in figure 1. figure 1: geographical locations of study areas source: consulate of the united republic of tanzania (2019) 4. results and discussion 4.1. institutional determinants in locally fully funded development programs institutional factors as pointed out by masanyiwa and kinyashi (2008) are equally influential in determining the participation of people in development programs. according to the authors, these factors may, among other factors, include rules governing how people participate in programs, leadership from the implementers, program policies, program objectives and program benefits. as such both institutional determinants were examined in the context of the examined locally fully funded development program. results of the analysis showed that five institutional factors were pointed out by study respondents as being influential in their participation in the program. these factors included rules, leadership, program policies, program objectives and program benefits. in the context of this study, rules referred to guidelines put in place by program implementers that one had to follow in order to participate in the program. program policies were looked at as principles put in place by program implementers to implement the program. program objectives referred to what the program intended to achieve while program benefits referred to what the program sought to offer to the program participants. hence, based on the individual face to face interviews, it was revealed that institutional factors such as program objectives, leadership and program policies were seen to be more influential in determining the participation of youths in the program than rules and program benefits. in fact, results showed that thirty-five-point five percent (35.5%) of the respondents attested to program objectives, twenty-seven-point seven percent (27.7%) pointed out leadership while twenty-point seven percent (20.7%) stated program policies. these results concur with findings of howard-grabman et. al., (2017) who in their study on factors affecting effective community participation in maternal and newborn health program planning, implementation and quality of care interventions also found that factors relating to program objectives, policies and leadership were crucial in influencing peoples’ participation in the programs. the implication is that, from the institutional point of view, factors such as program objectives, program policies and program leadership are of paramount importance in ensuring people participate in locally fully funded development programs. arusha morogoro iringa https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-017-1443-0 https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-017-1443-0 https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-017-1443-0 naku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 64 from the study, in line with the program objectives, the interviewed study respondents stated that the objectives of the program were very clear to them and for that matter it was easy for them to know what the program was about. for instance, among the pointed-out objective of the program was in the program slogan ‘protect your dream’. through this objective, youths were given education on how to protect their dreams and this encouraged most of them to stay involved in the program. one of the interviewed respondents stated that: ‘for me as a youth, it is important to protect my dream and so when i heard about the coming of a program with this kind of focus, i was motivated to join the program. i do not regret joining the program because i have been exposed to so much that i did not know.’ this view was further echoed by the program coordinator who revealed that as a voluntary program, they had to think a lot so as to come up with a program selling slogan that would attract youths to be part of the program. the program coordinated stated that: ‘youths are very difficult groups to deal with and especially getting them involved in a program or project that has nothing in form of tangible asset or money to give them. so, before we rolled out the program, we had to think a lot for a slogan which when used, it would attract them to join the program. that is when we came up with the slogan – ‘protect yourself.’ a similar perception was expressed during the focus group discussions where participants revealed that their desire to protect their dreams as advocated for by the program was very crucial in encouraging them to join the program. on the side of the female participants, the issue was avoiding to become a mother or having to add more children to the already they have while on the part of the male, it was about avoiding to become a father at an unexpected period which would affect one’s dreams. in terms of leadership, the interviewed respondents also felt that leadership provided by kinara organization as implementers was very important in encouraging people to join and also stay in the program. for instance, participants revealed that the leadership system is very open, transparent and very supportive to the youths. importantly, respondents acknowledged the close follow up to every individual participant by the program implementers. this action as revealed by participants makes them feel a sense of belonging to the program. this was also supported by the views of the program coordinator who stated: ‘as a program coordinator, i work with my group leaders to see to it that we are in close contact with every participant. if after a week we have not heard from the participant, we visit him or her although at times we simply call him or her on phone. this has been very helpful in keeping the youths interested in the program.’ with regards to program policies, program participants pointed out that policies guiding their involvement in the program were friendly enough to allow anybody interested in the program to join. to them, this was another influencing factor that saw many youths join the program. for instance, as revealed by the interviewed respondents, joining the program only required one to complete a commitment form to confirm his or her interest in the program. once the form was completed, the participant was then allowed to join colleagues in undertaking various program related activities. this implied that absence of bureaucratic and complex procedures in policies guiding the joining of an individual in the program made it easy for those interested in joining the program to do so. to substantiate this view, one of the interviewed youths narrated that: ‘the whole process of joining this program was made simple by the program implementers. because they wanted committed people, i just had to fill in a commitment form and i was allowed into the program.’ this view was also seconded by respondents during focus group discussions and later by the program coordinator as key informant. according to the respondents during focus group discussions, most youths normally get turned off from programs of this nature if policies guiding their joining of the programs are either demanding or restrictive. for the case of this particular program, this was never the case and therefore any youth would find it easy to join. generally, as advocated for by masanyiwa and kinyashi (2008), as well as from scholars such as howard-grabman et al., (2017), program policies, program objectives and leadership in place are very critical in determining participation of people in development programs. figure 2 presents a summary of these findings. naku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 65 10.7 27.7 20.7 35.5 8.5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 rules leadership program policies program objectives program benefits figure 2: institutional determinants in locally fully funded development programs source: field survey, 2020 generally, although there are several institutional determinants to effective community participation in development programs, in the context of the examined locally fully funded development program, institutional factors such as program objectives stood out as key in determining the participation of program beneficiaries in this kind of program. however, it should be noted that while the other factors were not found to be key in this particular program on the basis of the program focus, they could be key in other locally fully funded development programs with different program focus. 4.2. institutional determinants in government fully funded development programs in terms of institutional determinants, findings from the study revealed that in the case of the examined government fully funded development program, eighty-five-point seven percent (85.7%) pointed to program benefits as a determining factor for people’s participation in programs of this nature. according to respondents, to a great extent people tend to participate in government programs because of the benefits they expect in return. this finding aligns with the views of mubita et al., (2017) who in their study on the importance and limitations of participation in development projects and programs in zambia stressed that people need to see participation beneficial to them especially in terms of empowering them so as to effectively participate in development projects and programs. this implies that in the context of this study, people’s participation in the examined program much depended on how beneficial the participation process was to them as well as the program itself. in view of this perception, one of the interviewed respondents stated that: ‘people normally expect something from a government project, so their participation is largely attached to what they expect in return. this situation arises from the fact that government programs are not designed by the people themselves to get a sense of ownership and join the program not because he or she expects something from the program. on the contrary, because government programs are not designed by the people themselves and therefore come straight from the government, an individual is forced to first look at how he or she benefits. this view was however not largely shared by the secondary education officer as a key informant in the examined program. according to the key informant, not all people put benefits first in deciding to participate in government fully funded development programs of this nature. to some, it is always about other factors such as patriotism regardless of what they expect to get in return. the key informant stated that: ‘…of course, some people are interested in what the program will offer to them but we cannot conclude that all people have such mind set. some people participate in programs of this nature because of patriotism. wanting to serve their communities and country’ naku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 66 in addition to the factor of program benefits as revealed by respondents and patriotism as indicated by the secondary education officer, fourteen-point three percent (14.3%) of the respondents also revealed that other factors such as someone’s position within an institution may automatically require such an individual to participate in the program of this nature without any objection. for instance, in the case of the examined government fully funded development programs, head teachers in schools where the program was being implemented had no option to reject participating in the program. an interviewed respondent in support of this view stressed that: ‘when you are in a position that makes you the contact person for the government, you cannot avoid participating in any government project however much you think the program is not okay. so, your position when working in a government institution will automatically get you to participate in a program of this nature. it does not matter what you know or think but getting the program being implemented is more important’. on account of the findings on the institutional determinants of effective community participation in government fully funded development programs, this study found that the views expressed by masanyiwa and kinyahsi (2008) on the subject matter were prevalent in the examined program but specially on the aspect of people being influenced in such program on the basis of what they expect in return as benefits. consequently, the study also revealed that, besides the benefit issues, there are other institutional factors such as patriotism of an individual and the position held by an individual in a government institution that could propel such individual to participate in the program. findings of this analysis are as presented in figure 3. figure 3: institutional determinants in government fully funded development programs source: field survey, 2020 overall, the findings on institutional determinants of effective community participation in development programs of this nature also show that, even with institutional factors in such programs, a combination of factors does prevail. as such, it may not be sufficient enough to conclude that a single institutional factor can on its own be a defining determinant for effective community participation in a program of this nature. 4.3. institutional determinants in donor fully funded development programs with regard to institutional determinants for effective community participation in donor fully funded programs, results from the examined program showed that factors such as program objectives, leadership, program benefits as well as program policies were the most influential in determining participation of community members in the program. of the four factors, respondents pointed out that the most influencing factor was about program objectives which forty-five-point seven percent (45.7%) of the respondents attested to this finding. this finding concurs with the views of howard-grabman et. al., (2017) who found that program objectives are very critical in determining the participation of people in development programs. this implies that from the institutional point of view, donor fully 85.7 14.3 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 program benefits any other factor naku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 67 funded programs need to have clear objectives that can encourage people to participate in such programs so that they can contribute to the sustainability of the program. according to the participants, the objectives of the program played a vital role in attracting people into the program. for instance, among the objectives of the program was the desire to raise net incomes of smallholder tree farms which would then translate into increased household income. based on such reasoning as revealed by the respondents, many saw the program as an investment opportunity. one of the interviewed respondents explained that: ‘we were all attracted into this program for different reasons but for me when i heard that the program was going to help me grow trees that i would later sell and get good income, i developed interest in the program and joined it.’ another respondent also explained that: ‘this program came to help us get out of poverty. most of the tree planters are very rich people with vast acres of land but through this program, a man like me am able to also grow quality trees that i will sell and get money’ these views were equally substantiated by members in the focus group discussions who also revealed that the focus of the program in addressing income issues among the poor was very important and this contributed to people joining the program. on the other hand, the program coordinator also revealed that: ‘we wanted to have a program that people would like to be a part of. as such, our emphasis was on ensuring that the program objectives are inclined towards realizing this expectation.’ the other most influencing institutional factor as revealed by the respondents was leadership. in this aspect, thirty three percent (33%) of the respondents attested to this finding and according to them, the leadership from fdt was very supportive to every participant. this encouraged people to remain and continue participating in the program. one of the interviewed respondents stated that: ‘it is very easy for someone to give up on this program because right from the preparation of the farm to taking care of the trees one has to do so many activities. however, through the dedicated leadership of fdt, people have stayed positive about the program including myself’ similarly, nineteen-point two percent (19.2%) of the respondents indicated that program benefits were among the factors that were influential to people’s participation in the examined donor fully funded development program. this finding is similar to the findings of howard-grabman et. al., (2017) as well as masanyiwa and kinyashi (2008). hence, this implies that ensuring that expected program benefits are clearly explained to the intended program participants is key to influencing peoples’ participation in programs of this nature. according to the respondents, people had to assess how beneficial the program was to them before deciding to join especially after knowing that program benefits were not in the short run but rather in the long run. from the focus group discussions, members commented that: ‘…knowing how we will benefit as individuals was also important in convincing us to join the program. we were very inquisitive when we first heard of the program and so when we met the implementers, they were able to sensitize us. besides, the three discussed factors, 2.1% of the respondents also indicated that the implemented program policies such as allowing people to join their small pieces of land to meet the 2 acres’ requirement was equally useful in encouraging people to join the program. according the respondents, if such friendly policies had not been implemented, some people would have failed to join the program regardless of their interest in the program. figure 4 presents the analysis of these findings. naku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 68 33 2.7 45.7 19.2 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 leadership program policies program objectives program benefits figure 4: institutional determinants in donor fully funded development programs source: field survey, 2020 overall findings on institutional determinants for effective community participation from the examined donor fully funded development program showed in programs of this nature, factors relating to program objectives, leadership, benefits and their distribution as well as policies are very critical in influencing people to join the program from an institutional point of view. precisely, the findings concur with the views of masanyiwa and kinyashi (2008) as well as the views of howardgrabman et. al., (2017) who pointed out that, factors of this nature are very important in determining the extent of people’s participation in a program because they mainly affect the governance and operational mechanisms for implementing the program. in addition, the findings further demonstrated that, although some of the factors may be more influential than others in influencing people’s participation, it will still be a combination of various factors and not just a single institutional factor to influence effective community participation in programs of this nature. 4.4. institutional determinants in joint funded development programs findings on the institutional determinants for effective community participation in the case of the examined joint funded development program revealed that factors of the program benefits, leadership as well as program objectives were the most influential institutional factors that influenced people’s participation in the program. these findings concur with the findings of howard-grabman et. al., (2017) as well as masanyiwa and kinyashi (2008) who equally found that program benefits, leadership and objectives were indeed influential to peoples’ participation in development programs. according to the authors, these factors lead to increased participation which consequently contribute to sustainability of the program. for the case of program benefits and distribution, findings showed that fifty-two-point eight percent (52.8%) of the respondents cited this factor as the most influencing factor. according to the respondents, people were eager to know how beneficial the program would be before deciding to join it. in fact, one of the respondents narrated that: ‘when the people from pfp came to explain to us this program, i was very interested in hearing how the program was going to benefit me. when they explained that after supporting me to grow my trees i would then sell at a very good price, that is when i decided that i should also join.’ another respondent commented that: ‘my wife attended the meeting because i was away and when i returned, she explained to me how the people from pfp had told them the program would benefit us, i eagerly waited for the next meeting where i was given more information on top of what my wife had told me’ naku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 69 this feeling was equally shared by members from the focus group discussions whereby members narrated that if it had not been for the program implementers to spend more time explaining to people about the program and how they would benefit in the long run, most people would have been hesistant to join the program. one of the members from the focus group discussion explained that: ‘it was a very nice approach for pfp to spend more time telling us about the program and how we were going to benefit. many people in this community have been part of many programs but after wasting time in the program, one comes to realize that the program was not of help’ these views generally revealed how influential the aspect of program benefits was in influencing people to join a program of this nature. another crucial institutional factor in influencing participation of people in the joint development program as revealed by the respondents was the factor of leadership. according to the findings, thirty-point three percent (30.3%) of the respondents cited this factor as being among the most influencing factors in joining the program. in addition, the respondents revealed that leadership displayed by pfp right from introducing the program to the time when this study was carried out was exceptional in the sense that implementers were very supportive and reaching out to the farmers at all times. this view was amplified by one of the interviewed respondents: ‘i have been part of so many programs in this community but i can tell you, i have never seen a program where the implementers stay this close to the people. pfp staff members are always ready to hear from you, check on you and advise you whenever you have problems’ the members of the focus group discussion also explained that: ‘surely we are in this program together. pfp has been with us in every step right from preparing the tree nurseries and made sure that farms are well maintained’ to triangulate these views, discussion with the program director also revealed that in terms of leadership, pfp had adopted a grass-root field-based approach where field officers within the program communities had been identified, trained and empowered to lead the process from the grass root. the program director explained that: ‘if there is anything we have desired to do to perfection, is ensuring that our leadership is felt among our program participants. we don’t want to see them get disappointed because we failed to play our part. we want them to be proud of us and to count on our support at any time. we have trained and empowered forest field officers in every community we work in and for that matter, our support in these villages is on a daily basis.’ from these views, an affirmation was again drawn that indeed, the aspect of leadership in the case of the examined joint funded development program was of necessity in influencing the participation of people in the program. lastly, study respondents also revealed that to some extent the factor of program objectives also played a role in influencing them to join the program. according to the findings, sixteen-point nine percent (16.9%) of the respondents attested to this view and according to them, it was important to understand the objective of the program. as it was revealed by the program director, the overall objective of the program was to increase income in the southern highlands of tanzania by supporting private plantation forestry and strengthening wood-based industries. to program participants, knowing and understanding this objective was very important to them because according to the interviewed residents, it showed them what they should expect by joining the program. one of the proponents of this view explained that, ‘pfp staff did a good job to tell us what the program was about because through that we know the objective of the program and how relevant it was to us.’ again, from such kind of explanation, this study confirms that the issue of program objectives though not strongly advocated for by many of the respondents appeared to be one of the influencing institutional factors in determining the joining of people in the examined joint funded development program. figure 5 shows the findings of this analysis. naku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 70 30.3 10.9 52.8 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 leadership program objectives program benefits figure 5: institutional determinants in joint funded development programs source: field survey, 2020 in general, the findings on institutional determinants for effective community participation in joint funded development programs as per the examined program showed that, aspects of program benefits and distribution, leadership as well as program objectives were indeed influencing factors to the participation of the people in a program of this nature. this further confirms the views put forward by masanyiwa and kinyashi (2008) on the relevance of these factors in determining people’s participation in development initiatives. 4.5. case comparison and discussion on institutional determinants for effective community participation from the examined development programs the comparative analysis for the institutional determinants for effective community participation in development programs from the four examined development programs showed that there were several institutional determinants that need to be taken care of. these determinants were cited by the respondents as being influential in their participation in the various four examined development programs. such determinants include rules, leadership, program policies, program objectives as well as program benefits and their distribution. however, across all the four examined programs, three institutional factors were considered as the most influencing factors and they include leadership, program objectives and program benefits. in terms of the leadership factor, twenty-seven-point seven percent (27.7%) of the respondents found it influential in the locally fully funded program, thirty three percent (33%) in the donor fully funded program, and thirty-point three percent (30.3%) in the joint funded program. this factor was not found to be influential in the government fully funded program. for the program objectives factor, thirty-five-point five percent (35.5%) of the respondents found it influential in the locally fully funded program, forty-five-point seven percent (45.7%) in donor fully funded and ten-point nine percent (10.9%) in the joint funded development program. in the case of the program benefits and distribution factor, eight-point five percent (8.5%) of the respondents found it influential in the locally fully funded program, eight five-point seven percent (85.7%) in the government fully funded program, nineteen-point two percent (19.2%) in donor fully funded program while fifty-two-point eight percent (52.8%) in the joint funded development program. on account of the fact that the three institutional factors were found to be very influential across the four examined development programs, the study confirms that the factor of program benefits and their distribution whose average influence was forty-one-point six percent (41.6%) stood out as the most influencing institutional determinant for the effective community participation in development programs (see table 1). this therefore meant that from the naku/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 71 institutional perspective, the factor of program benefits and their distribution must always be addressed regardless of the nature of the program for effective community participation is to be achieved. table 1. average score for key cited institutional determinants institutional determinants percentage (%) average percentage (%) rungs locally funded program government funded program donor funded program joint funded program program benefits 8.5 85.7 19.2 52.8 41.6 1st program objectives 35.5 0.0 45.7 10.9 23.0 2nd leadership 27.7 0.0 33.0 30.3 22.8 3rd source: field survey, 2020 generally, the findings on institutional determinants for effective community participation in development programs revealed that the factor of program benefits and their distribution was a very important factor which attests to the views put forward by masanyiwa and kinyashi (2008). however, in relation to institutional determinants as per findings of this study, it is also very possible that multiple institutional factors may influence a single program at the same time though the difference will be in the level of intensity. based on such observations, this study advocates for the view that all institutional factors that may be anticipated to influence the program need to be taken care of so as to avoid the risk of having some people left out of the program. in so doing, this will promote meaningful participation in the program as advocated for by authors such as shutte (2016), wasilwa (2015), beck and crawley (2002) as well as arnstein (1969). 5. conclusion this study sought to assess institutional determinants for effective community participation in development programs so as to enhance program sustainability in tanzania. based on the findings, the study showed from an empirical point of view that indeed, there are several institutional factors that can influence the extent of people’s participation in a development program. however, and most importantly, findings showed that there are three key factors that need not to be ignored at any one time in the implementation of any development program regardless of the nature of the program. such factors include, program benefits and their distribution, program objectives and program leadership. based on such findings, the study recommends that program implementers and funders should always pay attention to the above three mentioned factors if effective community participation is to be achieved in any 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https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-017-1443-0 http://dx.doi.org/10.19044/esj.2017.v13n5p238 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i3.956 addressing housing inequalities in post-conflict belfast: a transformative justice approach caitriona mackel phd researcher at the transitional justice institute, university of ulster, belfast, northern ireland, mackel-c1@ulster.ac.uk abstract belfast is a deeply divided and fragmented city not just politically, socially, and economically but physically. it is a city shaped by its history, its experiences of violent conflict and its post-conflict transition. a collage of so-called peace walls and interface areas segregate neighbourhoods across the city creating some of the most socially and economically deprived areas where inequalities are significantly exacerbated by the tension and sectarianism that segregation reinforces. despite the peace process, historical and new inequalities in the provision and allocation of social housing affect many vulnerable individuals and communities resulting in unequal access to adequate housing; overcrowding; housing stress; homelessness; higher waiting lists and longer waiting times. the challenge of navigating housing in a politically and physically divided city has resulted in failed opportunities to shape policies and procedures to address existing, persistent, and new housing inequalities. addressing the legacy of violence and human rights violations is central to building sustainable peace in transitioning societies. if we acknowledge that socio-economic inequalities are not only a consequence of violent conflict but also a root cause, then we must also acknowledge that correcting these inequalities is an essential component of postconflict policy. transitional justice often overlooks violations of socio-economic rights and the impact of these on victims and wider society. a growing body of literature suggests transformative justice expands the traditional ‘toolkit’ to include measures, not typically employed in transitional justice, to confront violations of socio-economic rights, address the needs of victims and assist in societal transformation more effectively. under a transformative justice approach, my research explores how affirmative action and the role of social movements, such as the right to the city, could be used to address housing inequalities in post-conflict belfast. in doing so we could look to the future as well as deal with the past. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords housing inequality; transformative justice; affirmative action; divided cities 1. introduction from governments and rulers to philosophers and academics, and even poets and artists, the concepts and challenges of conflict, peace, and rights have occupied human thinking and behaviour for millennia, shaping not only our history and our present but our future. contemporary human rights discourse and models of conflict transformation and peacebuilding have been influenced by centuries old beliefs in universal rights and the pursuit of a set of moral standards to which all societies could be held accountable (marks, 2011). following the atrocities of the second world http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i3.956&domain=press.ierek.com caitriona mackel/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 war the field of conflict resolution moved away from the more traditional focus on conflict prevention towards a model of conflict transformation which pays more attention to: human rights; the underlying causes of conflict; the needs of victims; and a recognition of the complex challenges involved in making the transition from violence to sustainable peace (parlevliet, 2010). nowhere is the relationship between human rights and conflict transformation more intertwined, nor the need to consider root causes more crucial, than in the field of transitional justice. one of the key questions that arises for post-conflict societies is whether and how the legacy of violence, oppression and human rights violations should be addressed during the course of a society’s transition from violent conflict to sustainable peace and the rule of law and/or democracy. this question poses a number of dilemmas: should we confront the past? what wrongs do we need to address? who is to be held accountable? should those responsible be punished? and how do we ensure that wrongs are not repeated or violence refuelled? the concept of transitional justice was developed in order to address these dilemmas by recognising that enabling societies to transition and deal with the atrocities of the past requires more specialised mechanisms than can be provided by traditional judicial and non-judicial structures. since it was coined in the early 1990’s the term transitional justice has gained global significance as an umbrella term to describe an ever expanding range of mechanisms to ‘redress past wrongs, vindicate the dignity of victims and provide justice in times of transition’ (buskley-zistel, et al, 2014, p. 1). the united nations defines transitional justice as ‘the full range of processes and mechanisms associated with a society’s attempt to come to terms with a legacy of large-scale past abuses in order to ensure accountability, serve justice and achieve reconciliation’ (united nations, 2014, p. 5). transitional justice is a set of practices, centred around truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, that are not only desirable but necessary in order to make the transition from conflict or oppression to sustainable peace. a range of judicial and non-judicial mechanisms, often referred to as a ‘toolkit’, have evolved to fulfil the core obligations of the field of transitional justice. conflict and oppression undermine the full range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights nonetheless, civil and political rights violations are often more clearly identifiable and therefore perceived as the most urgent and fundamental rights to be respected on the path to peace. however, ignoring economic, social and cultural rights in the post-settlement phase risks failing to respond to the immediate needs and expectation of those most directly affected (ramcharan, 2004). human rights violations are both a symptom and a cause of violent conflict and the violation of economic, social and cultural rights often functions as an underlying cause creating the grievances and group identities that can motivate civil violence (thoms & ron, 2007). addressing the root causes of conflict, alongside redressing human rights abuses, is therefore essential if transitional justice measures are to prove successful. by focusing on root causes the longstanding question of how civil and political rights affect and are affected by economic, social and cultural rights is renewed and attention is placed on the relationship between violence and poverty, discrimination, marginalisation and social exclusion (marks, 2011). traditionally transitional justice has ignored economic, social and cultural rights instead prioritising violations of civil and political rights as the primary human rights violations to be addressed when seeking justice for past atrocities (cahill-ripley, 2014). socio-economic issues often lie at the heart of conflict and are specifically articulated by affected populations in the transitional period, ignoring violations of socio-economic rights is a risk to both peace and the effectiveness of transitional justice mechanisms (cahillripley, 2014). if, as the universal human rights legal framework suggests, all rights are considered to be universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated why are socio-economic rights largely ignored within transitional justice processes? cahill-ripley (2014) and robins (2017) suggest that the narrow legal scope of transitional justice has resulted in the field focusing on criminal justice and those grave violations which can be tried in a court of law. socio-economic rights are often considered as secondary, non-justiciable and equated to policy development rather than as legal entitlements within the remit of transitional justice (cahill-ripley, 2014). by focusing on the use of a limited number of established legal mechanisms transitional justice is constrained by its own ‘toolkit’ preventing the emergence of practices that could deliver broader justice that includes tackling the socio-economic causes and consequences of conflict and ultimately addresses the needs of victims. (robins, 2017). the big question for the field of transitional justice is how its mechanisms can take better account of socio-economic issues and whether these mechanisms are adequate or appropriate (evans, 2018). caitriona mackel/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 addressing violations of civil and political rights without addressing violations of socio-economic rights actually undermines the indivisibility and interdependence of human rights (cahill-ripley, 2014). transitional justice therefore must have the ambition to look beyond the civil and political rights violations which often trigger transition towards the structural socio-economic rights violations, such as discrimination and inequality, that are usually part of the root causes of conflict (arbour, 2017). structural socio-economic violations cause both frustration and unrest and if there is no attempt to address these inequalities then the risk is that conflict and violence will resurface despite the best efforts of transitional justice mechanisms. if we consider that structural socio-economic inequalities are an important source of conflict, then we must also consider that correcting these inequalities is an integral aspect of postconflict policy. the transitional justice ‘toolkit’ must therefore be expanded in order to more effectively confront violations of socio-economic rights, address the needs of victims and assist in societal transformation (arbour, 2007). cahill-ripley (2014) suggests that what is required is a broader and more holistic definition of transitional justice that would include mechanisms that investigate and remedy violations of both socio-economic rights and civil and political rights. a broader approach to transitional justice could involve the use of mechanisms, which traditionally fall outside the remit of transitional justice and conflict transformation such as legal reforms, bills of rights or the establishment of new institutions and practices which monitor socio-economic rights. one recent proposition to broaden the scope of transitional justice in order to address structural socio-economic inequalities is yuvraj joshi’s (2020) recommendation that affirmative action should be integrated into the transitional justice toolkit. joshi (2020) suggests that by fixating on a finite and narrow set of mechanisms transitional justice scholars have overlooked the role that affirmative action measures could play in brining attention to structural inequalities, promoting the inclusion of excluded groups, and helping to delineate the boundaries of transitional justice. by focusing on a limited set of mechanisms transitional justice practitioners fail to capture the real-world complexities of transition and give the impression that these mechanisms constitute the complete range of responses available to transitional societies (joshi, 2020). my work, in progress, examines if and how affirmative action could be integrated into the transitional justice ‘toolkit’ to better address socio-economic inequalities in post-conflict societies. an in-depth investigation on the use of affirmative action to address one socio-economic inequality within one transitional setting is required. for the purposes of my study, the problem of new, existing and persistent housing inequalities in post-conflict belfast has been selected as an illustrative case study to demonstrate the potential power of affirmative action in dealing with the past and re-shaping the future. the main objective of this study is to analyse the implementation and effectiveness of existing affirmative action programmes, to address socio-economic inequalities, in the united states (us), south africa and northern ireland (ni) in order to produce a regulatory policy framework for addressing housing inequalities in post-conflict belfast. 2. problem statement ireland, and in particular northern ireland (ni), has a protracted history of violent conflict, segregation, discrimination and deep-rooted political and societal divisions, arising from complex disputes over ethno-national identity and the legitimacy of territorial control, which can be traced as far back as the 12th century (dickson, 2012). the 16th century plantation of ireland radically altered the religious balance of the island creating a protestant majority in the north who were loyal to british rule. the subsequent clashes between the protestant settlers and the predominantly catholic indigenous population coupled with their political, religious and social differences led to widespread segregation of the two communities. in order to exert british control, the catholic population, along with protestant dissenters, were suppressed and marginalised through a number of penal laws which not only criminalised their religious practices but barred them from voting, owning land, exercising certain professions and from holding certain offices (dickson, 2012). although the majority of these penal laws were removed during the catholic emancipation process in the 18 th and 19th centuries, catholics in the protestant dominated north still faced extensive, overt religious discrimination. the 1921 partition of ireland created a protestant/unionist controlled state, ni, which fastened religion firmly to political disputes over national identity, territory and inequality. in the decades that followed historical and persistent religious, political and social divisions, and the overt discrimination of the catholic minority, increasingly reinforced the segregation of communities along some of the most institutionalised and embedded of structures – housing, caitriona mackel/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 education, social and religious life, sporting and cultural activities (kelly, 2012). the continued use of legislation as a tool of oppression coupled with acts of discrimination, such as the deliberate refusal of homes and jobs, and electoral gerrymandering throughout the first half of the 20th century created a widespread sense of grievance among the catholic/nationalist community which could not be channelled through the existing political structures (grech, 2017). ultimately these historical and persistent human rights abuses, inequalities and discrimination, propelled the civil rights campaign of the 1960s and resulted in a slide into a violent conflict that spanned three decades and during which over three thousand people lost their lives. housing is a particularly complex issue in ni. the discriminatory provision and allocation of social housing in ni was both a key theme of the civil rights campaign and a consistent feature of the conflict. claims of discrimination in the allocation of social housing began to surface during the 1950s and the community response to these claims were at the forefront of the civil rights movement (grech, 2017). it was in fact an act of deliberate discrimination in the allocation of social housing, and the subsequent protests against this, which led directly to the outbreak of widespread civil unrest from 1968 onwards (dickson, 2012). against the backdrop of discriminatory practices and the exclusion of catholics from social and political structures, occurrences of overt housing discrimination were a reminder of the institutional inequalities ingrained and dished out by the state (mallon, 2018). throughout the conflict a series of housing reforms were introduced to not only increase and improve the social housing stock but to also de-politicise housing and correct unfair allocation practices (frey, 2014). in 1998 the good friday agreement brought an end to the 30-year conflict and established a new devolved power sharing assembly. with the arrival of peace there was remarkable agreement among those involved in the formulation of housing policy that the time had come for locally accountable politicians to find local solutions to local problems however, many of the issues around discriminatory social housing provision in ni have never been addressed and significant differentials between catholic and protestant communities persist. deprived communities and vulnerable people continue to face significant issues in relation to the limited provision of adequate and affordable social housing, homelessness, housing poverty and stress, segregation, social exclusion and the legacy of conflict. despite an emphasis on the promotion of equality and human rights within the good friday agreement inequality in housing remains, not only within predominantly catholic communities, but across many of the nine identified equality categories here: religious belief; political opinion; gender; race; disability; age; marital status; dependents; and sexual orientation. this is due, in part, to the conplex challenge of power-sharing in a deeply divided society where politicians and policy-makers cannot easily agree on the progession of equality and human rights. in its 2017 ‘statement on inequalities in housing and communities’ the equality commission for ni (ecni) identified 7 key housing inequalities.1 as the largest and most segregated city, belfast is home to the highest number of individuals impacted by the most significant housing inequalities such as: unequal access to adequate housing; overcrowding; housing stress; homelessness; higher waiting lists and longer waiting times (ecni, 2017). one of the greatest contributing factors to housing inequalities, noted by ecni (2017), is the persistence of residential segregation. deep political and societal divisions have not been effectively addressed on the road to peace and as a result when given a choice the vast majority of people chose to live in a single identity area in keeping with their own perceived identity (ecni, 2017). although residential segregation has begun to decline the persistence of segregated residential patterns fragments and limits the operation of wider housing markets. ecni (2017) argues that a wide variety of evidence demonstrates a huge demand and intense pressure for additional housing for catholics, particularly in north belfast, which cannot be filled by the properties left vacant by protestants in the area as the peace line is not transgressed. this challenge is not unique to north belfast but reflects the effect of residential segregation across the city where the ‘lack of stock relative to demand for social housing in sometimes narrowly defined geographical areas may not easily be met by excess supply in other nearby areas’ (ecni, 2017, p. 22). across belfast, a collage of socalled peace walls and interface areas segregate catholic and protestant neighbourhoods creating economic, social and cultural equality barriers that result in: high levels of unemployment; high levels of educational 1 longer waiting times for catholic applicants; limited access to appropriate accommodation for travellers; susceptibility of migrant workers to tied accommodation with poor conditions; vulnerability of racial attacks on the homes of ethnic minorities/migrant groups; limitations on independent living for people with learning difficulties; people with disabilities living in homes inadequate for disability-related needs; and the harassment/safety of lesbian, gay and bisexual people. caitriona mackel/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 underachievement; inadequacies and accessibility issues in the provision of housing; low levels of investment; and a lack of development and regeneration initiatives for communities (byrne, 2012). these physical barriers create the divided spaces in which inequalities prevail and reconciliation seems a world away. belfast’s so-called peace walls and the complex challenges they maintain are a bleak reminder that the most vulnerable have been neglected on ni’s road to peace. inequalities are exacerbated by the isolation, fear and sectarian violence that dictates the narrative of everyday life in the shadows of belfast’s defensive architecture. being afforded the right to housing through a country’s constitution, legislation or commitment to internationally binding treaties does not always result in adequate housing for all. ni is no exception. housing policy, and in particular social housing policy, in ni has always been heavily influenced by political considerations. in 1990 the standing advisory commission on human rights (sachr) produced its second report on ‘religious and political discrimination and equality of opportunity in ni’ focused solely on housing. although the report highlighted that affirmative action measures, such as the official monitoring of religious backgrounds, deserved careful consideration political pressures and opposition from the ni housing executive, that such measures would cause a hostile public reaction, resulted in no express recommendation of regulatory measures to address discrimination and establish equality of opportunity in housing (cunningham, 2015). this was in stark contrast to sachr’s first report on discrimination and equality of opportunity in employment, which embraced and expressly recommended a regulatory affirmative action framework to address inequality. these recommendations were taken forward and incorporated into the fair employment (ni) act of 1989 and succeeded in reducing religious discrimination, creating greater employment of under-represented communities, and creating greater employment integration. crucial to the success of this affirmative action measures framework was the implementation of sachr’s explicit recommendations for robust data monitoring which allowed for external scrutiny of catholic and protestant recruitment (cunningham, 2015). the challenge of navigating housing in a politically and physically divided city has resulted in a failed opportunity to adopt a similar statutory framework which could have re-shaped policies and procedures to address historical housing inequalities and prevent new inequalities from arising over the course of the last three decades. 3. significance of the work joshi (2020) argues that affirmative action could reorientate transitioning societies towards a better understanding of socio-economic inequalities. by making affirmative action part of the transitional justice ‘toolkit’ transitioning societies benefit from the attention affirmative action brings to the socio-economic consequences of the past (joshi, 2020). joshi proposes he is the first to offer an integrated approach of affirmative action as transitional justice filling a gap in the current literature by bridging two fields ‘that share several conceptual and normative concerns yet until now have remained largely isolated from one another’ (joshi, 2020, p. 1). in proposing that affirmative action can bridge the divide between the field of transitional justice and the phenomenon of societal transition that it seeks to understand and facilitate joshi (2020) compares the use of affirmative action in two societies transitioning along racial lines: the united states (us) and south africa. although the us is largely excluded from transitional justice discourse joshi argues that when placed in conversation with south africa the us exhibits many characteristics of a transitional society recovering from the legacy of racial oppression and segregation (joshi, 2020). he argues that affirmative action has been a central means to pursue transition in both the us and south africa with transitional concerns underpinning the discourse on affirmative action in both societies (joshi, 2020). affirmative action is primarily designed to achieve equality and increase diversity through the deliberate use of race, gender, or other protected characteristics to the benefit of disadvantaged groups. affirmative action therefore requires us to intentionally look at the realities of the differentials between the life chances of different races or genders etc. and implement policies that redress these. in both the us and south africa affirmative action has been highly criticised for being race-conscious, for some ‘affirmative action based on race impedes transition to a non-racial world and is akin to practices that have been historically used to oppress racialized groups’(joshi, 2020, p. 14). however, joshi (2020) argues that shift away from affirmative action practices based on race, or other characteristics, actually impedes transition. ‘affirmative action should therefore occupy a central place among the transitional justice measures implemented to address massive human rights abuses’ (joshi, 2020, p. 19). by taking an integrated approach caitriona mackel/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 to affirmative action and transitional justice structural inequalities could be better addressed and transition better facilitated. a robust legal affirmative action framework currently exists in ni in the context of employment and empirical evidence demonstrates that the implementation of this framework through regulatory monitoring and enforcement has resulted in an increased employment share for previously under-represented groups and a significant shift towards workforce integration (muttarak, et al, 2012). in ni, an innovative programme of affirmative action utilises legal enforcement alongside voluntary action plans, to ensure that both catholic and protestant communities enjoy fair participation in employment (mccrudden, et al, 2004). the inclusion of affirmative action within fair employment legislation and practices have proved successful in transforming what was once a highly discriminatory and segregated employment sphere. the implementation of statutory obligations on employers to: register with an enforcement body (ecni); monitor and report on the religious composition of their workforce; and make changes to personnel policies and procedures, has led to both greater employment integration and greater employment of underrepresented communities. mccrudden, et al, (2004) suggest that the success of the ni approach to addressing employment inequalities through affirmative action could have far reaching implications; providing a model not only for other jurisdictions seeking to tackle issues of fair employment but also for other structural inequalities within society including within ni itself (mccrudden, et al, 2004). a missed opportunity to develop similar affirmative action based legislation, despite its consideration, to tackle housing inequalities in northern ireland has resulted in the persistence of historical religious discrimination and the growth of new inequalities over the course of the last three decades. my research seeks to advance further on these arguments by examining the use of affirmative action to address socioeconomic inequalities, through an illustrative case study on housing inequalities in post-conflict belfast, in order to investigate the potential integration of affirmative action into the transitional justice ‘toolkit’. as recently as december 2021 the ni human rights commission has noted that housing inequalities remains on their list of issues still requiring action. it is therefore timely to re-examine the capacity of affirmative action to address chronic housing inequalities as part of ni’s continued transition to sustainable peace. 4. theoretical approach my study utilises a theoretical framework that illustrates why transitioning societies need to prioritise socio-economic rights and how affirmative action could provide the necessary tools for tackling inequality, discrimination and disadvantage in post-conflict transition. by drawing upon the theories of transformative justice, substantive equality and new social movements my study illustrates how these concepts, and the relationships between them, reinforce the overall argument that affirmative action is a legitimate tool to address socio-economic inequalities, discrimination and disadvantage in post-conflict transition. as noted, by focusing predominantly on civil and political rights violations through a narrow set of legal remedies, transitional justice often overlooks violations of socio-economic rights and the impact of harms on victims and wider society. although it may be a complex undertaking, addressing these injustices within post-conflict societies is essential. for transitional justice to be effective different kinds of justice are needed depending on the nature of the injustice, and the level at which the injustice occurred, in the particular society at the moment of transition (daly, 2002). to modify post-conflict structures in ways that are more inclusive, equal and fair we must consider a concept of justice that is more transformative rather than transitional (gready, et al, 2010). transformative justice allows us to look more closely at affected communities within a range of different political settings with the aim of creating communication and pursuing ‘forms of justice that break with the structures that may have led to violence in the first place’(gready, et al, 2010, p. 1). transformative justice broadens ‘the focus of measures aimed at promoting postconflict or post-authoritarian justice for human rights abuses beyond that of transitional justice’ (evans, 2018, p. 37). transformative justice therefore requires the development of a new, specifically focused ‘toolkit’ and as evans (2018) suggests there is a case to be made for the use of existing tools designed to combat inequality, poverty and corruption. in particular, transitional justice mechanisms have thus far proved inadequate in dealing with violations relating to land, such as violations of the right to housing (cahill-ripley, 2014). where the established ‘toolkit’ of transitional caitriona mackel/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 justice is considered inappropriate or inadequate for dealing with socio-economic inequalities then the processes through which we pursue transformative justice matters (evans, 2018). although transitional justice is primarily anchored in law, for many transitional societies, such as ni, greater attention must be paid to the issues which lie in the background of legal and human rights discourse such as religion, culture, politics, economics and local tradition (joshi, 2020). dealing with socio-economic inequalities within transitional settings therefore requires the integration of knowledge, theories and tools from a variety of disciplines. taking a more transformative justice approach to transition allows us to step away from the more normative scope of transitional justice, draw upon the insights that can be gained from other fields and give serious consideration to mechanisms which traditionally fall outside of the realm of transitional justice. instead of aiming to treat all people alike substantive equality aims to correct disadvantage by focusing on the detrimental consequences attached to an individual’s status or group identity (fredman, 2011). fredman (2011) suggests that affirmative action advances substantive equality by actively taking steps to redress inequality, discrimination and disadvantage as well as prejudice within one concept. barnard & hepple (2000) suggest that under a substantive approach to equality special measures such as affirmative action can be used to overcome underrepresentation of disadvantaged groups in the workplace or ensure their fair share in the distribution of resources (barnard & hepple, 2000, p. 565). there is no one single definition or model of affirmative action, even the term itself varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and may be referred to as ‘positive action’, ‘employment equity’ or ‘special measures’. for the purposes of my research project the term affirmative action will be used as an umbrella term for the range of activities primarily designed to achieve equality and increase diversity through the deliberate use of race, gender, or other protected characteristics to the benefit of disadvantaged groups. a substantive equality framework provides the space for my research project to justify the consideration of affirmative action policies to address housing inequalities in ni. the development of specific targeted affirmative action policies focused on equitable outcomes and opportunities could address discrimination and unequal access. as a root cause of conflict the issue of addressing housing inequalities has been largely ignored as part of ni’s transitional processes. the application of affirmative action as a tool for dealing with these inequalities can only be considered within a transformative justice approach to dealing with the consequences of ni’s violent past. utilising the existing tools of substantive equality, as part of a transformative justice ‘toolkit’, therefore strengthens the overall argument within my research project that affirmative action has a potential role to play in addressing new, existing and persistent housing inequalities in post-conflict belfast. because transitional justice remains normatively driven it has been fairly limited in addressing the particular social and political needs of those directly affected by violent conflict, oppression and human rights violations (gready & robins, 2014). typically the externally driven, top-down, transitional justice agenda discourages the participation of affected populations, giving them little or no opportunity to engage in the process or goals of transitional mechanisms. a transformative justice approach on the other hand requires the inclusion of affected communities in shaping the agenda for law, policy and practice thus opening the door to actors typically exluded in transitional processes (evans, 2018). transformative justice encourages the voice of social movements and grassroots groups as opposed to the transitional justice approach of privileging elite actors. by giving agency and voice to affected populations and highlighting socio-economic rights, transformative justice could act as the catalyst for embedding these rights into transitioning societies. participatory processes are therefore a vital component of transformative justice providing affected populations with the means to raise concerns and shape processes which increase the likelihood of legitimate outcomes. social movements and community based organisations play a vital role in articulating the concerns of those most affected by issues such as housing inequalities. evans (2018) in particular, notes that the social movement praxis is ultimately essential for understanding how a transformative justice agenda might be promoted. urban social movements are increasingly considered an important part of urban governance processes with local activists influencing decision-making through participation practices and legal tools (domaradzka, 2018). domaradzka (2018) argues that the global spread of successful right to the city movements illustrates the power of collectives coming together under a common agenda to achieve social justice in the face of growing urban inequalities. the right to the city agenda can effect change by addressing: housing policies which ignore inequalities; property caitriona mackel/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 development practices which create housing shortages; and planning policies that create residential disadvantage (united nations, 2016). furthermore, the right to the city implies co-responsibility on governments and populations to claim, defend and promote this right. the rationale for taking a more transformative approach to addressing housing inequalities in belfast is thus further reinforced by the capacity of collective action to reshape policy and practice and effect lasting change across an urban agenda that is broader than just housing. under a transformative justice framework participatory action could be encouraged in communities throughout belfast to fully identify the housing inequalities and needs of those most at risk from the legacy of the past and effect lasting change that achieves housing equality for all. the theories of transformative justice, substantive equality and new social movements explored within my research project provides a unique framework which supports the overall research argument that affirmative action could play a vital role in addressing new, existing and persistent housing inequalities in post-conflict belfast. under a transformative justice agenda, that is driven by a bottom-up, context specific and participatory led approach to postconflict socio-economic justice and equality, affirmative action could be utilised to re-shape housing policy and address chronic housing inequalities in post-conflict belfast. in doing so we could look to the future as well as deal with the past. 5. methodological approach my research project takes the form of an illustrative case study conducted within an interdisciplinary, socio-legal framework using comparative analysis and semi-structured interviews to investigate how affirmative action could be used to address chronic housing inequalities in post-conflict belfast. the purpose of this case study is to illustrate how, through an examination of existing examples, affirmative action could be integrated into the transitional justice ‘toolkit’ for addressing socio-economic inequalities. an illustrative case study approach enables the researcher to explore and understand complex issues through an empirical study of a contemporary phenomenon within its reallife context (zainal, 2007). ‘as human rights problems are common to all countries, it is often useful to compare experiences in different countries and situations’ (husa, 2015). utilising comparative analysis methods within my illustrative case study gives access to an extensive range of alternative solutions or ideas that may reveal a way out of ni’s particular dilemma (esser & vliegenthart, 2017). comparative analysis will therefore be conducted on the use of affirmative action and the role of social movements in addressing socio-economic inequalities, including housing, in the us, south africa and ni. the purpose of this comparative analysis is to identify and draw upon the similarities and differences between the selected comparative subjects in order to investigate: how the implementation of affirmative action measures could address housing inequalities in post-conflict belfast; and what role social movements, such as the right to the city, could play in re-shaping housing policy and effecting lasting change. while there are significant legal, political, social and cultural differences between the three jurisdictions selected for comparison in my study, there are, several commonalities in relation to socio-economic inequalities and a deep history of societal division, residential segregation and violence. the issue of housing inequalities in particular is common across all three jurisdictions. most importantly affirmative action policies and programmes have been utilised in each, with varying degrees of success, to address a range of socio-economic inequalities including housing. social movements, particularly right to the city movements, have also played an important role in influencing decisionmaking and shaping policy in relation to land and housing across all three jurisdictions. the comparative analysis will be conducted in three parts. the first part will explore: the impetus and legal framework for affirmative action; the implementation of affirmative action; and the impact of affirmative action in all three jurisdictions in relation to addressing socio-economic inequalities. the second part will follow a similar pattern of investigation to focus specifically on how affirmative action has been implemented to address the effects of housing discrimination and segregation in both the us and south africa in order to identify similarities, differences and lessons learned that may provide insight into how affirmative action could be effectively applied to the context of housing in ni, where no current framework exists. the final part of this comparative analysis will examine the right to the city campaigns which form an integral part of the continued fight against housing inequalities and segregation in all three jurisdictions to establish and evaluate the similarities and differences in the role of social movements in achieving social justice. caitriona mackel/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 the comparative analysis will be conducted through desk-based research using a socio-legal examination of legislation, case law, policy documents, reports and academic literature to collect and analyse relevant data on the implementation, enforcement and effectiveness of affirmative action, and the role of social movements, to address socio-economic inequalities, including housing, in all three jurisdictions. by conducting a comparative analysis of legislation, policies, and administrative practices relating to affirmative action, alongside a comparison of the role of social actors in the housing sector, my research project aims to pinpoint potential limitations, implications and benefits for the development of a potential participatory led regulatory affirmative action framework that could be applied to the illustrative case study on new, existing and persistent housing inequalities in post-conflict belfast. as belfast has been selected as an illustrative case study semi-structured interviews to explore local participants’ thoughts on the use of affirmative action in housing will be conducted within ni using a range of appropriate participants selected from the public, private and community sectors. interview participants will include carefully selected representatives recruited from: government departments and agencies; public agencies and bodies; human rights organisations; ngos; political parties; and community organisations. participants who are directly involved in the provision of social housing, the development of housing policy, the monitoring of inequalities and those who represent community interests have been identified as the primary interview targets. a small number of private landlords and property developers who are directly involved in the development and provision of social housing will also be interviewed. participants will include representatives from: the department for communities; the ni housing executive; semi-public and private social housing providers; ecni; the participation and practice of rights; the market development association; and political parties. approximately 20-25 interviews will be conducted using a set of predetermined, open-ended questions designed to encourage participants to openly discuss their views on how the implementation and enforcement of affirmative action could effectively address chronic housing inequalities in belfast. participants will also be asked about their thoughts and experiences of social movements and actors in shaping decision-making, policy development and community focused human rights indicators. 6. anticipated findings, conclusions & implications as a work in progress there are as yet no definitive findings, conclusions or implications from my research. the comparative analysis process is currently underway and initial examinations of the data obtained to date indicate that there are a range of similarities and differences between the three jurisdictions being compared. similarities are present in the justifications for the use of affirmative action; the legal foundations of affirmative action obligations; the beneficiaries and domains in which affirmative action is implemented; and in some respects the effectiveness of using these measures to address socio-economic inequalities. however, substantial differences in relation to the boundaries of affirmative action, the role of the judiciary, and the ways in which affirmative action is implemented and enforced cannot be ignored. early data on the use of affirmative action to address housing discrimination and segregation in the us and south africa suggests that despite a firm legal framework in both jurisdictions progress on these issues has been slow as a result of political controversies and failures in the implementation and enforcement of affirmative action obligations. for example in the us, the affirmatively furthering fair housing (affh) rule established under the obama administration in 2015 set out a comprehensive statutory framework for states, local governments and public housing agencies to take meaningful actions to combat discrimination, overcome segregations, foster inclusive communities and promote fair housing choice (us department of housing and urban development, 2015). the affh rule showed considerable potential to increase inclusion, eliminate discrimination and improve equal access to opportunity (bostic and acolin, 2017). however, this potential could not be reached as implementation of the rule was delayed and eventually scrapped by the trump administration in 2020. similarly in south africa, the socio-economic rights institute (seri) outlines that the persistence of discrimination does not stem from the legal and policy framework developed for housing but rather from political pressures and the manner in which this framework is implemented in practice (seri, 2018). the preliminary findings indicate that an affirmative action framework for ni could have the potential to address housing inequalities but the success of such a framework is dependent on political cooperation and the effective implementation of robust monitoring and enforcement procedures. caitriona mackel/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 initial findings from the us and south africa also demonstrate that the meaningful participation of affected populations is essential for the success of an affirmative action framework in housing. affirmative action is designed to redress the specific needs of those most disadvantaged, marginalised, exluded or ignored in society (fredman, 2016). early data indicates that affirmative action measures must be designed not only for, but in conjunction with, the participation of affected populations in order to be responsive to these needs and affect lasting change. a lack of participation implies limited power and voice to affect change in the attitudes, institutions and policies which have fuelled discrimination and exclusion in the first place (united nations, 2016). the challenge lies in the ability to incorporate participation in policy-making processes which are primarily conducted by political elites. preliminary analysis of the work of social movements indicates that the solution could lie in their ability to overcome the barriers which exclude civil society from policy formulation (galego, 2021).a comparative analysis of the right to the city social movement in the us, south africa and ni is due to commence and it is anticipated that the data will demonstrate ways in which this movement could be utilised in the policy-making process to create more legitimate, transparent, accountable, and equitable housing policies and practices in ni. semi-structured interviews, for which full ethical approval has been granted, are currently underway in ni. research participants from the ngo and community sector, in particular, noted how public policy, underwhich housing falls, is often obstructed by power sharing tensions and political deadlocks at the heart of government. initial data gathered from these research participants indicates a strong desire for the development of a statutory framework which would place obligations on housing providers to monitor, report on and take action to address inequalities and on government to ensure effective implementation and enforcement. data obtained from interview participants to date, including the nihe and a number of ni’s main political parties, regarding the commitment to effective implementation of statutory monitoring, reporting and enforcement procedures in ni’s employment sector indiates that similar commitments and success could be achieved in the context of housing under a statutory framework. interviews are ongoing and it is anticipated that the data obtained from future participants will not only shape the development of an affirmative action framework but also further demonstrate that the timing is now right to apply affirmative action in the context of housing, as suggested by sachr, to secure the equitable provision and allocation of social housing in ni. it is anticipated that this work in progress while culminate in the development of an affirmative action framework which could be implemented into law and policy by the ni assembly and could be monitored and enforced by the ecni. this framework incorporate similar statutory monitoring, reporting and enforcement process to those which already exist in employment in ni with the addition of monitoring all equality categories in order to effectively address the range of housing inequalities experienced in ni. by considering the role of social movements in influencing public policy my research seeks to incorporate grassroots participation into ni policy processes to achieve reforms that address the needs of those most impacted by ni’s chronic housing inequalities. ultimately, while my research project is context specific it seeks to have wider significance and uncover the potential power of integrating affirmative action into the transitional justice ‘toolkit’ for addressing socio-economic inequalities far beyond the borders of ni's most politically, socially, economically and spatially divided city. references arbour, l. 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(2015). monitoring equality – reflexive regulation, planning systems, and the role of discrimination law: lessons from northern ireland. 14 the equal rights review. daly, e. (2002). transformative justice: charting a path to reconciliation. 12 international legal perspectives. department for communities. (2020). northern ireland housing statistics 2019-20. nisra caitriona mackel/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 dickson, b. (2012). the european convention on human rights and the conflict in northern ireland . oxford. domaradzka, a. (2018). urban social movements and the right to the city: an introduction to the special issue on urban. 29 institute for social studies. equality commission for northern ireland. (2017). statement on key inequalities in housing and communities in northern ireland. equality commission for northern ireland. esser, f. and vliegenthart, r. (2017). comparative research methods in the international encyclopedia of communication research methods. wiley & sons. evans, m. (2018). transformative justice: remedying human rights violations beyond transition. routledge. fredman, s. (2011). discrimination law. oxford university press. fredman, s. (2016) substantive equality revisited. international journal of constitutional law. frey, j. (2014). the future of social housing in northern ireland: structure, funding and supply. housing finance international. galego, d. (2021). social movements’ influence on public policy : goals, actions and outcomes. international conference on public policy (icpp 5). gready, p. and robins, s. (2014). from transitional to transformative justice: a new agenda for practice. 8 the international journal of transitional justice. gready, p. boesten, j. crawford, g. and wilding, p. (2010) transformative justice: a concept note. accessed at https://wun.ac.uk/files/transformative_justice_-_concept_note_web_version.pdf grech, o. (2017). human rights and the northern ireland conflict: law, politics and conflict, 1921-2014. routledge. joshi, y. (2020). affirmative action as transitional justice. 1 wisconsin law review. kelly, g. (2012). progressing good relations and reconciliation in post-agreement northern ireland. incore. mallon, n. (2018) even half a century after caledon inequality in housing is glaring. irishnews.com. https://www.irishnews.com/news/politicalnews/2018/06/18/news/platform-nichola-mallon-1358075/ marks, s. (2011). human rights and root causes. 74(1) modern law review. mccrudden, c. ford, r. and heath, a. (2004). legal regulation of affirmative action in northern ireland: an empirical assessment. 24(3) oxford journal of legal studies. muttarak, r. hamill, h. heath, a. and mccrudden, c. (2012). does affirmative action work? evidence from the operation of fair employment legislation in northern ireland. 47(3) sociology. parlevliet, m. (2010). rethinking conflict transformation from a human rights perspective in human rights and conflict transformation: the challenges of just peace. berghof conflict research. ramcharan, b. (2004). human rights and conflict resolution. 4 human rights law review. robins, s. (2017). failing victims? the limits of transitional justice in addressing the needs of victims of violations. human rights and international legal discourse. socio-economic rights institute of south africa. (2018). informal settlements and human rights in south africa. submission to the un special rapporteur on adequate housing 5. thoms, o.n.t. and ron, j. (2007). do human rights violations cause internal conflict. 29 human rights quarterly. united nations (2016). policy paper 1: the right to the city and cities for all. united nations. united nations. (2014). transitional justice and economic, social and cultural rights. hr/pub/13/5. united nation. (2016). leaving no one behind: the imperative of inclusive development. report on the world social situation 2016. united nations. us department of housing and urban development. (2015). affh fact sheet: the duty to affirmatively further fair housing. us department of housing and urban development. zainal, z. (2007). case study as a research method. 9 jurnal kemanusiaan. https://wun.ac.uk/files/transformative_justice_-_concept_note_web_version.pdf pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i2.935 neighborhood impact assessment an urban sustainability instrument: analysis in medium-sized cities in são paulo, brazil. emanoele lima abreu1, renata bovo peres2 1 federal university of são carlos, department of environmental sciences e-mail: emanoele@estudante.ufscar.br 2 federal university of são carlos, department of environmental sciences e-mail: renataperes@ufscar.br abstract the neighborhood impact assessment (nia) 1 is an important instrument of the brazilian urban policy enacted in the city statute, federal law 10.257/2001. considered by the national academic literature as a relevant instrument for local urban environmental management. however, in brazil, the understanding that the environmental and the urban are part of the same context is not yet a reality within the local public administration sectors, with a deep disconnection of management and governance between the urban and environmental departments. the objective of this work was to analyze the application of nia in medium-sized cities in the state of são paulo and to evaluate its contribution to the local urban environmental management of these cities. we also intend to evaluate the nia integration with other sectors of local public management such as the environment, urban mobility, social housing, etc. as a methodology, we used nia process components, verifying the absence or presence in the urban laws of four (04) medium-sized cities in the state of são paulo. we also interviewed civil servants from the environmental and urban sectors, supplementing information that was absent in laws and official documents. the results reveal that most municipalities do not have a specific law that regulates the nia, and master plans, land use and occupation law regulate this instrument. civil servants emphasize the weaknesses and strengths of the instruments. as potentialities of this instrument, they observed public participation, increased state control in environmentally sensitive areas, greater urban-environmental compensation mechanisms, and so on. weaknesses signalize were: conflicts involving urban land subdivision, interference of the real estate market in the use and occupation of urban land, changes in the master plans by the city councilman aiming to meet the interests of private financial capital. the four cities, which are part of the case studies, have not yet effectively incorporated elements of climate change in their local governance. issues related to social housing, expansion of slums, occupation of protected environmental areas by poor populations are still the most urgent priorities in these cities, as well as in many latin american cities. the improvement and advancement of the articulation of the urban and environmental sectors in brazilian cities must require thinking about better scientific methodological and governmental improvements. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords neighborhood impact assessment; latin american cities; medium cities. 1 brazilian authors often use the terminology in english “neighborhood impact study”. however, we chose to use “neighborhood impact assessment” according to (abiko & barreiros, 2014) to facilitate the understanding of the instrument for the international audience, as it has similarities with the impact assessment. however, in brazil, the nia is known as the “estudo de impacto de vizinhança”. environmental science and sustainable development http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) mailto:emanoele@estudante.ufscar.br mailto:renataperes@ufscar.br http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i2.935&domain=press.ierek.com pg. 2 emanoele lima abreu and renata bovo peres/ environmental science and sustainable development 1. introduction after a long period of 21 years of a dictatorial regime, the redemocratization of brazil was mainly marked by the promulgation of the federal constitution in 1988 (cf/88). as of cf/88, brazilian cities acquired a central role in the formulation of territorial policies, especially in the creation of regulatory mechanisms and instruments for planning and controlling land use and occupancy. however, although the decentralization of urban and environmental planning has brought more autonomy and protagonism to cities, these processes are still full of obstacles and gaps that need to be better qualified (fernandes, 2008) one aspect to be analyzed is the connection between the action of the public power, responsible for the urbanization and regulation of the territory, with the other agents involved in the production of the city, such as business and real estate sectors, contractors, public service concessionaires, developers and construction companies (rolnik, 2009). often, market interests, to the detriment of fulfilling the city’s social function, mostly drive these connections. these processes have presented new contours related to the commodification and financialization of housing (harvey, 2007; klink & stroher, 2017). with the approval of the national urban policy through federal law no. 10,257/2001, known as the city statute (ec), the socio-environmental dimension was consolidated in brazilian urban planning. however, the socio environmental dimension found little support in the instruments instituted by the ec, which are more focused on dealing with real estate speculation. according to schvarsberg (2011), the urban instruments of this law were created in order to establish the separation between the right to build and the right to property, guaranteeing the principle of democratic management of cities. of the instruments presented by the ec, the neighborhood impact assessment (nia) is the closest to the environmental instruments known in the national environmental policy (federal law nº 6938/1981) (peres & silva, 2013). the expression “neighborhood impact” was created to describe a specific group of environmental, urban, economic, social and urban mobility impacts that occur in urbanized areas and are present in the area of influence of a given enterprise or activity implemented in the urban territory. (lollo & röhm, 2005). in this context, the neighborhood impact assessment (nia) is used in brazil to assess the environmental, urban, economic, social and urban mobility impact that the construction or implementation of an enterprise or activity may cause in its neighborhood. it is widely required by the municipal government (in brazil, the municipality/city is the smallest state scale) to authorize the construction and/or operation of these activities. the ec defines that each city must create a local law defining what types of activities need nia to operate within the urban territory, it is also the role of the municipal government to decide the scope of this study and the need, or not, of holding public hearings. thus, the nia simultaneously brings together three characteristics that seek to guarantee sustainable, resilient and fair cities: it is a study of a technical nature; it is a conflict mediation instrument; and is a tool to implement urban policy objectives at the local level (schvarsberg, 2016). in a nutshell, the nia is a legal instrument of urban management, leaving it up to the municipalities to define the types of projects that must prepare nia (inguaggiato et al., 2021). the nia aims to assess urban socio environmental impacts, in addition to indicating measures to prevent, correct and mitigate these impacts. through the assessment of impacts, it is possible to infer the conformity of the implementation of the enterprise or activity in the indicated place, establishing the relationship between the city and the enterprise and the enterprise with the city, considering the neighborhood that is inserted (rolnik et al., 2005). in cities where the nia appears in urban laws, norms and/or regulations, it is requested for the approval of projects and activities with the potential to cause impacts on the urban environment, consisting of a step in the urban licensing procedure. it can also present significant integrations with environmental licensing at the local level (lam). (abreu & peres, 2021). the integration of nia in local environmental management is seen as a way to improve municipal management and the environmental quality of cities (araújo & campante, 2017; peres & cassiano, 2019). pg. 3 emanoele lima abreu and renata bovo peres/ environmental science and sustainable development the understanding of the environment and the urban, as integrated realities is still at the beginning in the management of brazilian cities. in most of these cities, the regularization processes go through urban planning approval and environmental licensing separately and without linkage. the disconnection between the urban and environmental sectors of the same municipal government is evident. (gouvêa, 2021). the nia has some similarities with the neighborhood sustainability assessment tools (nsa). nsa tools are designed to facilitate decision-making in the pursuit of sustainable development (gargiulo et al., 2018; komeily & srinivasan, 2015, 2016; yigitcanlar et al., 2015; yoon & park, 2015). in urban and neighborhood contexts, where various entities and forces act to influence decision-making, it is essential to add the institutional dimension to the three pillars of sustainability. in this case, not only the interactions between non-governmental organizations and governmental organizations involved in decision making, but the set of regulations, laws and norms that guide these interactions (sharifi & murayama, 2013, 2014). according to sharifi & murayama (2013), nsa tools can be divided into two main categories. in the first category are tools derived from construction assessment tools, such as leed-nd and breeam communities. in the second category are tools that are incorporated into neighborhood scale plans and sustainability initiatives to assess their sustainability performance, such as hqe2r, ecocity and scr. the nia seems to fall into this second category, which can be studied in future research. however, the socio-economic context of the country must be taken into account when carrying out such an analysis. some authors have already studied how nsa tools are implemented in developing countries, showing that it is possible to apply these tools (kamble & bahadure, 2019; yigitcanlar et al., 2015). research aimed at nia innovation is needed, incorporating new knowledge and sharing good practices learned in other tools. in reality, however, the nia is still poorly researched in brazil. (abreu & peres, 2021). although the introduction of the nia in the ec is more than 20 years old, its consolidation as an instrument of urban and environmental management is still incipient and several authors point out gaps and challenges regarding its applicability by municipal administrations, leaving gaps, lock-ins and legal inconsistencies (abreu & peres, 2021; pilotto et al., 2013). in this context, this paper aims to verify the presence or absence of the nia process components in the urban legislation of four (04) medium-sized cities in são paulo, identifying advances and limitations in the legislation and its possible articulation with urban environmental management. 2. methodology for the research, we selected four medium-sized cities located in the state of são paulo. this state was a pioneer in brazil in the regulation and implementation of the nia. são paulo has the highest population concentration in brazil and its municipalities have heterogeneous urban legislation, according to their territorial and socioeconomic realities. we chose cities with more than 100 thousand inhabitants because they have greater economic density and have a denser urban space (bitoun & miranda, 2009). considering the analysis of the database of the most current census of brazilian municipalities, carried out by the brazilian institute of geography and statistics (ibge) (ibge, 2019), this range includes municipalities that have had a master plan for a longer time and higher percentages of municipalities (> 95%) that have urban and environmental sectors in the municipal government. the analysis of the legislation followed the methodological roadmap, adapted from peres & cassiano (2019), which defines ten nia process components, which can be considered minimum requirements to be incorporated by municipal jurisdictions, aiming at a better orientation to environmental-urban management for the regulation and application of these instruments. we analyzed the nia laws, regulations, rules and documents for each of these cities based on the nia process components. in order to obtain more information about urban environmental management in these cities, we interviewed at least one public servant from each municipal government. we recorded the interviews and coded them to ensure public servant's anonymity. all subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before participating in the study. the study was conducted in accordance with cns resolution no. 510/2016 and with the pg. 4 emanoele lima abreu and renata bovo peres/ environmental science and sustainable development approval of the research ethics committee of the federal university of são carlos with protocol caae no. 55867222.3.0000.5504. according to creswell (2009), interviews are considered one of the most important sources of information for a case study, as they allow a more detailed record of particular points of view about a phenomenon. the type of interview selected for this research was the semi-structured focal interview, in which the interviews are spontaneous, but follow a set of questions, conducted by a semi-structured interview script (tab.1). table 1 semi-structured interview questions. questions what is the role of the neighborhood impact assessment (nia) in municipal urban management? what gaps and lock-ins have been experienced by the municipal urban and environmental planning agency? is there a consultative or deliberative council or collegiate body dealing with urban issues in the municipality? (if the answer to the previous question is yes) does this council have any influence on the decision making for the approval of projects that go through the nia process? can you identify conflicts between urban policy and environmental policy in the municipal territory? conducting interviews helped in the analysis of the rationale of the normative panorama of creation and execution of the nia and on the technical-administrative procedures for approving projects that cause urban, environmental, social and economic impacts in the selected municipalities. 3. results and discussion the most recent census of brazilian municipalities indicate a gradual growth in the number of municipalities that presented the nia in a specific law or as an instrument of their master plans, approximately 40% of all brazilian municipalities. when taking into account the population size, it was observed that, in those with more than 100 thousand inhabitants, the regulation of the nia was present in about 90% of the population (ibge, 2016, 2019). the lack of regulation of the nia by the municipalities is one of the main obstacles to its implementation, although difficulties persist for those who have regulation. the frequent postponement of the regulation of municipal urban policy instruments, as well as the lack of physical structure and human resources, are considered important obstacles to the achievement of its objectives (araújo & campante, 2017). figure 1 presents the analysis of the verification of absence, partial presence or presence in current municipal legislation, according to the methodology proposed by peres & cassiano (2019). those who answered up to 25% of the process components presented in the methodology, partial presence from 26% to 75% and presence above 76% were considered as absence. figure 1 synthesis of the analysis of the nia regulation, considering the methodological roadmap of process components. source: adapted from peres & cassiano (2019) pg. 5 emanoele lima abreu and renata bovo peres/ environmental science and sustainable development the sorocaba legislation does not have half of the nia process components analyzed, while the other half was presented in a partly present form. jundiaí and santo andré have some categories present. americana partly met most components. this, however, does not indicate whether the instrument is fully functioning in municipal urban management. 3.1. presentation of the project proposal jundiaí provided more information and instructions to the technical managers on how to start the nia approval process. the municipality also has a geographic database called geojundiaí, where information about the nia can be consulted and viewed by zone/neighborhood. americana also has a similar system, but with less information. another good practice verified was the availability of project approval flowcharts, since it is a way to present in an integral and synthetic way the procedures of the process, facilitating the understanding of the steps to be overcome and which sectors are responsible (peres & cassiano, 2019). all cities except americana have flowcharts showing all steps for nia approval. the easy access and clarity of information on the elaboration of the nia prevents possible ambiguities in its elaboration (inguaggiato et al., 2021). 3.2. screening of projects that need nia regarding the screening stage, the presentation of typologies subject to nia is present in all municipalities. the use of lists with cut-off criteria can be problematic due to the relative degree of arbitrariness with which they are defined. this methodology possibly originates from the field of environmental impact assessment (eia), where it is common to have both positive lists (with the enterprises and activities that require eia), and negative lists (which do not require eia). they end up being simple and quick to use approaches, however, they are targets of criticism as their inherently arbitrary approaches and that, many times, do not capture all the information of the context of that enterprise or activity (rocha & fonseca, 2017). this methodology must, therefore, be complemented with rules that include unforeseen cases that may be considered by the urban and environmental planning agency as potentially impacting, in addition to clear and defined procedures for the analysis of cases not covered by the law. the incorporation of discretionary power in the municipal executive is important for the definition of rules and negotiation of exceptions. covering all cases that have a significant impact, even if they do not appear in the typologies lists. in americana, the master plan defines what low, medium and high impact is. all high-impact activities and enterprises are eligible for nia. santo andré is the only city that has different types of nia according to the degree of impact of the enterprise/activity, with type 1 being simplified and type 3 more complex, the latter with analysis and approval subject to consideration by the municipal council for urban policy. 3.2. defining the scope of the nia all municipalities presented criteria to determine the scope of the nia: definition of the areas of influence, indication of the main items that the nia must contain, in addition to the components, aspects and impacts that must be analyzed, considering the issues listed in the city statute. the use of the same criteria as the statute shows the influence of the law on the legal structure adopted by the municipalities. however, the simple copy of the questions and instruments of the federal law, both by the specific laws and by the master plans, can evidence the lack of knowledge about the reality of the municipality itself. the availability of the term of reference (tr) by the urban planning agency was found only in jundiaí and sorocaba. it is important that the regulation provides for both the preparation and the supply of trs, with a detailed definition of the scope and guidance for the preparation of the studies, including the characterization of the impact assessment methods, criteria and parameters to be used (araújo & campante, 2017). regarding the definition of neighborhood areas, municipal legislation varies. jundiaí differentiates “area of direct influence” and “area of indirect influence” of the enterprises or activities, concepts brought from the environmental impact assessment (sánchez, 2020). in santo andré, the land use and occupancy law uses the concepts of “mediate neighborhood”, for those installed in lots and blocks that border the activity lot. and pg. 6 emanoele lima abreu and renata bovo peres/ environmental science and sustainable development "immediate neighborhood", the one located in the project's area of influence and that can be reached by it, covering at least a radius of 500.00 m (five hundred meters) counted from the limits of the lots. sorocaba determines that the type of enterprise or activity under analysis will determine the neighborhood. americana does not provide this information. the definition of the concept of neighborhood was one of the points addressed by polizel (2018) that deserve to be improved in the regulation of the nia. 3.3. preparation of the nia as for the elaboration of the nia, the legislation of americana, santo andré and sorocaba requires a multidisciplinary team, the first two cities require that professionals have specific training, qualified and registered by the city hall. jundiaí legislation did not provide information on those responsible for preparing the nia. the establishment of responsibility for the elaboration of the nia is often absent in the legislation that regulates the instrument and, according to polizel (2018), only 30% of the fifty most populous cities in brazil had such determination. public servants of urban planning agencies in cities in the metropolitan region of belo horizonte (minas gerais, brazil), widely criticize the low quality of the nia presented by the entrepreneurs (merícia, 2018). according to the author, nias have a large volume of pages, but are technically inconsistent and prepared by teams that appear to meet the specific interests of the contracting entrepreneur. araújo & campante (2017) highlight the importance of studies being carried out by interdisciplinary teams with training and specific technical practice to assess impacts in the urban environment. the legislation of americana, santo andré and sorocaba determines the elaboration of a report with the information of the nia presented in an objective way and in accessible language so that the population of the neighborhood can understand. the legislation of sorocaba determines that the information be reproduced in accessible language and illustrated by maps, pictures, photos and other visual resources so that the population can understand the advantages and disadvantages of the project, as well as all the consequences of its implementation and operation. 3.4. analysis of the nia by the municipal public power team all municipalities provide little detail on the nia review process. in jundiaí, a technical group of professionals from different departments carries out the analysis. however, there is no participation of municipal councils at this stage. in santo andré, the municipal council of urban policy has a significant participation in the analysis of the nia. municipal councils are important instruments of social participation, being composed, when constituted on a par, by representatives of non-governmental organizations, universities, organized civil society, business and city hall technicians. the analysis and/or decision by several stakeholders can make the decision fairer and prevent the appropriation of such spaces by the local elite. americana, jundiaí and santo andré indicate the agency responsible for analyzing the nia and in which other agencies the process will proceed. santo andré presents a detailed flowchart of the working hours in the various departments. according to araújo & campante (2017), it is essential to regulate consultation procedures with sectoral bodies and essential that analyzes are carried out in an integrated manner: (...) the most successful experiences being those related to the formation of intersectoral commissions with the participation of the various secretariats and concessionaires, working in a shared way, from the initial stages of formulating the terms of reference and defining the scope of the studies that will be required. the experience of bringing together a santo andré multidisciplinary technical group is consistent with the quote by araújo & campante (2017). interviewee 01 highlighted the relevance of the analysis of the nia involving representatives of various bodies in the municipality of santo andré. the lack of articulation and eventual changes in the competences of urban planning agencies is often one of the main reasons for the increase in bureaucracy and for the loss of efficiency in the project approval processes. pg. 7 emanoele lima abreu and renata bovo peres/ environmental science and sustainable development 3.5. public consultation with neighborhood stakeholders the ec presupposes a society of active citizens, organized and informed about their interests, whose involvement with urban issues is a way of providing social justice. it also establishes that the municipal public power is not the only one responsible for the execution of urbanization projects, nor the main producer of space, so that urbanization requires cooperation between society, private initiative and government sectors, incorporating the population in these decision-making processes (bechelli, 2011; caldeira & holston, 2015) participatory planning and management, however, are still recent themes in brazilian legislation, especially when considering the still recent military dictatorship, the promulgation of the federal constitution of 1988 and the city statute itself. in this way, the stage of public participation ends up being neglected to the detriment of the participation of professionals directly linked to the production of the city, such as architects, engineers, representatives of the real estate market, etc. the segments that represent the interests of communities end up participating only in certain historical moments, as verified by (moura, 2009) in the city of curitiba (paraná, brazil), considered a model in urban planning, as “an exclusion that is confirmed in the inexistence of democratic channels of participation, or the fragility of the few instituted councils”. the city of sorocaba is the only one to present, as a condition for approval of the nia, the consent of the population: neighborhood consent must be proven through the agreement of more than 50% of residents within a radius of 300m from the site. perception surveys with the population have the potential to extract both quantitative data, such as the magnitude of impacts, and qualitative, regarding the aspects to be impacted with the installation and/or operation of the project. . a incorporação dos debates e disputas realizados durante as audiências públicas é uma forma do poder público ouvir, da comunidade afetada, impactos que influenciam a vizinhança e que, entretanto, não foram apreciados na elaboração do nia. apenas jundiaí prevê a inclusão das discussões realizadas nas audiências ao processo de análise do nia. um dos objetivos essenciais do nia é fornecer segurança à comunidade vizinha, informando sobre os efeitos positivos e negativos do empreendimento. é, portanto, um instrumento de justiça social que deve ser tanto elaborado como analisado de forma imparcial, promovendo a devida publicidade e garantindo o direito de participação dos interessados. os espaços de debate do nia, tanto nas audiências quanto nas consultas públicas, como no caso de sorocaba, podem impulsionar as discussões para além de um empreendimento específico, promovendo a produção da cidade de forma participativa e integrada à gestão ambiental municipal (peres; cassiano, 2019). todavia, conforme observado por (araújo et al., 2019): (...) even in cities that have been structuring themselves to apply the nia in a more systematic and effective way, it is the lack of mechanisms for popular participation that, together with the absence of collegiate deliberation bodies, make urban licensing processes more vulnerable to articulations and political fluctuations of each management. the municipal government, through the regulation of the nia, must enable the process of public participation in all stages of project approval, effecting its action in decision-making spaces, consolidating the ideal of participatory democracy established by the cf/88 and the ec (merícia, 2018). the involvement of different stakeholders in all phases of the nia, as well as in the nsa tools and aia, validates the authenticity and functioning of the systems (kamble & bahadure, 2019). 3.6. decision in jundiaí and santo andré, decision-making is the responsibility of the managers after issuing an opinion by the multidisciplinary technical group. in santo andré, the municipal council for urban policy subsidizes the final decision on whether or not to approve a type 3 nia. in the city of sorocaba, the municipal planning council participates in the analysis and approval of the nia. in jundiaí, the legislation does not provide for the participation of municipal councils in decision-making. it is essential to create deliberative collegiate councils representing the public power and organized civil society for the issuance of urban and environmental licenses (araújo; campante, 2017). pg. 8 emanoele lima abreu and renata bovo peres/ environmental science and sustainable development whether the decision is made by an authority (only the manager of the urban planning agency), or a decision made by the municipal council, clarity of the criteria for formulating and justifying decision-making is essential. the prediction of the participation of municipal councils in the decision phase on the nia gains importance according to the feasibility of including management measures that serve the affected communities (peres; cassiano, 2019). the use of georeferenced databases updated with information on licensing processes, closed or in progress, as an important tool to support decision-making, both in the scope of the assessment of local cumulative impacts and within a context of metropolitan planning. 3.7. monitoring and impact management santo andré is the only one that answered all questions related to the monitoring and management of impacts. all municipalities require the entrepreneur or person responsible for preparing the nia to sign a term of commitment, formalizing the commitment to comply with mitigating and/or compensatory measures. the approval of the nia and the respective license/authorization to build or operate, per se, should already guarantee compliance with those mitigating and/or compensatory measures, in accordance with the law. the signing of a "contract" formalizing this commitment shows that the law is often not complied with. the public servant seeks, with the signing of the term of commitment, to reaffirm the legal obligations of the entrepreneur. santo andré and sorocaba are the only ones that have implemented monitoring measures with definition of costs, actions and schedules. the details of monitoring actions or programs and impact management measures only appear in the legislation of santo andré and sorocaba. both provide for the development of a follow-up and monitoring program for impacts, indicating factors and parameters to be adopted during all phases of the enterprise or activity. in the cities of americana, jundiaí and santo andré, there is an obligation, on the part of the technical responsible, to indicate deadlines, schedules and costs of the monitoring stages. according to (marques & silva, 2015), mitigating measures are important interventions to mitigate the impacts caused by the enterprise or activity, however, they are the counterparts that have the potential to improve the public space where the project is planned. in this regard, interviewee 02, when asked about the possibilities of improving the nia in santo andré, reinforces the importance of these compensations and points out as one of the aspects that need improvements in municipal legislation: so, for example, i will mention the issues of compensation in public facilities. it is somewhat difficult to quantify these impacts depending on the enterprise, right? so, we have... we've already tested some formulas, right? and i think there is still a field of improvement for us to – let’s say – evolve in this regard. interviewee 03 cites how the department has adapted itself when asking for compensation in projects that require less demands on public facilities: so, i will cite, for example, a project that, according to the calculation of the department of education, would generate a demand for three places within a day care center. there is no day care for just three children: the city hall has a standard day care module that is for a minimum of 120 children and the most common standard would be for 240 children. so, either you order a whole outfit or you don't order anything? so, we transformed this demand into a value, a value in money. and this amount is paid by the entrepreneur and he goes to the municipal urban development fund, and this resource is transferred to the department of education, for example. in addition, the department uses this resource to reinforce the daycare she has closest, anyway. so, this, for example, is a way that was found to give an answer. because at the beginning, you couldn't do anything, if you didn’t justify the construction of a complete equipment which is the majority of cases -, or you demanded the construction of a complete equipment which, depending on the case, would be excessive, right? so, we still have it, we struggle a little with it, but we have been working more or less along this line project follow-up after nia approval the monitoring stage provides for which body is responsible for inspection and which mechanisms will be used to ensure compliance with the commitments assumed by the person in charge. compliance with the implementation of mitigating and/or compensatory measures must be monitored through an inspection carried out by the licensing emanoele lima abreu and renata bovo peres/ environmental science and sustainable development body, preferably consolidated through a monitoring report from the nia (schvarsberg et al., 2016). all cities, however, have little information related to post-approval follow-up. only the city of jundiaí determines which teams are responsible for carrying out the follow-up after the approval of the nia. the forecast of follow-up inspections was found only in the legislation of sorocaba. it is observed that in many municipalities, after the approval of the nia, impact mitigation actions are no longer monitored and end up being disregarded and abandoned over time. 4. final considerations the regulation of the nia in the four cities showed differences in the way the instrument is applied by the municipal government. most do not have a specific nia law, those that existed previously were revoked by the respective master plans with a forecast of future regulation. the existence of nia legislation does not imply the quality of the instrument and its application by the municipal government. however, the absence of clear legislation can be an obstacle to the application of municipal urban policy, especially when related to licensing and inspectionprocesses. the participation of neighborhood communities in the four cities requires structures that guarantee the right to the city in ways that are more efficient. this could occur through public consultation prior to the elaboration of the nia, in public hearings and/or in the dissemination of monitoring reports of the projects already installed. it is impossible to achieve urban sustainability without strong investment and prioritization of social development. the mechanisms of integration with the local environmental licensing are not clear. there are mentions of environmental instruments in urban legislation, especially in the master plans, but the processes do not seem to dialogue. this point deserves a deeper investigation, which will be carried out in future stages of this research. in brazil, environmental planning and management generally operate in different government departments, with different political or legal interests and structures. which is no different in these four cities. there are still growing conflicts between the green agenda, the brown agenda and environmental justice issues. urban planning is potentially at the intersection of these conflicts. for the issue of urban sustainability to gain relevance, it is necessary to build an agenda that is social and political, a single and comprehensive matrix for understanding the issue. although the discourse of environmental protection and sustainability is present in the speech of many managers who work in the planning of cities, the environmental issue reveals itself as a continuous frontier of clashes and tensions still. in addition to the historic division between the environment and urban environments in brazil, the situation has worsened. this is because successive neoliberal federal governments have year after year dismantling the brazilian environmental policy and urban policy. an example is the recently approved federal law nº 13.874/2019, known as the economic freedom law. this law provides that no abusive compensatory or mitigating measure or provision should be required, without the need for impact studies or other releases of economic activity in urban law. this law weakens the urban policy system, as it deprives cities of their ability to demand compensation in licensing processes. the law mainly interferes in the application of the nia and, in general, in the execution of the urban licensing. these national policies play a crucial factor in guiding the formulation of urban sustainability. faced with the systematic dismantling of the legal-urban-environmental order, perhaps one of the main obstacles is the clash between groups that build a city of the market and financial capital and between groups that seek a city for the public good and that seek to meet the social functions recommended in the city statute. acknowledgements this paper was financed by the são paulo research foundation (fapesp), process nº 2018/24661-0. emanoele lima abreu and renata bovo peres/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 references abiko, a. k. & barreiros, m. 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(2015). comparative analysis of material criteria in neighborhood sustainability assessment tools and urban design guidelines: cases of the uk, the us, japan, and korea. sustainability, 7(11), 14450–14487. https://doi.org/10.3390/su71114450 http://dx.doi.org/10.22296/2317-1529.2009v11n2p31 http://lproweb.procempa.com.br/pmpa/prefpoa/spm/usu_doc/bennyschasberg-eiv_e_ec_.pdf http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 6 december 2023, accepted: 12 june 2023, published online: 30 june 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i1.933 whose carbon capture? a bit of good news michael shafer founder and director of warm heart foundation, a.phrao, c.chiang mai, thailand abstract global policy, policymakers, and government representatives in the oecd countries routinely ignore the potential role to be played by carbon sequestration from crop waste biochar made by poor smallholders in the developing world. this paper argues that this is a mistake and makes the case for the design, development, and distribution of low-cost, low-tech biochar-making equipment to the world’s poorest farmers living on small farms and possessing only widely and thinly spread biomass resources on rough terrain. it argues that paying attention to the crop wastes of poor farmers can reduce ghg and pm2.5 emissions considerably and contends that the private motivations that underpin this approach can replace the talk of large-scale social behaviour change with a self-replicating system built on farmers’ envy. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords biochar; climate change; developing world; low-tech; low-cost; solution 1. introduction “whose carbon capture?” is not an idle question. the national academies of sciences, engineering, and medicine (usa) call for us to remove 10 gigatons per year of co2 equivalent annually until 2050. (national academies of sciences, engineering, and medicine (usa): accessed 10/12/2022) a recent internet ad for a direct air capture complex (the coolest and best funded stuff around) suggested that the facility (the largest in the world) would be able to remove 0.5 gigatons annually by that time. not a big piece of the pie. “so, why worry? “we” all ask? “we” defined here as those developing low tech, distributed biochar systems and applying the ebc artisan farmer accreditation system. we think that we are making great strides; the question is, therefore, “just who is working on this carbon capture, for whom, and to what end?” 2. what is the problem? as normally understood in the biochar world (indeed, most places), “we” are those in the west, north, oecd, or whatever countries. here is the problem. today’s world population is 8 billion, but “we” are less than 15 percent of it, and by 2050, “we” will be less than 12 percent. (worldometers: accessed 10/7/2022) what of the “rest” who are currently 85.7 percent of the world’s population and by 2050 will be 88.3 percent? just what claim do “we” have on decarbonizing the atmosphere? what are “we” decarbonizing for, for whom, and how? if we use unfccc agreements as the benchmark, then the 1997/2005 (passed/ratified) kyoto agreement marked the beginning of a degree of western climate awareness and willingness to engage in climate change. kyoto, however, used a carbon emissions trading system that regularly amounted to little more than accounting trickery and allowed (according to some, caused) global atmospheric carbon (yes, much from developed countries) to rise dramatically. http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i1.933&domain=press.ierek.com shafer/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 (napoli, c.: accessed= 10/12/2022) the idea, however, was that since “we” made the problem, “we” should be responsible for fixing it. while “we” may indeed have once caused most of the problem, by 2005, this was clearly no longer the case, as demonstrated by china’s and india’s co2e contributions to global emissions being ranked one and two on the great tally board. what to do? the 2015 paris accords tried to target carbon removal, and this made considerably more sense than the old kyoto system. unfortunately, it did nothing to solve the underlying political problem, i.e., that neither china nor india wanted to play, that donald trump would pull the usa out of paris, and that the saudis and russians have no interest in reducing fossil fuel use. in other words, international diplomacy could not crack the “whose carbon capture?” problem, despite the big role in climate change gas (ghgs) emissions played, of ghg production by the rest and how (by whom) this is to be done. (the meltdown in madrid over who would pay how much for what made this clear to the world.) (hood, m.: accessed 10/12/2022) sharm el’sheikh did little to improve this picture. 3. what is to be done? how will we get around the dreams and egos of china’s, india’s, russia’s, and america’s rich and educated upper classes? how can we deal with the likely collective action failure of any large-scale behavioural change effort (e.g., everyone “ought” to go vegan)? should we just give it up today? 4. we should not quit. “we” should, instead, look to the “rest of the rest” to help with our planetary problem.” and who are these folks? they are the billions of poor people who have never had any say in making climate change policy. what is the alternative? even if you discount the importance of ghg-belching hand-me-down diesel lorries and buses and the emissions of hand-me-down factories and power generation equipment in the “developing” world, another key problem source lies right where the poor live: in the carbon-containing waste left in their fields to rot or be burned. if open fields are burned, after all, crop waste around the world generates gigatons of ghgs and pm2.5. if allowed to rot, it is equally dangerous to the atmosphere, although not to our lungs. 5. squaring the circle what can the illiterate, isolated smallholder farmers of the rural developing world do? they can make biochar from their crop wastes using small-scale, highly distributed biochar-making “machines”i (and, with all due respect to statisticians, shafer’s “law of big numbers” is that anything times one billion is big! there are 525 million poor farms out there (84 percent of total farms). (world bank, accessed 10/12/2022) at a household size of a little less than 5, this means that there are 2.5 billion very poor people living on small holdings. (samberg et al.: accessed 10/12/2022). if only 250 million farmers made a single tonne of biochar (approximately 20 percent), they could sequester 0.5 gigatons of co2 right now for as little as $50-$75 per tonne, not the outrageous amounts now paid in the oecd countries to outfits such as direct air capture, inc..) (personal communication: carbon futures, 8.25.2022) why not use the big, high-tech machines used in the oecd? in part because they are too capital-intensive for an almost worthless feedstock and product. (here the problem is also that intense competition in oecd markets has elevated economies of scale in production to first place for business but also results in heavy regulation.) (personal communication, hans-pieter schmidt, ithaka institute, 8.25.2022) when considering much crop waste (cassava tops, cocoa pods, maize and millet stalks, rice straw, etc.), much is widely and thinly distributed across tough terrain and cannot be collected cost-effectively. distributing bigger, high-capacity pyrolyzers to each poor farmer or even farming community makes no sense. besides, bigger machines cost more money, quickly eliminating poor farmers from the game. faced with gigatons of crop waste burned every year (estimates range from 50 to 90 percent of total waste burned), generating gigatons of co2e, ch4, pm2.5, and so on, that would never be collected or charred, the questions are: “can small-scale, farm family sized pyrolizers work? can they make enough char of acceptable quality?”1 1 these questions are regularly asked at climate change and biocharist meetings. shafer/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 6. warm heart’s contribution at warm heart, where the problem presented itself initially in the form of choking smoke for three months of the year. we answered both questions in the affirmative. we spent 2016 to 2018 developing low-cost, minimal-tech family-sized machines. in part, this meant reducing the cost and construction complexity of building long-standing machine designs (reducing the jolly roger tlud (top-lit, up-draft) oven from three costly barrels to one, improving transportability, and limiting the materials and technical skills requirements). elsewhere, it required cutting the cost of materials, lowering the weight, and eliminating the need for a skilled welder that such machines as the kon-tiki demanded. having tested these simplified machines with local farmers and demonstrated the quality and quantity of biochar they could produce, warm heart moved on to larger-scale (greater numbers of uninvolved farmers) tests. we randomly selected a high-corn waste-producing district where we were unknown and introduced ourselves. we formed a community advisory board (cab) with veto power over our work. the first cac immediately vetoed our plan, but with certain stipulations produced and agreed to a variation of it. we offered 2 baht (us$0.15) per 10-kilogram (kg) bag of char produced. the community made 15,000 bags before we had to call off the experiment because we had no more money. in keeping with our mission, warm heart’s initial idea was to create a self-sustaining (because profitable), selfreplicating village social enterprise that produced both biochar and value-added biochar products, paying farmers for the former and villagers for the latter. this proved to be impossible for many reasons. the level of internal division within the village dampened the idea of a village coop, while the lack of business skills left the farmers unable to imagine setting funds aside to cover operating costs at the start of the next year. no one wanted there to be any money left over that might be stolen by one or more members of the coop. the real problems, however, had to do with production. the equipment was too costly, the area lacked 3-phase power and, most importantly, we could find no local market for the value-added products. biochar-based fertilizer offered the highest margin, but was rejected by nearly everyone, largely because both the fertilizer and hybrid seed salesmen (who were the villagers’ most important source of new agricultural practices) and the government did not support the ideal. (actually, bangkok talked a lot about biochar at meetings, but discombobulated as the government is, it could not communicate this to the provinces where the local “maw diin,” literally “dirt doctors,” hold sway.) it took a while, but we eventually recognized that no one in the community felt that smoke mattered. it was simply there. (why should little old me try to do anything? this is “their” problem, whoever “they” are. let them stop the smoke.) likewise, potential buyers of smokeless biochar briquettes cared only about price and ignored what we at warm heart thought would be the key selling point: the fact that they did not smoke or cause health problems. our primary customers, large international hotel and resort chains, closed with the pandemic. we soon discovered that there was an excellent international market for biochar and biochar-based value-added products, but that in the international market, nothing mattered more than the certification of the biochar itself. 7. certification we immediately began investigating certification, but soon found that none of the existing international certificates applied to small farmers. instead, these systems (ibi, ebc, verra, and gold star) were all intended for use only in the oecd. although they were applied to all biochar inappropriately, unintentionally, and misleadingly, they were impossibly complex and costly for warm heart and for the hundreds of millions of farmers we hoped to represent. beginning in 2020, therefore, the warm heart foundation (which i lead) devoted itself to this problem. warm heart approached, in particular, the international biochar initiative (ibi) and the european biochar consortium (ebc) to argue that it made no sense to exclude the poor (who could benefit financially and agronomically from certification) when crop waste burning constituted such a large source of ghgs, pm2.5, rapidly rising healthcare costs, and total agricultural resources. luckily for me, key players in the international biochar world, notably tom miles, president of the ibi, kathleen draper; director of science at ibi and hans-pieter schmidt, founder of the ithaka institute and the most important voice inside ebc, also believed that the poor should be included. after two years of pushing, cajoling, and providing shafer/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 solutions (e.g., the use of blockchain technology and a cell phone-enabled app), the ebc finally published its “tropical farmer standards” (now the “artisanal farmer standards.”) on march 4, 2022, just six and a half months before the preparation of this article, the ebc and warm heart joined in an ibi-hosted webinar to announce that warm heart was the first organization in the world to be recognized as accredited to certify small farmers’ biochar as sequestering co2 and so deserving payment for carbon removal credits.2 we were immediately buried in requests from poor farmer organizations globally and were forced to stop accepting new applicants when our backlog reached 55. they remain on hold while we try to deal with really big organizations such as corus, with millions of farmers in their systems. the keys to all verification efforts for high-tech or low-tech biochar require proof that (1) the quantity and (2) quality of the biochar are as stated and that (3) production is not polluting. ebc’s own data indicated that the char quality is high and the amount of carbon (c) in biochar made from each different feedstock is x or y. warm heart developed a system for “weighing” biochar in the field, the cell-phone app (to verify appropriate production standards through gps and date-encoded photos and videos), and the case for using a blockchain (to ensure that records could not be changed). despite the development of such a system, as a small ngo, warm heart faced a major problem: how to verify what, exactly, the ever-growing number of farmers is doing? to deal with the problem, warm heart established biochar.life, pbc,3 to carry out large-scale production verification as well as sell carbon removal credits and pay individual farmers for the biochar they had certified. since march 4, 2022, biochar.life has paid poor farmers in kenya and malawi $56,000, $175 per participating farmer. owned by warm heart, we also hope that biochar.life will support us and our programs over the long term. if so, warm heart will become the only entirely independent ngo in thailand; that is, without international, religious, or royal patronage.) the great thing about the warm heart/biochar.life system is that it is entirely market based and requires no costly, foreign interventions to replicate. the first step of its operation provides participating farmers with a financial incentive to convert waste biomass to biochar. the second step, available after participation, involves the farmers’ soil improvement, better water retention, and higher yields from the use of biochar in their fields. with this system, we did not have to convince anyone of anything. those (generally, the poorest of the poor, single women heads of households) participating make money immediately and see continuing rising returns with use. sooner rather than later, those who chose not to participate at the start, look at participants’ greater incomes and ask to join as well. the individuals in both groups make private decisions to participate based on their own calculation of what is best for them. given existing disparities, the program may actually increase local inequality, but it raises the floor for the poorest. 8. conclusion it is surely inadvisable to ignore the very poor, who constitute a huge portion of the world’s population, or to consider only high-volume, high-tech, centralized equipment when seeking to reduce global ghg and pm2.5 emissions. to sequester co2 and improve the quality of life of the poor, it is essential to stop the open-field burning of crop waste. rather than posing this as something that “ought” to be done (by whom? says who?), warm heart’s system involves abandoning efforts to affect large-scale social change. (this is simply a reality check. if all change depends on costly outside help, there is not enough money to help all these farmers. as a result, big efforts often create a “swiss cheese” effect with lots of “holes” in development and little in between.) as it costs very little, is profitable, and grows on its own, the warm heart system provides the model for a self-replicating, self-sustaining system in which the incentives are private (the acquisition of money and improved agricultural performance) and not simply changed relative prices 2 since we were accredited, similar systems have been published, notably by the verra institute. shafer/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 as a result of inflows of outside money or the exhortations of ngo staff about climate change and the health consequences of breathing a lot of smoke. what is required? the literature is very thin, and considerable research is needed. specifically, it is necessary to study the actual sequestration of co2 by biochar and that sequestration’s durability. likewise, little is known about the value of biochar-based fertilizers in different soils and under different conditions. these suggestions, especially the second, pose uncommon research demands on scientists since this work cannot be conducted in the laboratory. such lab results will then need to be fitted into an economist’s model to understand their implications for smallholder farmers. acknowledgements the author wishes to acknowledge hans-pieter schmidt, kathleen draper, tom miles, and warm heart biochar and biochar.life teams in africa, singapore, thailand, and the us. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval: not applicable. conflict of interest: not applicable. references https://www.biochar.life (website, press release and power point) carbon engineering, https(://carbonengineering.com/our-technology/ ebc, https://www.european-biochar.org/en no author given. https://www.embroker.com/blog/startupstatistics/#:~:text=about%2090%25%20of%20startups%20fail.&text=10%25%20of%20startups%20fail%20within%20the%20first%20yea r.&text=across%20all%20industries%2c%20startup%20failure,be%20close%20to%20the%20same.&text=failure%20is%20most%20com mon%20for,70%25%20falling%20into%20this%20category. gibbs et al. (6.10.2022) “now the ipcc has recognized that carbon removals are critical to addressing climate change, it’s time to act.” mckinsey sustainability. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/sustainability-blog/now-the-ipcc-has-recognized-thatcarbon-removals-are-critical-to-addressing-climate-change-its-time-to-act.2022. https://www.goldstar.org herren et al., effects of synthetic fertilizer and farm compost on soil nematode community in long-term crop rotation plots: a morphological and metabarcoding approach. plos one. 2020 mar 17;15(3):e0230153. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230153. pmid: 32182269; pmcid: pmc7077811 houser, k. (2022) “the future of meat is sustainable — and a little weird.” freethink*. july 30, 2022. jeffrey et al., (2015) the way forward in biochar research: targeting trade-offs between the potential wins.” https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12132 lehmann, johannes and stephan joseph, biochar for environmental management: science,technology and implementation, 2nd edition, routledge, 2015. marion, j. yale program on climate change communication. (2021). “explore climate change in the american mind, beliefs and attitudes https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/, 2021 r. l. mulvaney,* et al., “synthetic nitrogen fertilizers deplete soil nitrogen: a global dilemma for sustainable cereal production.” m. hood, “why cop25 failed. phys.org, news (https://phys.org/news/2019-12-cop25-climate.html, accessed 10.12.2022) national academies of sciences, engineering and medicine (usa) (cited in environmental defense fund,https://www.edf.org/article/carboncapture-fight-climate-change-stop-climate-pollution, accessed 10.12.2022. napoli, c. sais review of international affairs, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/493430/pdf, accessed 10.12.2022) our world in data (2022) “smallholders produce one-third of the world’s food, less than half of what many headlines claim”. https://ourworldindata.org/smallholder-food-production. d. sanberg et al., “subnational distribution of average farm size and smallholder contributions to global food production,” environmental research letters, 2016 environ. res. lett. 11 124010, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/12/124010, accessed 10.12.2022.) https://www.biochar.life/ https://carbonengineering.com/our-technology/ https://www.european-biochar.org/en https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/sustainability-blog/now-the-ipcc-has-recognized-that-carbon-removals-are-critical-to-addressing-climate-change-its-time-to-act https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/sustainability-blog/now-the-ipcc-has-recognized-that-carbon-removals-are-critical-to-addressing-climate-change-its-time-to-act https://www.goldstar.org/ https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12132 https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ https://phys.org/news/2019-12-cop25-climate.html https://www.edf.org/article/carbon-capture-fight-climate-change-stop-climate-pollution https://www.edf.org/article/carbon-capture-fight-climate-change-stop-climate-pollution https://muse.jhu.edu/article/493430/pdf https://ourworldindata.org/smallholder-food-production https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/12/124010 shafer/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 world bank, handbook-working with small farmers, worldbank.org/curated/en/284771480330980968/pdf/110543-handbook-working-withsmallholders.pdf, accessed 10/12/2022. worldometers, world population, population by region: www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-region, accessed october 7, 2022. personal communications personal communication, carbon.futures, 8.25.2022. personal communication, hans-peiter schmidt, 8.28.2022. how to cite/reference this paper: apa: shafer, m. whose carbon capture? a bit of good news. environmental science & sustainable development, 8(1), 25–30. https://doi.org/10.21625/essd.v8i1.933 acm: shafer, m. whose carbon capture? a bit of good news. environmental science & sustainable development. 8, 1, 25–30. doi:https://doi.org/10.21625/essd.v8i1.933. acs: shafer, m. whose carbon capture? a bit of good news. essd 8, 25-30. abnt: shafer, m. whose carbon capture? a bit of good news. environmental science & sustainable development, [s. l.], v. 8, n. 1, p. 25–30, [s.d.]. doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i1.933. disponível em: https://press.ierek.com/index.php/essd/article/view/933. acesso em: 30 jun. 2023. chicago: shafer, michael. n.d. “whose carbon capture? a bit of good news”. environmental science & sustainable development 8 (1):25-30. accessed june 29, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21625/essd.v8i1.933. harvard: shafer, m. (no date) “whose carbon capture? a bit of good news”, environmental science & sustainable development, 8(1), pp. 25–30. doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i1.933. ieee: m. shafer, “whose carbon capture? a bit of good news”, essd, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 25–30. mla: shafer, m. “whose carbon capture? a bit of good news”. environmental science & sustainable development, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 25-30, doi:10.21625/essd.v8i1.933. accessed 30 june 2023. turabian: shafer, michael. “whose carbon capture? a bit of good news”. environmental science & sustainable development 8, no. 1 (n.d.): 25–30. accessed june 30, 2023. https://press.ierek.com/index.php/essd/article/view/933. vancouver: shafer m. whose carbon capture? a bit of good news. essd [internet]. [cited 2023 jun. 30];8(1):2530. available from: https://press.ierek.com/index.php/essd/article/view/933 http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-region http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 38 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i1.790 identification, dimension and evaluation of catalytic projects in tehran, iran elnaz sarkheyli1, kianoosh zakerhaghighi2 1 senior lecturer at malmö university, sweden 2 associate professor, hamedan branch, islamic azad university, hamedan, iran. abstract since the 1980s, a wide range of physical and non-physical interventions, including megaprojects and flagships to small-scale projects and temporary usage, are prescribed as catalysts for urban regeneration. the strategy of utilizing urban catalysts as a tool for urban renewal has been encouraging by many city authorities through specific subsidization and privileges. however, there is no correct and precise definition of the tools and the qualities they should provide as their impacts. besides, some criticize the catalytic projects due to their unsustainable, unjust, and destructive consequences. this paper intends to provide a more comprehensive definition of urban catalysts by reviewing the existing literature. the research has been done through a deductive and inductive approach to reach the principal dimensions and criteria for catalytic projects. it uses a series of potential projects and interventions in the city of tehran (16 projects and practices) as case studies to check the dimensions and criteria and the quality of each project as catalysts. the quality of the selected case studies was ranked through expert judgment and checklist method. the findings show the cases' rank on how their catalytic impacts comply with sustainable development goals. according to the results, seven criteria (environmental sustainability, context-based development, pattern making, branding, social quality of life, economic prosperity, and market adaptability) are essential to ensure the sustainability of catalytic impacts of catalyst projects. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd's international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords urban catalyst, urban regeneration, sustainable catalyst, tehran 1. introduction and problem statement among urban regeneration-related debates, many practitioners and scholars tend to see some physical and nonphysical interventions as stimuli or catalysts. thus, the projects having broader effects than their specified sites have strategically been designed to regenerate the urban decay in an area. the concepts of prestige projects, flagships, and pioneer projects have been mainly raised with this prime purpose (smyth, 1994). the concept, developed under catalytic theory, implies that one or a series of elements can impel and guide subsequent developments and lead to the incremental, continuous regeneration of the urban fabric (attoe, logan, 1989:45). more recently, a new related term, urban acupuncture, has been introduced as small interventions replacing grand plans and redevelopment schemes (madeddu, 2016: 533) and positively affect social, ecological, and even economic and physical dimensions of the surrounding environment (daugėlaitė, gražulevičiūtė-vileniškė, 2018: 5). http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i1.790&domain=press.ierek.com sarkheyli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 39 a wide range of physical and non-physical interventions are considered as stimuli or catalysts in the related literature. from those notable large-scale and expensive physical developments called megaprojects and prestige projects to the smaller ones called flagships and further to the trivial physical and non-physical changes leading to a gradual transformation of an urban area can be called catalysts. undoubtedly, there are different views on each type of catalyst. many scholars have addressed the success and failure stories of the relevant experiences (attoe, logan, 1989; loftman & nevin, 1995). however, the main idea of catalysts has remained attractive and valuable. who is not attracted to the anecdote of the positive metamorphosis of a left, decayed, and undesirable urban area as a result of the development of a museum or the installation of a fountain only? it is noteworthy to say that the idea of utilizing urban catalysts refers to the existence of a situation of need to change and a call for transformation stemming from the abandoned, decayed, poor, unsafe, unstable, and undesirable urban areas. in short, the catalysts encounter the problematic urban regions, which already relate to several tensions, service and infrastructure lack, social discontent, and poor quality. however, some of the projects could not create values and regenerate their peripheral areas and even have led to negative consequences and empty promises (loftman & nevin, 1995: 307). the critics matter more when the projects and their developers have gotten a considerable amount of public budget, funds, loans, privileges supporting a project with catalytic benefits for a larger group of people. nearly all projects, especially the large-scale and index ones, lead to broad impacts on their surroundings in terms of physical aspect (changing the main structure of the city or neighborhood), landscape, traffic (increasing the vehicle and pedestrian trips demands), social and economic status of an area. so, the idea of catalyst projects wants to emphasize the positive and long-term impacts. therefore, to have suitable catalytic projects, it is crucial to ensure and boost the value of the project's results and control their negative consequences. according to the statistical center of iran, the city of tehran, the capital and the most populated city of iran (over 8 million population in 2017, according to the statistical center of iran), has experienced rapid population growth and physical expansion over the last decades (after the 1970s). the growth is accompanied by the dilapidation or rundown of neighborhoods suffering from poor physical, functional, infrastructure, transportation services, environmental, and health conditions (abbaszadegan, 2010; assadpour, melles, 2018 ). according to the urban renewal organization of tehran (2016), 5% (3268 hectares) and 24% (14792 hectares) of the city include distressed and unsustainable areas, respectively. the areas suffer from the lack of infrastructure, unstable and left buildings, fine-grained parcels inappropriate for redevelopment, the concentration of poverty, crime and disorders, and unsafe spaces. tehran municipality and the organization for urban redevelopment have implemented several plans and renewal projects to address the deterioration of the built environment during the 1990s and 2000s. following the infill development approach, the renewal and regeneration projects have aimed to revitalize the inner urban areas and prevent the continuation of urban decay. one of the strategies applied in this regard in tehran has been urban catalysts (sajadzadeh, hamidinia, dalvand, 2018; hashemi, shieh, zabihi, 2020). the most common projects include building malls, markets, hotels, cultural or community centers, parks, streets, public spaces, walkways, parking, etc. however, there is still not a clear border between catalysts and non-catalysts projects in tehran. in other words, calling a project a catalytic one primarily refers to the urban authorities and their developers' efforts to highlight the benefits of a project in their surrounding areas. the majority of the projects have been funded by the government/municipality (public sector) or through the public-private partnership model. public-private partnership (ppp) as a tool to overcome the financial crisis and the low performance in public administration (codecasa, ponzini, 2011) has been largely recommended and applied in urban regeneration (kort, klijn, 2011; mohammadi et al., 2014) and can be seen as one of the manifestations of neoliberalism. the neoliberal perspective in urban regeneration has also been accompanied by deregulation, competitiveness, and stakeholder engagement. negotiation with developers, determining privileges for partnership, and lowering the building laws to make the collaboration attractive and efficient for developers are among the strategies tehran municipality has applied in urban regeneration. while urban catalysts have been accepted as a valuable tool in urban regeneration by many practitioners and scholars, one can hardly find an unambiguous definition for urban catalysts. in other words, there is still not a clear definition explaining what the tools should bring with them and how they should influence their surroundings. therefore, this sarkheyli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 40 paper is going to provide a more comprehensive definition of the tools by reviewing the existing literature. moreover, by looking through the negative consequences or inefficiency of such projects and practices, it tries to set the criteria through which we can reach more sustainable urban catalysts. 2. literature review 2.1. definition of urban catalysts various kinds of physical and non-physical interventions may be labeled as urban catalysts. undoubtedly, each kind may have different characteristics and impacts while they follow similar purposes, the acceleration of urban development and regeneration. attoe and logan (1989:45) explain that a catalyst is an urban element that is shaped by a city and then, in turn, shapes its context. its purpose is the incremental, continuous regeneration of the urban fabric. a catalyst is not a single end product in an urban regeneration process but an element that impels and guides subsequent development (attoe, logan, 1989: 45). in other words, urban catalysts are strategic tools, and their effectiveness depends on the complementary and following policies and actions. urban catalysts should generate activity, act as anchors, and respond to spatial conditions that can promote positive development, so they need to be strategically planned and located in terms of activities and the arrangement of those activities (bohannon, 2004: 1526). the first generation of catalysts, prestige, and flagship projects, widely experienced in the 1970s and 1980s in many north american and european cities, are the production of neoliberalism ideology and the symbols of placemarketing instruments and property-led approach to urban regeneration (temelova, 2007: 169-170; smyth, 1994: 27). the particular form of the prestige projects mentioned by scholars includes convention centers, festival marketplaces, shopping malls, major office complexes, and leisure and sporting facilities (loftman, nevin, 1995:300; harvey, 1988). the large-scale and costly developments in some sources are sometimes called megaprojects. on the other hand, flagships are smaller-scale projects, like an office complex, with the same purpose: they encourage or facilitate organic growth within urban areas and change local perceptions about particular locations (loftman and nevin, 1989: 301). the concept of an urban catalyst developed under the catalytic theory (attoe and logan, 1989) as a subset of the prior urban design theories and are the tools for effective urban design. accordingly, "an urban catalyst might be a hotel, a shopping complex, a transportation hub, a museum or theater, a designed open space or, at the smallest scale, a special feature like a colonnade or a fountain" (attoe and logan,1989: 45). attoe and logan (1989: 46) propose that urban catalysts are better thought of as smaller elementsa building, a fragment of a building, a complex of buildings, or even a report or set of guidelines. loftam and nevin (1995: 311) explain that shifting the concept of urban regeneration from land and property development to the regeneration of communities has led to the policies encouraging the prestige projects and flagships to generate more socially equitable outcomes mid-1990s. thus, the new prestige and flagship projects tend to be more responsive to the community demands rather than only considering economic development. megaprojects, including prestige projects or large-scale and expensive infrastructure projects, also have been addressed as urban catalysts (varrel, kennedy, 2011; sarkheyli, rafieian, 2018; ponzini, 2011). stadiums, convention centers, sports facilities, brownfield redevelopments, transit projects, airports are among the megaprojects considered as urban catalysts. some scholars also view mega-events such as sports events and cultural festivals as urban catalysts and as powerful engines in the neoliberal reconfiguration of the city (sanchez, broudehoux, 2013). the most recent generation of catalysts includes non-physical and small-scale, preferably community-led interventions. some of the small-scale catalysts are theorized through the concept of urban acupuncture which has been introduced by lerner (2014). urban acupuncture was described as a cross-architectural manipulation of the city's collective sensory thought and as a strategy focusing on small, subtle, and light interventions that employ and positively direct community energy, including active citizens to address urban problems and improve the city's landscape, and is a substitute for large, top-down interventions that usually require massive investment from scarce municipal funds (al-hinkawi, al-saadi, 2020). the "needles" of urban acupuncture can be various types of interventions and events (daugėlaitė, gražulevičiūtė-vileniškė, 2018; lerner, 2014) ranging from a building, a park, a public space, a fountain, a street art, to a street festival, or a brt1 system or any other positive happening in public spaces. 1 bus rapid transit (for example, the brt sytem in curtibia was outlined by lerner (2014) as urban accupuncture. sarkheyli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 41 moreover, the concept of urban catalysts has been used in tactical urbanism, including low-cost and temporary changes to the built environment like the temporary use of abandoned building and spaces as a way to stimulate further urban regeneration in an area (oswalt, overmeyer, and misselwitz, 2013; martin, hincks, 2020). this focuses on the catalytic impact of the temporary use of the leftover site in urban areas usually driven by community groups. thus, there has been a shift in attitudes toward catalysts since the 1970s: from the large-scale physical developments built by private investors to the smaller scale physical and non-physical changes based on local demands or driven by local communities. however, it does not mean that local authorities are not tempted to seek a new prestige project, which is large-scale and costly, especially in neoliberal societies. 2.2. dimensions of urban catalysts catalysts of all kinds have a nearly similar mechanism to regenerate urban areas. as the urban acupuncture theory states, the catalysts create the chain reactions in their surrounding area through motivating and activating the useless and static energies and forces. catalysts also replace the undesirable image from an area with a bright vision. catalysts influence people's perception of an area (bohannon, 2004: 10), enhance local attractiveness, and boost civic pride and business confidence (temelova, 2007: 169-170; bianchini et al., 1992; tavasanoglu and healey, 1992). they can create a new, better identity for an area and increase the attractiveness of a place. consequently, or at the same time, catalysts attract private sector finance (smyth, 1994; temelova, 2007: 170). catalysts increase the property values (remelova, 2007: 170; bianchini et al., 1992; smyth, 1994; loftman and nevin, 1995) and the profitability of investment in an area. besides, catalysts generate activities and work as an anchor (bohannon, 2004: 10). they activate the energy flow (the movement and activities of people, the ecological flows, the information flows, and exchange) in an area (daugėlaitė, gražulevičiūtė-vileniškė, 2018: 5). catalysts cause more people, tourists, and developers to be interested in visiting and living, and investing in the area. also, catalysts attract similar activities from the same type and other types (like commercial, office, housing, art, culture, and leisure) that formerly had no demand in the place (smyth, 1989). catalysts provide benefits for all city residents through the generation of wealth, jobs, a high-quality physical environment, and a new place to visit, admire and enjoy (loftman and nevin, 1995: 304). so, as the preparatory or ultimate actions, utilizing catalysts leads to physical revitalization. catalysts may be a physical development on their own. however, they encourage more developers to invest in their surrounding areas and develop or renew infrastructure and old buildings. temelova (2007: 169), in his paper, shows that a high-profile project can be one of the driving forces in physical revitalization through the provision of symbolic power, credibility, and appeal to a declining neighborhood. the characteristics mentioned above for urban catalysts could be summarized in four dimensions of influence: reimagining/reimaging and identity promotion, economic value creation, activity generation, and the encouragement of physical development/ the physical stimulation (figure 1). figure 1. four dimensions of influencing urban catalysts the four dimensions can be considered to distinguish an urban catalyst from other kinds of projects or interventions. some types of catalysts may have more or less influence on some aspects comparing to others. thus, a more urban catalyst p h ysical stim u latio n reimagining economic value creation a ct iv it y ge n er at io n sarkheyli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 42 comprehensive definition of catalysts suggests that "catalysts are the physical or non-physical strategic tools causing reimagining, activity generation, economic value creation, and the encouragement of physical development to regenerate an urban area." table 1 explains the four dimensions for urban catalysts and their related indicators. table 1. dimensions of urban catalysts dimensions indicators reimagining and identity promotion creation or revival of an identity for an area (a neighborhood, a city, or a region) through the creation or promotion of cultural, social, tourism attractions, or creation of an economic hub; landscape design and changing the negative image of the place; improvement of the general index of quality of life in the place and making it competitive with other high-quality places in the city/ region; activity generation increasing the volume of pedestrian and vehicle; increasing retail and service activities (like banks, hotels, cafes, restaurants), and offices; economic value creation job creation; provision of diverse jobs and activities; considerable increase in the public sector's income through selling more services and higher taxes from new buildings; considerable increase in land and property value comparing other areas of the city. increase of the citizens' average income; encouragement of physical development the acceleration of development and renovation of lands and properties and more investment demand compared to other areas of the city; higher profitability of investment in the area rather than other areas of the city. 2.3. towards sustainable urban catalysts despite the attractive impacts of catalysts, those are criticized in several aspects. the projects, especially the larger ones, like prestige projects and flagships, have been widely criticized as exclusive facilities mainly justifiable in economic terms (temelova, 2007: 169). healy et al. (1992) state that these projects tend to be confined to profitable locations for private sector investments (loftman & nevin, 1995: 306). some scholars addressed the social consequences of megaprojects, including extensive displacement (gellert & lynch, 2003), cultural change (marrewijk et al., 2008), the destruction of the exisiting urban fabric (ryan, 2013), as well as their unpredicted financial and technical challenges (fybjerg, 2012). also, several authors questioned the ability of flagships to trigger off development and sufficiently distribute the benefits of growth (temelova, 2007: 170). critics believe that the claimed successes of such projects are not proved (loftman and nevin, 1995: 305). many renewals and revitalization schemes for cities touted as catalysts remain inert, have little impact and do not cause the promised urban reactive change (attoe, logan, 1989: 46). also, it is noted that the projects may encourage the fragmentation of cities and the planning of individual elements rather than planning an integrated urban system; they do not offer a reliable foundation for generating stable and sustainable economic regeneration; they are the production of optimistic views to private investments and include empty promises; they may lead to higher and longer-term financial costs for public agencies; they often entail the diversion of scarce public sector resources away from welfare-related needs and deprived neighborhoods; there is little evidence that catalysts generate significant employment or benefits for disadvantaged residents and so on (loftman and nevin, 1995; 309-310). "bianchini et al. (1992) warn that propertyled regeneration and investment in flagships may even have damaging effects on local businesses and communities due to hiking rents and land values. it can contribute to social displacement and segregation. a decline in other urban areas may accompany the growth in the regeneration neighborhood, thus reinforcing the existing socio-spatial sarkheyli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 43 inequalities" (temelova, 2007: 170 quoted from bianchini et al., 1992; harvey, 2000; vicario and monie, 2003; kaplan et al., 2004). these critics question the efficiency of urban catalysts in the degraded areas, where most are the settlements of the poor, the weak, and unemployed people. they argue that the related physical developments and the subsequent changes may lead to inevitable challenges like extensive displacement, gentrification, public dissatisfaction, segregation, and speculative tendencies. however, as long as the introduction and spread of the new types of community-driven, small-scale and non-physical catalysts, there have been efforts to maximize the benefits and minimize the harmful impacts of catalysts. in other words, the catalyst should be designed, planned, and implemented to be more sustainable solutions. it means that the provision of socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable catalysts as tools for urban regeneration matters. the most commonly stated definition for sustainable development is that put forward by brundtland, emphasizing that three dimensions of economy, society, and environment need to be present (lombardi et al., 2011). while the contemporary sustainability literature may center around the un's more diverse set of sustainable development goals (sdgs), the three dimensions themselves were explicitly embedded in their formulation (purvis, mao, robinson, 2019 quoted from un, 2012). urban regeneration has a substantial impact on all three dimensions/pillars of sustainable development (lombardy et al., 2011). the three-pillar understanding of sustainability in brownfield remediation and regeneration has been linked to the environmental aspect to reducing the risk of contamination and the secondary adverse effects; the economic pillar in relation to the cost of remediation and the impact of site restoration on the surrounding economy; and the social pillar, including safety, community impacts, stakeholder engagement, public participation, environmental justice and social inclusion (alexandresu et al., 2018 quoted from hou and al-tabbaa, 2014). this paper tries to consider the evaluation criteria by assuming potential conflicts between urban catalysts (which possibly lead to reimagining, economic value creation, activity generation, and physical stimulation) with sustainable development. as it was illustrated in figure 2, the three pillars of sustainable development (economic, social, physical, and environment) and their related sub-concepts have been seen in this research. the concepts were summarized in environmental resiliency, context-based development, human-based development, environmentallyfriendly development, culture-based development, local identity promotion, good governance, social inclusion and vitality, social justice, promoting the local economy, economic dynamics, and market adaptation. considering the different catalytic impacts, the conflict map between catalytic impacts and the sustainable development goals was drawn. according to the potential conflicts between the goals and the catalytic effects, seven substantial criteria were identified for the sustainability assessment of urban catalysts. figure 2. conflict map between sustainability goals and the probable catalytic impacts of an urban catalyst sarkheyli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 44 3. research methodology the research aims to provide a more comprehensive and clearer definition of urban catalysts in practice and in the shadow of the sustainable development concept. firstly, as a result of the literature review, it was discussed that if urban projects are creating changes in the everyday activities in an area, the general image of the area, the physics and texture, and economic value of a built area could be considered as a project with catalytic impacts. however, the catalytic consequences could be valuable if those could be screened through seven criteria. thus, as the second step, the authors asked a group of experts in sociology, civil engineering, urban planning, architecture, environmental specialist, economist, and management to list the sub-criteria and indicators for each criterion considering the particular conditions in the city of tehran. the lists were combined, integrated, checked, and recategorized at a meeting with experts at tehran municipality. therefore, the list has been used as a checklist for evaluating and ranking the case studies in tehran (table 2). table 2. criteria and indicators for assessing the intensity and quality of stimulation by urban catalysts criteria sub-criteria indicators environmental sustainability conservation 15 energy and consumption pollution sensitivity to context physical 10 functional pattern making based on local values 8 based on standards as a compact and mixed-use development branding physical 10 non-physical social sustainability citizens right 28 quality of life social network participation and engagement transparency and trust regulatory futuristic economic prosperity competitiveness 18 resources and opportunities market adaptability self-restraint 3 risk accountability sarkheyli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 45 the research strategy was a case study strategy, and for that, as the third step, sixteen projects were chosen and analyzed through a checklist method. the case studies were selected from the suggestions of various experts at tehran municipality, practitioners, and academics in tehran. in the fourth step, the authors collected and reviewed the published and official reports like newspapers, journal articles, documents. they made a summary of all critical and positive notions and impacts reported regarding the projects. then, the projects were evaluated and ranked through expert judgment (a group of experts of different specialties and fields scored each project on each indicator based on a likert spectrum (from 1 to 5)). finally, the scores of each project were summed up, and the analytical comparison diagrams have been made. to improve the validity and credibility of the results, the authors checked the preliminary results of the evaluation process with experts at tehran municipality to consider any necessary change. 4. case studies in tehran to understand how different types of projects respond to the criteria, various kinds of recent projects and practices in tehran were chosen to be scored through the checklist prepared based on table 2. the projects were chosen based on the comments of a group of experts who were familiar with the recent projects in tehran or were engaged in such projects at the tehran municipality. the projects were also selected based on their significant reported or expected impacts on their surroundings (neighborhood, city region, or city). the projects include a range of large-scale projects and flagships to non-physical practices (table 3). table 3. the list of projects and practices in tehran, selected for evaluation categories projects/practices key developer scale of impact description largescale projects persian gulf artificial lake public sector city the construction of an artificial lake and several high-rise housing buildings and commercial projects in the west of the city velayat park public sector city land use change of a 300-hectare site in the south of tehran, an old military airport, to a public space and theme park nahjolbalaghe park public sector city development of a 30-hectare urban park (between niyayesh highway and evanak boulevard, along with the farahzad river valley, which is the northsouth natural axis located in the northwest of tehran, including walking and biking paths, the art garden, rock-climbing park, and a skate park flagships hyperstar shopping mall private sector city region a shopping complex, in the west of tehran, with brand shops and a food court which is developed by an iranian subsidiary of french multinational retailer carrefour in iran atlas mall private sector city region a commercial complex, comprising nineteen floors for offices, shops, stores, restaurants, six-level parking, developed by an iranian bank in niyavaran, one of the northern and affluent neighborhoods in tehran koroush commercial and cultural complex private sector city region a commercial and cultural complex with modern architecture and harmonic design of color and light in the west of tehran: it includes the country's largest cineplex, cinema gallery, kids club, food court restaurants, many coffee shops, and a collection of various stores. sarkheyli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 46 table 3 continued milad tower public sector city a multi-purpose tower and one of the tallest towers and freestanding structures in the world is a part of the international trade and convention center of tehran. the tower with an octagonal base, symbolizing the traditional persian architecture, functions as a sophisticated urban attraction and city plaza. tabi'at pedestrian bridge public sector city the most extensive pedestrian (270 meter) overpass, connecting two public parks by spanning a highway in northern tehran: the project, designed as part of a local competition for the design of a bridge to connect two parks, has won several international awards due to its exemplary approach to an infrastructure project. the bridge is not only a pedestrian path but also is a multi-story gathering place with restaurants, cafes, and open spaces for the community. the grand mosalla of tehran public sector city the grand mosalla mosque of tehran is a location for holding weekly friday prayer and cultural, political, educational, worship activities, including book fairs and religious ceremonies. its design reflects the islamic architecture in modern time iran and the islamic architecture in other areas that were formerly part of iran. khavaran cultural center public sector city region the complex's architecture inspired by iranian traditions and elements provides a low-income neighborhood in the south-east of tehran with a variety of cultural facilities theatre and cinema halls, library, educational classes, exhibition hall, sports center, meeting spaces, and marketplace. bahman cultural center public sector city region the bahman cultural center, built on a formerly slaughterhouse in the slums of southern tehran, is a municipally created public space for cultural advancement in tehran and was the first and largest of its kind in the city of tehran. the land-use change and construction of the cultural center have had a significant impact on the process of social change, enriching the women and the youth in the region. urban design projects marvi gozar public sector neighborhood the restoration project of marvi gozar, initiated by tehran's beautification organization and tehran municipality, consists of designing an entrance space, restoring the old facade, adding a traditional bazaar roof, and creating a plaza (meidan in persian). transformation of hefdah-eshahrivar street to a walking street public sector neighborhood transformation of a commercial street called hefdah-e-shahrivar, one of the main central streets in tehran, to a walking space to make it a tourist destination sarkheyli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 47 table 3 continued panzdah-ekhordad pedestrian street public sector city region converting panzdah-e-khordad, a historical and commercial street to a walking street and a tourist destination with vibrant public spaces and tourist activities nonphysical practices museum of qasr prison public sector neighborhood restoration of qasr prison and its transformation to a museum and public space parvaneh friday market public sector city region parvaneh friday market building as bazar for handcrafts: a multi-story car parking (parking garage) works as a temporary market (bazaar) of persian handicrafts and antiques on fridays and attracts a large number of artists and art-lovers. 5. results and discussions the results, illustrated in figure 3, show that nearly all projects achieve the lowest scores from the market adaptability criterion. however, the more sensitive projects to their context (context-based development criteria) and the social quality of life got the highest scores. figure 3. the scores of the selected projects/practices in tehran according to the suggested evaluation criteria the large-scale projects show that despite the expected economic and social benefits of the development project of persian gulf artificial lake in the explanatory reports of tehran municipality, the project got low scores in market adaptability and economic prosperity criteria. due to the new character, the project has made the city and the western 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 persian gulf artificial lake velayat park nahjolbalaghe park hyperstar shopping mall atlas mall koroush commercial and cultural complex development of milad tower tabi'at pedestrian bridge the grand mosalla of tehran development of khavaran cultural center land use change and construction of bahman cultural… restoration project of marvi gozar transformation of hefdah-e-shahrivar street to a… transformation of panzdah-e-khordad street to a… museum of qasr prison parvaneh friday market for handcrafts environmental sustainability sensitivity to context pattern-making branding social sustainability economic prosperity market adaptability sarkheyli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 48 regions, and tourist attraction and physical branding achieve a high score. however, the project did not get a good score in the environmental aspect because of its insufficient attention to the surrounding neighborhoods' health quality and environmental protection. both the development projects of nahjolbalaghe and velayat parks got high scores in the environmental aspect. velayet park got a high score in social sustainability, pattern-making, branding, and contextual sensitivity. the project also includes various activities and has provided various job opportunities for different groups giving it higher scores in the economic prosperity criterion. besides, the project has been developed in a low-income neighborhood with low access to such entertainment and green facilities. the project's good access to public transportation is another reason the project got a high score compared to the other recent projects and practices in tehran. on the other hand, nahjolbalaghe park was developed in an unsafe and brownfield area and was designed as a variation of well-designed open spaces for different users and activities. the unique landscape design of the project also causes the project to get a high score in terms of branding. as it was mentioned in the problem statement and the literature, megaprojects and large-scale projects have usually been criticized due to their social and economic consequences (flyvbjerg, 2012; gellert and lynch, 2003; marrewijk et al, 2008). the cases studied have been developed by public budget, and two of them (velayat park, and nahjolbalaghe park) targeted the leftover lands (a formerly military airport and a valley with substantial social and environmental problems). therefore, they had a considerable role in the city improvement, among other things. however, the persian gulf artifical lake is mainly designed to make a new brand for the city and the region to stimulate and serve the high-density housing and office developments in region 22 of tehran (a newly built region). regarding the flagship projects, based on the research findings, the development of tabi'at bridge, khavarn cultural center, and bahman cultural center have successfully improved social quality. at the same time, the shopping malls, milad tower, and the grand mosalla of tehran were not successful in the social sustainability criterion. however, the grand mosalla of tehran, milad tower, and tabi'at bridge got high scores in branding since those work as contemporary landmarks of tehran now. also, the flagship projects instead of the hyperstar shopping mall and koroush shopping mall got high scores in branding and pattern-making. the unique architectural form of the tabi'at bridge, reflecting both natural and modern features, its adaptation with the natural areas surrounding it, and the provision of a vibrant public space, causes it to get high scores in the sensitivity to context, pattern-making, branding, and social sustainability. bahman and khavaran cultural centers got high scores due to the functional variation, job production, and influence on the social improvement of the surrounding communities. as discussed by temelova (2007), healy et al. (1992), and loftman & nevin (1995), most of the flagships are mainly justifiable in economic terms and locate in profitable locations. it is noteworthy that except khavaran and bahman cultural centers, the other flagships evaluated in this study have been located in the medium to high-income regions. most of the projects, especially the shopping malls, which have been developed by the private sector, were developed with a higher density or other land uses than was set by building by law and the city master plan. even though it could be argued that the projects are attracting people and inviting more developers and activities to their surroundings, the projects can be criticized due to their role in segregation and the exacerbation of the gap between the lower and higherincome neighborhoods (temelova, 2007: 170; bianchini et al., harvey, 2000). among the urban design and non-physical projects, the transformation of hefdah-e-shahrivar got a low score because of the dissatisfaction of a group of people, lack of public participation, and inadequate attention to other criteria. the high score of panzdah-e-khordad street and marvi gozar are because the projects aimed to limit the physical interventions in the existing structures and were appreciated as almost successful rehabilitation and regeneration projects. however, inadequate attention has been paid to market adaptability, economic prosperity, and environmental sustainability in these projects. among the other non-physical projects/practices, the qasr prison land-use change to a museum got a good score. at the same time, it has not considered the environmental and economic criteria effectively. as it was discussed in the literature chapter, the most recent strategies recommended for urban regeneration include smaller-scale, not expensive, and non-physical changes (oswalt, overmeyer, and misselwitz, 2013; martin, hincks, 2020; al-hinkawi, al-saadi, 2020). the projects, especially those designed or led by communities and the citizens' initiatives, can be successful in terms of social sustainability. tactical urbanism and temporary use, and urban sarkheyli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 49 acupuncture can be useful tools for urban regeneration. however, the studied cases show that the projects' success also depends on the quality of community engagement and the continuity of the projects/practices. their catalytic impacts are also dependent on the other complementary projects/practices supporting their positive impacts in the regeneration of a degraded urban texture. in other words, as it was mentioned, the catalysts are strategic tools (bohannon, 2004; attoe and logan, 1989), and their effectiveness relies on the following and complementary policies and actions. the scores the selected projects in tehran have gotten in each sub-criteria and indicator can present an overview of the common approaches of city projects and practices in tehran. for example, in the environmental sustainability criterion, inadequate attention has been paid to the betterment of public access to the projects, energy-saving, sustainable energy resources, sustainable construction materials, recycling, reducing human heat, and reducing water and soil pollution. regarding sensitivity to context, the visual adaptability of the project structure with the surrounding physical and natural features, adaptation with users' demands and comfort, acceptable walking distance, and protection and conservation of the existing natural and human-made elements, particularly the valuable and stable ones have been very effective in the higher or lower scores. insufficient attention to the vernacular, local, and environmental-friendly values and architecture, encouraging social interactions, and not having a strategic perspective on physical development and placemaking (in pattern-making and branding criteria) are also seen in the recent projects. the lack of evaluation criteria for evaluating physical and non-physical approaches causes the authorities to decide based on their attitudes. developers can get the municipality's support by distorting their projects' attributes and exaggerating their projects' benefits. although personal attitudes can also influence the qualitative scoring of a project in different criteria, such criteria can lead to more projects toward better quality in the long term. figure 4 suggests a framework for the evaluation of any catalytic projects. it aims to screen the projects' impacts and guide planners, authorities, and developers in designing, locating, and approving urban catalysts for urban regeneration. the framework has been made up of seven primary questions addressing the seven criteria for evaluating the projects toward sustainability and the four dimensions of catalyst projects adopted from the literature review and discussion. figure 4. questions for sustainability assessment of urban catalysts sarkheyli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 50 6. conclusion urban catalyst is a relative and comparative term. however, it can be a seductive and precarious title. how such projects are valued is strongly dependent on society's values, including the values determined directly or indirectly by those in power. according to the literature review, such projects usually affect an urban texture in four dimensions, including reimagining, activity generation, physical stimulation, and economic value creation. these aspects get different meanings in different spatial and temporal realms along with the societal, technical, and value changes. therefore, identifying such values and considering those as the basis for evaluation of the projects' impacts is significant in order to guide and direct the future pioneering project. this paper discussed the likely conflicts between the catalytic projects' impacts (the four aspects) and the sustainability goals (economic, social, environmental, and physical sustainability) through the existing literature. according to the conflicts, it suggests an evaluation framework, including seven criteria for evaluating catalytic projects. the criteria include physical and content identification, pattern making, contextualism, environmental sustainability, market adaptability, economic prosperity, and improvement of social quality of life. the criteria are explained as the questions which could be translated based on each city context and the significant values considered by each community. the framework can be used either in the preliminary process (evaluation of proposals) or when the projects or practices are done and are the subject of evaluation due to other reasons like receiving financial aid or other credits and privileges. references abbaszadegan, m. 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(1994). marketing the city: the role of flagship projects in urban regeneration, london: e& fn spon. varrel, a.; kennedy, l. (2011) mega-events and megaprojects, policy brief 3: 1-4. vicario, l., & martinez monje, p. m. (2005). another guggenhaim effect? central city projects and gentrification in bilbao, in r. atkinson & g. bridge (ed.), gentrification in a global context, the new urban colonialism" routledge, london & new york https://dx.doi.org/10.22111/gdij.2017.3446 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 75 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i1.793 understanding tourists’ motivations: the case of al baha montainous region in saudi arabia ali bokhari1 1department of archeitecture, faculity of engineering, al baha university abstract motivations are critical factors in understanding tourists’ behaviors in relation to destination choice; they relateto needs, goals, and preferences. extensive research on this topic has been documented in the literature. however, there are few empirical studies on ecotourist cities in mountainous regions that are facing an increasing number of challenges due to the cost of infrastructure development. attention to tourists’ motivational factors in ecotourist cities is critical for specifying their needs and preferences when drawing up future urban policies to develop ecotourist areas. in this study, the variables that influence tourists’ motivations, and their likelihood of revisiting those areas, were analyzed. the principal results show the significant role of accommodation locations and marketing in attracting visitors to ecotourist areas. these findings suggest that private and public sectors should invest in tourists’ residential development with a high level of accessibility and views. moreover, tourist advertisements should be given more attention, especially on social media platforms. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords tourism planning; planning for mountain areas; tourism investment; ecotourist; tourists’ motivations 1. introduction ecotourism is greatly expanding in most countries because of the advantages it offers to the host communities, and the tourists, and the land (regmi & walter, 2017). the authors of several studies have recognized the role of ecotourism in cultural preservation, sustainable development, and economic growth (liu et al., 2011). visiting heritage and natural conservation sites is the most significant form of modern-day tourism due to its role in enhancing urban and rural areas development (chi, cai, & li, 2017). it not only provides an economic stimulus at the national and local levels but also substantial benefits at the individual level (dans & gonzalez, 2018; hsu, 2019). therefore, enhancing ecotourist areas has become a major objective for many countries that want to attract international tourists who wish to enjoy their rich local, natural, historical, and cultural points of heritage (esfehani & albrecht, 2018; ismagilova, safiullin, & gafurov, 2015). ecotourism in mountainous areas in particular is facing an increasing number of challenges in terms of local and regional development, due to natural hazards including rock falls and landslides and mudflows, and the cost of infrastructure development (aseres & sira, 2020; rivera-hernández et al., 2018). therefore, many countries have attempted to create investments in these areas, to optimize the cost benefits, and to promote regional and national tourism development strategies (sharpley & telfer, 2014). enhancing urban development is largely associated with a number of visitors, which has become another objective for many countries to attract more tourists to ecotourist http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i1.793&domain=press.ierek.com bokhari / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 76 destinations. attracting more tourists requires an understanding of their needs and motivations for visiting these areas; this is the objective of many studies (agyeiwaah et al., 2019; suhartanto et al., 2020). the literature shows a growth in the number of investigations of tourists’ motivations and behaviors (nguyen & cheung, 2014; regmi & walter, 2017). however, research conducted to analyze the characteristics of ecotourists and their perceptions toward their visited destinations needs to be strengthened and expanded to manage these tourist destinations in a sustainable way (abuamoud et al., 2014). although ecotourism is of high significance in mountainous areas, there is a limited number of comprehensive studies investigating tourists’ characteristics and their visiting motivations to devise possible policies for future development meeting tourists’ expectations. thus, the objective of this research was to understand tourists’ motivations to visit ecotourist mountainous areas, which extend the current understanding of ecotourism (agyeiwaah et al., 2019; correia et al., 2013; suhartanto et al., 2020). the remainder of this paper is structured as follows: the next part presents the literature review, followed by an overview of selected geographical areas. next, materials, methods, and data analyses are presented before the results and conclusions. 2. literature review enhancing conditions in rural areas threaten many governments with the challenge of finding new opportunities for income, employment, and means of sustaining the livelihoods of members of the local communities. rural tourism can be an alternative way for revitalizing communities and enhancing urban development. in relying on a rural area’s natural and cultural resources, such as beautiful and versatile landscapes and the traditional lifestyles of indigenous communities, the goal of ecotourism vendors is to provide visitors with the opportunity to take advantage of local heritage and nature’s characteristics (apostolakis, 2003; lun et al., 2016; tian et al., 2016; xie & shi, 2020). ecotourist development policies in particular have become part of the vision of many countries. the literature shows a number of studies whose authors have aimed to understand tourists’ behaviors and their perceptions toward ecotourist areas, which are strategically driven by policy makers at local, national, and international level (oviedo‐ garcía et al., 2017; sharpley, 2002). creating successful ecotourism policies seems particularly important for many countries in maintaining tourism as a key source of natural income by which to thrive (sharpley & roberts, 2004). ecotourism is a field that is still exposed to several open questions in tourism research (rivera-hernández et al., 2018) and it needs further investigation to highlight the challenges that goventments experience during tourism policy implementation. this is important to the specific case of ecotourism in mountainous areas (dunets et al., 2019). number of ecotourism studies refer to rural areas in general, or studies in the field are only implicitly focused on ecotourist areas. however, rural uplands and mountains offers unique travel experiences due to their diverse natural and cultural environments (fredman, 2008; hussain et al., 2019). additionally, nepal and chipeniuk (2005) mentioned that mountainous areas are characterized by numerous distinctive elements including fragility, diversity, difficulty of access, marginality, aesthetics, and niche, which, because of their singularity, they have specific implications for tourism development. they encompass the most extensive array of topography, climate, flora, fauna, and cultural diversity on earth. mountainous areas suffer from the precariousness of tourism development, which need an integrated approach balancing tourists’ needs, the environment and local communities (godde, 2000). mountainous areas more likely to be prototypical regions for analyzing ecotourism development because they are generally characterized by natural beauty and cultural heritage in saudi arabia, making them ideal destinations for ecotourists (jimura, 2016). they also face a number of challenges, such as accessibility and difficult topography, making the implementation of tourism development challenging. understanding tourists’ motivations to visit such locations can enhance the investments and experiences of wise tourists; this will contribute to meeting the needs of both local residents and visitors. 2.1. tourist motivations tourist motivations have been an objective for tourism research several decades (antón et al., 2017; kozak, 2002; murdy et al., 2018). motivation theory comes from consumer behavior literature, whose scholars argue that motivations represent internal forces of individuals that lead to their actions and behaviors (devesa et al., 2010). bokhari / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 77 travel motivations are related to human needs that drive a person to participate in particular tourism activities such as swimming, horseback riding, and mountaineering (yousaf et al., 2018). thus, motivation has a crucial role in affecting travel decisions and tourists’ behaviors (mansfeld, 1992; yousaf et al., 2018) because it illustrates why people travel to specific selected destinations, and why they engage in ecotourist activities during their vacations (mahika, 2011). one of the most important and widely referenced motivation theories with psychological roots has to do with escaping and seeking (gnoth, 1997). crompton (1979) also pinpointed psychological motives including relaxation and exploration, etc. as well as cultural motives including education and novelty. in particular, psychological motives were described as inner motivations influencing individuals, known as person-specific motivations such as the need to escape his/her environment (heitmann, 2011), while cultural motives or outer motivations were described by destination-specific characteristics. fletcher et al. (2017) categorized motivation factors into three types, namely: cultural; physical, such as relaxation; interpersonal, such as socializing; and prestige, such as self-esteem and selfactualization. mehmetoglu (2012) distinguished between extrinsic and intrinsic motivations and park and yoon (2009) mentioned knowledge, relaxation, adventure, family, travel bragging, and sports as motivational factors for travel. among the most common motivational factors that have been investigated are self-development, relaxation, and family togetherness (farmaki, 2012). although some researchers have investigated the concept of motivation within the context of tourism (agyeiwaah et al., 2019; antón et al., 2017; prentice, 2004; suhartanto et al., 2020), few studies have been conducted to explore tourists’ motivations in terms of ecotourism in mountainous areas. a study by the countryside commission (1995) identified key visitors’ motivations including relaxation, health, and peace and quiet. these results were supported by a research conducted in france (federation nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles, 1989), whose authors found that tranquility, relaxation, fresh air, and greenery and were the factors driving tourists to visit the countryside. categorizing tourists based on their values, activities, or socio-economic characteristics has a critical role in shaping urban policies that must balance local community needs, economic growth, and sustainable development. frochot (2005) identified three types of ecotourists: active tourists who engage in adventure-oriented activities; gazers, who prefer to relax and enjoy the surroundings; and those who are interested in experiencing rural settings. furthermore, devesa et al. (2010) recognized four groups of rural tourists. the first group includes tourists who seek tranquility and interactions with nature; the second consists of tourists interested in the cultural aspects of certain sites; and the third group includes tourists whose activities focus on gastronomy, natural areas, visiting family and friends, or relaxing in their own house. in close agreement with devesa et al., studies by yi et al. (2011) and slee et al. (1997) describe three types of rural tourists, these are: rural-centric tourists who engage in rural-oriented activities; passive rural tourists who participate in classical tourism activities including visiting cultural sites; and those who visit family and friends in the countryside. molinillo and japutra (2017) added that tourists can be categorized based on the types of attractions they visit, such as arts-based, heritage sites, music festivals or zoos. in previous studies, scholars have indicated that clustering tourism types is challenging due to the different tourist motivators, which adds to the complexity of identifying which factors create tourism and how our urban policies can enhance tourism. therefore, within the context of travel to mountain regions, it is imperative that ecotourist motivations are investgated to allow for a clearer understanding of the concept, as well as better urban and regional policies. 2.2. tourism and heritage drawing on the literature, researchers have investigated the relationship between tourism and heritage to understand the of tourism development in heritage conservation areas. the types of heritage tourists visiting these areas influences the implementation of appropriate tourism policy protecting heritage sites (nguyen & cheung, 2014). in this regard, poria et al. (2003) presented a tree type of heritage tourist: the first tourists group who just visit heritage places; the second group who is visiting heritage sites and aware of the heritage attributes and cultural values of these areas; and third group of heritage tourists are those who are believe that heritage site is part of their own experience and their visit is motivated by the heritage values and attributes of the site. bokhari / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 78 vong and ung (2012) investigate heritage hourism in macau, china, and they have noted four aspects are associated with heritage tourism which are history and culture, heritage interpretation, facilities and services at heritage sites, and heritage attractions. yan and morrison (2008) mentioned that it is important to consider what importance to understand the values of heritage tourism and their motivations to visit these types of sites. moreover, number of researches investigate the relationship between world heritage site properties and tourism. among others, we can highlight those focused on certain sites of canada (donohoe, 2012), portugal (remoaldo et al., 2014), romania (bucurescu, 2015), spain (yousaf et al., 2018), israel (poria et al., 2003), china (yang & lin, 2014), and vietnam (nguyen & cheung, 2014). the significance of enhancing culture and heritage tourists’ experiences are strongly attractive for tourists seeking to reinforce the protection of heritage (poria et al., 2013), particularly for those travelers seeking local authentic tourism experiences and genuine places (timothy, 2011). thus, heritage is one of the most important and fastest-growing aspects of tourism these days (poria et al., 2003). tourists decide to visit an ecotourist area that has rich natural and heritage characteristics (correia et al., 2013). consequently, these factors must be analyzed and understood because there is a great diversity of heritage sites and each will be affected by different variables (breakey, 2012). furthermore, tourist sites are under a strong competition among them to attract more tourists, particularly international visitors (remoaldo et al., 2014). local culture and heritage can be attributes that differentiates one site from another and make them more attractive for different type of tourists (bell, 2010; bucurescu, 2015). arange of places, including cultural and natural sites, makes substantial differences for understanding visitors’ needs and consequently providing better management of these areas (poria et al., 2013). studying tourists’ motivations to visit ecotourist areas in mountainous regions allows for orienting and reinforcing various tourism management policies. 3. study area surrounded by mountains, the al baha region is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in southwestern saudi arabia, as it has mild weather in the summer and cool weather in the winter. the population of the region is around 476,000, and its economic basically relies on the agricultural and tourism sectors. with heritage villages such as zee ain and bani saar, the region enjoys an important focus on cultural tourism (un educational scientific and cultural organization, 2015). zee ain is an archaeological village that was declared a world heritage site. developed in the sixteenth century, it is more than 400 years old (unesco, 2015). the historic villages of al khalaf and al khalif both contain archeological gems as well as numerous ancient islamic inscriptions on basalt stone (saudi tourism authority, 2018). valleys, mountains, plains, waterfalls, and forests contribute to the area’s natural beauty. all these features indicate that, at present, the region is one of the best representatives of an ecotourist destination in saudi arabia and the middle east at large. in 2018, over than 1.2 million local trips were made to al baha carring more than 1.5 million tourists to the area with total spending 373 million usd on tourism (ministry of tourism, 2019). it bacomes an attractive destination for thousands of tourists as a consequence of its rich cultural heritage and local historic importance. enhancing ecotourism in al baha minimizes tourism negative impact upon the local environment and local heritage sites toward more sustainable development. 4. materials and methods to understand tourists’ motivations and factors that influenced their decision to visit the al baha region, a questionnaire was adapted from previous research for use in this study (breakey, 2012; vong and ung, 2012; poria et al., 2013; jin et al., 2016). the survey was designed to analyze two groups of variables: first, the sociodemographic profiles and the principal characteristics of tourists’ trips (including trip duration, type of accommodation, and destinations visited) were queried; second, the factors that defined their trip motivations and satisfaction as well as the probability of their interest in revisiting the area were explored. a five-point likert scale (1 is not important and 5 is very important) was employed to assess tourists’ motivations to visit al baha. to evaluate the likelihood of repeat visits to the area and to gain further information, questions with yes or no responses accompanied open-ended questions. at the end of the survey, an open-ended question was used to ask about any constraints that tourists may have experienced during their visits. bokhari / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 79 the first section of the survey pertained to the sociodemographic charactaristcs of indiviuals (e.g., age, gender, educational level, country of origin, income level, and professional category). next, a series of variables to analyze tourist satisfaction (e.g., hospitality, historic heritage, visitor information points, citizen safety, city cleanliness, and restaurants) were assessed to determine motivations to visit the destination. finally, logistic regression analysis— using the factors obtained in the factorial analysis as independent variables—was employed to discover the factors increasing the probability that a tourist would revisit the region. the data for the dependent variable of the regression model was obtained from the survey question regarding whether or not respondents were willing to revisit the area. the data for the independent variables were drawn from the factor scores that were obtained from factor analysis. before the data were collected, a pilot test was conducted with 30 tourists in the first two weeks of april 2018 to ensure that the survey were appropriately written and designed. a total of 873 surveys were completed in the summer of 2018 and 2019 (i.e. between april 2018 and august 2018, and april 2019 and august 2019) and 743 of them were useable. convenience sampling was used, as it is common in this type of research in which the surveyed population is available in a pre-determined space and time (finn et al., 2000). data were collected from participants in 15 locations, which are the most visited sites by tourists; these included an airport, three main malls in the area, and 12 residential tourism sites (hotels, resorts, and apartments). 4.1. data analysis the sociodemographic profiles of the tourists visiting the al baha region were determined first (see table 1). next, a factorial analysis of the aspects related to the visit was conducted with varimax rotation as well as an analysis of the internal consistency of the factors (cronbach's alpha). the final model employed all factors with reliability greater than 0.5 and have an eigenvalue greater than 1, which were assessed by cronbach’s alpha test (izquierdo alfaro et al., 2014). next, a logistic regression analysis was used to determine the probability of a tourist repeating their trip to al baha. it was also used to introduce the factors from the factorial analysis in the regression model as independent variables to determine which ones significantly increased or decreased the cited probability. table 1: respondents’ sociodemographic characteristics sociodemographic characteristics total (%) (n = 743) 1. age <18 16.55 18–24 19.52 25–34 30.28 35–49 21.13 >50 12.52 2. educational no bachelor’s degree 34.72 graduate diploma 23.55 bachelor’s degree 31.36 post-graduate degree 10.36 3. employment status full-time worker 42.13 part-time worker 17.23 student 30.96 unemployed 9.69 bokhari / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 80 table 1 continued 4. marital status single 30.82 family without dependent child/children 43.07 family with dependent child/children 26.11 5. first time visitor yes 37.15 no 62.85 6. monthly household income (sar/month) <4,999 34.59 5,000–9,999 29.74 10,000–19,999 27.19 >20,000 8.48 7. willingness to visit again yes 69.72 no 30.28 5. results three factors have an eigenvalue greater than 1 were identified as the most influential factors for trip satisfaction. the 14 statements for visiting motivations were factor analyzed, and items with loadings lower than 0.5 were removed. the remaining 10 items were employed in a factor analysis, generating three factors, which explained 56.8% of the total variance (see table 2). the first factor, responsible for 25.01% of the total explained variance, comprised three items that reflect the aspects related to culture: cultural activities and shows, heritage buildings, and historic districts. the second factor (21.83% of the variance) grouped the items used to estimate the stay dimension (e.g., views, accessibility to local businesses, ease of public parking). the third and final factor, marketing, explained 17.97% of the variance with two items: media and visitors’ information/visitor assistance points. the three groups obtained through the factorial analysis (culture, stay, and marketing) were then used as independent variables in the logistic regression model (see table 3) to determine which of them was significantly associated with the probability of a repeat visit. table 2: factor analysis of tourists’ motivations motivational statements factor culture stay marketing cultural activities and shows 0.872 heritage building 0.833 historic district (e.g. zee ain and bani saar villages) 0.779 views to valleys and mountains 0.821 accessibility to restaurants, parks, and local markets 0.780 ease of public parking 0.682 bokhari / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 81 table 2 continued media 0.679 visitors’ information and visitors’ assistance points 0.614 local business advertisements 0.536 eigenvalues 2.79 2.10 1.80 explained variance (%) 25.01 21.83 17.97 accumulated explained variance (%) 25.01 46.84 64.81 reliability coefficient 0.75 0.74 0.76 total variance of factors: 64.81, kaiser-meyer-olkin (kmo): (0.87); bartlett sphericity test (p < 0.001); n = 743 the logistic regression model showed results that were statistically significant (χ2[3] = 46.72; p < 0.001); the model explained 43.20% (nagelkerke r2) of the variance, and it correctly classified 68.0% of the cases. the results presented in table 3 indicate that stay (or = 3.73) and marketing (or = 2.57) significantly increased the probability that a tourist would visit the region again. the natural characteristics of the area (e.g., valleys, waterfalls, and forests) were found to truly define the tourists’ experiences and certainly increased loyalty to the destination in terms of their intentions for a return visit. marketing, vis-à-vis the effects of media (especially social media) also significantly increased the probability that a tourist would visit the region again. on the other hand, culture did not have a significant effect (p = 0.79). this is curious, since the aspects related to cultural activities (especially visiting a historic district) are usually highly valued when one decides whether or not to visit a certain tourism destination on another occasion. tourists’ preferences not to revisit a historic area during their next visit to al baha may have resulted from the poor infrastructure and limited public facilities therein. the results highlight that 76.58% of the tourists would, however, potentially repeat their visit to the al baha region. table 3: logistic regression analysis variables β se wald odds ratio 95% ci sig (pvalue) constant 1.40 0.53 6.46 4.0 0.011 culture 0.04 0.23 0.03 1.04 0.67 – 1.59 0.785 stay 1.31 0.23 31.13 3.73 2.35 – 5.95 <0.001 marketing 0.93 0.10 84.96 2.57 2.11 – 3.16 <0.001 model: 𝑥2(3) = 46.72; 𝑝 < 0.001 nagelkerke r2 = 0.432 𝑁 = 743 5.1. tourist accommodations this research shows that the locations of tourist accommodations has a substantial role to play in attracting tourists to al baha. visitors who had accommodations that featured good views of valleys and mountains and that were accessible to local market/commercial areas were much more likely to revisit the area. trip duration and marital status can affect tourists’ preferred types of accommodation. the results also revealed that the majority of the tourists bokhari / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 82 preferred more spacious accommodations (e.g., apartments and villas), particularly those who stayed in al baha for more than a week. a spearman’s rank-order correlation was used to assess the association between accommodation size (i.e. number of rooms) and trip duration. a statistically significant, positive association was found between accommodation size and trip duration for tourists visiting the al baha region (rs = 0.67; p < 0.050). the type of preferred accommodation varied according to tourists’ marital status. indeed, single tourists and couples or families without dependent child(ren) preferred to stay in a hotel or apartment near the downtown core, while families with dependent child(ren) preferred to stay in villas or resorts. therefore, the city council should attract investors to develop different types of accommodations to meet the needs of all potential visitors. 5.2. marketing, social media, and ecotourist development the traditional use of social media is mainly for entertainment or online shopping; however, it also has a large number of possible different practices in everyday life (kaplan and haenlein, 2010). social media marketing in the tourism industry is increasingly prevalent. social media affects different aspects of tourism – from tourists’ information searches and decision-making behaviors to tourism promotion and tourists sharing their own holiday experiences on various channels (boyd and ellison, 2007, carneiro et al., 2018). leveraging social media to market tourism products and activities has proven to be an excellent strategy (amitay et al., 2020). social media enables tourists to search for information on destinations to visit and to choose the best option among several alternatives (hutter et al., 2013; perakakis et al., 2016). the prevalence of social media enhances investment opportunities for local businesses and organizations to increase their profits (mccabe, 2017). the leaders of many city council regard social media as an essential tool to enhance their domestic tourism, and tourism saudi arabia is no exception. claims that social media plays a crucial role in holiday planning and booking are mentioned by the increased traffic to tourism websites (amaro et al., 2016). in this study, tourists were asked if they use any social media applications to make their travel decisions, and if so, which one(s). the findings show that 52% of our sample (n = 387) used a social media platform to gain information regarding accommodations, tourist attractions, and local business (e.g. restraints and shops). the statistics presented in table 4 highlight that tourists seek restaurants and cafés using instagram and twitter (50.27% and 27.96% of respondents, respectively), whereas snapchat aids their visits to parks or heritage areas (66.38% of respondents). instagram, twitter, and snapchat are all prominent applications in saudi arabia, as they give people the opportunity to share experiences and information (ministry of communications and information technology, 2019). furthermore, social media influencers are predominantly active on these three platforms and their marketing, when executed properly, is more effective since consumers tend to trust them more than traditional advertising due to the close relationship between consumers and influencers (lou & yuan, 2019). most tourists also considered accommodation reviews on google reviews or reservation websites (66.67%). this finding highlights the modern role of social media in marketing to tourists, particularly those in areas with limited advertisements and marketing strategies (e.g., rural areas and ecotourist cities). social media marketing can be more effective with younger generations who are more likely to use it. somers’ d was run to determine the association between age group and the use of social media among 387 participants. a positive, statistically significant (d = 0.64, p < 0.050) correlation was found between age group and tourists’ use of social media to gain destination information. table 4: tourists’ use of social media for different purposes social media platform for visiting tourist destinations accommodation booking local businesses (e.g. restaurants, cafés, and shops) instagram 38 (10.73%) 17 (6.37%) 187 (50.27%) facebook 15 (4.24%) 10 (3.75%) 4 (1.08%) whatsapp 26 (7.34%) 12 (4.49%) 13 (3.49%) snapchat 235 (66.38%) 23 (8.61%) 23 (6.18%) bokhari / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 83 table 4 continued youtube 5 (1.41%) 5 (1.87%) 4 (1.08%) google 15 (4.24%) 178 (66.67%) 34 (9.14%) twitter 18 (5.08%) 6 (2.25%) 104 (27.96%) others 2 (0.56%) 16 (5.99%) 2 (0.81%) total 354 267 372 the findings of this research offer significant practical and policy implications, notably relating to the intensity of social media use by tourists and tourism businesses in ecotourist areas. the results suggest that it is important to market to tourists on social media platforms to attract more of them to the area. according to the findings, tourists and tourism operators were in favor of instagram and snapchat compared to other social networking sites, as they are commonly used in saudi arabia. governmental and non-governmental agencies, media, advertisers, and tourism operators should keep an eye on instagram and snapchat to remain updated on tourists’ activities. social media has rich data regarding tourists’ motivations, perceptions, and behaviors – including their reviews of popular businesses and locations (e.g., restaurants, parks, hotels) in the al baha region. to develop the region, governmental and nongovernmental agencies should be attentive to local businesses’ reviews, as they can affect tourists’ decisions. 5.3. tourism and local culture heritage culture has an important role in attracting tourists to the al baha region. the results of many studies have confirmed that heritage buildings and cultural activities can drive urban and economic growth, not to mention the industry as a whole (ginting, 2016; garcía-hernández et al., 2017). heritage villages in al baha (such as zee ain and bani saar) have the potential to be developed to enhance public facilities and infrastructure to gain an important source of income through tourism. in this study it was found that the local culture did not significantly affect tourists’ likelihood of revisiting al baha. table 5 summarizes tourists’ assessments of the challenges of visiting heritage areas in al baha; most notably, these included poor infrastructure and accessibility. such challenges may reduce the attraction of visiting the heritage areas. one tourist mentioned, “it is hard for an elderly person to walk on a hilly site without any assistance.” another mentioned that “during the summer season, many tourists are visiting the heritage area, but a limited amount of car parking and lack of an alternative mode of transport (such as a bus or train) made [their] experience unpleasant.” the availability of public facilities near heritage locations was also highlighted as a key concern. one tourist said that “families with dependent kids need restaurants, cafés, and restrooms when they visit tourist locations, and there are a limited number of these services in heritage locations.” some tourists also mentioned the lack of explanation on the history and culture behind these buildings, including signage and information centers. table 5: tourists’ feedback on challenges of visiting heritage areas challenges statements accessibility and infrastructure limited public parking near heritage buildings roads in poor condition limited tourist coaches to heritage areas poor pedestrian pathways, particularly for elderly and disabled tourists public facilities limited public services such as restaurants, cafés, and restrooms limited tourist information some areas lack tour guides bokhari / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 84 6. conclusion this study was conducted to explore tourists’ motivations to visit ecotourist areas in order to offer an understanding of what attracts them to the al baha region. through a series of modeling exercises, three factors (culture, stay, and marketing) were positively associated with tourists’ decisions to visit ecotourist regions. furthermore, the stay and marketing factors were found to drive tourists to revisit the areas. this research has highlighted the fact that tourists’ original preferences for visiting ecotourist areas are primarily driven by local culture, including cultural activities and shows, heritage buildings, and historic villages. however, it was found that tourists often prefer not to revisit heritage buildings and historic districts because of poor infrastructure and accessibility concerns. limited public facilities also negatively influence tourists’ likelihood of revisiting historic locations. the results also revealed that tourists prefer to visit ecotourist areas because of the hotels and resorts which have good views of the surrounding villages and valleys and that are near local restaurants and shops. those deciding the location of any new residential development should consider the aforementioned key factors to attract tourists to the region. the government should attract real estate investors to develop different types of accommodations to meet tourists’ diverse needs. the role of marketing was found to be positively associated with tourists’ perceptions of ecotourist areas. the effect of social media on the younger generation was particularly strong. it was found that tourists are more likely to use social media sites such as instagram and twitter when they are looking for restaurants and cafés, and they use snapchat to obtain information for public parks or heritage areas. tourist marketing strategies should integrate these platforms. moreover, social media sites have rich data reflecting tourists’ motivations, perceptions, and behaviors, which should be used by the government and investors during the future production of urban policies to develop the region. the results from this study have extended the current understanding of tourist motivations (see albayrak and caber, 2018; 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(2018). tourist's motivations to travel: a theoretical perspective on the existing literature. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 24 doi: 10.21625/essd.v6i1.789 land consumption, ecosystem services and urban planning policies: preliminary results of research undertaken in the tuscany region debora agostini1, fabio lucchesi1, francesco monacci1, fabio nardini1, massimo rovai2, iacopo zetti1 1 university of florence department of architecture 2 university of pisa department of department of civil and industrial engineering abstract in the contemporaneity, the issues of land or soil consumption and of the protection of areas that, within the urban areas, provide ecosystem services (ess) is becoming increasingly important also in relation of the 2030 sustainable development goals. the concept of "ecosystem service" appears, in this respect, a fruitful support to define the land consumption effects on the loss of functionality and of settlement quality. following this considerations the paper presents the first results of a research developed in tuscany and commissioned by the regional government. the research aims to measure the loss of ess in connection with land use / land cover transformations, and to verify the contribution of soil consumption to these variations. the research use methodologies for elaborating of the geographical data required for territorial governance, lucl 2010/2016 and land cover flow (lcf) model and the theoretical model of the “capacity matrix” to provide ecosystem services. © 2021 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords geographic information systems land cover change; urban development; ecosystem services, ecosystem assessment. 1. introduction this paper aims to inform the scientific community of preliminary developments and of some research methodologies that have been elaborated as part of an ongoinggg scientific project financed by the urban planning and housing policies department of the tuscany region. the objective of this research is to test innovative methodologies for elaborating of the geographical data required for territorial governance. this paper will reflect on techniques for monitoring and evaluating transformations in land use/cover and how this information can be used to verify changes in the provision of ecosystem services. 1.1. the 2007-2016 lulc database and the description of settlement growth in 2007, the tuscany region started developing a programme for acquiring and updating information on a three-year basis on the land use and land cover (lulc) throughout the entire region. the database provide multi-temporal readings of land use so it was relatively simple to use it to study the changes in land use that took place between 2007 and 2016. among the many studies which have used this data to analyse changes in land use across the region, those http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v6i1.789&domain=press.ierek.com agostini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 25 focusing on quantifying and analysing the dynamics of land consumption have been particularly important (ciampi et al., 2015; marson & lucchesi, 2017). 1.2. the distribution of land use and the recent dynamics of territorial transformations (2010-2016) the map lulc for 2016, at the first level of the classification, shows the distribution and the quantities of land-use in the region. in quantitative terms, land use in tuscany in 2016, according to corine land cover nomenclature, was subdivided as follows: artificial surfaces 8.6% (1,979 km²), agricultural areas 38.2% (8,782 km²), wooded and seminatural areas 52.2%, (12,005 km²), wetlands 0.2% 49 km²) and water bodies 0.7% (172 km²). land use changes that took place throughout the region in the period 2010/2016 were evaluated using land cover flow (lcf) methodology, a system for evaluating transformations in land use that was first developed for the european-level corine land cover (clc) project (feranec et al., 2010) and subsequently applied to national and regional contexts using more detailed maps (lucchesi et al., 2015). the research described in this paper has focused on the transitions of land use towards urban uses, i.e. on ascertaining how much of agricultural and natural land in 2010 had been transformed into artificial surfaces for residential use (lcf2) or for productive and infrastructure use (lcf3) by 2016. in addition to measuring the land surfaces that in absolute terms now belonged to a different lulc category (either lcf2 or lcf3) a “settlement growth” index was created to relate the artificial surfaces that were registered for the first time in 2016 with those that were already in 2010. the lulc database, using lcf classification (lcf 2 and lcf 3), shows that there was a total of 1,894.18 km² of artificial surfaces in tuscany in 2010 (tab. 1, fig. 1). the 2016 data showed there had been a 42.52 km² increase in artificial surfaces since 2010, with an overall settlement growth rate of 2.24% over that time period. the rate of settlement growth was not homogeneous: artificial surfaces for residential use accounted for 931.92 km² in 2010 and a further 7.07 km² in 2016: a 0.76% increase; artificial surfaces for productive and infrastructure uses accounted for 962.25 km² in 2010 and a further 35.44 km² in 2016: a 3.68% increase. table 1. increase in artificial surfaces in the years 2010-2016 divided between growth for residential use and growth for productive and infrastructure uses artificial surfaces in 2010 (km²) increase in artificial surfaces to 2016 (km²) increase (%) development of residential areas (lcf2) 931.92 7.07 0.76% development of infrastructure, commercial and productive areas (lcf3) 962.25 35.44 3.68% agostini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 26 figure 1. on the left: 2010-2016 lulc variations in tuscany, using land cover flow nomenclature. the lcf2 categories are colored red (urban residential sprawl); the lcf3 categories are colored purple (sprawl of economic sites and infrastructures); the artificial surface present in 2010 and also in 2016 are colored in dark grey. on the right: details of the 2010-2016 lulc variations around florence. the ratio between the two growth indexes shows that the growth of production and infrastructure sites throughout tuscany in the years 2010-2016 was almost five times greater than the growth of residential settlements. with this in view, the research sought to determine what consequences these transformations have had on the capacity to provide ecosystem services. 2. mapping ecosystem services on a local scale using land cover databases ecosystem services (ess) are generally defined as the benefits, direct or indirect, that people can obtain from ecosystems (de groot et al. 2002; costanza, 1997). in the last twenty years, and especially since 2005, the year in which the second millennium assessment study was carried out, research into the classification of ess and their spatial mapping has greatly increased. in europe, the process of spatial identification and ess evaluation was significantly boosted following the definition of the european biodiversity strategy to 2020: the objective of target number 2 was to maintain and improve ecosystems and related services by creating green infrastructure and restoring at least 15% of degraded ecosystems (maes et al., 2016). furthermore, in the context of action n. 5 of this strategy, member states, supported by the maes working group, undertook to map and evaluate the ecosystem services in their countries by 2014. an interesting initiative to map ecosystem is attributable to the formulation of the ecosystem map of italy (blasi et al. 2017) and the monetary values assigned to some ess contained in the third report on the state of natural capital in italy. the ecosystem map of italy identified ecosystems on a scale of 1:100,000 using a system whereby data from the corine land cover project was connected with an archive of potential vegetation. more specifically, the map was developed with a methodology that used data from the corine land cover project up until level 4 for classes 31x and 32x the data of the potential vegetation classes. this methodology made it possible to identify the typologies of ecosystems, but it did not push towards specific elaborations to identify ess. the second project used a completely different methodology which simplified the ecosystem macro-categories and pushed towards a spatial assessment of the monetary value of some ecosystem services at the 1:100,000 scale: recreational, crop pollination, water supply, flood risk regulation (la notte et al. 2017). a survey of the scientific literature reveals that in many studies the mapping of ess has been carried out with proxy methods (chan et al. 2006, egoh, 2008, naidoo et al., 2008; eigenbrod, 2010), using data prepared in other contexts of research to compensate for the lack of primary data (maes et al., 2012). while provisioning ess can often be directly quantified with primary data, most regulating, supporting, and cultural services are less straightforward to be agostini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 27 put on maps and researchers must rely on proxies for their quantification. land use and land cover (lulc) map are the most common proxy data used, but also environmental indicators such as the evaluation of nitrogen concentration for the measurement of the es of water purification (grizzetti et al., 2008; grizzetti et al., 2012), or the distribution of animal species for the evaluation of supporting ess (eigenbrod et al. 2010) are used. in italy a similar methodology has been adopted for the first time to test the role of protected areas to prevent loss of es with land transformation (scolozzi et al. 2012; scolozzi et al.2014). the availability of lulc themes, readily obtainable from satellite image processing, together with the possibility of quantifying changes in land use over time, has encouraged many researchers to develop ess mapping methodologies which, over time, have evolved at national, regional and local levels (eigenbrod et al. 2010). many of these studies avoid a monetary evaluation of ess, adopting a comparative approach. in this latter case, for each land-use class are assigned scores in accordance with a predefined scale of values measuring the supply capacity of each es. scores are assigned on the base of ratings provided by experts from related disciplines regarding the different es categories (or groups); the scores are then used to evaluate the evolution over time of the performance of an es within a given geographical area (burkhard et al. 2009; burkhard et al. 2012). 3. capacity matrix methodology applied to land in the tuscan region this paper presents the result of preliminary ess mapping trials that were conducted on the tuscany territory, using the methodology proposed by burkhard in his studies on the landscape of central-eastern germany (burkhard et al. 2009; burkhard et al. 2012) and used by many studies at european and international level (campagne, 2020). with the aim of evaluating the capacity of the different types of land cover to provide ecosystem services, burkhard created a relation matrix with on the columns, the 44 types of land cover encoded by the corine land classification cover and on rows 29 ecosystem services: 7 ess able to measure ecological integrity, 11 ess aimed at measuring the provisioning services, 9 ess for the regulating services, 2 ess for cultural services. in burkard's work concerning ecological integrity service (corresponding to the support services as defined by mea, 2005), reference was made to muller, 2005, while, for the provisioning, regulating and cultural services reference to the works of de groot, 2006; mea, 2005; costanza, 1997. therefore, each cell of the matrix reports a value (along a scale from 0 to 5 (0 = no relevant capacity of the land cover type to provide this particular ecosystem service, 1 = low relevant capacity, 2 = relevant capacity, 3 = medium relevant capacity, 4 = high relevant capacity and 5 = very high relevant capacity) which expresses the ability of each lulc class to provide a specific ecosystem service. in burkhard's works, the method used for the attribution of scores is that of consulting with competent experts with respect to the different categories of ess. once the capacity matrix has been built (tab. 2), using gis software, it is associated with the lulc database, for understanding the spatial distribution of service supply and for evaluating the dynamics on different time scales. the twenty-nine indicators proposed by burkhard have been grouped into four categories, according to teeb, 2008: ecological integrity (supporting services), provisioning services, regulating services, cultural services. the score of the four main categories of ess was obtained as the sum of the scores of each es belonging to the specific category. some values have been modified to adapt them to the lulc legend of tuscany region which have some difference from original clc classification (tab. 2). the total scores of the four ess categories were subsequently normalized in the range from 0 to 1 so that the measurements of the four categories of ecosystem services would be comparable. to calculate the ecosystem services capacity of the tuscan territory, the research associated to each of the polygons in the database (for each of the four ess categories) a score equal to the normalized value between 0 and 1 of the single lucl class, multiplied by the area of the polygon. the accuracy of the ess supply is very dependent on the cartographic detail of the data used and its ability to recognize the presence of natural ecosystems that perform ecological functions. small cartographic scales (eg. 1: 100.000) are more affected by the presence of polygons including too heterogeneous areas within them, failing to distinguish the presence of permeable areas and arboreal and shrubby vegetation. this capacity due to the greater detail are very agostini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 28 important especially in the areas surrounding the small tuscan cities, often characterized by heterogeneity of use and by the permanence of agricultural cultivations. the limits of the cartographic scale are particularly important in proxy methods (eigenbrod, 2010); the availability of a medium-scale lulc cartography for the tuscan territory considerably improves the evaluation of the distribution of ess, partly improving the capability of this data to function as a proxy (fig.2). figure 2. the two maps represent: in blue lulc database from eea project (1:100.000), in red lulc database used as proxy to quantify ecosystem services (1:10.000). the greater cartographic detail of the lulc database at 1: 10,000 scale used by our research allows to map ess provided by agricultural and forest areas and urban green areas not present in the 1: 100,000 scale dataset and to evaluate the effective contribution of artificial areas to the supply of ess. the image on the left represents a portion of the countryside around san gemignano (siena); the one on the right, instead, a portion of peri-urban territory near campi bisenzio (florence) the analysis was carried out by choosing the landscape systems as the territorial unit (rossi et al., 1994) (fig.3). the landscape system map is a classification of the landscape of tuscany created using digital data on altitude, geology and geomorphology, climate and land use. the method is similar to that used in other existing landscape classification maps (amadei et al. 2003; mucher et al. 2010). the landscape system map divides the region in 9 landscape system, within which a further 82 landscape sub-systems are articulated and is often used in environmental impact assessment, protection and management of natural resources and territorial planning policies. table 2 shows the capacity matrix used in our research. the assessment scale reaches from 0 / red = no relevant capacity of the land cover type to provide this particular ecosystem service, 1 / orange = low relevant capacity, 2 /yellow = relevant capacity, 3 / light green = medium relevant capacity, 4 / medium green = high relevant capacity and 5 / dark green = very high relevant capacity. columns with gray headers give sums for the four ecosystem services groups. the table differ from original one builted by burkhard, 2009 in some codes of ucs: 1121 (land of relevance, scattered buildings), 1211 (urban wastewater), 1212 (photovoltaic system), 1221 (roads in forest areas), 1411 (cemetery), 210 (irrigated ed non irrigated arable land), 2101 (greenhouse), 2102 (plant nurseries), 2221 (agro-forestry areas), 3331 (firebreaks). classes 1121, 1211, 1212, 1221, 1411, 2221, 3331 were assigned the value of the class at the third level of classification; the ucs of the tuscany region does not contain, on the other hand, the items of ucs 211 (nonirrigated arable land) and 212 (permanently irrigated land): both these classes are grouped under an item called 210. codes 2101 (greenhouses) have been attributed the value of class 121 while the codes 2102 (plant nurseries) have been given the same value used for the agro-forestry areas. agostini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 29 table 2. capacity matrix e co lo g ic al i n te g ri ty a b io ti c h et er o g en ei ty b io d iv er si ty b io ti c w at er fl o w s m et ab o li c e ff ic ie n cy e x er g y c ap tu re r ed u ct io n o f n u tr ie n t lo ss s to ra g e ca p ac it y p ro v is io n in g s er v ic es c ro p s l iv es to ck f o d d er c ap tu re f is h er ie s a cq u ac u lt u re w il d f o o d s t im b er w o o d f u el e n er g y ( b io m as s) b io ch em ic al s / m ed ic in e f re sh w at er r eg u la ti n g s er v ic es l o ca l cl im at e re g u la ti o n g lo b al c li m at e re g u la ti o n f lo o d p ro te ct io n g ro u n d w at er r ec h ar g e a ir q u al it y r eg u la ti o n e ro si o n r eg u la ti o n n u tr ie n t re g u la ti o n w at er p u ri fi ca ti o n p o ll in at io n c u lt u ra l s er v ic es r ec re at io n & a es th et ic v al u es in tr in si c v al u e o f b io d iv er si ty 111 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 112 7 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1121 7 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 121 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1211 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1212 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 122 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1221 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 123 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 124 7 1 1 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 131 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 132 8 2 1 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 133 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 141 18 3 3 2 1 4 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 11 2 1 0 2 1 2 1 1 1 3 3 0 1411 18 3 3 2 1 4 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 11 2 1 0 2 1 2 1 1 1 3 3 0 142 16 2 2 2 1 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 1 1 0 2 1 1 1 1 1 5 5 0 210 22 3 2 3 4 5 1 4 21 5 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 5 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2101 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2102 21 4 3 4 2 3 2 3 13 5 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 0 0 19 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 5 5 5 0 213 20 3 2 5 1 5 1 3 7 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 221 14 3 2 3 1 3 0 2 5 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 0 222 21 4 3 4 2 3 2 3 13 5 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 0 0 19 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 5 5 5 0 2221 21 4 3 4 2 3 2 3 13 5 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 0 0 19 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 5 5 5 0 223 17 3 2 3 2 3 1 3 12 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 0 0 7 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 5 5 0 231 24 2 2 4 5 5 2 4 10 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 1 1 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 3 3 0 241 18 2 2 3 2 4 2 3 21 5 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 7 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 242 20 4 3 3 2 4 1 3 9 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 5 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 243 19 3 3 3 2 3 2 3 21 3 3 2 0 0 3 3 3 3 1 0 13 3 2 1 2 1 3 0 1 0 5 2 3 244 27 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 14 3 3 2 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 0 13 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 3 0 311 31 3 4 5 4 5 5 5 21 0 0 1 0 0 5 5 5 0 5 0 39 5 4 3 2 5 5 5 5 5 10 5 5 312 30 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 21 0 0 1 0 0 5 5 5 0 5 0 39 5 4 3 2 5 5 5 5 5 10 5 5 313 32 3 5 5 4 5 5 5 21 0 0 1 0 0 5 5 5 0 5 0 39 5 4 3 2 5 5 5 5 5 10 5 5 321 30 3 5 4 4 4 5 5 5 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 22 2 3 1 1 0 5 5 5 0 6 3 3 322 30 3 4 4 5 4 5 5 10 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 5 0 0 20 4 3 2 2 0 0 3 4 2 10 5 5 323 21 3 4 2 3 3 4 2 8 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 7 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 6 2 4 324 21 3 4 2 3 3 4 2 5 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 2 2 331 10 3 3 1 1 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 6 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 5 2 332 6 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 4 0 333 9 2 3 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3331 9 2 3 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 334 6 2 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 410 25 3 2 4 4 4 3 5 7 0 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 2 2 4 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 411 25 3 2 4 4 4 3 5 7 0 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 2 2 4 2 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 420 23 2 3 4 3 3 3 5 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 1 0 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 3 0 421 23 2 3 4 3 3 3 5 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 1 0 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 3 0 422 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 423 13 2 3 0 2 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 1 0 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 4 0 511 18 4 4 0 3 3 3 1 12 0 0 0 3 0 4 0 0 0 0 5 10 1 0 2 1 0 0 3 3 0 10 5 5 512 23 4 4 0 4 4 3 4 12 0 0 0 3 0 4 0 0 0 0 5 7 2 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 9 5 4 521 25 4 4 0 5 5 3 4 16 0 0 0 4 5 4 0 0 3 0 0 5 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 5 4 523 15 2 2 0 3 3 4 1 11 0 0 1 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 3 5 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 6 4 2 agostini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 30 4. the ecosystem capacity of the tuscany region in 2016 in this paragraph we analyse the results of the methodology described above which made it possible to spatialize and quantify the ecosystem services provided by the territory of tuscany in 2016. the maps in figure 4 show the normalized values (scale 0 1) of the ess supply of each ucs polygon and refer to the 4 main categories (support, provisioning, regulating, cultural). table 2 shows the contribution (as a percentage of the total) of each type of landscape to the supply of the 4 categories of ess. this allows us to evaluate the contribution that each sub-region offers in the provision of services on a regional scale. the apennines (ap), the anti-apennine reliefs (ra) and the pliocene hills (cp) are the areas that give the greatest contribution to the supply of the four ess categories while the alluvial plain (pa) and the coastal plain (pc) which are the most urbanized areas, contribute in a more limited way. it should be noted that if, on the one hand, the territorial surface of the different landscape systems shows values similar to those of the ess offer, on the other hand, the most anthropized landscape systems (pa, pc and cp) show lower values of the ess offer than to the surface and more rural and mountainous landscape systems (ap, ra, aa). looking at the contributions of the different landscape systems to the four categories of ess, the apennines (pa), the anti-apennine reliefs (ra) and the apuan alps (aa) highlight the highest values of regulating and cultural services offer while pliocene hils (cp), alluvional plains (pa) and coastal plains (pc) show higher values for the supply of provisioning services and ecological integrity. figure 3. landscape system according to rossi et al. 1994 the division in landscape system was used to calculate the supply capacity of es of the different parts of the tuscan territory agostini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 31 figure 4. the measurement of ecosystem services in 2016 (normalized values). in the top left-hand corner: support service (ecological integrity); in the top right-hand corner: provisioning service; bottom left-hand corner: regulation service; bottom right-hand corner: cultural service. table 3. contribution of different type of landscape systems to the provision of ecosystem services (support, provisioning, regulating, culturalrecreational). landscape system ecological integrity (support service) provisioning service regulating service cultural service landscape system area % aa 4.02% 3.56% 4.99% 4.92% 3.22% ap 38.87% 37.37% 46.62% 45.58% 33.37% ci 3.67% 3.83% 2.78% 2.95% 3.51% cp 16.48% 18.20% 10.09% 10.99% 18.31% ip 1.97% 1.68% 2.00% 2.36% 2.55% pa 3.37% 3.60% 1.29% 1.41% 4.42% pc 4.92% 5.35% 2.48% 2.84% 6.38% ra 25.79% 25.44% 29.01% 28.23% 27.23% rt 0.90% 0.98% 0.73% 0.72% 1.00% total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100.00% agostini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 32 5. assessment of changes in ecosystem service delivery 2010-2016 many studies visualize and quantify changes over time and space of ess supply (carreno, 2012; burgi, 2015; ncube et. al. 2018). also in our research, having available the lulc 2007-2016 data of the tuscany region, we have produced maps of the evolution of the different ess for the entire territory of tuscany using the capacity matrix developed by burkhard (tab. 2). the comparison was made taking into consideration the years 2010 and 2016, because the first cartographic survey (2007) is more affected by photointerpretation errors than the others. the capacity matrix developed by burkard (tab. 2) was linked to the 2010 and 2016 land use and land cover classes contained in the 2010 and 2016 lulc database: table 4 shows the absolute and percentage change in the supply capacity of ess in the tuscan territory in the period 2010/2016 for the four categories of ess (support service; provisioning services; regulating service; cultural service). the data (tab. 4) reveal a general reduction of the four ess, with a higher value for the provisioning services and with lower values for the regulatory and cultural services. the quantities of the support services, on the other hand, remain substantially unchanged. table 4. contribution of different type of landscape systems to the provision of ecosystem services (support, provisioning, regulating, cultural). ∆ ecological integrity (absolute value) ∆ ecological integrity (%) ∆ provisioning services (absolute value) ∆ provisioning services (%) ∆ regulating services (absolute value) ∆ regulating services (%) ∆ cultural services (absolute value) ∆ cultural services (%) -2,530.39 -0.15% -142,929.00 -1.41% -176,558.00 -1.83% -43,687.00 -1.30% with the 2007/2016 ucs database linked to the capacity matrix, ess losses or increases in the period 2010-2016 were determined, based on ucs transitions. below are some summary tables related to changes in ucs at the first level of the corine land cover classification. table 5 shows the internal transitions at the same level (e.g. code 141 in ucs 2010 which changes the lulc class to code 112 in ucs 2016), while tables 5, 6, 7, 8 show the variations between the different ucs levels ( e.g. code 311 in ucs 2010 which changes the lulc class to a code 223 in ucs 2016).the result of the query of the ucs 2007/2016 database, linked to the capacity matrix, allows to recognize the losses or increases of ess in the period 2010-2016, according to the specific ucs transitions. table 5. transition 2010-2016 of ecosystem services (support, provisioning, regulating, cultural-recreational): contributions of transitions within the same class classes at the first classification level transi tion type (clc) balance ecological integrity 20102016 (absolute values) impact of the transition on the ecological integrity balance provisioning services 2010-2016 (absolute values) impact of the transition on the provision ing services balance regulating services 2010-2016 (absolute values) impact of the transition on the regulatin g services balance cultural services 20102016 (absolute values) impact of the transition on the cultural services 1-1 165.03 6.52% 6,261.00 4.38% -1,116.00 -0.63% -166.00 -0.38% 2-2 97.48 3.9% 17,633.00 12.34% 16,883.00 9.56% -3,160.00 -7.23% 3-3 -1,117.95 -44.2% -26,593.00 -18.61% -43,730.00 -24.77% -4,789.00 -10.96% 4-4 0.00 0.00% 0.00 0.00% 0.00 0.00% 0.00 0.00% 5-5 0.73 0.02% -5.00 0.00% 8.00 0.00% -3.00 -0.01% agostini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 33 table 6. transition 2010-2016 of ecological integrity: contributions of transitions between different lulc classes at the first classification level. t ra n si ti o n t y p e (c l c ) (a ) b al an ce ec o lo g ic al i n te g ri ty 2 0 1 0 -2 0 1 6 (a b so lu te v al u es ) im p ac t o f th e tr an si ti o n o n t h e e co lo g ic al i n te g ri ty t ra n si ti o n t y p e (c l c ) (b ) b al an ce ec o lo g ic al i n te g ri ty 2 0 1 0 -2 0 1 6 (a b so lu te v al u es ) im p ac t o f th e tr an si ti o n o n t h e e co lo g ic al i n te g ri ty b al an ce e co lo g ic al in te g ri ty ( a )+ (b ) im p ac t o f th e p ai r o f tr an si ti o n o n t h e to ta l b al an ce 1-2 622.00 24.6% 2-1 -1,742.33 -68.9% -1,120.34 -44.30% 1-3 172.31 6.80% 3-1 -495.21 -19.60% -322.90 -12.80% 1-5 23.02 0.90% 5-1 -5.75 -0.20% 17.28 0.70% 2-3 -5.16 -0.20% 3-2 -194.26 -7.70% -199.42 -7.90% 2-4 14.40 0.60% 4-2 -1.41 -0.10% 12.99 0.50% 2-5 -2.80 -0.10% 5-2 -1.41 -0.10% -4.21 -0.20% 3-4 -0.03 0.00% 4-3 -2.26 -0.10% -2.29 -0.10% 3-5 -29.48 -1.20% 5-3 -23.05 -0.90% -52.53 -2.10% 4-1 -2.95 -0.10% 1-4 -2.95 -0.10% 4-5 -1.43 -0.10% 5-4 0.13 0.00% -1.30 -0.10% tot. -2,530.39 100,00% table 7. transition 2010-2016 of provisioning: contributions of transitions between different lulc classes at the first classification level. t ra n si ti o n t y p e (c l c ) (a ) b al an ce p ro v is io n in g 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 6 ( ab so lu te v al u es ) im p ac t o f th e tr an si ti o n o n t h e p ro v is io n in g t ra n si ti o n t y p e (c l c ) (b ) b al an ce p ro v is io n in g 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 6 ( ab so lu te v al u es ) im p ac t o f th e tr an si ti o n o n t h e p ro v is io n in g se rv ic es b al an ce p ro v is io n in g se rv ic es ( a )+ (b ) im p ac t o f th e p ai r o f tr an si ti o n o n t h e to ta l b al an ce 1-2 28,154.00 19.70% 2-1 -134,491.00 -94.10% -106,337.00 -74.40% 1-3 3,200.00 2.20% 3-1 -25,621.00 -17.90% -22,421.00 -15.70% 1-5 1,154.00 0.80% 5-1 -635.00 -0.40% 519.00 0.40% 2-3 -15, 00 -11.10% 3-2 8,687.00 6.10% -7,191.00 -5.00% 2-4 -256.00 -0.20% 4-2 90.00 0.10% -166.00 -0.10% 2-5 -2,345.00 -1.60% 5-2 440.00 0.30% -1,905.00 -1.30% 3-4 -14.00 0.00% 4-3 0.00 0.00% -14.00 0.00% 3-5 1,887.00 1.30% 5-3 -4,609.00 -3.20% -2,722.00 -1.90% 4-1 -24.00 0.00% 1-4 0.00 0.00% -24.00 0.00% 4-5 46.00 0.00% 5-4 -10.00 0,00% 36.00 0.00% tot. -142,929.00 100.00% agostini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 34 table 8. transition 2010-2016 of regulating: contributions of transitions between different lulc classes at the first classification level. t ra n si ti o n t y p e (c l c ) (a ) b al an ce re g u la ti n g s er v ic es 2 0 1 0 -2 0 1 6 (a b so lu te v al u es ) im p ac t o f th e tr an si ti o n o n t h e re g u la ti n g s er v ic es t ra n si ti o n t y p e (c l c ) (b ) b al an ce re g u la ti n g s er v ic es 2 0 1 0 -2 0 1 6 (a b so lu te v al u es ) im p ac t o f th e tr an si ti o n o n t h e re g u la ti n g s er v ic es b al an ce r eg u la ti n g se rv ic es ( a )+ (b ) im p ac t o f th e p ai r o f tr an si ti o n o n t h e to ta l b al an ce 1-2 9,777.00 5.54% 2-1 -46,992.00 -26.62% -37,215.00 -21.10% 1-3 3,784.00 2.14% 3-1 -47,517.00 -26.91% -43,733.00 -24.80% 1-5 744.00 0.42% 5-1 -408.00 -0.23% 336.00 0.20% 2-3 1,378.00 0.78% 3-2 -58,920.00 -33.37% -57,542.00 -32.60% 2-4 172.00 0.10% 4-2 -49.00 -0.03% 123.00 0.10% 2-5 774.00 0.44% 5-2 -154.00 -0.09% 620.00 0.40% 3-4 -25.00 -0.01% 4-3 -4.00 0.00% -29.00 0.00% 3-5 -9,569.00 -5.42% 5-3 -1,549.00 -0.88% -11,118.00 -6.30% 4-1 -68.00 -0.04% 1-4 0.00% -68.00 0.00% 4-5 9.00 0.01% 5-4 14.00 0.01% 23.00 0.00% tot. -176,558.00 100.00% table 9. transition 2010-2016 of cultural: contributions of transitions between different lulc classes at the first classification level. t ra n si ti o n t y p e (c l c ) (a ) b al an ce c u lt u ra l se rv ic es 2 0 1 0 -2 0 1 6 (a b so lu te v al u es ) im p ac t o f th e tr an si ti o n o n t h e cu lt u ra l se rv ic es t ra n si ti o n t y p e (c l c ) (b ) b al an ce c u lt u ra l se rv ic es 2 0 1 0 -2 0 1 6 (a b so lu te v al u es ) im p ac t o f th e tr an si ti o n o n t h e cu lt u ra l se rv ic es b al an ce c u lt u ra l se rv ic es ( a )+ (b ) im p ac t o f th e p ai r o f tr an si ti o n o n t h e to ta l b al an ce 1-2 3,051.00 6.98% 2-1 -16,522,00 -37.82% -13,471.00 -30.80% 1-3 2,624.00 6.01% 3-1 -14,295,00 -32.72% -11,671.00 -26.70% 1-5 840.00 1.92% 5-1 -487,00 -1.11% 353.00 0.80% 2-3 4,140.00 9.48% 3-2 -17,926.00 -41.03% -13,786.00 -31.60% 2-4 -34.00 -0.08% 4-2 11.00 0.03% -23.00 -0.10% 2-5 2,697.00 6.17% 5-2 -758.00 -1.74% 1,939.00 4.40% 3-4 -10.00 -0.02% 4-3 8.00 0.02% -2.00 0.00% 3-5 3,101.00 7.10% 5-3 -2,007.00 -4.59% 1,094.00 2.50% 4-1 -15.00 -0.03% 1-4 0.00% -15.00 0.00% 4-5 31.00 0.07% 5-4 -18.00 -0.04% 13.00 0.00% tot. -43,687.00 100.00% agostini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 35 considering the four categories of ess, in the period 2010-2016, the most significant reduction of ess is given by the passage of some portions of the tuscan territory from level 2 (agricultural areas) to level 1 (artificial areas). compared to the total, the contribution of this transition to the loss of supply of ess was, respectively: -68.9% for support services (ecological integrity) (tab. 6); -94.1% for provisioning services (tab. 7); -26.6% for regulatory services (tab. 8) and -37.8% for cultural services (tab. 9). this loss is partially compensated by a reverse transition from level 1 to level 2 (from artificial to agricultural surfaces); these transitions are mainly due to the presence of areas of relevance for construction for public and infrastructural works in 2010 (code 133) which, in 2016, return to arable land or, in any case, returned to agricultural use. these compensations, while decreasing the loss of ess, nevertheless lead to an overall balance of these transformations very negative values equal to: -44.3% for ecological integrity services (tab. 6), -74.4% for provisioning services (tab. 7), -21.1% for regulatory services (tab. 8) and -30.8% for cultural services (tab. 9). considering all the transitions towards codes 1 as phenomena of land consumption, it can be said that the reduction of support and provisioning services is largely due to the processes of artificialization of the soil. with regard to regulating services and cultural services, both the phenomena of land consumption and the transitions from natural surfaces to agricultural surfaces play an important role in the loss of ess with values equal to -32.6% and -31.6% (tabs 8, 9). the analysis of the data also shows the contribution provided by the internal transitions to class 2 (agricultural land) to the reduction of the loss of supply capacity of ess in the tuscan territory (tab. 5). this is evident, in particular, for provisioning (+ 12.34%) and regulating (+ 9.56%) services, while cultural services recorded a reduction (-7.23%). a contribution determined by the transition from permanent crops (especially olive groves and orchards) to arable land and / or meadows and pastures which, in fact, determine an increase in the ess of provisioning and regulating, but reduce the supply of cultural services (probably linked to the aesthetic-perceptive of the landscape). 6. conclusions burkard’s methodology, applied at lulc data of the tuscany region, was used to develop easy-to-read maps, to identify macro-phenomena of erosion of ess supply and to identify possible conflicts and limits to managing environmental resources with particular reference to land consumption. thanks to the availability of homogeneous data for the tuscany region, the methodology is easy to use, quickly provides results, ensures the replicability of the process and allows to verify the correlation between the supply of ecosystem services and the incidence of anthropic activity described in the lulc archive. however there are also some critical issues: one is related to the difficulties in correlating the delivery level of some ecosystem services to single lulc classes, another to the lack of descriptive detail for some lulc classes, both in natural and urban areas, which makes it difficult to adequate evaluation of the ecosystem services provided by these areas. with regard to the first issue, there is a pressing need for further research to be undertaken on the opportunities offered by combining the use of the lulc data with other geographical data of the tuscany region in order to increase the reliability of the evaluation of the ecosystem services offer that are not closely correlated with the lulc data base. the possibility of using the tuscany region lulc archive to undertake multi-temporal measurements (2007-2016), of the variation in ess supply is a very promising area of research that could lead to the introduction of payment mechanisms for ecosystem services (pes) (pagiola, 2007) between different territorial areas, especially in light of the opportunities provided by law 22/2015 for promoting the green economy and limiting the excessive use of resources: in fact art. 70 of this law envisages the establishment of systems of remuneration for ecosystem and environmental services (psea). the adoption of expeditious standardized methods such as the one proposed in this paper would make it possible to rapidly assess the effectiveness of urban, territorial and sectorial policies and to introduce, compensation mechanisms where required. the introduction of psea between territories requires identifying both the places where the services are generated and where they are used, so that the environmental economic balance is oriented towards sustainability principles. in this approach the maps of ess supply capacities elaborated according to the illustrated methodology and the agostini / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 36 correlation of these with demographic data related to the population, can help to identify the spatial congruence or the disparities between 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(2014). ecosystem services-based swot analysis of protected areas for conservation strategies. journal of environmental management, 146, 543-551. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.05.040 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 review article received: 28 november 2022, accepted: 30 june 2023, published online: 30 june 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i1.931 a review of noise management practice in nigeria ochuko felix orikpete1,2 and daniel raphael ejike ewim3* 1bristow helicopters nigeria limited, exxonmobil qua iboe terminal, eket. akwa ibom state, nigeria. 2centre for occupational health safety and environment (cohse), university of port harcourt, choba, rivers state, nigeria. 3department of mechanical engineering, durban university of technology, south africa. *corresponding author: daniele@dut.ac.za abstract technological advancement, modern systems of transportation, and an expanding human population have brought in their wake a disturbing situation of exposure to environmental noise. this paper was therefore written to create awareness about the expository effects and impacts of environmental noise pollution on the human population. the target population of interest was the nigerian population. the key findings were linked and related to existing regulations in nigeria and other countries to enable effective intervention strategies to reduce the harmful impact of noise pollution. noise pollution was identified as contributing to the poor health of citizens and as a barrier to development and growth at the national level. by focusing on adverse effects and risk factors, the paper highlighted methods to promote the best interests of the vulnerable population. the paper also acknowledged the issue of industrial and environmental noise pollution from the perspective of its contribution to the economic growth and development of the country. noise pollution was, therefore, required to be measured and controlled with the help of effective strategic laws. it would help reduce the negative effects on the economy and the vulnerable nigerian population. this paper will be useful in anticipating future reforms that can reduce the considerable noise pollution and its negative impact on the population. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords noise pollution; noise management; decibel; legislation; noise level; nesrea 1. introduction the words "sound" and "noise" are often interpreted as interchangeable terms in the dictionary. according to industry standards, noise pollution is mainly observed by individuals working near sources that produce sounds that are intolerable to the ear [1]. sound, on the other hand, can be considered a fluctuation that may be perceived by the human ear and can be interpreted at different frequencies by different individuals. a sound can often be pleasant to hear; however, noise is never good for the ear. it is mainly due to the higher frequency or intensity of the waves at which a certain sound is produced that it becomes rather unpleasant to the ears while having various negative impacts on individuals. noise can also be deemed an objectionable sound that is not pleasant to the human ear and can also have adverse effects on physical and mental health [2]. while an individual is working within an environment that is prone to emitting such noises, eliminating these sounds may not be possible. environmental noise pollution can be observed as industry-based noise pollution or can also be stipulated as per individual categorization or perception. noises are generally produced at a higher decibel, which can be uncomfortable, irritating, annoying, and unwelcome for the ears [3]. some of the environmental noises can also be based on the occupation of an individual working in the surroundings and emitting higher decibels. according to scientific specifications, any exposure to noise for more http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i1.931&domain=press.ierek.com ewim/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 than 8 hours of the period can be deemed a potential source of environmental noise pollution. so, in a nutshell, the noise emitted from all sources within proximity of an individual can be deemed environmental pollution. apart from industries, noise pollution can also be due to transportation noise, noise from the neighborhood, or any other unwanted resource deemed to be liable to cause distress [4]. the topic might not seem complicated; however, it can be rather threatening to human health, safety, and communication. it aims to preserve natural resources and promote their abundance for future use and utility promotion [5]. one of the major contributors to noise pollution is a spurt in economic growth. another factor contributing to environmental noise pollution is an increase in the number of motor vehicles on the road. this has contributed to overall growth, development, and industrial advances, which are inadvertently hurting the possibility of attaining development. there is also a dire need to acknowledge this issue and take the necessary action within the bounds of laws and regulations. this is also required to reduce the overall negative impact on the people of nigeria [5]. there has been a scarcity of evident and reliable research studies that can help explain the effect of industrial and environmental noise pollution on citizens in general. this paper will help in focusing on the key terminology involved in the subject matter and the overall impact of environmental noise pollution on an individual. the paper will also shed light on the underlying laws and regulations in nigeria and compare them with those of other countries to gain insight into possible ramifications. the paper will also emphasise the value of promoting a sound balance between cutting back on potential resources that generate considerable noise pollution and contributing to positive economic development in nigeria. the paper will discuss the various issues in different sections, beginning with the meaning of noise pollution and the rate of noise pollution in nigeria. the second section will discuss the sources of noise pollution (industrial machines, wind turbines, and construction sites). the third section will discuss the effects of noise pollution, which will be followed by section four, where the current methods for the management of noise pollution will be discussed. the fifth section will provide an overview of the rules and regulations that have been taken into implementable form and will help in the control of noise pollution. the last section will discuss the recommendations and conclusion. 1.1 methods in this review paper, a systematic approach was employed to filter and select relevant studies and literature. the process of data filtration involved several steps. first, a comprehensive search was conducted to identify relevant sources, including academic databases, research articles, conference proceedings, and reputable online sources. inclusion and exclusion criteria were established to maintain consistency and relevance, with a focus on including studies that specifically addressed noise management practices in nigeria and provided valuable insights or findings. the selected sources then underwent a rigorous evaluation process to assess their quality, reliability, and relevance. peer-reviewed articles, reputable research studies, and publications from recognised experts in the field were prioritised. pertinent information from the selected sources was extracted and synthesised to form a coherent narrative, incorporating key findings, important concepts, and relevant data. the entire process of data filtration was reviewed and iterated upon, taking into account feedback from experts and colleagues, to ensure the selection of the most valuable and up-to-date information for this review paper on noise management practices in nigeria. 1.2 understanding the concept of noise pollution the concept of noise pollution is not new to anyone and is one of the leading causes of various health-related issues. noise can take any form and be present within the close vicinity of an individual. increased noise projections can also result in increased levels of stress, high blood pressure, and even significant hearing loss [6]. noise pollution can also be deemed an invisible danger, the repercussions of which cannot be seen but are present. the overall definition of noise pollution is listening to unwanted and disturbing sounds that can interfere with an individual's healthy way of life. the level and intensity of sound are generally measured in decibels. various sounds can be heard within an environment and can have a damaging impact on the individual hearing them. environmental pollution can be heard at as low as 20–30 decibels and can range up to 120–140 decibels [7]. however, any sound that is over and above the decibel range of 85 can be damaging to the health of an individual, leading to potential harm. the issue of noise pollution in general and environmental pollution, in particular, can impact the well-being of an individual daily. this is also considered the most common cause of noise-induced hearing loss [8]. the issue of noise pollution also impacts all age groups of vulnerable populations and can also cause memory and attention deficits. some of these damages have also been found to be permanent, which again contributes to the overall burden. 1.3 basic terminologies associated with noise measurement noise is usually described and designated as having a certain "sound level." this is also recognized on an international level in terms of performance standards. audible sound pressures can vary from a range of 107 pa to 200 pa. decibel is another key term that is associated with sound [9]. it enables a more accurate algorithmically corrected prediction of sound levels, which helps explain the manageable range of sound and a sound level pleasant to the ears. noise levels in the environment, such as those produced by industry, construction, and road traffic, are commonly expressed in decibels (db(a). octave is the division of frequency ranges into possible bands of upper frequency [10]. this is also used to limit the audible frequency of sound necessary for promoting a safe ambient atmosphere. some other key ewim/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 terminologies explaining the levels of sounds and noises include measurement of background noise level, measurement of time interval, reference time interval, rating level, residual noise level, specific noise source, and specific noise source. various terms are also used for quantifying the level of noise and sound produced in the environment [11]. these terms include an explanation of inaudible sounds, barely audible sounds, and just audible, audible, and dominant sounds. the dominant sounds are the ones that contribute largely to significant noise pollution. the operation of noise pollution can also be caused by constant sounds, intermittent sounds, and infrequent sounds. sound also comes with levels of vibration, and thus, a few common terms designate these levels of vibration. some of these terms include acceleration, geophone, maximum instantaneous charge, peak particle velocity, and scaled distance. 2. sources of noise pollution one of the most common sources of noise pollution is the environment. this is also commonly known as "sound pollution." the pollution is mainly caused by the propagation of noise, which varies in range. however, all of these sounds can contribute largely to the smooth facilitation of activities in human life. it can also be more damaging than normally anticipated, and thus the source must be identified and modified with effective preventive strategies. the most commonly observed sources of environmental pollution can be noted to come from machines, transport, and propagation systems. here is a detailed discussion of such sources. 2.1 noise from road transportation road transportation can include buses, bikes, cars, trucks, and many others. apart from the sound generated by the high-paced movement of these vehicles, noise pollution is also generated by the constant barking of horns. a normal car horn can generate a sound pressure level of 95–120 decibels [12]. this can be deemed to be significantly higher than the normal anticipated range suitable to be heard by the human ear. this can be suggestive of the impact of the noise pollution generated from road transportation and its impact on the vulnerable population impacted by the same. 2.2 noise from railways railway noise is generally considered to be the most environmentally friendly means of transportation szwarc et al. [13] compared the impacts of road noise and railway noise on the environment and found that the latter has a lesser effect on it. despite the fact that railways are one of the lesser-known hazards contributing to noise pollution, they cannot be avoided. noise from railroads can also have a greater impact on those who work in close proximity to these machines. the passing of a train can also generate low-frequency, inaudible ground vibrations, which can magnify the sound produced by this movement [14]. it can thus cause evident harm to the ears and raise mental health concerns. 2.3 aircraft noise knobloch et al. [15] argued that the invention of flight was one of man’s greatest accomplishments and has helped connect the world together. nevertheless, the increasing influx of passengers, requiring a larger number of aircraft and a total of more daily flights, has led to increased annoyance resulting from aircraft noise. gély and márki [16] compared the level of annoyance generated from the various sources of noise within our immediate environment, such as noise from manufacturing industries, noise from automobiles, railway noise, and aircraft noise, and found that aircraft noise was perceived to produce the greatest annoyance of them all, for the same equivalent noise levels. the noise produced by aircraft can reach 140 decibels or higher. this can be considered to be above the acceptable level of decibels normal for human hearing. a greater amount of noise is generated at the time of takeoff and landing, and thus, it can impact the ground staff who assist in these activities. there are major health consequences that can occur due to elevated sound levels. noise is also one of the most common problems associated with aviation. it can cause health issues such as sleep disturbance, anxiety and stress, annoyance, and even cardiovascular impairments [17-21]. moreover, benz et al. [22] opined from their research that a continuous stress state could result from steady exposure to aircraft noise. kors and collin [23] are of the opinion that for the aviation industry to continue to grow, control measures for aircraft noise reduction must be introduced. 2.4 noise from waterways noises produced by waterways can affect marine flora and fauna. this is mostly caused by the generation of anthropogenic noises, which can cause impairments in physical and behavioral displays [24]. these noises can indirectly impact population groups due to echolocation caused by the navigation of waterways. it can also make communication a bit difficult and add to the overall stress. 2.5 noise from industrial machines there are three most damaging sources of noise pollution that can arise from industry settings. three of these sources have been noted as machinery, construction, and vehicles. many industries require raw work to be done that cannot be executed without the use of drills, saws, progressive-use lathes, and so on. this is the reason why many industry ewim/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 setups make it compulsory for people working on-site to use protective listening gear. this is considered to prevent hearing damage, which can be caused by subjection to constant high-pitched sounds within proximity. 2.6 noise from wind turbines wind turbines produce some of the higher broadband noises, which are mainly generated through high-intensity revolving rotator blades. this causes potential turbulence due to the passing of air at a higher pressure and thus generates a "whooshing sound," which can be damaging to the ears [25]. if the turbines get old, they also produce a constant, low-paced, high-intensity tonal sound that is sustained at a steady pitch but can contribute largely to environmental noise pollution. 2.7 noise from construction sites construction site noise is usually loud, and noise coming from such sites is usually noted to be at 90 decibels or above [26]. the noise pollution from a construction site usually comes from equipment such as bulldozers, compressors, pneumatic hammers, loaders, trucks, and even cranes used for lifting. the noise is also sustained at a constant level as work on these sites has to be carried out relentlessly. these higher levels and intensities of noise decibels not only affect those living nearby, but they can also affect those working on these sites, resulting in permanent or long-term hearing effects and damages. it also impacts the sleep pattern, which can be distressing for an individual’s mental health. 2.8 entertainment noise these noises come from pubs and clubs that have huge gatherings of individuals. however, although these activities help promote a culture of positive social engagement and interaction, they can often turn into nuisances. noise from clubs or open-air concerts can impair the normal functioning of the interactive environment and, thus, affect the people coming under its influence [5]. environmental noises coming from music can interfere with the neighbours' lives and also disturb their sleep patterns. this can also result in evident signs of distress and poor mental and physical health. it can also compromise the ability to perform activities smoothly. 2.9 noise from military activities military operations include actions taken on the ground, on the water, and in the air. most of these activities create a loud, intense sound that can also have significant damaging effects. military activities such as explosions can also result in noise-induced hearing loss [27]. it can also impact the level of performance and combat skills of an individual. apart from this issue, military personnel and training cadets are exposed to the risk of surprisingly high levels of noise, which can also lead to tinnitus and ringing in the ears. this has also been noted as the second-most commonly observed disability due to participation in military operations. 2.10 other public noise sources, such as firecrackers public noise pollution includes all types of man-made noise pollution. this can come from vehicles, the use of machines, obstructions in the functioning of a normal environment, and burning crackers. cracker burning can produce both noise and air pollution [28]. this can be noted in sounds that are louder and can generate huge bangs and thunderous sounds. cracker-busting not only damages the environment but can also make conditions of living for animals inhumane, and thus, it should be avoided at all costs unless it is very necessary and vital to be conducted. 3. effects of environmental noise pollution the issue of noise pollution has become a nuance for a lot of people, which creates a constraint on daily living. it has impacted a million people on a daily basis and also compromises their quality of life significantly. exposure to loud decibels of noise has been shown to have a major detrimental impact on people [1]. this is closely associated with issues such as high blood pressure, increased levels of stress and anxiety, heart diseases, and even hearing loss in severe cases. the problem has been shown to impact all age groups of people across the nation [29]. children, however, are more vulnerable to the risk of hearing loss due to poor development of the ear anatomy. subjection to loud decibels at an early age can be rather damaging for these young individuals. furthermore, a comprehensive review of the literature carried out by farooqi et al. [30] identified the effects of environmental noise to include increased heart rate, nausea, headache, insomnia, triggered hearing loss, high blood pressure, heart attack, impaired reproduction ability, exhaustion, decreased value of property, and dizziness. ewim/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 3.1 hearing loss this is one of the major issues related to noise pollution. the hearing loss caused by the impact of noise pollution can be temporary or permanent in nature. aside from age, it is also affected by the extent and intensity of the exposure [31]. loud noises have a direct impact on the inner ear, commonly known as the cochlea. loud noises and sounds can cause irreparable damage to the cells and membranes of the cochlea. these cells die over the exposure period due to this. the most critical part is that the impact of the loud noise persists even after the exposure has been cut off. this can result in permanent damage to the auditory neural system, which can leave the person hearing impaired [3]. in most cases, this gets detected in later stages, making it rather difficult to get the issue treated. 3.2 sleep disturbances studies have shown that environmental pollution can be the root cause of fragmented sleep patterns [32]. this can be less refreshing for the person, which eventually hinders a good mood. some noises may not be of a higher level, causing you to awaken from a deep sleep. however, these noises can still have multiple subconscious effects on sleep stages and sleep cycles. the sleep cycle varies from a lighter stage of sleep, which comes with low waves, to a deeper sleep pattern. environmental noises have been shown to increase the speed of rapid eye movements, which can further cause potential disturbances in sleep patterns [2]. this disturbance in sleep patterns, especially during the night, is associated with the extra production of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. this release of hormones can result in elevated heart rate and blood pressure, and even irregularities in heart rate and rhythm. short-term impacts of noise pollution on sleep patterns can be reflected in poor physical and mental functionality. due to disturbances in sleep patterns, one will experience sleeplessness, which will also result in irritability [33]. on a long-term basis, poor sleep quality can be shown to cause cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and even stroke in a few rare scenarios. in totality, poor sleep caused by noise pollution can significantly increase the overall risk of health and decrease the quality of life. 3.3 speech interference the issue of noise is present in all walks of life and impacts our daily functionality. due to noise, there can be severe confusion while communicating with one another. interrupted communication can also result in poor outcomes as it directly impacts social interaction [34]. noise can interfere with communication, which is not only restricted to industrial places but is also far-reaching to other settings such as offices, schools, open spaces for mining and construction, and many other places as well. this can severely compromise your quality of safety and interaction. it can also have a direct influence on your productivity and learning capabilities [34]. it is necessary to have a good comprehension of what the other person is saying to enable good communication with them. however, excessive noise pollution can hamper this effective communication method. this can also compromise your social participation and functionality. having a compromised social interaction status can also compromise speech intelligibility [35]. this can hamper various signs and signals of communication, which might lag in acknowledgment. environmental pollution creates a lot of warning sounds, which can make it difficult to robustly comprehend speech. this can also lead to miscommunication and poor outcomes in social interactions, creating a sense of distrust and uncertainty. 3.4 annoyance annoyance can be defined as a sense of displeasure. this is associated with the poor impact of a condition or a situation on an individual or a group of people. compared to other forms of environmental pollution, noise pollution has been observed to have a significant impact and relate to a sense of annoyance in the behavioral displays of individuals [36]. due to this factor, the person is also more likely to experience a negative impact on various body functions, such as cardiovascular health, metabolic diseases, and even poor impact on cognitive functioning. 3.5 other effects of noise pollution noise pollution has also been closely related to the cause of tinnitus, which is defined as an abnormal sensation in the ears. tinnitus is also marked by sound in the absence of an external sound source. this is usually caused by excessive exposure to noise. most patients exposed to chronic noise have been reported to suffer from tinnitus [37]. this condition also gives rise to other secondary concerns such as anxiety, psychological distress, depression, communication issues, tension, irritability, and increased frustration [17]. the condition can also impact the wellbeing of the person and the quality of life by restricting social participation and interaction. the ear is connected to the brain, which assists in the coordination of the stimulus-response and creating the required action. all sound signals are sent to the brain for interpretation, and thus, a clear and precise message must be relayed to fetch specific details [38]. noise pollution sends an excessive number of sound signals to the brain at once. this type of overriding sound can dull the brain's response time and also lower the rate of response significantly. gradually, with due course, cognitive functioning is bound to be reduced, which is required for sound reasoning and decision-making. industrial noises, which are typically higher in decibels and are constantly fed into the environment, can have the most detrimental effect on an individual. ewim/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 4. key environmental noise concerns in nigeria and management methods the existing literature highlights several key noise concerns in the context of nigeria, including transportation-related noise in urban areas, industrial noise pollution, and the impact of cultural elements on noise levels [39]. construction noise [40], as well as transportation noise, particularly from road traffic, has been found to adversely affect residents' health and well-being, leading to increased stress levels, sleep disturbances, and reduced quality of life. industrial activities generate significant noise, posing health risks for nearby communities [41]. cultural practices such as traditional festivals and social gatherings contribute to noise pollution, necessitating a balance between preserving cultural traditions and mitigating excessive noise [42]. vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, and individuals with pre-existing health conditions are particularly susceptible to the negative effects of noise pollution. we will now discuss the various methods of environmental noise management used in nigeria, which encompass targeted interventions and policies aimed at creating a more sustainable and harmonious soundscape for all. 4.1 land-use planning and design the major reason for noise zoning and land use planning is to prevent people from being exposed to levels of noise that are incompatible with their well-being and health. according to rajé et al. [43], land-use planning and management are critical in order to ensure that only a small number of people living near airports are subjected to aircraft noise. this is done by introducing specific land-use zoning around airports that is compatible with land usage within the airport area. land-use planning helps in zooming out the location and the type, which allows for assessing the level of decibels allowed in the specific region. it can also be used to design noise-sensitive areas through strategic mapping [44]. this is also done by allocating a significant distance between new noise-emitting sources and more sensitive regions. this is one of the most underutilized methods but, it is rather effective as it assists in planning before the incorporation of the developmental plan in the specific region. 4.2 building insulation building insulation can be done with the help of soundproofing the building's surroundings. a choice of materials can be installed in the walls, such as cellulose, foam, or even fibreglass. this can be an effective strategy for significantly reducing outside noises and, as a result, the disturbance and annoyance caused by environmental pollution [45]. 4.3 noise barriers it also depends on the noise barrier material and the surface of the treatment. the amount of original noise energy reflected or scattered back to the resources. some of the left-over portions are absorbed by the material, and thus, the overall sound that is reflected is distracted from the top edge. a noise barrier can be effective in reducing noise levels by 5 to 10 decibels [46]. this material can be used to insulate windows or buildings to cut back on noise levels. 4.4 use of silent electric cars silent electric cars can have acoustic technology, which can help issue a warning sign for producing noise. this can also be controlled by a sensor, which can artificially lower the decibel level of the pollution these cars cause to the environment. 4.5 quiet road surfaces the noise abatement potential of quiet road surfaces is generally lower than that of noise screens or facade insulation. this is also a good way to cut down on decibel levels and possible noise pollution in the environment. 4.6 efficient building design architectural design can also be done to reduce the possibility of noise pollution. this can be done by using specific sound-proofing materials or by designing the building in a manner that helps cut down on unwanted noises and sounds and eventually controls the decibels. 4.7 efficient soundscape design the soundscape is the new measurement framework that aims to more accurately reflect the listener's experience of the sounds that they hear in context. soundscape management aims to treat noise as a resource rather than a waste to improve the acoustic environment in which we live [47]. so, this can be a good way to control noise pollution in the environment, especially in industrial settings and close-by neighbourhoods. existing noise regulations and standards, such as iso 12913 soundscape, provide valuable insights and guidance for noise management practices in nigeria. iso 12913 focuses on the concept of soundscape, which emphasises not only the decibel levels but also the overall acoustic environment, including its quality, character, and perception by ewim/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 individuals [48]. by drawing from iso 12913 and similar standards, nigeria can incorporate elements of soundscape assessment and management into its noise regulations. this approach encourages a more holistic approach to noise management, taking into account not only the quantitative aspects of noise but also the subjective experience and perception of sound. it can help inform the development of comprehensive noise management strategies that prioritise the creation of pleasant and sustainable acoustic environments in various settings, including urban areas, residential neighbourhoods, and public spaces. 4.8 efficient traffic management traffic management can help identify the various noises and sources contributing to higher decibels in the environment. with this information, traffic can be sent to places where there aren't as many people. this will assist in noting the sounds and reducing their audible levels, which are pleasant to the ears, thereby contributing to controlling the possible negative impact of environmental noise pollution. 5. legislation as an important tool for noise management the use of legislation can include the application of laws and regulations that can help prohibit the use of higher decibels, which can be damaging to the ear. these regulations can also help in seeking federal actions and penalties against authorities and bodies that are contributing largely to increased levels of environmental noise pollution [49]. it is also a constructive approach to creating provisions for ensuring the practice of regulated levels of decibels within the scope of legislative practices. in organized societies, laws are meant to regulate human behavior. according to ijaiya and joseph [50], the purpose of promulgating environmental laws is to curb the menace and threat to the environment posed by human activities in the search for economic gains and development. apart from international treaties and conventions, each country makes its own laws in the form of acts of parliament, edicts, or decrees. legislation plays an important role in environmental noise management as it provides a framework for deciding whether a noise level is acceptable or not. it is the government's responsibility to ensure the measurement of noise abatement from various sources. the national environment protection agency must ensure that noise levels and intensities do not exceed the designated limit and that environmental quality is sustained as per specified quality standards. the national environmental standards and regulations enforcement agency (nesrea) is the agency responsible for the implementation of environmental laws in nigeria, including laws governing exposure to environmental noise [51]. 5.1 overview of the existing noise management approaches in nigeria the existing noise management approaches in nigeria encompass a range of strategies and initiatives aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of noise pollution. the country has recognised the importance of addressing noise issues and has implemented various measures at different levels. at the national level, nigeria has established the national environmental standards and regulations enforcement agency (nesrea), which is responsible for developing and enforcing environmental standards, including those related to noise. nesrea has enacted regulations that set permissible noise levels for different types of activities and industries. additionally, state and local governments have also introduced their own noise control measures and guidelines, often tailored to address specific regional or local concerns. these approaches typically involve a combination of noise zoning, noise level limits, and licensing requirements for noisy activities, with enforcement carried out by environmental agencies and law enforcement bodies. however, despite these efforts, challenges related to enforcement and awareness persist, requiring further attention and improvement in noise management practices in nigeria [52]. in order to stop noise pollution, nesrea has set a decibel limit that is acceptable on both an international and a national level. the standard approval level of noise within residential areas has been set at 55 decibels during the day and 45 decibels during the night. in industrial regions, this level must not exceed 90 decibels during the day [53]. the higher range is primarily determined by the industry setup. clubhouses and entertainment outlets have been instructed to operate in an enclosed and soundproof environment. a noise permit is also required for places where there are possible chances of higher decibels being emitted into the environment and eventually leading to significant environmental noise pollution [53]. 5.2 noise regulations in various countries due to the evident risk of harm, many countries have developed effective legislative regulations to control the dose of noise to which people are generally exposed. most developing countries are subjected to the issue of noise pollution due to exposure to high-decibel sounds generated by industrial setups. this includes countries like pakistan, india, and china, which are located on the asian continent, and many others [54]. the exposure limit for these developing countries has been set at 85–90 db for 8 hours maximum per day. however, in the noise regulations for the 22 countries that make up america (latin america, canada, and the united states), the limit has been set at 85 db [55]. this has been noted as the permissible exposure limit, which has been deemed appropriate by the international organization for standardization (iso) and the european economic community (eec). the majority of american countries do not have established occupational noise levels in decibels [56]. in developing nations, the frequency ewim/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 levels also play a vital role in deciding the optimal level of decibel suitable for hearing as compared to the intensity generated from these environmental sounds. major sources of environmental noise pollution have been noted as traffic, industrial setups, and recreational centres, which are located within the close vicinity of residential complexes. therefore, the legislative regulations are also closely associated with further reducing the acceptable decibel ranges within these locations. 5.3 exposure limits given by international bodies the world health organization (who) recommends that noise exposure levels should not exceed 70 db over 24 hours and 85 db over 1 hour to avoid hearing impairment [57]. the environmental protection agency (epa) report identified 70 decibels (db) over 24 hours (75 db over 8 hours) as the average exposure limit to environmental noise [58]. this agency has also identified the outdoor noise levels as being 55 db and the indoor levels as 45 db as being the highest. the occupational safety and health administration (osha) has mandated that workers limit their exposure to 90 decibels (db) or less in order to avoid hearing damage and other psychological distress [59]. 5.4 challenges associated with the enforcement of noise regulations in nigeria the enforcement of noise regulations in nigeria encounters various challenges that must be addressed for effective implementation. one of the significant challenges is the lack of awareness and understanding among the general population regarding the importance of noise regulation and its impact on health and well-being. many individuals in nigeria remain uninformed about the potential risks associated with prolonged exposure to high levels of noise, which undermines their compliance with noise control measures [60]. this lack of awareness highlights the need for comprehensive education campaigns to inform the public about the adverse effects of noise pollution and the benefits of adhering to noise regulations. inadequate infrastructure and resources pose another challenge to the enforcement of noise regulations. the limited availability of noise monitoring equipment, particularly in rural areas, hinders the accurate measurement and assessment of noise levels. additionally, the scarcity of trained personnel and the lack of designated agencies or departments responsible for noise regulation enforcement further impede effective implementation. addressing this challenge requires investment in appropriate equipment, the establishment of dedicated enforcement bodies, and the training of personnel to effectively monitor and enforce noise regulations [61]. the diverse and multicultural nature of nigerian society presents unique challenges in enforcing noise regulations. different cultural practices, traditions, and social norms may impact noise levels and perceptions. balancing the preservation of cultural heritage and individual freedoms with the need to protect public health and well-being requires careful consideration and stakeholder engagement. it is essential to foster dialogue and collaboration with community leaders, religious institutions, and cultural organisations to develop noise control strategies that are sensitive to local customs and traditions [62]. lack of compliance and resistance from stakeholders, including industries and businesses, is another significant challenge faced in noise regulation enforcement. some industries may be hesitant to invest in noise reduction measures due to concerns about increased costs and potential disruptions to their operations. businesses operating in densely populated areas may find it challenging to meet noise restrictions while balancing customer demands and operational requirements. effective enforcement strategies should involve stakeholder consultations, providing incentives for compliance, and promoting voluntary adoption of noise control measures [63]. inconsistencies and gaps in legislation pose additional challenges. the existing legal framework may lack clarity or specificity regarding noise regulations, making it difficult to prove violations and enforce penalties. it is crucial to review and update the legislative framework to provide clear guidelines for noise control, establish robust mechanisms for monitoring and enforcement, and streamline the legal processes to ensure timely resolution of disputes [64]. insufficient financial resources allocated to noise regulation enforcement is another challenge that needs to be addressed. inadequate funding often results in a lack of personnel, equipment, and infrastructure necessary for effective enforcement. adequate budgetary provisions must be made to ensure that noise control agencies have the necessary resources to carry out their monitoring, enforcement, and public awareness activities [65]. overcoming these challenges requires a multi-faceted approach. it involves strengthening public awareness and education campaigns, investing in infrastructure and resources, fostering stakeholder collaboration, reviewing and updating legislation, and allocating sufficient financial resources. additionally, partnerships with international organisations and sharing best practices with other countries can provide valuable insights and support in addressing noise regulation enforcement challenges. by addressing these challenges, nigeria can create a more conducive environment for the effective enforcement of noise regulations, leading to improved public health, enhanced quality of life, and sustainable development. ewim/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 conclusions and recommendations the issue of industrial and environmental pollution has become a major public health issue globally. however, the noise component has not been widely studied in nigeria. apart from highlighting the issue, reflection and emphasis were also laid on the current legislative regulations progressing towards controlling and managing noise pollution across nigeria. the best method that was identified to manage the problem of noise pollution was to implement the rules and regulations that would allow the management of noise pollution. the national environmental standards and regulations enforcement agency was identified as the primary agency responsible for the implementation of environmental laws in nigeria and, as such, has a vital role to play in effecting change. the paper discussed the key role of the regulatory bodies to ensure damage control and establish effective preventive strategies for narrowing down the industries and institutions responsible as the largest contributors to noise pollution in nigeria. to 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(2022). exploring the perception and impact of helicopter noise in mgbuoshimini community, nigeria. in innovations in science and technology (chapter). book publishers international, london, uk. orikpete, o. f., leton, t. g., momoh, o. l. y., & okwu, m. o. (2021). appraisal of industrial and environmental noise regulation in nigeria and its impact on sustainable national development. international journal of scientific & technology research, 10(9), 92-103. orikpete, o. f., leton, t. g., momoh, o. l. y. (2021). exploring the perception and impact of helicopter noise: a case study of mgbuoshimini community, nigeria. scientific african, 13, e00943. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-8121-9 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.108753 https://doi.org/10.3390/environments6020014 https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2019.1633756 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40726-018-0095-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-07105-7 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020393 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2020.113487 https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/326424 https://doi.org/10.3390/futuretransp2030034 ewim/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 orikpete, o. f., leton, t. g., momoh, o. l. y. (2020). measurement and mapping of helicopter noise: a case study of mgbuoshimini community, nigeria. journal of critical reviews, 7(19), 4633-4652. orikpete, o. f., leton, t. g., amah, v. e., & ewim, d. r. e. (2020). an assessment of the impact of helicopter noise: case study of mgbuoshimini community, nigeria. journal of earth and environmental sciences research, 2(2), 1-16. b. o. bolaji, m. u. olanipekun, a. a. adekunle, and a. e. adeleke, ‘an analysis of noise and its environmental burden on the example of nigerian manufacturing companies’, journal of cleaner production, vol. 172, pp. 1800-1806, 2018, doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.007 how to cite/reference this paper: apa: orikpete, o. f., & ewim, d. (2023). a review of noise management practice in nigeria: a review of noise management practice in nigeria. environmental science & sustainable development, 8(1), 31–42. https://doi.org/10.21625/essd.v8i1.931 acm: orikpete, o.f. and ewim, d. 2023. a review of noise management practice in nigeria: a review of noise management practice in nigeria. environmental science & sustainable development. 8, 1 (jun. 2023), 31–42. doi:https://doi.org/10.21625/essd.v8i1.931. acs: orikpete, o. f.; ewim, d. a review of noise management practice in nigeria: a review of noise management practice in nigeria. essd 2023, 8, 31-42. abnt: orikpete, o. f.; ewim, d. a review of noise management practice in nigeria: a review of noise management practice in nigeria. environmental science & sustainable development, [s. l.], v. 8, n. 1, p. 31–42, 2023. doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i1.931. disponível em: https://press.ierek.com/index.php/essd/article/view/931. acesso em: 30 jun. 2023. chicago: orikpete, ochuko felix, and daniel ewim. 2023. “a review of noise management practice in nigeria: a review of noise management practice in nigeria”. environmental science & sustainable development 8 (1):31-42. https://doi.org/10.21625/essd.v8i1.931. harvard: orikpete, o. f. and ewim, d. (2023) “a review of noise management practice in nigeria: a review of noise management practice in nigeria”, environmental science & sustainable development, 8(1), pp. 31–42. doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i1.931. ieee: o. f. orikpete and d. ewim, “a review of noise management practice in nigeria: a review of noise management practice in nigeria”, essd, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 31–42, jun. 2023. mla: orikpete, o. f., and d. ewim. “a review of noise management practice in nigeria: a review of noise management practice in nigeria”. environmental science & sustainable development, vol. 8, no. 1, june 2023, pp. 31-42, doi:10.21625/essd.v8i1.931. turabian: orikpete, ochuko felix, and daniel ewim. “a review of noise management practice in nigeria: a review of noise management practice in nigeria”. environmental science & sustainable development 8, no. 1 (june 30, 2023): 31–42. accessed june 30, 2023. https://press.ierek.com/index.php/essd/article/view/931. vancouver: orikpete of, ewim d. a review of noise management practice in nigeria: a review of noise management practice in nigeria. essd [internet]. 2023 jun. 30 [cited 2023 jun. 30];8(1):31-42. available from: https://press.ierek.com/index.php/essd/article/view/931 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 10 october 2024, accepted: 28 february 2025, published online: 27 march 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i1.1127 metal ions intercalated to birnessite manganese to make highperformance catalyst for the cathode of mfcs kaisei shiraki1, trang nakamoto2, kozo taguchi3 1master's student, department of electronic systems, ritsumeikan university of kusatsu, japan 2assistant professor, electrical and electronic engineering, ritsumeikan university of kusatsu, japan 3professor, electrical and electronic engineering, ritsumeikan university of kusatsu, japan abstract microbial fuel cells (mfcs) have garnered significant attention recently due to their dual ability to purify wastewater and sludge while generating electricity, addressing the growing energy demand. however, the practical application of mfcs is hindered by the cost and performance challenges on the cathode side. in single-chamber mfcs, the choice of cathode catalyst is crucial for enhancing output. this study explored the use of manganese oxide, a cost-effective material with diverse structures and properties, as a catalyst. specifically, manganese oxide with a birnessite structure was utilized for its low fabrication costs and high oxygen reduction reaction (orr) activity. the research compared the performance of manganese oxide catalysts intercalated with various metal ions, identifying the optimal metal ions for single-chamber mfcs. the experiment evaluated cobalt, nickel, and zinc as potential metal ions. measurements of the cathode potential using a reference electrode and power density assessments were conducted to determine the most suitable configuration overall. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords cobalt; sterilizing power; microbial fuel cell; mno₂; birnessite 1. introduction rapid scientific and technological development in recent years has required a great deal of energy. to meet this energy demand, fossil fuels have been used in large quantities (huo & peng, 2023). as a result, as pang et al. (2024) suggest, the depletion of fossil fuels and the toxic substances emitted during power generation have caused global warming and water pollution. the amount of available freshwater is declining as a result, and health hazards such as infectious diseases and food poisoning are common, especially in developing countries (boelee et al., 2019). to solve these problems, there is a need to focus on the development of renewable energies. mfc, in particular, is a technology that can reduce water pollution problems as well as energy problems. mfcs utilize electron-producing bacteria as biocatalysts, which have the property of releasing electrons into the body when they consume organic matter under anaerobic conditions (shimohata et al., 2023). in general, most mfcs are divided into single-chamber mfcs and double-chamber mfcs, both of which require these electron-producing bacteria as anodes. double-chamber mfcs are used to prevent bacteria from entering the cathode chamber and to maintain anaerobic conditions in the anode chamber. however, as daud et al. (2021) suggest, the proton exchange http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ shimamura/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 membranes used to separate the chambers are costly and difficult to install. therefore, double-chamber mfcs have many practical concerns compared to single-chamber mfcs. on the other hand, single-chamber mfcs have the problem that the cathode also forms a biofilm to create an anaerobic environment for the anode, causing a backflow of electrons and a decrease in power output. the solution to this problem is the sterilizing ability at the cathode. even when using the same solution, it is believed that by providing the cathode with a sterilizing ability, the microorganisms around the cathode can be inactivated, and the backflow of electrons can be reduced. what is required when providing the cathode with sterilizing ability is that it should be able to exert a sterilizing effect around the cathode without adversely affecting the anodes or the surrounding environment and that it should be able to maintain its sterilizing ability over a long period. in this study, a catalyst was employed for the cathode, and experiments were conducted in a single-chamber microbial fuel cell (mfc). the catalyst, primarily based on manganese, was synthesized through the combination of manganese, metal ions, and carbon black. the chosen metal ions exhibited favorable characteristics, including high sterilizing power and excellent conductivity. by integrating these metal ions with manganese and carbon black, the resulting catalyst demonstrated not only enhanced electrochemical performance but also the potential to improve the overall efficiency of the mfc. 2. materials and methods 2.1. preparation of catalyst the catalyst synthesis method is based on the procedure proposed by xia et al. (2020). first, a 0.1 m aqueous solution of potassium permanganate is stirred at 400 rpm for 30 minutes. subsequently, a 0.1 m aqueous solution of cobalt nitrate is added, and the mixture is stirred at 400 rpm and 70°c for 1 hour. next, 1 g of carbon black is introduced, and the mixture is stirred under the same conditions for 10 minutes before being allowed to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. the supernatant is then discarded, and the precipitate is dried at 60°c. the dried material is ground in a mortar, resulting in co-mno₂/c. a similar procedure is followed for the preparation of catalysts with nickel and zinc, resulting in ni-mno₂/c and zn-mno₂/c, respectively. for experiments aimed at optimizing nickel quantities, the catalysts were prepared so that the molar mass of nickel nitrate was 20%, 40%, and 130% of the molar mass of potassium permanganate. 2.2. fabrication of electrodes rice husk smoked charcoal (rhc), which was alkaline-etched and ground in a mortar, was utilized as the carbon material. sumi ink served as a binder. anodes were prepared by mixing rhc (0.9 g) and sumi ink (3.5 ml) and then pouring the mixture into an electrode mold. the cathode was prepared by mixing co-mno₂/c (0.75 g), rhc (0.525 g), and sumi ink (3.25 ml) and pouring the mixture into the electrode mold. the same proportions were used to prepare for ni-mno₂/c and zn-mno₂/c. the cathodes without a catalyst were prepared in the same manner as the anodes, serving as a control for comparison with the catalyst. 2.3. mfc model the mfc consisted of a single chamber, as shown in figure 1, and was filled with 600 ml of lysogeny broth (lb) solution (cod: 2976 mg/l). the microbial source comprised wild microorganisms collected from the soil within ritsumeikan university, kusatsu, shiga, japan. the cathode was designed with one surface immersed in the solution and another exposed to air, functioning as an air cathode, while the anode was fully submerged in the solution. the two anodes were connected in parallel. each electrode had an area of 2 x 2 cm², and the distance between the anode and cathode was approximately 3 cm. shimamura/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 figure 1: mfc structure.(by author) figure 2: mfc float mode.(by author) 2.4. mfc operation and evaluation the performance of the catalysts was evaluated by measuring electrode potential changes during the experiment. the electrode potentials versus an ag/agcl reference electrode were measured and compared to assess the characteristics of each catalyst material. the overall performance of the mfc was evaluated by measuring the power density. to measure the power density, the external resistance was varied from 4.6 kω to 100 ω, and then the power and current were calculated from the voltage measured across each resistance and then normalized by the effective area of the anode to determine the power and current densities. 3. results and discussion 3.1. evaluation of the bactericidal ability of catalysts at the cathode figure 3 shows the cathode electrode potential of each catalyst when used as a cathode. without a catalyst, the electrode potential drops immediately after the start of the experiment, indicating very rapid biofilm formation. after about two weeks, the electrode potential of zn-mno₂/c also drops to the same level, indicating that zinc has a shortterm bactericidal capacity that disappears after one to two weeks. the bactericidal properties of zinc, confirmed by chen et al. (2021) in other fields, are thus validated in the context of mfcs by this experiment. however, this short-term effect makes zn-mno₂/c unsuitable for single-chamber mfcs, which require sustained sterilizing power. although co-mno₂/c demonstrated longer-term bactericidal efficacy, its performance was inferior to that of ni-mno₂/c. therefore, based on these results, ni-mno₂/c exhibits the best sterilizing performance and maintains a stable electrode potential at the cathode of mfcs. 3.2. the effects of cathode catalysts on anodes figure 4 illustrates the anode electrode potentials for the same experiments as in the previous section. the figure presents data for each cathode material while keeping the anode materials consistent across experiments. the stability period, defined as the period between 13 and 27 days, is of particular interest. during this period, the electrode potential remains relatively stable when catalysts other than ni-mno₂/c are used for the cathode. this indicates that the anodes are minimally affected by these catalysts. however, when ni-mno₂/c is utilized, a slightly higher electrode potential is observed despite the anode materials being the same as in other mfcs. this phenomenon suggests that nickel ions leaching from the ni-mno₂/c cathode exhibit a bactericidal effect on microorganisms in proximity to the anode. considering the anode-cathode distance is approximately 3 cm, the observed effect at this distance implies potential negative impacts on the anode and the surrounding environment. consequently, this poses a significant challenge for practical applications. nevertheless, it is worth noting that ni-mno₂/c was prepared in this experiment with reference to the existing co-mno₂/c. therefore, it is possible that the mixing ratio of nickel may need to be adjusted to mitigate the bactericidal effects while maintaining the desired electrochemical shimamura/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 performance. also, with zinc, the electrode potential is high for a short time, even at the anode, so it is possible that the ions leaked out and decreased, which is one of the reasons for the short-term sterilizing power. figure 3: cathode electrode potential for each catalyst compared with the ag/agcl reference electrode.(by author) figure 4: anode electrode potential for each catalyst compared with the ag/agcl reference electrode.(by author) 3.3. evaluation of the effects of nickel on anodes in the previous section, it was noted that catalysts using nickel harm the environment. however, the method used to produce this catalyst was optimized for the use of cobalt and not nickel. in this experiment, a comparison was made between a catalyst with a very high nickel content (ni:130%) and a catalyst with a reduced nickel content (ni:20%) to confirm that the results presented in the previous section were due to the sterilizing power and to see how the sterilizing power and the catalytic capacity would change. in both cases, the catalyst was used as the cathode, and smoked charcoal and ink as the anodes. figure 5: electrode potential for varying amounts of nickel.(by author) shimamura/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 in figure 5, the solid line shows the electrode potential of the cathode with each catalyst, and the dashed line shows the electrode potential of the anode. focusing first on the electrode potential of the cathode, both show the same electrode potential, which was not affected by a significant reduction in the amount of nickel in the case of the nickel catalyst. therefore, it is conceivable that a lower amount of nickel could be better when optimizing the nickel. on the other hand, focusing on the electrode potential of the anode, the electrode potential with less nickel was smaller than the one with more nickel. it can be confirmed that this is due to the fact that when too much nickel is synthesized, the nickel that is not incorporated into the structure leaches into the solution and has a negative effect on the anodes. this has a negative impact on the surrounding organisms, so it can be said to be bad for the environment. 3.4. optimisation of nickel quantities figure 6 shows the power density curves for nickel in the experiments up to this point; the ni:40% represents the ratio with manganese as well as the others and is similar to the ni-mno₂/c shown in sections 1 and 2. the results show that ni:40% has the highest maximum power density and the best properties as a cathode catalyst for use in mfcs. however, even with ni:20%, the difference with ni:40% is only 6%, so it is possible to reduce the cost without much change in performance. for ni:130%, it was found that if too much was used during synthesis, it might not be able to fit into the structure properly and would flow out during the experiment. figure 6: power density curves for varying amounts of nickel.(by author) figure 7: power density curves for each cathode catalyst.(by author) 3.5. evaluation of optimized cathode catalysts figure 7 shows the power density curves generated by the mfcs using different catalysts. when co-mno₂/c was used as the cathode (45.6 μw/cm2), the power density was 10% higher than when ni-mno₂/c was used (41.6 μw/cm2). from the shape of the graph, if the resistance of ni-mno₂/c is the same as that of co-mno₂/c, as mentioned later, the output density may be the same, or ni-mno₂/c may have a better value. it was also 650% higher than when zn-mno₂/c was used (6.02 μw/cm2). although zn-mno₂/c has no sterilizing power and the voltage is low, it is thought to have a positive effect on improving conductivity because it is 70% higher than without catalyst. compared to the case without catalyst (3.20 μw/cm2), it was improved by 1325%. as for the internal resistance, co-mno₂/c shows the best value at 200 ω, while ni-mno₂/c shows a twice difference at 400 ω. for zn-mno₂/c and the case without catalyst, the values were 300 ω and 400 ω, respectively. these results suggest that co-mno₂/c is the most suitable cathode catalyst for the application in mfc. 4. discussion in terms of sterilizing power, ni-mno₂/c showed outstanding performance, but considering the environmental impact, co-mno₂/c, which showed the next best performance, is considered more suitable. ni-mno₂/c's high sterilizing power may lead to environmental concerns if the nickel leaches into the surrounding environment, potentially causing pollution and health hazards. in contrast, cobalt is generally considered to have a lower environmental impact, making co-mno₂/c a more environmentally friendly option. the insufficient sterilizing power of zn-mno₂/c indicates that zinc is not suitable as a catalyst for single-chamber systems. while zinc may improve conductivity to some extent, its overall performance in terms of power output and sterilizing capability is suboptimal. shimamura/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 this suggests that zinc-based catalysts may not be ideal for applications where both high power output and sterilization are required. judging from a comprehensive perspective, cobalt is the most suitable catalyst for singlechamber mfcs. co-mno₂/c demonstrated superior performance, showing 14% higher power output than cobaltbased catalysts reported by simran & patit (2022) and 185% higher power output than manganese-based catalysts documented by dena et al. (2021). 5. conclusion in this study, co-mno₂/c emerges as the most suitable cathode catalyst for single-chamber mfcs. it not only demonstrates superior power output and efficiency but also poses a lower environmental impact compared to other catalysts. while ni-mno₂/c shows outstanding sterilizing power, its potential environmental hazards make comno₂/c a more viable option. zinc-based catalysts, on the other hand, fall short in both power output and sterilizing capability, rendering them unsuitable for single-chamber systems. overall, co-mno₂/c's balance of high power output, low internal resistance, environmental friendliness, and long-term stability positions it as the optimal catalyst for enhancing mfc performance. acknowledgment the abstract of this paper was presented at the future smart cities (fsc) conference – 7th edition which was held on the 14th 16th of october 2024. funding this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector/ individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare there is no conflict. references huo, j., & peng, c. (2023). depletion of natural resources and environmental quality: prospects of energy use, energy imports , and economic growth hindrances. resources policy, 86(a). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.104049 pang, l., & liu, l., & zhou, x., & hafeez, m., & ullah, s., & sohail, m. t. (2024). how does natural resource depletion affect energy security risk? new insights from major energy-consuming countries. energy strategy reviews, 54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esr.2024.101460 boelee, e., & geerling, g., & zaam, b. v. d., & blauw, a., & vethaak, a. d. (2019). water and health: from environmental pressures to integrated responses. acta tropica, 193, 217-226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.03.011 simohata, h., & nakamoto, t., & taguchi, k. (2023). proposal for a practical mfc using vertical electrodes with improved air cathode function. energy reports, 9(12), 280-283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2023.10.004 daud, s. m., & bakar, m. h. a., & daud, w. r. w., &kim, b. h., & jahim, j. m., & muchtar, a., & somalu, m. r., & lee, p. h., & abdul, p. m. (2021). improvement of microbial fuel cell performance using novel kaolin earthenware membrane coated with a polybenzimidazole layer. energy science & engineering, 9(12), 2342-2353. https://doi.org/10.1002/ese3.988 xia, z., & zhu, y., & zhang, w., & hu, t., & chen, t., & zhang, j., &liu, y., & ma, h., & fang, h., & li, l. (2020). cobalt ion intercalated mno2/c as air cathode catalyst for rechargeable aluminum–air battery. journal of alloys and compounds, 824. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2020.153950 chen, k. & zhou, g., & li, q., & tang, h., & wang, s., & li, p., & gu, x., & fan, y. (2021). in vitro degradation, biocompatibility and antibacterial properties of pure zinc: assessing the potential of zn as a guided bone regeneration membrane. journal of materials chemistry b, 9, 5114-5127. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1tb00596k dena, z. k., & amin, r. s., & amani, e. f., & el-khatib, k. m. & mohamed, m. (2021). bifunctional manganese oxide–silver nanocomposites anchored on graphitic mesoporous carbon to promote oxygen reduction and inhibit cathodic biofilm growth for long-term operation of microbial fuel cells fed with sewage. sustainable energy fuels, 6, 430-439. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1se01479j simran, k. d., & patit, p. k. (2022). magnesium cobaltite embedded in corncob-derived nitrogen-doped carbon as a cathode catalyst for power generation in microbial fuel cells. acs applied materials & interfaces, 14, 42, 47633-47649. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c12279 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 27 doi: 10.21625/essd.v4i3.675 multi-scale assessment of urban gardens as constructed habitats for biodiversity conservation in jeddah, saudi arabia deborah a. middleton1 1assistant professor college of architecture and design, effat university, jeddah saudi arabia abstract biodiversity in arid urban environments depends upon habitat formation that balances both bioclimatic and biophysical environment needs. there is the potential for urban gardens to establish symbiotic ecosystem services from microhabitat formation that collectively form an assemblage of ecological patches to connect a diverse range of flora and fauna, and establish community driven nursery and seed collection initiatives. this study of urban garden habitats situated within a new urban district of jeddah saudi. the analysis concentrates on the ability of garden spatial formations to construct a heterogeneous spatial morphology of sub-patch within the larger urban landscape patch. patch and subpatch formations are examined based on the criteria of (i) assemblage of the spatial habitat (characterized by shape and spatial organization); (ii) integration of spatial, functional and vegetation plantation patterns; (iii) connectivity. findings reveal that garden layout is structured by the integration and layering of plant types to generate cool understory habitat with seedling establishment, and water conservation. designed layout of the garden as a spatial pattern is augmented with a range of microclimate mediators to dim solar exposure within the plantation habitat. a strong heterogeneity in plant formations and combinations is seen to dominant the garden formations. © 2019 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords arid urban garden; spatial morphology; heterogeneous; constructed habitat; biodiversity; spatial scales 1. introduction 2020 has been established as a significant milestone to achieve proposed targets set by the global strategy for plant conservation. (hall et al., 2011) a preliminary 2010 iucn red list assessment of the arabian peninsula‘s most important plant areas (classified on a national basis) highlights the need for immediate conservation of at risk endemic flora. the consistent taxonomy checklist of plants in the arabian peninsula is being compiled at the royal botanic garden edinburgh. (hall et al., 2011) in yemen 699 endemic tax have been reported on (69%) identifying 220 species at risk of extinction, 20 critically endangered, and 38 endangered, with 162 species identified as vulnerable. in the valley forests of the western escarpment mountains in yemen and saudi arabia, 13 of 18 regionally rare species are assessed as critically endangered and 5 as endangered. (hall et al., 2011) strengthening the development of ecosystem services in urban areas assists in achieving the proposed gspc targets 2011-2020 specifically gspc object ii: plant diversity is urgently and effectively conserved; target 8: at least 75 per cent of threatened plan species in ex-situ collections, preferably in the country of origin, and at least 20 per cent available for recovery and restoration programmes. (hall et al., 2011) http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v4i3.675&domain=press.ierek.com middleton/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 28 the kingdom of saudi arabia became a signature to the convention of biodiversity (cbd) in 2005 establishing their first strategic action plan soon after. the saudi arabian cbd strategy concentrates on ways to stabilize ecosystems to immediately address the loss of biodiversity. (hall et al., 2011) government stakeholders such as the high commission for the development of arriyadh, have documented the tax. of endemic plants, engaging in a number of initiatives to disseminate indigenous plant knowledge. (high commission for the development of arriyadh 2014) the high commission has also initiated field research centers at thumamah park to investigate the cultivation of at risk endemic species. their publication on the taxonomy of vegetation found in the central najd region is a good starting point to identifying a conservation strategy that reintroduces endemic vegetation into the natural habitats constructed in urban areas. this paper aims to contribute insights into how urban gardens as naturalistic constructions are being structured in extreme arid urban environments. 2. literature review 2.1. habitat construction for biodiversity conservation in extreme arid landscape contexts the main drivers of biodiversity loss relate to the rapid expansion of settlements combined with the interaction of economic, social and cultural factors, and the increasing occurrence of extremely high temperatures and uneven rainfall, with endemic vegetation at risk due to the frequent planting of mono-plant cultures. (abdulaziz et al., 2005) changes in agricultural practices in the southwestern region of the country relate to the enlargement of farm areas, has also led to the loss of agricultural terraces. this in turn has resulted in the loss of microhabitats for plants and increases soil erosion and flash flooding. subsequently as people relocate to urban environments, there is also a loss of traditional knowledge relating to traditional agricultural practices, and understandings of ecosystem management. the gathering of naturally occurring foods and medicines is still important to the people and economy of the country. additionally, recognizing the importance of plant habitat in cities is an important criteria for selecting sites for conservation action. to date the majority of research on mosaic landscapes has focused on the loss of natural habitats and/or their fragmentation rather than on the construction of new habitats in extremely damaged or at risk ecosystem ecologies. investigating the spatial range of simple to complex constructed habitats that may be sustained in extreme ecology contexts such as those found in the arabian peninsula, constructing urban garden habitats will generate a natural diversity and through scaling of these initiatives over time, will enable larger habitat formation for at risk species. (goodard 2010) constructing habitats in cities also will contribute significantly to the development of ecosystem services. at the present time, exploring the construction of urban garden habitats for biodiversity has not been incorporated into the saudi arabia’s biodiversity conservation action plans. the city of arriyadh has actively engaged in establishing new habitat, but a number of key challenges face regional and local stakeholders, the primary being the absence of design research and guidelines on how to establish and sustain biodiverse ecological patches in extremely arid ecosystems. there is a need to define the specifications of habitat types to be constructed, in addition to establishing guidelines for the design and construction of ecological corridors and their connectivity range. policies are also needed at the local governmental level administration and maintenance of neighborhood community garden initiatives. there is also an absence of assessment metrics for arid constructed habitats specific to urban areas in the arabian peninsula. 2.2. constructing habitats in cities for biodiversity urban gardens enable people to interact with nature and establish ecosystem services that impact the quality of urban life. the management of urban gardens alters land cover and species diversity, with groups of gardens forming green patches that become important refuges for natural species. information on wildlife gardening is limited in ecological research, with the majority of research undertaken in developed countries. (goodard 2010) urban habitats are constructed with varying types of vegetation or landcover to form a distinctive environmental condition, providing natural resources required by different species or species group. (wang 2008) the design of biodiversity enabling habitats is related to the need to increase the abundance of birds, butterflies, and other animals middleton/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 29 and plants valued for their aesthetic and functional attributes. (hough 2004) numerous challenges face municipalities seeking to balancing recreational and ornamental need with the construction of greenspace that will sustain and increase the density of native biodiversity. different spatial arrangements at macro and micro scales enables the formation of heterogeneity, an important structuring consideration for sustainable biodiverse habitat formation. (goodard 2010) understanding the relationships between ecological function and spatial structure and scale will also enable the ecological consequences of proposed spatial solutions or risks to be anticipated and modeled. (leitao 2002, pace et al., 2015) to date there is a limited understanding of how constructed spatial habitats relate to ecological processes, species establishment and dispersal, and species responses in extreme arid climates of the arabian peninsula. arid urban environments pose challenges to constructing habitats for biodiversity due to the absence of water, good soil types, present vegetation range, and a symbiotic background mosaic. in extreme arid urban contexts, spatial patterning of habitats and their patches as discrete or integrated assemblages may expose constructed habitats to higher risk and need for ecoservice management due to the type and patterning of land cover. (landis 2017, pace et al., 2015) the identification of ideal urban sites and neighborhoods to establish urban garden initiatives requires study of the site solar exposure and above variables, but also depends upon the symbiotic commitment of local community caretakers to sustain the urban gardens over time, and the municipalities design expectations of constructed biodiverse habitats as compared to ornamental or recreational urban landscapes. 2.3. heterogeneous spatial structure and biodiversity one of the central concerns of landscape ecology is how spatial heterogeneity shapes the dynamics of ecological systems and temporal processes. (pickett and cadenasso 1995) increasing the heterogeneity of landscape ecologies depends more on the spatial structuring of patches and habitats rather than the spatial range of scales. (pickett and cadenasso 1995) different approaches to the spatial structuring of constructed habitats have been found to limit the ability of the habitat to expand over time, resulting in a stigmed resilience to rapidly changing ecosystem characteristics. (pace et al., 2015) research suggests that urban habitats create a consistent set of habitat templates (hard-surfaced environments with shallow compacted soil and extreme hydrological conditions and temperatures) that tend to attract species drawn disproportionately from rocky habitats (larson et al., 2000, 2004) urban landscaping practices in saudi arabia focus on imported monoculture vegetation acclimatized to the extreme arid and solar environment. (abdulaziz 2005) different spatial habitat formations represent different conditions that attract different flora original or imported, and distinctive vegetation composition. (lundholm et. al 2006) different taxa will perceive and respond to landscape structure at many spatial scales depending on a range of parameters. a key challenge is to maximize vegetation complexity throughout the ecosystem. (goodard 2010) 2.4. describing heterogeneous dimensions of constructed and natural habitats constructed habitats display variations in how they assemble patches for different species of flora and fauna. studies of spatial heterogeneity of a habitat frequently link to the functional ability of the habitat to support and generate variety, richness and abundance of living organisms. (landis 2017) describing the morphology of spatial patterns in constructed habitats (urban gardens) requires a fine grain analysis of patch and sub-patch, in order to understand how constructed habitats form resiliency and change over time. studying spatial patterns reveals regularities in underlying ecological processes, and function of ecological parameters within them. the fine grain patterns present in urban gardens may enable them to enhance biodiversity due to more frequent and diverse disturbances in the patch system. (pickett et.al., 1995) essential characteristics of natural and constructed habitats are their assemblage of spaces (patches and subpatches), and shape (geometry, size, vertical height). assemblage complexity enables the formation of a larger more intact habitat area. the integration of vegetation patterns of different taxa, different specie, maturity range, with a diversity of spatial assemblage approaches will provide richer more dynamic habitat formation that is more resilient to ecosystem change. the size and shape of patches has been shown to determine to a large degree their ecological and functional characteristics with patch spatial structure, described as homogeneous or heterogeneous. (pickett and middleton/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 30 cadenasso 1995, landis 2017, pace et al., 2015) the connectivity of patches is an additional essential structure that enables the movement of flora and fauna across patches and meta-zones. (leitao et al., 2002) corridors that form connecting linkages allow both the dispersion of flora and fauna throughout the urban system across spatial scales. in contrast discrete design approaches exhibit strong edges, boundaries or limits with no apparent connectivity, that inhibit the formation and expansion of bio-diverse ecosystems. discrete patches may be differentiated by biotic and abiotic structure or composition. (pickett and cadenasso, 1995) edges or overlapping formations are characteristics of shape that have been associated with the spatial dimension of habitats and ecological processes. (landis, 2017) constructed habitats have been found to reshape the existing microclimate profile of a site by the organization of vegetation patterns to reduce the lands exposure to solar radiation and high winds.(lin, 2018) three types of landscape function are associated with the shape and complexity of landscape habitat patches; production such as food, wood, recreation and community services; protection natural functions maintenance and enhancement of biological species; regulation – microclimate formation, temperature, wind and air quality. (leitao et al., 2006) the minimum habitat requirement for an indicator species has generally been identified to be in the area of at least 0.30.5 hectares. (redpath 1995, van apeldoorn et al., 1992, harris 1984, robbins et al., 1989, rudd, 2002) table 1.concepts supporting heterogeneity in constructed habitats. concept selected criteria assemblage complex assemblages of patches and vegetation is better for wildlife and more highly appreciated by people.(roetman and daniels 2008) shape complexity patch shape complexity (leitao et al 2006) exterior and interior volumes, canopy and wall structure.(farinha-marques et al., 2016) spatial organization patches are layered out as linear or nonlinear areas that differ from the surrounding background landscape (linehan 1995) and exhibit connectivity within and across patch/nodes.(farinha-marques et al., 2016) spatial scale landscape scale factors affect microclimate (grasses, trees and shrubs). (lin et al., 2018) integration a dynamic measure of ecosystems patterns, shape complexity, functional distribution, taxa. variety, and spatial types. vegetation pattern layering of vegetation (horizontal and vertical) (farinha-maraques et al., 2016) patch integration is nested or polygonal in both vertical and horizontal orientation. functional distribution multifunctional diversity is measured by the distribution of functional types, spatial structure and taxa relationships in the habitat. (landis 2017) planting phases different planting phases are introduced at intervals to enable all planting phases and managed succession (mature, junior, seedlings). (hough 2004) seasonal disturbance includes canopy ground cover closure and thinning, invasive barriers and edges, patch turnover (hough 2004, landis 2017) connectivity patch connectivity is linear/discrete or multi dimensional (heterogenous) in arid environments the territorial range may be substantially lower as a single tree may form an important mediating link in a stressed ecosystem. microclimates result from the interaction between prevailing climate and objects in the landscape. (brown & gillespie 1995) by focusing on the solar path orientation around the site vegetation placement in gardens may construct shading screens and canopies to decrease solar exposures of the garden sites. tree shading is an important mediator for bioclimatic formation. a study of olive tree shadow on soil middleton/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 31 temperature during summer period can reduce the temperature by 11° c. (panagopoulos 2007). urban green structures cool hot air by evapotranspiration, provide shading to the ground and adjacent building walls, and reduce the velocity of wind, regenerate air quality, absorb air borne dust and filter noise. 3. methodology 3.1. research framework the aim of this study is to describe the spatial heterogeneity composition of two recently established urban garden habitats, and describe their spatial formation. figure 1 research framework a literature review was undertaken to identify morphologies of heterogeneous spatial formations and discuss their affordances to structure urban habitat construction for biodiversity application. the survey of two urban habitat nodes describe the morphology of the landscape ecology patch structure at the intermediate-micro scale. the survey examined two parameters of heterogeneous habitat construction; (i) the assemblage of patch and sub patches (characterized by shape and spatial organization); (ii) integration of the patch structure characterized by the functional diversity range (characterized as seasonal or phased). a linear study of the two urban garden node sites morphogenesis over time was documented through frequent photographs to capture seasonal and annual patch structural changes (sub patch shape, space and vegetation pattern). a descriptive matrix of the heterogeneity morphology of the urban garden patch formations establishes a comparative framework for future studies. 3.2. background bio-climatic environment context saudi arabia contains three distinct climate area’s, coastal area’s, internal dry area’s, and highlands. (alrashed et al. 2015) in jeddah, a city on the red sea coast, residents experience an average temperatures of 32° c to 49° c, with 45° c in the shade during summer months. in winter, average temperatures range from 24° c – 30° c. relative humidity varies seasonally from 55% 65% with significant levels of air pollution and airborne dust. vegetation in the makkah region and city of jeddah is generally sparse with 60% in low-lying areas. cool high mountains, arid deserts and steeps, and hot semi-arid coastal plains characterize saudi arabia’s natural environment. dry hot winds are especially threatening to bird and plant resilience during summer months. low and unpredictable rainfall, and severe droughts pose challenges to conserving the kingdoms biological diversity. infrequent rain primarily falls in the southwestern escarpment on the red sea coast. 3.3. urban gardens as constructed habitats in jeddah in this study of urban gardens, heterogeneous patches are examined in two habitat nodes, (garden sites) surrounded by an ecosystem context of larger spatial expanses of hot dry desert. this natural environment experiences hot dusty soils that shift in the wind, and extreme solar radiation exposure. the solar irradiance at the king abdulaziz university main campus station, latitude 21.49604, longitude 39.24492 elevation 75(m), finds the annual average assessing heterogeneous morphology of urban garden constucted habitat assemblage shape complexity spatial layout integration distribution connectivity middleton/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 32 temperatures ranges from 30.7 °c to a maximum daily average temperature of 37.6 °c at this station. daily solar irradiance levels (zell 2015) are recorded as: ghi (wh/m2) dni average daily dhi average daily average /maximum average /maximum average /maximum 5925/8066 5142 /9327 2329/5107 biodiversity loss due to habitat fragmentation, and species decline in saudi arabia will continue to increase rapidly with climate change and the expansion of cities and human settlements into resource rich natural enclave habitats. currently municipal landscape strategies in jeddah persist to establish limited patch types resulting in segregation and bounding of biodiversity species, ultimately limiting the natural reproduction of biota. (a) (b) (c) figure 2 character of the landscape matrix found in the study area. (a) warood 2 district of jeddah; (b)site of garden 1 composed of three patches; (c) site of garden 2 composed of two patches. (a) (b) figure 3 (a) garden 1 mix of urban agriculture taxa. (b) garden 2 constructs urban forest mixing citrus and banana fruit with a range of tree species and flowering shrubs. 4. findings 4.1. overview this visual survey of jeddah urban gardens, establish by private individuals on vacant land in a new urban district, examine how the gardens are spatially formed to construct patch habitats for a range of vegetation species. two constructed habitat (ch) nodes are distinguished as site 1 (s1) and site 2 (s2). patch formations within the node are identified as patch 1,2,3 (p1, p2). assemblage heterogeneity of the spatial morphology of the garden is coded to (a) describe the dimension of sub-patch, (b) describes patch core dimension, (c) describes the edge position. site position in the connectivity matrix is shown in dark grey. a limited description of the taxa classification is made. middleton/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 33 4.2. visual survey spatial scale and heterogeneity 4.2.1. s1 p1 longitudinal garden observations garden 1, 5 years old, uses modified root watering with inverted water bottles, and garden hoses. this patch is highly stable with minor adjustment in plantation within b, the main tree cluster. this area is used for sprouting of seeds and seedling establishment for later transplantation. the constructed patches establish microclimates through their assemblage of space and space, and integration of vegetative patterning and functional distribution and the formation of sub-patches and layering, are found to integrate different plant taxa and create microclimate. garden management problems focus chickens invading this garden from s2 garden. clear activity zones are established and the area is used by neighborhood community members. table 2. description of constructed habitat patch types found in jeddah saudi arabia s1p1 heterogeneity spatial description photographs assemblage spatial formation shape edges semi-discrete rectangular – oval patches, high density compact core cluster, surrounded by dense natural ground cover. a dense canopy of foliage establishes evapotranspiration and microclimate. high ground cover with compact patch cluster in center. assemblage heterogeneity b core size:26 m x30 m a sub-patch size: 20 m x 25 m functional distribution microclimate, ecosystem services. restricted spatial development. connectivity adjacent patches (3) radial (c ) edges (e,s,w) a large variety of plant species with trees planted in close proximity to seedlings and small plant varieties positioned in the understory. taxa. biodiversity (a) butterfly birds, vegetation, ecosystem service. (b) plantains, carica papaya, aubergine, bamia, palm, mango, lime tree, other trees. (a) ornamental /herbaceous/ moliheya garden management seasonal micro-scale agriculture shared with local neighborhood. high visibility and sociability. a b c s1p1 s1p2 s1p3 middleton/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 34 4.2.2. s1 p2 longitudinal garden observations irrigation methods are variable depending on the knowledge and availability of financial resources, garden 1 uses modified root watering with inverted water bottles, and garden hoses, while garden 2 uses irrigation canals. table 3. site1 patch1 description of constructed habitat s1p2 heterogeneity spatial description photographs assemblage spatial formation shape edges limited heterogeneity patch organization establishes seasonal agriculture. linear-horizontal assemblage heterogeneity functional distribution restrictive spatial development -phased seasonal. limited shade and microclimate formation. b core 35 m x 20 m a sub-patch size: 5 m x 10 m connectivity linear, horizontal, discrete patch, adjacent patches. moderate-high flexibility adjacent sub-patch organization taxa. biodiversity onion, garlic, bamia, eggplant, moliheya, khatti meeth lauki squash, basil, carica papaya, naturalistic ground cover, very good soil formation. free-range chickens from adjacent garden plot pose challenges for seed dispersal, plantation patterns. garden management seedlings are established in close proximity to the denser canopy, with a variety of shading constructions used. the site is primarily agricultural. s1p1 s1p2 s1p3 middleton/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 35 4.2.3. s1 p3 longitudinal garden observations the constructed patches establish microclimates through their assemblage of space and space, and integration of vegetative patterning and functional distribution and the formation of sub-patches and layering, are found to integrate different plant taxa and create microclimate. irrigation methods are variable depending on the knowledge and availability of financial resources, garden 1 uses modified root watering with inverted water bottles, and garden hoses, while garden 2 uses irrigation canals. table 4. s1 p3 description of constructed habitat s1p3 heterogeneity spatial description photographs assemblage spatial formation shape edges restrictive spatial development, shaded ground cover rectilinear. (c) bounded fence patch, edges (s, w), sidewalk (n) assemblage heterogeneity patch 30’ x 30’ functional distribution eco-system services as a community social node, it establishes seasonal agriculture, free-range chickens. fencing establishes garden identity in the community. connectivity limited. site is bounded by tall buildings, the patch is related to adjacent subpatches in linear formation. taxa. biodiversity onion, garlic, bamia, eggplant, khatti meeth lauki squash, basil, carica papaya, chili pepper, cucumber, tomato, mints. garden management strong boundary edge is maintained with constructed fencing. plants are distributed across the site with minimal species integration. canopy formation by papaya. limited layering. papaya used to generate solar shading across the garden. a c s1p1 s1p2 s1p3 middleton/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 36 4.2.4. s2 p1 longitudinal garden observations the constructed patches establish microclimates through their assemblage of space and space, and integration of vegetative patterning and functional distribution and the formation of sub-patches and layering, are found to integrate different plant taxa and create microclimate. irrigation methods are variable depending on the knowledge and availability of financial resources, garden 1 uses modified root watering with inverted water bottles, and garden hoses, while garden 2 uses irrigation canals. table 5. site 2 patch1 description of habitat construction s2p1 heterogeneity spatial description photographs assemblage spatial formation shape edges restrictive spatial development as radial edges shaded ground cover with grasses (b) open patch, strong edges formed by tree line (s, w), sidewalk and building (n) edges constructed to mediate solar and wind forces. heterogeneity assemblage a patch 40.5 m x 20 m b core 30 m x 15 m linear tree line is on the right (s) facing. functional distribution eco-system services, microclimate formation, node for community socialization as indicated by trace chair positions. connectivity open within a district with limited connectivity for species and flora dispersion. alignment to s2p2 taxa. biodiversity bird habitat formation. endemic trees, herbatious shrubs, ornamental trees, citrus trees, grasses, plantain, palm. non-layered garden management earth berms and tree line on the western edge establish wind flow away from garden. trees provide shading at peak solar irradiance times. irrigation canals establish seedling nursery for future transplantation. fallen leaves are used to cover water canals. s2p1 s2p2 buildings a b c middleton/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 37 4.2.5. s2 p2 longitudinal garden observations this garden transformation is slower than garden s1. this site is used as a nursery for small trees and shrubs that are transplanted into s2 p1. the constructed patches establish microclimates through their assemblage of space and space, and integration of vegetative patterning and functional distribution. soil formation is highlighted in this garden. observations highlight constructions of shading devices using different techniques and plant species as seen in the photographs in table 5. this constructed habitat is ideal for establishment of at risk species through use as a small scale nursery. it presents an ideal model to support local district development of gardens of similar typology. table 6. site 2 patch2 description of habitat construction s2p2 heterogeneity spatial description photographs assemblage spatial formation shape edges restrictive spatial development; convex spaces establish patch pattern. canopy formation height: 10 – 20 m edges are vegetation linear wall formations used to generate shading structure on patch core. (e, s, w), heterogeneity assemblage functional distribution eco-system services, strong microhabitat formation. moderate high variation trees and shrubs with mixed maturity and type in vegetation patterning. connectivity limited district taxa. biodiversity birds and endemic plants. garden management canopy bridges are used to construct shading in the inner field with climbing vines. zipties shape stem/branch growth. plantation is aligned to irrigation canals. b s2p2 buildings s2p1 p1 c c b b b middleton/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 38 4.3. observed integration of multiple spatial scales table 7.typology of spatial structures found in this study of heterogeneous constructed habitat. patch type criteria patch meta-population zone identified as habitat node in this study. areas within an urban environment bounded by major physical barriers (roads, highways, water ways) that inhibit the migration of flora and fauna. multiple types of green space patches may co-exist in a zone. s1;s2 patch network interaction between nodes is more accurately measured as the minimum distance between green spaces, as this distance is more reflective of that to be crossed by biota rather than the distance from the geometric center of one green space to another.(rudd 2002) s1p1,p2, p3,+ under construction; s2p1,p2; corridor core habitats are linked together to allow birds and wild life and plants to move from one area to another. the construction of habitat corridors in addition to establishing patch connectivity is a spatial organization tactic that enables the mobility and increases spatial range to sustain biodiversity of flora and fauna in cities. strong s1 and s2 interior connectivity. poor s1 & s2 node connectivity urban block corner distinctive plantation patch positioned adjacent to pedestrian or vehicular traffic. s1p1; s2p1, p2 urban block side edge distinctive patch positioned on the patch side adjacent to traffic pedestrian or traffic that establishes vertical wall /screen. s1p2, p3 sidewalk edge linear spacing between individual sidewalk blocks (lundholm 2006) s1p1;s2p1,p2 sidewalk pavement horizontal, flat concrete built structure, human foot traffic (lunholm 2006) boundary to s1p2-p3 planted grasses area large patch area planted with grasses, shrubs, agricultural vegetation, ornamental types s2p1 planted area medium-small distinguished by spatial permeability in a layout defined by wall plantations, irrigation and/or canopy cover. s1, p1;s2p2 planted walls to generate shading distinguished by enclosing wall plantation, irrigation and/or canopy cover. s2p1, p2 seedling nursery vegetation range is developed in small planters spatially structured as a nursery. s2p1, p2 seedling understory young plants are positioned adjacent to mature vegetation which provides shading. s1p1, p3;s2 p1,p2 middleton/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 39 5. conclusion arid regions are commonly perceived to contain less plants and animal species, yet microclimate and biodiverse habitat formation in extreme arid environments is possible. how landscapes are structured and the interactions they generate are fundamental questions in landscape ecology. (pickett 1995) extending and expanding biodiversity in arid cities requires researchers to explore a range of generative morphologies that shape formations of ecological scale, structure, and process. classical approaches to landscape ecology typically focus on how the structural adjacencies and distribution of function affect discrete or heterogeneous communities and eco-systems. (pickett and cadenasso 1995) this visual survey reveals three key aspects of the urban garden management that are of interest to developing future strategies for arid urban city contexts. urban gardens may be used to construct a range of habitats that will collectively form an assemblage of ecological patches to connect a diverse range of flora and fauna. as local hotspots urban gardens can infuse the city and its public spaces with a diverse green infrastructure and provide tremendous value to achieve action towards the conservation of biodiversity. as constructed habitats, urban gardens provide vegetative structure and biodiversity for ecosystems, establish microclimates, and open recreational spaces. urban gardens also provide a spatial scale that supports much needed experimentation in the construction of novel habitats in arid climates. these habitats may be focused to establish or integrate a range of taxa. that range from forest formations to urban agriculture and ornamental gardens. through careful management and engagement with local community members, opportunities for seed collection and seedling plantations are possible to be used to restore regional natural ecosystems. future studies would ideally examine the indigenous varieties vs. the imported plant taxa used in the garden. the urban gardens reviewed in this study also establish ecosystem services for education and awareness programs are also supported by urban community gardens initiatives, providing opportunities to increase cooperation and local resource capacity for managing and conserving biodiversity. traditional indigenous agricultural practices are proven and often are the only effective means to conserving the genetic diversity of land race crops with a rich assemblage of species. gardens are an informal means to increase public awareness of biodiversity, provide education, and enhance benefit sharing with local communities while instituting systems of collaborative management of resources and the transfer of knowledge of eco-systems and plants. community gardens also provide linkages to socio-economic development, provide outdoor recreation and promote co-operation in local communities. to establish constructed habitats in saudi arabia a number of factors must be carefully coordinated to avoid future risks of established habitat loss and ensure successful outcomes and return on development investment. references abuzinada, a. h., al-wetaid, y. i., & al-basyouni, s. z. m. 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(2015). assessment of solar radiation resources in saudi arabia. solar energy, 119, 422-438. doi: 10.1016/j.solener.2015.06.031 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 2 october 2024, accepted: 28 january 2025, published online: 27 march 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i1.1128 urban regeneration for the resilient city: implementation of sustainable urban drainage solutions in pisa's high flash flood risk areas luisa santini1, greta frosini2, cinelli fabrizio3 1associate professor, integrated laboratory of urban analysis and planning, department of energy, systems, territory, and construction engineering, university of pisa, italy 2research fellow, department of energy, systems, territory, and construction engineering, university of pisa, italy 3university researcher, general arboriculture and tree cultivation, department of energy, systems, territory, and construction engineering, university of pisa, italy abstract policies and international cooperation widely acknowledge the imperative to enhance the resilience of cities, ensuring effective multi-risk disaster management. nature-based solutions (nbs) provide approaches aimed at conserving, sustainably managing, and preserving natural ecosystems. this research, funded by unipi pra_2022_22, titled “mitigating risks in urban areas”, aims to develop a methodology to analyse and evaluate the benefits of increased resilience in urban contexts following the implementation of nbs. to control water runoff sources, improve soil infiltration, retain, or detain water volume, and filter contaminants, we designed small-scale sustainable urban drainage interventions in 4 areas of the city of pisa prone to high hydraulic and flash flood risk. to verify their impact on stormwater management, the i-tree hydro plus was used. we tested the software using input data that simulated generic interventions, such as green roofs, permeable pavements, and rain gardens. the application showed promising results, but several challenges were encountered in data acquisition, as much of the data was not readily available, requiring the use of default values in some cases. additionally, the complexity of the i-tree hydro plus software limited its practical application to those with specialized expertise and, in its current state, unfortunately, it is not an accessible tool for local authorities. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords nature-based solutions, urban resilience; i-tree toolset, stormwater management, flash flood propensity. 1. introduction the escalating frequency and intensity of extreme weather events driven by climate change underscore the critical need to strengthen urban resilience. global frameworks such as the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and the sendai framework for disaster risk reduction (2015-2030) emphasize multi-hazard disaster management and the enhancement of resilience in urban areas. as governments and researchers increasingly focus on prevention, mitigation, and risk management strategies, nature-based solutions (nbs) have emerged as a promising approach http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i1.1128&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ santini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 (chen et al., 2021). with this term, the european commission conceptualizes “solutions that are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social, and economic benefits, and help build resilience”. such solutions bring more nature and a greater diversity of natural features and processes into cities, landscapes, and seascapes through locally adapted, resource-efficient, and systemic interventions (european commission: directorate-general for research and innovation, 2015). nbs involves implementing strategies and policies that identify natural capital and ecosystem services as fundamental elements of new urban models. key components of this approach, such as green infrastructure (gi) and sustainable urban drainage systems (suds), play a crucial role in building urban resilience, suds, for instance, introduce natural elements to urban water management systems, reducing surface runoff velocity, enhancing water infiltration, and retaining water for gradual release (zölch et al. 2017). these systems provide additional benefits, such as recharging groundwater, improving urban vegetation, creating favorable microclimates, and adding aesthetic and environmental value (veerkamp et al., 2021; biswal et al., 2022; johnson et al., 2022). nbs, especially suds-based approaches, offer effective methods to address these challenges through: slowing down surface water runoff; attenuation and infiltration through the soil towards the shallow and deep aquifers; retention in depressions and volumes specifically designed for gradual water release over time; storage of water resources for subsequent use. for a definition and classification of nbs, refer to the report by the international union for conservation of nature (iucn), one of the largest and most diverse environmental networks in the world (cohen-shacham et al., 2016). for a detailed examination of various nbs solutions and applications, consult the extensive scientific literature (jones et al, 2022). the effectiveness of green and sustainable systems for water flow control (nbs, gi, and suds) has now been demonstrated in numerous scientific studies and research that address their application in various contexts. among these, with the aim of simulating the effects of nbs on the hydrological system, the i-tree hydro software has been developed. i-tree hydro plus is part of the i-tree suite, developed by the usda forest service and available online at (usda, n.d.). the suite is a collection of tools for assessing and managing urban greenery and ecosystem services. it includes modules for tree canopy assessment, carbon storage, and hydrological modeling. i-tree hydro plus is a module specialized in urban hydrological modeling, which allows for simulating water movement based on land cover, soil type, vegetation, and precipitation patterns. within the studies that apply i-tree hydro, we can mention the research by song (song et al., 2020), which involves the application of i-tree hydro to evaluate the impact of urban green space in regulating runoff in the city of luohe (china). among the applications in the european context is the research by csete & gulyás (2021), which focused on the districts of szeged (hungary), the application of i-tree hydro in the green plan of padua (italy) (comune di padova, n.d., bortolini & brasola, 2022 and semenzato & bortolini, 2023) and the application of i-tree hydro in "le vallere" park, turin (italy) by busca & revelli (2022). given that nbs are key solutions for enhancing urban resilience, it is crucial to implement policies and incentives at national, regional, and local levels to promote their integration into urban infrastructure development (štrbac et al., 2023). despite this, nbs are still not widely adopted in urban resilience strategies and are rarely integrated into urban planning (cortinovis & geneletti, 2018). although research has investigated the implementation of nbs, comprehensive quantitative analyses of their effects on urban hydrology are lacking. this deficiency affects the ability of policymakers and urban planners to make informed decisions about adopting nbs to enhance resilience. to address this challenge, this study uses the i-tree hydro plus modeling tool in the city of pisa, tuscany, italy. tuscany is located in the so-called mediterranean hotspot, an area identified by the italian national climate change adaptation plan (approved in 2023) as highly vulnerable to climate change. additionally, the latest ispra report, titled 'hydrogeological instability in italy: hazard and risk indicators' (ispra, 2021), identifies tuscany as one of the regions with the highest population living in landslide and flood risk areas. according to meteorological data santini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 collected by the intergovernmental panel on climate change, a united nations body operating from 1981 to 2020, pisa is located in homogeneous climate macro-region 1 and belongs to cluster c (the environment and protection of land and sea, n.d.). for this cluster, projections for 2021–2050 indicate an overall increase in both ordinary and extreme precipitation events (short-duration, high-intensity concentrated rains). these factors, combined with extensive soil impermeabilization, artificialized watercourses, and inadequate drainage systems, exacerbate the risk of pluvial flooding and emphasize the importance of sustainable water management strategies in pisa, making it an ideal case study for the implementation of nbs. the present study aims to provide a localized assessment of nbs’ impact on urban water systems in pisa. the research methodology involves five key phases: 1) conducting a territorial analysis to identify the study area; 2) performing a gis-based analysis to quantify key model inputs; 3) developing nbs intervention scenarios by modifying model inputs; 4) applying i-tree hydro plus to simulate both current and future scenarios; 5) comparing results to evaluate the effectiveness of nbs interventions. 2. materials and methods 2.1. study area the study focused on four distinct urban zones within pisa, italy, selected based on land use, vegetation cover, and hydrological characteristics. the zones represent a range of urban typologies, including parks, residential neighborhoods, commercial districts, and industrial areas. the macro-area of interest was delineated using gis-based analysis, incorporating base data provided by the northern apennine basin authority. the analysis involved overlaying flood hazard and flash flood propensity maps focusing on hazard levels p3 and p2 combined with very high and high propensities. this revealed areas with simultaneous susceptibility to flooding events with return periods (tr) of up to 200 years and flash flood phenomena. such risks are exacerbated by climate change and urban expansion. figure 1: map of the areas where flood hazard (p3 and p2) overlaps with a high propensity to flash flood phenomena (very high and high), identifying the study macro-areas. (data source: northern apennine district basin authority; image by the authors) santini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 the highest-risk area, identified as a “red zone”, lies to the north of the arno river (figure 1). the macro-area boundary was defined by analysing the urban fabric of the most affected blocks, while agricultural areas were excluded due to their lower risk. conversely, the commercial district within san giuliano terme (a municipality bordering pisa) was included due to its higher flood susceptibility. the macro-area was further subdivided into four zones (z1-z4) based on the urban configuration, building density and hydrogeological data (figure 2). 2.2. input data the data collected and utilized for this research encompasses various aspects crucial for the comprehensive analysis of nbs interventions and their potential impacts on urban hydrology. key input data categories include: methereological data: hourly weather data were sourced from pisa weather station (#tos01000544, facoltà di. agraria), the data set includes hourly precipitation, temperatures, humidity, wind speed and direction. land use and cover data: land cover data were derived from satellite imagery, supplemented by on-site inspections for classification accuracy. these data informed the assessment of nbs feasibility. the land cover distribution is presented in figure 3 and tables 1 and 2 subsoil characteristics: urban subsoils, influenced by anthropogenic factors, were mapped using geotechnical data from the 2019 structural plan of pisa, geoscopio portal and the national archive of subsoil surveys (accessible at https://sgi2.isprambiente.it/mapviewer/). soil permeability was calculated based on technical guidelines (soil science division staff. 2017). digital terrain model (dtm): a high-resolution digital terrain model (dtm), with a 1m × 1m grid, was obtained from the regional mapping portal for topographic analyses digital terrain model (dtm): a high-resolution digital terrain model (dtm), with a 1m × 1m grid, was obtained from the regional mapping portal for topographic analyses. directly connected impervious area (dcia): the dcia, a critical factor for surface runoff, was estimated as a percentage of impervious surfaces based on land use and epa guidelines (soil science division staff, 2017). figure 2: map of the study areas (image by the authors) santini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 figure 3: land cover of the study area (image by the authors) 2.3. i-tree hydro plus to model hydrological impacts, the study employed i-tree hydro plus, a module within the i-tree suite developed by the usda forest service. this tool simulates urban water movement by accounting for land cover, soil properties, vegetation, and precipitation patterns. it integrates the ufore-hydro model and features statistical tools derived from the epa swmm model for evaluating green infrastructure. key input datasets include the digital elevation model, meteorological data, land cover characteristics, and soil properties. the software outputs detailed hydrological metrics, including runoff, water quality, vegetation-related impacts, and subsurface hydrology. while the tool provides precise results, its complexity and intensive data requirements make it most suitable for expert use. 2.4. scenarios four scenarios were modeled to assess the hydrological impacts of nbs interventions (table 3). the baseline scenario represents 2022 conditions. in the green roof (gr) scenario, 75% of flat roofs are converted into vegetated surfaces. the permeable pavements (pp) scenario assumes that 50% of public parking areas and 10% of private parking surfaces are replaced with permeable materials. santini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 table 1: description of land cover in the four areas z1 z2 z3 z4 km2 z1 area distribu tion km2 z2 area distribu tion km2 z3 area distribu tion km2 z4 area distribu tion impervious cover 0,362 69% 0,429 65% 0,128 60% 0,171 70% pervious cover 0,161 31% 0,230 35% 0,087 40% 0,074 30% total 0,523 0,659 0,215 0,245 table 2: components of impervious cover area distribution divided by areas z1 z2 z3 z4 km2 z1 impervious cover area distribu tion km2 z2 impervious cover area distribu tion km2 z3 impervious cover area distribu tion km2 z4 impervious cover area distribu tion flat roof 0,042 8% 0,013 2% 0,014 6,5% 0,014 6% parking 0,060 11% 0,009 1% 0,014 6,5% 0,014 6% other 0,260 50% 0,407 62% 0,100 47% 0,143 58% total 0,362 69% 0,429 65% 0,128 60% 0,171 70% table 3: description of scenarios scenario strategy description base current state gr green roof transform 75% of flat roofs into green roofs pp permeable pavement convert 50% of the areas currently designated for parking and 10% of the predominantly pervious private areas into permeable pavements. rg rain garden creation of rain gardens within existing green areas the base scenario refers to the input data from 2022, while the other scenarios hypothesize the implementation of nbs systems. in the gr scenario, it was assumed that 75% of flat roofs would be converted to green roofs. the pp scenario involves the installation of permeable pavements on 50% of public parking surfaces and 10% of private parking areas. in the rg scenario, the implementation of rain gardens was evaluated for an area equivalent to 10% of green spaces and residual green areas in zones z1, z3, and z4, while in zone z2, it was evaluated at 50%. this difference in santini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 distribution is related to the characteristics and extent of green areas in the various zones: z2 is a peripheral and much less urbanised area compared to the other three and is characterised by large tracts of abandoned land. the land cover distributions for each scenario and the baseline condition are outlined in table 4 table 4: description of land cover in the four scenarios z1 base gr pp rg km2 % km2 % km2 % km2 % tree cover 0,007 1,32% 0,007 1,32% 0,008 1,50% 0,007 1,32% pervious cover 0,158 30,27% 0,161 30,84% 0,163 31,10% 0,158 30,27% impervious cover 0,358 68,41% 0,355 67,84% 0,353 67,41% 0,358 68,41% z2 base gr pp rg km2 % km2 % km2 % km2 % tree cover 0,014 2,13% 0,014 2,69% 0,015 2,27% 0,014 2,13% pervious cover 0,226 34,35% 0,250 47,74% 0,234 35,50% 0,226 34,35% impervious cover 0,419 63,52% 0,395 75,56% 0,410 62,23% 0,419 63,52% z3 base gr pp rg km2 % km2 % km2 % km2 % tree cover 0,004 1,70% 0,004 0,70% 0,005 2,12% 0,004 1,70% pervious cover 0,084 38,98% 0,091 17,38% 0,085 39,50% 0,084 38,98% impervious cover 0,127 59,32% 0,120 22,97% 0,125 58,38% 0,127 59,32% z4 base gr pp rg km2 % km2 % km2 % km2 % tree cover 0,010 4,24% 0,010 1,98% 0,011 4,60% 0,010 4,24% pervious cover 0,069 28,08% 0,077 14,67% 0,070 28,78% 0,069 28,08% impervious cover 0,166 67,69% 0,158 30,13% 0,163 66,62% 0,166 67,69% 3. results the analyses carried out using the ufore-hydro model provide an assessment of the total surface runoff, dividing it into: pervious area runoff, flow generated when the intensity of rain on a permeable surface exceeds the soil's infiltration capacity or when the soil is saturated; impervious area runoff, when the amount of rain exceeds the santini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 retention capacity of impermeable surfaces; and subsurface runoff, flow generated by water filtering through the soil, influenced by soil transmissivity, slope, and soil water content. in the following figures (figures. 4, 5, 6, and 7), the results for each area can be seen. in area z1 (figure 4), characterised half by a predominantly residential fabric with numerous green and/or equipped areas and the other half by a military area, the pp scenario significantly reduces total runoff, demonstrating greater effectiveness in stormwater management compared to other configurations. figure 4: results for zone 4(source: by authors) z2 (figure 5), on the other hand, is a peripheral area predominantly commercial with many unorganized green areas. in this case, the pp scenario is particularly effective in reducing runoff from both impervious and pervious areas. however, the rg configuration stands out for the greater reduction in subsurface runoff, suggesting excellent infiltration management. overall, rg reduces total runoff by about 64.78 mm compared to the current situation, making it the most effective for overall water management. z3 (figure 6) falls within the historic centre of the city of pisa and differs from the other areas due to the marked presence of school buildings and public green areas. the gr scenario significantly reduces the total runoff in z3, showing greater effectiveness in stormwater management compared to other configurations. figure 5: results for zone 2(source: by authors) in z4 (figure 7), an area closer to the historic centre characterised by a dense residential fabric, the gr and pp scenarios similarly reduce runoff from impervious areas. however, gr is the most effective in reducing total runoff compared to the current situation, making it the best in stormwater management. the results obtained show that, in general, the installation of permeable pavements (pp scenario) is effective in reducing runoff from both impervious and pervious areas, particularly suitable for z1 and z2, while the installation of green roofs (gr scenario) seems effective in reducing subsurface and total runoff and is particularly suitable for z3 and z4 areas. the creation of rain gardens (rg scenario) has variable effects, sometimes reducing runoff more than other configurations (z2) and sometimes less (z3 and z4). santini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 figure 6: results for zone 3(source: by authors) figure 7: results for zone 4(source: by authors) 4. discussion this study evaluated the potential of nbs, specifically green roofs, permeable pavements, and rain gardens, for improving stormwater management and mitigating flood risks in urban areas. using i-tree hydro plus, the research focused on four zones in pisa, italy, and demonstrated that nbs can significantly reduce surface runoff, thereby enhancing urban resilience to flooding and contributing to sustainable development. however, the study also underscored substantial challenges associated with hydrological modeling and the practical implementation of nbs in urban contexts. the hydrological benefits observed in pisa align with findings from other cities. for example, research by song (song et al., 2020) has shown that although increasing urban green spaces have a positive impact on stormwater management, particularly influencing runoff, their mitigation remains limited unless accompanied by other nbs solutions, such as green roofs and significant reductions in impervious surfaces. bortolini and brasola (2022) reported that rain gardens in padua reduced runoff by 34–41%, while our study highlighted the complementary effects of combining green roofs and permeable pavements. similarly, busca and revelli (2022) demonstrated significant runoff reductions in "le vallere" park, turin, emphasizing the role of urban green spaces in improving water management. in szeged, hungary, csete & gulyás (2021) found that districts with higher vegetation and pervious surfaces achieved better hydrological outcomes, echoing our findings that pisa's zones with higher impervious surfaces experienced more runoff. collectively, these results confirm that targeted, context-specific interventions are critical for maximizing the benefits of nbs. despite these promising outcomes, the study identified key barriers. accurate modeling using i-tree hydro plus requires detailed input data, such as meteorological variables, land cover, soil properties, and pollutant levels. many of these datasets were either unavailable or insufficiently detailed, necessitating reliance on default values that may compromise model accuracy. this issue mirrors challenges reported in studies from turin and szeged, where data scarcity similarly limited the precision of simulations. additionally, the complexity of i-tree hydro plus presents a significant hurdle. its steep learning curve and non-intuitive interface make it difficult for non-specialists to use, restricting its broader application in public planning contexts. effective implementation also requires interdisciplinary santini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 collaboration among hydrologists, urban planners, geologists, and agronomists, resources often unavailable to public entities. the challenges associated with maintaining and implementing nbs are particularly relevant in urbanized and historic settings. similar to padua, where bortolini and brasola (2022) emphasized the need for ongoing maintenance to ensure the functionality of nbs, pisa will also require consistent upkeep to sustain these systems. historical preservation regulations may further constrain large-scale interventions in pisa’s historic zones, adding an additional layer of complexity to their implementation. overall, this study highlights both the potential and limitations of i-tree hydro plus as a tool for evaluating nbs systems. while it provides valuable insights into the hydrological benefits of these solutions, its operational challenges, including data requirements, technical complexity, and reliance on multidisciplinary expertise, limit its accessibility beyond research contexts. addressing these barriers is critical to scaling up the application of nbs and bridging the gap between research and real-world implementation. future efforts should prioritize the development of user-friendly modeling tools with streamlined interfaces and automated data integration, reducing reliance on technical expertise. enhanced access to comprehensive, up-to-date environmental datasets would also improve modeling accuracy and simplify data collection processes. furthermore, fostering interdisciplinary training programs and collaborations among urban planners, hydrologists, and environmental scientists is essential for effectively integrating nbs into urban planning. finally, future research should expand on this study by exploring the long-term impacts of nbs on water quality, pollutant removal, and urban ecosystem health, ensuring that these solutions are fully optimized for diverse urban contexts 5. conclusion this study explored the potential of nbs, such as green roofs, permeable pavements, and rain gardens, to enhance stormwater management and mitigate flood risks in four zones of pisa, italy. using i-tree hydro plus software, the findings revealed that nbs can significantly reduce surface runoff, contributing to urban resilience and sustainable development. these results align with similar studies in padua, turin, szeged and luha, confirming the capacity of nbs to address urban hydrological challenges and adapt to climate change. while the hydrological benefits of nbs are evident, the study also revealed substantial challenges that limit their practical application. the lack of detailed, localized data, reliance on default software inputs, and the technical complexity of tools like i-tree hydro plus hinder accessibility for non-specialists and public entities. moreover, the requirement for interdisciplinary expertise, spanning hydrology, agronomy, and urban design, creates additional barriers to widespread adoption, particularly in resource-constrained contexts. these findings are consistent with prior research, underscoring systemic obstacles that must be addressed to integrate nbs into urban planning. to overcome these challenges, several key actions are necessary. the development of user-friendly software that automates data integration and simplifies hydrological modeling would make these tools more accessible to practitioners. improved availability of detailed and updated environmental datasets would enhance the accuracy of nbs simulations while fostering interdisciplinary collaboration through training and policy support would help bridge the gap between research and implementation. this study reaffirms the critical role of nbs as an effective, sustainable solution for managing urban stormwater and reducing flood risks. by addressing the operational and technical barriers identified, policymakers and urban planners can unlock the full potential of nbs, advancing climate resilience and sustainable urban development. future research should expand on this work, focusing on the long-term impacts of nbs on water quality, pollutant removal, and urban ecosystem health, ensuring their benefits are fully realized in diverse contexts. acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented at the urban planning & architectural design for sustainable development (upadsd) conference – 9th edition which was held on the 22nd 24th of october 2024. santini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 funding declaration this research was funded by unipi pra_2022 (mitigating risks in urban areas). the funding body had no role in the design of the study, the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, nor in the writing of the manuscript. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references european commission: directorate-general for research and innovation. 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(2017). regulating urban surface runoff through nature-based solutions – an assessment at the micro-scale. environmental research, 157, pp. 135–144. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2017.05.023 https://doi.org/10.17660/actahortic.2022.1345.47 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.03.018 https://www.comune.padova.it/piano-verde-comunale https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021102 https://www.mase.gov.it/notizie/clima-approvato-il-piano-nazionale-di-adattamento-ai-cambiamenti-climatici https://www.itreetools.org/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2017.05.023 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i1.864 sustainability and diversity in the architecture of intercultural universities in mexico peña dalia1, mesquida peri2 1professor at the national pedagogical university of hidalgo, mexico 2professor at parana university, brazil abstract intercultural universities in mexico have been created since 2001, currently there are 12, the last one to be created is the intercultural university of baja california in san quintin. these universities are governed by an intercultural model that states that they must incorporate linguistic expressions and manifestations and knowledge of indigenous peoples in their substantive functions as well as in their scientific activity, but some of them have also incorporated cultural and sustainable expressions in their architecture. in this sense, there are experiences of these universities that incorporate different cultural and sustainable elements in their architecture. based on the above, this study presents some experiences of intercultural universities in mexico that recover cultural and sustainable elements in their architecture. methodologically, we resorted to reflexive ethnography by conducting several interviews with the architect of the uiceh. some of the results obtained in the research show the importance of how, through the architectural spaces, elements of interculturality and sustainability are embodied, including some related to local cultures where the universities have an impact. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords intercultural universities; architecture; sustainability; interculturality 1. introduction the creation of intercultural universities was promoted by the general coordination of intercultural and bilingual education (cgeib), the undersecretary of higher education and the secretaries of education of the states, thus creating in 2001 the first intercultural university; the intercultural university of the state of mexico (uiem). (schmelkes in mato, 2008). there are currently 12 intercultural universities 1in mexico; the autonomous indigenous university of mexico, the intercultural university of chiapas, the intercultural university of the state of hidalgo, the intercultural university of the state of mexico, the intercultural university of the state of guerrero, the intercultural university of the state of puebla, the intercultural university of the state of michoacán, the intercultural mayan university of quintana roo, the intercultural university of san luis potosí, the intercultural university of tabasco, the intercultural university of veracruz and currently in 2021 the intercultural university of baja california opened in san quintín. 2 1 at: http://www.anui.org.mx/(revised october 5, 2021) 2 https://uibc.mx/index.php http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i1.864&domain=press.ierek.com dalia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 the intercultural universities are governed by an educational model that establishes the foundations of interculturality, proposing intercultural dialogue as "the possibility of promoting a process of dialogue and learning" (casillas and santini, 2009) and also promotes "the incorporation of linguistic expressions and manifestations of the cultures and knowledge of the indigenous peoples of the country, both in the substantive functions of the university and in its insertion in the fundamental corpus of its scientific activity. these institutions3 share several characteristics among which are that they have low enrollments, share similar unconventional educational programs except for the universidad autónoma indígena de méxico, consider a community linkage axis in their educational programs, incorporate the teaching-learning of indigenous languages, are located mainly in indigenous regions, promote the cultural and linguistic diversity of the regions where they have an impact4. in addition to these characteristics, these institutions also share what concerns the construction of spaces: "from the perspective of the cultures of indigenous peoples, it is the duty of intercultural universities to promote the economic, cultural and social development of indigenous peoples, preserving their identity. for this purpose, lines of action are proposed that emphasize three axes: the use of materials and construction systems of the region in their facilities; the development of harmonious forms integrated to the landscape or to the traditional local architecture, and the projection in the design of the symbology and traditions of the indigenous peoples of the region" (casillas and santini, 2009) it is worth mentioning that not all intercultural universities have followed this line of construction system using materials from the regions where they are located, nor the harmonic forms, nor the use of symbology, but there are some intercultural universities that share these approaches and have also incorporated the perspective of sustainability. in this sense, this work shows 5 intercultural universities that have incorporated intercultural and sustainable perspectives in their architecture, so the main objective of this work was to analyze the cultural and sustainability elements incorporated in the architectural spaces of the 5 intercultural universities in mexico. this research was built through different in-depth interviews (taylor and bogdan, 2000). in addition, different architectural designs provided by the architect of the uiceh were retrieved. so we resorted to reflective ethnography (guber, 2001). another technique that i used in this section and that was fundamental for the reconstruction of this research was ethnographic photography (brandes s/f). 1. literature review the relevance of the term "intercultural" in latin america emerged in the 1990s, when various research and debates began to emerge from different approaches: social, anthropological, educational, political and promoted by different actors: academics, researchers, students, civil organizations, indigenous and afro-descendant groups (lópez-hurtado and quiroz, 2007). addressing the issue of interculturality is complex due to the diversity of studies currently existing not only in latin america, but also in the world. in this sense, it is impossible to make an analysis that does not leave out some research, a reflection, a contribution, a challenge, etc., so here i will take up the discussions that i consider essential and that will allow me to identify positions, reflections and contributions on the subject. several studies in latin america related to interculturality in higher education institutions present interculturality experiences of conventional, afro-descendant and indigenous higher education institutions, analysis from intercultural policy, conceptual discussions etc., (mato, 2008, 2009, 2018; ramirez, manjarrez and flores, 2013; lopez, 2009; tubino,2005; walsh, 2002; fournet betancourt, 1998 and gasché, 2004 y 2014 among others). 3 information obtained from my participation in the annual meetings of the uis. 4 information from participation in meetings of intercultural universities (uis) dalia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 now this section aims to provide an overview of the emergence of intercultural higher education in mexico and the diversity of research that has emerged on the subject. the san andres dialogues of 1996, in which the various participants, such as bilingual teachers, civil organizations, academics and community leaders, made explicit the urgency of developing an intercultural education for all (dietz, 2009) were a trigger to meet various demands, including educational ones, so in relation to these events the general coordination of intercultural and bilingual education (cgeib) was created in 2001 to offer a culturally and linguistically relevant education to indigenous people at all levels (schmelkes, 2008). if we add to the above demands the data showing the inequity that has existed between the mestizo population and indigenous groups and the low percentages (2%) of access of this vulnerable population to higher education (bertely, 2011), it is evident that there is an urgent need for higher education programs and institutions that cater to these populations. this is how intercultural higher education began to take shape in mexico, with the creation of intercultural universities by the (general coordination of intercultural bilingual education (cgeib), whose reasons, as schmelkes mentions, were the following: "(a) the low coverage of the indigenous population in higher education in general, and in public education in particular. the country's indigenous population represents 10% of the national population. however, it is estimated that barely 1% of higher education enrollment is indigenous. the national education program 2001-2006 recognized this inequality in the educational opportunities of the indigenous population and proposed tripling the enrollment of indigenous people at this educational level, as well as at the previous one (sep, 2001). it was considered that the creation of intercultural universities, to be located in regions with a significant percentage of indigenous population, could contribute to the achievement of this goal by bringing the educational offer closer to the population that otherwise would not have access to it. b) indigenous demands. these demands have been escalating in such a way that they now incorporate not only access to basic education, but also to job training and higher education. the organized indigenous peoples have also qualified their demands, and have requested that this educational offer include the teaching of indigenous languages and be open to their own cultural contributions. c) the geographic imbalance of national development. c) geographical imbalance of national development. the regions where indigenous populations are concentrated are particularly disadvantaged, despite the fact that many of them are rich in natural resources. by training professionals, it was thought, universities can orient the educational offer and the training of their students towards the solution of regional problems and towards the promotion of the integral development of the region". (schmelkes in mato, 2008:312). the creation of intercultural universities was promoted by the cgeib, the undersecretary of higher education of the public secretary and the state education secretaries, thus creating in 2001 the first intercultural university; the intercultural university of the state of mexico (uiem) with federal funding 80% and state budget 20% (ibid:314). to date, 12 intercultural universities have been created. dalia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 2. methodology methodologically, we resorted to reflective ethnography (guber, 2001) through which several interviews were conducted (taylor and bogdan, 2000) with the architect of the uiceh, which allowed an approach to the history of the construction of the university and to understand how the different proposals of interculturality and sustainability were reflected in the construction. the unstructured interviews have a high degree of freedom and depth. "in this regard, brimo (1972: 209) points out that an unstructured interview never relies on a list of questions established in relation to the order in which they are asked or the way they are asked, but rather on a freer conversation; the freedom will vary depending on the nature of the unstructured interview in question. (tarrés, 2001:6) i conducted more than 10 interviews with the architect of the uiceh, he was responsible for the construction of the university, so he provided me with the architectural plans and some photographs of other intercultural universities. the photographs were fundamental (brandes s/f), the images of some constructions of the universities shown in this research are an important part of the project, the images of the constructions, the green and sustainable areas of the universities invite the reader to imagine beyond what the photograph itself represents. "the key role of photography in exercising power remains in its possibility of allowing the intensive investigation of the other ... according to foucault, photography allows the viewing public "the possibility of ... classify and punish. it establishes upon the photographed a visibility by which they can be differentiated and judged." (ibid:33) the photographs of the intercultural universities, some provided by the architect and others recovered during the ethnographic work i carried out, allow me to visually understand the cultural and sustainability elements found in each construction. after recording the interviews, we proceeded to the analysis of the data where we began to find that the architecture contained elements of both intercultural and sustainability conceptions, these conceptions were linked to the planning and architectural design. some of the results found in this research were that the architecture of the five intercultural universities recovers local elements of the cultures of incidence. it was important to identify that universities such as the one in hidalgo implemented eco-technologies in their construction, setting an example of sustainable and intercultural construction for other types of higher education institutions. 3. case studies 3.1. the intercultural university of the state of mexico (uiem) it began activities in september 2004, located in san felipe del progreso.5 it offers bachelor's degrees in language and culture, bachelor's degree in sustainable development, bachelor's degree in intercultural communication, bachelor's degree in intercultural health, bachelor's degree in intercultural art and design, bachelor's degree in nursing and a master's degree in management of rural6 innovation. its construction is based on pre-hispanic symbolism with materials from the region, diversity of styles and architectural elements that integrate the context and provide identity with the concept of interculturality. (architect of the uiceh) 5 en http://uiem.edomex.gob.mx/historia-uiem 6 http://uiem.edomex.gob.mx/posgrado dalia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 18 figure 1, uiem main building source architect of the uiceh the construction of the university is full of fretwork and staircases that resemble those of a pyramid, surrounded by the stone serpent, the buildings have signs in indigenous languages. "i traveled to several universities to see the constructions. the one in the state of mexico for me is somewhat exaggerated, as well as a university teotihuacan, it is saturated with pre-hispanic symbolism, i do not think that all that symbolism is part of the identity of the students." (uiceh architect oscar covarrubias, june 2019) 3.2. intercultural university of chiapas (unich) the intercultural university of chiapas (unich), began its academic operations in 2005, in the city of san cristobal de las casas. 7 it currently has four academic units: uam oxchuc, uam las margaritas, uam yajalón and uam valle de tulijá. it offers bachelor's degrees in: intercultural communication, intercultural law, sustainable development, language and culture, medical surgeon and alternative tourism, master's degree in intercultural studies and master's degree in social and solidarity8 economy. it has an architectural concept based on the urban typology of the place (san cristobal de las casas), using traditional forms, textures and materials, integrating directly with its context. (uiceh architect oscar covarrubias, june 2019). 7 https://www.unich.edu.mx/san-cristobal/ 8 https://www.unich.edu.mx/# dalia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 19 figure 2, architecture of the intercultural university of chiapas source architect of the uiceh "in the construction of a building many factors are involved, the main one is economic, because it governs the designs, for example: many intercultural universities are type buildings of those built by the institutes of educational infrastructure. an example is the university of chiapas that tried to give it a little bit of identity with the urban image of san cristóbal de las casas, mud roofs, quarry boards, but what i identified in all the universities is the interaction with the indigenous languages, what they also baptized the buildings with names in indigenous languages". (architect of the uiceh, june 2019) 3.3. intercultural university of the state of tabasco (uiet) the intercultural university of the state of tabasco was created on april 5, 20069. it has academic units in vicente guerrero and villa tamulte de las sabanas. it offers bachelor's degrees in intercultural communication, intercultural law, sustainable rural development, tourism development, intercultural nursing, language and culture and intercultural health. modules of buildings deployed in radial form, functionalism and use of materials from the region integrating with its environment. (uiceh architect, june 2019). 9 http://www.uiet.edu.mx/antecedentes.php dalia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 20 figure 3, intercultural university of the state of tabasco (uiet) source architect of the uiceh 3.4. intercultural mayan university of the state of quintana roo (uimqro) the university was created in 2006.10 it offers degrees in language and culture, alternative tourism, municipal management, community health, arts management and development, engineering in agroecological production systems, engineering in information and communication technologies, engineering in business development and a master's degree in intercultural education11. this university has also recovered the symbolism of the region, from the logo that can be found on the university's website to the construction of its buildings. figure 4, uimqro12 logo. 10 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1slxjuomzlhia4zafxghbf96wrsbvgi85/view 11 https://www.uimqroo.edu.mx/?menu=programas_educativos 12 http://www.uimqroo.edu.mx/ (revised on february 7, 2020 http://www.uimqroo.edu.mx/ dalia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 21 "the mayan profile is, from the author's point of view, a representative icon of the mayan culture. based on those countless images made in stones and paintings, he takes it making it with simple and precise strokes similar to those used by the mayan painters themselves. it thus represents the mayan root. the position of the face. that the face is with the chin up, not only means that it is looking at the star in the hand, but also represents the yearning, the drive and the desire to move forward. the earring is a gear, symbol of technology and movement. the star. the author gives this symbol more than one meaning. in the first place, it represents laser beams, something that for him is one of the most important inventions of these times, and therefore the most advanced in technology. it also represents knowledge, mathematics and geography; hence the two squares and the four triangles. for the mayas the four cardinal points were important, that is why it is a star with four points, xaman, nohol, lak'in and chik'ín. in general, the symbol represents the sky, the cosmos, astronomy, and also astrology" (uimqro, 2020). the uimqro has a building in the shape of a "zero" inspired by the mayan culture and the vertices of the hurricane. there is also the kukuxklán building that in the front part ends with snake heads alluding to the pyramid of kukuxklán. (teacher of the uimqro) there are distinctive mayan culture badges for the bachelor's degrees that were selected by students and academics which are the following: "lic. en lengua y cultura itsamnaj is the deity that symbolizes knowledge and wisdom. he is recognized as the inventor of writing". bachelor in alternative tourism kukulkan, is one of the creator gods of our world. it is accepted that he came to yucatan from other lands. he is associated with the wind, the thunder and the sun". these universities were a reference for the architect who was in charge of the construction of the intercultural university of the state of hidalgo (uiceh), which is presented below. 3.5. intercultural university of the state of hidalgo (uiceh) the intercultural university of the state of hidalgo began its activities on september 3, 2012 under the model of intercultural universities in one of the regions of the state of hidalgo where there is a large presence of indigenous population. according to the national council for the evaluation of social development policy (coneval) this area is considered highly marginalized and is known as "the otomí-tepehua region", located in the municipality of tenango de doria, hidalgo, mexico. the region has the presence of otomi, tepehua and nahua indigenous groups. the university's curriculum is based on language, sociocultural, linkage, disciplinary and methodological axes. it currently offers bachelor's degrees in alternative tourism, sustainable development, language and culture, sustainable agricultural production, art and digital design, intercultural law and nursing. the uiceh incorporates elements of sustainability in its construction: the walls and steps are built with stone from the region, due to the type of climate in the region an eco-technology was also introduced to one of the buildings in the form of a siphon: cold air is brought in and cools the building and only work with the classrooms on the perimeter. there are also solar panels, more than 200, in the classroom module, saving 95% of energy. dalia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 22 figure 5, solar panels in classrooms source source obtained from the uiceh page "the rector asked me to visit the page of the earth university of costa rica and from there we got the ideas that the buildings should have rainwater collection, we have 1600 square meters of slab, all these rainwater contributions fall into a cistern and are reused for sanitary discharges, and sanitary discharges, we have two biodigesters of 7000 liters each where the processes are done, the problem is that we have no dining room, the idea is to reuse the bio-gas, store it and take it to the dining room and use it. also because of the type of climate we have here we put an eco-technology to one of the buildings in a siphon way, cold air is put in and cools the building and only work with the classrooms on the perimeter and we have solar panels (uiceh architect, november 2018). "interculturality is linked to sustainability." (former rector, fieldwork june 2019). unfortunately due to lack of budget several eco-technologies were omitted: "well, within that heat, well in the building if the sustainability part works for us, unfortunately that sustainability is only in the first building of classrooms to give comfort to the students, we also for budget issue some eco-technologies were also omitted, but this, as you can see, here are all the diagrams, here is everything." (uiceh architect, 2018 fieldwork) sustainability is present throughout the construction: "one of the main requirements is that we must be a sustainable institution, then from the beginning we were projecting this, capture and reuse of rainwater, uh, reuse of gray and treated water, use of biodigesters, to generate bio gas and use of sludge for fertilization and composting of land, natural ventilation, solar energy based on a solar cell system and the use of harmonious forms integrated dalia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 23 into the landscape, this, cultural significance, uh, well, more than anything was the integration of building elements of the indigenous cultures of the region, elements of traditional local architecture, symbols and environment". (architect oscar covarrubias of the uiceh, fieldwork june 2018). when one arrives at the uiceh by private or public car, one finds an institution full of colors and murals from the entrance. to get from the entrance to the student module it is a one minute walk, through a corridor surrounded by grass and some small trees that have been planted in 2019.already climbing the first stairs you get to see the student module that is located at the back and has tenangos painted on the facade of the entrance. upon arrival, the visitor is confronted with a space that has glass doors, which allows observing an impressive landscape covered with vegetation of the mesophilic mountain forest. figure 6, student module source provided by the uiceh architect the student dome, where the classrooms are located, has a terrace with stained glass windows that allows you to enjoy a breathtaking view of the sierra. "so another of the requirements was that i wanted to have contact with the environment, we are friends of the environment, so that's why we have that amount of glass, of gates that from any point of the university, well the lobby and those that are corridors and common areas you can see outside, that's why there are big domes and big gates, because the truth is that there are some pictures and the one i really like is from the lobby of the classrooms, if you look towards the terrace you can see the sierra, it looks impressive, and precisely because of those effects of fog, rain, sun, light, shadows, whatever you want". (architect oscar c. from uiceh, 2018) upon entering the students' dome it is observed that in the center there are plants and a huge stone, on the right side is provisionally the library and a computer classroom, this space initially in the architectural plan was indicated as the computer lab, but due to lack of resources it was divided into two spaces: library and computer lab, which became multifunctional spaces. five meters from these, on the outside, there is a mural. entering from the left side you can see the men's and women's restrooms and a mosaic mural at the entrance, which represents a tree. the 12 classrooms are distributed in the space at the back, separated by corridors, each corridor has six classrooms. dalia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 24 figure 7, women's and men's restrooms and a mosaic mural at the entrance source dalia peña islas inside this dome there is another mural that covers the entire wall, covering 3 complete classrooms. this mural was created by uiceh students. on one side of the bathrooms there is an exhibition of traditional tools, with small texts created by students of the sustainable development degree program. 3.6. the planters inside the student and academic modules of the rectory the planters that would be located in the center of the domes were also considered. the uiceh architect noted the following: "i as an architect had another proposal, the planter should have a theme, the rector suggested it should be. "we could not put in copales, ahíles, very large vegetation and the most representative were the ferns and we put in three, unfortunately they have not been given much because the fern receives indirect light, grows under the trees and here is under the dome on that side we have to reinforce these planters. we did not have the planters at the beginning, that came from dr. kugel. in the upper module we found a rock and we left it as an ornament and it happened to be in the center of the planter". (architect oscar covarrubias of the uiceh, field diary in 2018). part of the vegetation of the otomí-tepehua region is made up of ferns, a type of vegetation that is typical of the mesophilic forest and that was also contemplated as part of the design of the university. according to some conversations with the faculty, even the stone that the architect talks about in the talks i had with him takes up the silhouette of the mountain in front of the university: dalia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 25 figure 8, student dome planter source dalia peña islas 4. discussion intercultural universities have tried to incorporate the elements pointed out by the intercultural model of the university, these elements propose the dialogue of western and community knowledge in their curricula, educational practices and infrastructure. the cases of intercultural universities presented in this paper reflect in their construction elements of sustainability and interculturality of the communities where they operate, including regional materials such as stone, vegetation and cultural elements such as signs in indigenous languages. it is worth mentioning that despite these efforts of these institutions to incorporate these elements of both sustainability and interculturality, there are still challenges such as the need to generate diagnoses that incorporate the sustainable and intercultural visions of the inhabitants of these regions, getting involved in the processes and being part of these architectural designs from their vision, that is, incorporating their knowledge but not only from the external vision without consultation and direct participation. it could be argued that within the perspectives of interculturality there are functional, relational and critical perspectives, as walsh (2008) points out. the first two, according to the author, propose an interculturality that has worked for the state but has not considered the voices of the peoples, and does not analyze the power that has always existed of the dominant classes. this is important to mention because in the case of intercultural universities they recover the relational perspective of interculturality, in some way recovering cultural and environmental elements of the communities, but they still have an enormous challenge because the indigenous populations have not been involved in the design of these institutions. these practices of sustainability and interculturality incorporated in the infrastructure are the beginning of an innovative proposal from the intercultural universities that recovers cultural, linguistic and environmental practices of indigenous peoples, these proposals can even open the possibility of recovering materials that have ceased to be dalia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 26 used such as stone, adobe (a mixture of mud and straw with which the walls were made). these materials have been replaced by cement, which generates more pollution. the architecture of intercultural universities with this vision can serve as examples for the recovery of knowledge about materials considered traditional in the construction of houses in the communities of incidence and that are no longer recognized by the new generations. there is no doubt that these institutions present interesting visions of how historical, sustainable and cultural elements can be incorporated in their infrastructures, suggesting that these practices can be transferred to the so-called conventional universities, even assuming those challenges that the intercultural universities themselves still face in relation to the incorporation of people in the decision-making, design and evaluation processes of this type of projects. intercultural universities can be an example of innovative approaches on how to articulate the epistemic diversity of knowledge from their infrastructure, curriculum and educational practices. something important to mention about the difficulties for this type of architecture to be implemented in other educational institutions, at least in the case of mexico, is the budget and the vision of those responsible for the educational architecture, that is, if an analysis is made of the architecture of other educational levels such as elementary or high school, the educational architecture does not present characteristics such as intercultural universities, something important to mention about the difficulties for this type of architecture to be implemented in other educational institutions, at least in the case of mexico, is the budget and the vision of those responsible for the educational architecture, that is, if an analysis is made of the architecture of other educational levels such as elementary or high school, the educational architecture does not present characteristics such as those of intercultural universities. this raises the need to incorporate intercultural education in the leaders responsible for educational infrastructure projects so that the importance of recovering both cultural and sustainable elements of the communities where the educational institutions will have an impact is taken into account. 5. conclusions the architecture of the five intercultural universities recovers local elements of the cultures of incidence. the uiem recovers pre-hispanic elements in its architecture and recovers signs in the indigenous languages of the local communities. unich recovers traditional materials in its construction trying to give identity to the architecture with mud roofs, quarry boards and its interaction with indigenous languages. the uiet, like the other intercultural universities, recovers materials from the region in its construction. the architecture of the uimqro is inspired by the mayan culture which it recovers in its buildings. the uiceh incorporates cultural elements of the region and incorporates the category of sustainability in the architecture incorporating eco-techniques, materials from the region such as stone and vegetation. it also incorporated the collection and reuse of rainwater, reuse of gray and treated water, use of biodigesters to generate biogas and use of sludge for fertilization and composting of land, natural ventilation, solar energy based on solar cell system and use of harmonious forms integrated into the landscape was the integration of building elements of indigenous cultures of the region, elements of traditional local architecture, symbols and environment. an essential characteristic of these five intercultural universities is the recovery of cultural and environmental elements of local cultures, recognizing their diversity and richness in the architectural designs. this research shows how, through the architecture of the five universities studied, elements of local cultures and elements of sustainability are recovered. it is important to recognize how the vision of these intercultural universities tries to adhere to the visions of the indigenous peoples where they have an impact. dalia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 27 the visual elements offered by this type of construction are not only beautiful in the eyes of students, teachers and staff working there, but also recognize the importance of the materials used in the communities where they operate, as in the case of hidalgo, which recovers stone from the region. few studies were found that show how, through architecture, elements of interculturality and sustainability are embodied, so this work is considered important as a reference for further research on the subject. references brandes, s.,(s/f). la fotografía etnográfica como medio de comunicación. universidad de california, berkeley casillas, l., y santini l. universidad intercultural. modelo educativo. cgeib. méxico, d.f. 2009 fornet-betancourt. la filosofía intercultural", in: dussel, enrique eduardo mendieta-carmen bohórquez (eds.), el pensamiento filosófico latinoamericano, del 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"fracaso y éxitos de una propuesta educativa intercultural concebida y aplicada en américa latina y basada sobre el método inductivo intercultural". in hernández, ramírez, manjarrez and flores (coordinators).2013. gasché, j. 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"la interculturalidad crítica como proyecto ético-político", in: encuentro continental de educadores agustinos. lima, january 24-28, 2005. available at: http://oala.villanova.edu/congresos/educación/lima-ponen-02.html.2005 walsh, c.,(2002). interculturalidad y política: desafíos y posibilidades. norma fuller editora, universidad del pacífico.walsh, c.,(2002 y 2012). gasché, j., 2008b; bertely m., (2007 y 2013) en sartorello s. (2019). milpas educativas para el buen vivir. nuestra cosecha. impreso en méxico por ultradigital press centeno 195, valle del sur http://www.uiet.edu.mx/ http://oala.villanova.edu/congresos/educaci%c3%b3n/lima-ponen-02.html.2005 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd. v7i1. 862 turning urban streets from infrastructures into living places early research outcomes of a case study in prato, tuscany gabriele paolinelli1, lorenza fortuna2 1associate professor, department of architecture, university of florence 2phd student, research fellow, department of architecture, university of florence abstract in the second half of the twentieth century urban landscapes were affected by heavy infrastructural development. with regard to streets, managing the growing fluidity and speed of motor vehicle flows has been a priority for most designers. nowadays there are multiple driving forces behind a transition that could accommodate different uses within the streets, primarily the cultural, social and economic exchanges that streets faciliated in the past but that have been lost over time. in the spreading practice called “shared street” most signage and traffic lights can be removed to permit the self-regulated and spontaneous circulation of all users and vehicles. this paradigm is discussed with regard to its potential to strengthen urban landscape identity, ensuring accessibility, redefining uses and practices within the street, reducing injuries and misbehaviour, and offering real and perceived safety to all users. “back to the street” is an ongoing design research project dealing with integration strategies for different kinds of urban streetscapes. which design features are necessary to encourage a change in attitude, speed and hierarchy for street users? how can these features positively affect urban landscapes in general and the liveability of streets first and foremost? the research attempts to answer these questions by considering street design as a means of triggering the effective enhancement of urban public spaces. the paper is based on the case study of via san paolo in prato (tuscany) and presents a set of quality requirements for street design such as plant integration, water drainage, and comfortable paths for both cyclists and pedestrians. as the design for separate flows cannot fulfill all the quality features in via san paolo, mostly due to its varying width, it is assumed that the “shared street” can replace it in order to enhance community life within the streets while promoting local sustainable mobility. the research examines two options: sharing the street in narrow stretches or along its whole length. a preliminary comparison is proposed to discuss the earlier research outcomes. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords landscape design; urban streets; shared streets; accessibility; liveability 1. introduction the widespread distribution of cars as a predominant means of private transportation since the 1950s has resulted in significant transformations of landscapes, and mostly of cities. these changes primarily concerned the streets, as places of vehicle transit, but they have consequently affected several aspects of urban life. the available modes of transport have changed our habits, with commercial, work and leisure activities being relocated to outside the settlements (bohigas, 2007; capuano, 2020). http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i1.862&domain=press.ierek.com paolinelli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 as sylvia crowe (1960) foresaw, the need for faster transit has radically changed how people use streets, resulting in the loss of many opportunities for social, cultural and economic exchange, and in the contradiction of the primary function of cities as places in which to live. while cities’ dynamics have been analyzed in-depth by architects, urbanists, economists and sociologists, some authors have started to focus their interest on streets as crucial elements of collective urban identity. despite many differences in terms of perspectives and key issues, a debate started in the 1960s on the relational, multiscalar and multifunctional role of public spaces, and particularly of streets. while lynch (1960) underlined the importance of the legibility and identity of space, relating to memory and orientation through streetscapes, cullen (1961) and alexander (1977) read the streets as coherent sequences of frames. at the same time, appleyard and lintell (1972) analyzed the consequences of increased traffic on outdoor activities and gehl (1971) started his still ongoing studies on the social dimension of urban streets, focusing on uses in relation to their morphological, material and functional qualities. a new way of interpreting urban streets gradually emerged, looking at people's emotional and sensory experiences. urban landscapes are designed in search of a new spontaneous and awakening social process, where streets take on a metaphoric and cognitive meaning (rykwert, 1982). the widespread distribution of cars as a predominant means of private transportation since the 1950s has resulted in significant transformations of landscapes, and mostly of cities. these changes primarily concerned the streets, as places of vehicle transit, but they have consequently affected several aspects of urban life. the available modes of transport have changed our habits, with commercial, work and leisure activities being relocated to outside the settlements (bohigas, 2007; capuano, 2020). as sylvia crowe (1960) foresaw, the need for faster transit has radically changed how people use streets, resulting in the loss of many opportunities for social, cultural and economic exchange, and in the contradiction of the primary function of cities as places in which to live. while cities’ dynamics have been analyzed in-depth by architects, urbanists, economists and sociologists, some authors have started to focus their interest on streets as crucial elements of collective urban identity. despite many differences in terms of perspectives and key issues, a debate started in the 1960s on the relational, multiscalar and multifunctional role of public spaces, and particularly of streets. while lynch (1960) underlined the importance of the legibility and identity of space, relating to memory and orientation through streetscapes, cullen (1961) and alexander (1977) read the streets as coherent sequences of frames. at the same time, appleyard and lintell (1972) analyzed the consequences of increased traffic on outdoor activities and gehl (1971) started his still ongoing studies on the social dimension of urban streets, focusing on uses in relation to their morphological, material and functional qualities. a new way of interpreting urban streets gradually emerged, looking at people's emotional and sensory experiences. urban landscapes are designed in search of a new spontaneous and awakening social process, where streets take on a metaphoric and cognitive meaning (rykwert, 1982). nowadays, after around seventy years of cars moving through cities, problems concerning conflicts, injuries, pollution and the identity of places have considerably increased, depleting the liveability of urban open spaces, peoples' health and social equity (gehl, 2010; shannon and smets, 2010; nijhuis and jauslin, 2015; furtlehner and licka, 2019). growing traffic flows and the suggestion of speed as a major means of freedom have reshaped our proximity (smets, 2007) and detached our bodies from the ground (pavia, 2020). with the increase in the width and number of lanes and the spread of parking areas becoming new parameters for city transformation, the liveable space within the streets has been significantly reduced. the expansion and densification of cities' infrastructures and the combustion of fossil fuels are also causing a severe decline in the quality of air, water and soil, affecting the ecological functioning of natural systems and, indirectly, humans’ quality of life (rosenzweig et al., 2018; eea, 2019). awareness of the need for a change in attitude is widely shared among the scientific community and public authorities. most cities around the world are moving towards a new understanding of urban mobility systems. contemporary visions are emerging where pedestrians and cyclists have priority over motor vehicles and public open spaces are designed to host a wide range of activities and convey a sense of place and wellbeing (alberti, 2015; furtlehner and licka, 2019; sala i marti et al., 2020; bellmunt, 2021). sustainable mobility is being included in city planning theory and practice as a multilayered strategy for citizens' health: it reduces air pollution, enhances people's lifestyles, promotes physical activity, and helps social interactions and small economies. walking is an inherent activity through which humans have engaged in learning and discovery since their early appearance in the world. it is also a medium paolinelli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 for connecting with things and people. furthermore, cycling enables freedom of movement and an impromptu use of space that no other means of transport can offer, except one's feet. in italy, the average speed of vehicles in urban streets equals that of bicycles, exceeding pedestrians by only 2 km/h during traffic congestion hours (fiorillo et al., 2018), making cycling the most efficient means of transport in the urban realm. however, the pedestrian and cycle mobility plan deals more with research on the identity of places than with the infrastructural arrangement for slow transit flows (furtlehner and licka, 2019). sustainable mobility can become a playful practice. in this active experience the physical space can symbolize and strengthen our awareness and joy of belonging to the urban community (panzini, 2020). since buchanan's main work “traffic in towns” (mot, 1963) highlighted the need to tackle the problem of cars in cities, many contributions have addressed this issue both in scientific discourse and in professional practice. the design of sustainable mobility has become relevant, attempting to figure out which quality features are needed to encourage walking and cycling and enhance the identity of places within cities. reducing the danger represented by vehicles has also become a key issue. different approaches have emerged to accommodate, by means of design, all the functions streets are required to have in this perspective. the term “woonerfs”, first coined by niek de boer in 1965, refers to residential areas where vehicles conform to pedestrian and cyclist rules; “complete streets” emphasize the need for a comprehensive design for users of all abilities and with all kinds of transport. in mark francis’ theory (2016), “democratic streets” deal much more with the concept of collective use and social equity, and “shared streets”, as promoted by hans monderman, concern the removal of signage for the self-regulated sharing of space among all users and vehicles. the ongoing research process "back to the street" concerns the contemporary need to turn urban streets from infrastructures into living places. in this paper we aim to investigate the opportunities provided by “shared street” design to enhance community life within the streets while promoting local sustainable mobility. the paper is based on the case study of via san paolo in prato (tuscany) and presents a set of quality requirements for street design such as plant integration, rainwater drainage, and comfortable paths for both cyclists and pedestrians. the research examines two options: sharing the street in narrow stretches or along its whole length. the paper is organized as follows: − the introduction above (paragraph 1) frames the cultural and historical context of the work, explaining the reason for the research; − a discussion on methods and materials (paragraph 2) details the landscape architecture research as carried out in this project; − an insight into the “shared street” approach is provided to enable us to better understand its implications in landscape design (paragraph 3); − a depiction of the context where this work is being carried out follows (paragraph 4) to develop specific opportunities and critical issues that lead to the research hypothesis; − a preliminary comparison is proposed to discuss the earlier research outcomes (paragraph 5); − a conclusion is provided to initiate a discussion that could lead to deeper knowledge of the key issue (paragraph 6). 2. methods and materials this research provides a preliminary discussion on “shared street” design through a “projective design” research method (deming and swaffield, 2011). the work uses a “research by design” approach (deming and swaffield, 2011; nijhuis and bobbink, 2012, jong and van der voordt, 2002). the research was conducted in partnership with the mobility and infrastructure office of the municipality of prato, which asked for quality to be integrated into the streets in the san paolo district. in order to address the provisions of the main urban plans we referred to the structural plan, the operative plan and the sustainable mobility plan. since paolinelli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 it was not possible to carry out an instrumental survey, we had to represent our topographic database at a 1:2000 scale, as resulting from a vectoral plan provided by the municipality based on regional photogrammetric data. aerial photo interpretation has been used for the number of trees and their position and dimension. the study of plans and databases was followed by a series of surveys in the area to observe and note its distinctive features. this led to the choice of via san paolo as the place in which to test the design process. indeed, this street suits our work on the “shared street” layout more than others as it has some specific charateristics: − average vehicular flows, with moderate speed and number of cars passing by on a daily basis; − mixed zone with a combination of commercial, residential and public functions; − lack of community use and prevalent transit function; − cyclist and pedestrian discomfort; − provision of the enhancement of sustainable mobility and emissions reduction. two samples were investigated by design according to two functional layouts: sharing the street in narrow stretches or along its whole length. the samples were selected as representative of the street’s diversity and its general features. the process resulted in four outputs to be compared as a support to develop critical thinking. among the several approaches that can be taken to conduct the study, three main filters through which the street design has been interpreted are worth mentioning: − the european landscape convention (council of europe, 2000), which underlines the need to take care of everyday-ordinary landscapes: streets belong to this category; − the climate crisis, which highlights the damage caused by cities' dissipative systems: it calls for a review of urban mobility among other sustainable approaches (rosenzweig et al., 2018; eea, 2019); − the social depletion, which can be faced through more inclusive and integrated design: it allows to enhance a sense of belonging to the urban community (gehl, 2010; nogué, 2010; panzini, 2020). 3. sharing spaces to discover places the current interest in sustainable mobility leads to the enhancement of urban lifestyles by bringing the bicycle back into play as an alternative means of daily transportation. the resulting urban transformation process aims to generate new relationships between all street users for both physical and cultural change in the urban realm. specifically, the “shared streets” layout is meant to highlight the ‘place’ function rather than the ‘transit’ function of streets, with the aim of hosting the wide variety of activities and feelings that the public realm can offer to citizens, creating a social environment where they can linger and not only pass through (hamilton-baillie, 2008). this design configuration requires an innovative approach in which almost all signage is removed, including traffic lights. the reduction in information and rules should generate, for those who appreciate such a design solution, a spontaneous and safer sharing of places, thus resulting in better enjoyment of public space for all users, but most of all for pedestrians and cyclists. therefore, shared streets are completely different in design from those that provide a fast and direct connection for vehicles (such as highways): they have a continuous surface with no separate sidewalks, no change in ground level, fewer demarcations, and less specific features within the space. these qualities distinguish streets built for cars from streets built for people where everyone should feel part of a community in everyday life. such non-regulated places require constant negotiation between different needs, based on cultural signals and informal social protocols (hamilton-baillie, 2008). the uncertainty deriving from this design approach offers a higher degree of freedom to move through the space and enables multiple uses of the whole width of the streets, including both permanent functions and unexpected activities. this also reinforces eye contact and concern for the surrounding context which is capable of reducing conflicts between users (ruìz apilànez et al., 2017). although in some solutions there is scientific evidence of a decrease in paolinelli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 injuries, some authors (methorst et al.,2007; moody and melia, 2011; imrie, 2012) argue that this is due to the lower presence of pedestrians and cyclists. in fact, they assume, they would feel unsafe and uncomfortable in such a configuration and choose some alternative way. but it is also worth mentioning the lack of efficient ordinary street signage. the european road safety observatory recorded 25,000 road deaths and almost one million injuries in 2016 in europe, 20% of which were at road intersections (erso, 2018) where traffic lights are meant to prevent them and signals are present and visible. in fact, it seems that the higher sense of safety perceived in a place with a large number of rules can result in lower attention to the context as well as in misbehavior. however other critical issues concerning shared streets emerge, for example some authors have emphasised the difficulty blind and visually impaired people have in moving through such spaces, and also those with other mental or physical disabilities (imrie, 2012; steyvers et al., 2015). while drivers can easily reduce their speed, it might be hard for disabled people to feel safe negotiating the space as they are aware of their lower levels of stimulation. nevertheless, perception is a major issue for such a hypothesis to evaluate safety, aesthetics satisfaction and use dynamics. as reported by ruìz apilànez et al. (2017) in a recent study on “exhibition road” in london, many factors influence people's behavior and appreciation of shared streets. for example, 70% of users who received the questionnaire viewed the new aesthetics of the road as positive in comparison to its previous appearance, and all of them understood the priority given to pedestrians and cyclists. the test showed a consensus on the comfort provided through a place's legibility and order, but this did not apply to its safety perception. in fact most people primarily used the “safe zones” on the street side to feel protected although they could occupy its full width. so, as other authors report (hammond and musselwhite, 2013), the street sides are often crowded but the center of the road is occupied in unexpected ways, mostly by people crossing. furthermore, what emerged from this study is an adaptation issue, since frequent users had a more positive attitude than other passers-by. so, it seems clear that speed reduction is not sufficient to guarantee a safe and comfortable shared use of the streets, since continuous surfaces result in erratic movements that can confuse and disorientate users. this is why street design requires a multidisciplinary approach and to overcome the idea that it is only a matter of transport engineering (karndacharuk et al., 2014). landscape architecture plays an important role in defining the identity and legibility of spaces to tackle the ongoing discourse on these critical issues, reaffirm the multifunctional role of the streets and awaken a new sense of place and community. landscape architecture helps to create new use opportunities to drive the transition towards this new mobility paradigm through the design of pavings, the implementation of vegetal systems, and the inclusion of new signs and symbols which can convey proper management of streetscapes without imposing restrictions and rules. a landscape approach also provides tools for interpreting site conditions and qualities to offer a proper conversion of places and match both the social and environmental needs. a depiction of the context where this work is being carried out follows to examine specific opportunities and critical issues that led to the research hypothesis. 4. the case study of via san paolo in prato and the “back to the street” hypothesis the “san paolo” district in prato is located to the west of the old town, within the “macrolotto zero” area. the district has some distinctive characteristics, such as a mixed zone where residential, productive, commercial and service functions coexist in a peculiar urban form. here a series of wide square blocks is placed along streets that connect the old town with the rural areas beyond the western boundaries of the city. the growth of such a compact urban structure in decades has resulted in soil consumption, significant changes to the historical rural structure, and altered the ecological functioning. nevertheless, some natural residuum that has not been touched by urbanization still remains in this area, sometimes as parks or gardens, sometimes as rural or semi-abandoned fields. in its urban planning previsions, the municipality of prato states the need for a cross-scale approach to the urban and agricultural landscape as a whole, primarily based on new relationships between buildings, services and open spaces, stronger ecological connections and the enhancement of sustainable mobility. like other districts located around the paolinelli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 city center and mostly constructed in the 1960s and 1970s, san paolo plays a strategic role in these visions due to its relevance in terms of location, population density, economic exchange and public services. therefore, the san paolo district reflects many significant transition objectives for this strategy for a future city. in the structural plan (municipality of prato, 2019) the area plays a role of connection between different urban parts of the city center and the countryside to the west, from the highly served and densely populated northern districts to the southern industrial settlements. the coexistence of different functions, buildings and open spaces here enables a more structural and pervasive transformation of the public realm. furthermore, the urban plan (municipality of prato, 2018a) identifies a network of both existing and planned public services and an asset of disused or degraded industrial buildings to be renewed as collective hubs. moreover, the urban forestry plan envisages san paolo as the widest rural park which should cross the west side of the city with an east-west orientation. the sustainable mobility plan (municipality of prato, 2018b) identifies the whole san paolo district as a low emissions zone and defines some “zone 30” areas and many cycling lanes to redefine the whole mobility system within the district and in connection with the rest of the city. since sustainable mobility is conceived as a pervasive and integrated urban system, it may become a trigger for the regeneration of open spaces. these prospects as a whole combined with the analysis of the landscape qualities and surveys provided insight into via san paolo, which has several significant features that can be built upon to develop new visions for the san paolo district: − it runs east-west connecting the city center to the ring-road and beyond, over the hospital area, crossing the whole district; − it intersects some important streets for urban mobility, so it could integrate a system of existing or planned cycling paths; − it hosts some community services, such as schools, churches, gardens, and cultural and commercial activities of urban relevance; − it has a number of buildings that are about to be completely or partially demolished to create new urban gathering places; − it has a direct connection with the future san paolo park to the south and marks the edge of the dense settlement to the north. the surveys carried out to understand dynamics and practices within via san paolo show it to be an ordinary landscape that can be easily found in suburban areas. here a variety of building types and functions merge with the morphological diversity of open spaces generated by the layering of interventions. both the street and most of the san paolo district often flood due to the lack of vegetation and permeable soil. moreover, the street cannot provide shape nor shelter for a more comfortable collective space in terms of temperature and sense of place due to the lack of vegetation. the few existing vegetal formations are in poor condition or spontaneous, often invading the street corridor because of a lack of maintenance (fig. 1). in addition, vehicles have priority over people who are often forced to move in unsafe ways, and bicycles must travel in the vehicle lanes as there are no cycle paths (fig. 2a; 2b). furthermore, sidewalks are often non-existent or narrow even for one person (fig. 3a; 3b). however, vehicle mobility is also not fluid or uniform, with frequent changes in the direction of travel and number of lanes. even parking lots are not well managed, with cars parking on the sidewalks and in many other unregulated places, which results not only in a disturbing and chaotic landscape but also a lack of functionality for pedestrians first and foremost (fig. 4a; 4b). so, it seems necessary to turn via san paolo from an infrastructure into a living place, affirming people's priority over vehicles and guiding the design process towards a paradigm of economic, social and environmental sustainability. a set of quality features, as listed below, is assumed to encourage a change in attitude, speed, and hierarchy for street users, positively affecting urban landscapes in general and the liveability of the street primarily: paolinelli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 − first, sustainable mobility has to be a priority, creating space for pedestrians and cyclists so they can move around not only with a right of way but also in a comfortable and inviting place; − second, vegetation should be integrated into the design as much as possible to deliver shade, mitigate the temperature, enhance pleasure, improve soil quality and quantity, and increase biodiversity; − third, a water-sensitive design that channels the infiltration and management of rainwater should be an integral part of the street's conception as the expression of a wider and interconnected system; − fourth, the street should enable a variety of different uses besides urban mobility, such as resting or sitting, assembling or watching others passing by. a “shared street” hypothesis was developed since the design of separate flows cannot fulfill all quality features in via san paolo, mostly due to its varying width often resulting in narrow stretches. the hypothesis assumed that the “shared street” could enhance community life within the street while promoting local sustainable mobility. the research examines two options: sharing the street in the narrow stretches or along its whole length. a preliminary comparison is proposed to discuss the earlier outcomes of research by design. figure 1. spontaneous vegetation overruns the street corridor. . figure 2 (a) figure 2 (b). lack of safety for cyclists riding along the vehicle lane in a de facto shared street. . figure 3 (a) figure 3 (b). lack of safety for pedestrians walking along the vehicle lane in a de facto shared street. paolinelli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 4 (a) figure 4 (b). unregulated parking along via san paolo. 5. ongoing activities and early outcomes of research by design by comparing the options, we aim to evaluate the findings and initiate a discussion on the opportunities and challenges of a shared via san paolo. as shown in fig. 5, the resulting schemes of the whole street have one main difference. while the first option results in considerable fragmentation where the ordinary and shared street layouts alternate in stretches from fifteen to seventy meters in length, the second option uses a more homogeneous spatial language. option 1 produces frequent changes in height between paved surfaces and the landscape scenery where users are left to alter their behavior and thus probably require more visible signs to warn of the changing rules. figure 5. a diagram of the two options of the street partial or total sharing. a closer look at these layout options is proposed in two consecutive stretches (fig. 6a, 6b, fig. 7a, 7b), including the most common features along via san paolo in terms of width, spatial configurations and functions. their varying widths of 10 to 16 meters fall within the average of the whole street and are the prevailing condition. they both have a rugged surface generated by a combination of private and production buildings with their related open spaces and gardens. these different spatial configurations result in a lack of structural legibility of the streetscape which has to be challenged by landscape design. this is why a paving pattern consisting of a uniform sequence of double-colored bands is preliminarily proposed for both solutions to enhance the perception of a wide and continuous open space. this solution has two additional purposes. firstly, it aims to enhance the transversal visuality and use of the road, paolinelli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 balancing the dominant axial perception. secondly, this spatial feature functions as signage to reduce the speed of vehicles. all buildings are 2 or 3 floors high and host production or residential functions, and most have small front gardens, recurring features in via san paolo. as both solutions for these stretches can be considered valid transformation layouts for via san paolo, some preliminary discussions can be pursued to foster the ongoing research activities. stretch 1 in option 1 (fig. 6a) features a corridor where flows can be separated with a 4.5 meter one direction vehicle lane flanked by comfortable 4-5 meter cycle and walking paths where trees and benches can also be integrated to match all quality features. nevertheless, this solution cannot be adopted in all stretches so it would produce a discontinuous layout where a just 30 meter car lane is cut on both the east and west sides by a shared street layout. furthermore, the existing parking lots are removed to obtain more space for all separate uses. while active mobility benefits from a continuous and wide surface area, cars must travel down a lane with often changing surface levels. this means that vehicles could not reach higher speeds in option 1 than in option 2. stretch 1 in option 2 (fig. 6b) shows a layout where the ordinary street has been replaced by a shared street for its full length. here a surface varying from 5 to 10 meters in width can be used by all users and a “safe zone” is maintained on one side where people walking or cycling can feel more comfortable without negotiating their space with vehicles. less space is needed for shared flows, allowing for the design of 12 parking lots which are in demand among residents. bigger trees than in option 1 can be integrated, providing shade, micro-climatic comfort, water infiltration, and beauty. figure 6 (a). stretch 1, option 1: partial sharing; plan and section (a-a’) show a lack in vegetation and use possibilities. paolinelli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 stretch 2 in option 1 (fig. 7a) shows a 10 meter wide corridor arranged for separate flows where a 4.5 meter vehicle lane runs in the center with a 1.8 meter sidewalk to the north and a more comfortable 4 meter cycle and walking path to the south. therefore, sustainable mobility finds its own space within the street, giving cyclists and pedestrians a right of way. however, as the corridor is not wide enough to plant vegetation, there is no permeable soil to drain rainwater, and no shelter or shade are provided for users, thus compromising the flexible and varied use of the space. this transformation is suitable for the proper transit of all users but does not fulfill all the main qualitative criteria taken into account. the corridor is not wide enough for parking lots, so some are reclaimed in the adjacent street. figure 6 (b). stretch 1, option 2: total sharing; plan and section (a-a’) show a more hospitable and varied street landscape. stretch 2 in option 2 (fig.7b) shows a 5 to 10 meter wide shared surface where the central area is dedicated to transit while the remaining space can be interpreted as “safe zones” and rest spaces equipped with benches and vegetation. small and/or fastigiate trees are planted as the canopies will not expand too much to the private gardens and buildings. however, a vegetal structure is provided while it is completely missing in option 1, restoring the permeable and fertile soil. even in option 2 the corridor is not wide enough for parking lots, so some are reclaimed in the adjacent street. paolinelli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 figure 7 (a). stretch 2, option 1: partial sharing; plan and section (b-b’) show the absence of vegetation and a lack of use possibilities. figure 7 (b). stretch 2, option 2: total sharing; plan and section (b-b’) show a more hospitable and varied street landscape. paolinelli/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 6. discussion and open conclusions the two options show different solutions that could help to improve the urban landscape in terms of accessibility, micro-climate, hydrology, and spatial identity, ultimately enhancing resilience, well-being and sustainability. as for the early outcomes mentioned above, we propose some general arguments. in option 1, the presence of an actual vehicle lane should not allow cars to exceed 30 km/h, due to the often changing spatial configuration that alternates between the layout of shared and separated flows. however, the streetscape itself could suggest such behavior without imposing restrictions. in fact, the succession of different levels acts as a speed bump. so we can assume that the two options present no differences in terms of vehicle speed. option 1 produces frequent changes in the landscape scenery and use that could disorientate users. the separation of flows in option 1 requires more space for transit, depriving the street of many other uses and components, including parking lots, permeable soil and vegetation. this can sometimes prevent the landscape from achieving a widespread adequate quality level. furthermore, the citizens' frequent demand for parking lots might generate opposition to such transformation, even thought it might represent an opportunity to provide them elsewhere away from the streets, for example inside buildings to be restored. option 2 provides general and better integration among all street components resulting in widespread landscape quality. since we assume that it is better to avoid a sectoral and partial approach to design in order to make the project more effective, we would recommend option 2 for via san paolo and streets that in general have similar spatial and functional features. nevertheless, as the “shared street” layout cannot be implemented throughout the whole city road network, it is useful to evaluate a hybrid solution such as option 1 to trigger a transformative process where different solutions can fit the diversity and hierarchy of the streets in the urban landscapes. in conclusion, it is worth analyzing the shared street layout in more depth to better understand its potential to enhance urban landscapes, promoting the integration of different uses and components of road networks, encouraging people to come “back to the street”. in fact, as this design investigation shows, the shared street could provide much more space for non-transit activities and generate places for developing proximity relationships among citizens, and this is mostly the case in narrow streets. to move towards a more sustainable urban environment it is necessary to overturn the current paradigm where motorized transit influences and often undermines people's freedom of movement. to enhance sustainable mobility streets should be more attractive and pleasant, and vegetation plays an important role in this strategy. as the aforementioned results show, the shared street layout often permits a wider vegetal system within the streets, even where there is a lack of space in the ordinary layout. plants along the road network is notably important for the connectivity and ecological efficacy of the urban vegetal system, which can positively affect not only the city's beauty, health and micro-climate conditions, but also environmental quality at larger scales. however, while for these reasons the shared street seems to be a proper transformation for some urban streets, a few critical issues must still be widely discussed, such as the real and perceived safety for visually impaired people and the need to warn of a change to the mobility rules from one place to another, to reduce users' disorientation and confusion. as the precondition for the shared street is the absence of rules and the informal self-management of people's activities, it is the landscape, as conceived by designers, that should address this critical issue, conveying a sense of place where people are encouraged to behave respectfully and safely and share their public space without conflicts. references alberti, f. 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(2015). accessibility of shared space for visually impaired persons: a comparative field study. british journal of visual impairment, 33(2), 96-110. https://doi.org/10.1177/0264619615575793 https://doi.org/10.1080/18626033.2019.1623551 https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2012.739549 https://doi.org/10.1068%2fa44595 https://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2014.893038 http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/tran.12.00047 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41289-016-0036-2 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0264619615575793 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received:19 july 2024 accepted: 29 september 2024, published online: 30 september 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i3.1102 a framework to enhance flexible blended architectural design education: monitoring the experience of architectural design studios at delta university for science and technology, egypt abeer makram¹, yasmin moanis² ¹associate professor, department of architecture, faculty of engineering, delta university for science and technology, egypt ²assistant professor, department of architecture, faculty of engineering, delta university for science and technology, egypt abstract in the last few years, there have been lots of worldwide challenges such as pandemics and wars which have posed a series of encounters in architectural education for both teachers and students. this, in turn, has raised a question on the resilience of the architecture education process and its ability to adapt to the post-digital period and the future of architectural education in general. architecture and design environments mainly require face-to-face learning techniques that depend on the interaction between the students and their teacher in both application and practical education. studio-designed spaces provide solidarity, positive energy, and motivation for students. therefore, activating the distance learning process affects the architectural education strategy and directs institutions and teachers to the necessity of flexibility and adaptation as an integral part of architectural education curricula. this study employs a deductive methodology focusing on the importance of flexible architectural education through the overlap between the traditional studio and the virtual studio. it aims to achieve a positive experience for students and staff members in an attempt to evaluate the role of blended learning experiences in incorporating architectural design programs that were first applied after the last pandemic. this is done by observing a design studio procedure during a blended learning period. in addition, a questionnaire is conducted on several students and faculty members regarding the subject of architectural design at one of the egyptian universities. it focuses on the significance of the integration of distance learning for flexible handling of architectural design education concerning the era of pandemics, the digital age, and the like. the research contributes to developing a future framework that enhances the flexibility of architectural design education, supports self-learning, and turns the architectural design studio into a dynamic studio that provides an opportunity for reproduction and renewal. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords architecture design education; flexibility; blended learning, traditional design studios, virtual design studio 1. introduction in the early seventies, a philosopher named donaldson introduced the idea of losing the steady state and called for the establishment of adaptive systems to ease the understanding of the situation. nowadays, digital technologies, wars, and pandemic crises cause other effects regarding the loss of the steady state (salama, a. 2006). therefore, http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i3.1102&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ makram/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 architectural education, especially architectural design, is going through an unprecedented situation through a transitional emergency model that requires more adaptation to deal with it (salama, a. 2006). besides, during the last pandemic, covid-19, and after the lockdown of most of the educational institutes and avoiding face-to-face education for health issues, the idea of blended learning, a mix of conventional face-to-face instruction with online educational tools and resources, came as a solution to pass that phase safely (zhang, c., wen, m., tong, k., chen, z., wen, q., yang, t., & liu, q. (2022). most of the educational institutes had to lock down permanently or temporarily. although some institutions have adapted and continued, others are still facing problems using distance learning as a new concept of interaction between students and teachers in all grades (alnusairat, s., al maani, d. and al-jokhadar, a. 2021). this led to a growing sense of chaos in the educational systems and severely hindered progress all over the world. therefore, educational institutions had to adopt a rapid redesign of the teaching and learning systems that would enable them to get rid of the fear of epidemics, adapt to them, and prepare to deal with any similar possibilities (pokhrel, s., & chhetri, r. (2021). a complete or partial lockdown was imposed on the different universities, which had a great impact on education in general and architecture in particular. generally, architects depend on practical education. therefore, peer work, competing, transferring, and sharing ideas are essential. hence, design studios depend mainly on face-toface education to help form ideas, transfer experiences, and develop creativity among students of architecture (nik lukman nik ibrahim, nangkula utaberta, 2012). blended learning, a mix of both face-to-face and online education, was then introduced as an effective tool for a successful strategy in architecture education (megahed, n. and hassan, a. (2022). the suggested blended learning educational model integrates the assistance of both in-person and online learning settings for a more resilient, interactive, and customized learning experience. in the context of architecture education, blended learning provides special benefits such as access to a wide range of materials, the capacity to interact with complicated design tools, and the encouragement of collaborative projects among students (singh, j., steele, k., & singh, l. (2021). by hosting blended learning that depends mainly on digital technologies, the students would be able to better visualize and modify their work during the educational process which includes the concept, visual simulation and example analysis, decision-making process, and receiving staff feedback on their design (valverde-berrocoso, j., fernández-sánchez, m.r. (2020). furthermore, blended learning encourages the development of key skills such as digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving, all of which are required for modern architects (wei, zhaoxi. (2023). in the present study, the authors try to assess blended learning as an advanced teaching tool to fill the gap between face-to-face and online learning at delta university for science and technology (du). one of the egyptian universities that offers a credit hour system to the architecture major in engineering. the study focuses on monitoring the sudden isolation of students from tutors in architecture design studios and the procedure that is taken to create a new intermediate educational system. this system is offered with the help of the college portal and other tools offered to the educators by the college, such as the virtual portal, which was improved over time to include organized and timed zoom meetings to provide more lectures and design meetings. teaching students in virtual online studios paved the way for developing architectural design studios. therefore, more academic communities attempted to rethink the challenges that can face online virtual studios (duong huu tong, bui phuong uyen, lu kim ngan, 2022). the challenges of blended learning were not just centered on the students but also on the tutors at du. the entire academic community; especially in the architecture department, was forced to face these challenges despite the experience or tools needed to deal with the students online, such as digital literacy, high-speed internet, and advanced computers or tablets, which facilitate assignment assessment by the tutors ( rasheed, rasheed & kamsin, amirrudin & abdullah, nor. (2019) during the pandemic, the shift to blended learning created an opportunity for architectural schools to reimagine the learning experience where any medium could be used to deliver effective instruction. thus, devising new ways and technologies was highly required along with the possibility of changing educators who were unable to adapt to these new challenges (komarzyńska-świeściak, e., adams, b., & thomas, l. (2021). this research introduces the experience of changing design studios from face-to-face to virtual online design studios in the architecture department at du. in addition, it discusses the evaluation and the outcomes of the experience makram/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 introduced during the academic year 2020-2021 for the 4th-grade architecture students (7th and 8th semester), including two design courses in a row for the same educational group in terms of culture center for one module and a mixed-use building for the other module. it highlights the pros and cons of blended learning and how to develop resilient design studios to meet any upcoming changes. 2. methodology this paper depends on a mixed-methods approach. it uses quantitative data collected through a questionnaire and qualitative data gathered from design studios' observations during the academic year for architecture design studio sessions. the aim of such data is to monitor the effectiveness of blended learning during design studios and to recognize the different challenges and benefits from the point of view of both students and tutors. the study sample is mainly selected from architecture students of the 7th and 8th semesters in addition to some of the faculty members at du who used blended learning during the pandemic in their architecture design studio courses. the sample includes approximately 60-88 students and 25-35 faculty to provide a balanced view of both experience and practice. the research limitations are mainly related to the study at delta university for science and technology where the results refer to the steps taken through the pandemic. nonetheless, the framework produced could be generalized to other architecture programs. 3. architecture design studios (face-to-face) studio-based learning in architectural engineering colleges introduces the students to an environment where they can innovate and develop productive ideas through meeting different peers from different backgrounds and cultures. it enhances and enriches the designing process, starting with the initial idea through design decisions and finally to a new project (little, p. and cardenas, m. (2001). self-awareness and confidence are two qualities that architecture students cultivate to produce architects who can meet the needs of society. architecture students' design studios are based on some aims and objectives introduced independently through the program of each faculty. all of these programs take up the same design process that indicates stages beginning with brainstorming, research, and idea development to reach the final product with an appropriate scale and well-defined aesthetic criteria (gilbert herbert, 1966). in this respect, architectural education studios fulfil three specific duties; teaching and practicing some skills such as drawing and performance, teaching the language of the panel and the ability to express, and teaching architectural thinking to solve problems (saghafi, m.r., mozaffar, f., moosavi, s., & fathi, n. (2015). table 1 offers an overview of the steps needed to design a development plan as follows: table 1: the six steps of the design development plan criteria definition source 1-studio environment physical space resources the studio offered by the institute is designed as a workspace where students can work either in private or in a team. additionally, the open layout of the studio offers a collaborative and interactive area with access to computers, the internet, libraries, and model-making workshops that facilitate the handson nature of studio work. hettithanthri, upeksha & hansen, preben & munasinghe, harsha. (2022). 2project briefing introduction research & analysis the instructor presents the project in a brief outline to ease the process of research. it includes design challenges, objectives, constraints, and requirements. then, the student goes for the initial research to answer most of the given design questions. hettithanthri, upeksha & hansen, preben & munasinghe, harsha. (2022). (park, sohyun. (2020 3concept development idea generation it includes the brainstorming phases, developing initial design concepts through sketches, diagrams, and study models, and refining the concept in its early stage, and that phase encourages creativity and exploration. hettithanthri, upeksha, et al,2022). (park, sohyun. (2020). 4design development. detailed design technical integration in this stage, the student moves from the conceptual stage to a detailed design proposal, producing more detailed drawings and prototypes, and gradually integrating the technical aspects such as materials, environmental sustainability, and structural system. hettithanthri, upeksha & hansen, preben & munasinghe, harsha. (2022). (park, sohyun, (2020). 5critiques and reviews staff comments group discussion students exchange their knowledge through public discussions during prefinal presentations. additionally, staff members offer one-to-one discussion feedback and guidance to help students overcome specific design challenges. hettithanthri, upeksha & hansen, preben & munasinghe, harsha. (2022). (park, sohyun, (2020). makram/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 6final presentation jury review the final electronic or freehand presentation material collected throughout the design class and after refinement and correction includes final drawings, renderings, models, and a cohesive narrative outlining the design process and solutions. hettithanthri, upeksha & hansen, preben & munasinghe, harsha. (2022). (park, sohyun, (2020). face-to-face design studios are considered a difficult, engaging, and interactive process that involves the practical participation of the students during the design studio. students develop both technical and creative problem-solving abilities via hands-on work, regular feedback, and collaborative learning, which prepares them for the complexities of professional architectural practice (adiloglu, f, 2011). chicago architecture center (cac) defines six steps of the architecture design process (figure 2): defining the problem, collecting information, brainstorming and analyzing ideas, developing solutions, gathering feedback, and improving (center (cac), 2019). the learning pyramid shown in figure (2) demonstrates the effectiveness of different teaching methods that require students to participate actively in the learning process. it is divided into two groups: passive learning (the first four layers) and active learning (the last three layers) (tabrizi, sirous & rideout, glenn. (2017). bloom's classification (table 2) depicts the level of quality that is achieved in the different stages in the architectural design studio (tayfun yildirim, arzu ozen yavuz, nazan kirci, 2012). moreover, figure (3) links the learning pyramid to the architectural design process through bloom's classification. figure 1: the 6 steps of the design process according to the chicago architecture center (source: https://discoverdesign.org/handbook, adapted by the researcher) figure 2: the theoretical basis of the assessment framework (a) five learning dimensions; (b) learning pyramid (liu, 2021) makram/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 4. flexibility and adaptability of architectural design studios multiple discussions have emerged on the challenges of architectural education after the last crises including pandemics and other unstable conditions (mohamed mahmoud saleh, morad abdelkader, samir sadek hosny,2023). one of the challenges is the role of teachers and institutions to provide flexibility to adapt the blended learning idea as part of the structure of the architectural education curricula. moreover, another challenge is the emergence of information and communication technology (ict) and the necessity of integrating it into architectural education. this helps to provide a variety of knowledge to the learning process. technology is widely used in the field of architecture and is used in all design and manufacturing processes. therefore, digital computer technology has a great impact on architectural education as it is used to create fundamentally new educational experiences and programs. in response to the post-pandemic period, a reconsideration of architectural education using default settings is adopted. the use of information and communication technology in architectural education offers new teaching practices in architectural design studios and improves student performance. table 3: a comparison between face-to-face and virtual design studio application face-to-face architectural education online learning source techniques working with their own hands: essential to architecture education, allowing students to work on tangible models, drawings, and collaborative projects and ensure that the student fully understands the application of the design project. self and group criticism: conscious comments from instructors and peers during design critiques and juries. workshops and laboratories: provide access to specialist equipment and resources for model-making, manufacturing, and other hands-on activities. digital design tools: design assignments mostly is carried out using cad software, bim tools, and virtual modeling platforms to ease the process of handling and sending. self and group criticism: virtual studio sessions, presentations, and critiques may be conducted online using systems such as zoom, miro, and advanced tools to help the process. interactive tutorials and simulations: use video lessons, virtual reality, and augmented reality to create interactive learning experiences and virtual walkthroughs. mebert, l., barnes, r., dalley, j., gawarecki, l., ghazi-nezami, f., shafer, g., … yezbick, e. (2020). salama, ashraf & crosbie, michael. (2020). table 2: bloom taxonomy in architecture design studio (source: nik ibrahim, nik lukman & utaberta, nangkula. 2012) figure 3: linking the learning pyramid to the architectural design process via bloom's classification (liu, 2021) makram/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 methods lecture-based learning: traditional classroom lectures covering architectural theory and history. studio culture: a collaborative learning setting in which students work alongside one another, encouraging peer learning and mentoring. field outings and site visits: visits to architectural sites and projects for experiential learning. recorded and artificial connection: prerecorded lectures and materials are available at any time, enabling self-paced learning. synchronic sessions: participate in live online classes and discussions with professors and peers in real-time. digital collaboration tools: use systems such as google drive, slack, and trello for collaborative work and communication. le, kien. 2022. mebert, l., barnes, r., dalley, j., gawarecki, l., ghazi-nezami, f., shafer, g., … yezbick, e. (2020).). salama, ashraf & crosbie, michael. (2020).. timeconsuming lecture in campus time: the time spent getting to and from campus and between classes. classes timetable: classes and studio sessions follow a set timetable, which may affect flexibility. extended studio hours: working long hours in the studio, especially around project deadlines, can be helpful for students who need extra care to ensure a better understanding of the information. flexibility: reduced traveling time and more flexible scheduling help students to better manage their time. time management: self-discipline and time management skills are required to keep up with asynchronous content and deadlines. potential for increased efficiency: streamlined procedures and digital technologies can speed up some operations, such as exchanging digital models and getting feedback. le, kien. 2022. mebert, l., barnes, r., dalley, j., gawarecki, l., ghazi-nezami, f., shafer, g., … yezbick, e. (2020). salama, ashraf & crosbie, michael. (2020). developing teaching methods in architectural design studios to adapt the new online method helps to reformulate the way architects learn by integrating face-to-face learning with online learning. this, in turn, helps to modernize the concept of design studio and transform it into new participatory learning by integrating technical methods and applying digital tools to carry out the process of blended learning (ashraf m. soliman, 2017). thus, a common ground space for education is created so that students and teachers can work and communicate with everyone regardless of their place and time ( masdéu, marta & fuses, josep. (2017) the combination of traditional methods and digital technologies enables the students to acquire new professional skills and master digital technologies to manage the dissemination of architectural knowledge, improve their ability to learn, and enhance the acquisition of educational experiences by encouraging them to develop new interests and relationships outside the studio and the academic environment. the use of information and communication technology provides tools and scenarios that are distinguished, mobile, and connected to the network (masdéu, marta & fuses, josep. (2017). 5. design studio in architecture design courses (a monitored class) courses in design are compared to other architecture courses which carry the highest average number of contact hours per week. other subjects such as construction technology, architectural history and theory, environmental physics, design communication, and others have to support design studio learning each semester. in general, design studios continuously provide students with the knowledge and expertise necessary in order to fulfill the aims and objectives of the course specification introduced through the architecture program offered by each educational system (yıldırım, selda. (2012). architectural design education aims at improving creativity and differs from other educational systems. it is based on providing an environment in which information is transferred directly from the teacher to the student and new solutions are found. the main feature of an architectural design studio is the interaction between students and teachers (yıldırım, selda. (2012). developing the students' imagination in design and allowing them to innovate and conduct architectural design that has a smooth dialogue and balance between function and aesthetic thinking is the desired product for the interaction in the design studio. design studios teaches architectural students how to work in both intuitive and practical situations. students in design studios use a variety of communication strategies and approaches to exhibit their architectural ideas and creativity, including drawings, physical models (figure 4), computer models, photography, video clips, and more. makram/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 the targeted university's architecture curriculum contains a core section for architectural design courses represented by six core modules in a row. the modules are designed to prepare the student with the needed principles, practical application, and theoretical knowledge required to move on with the design process’s courses aimed to enhance creativity, and critical thinking, and consider the inference of the environmental discipline. the first modules introduce students to the basic principles of architectural design, spatial organization, and visual communication and range from small residential units to designing units in clusters. the second module introduces the design of public and civic buildings, with an emphasis on creating spaces that enhance community well-being. the third module mainly investigates the environmental and sustainable design concepts in bigger and more complicated public buildings. the fifth module introduces the complexity of building projects, like high-rise buildings and mixed-use buildings. the last module mainly works on the design and planning scale concerning professional architecture practice, where the student should respect project management, culture, and client relations and needs. the targeted design modules were the fifth and sixth modules, where students were orientated toward a mixed-use building and a culture center in the context of the new mansoura city. contact hours of design studios usually range from four to six hours per week. a design studio consists of at least 6 contact hours per week; one hour for theoretical data illustration and lectures, and the remaining five hours for discussion and assessment of the students’ work. it is mainly dedicated to improving the design ideas of the students, especially for those who have design problems or are delayed in their ideas for the project (hettithanthri, upeksha & hansen, preben & munasinghe, harsha. (2022). at delta university for science and technology, egypt, many design courses usually follow the basic design stages and project development stated in the course specification, starting with the research and problem finding, discussing research outcomes, extracting design decisions from the previous studies, and research as a first step. the second step, which takes a longer time, is to develop the design decisions made to meet the complexity of functions in any proposed project (center (cac), 2019). the third step is to extract the 3d dimensions of the project to be closely examined and ensure that they meet the function and needs of the building to be designed. furthermore, for the architectural department at delta university for science and technology, virtual studios face some obstacles within the three phases. this encourages the course coordinators to overcome the problem of interaction by making many assignments and increasing the hours of virtual contact with the students by way of dividing them equally among the three phases with each coordinator. further effort is exerted to update the tools of the coordinators to narrow the gap between old computers and laptops with no actual interaction and the more advanced and high-tech tools for better and faster interaction. 5.1 managing blended architectural studios many architecture academic professors believe that architecture design studios cannot be activated online via virtual studios as they should be interactive and fruitful (ceylan, salih & sahin, pınar & seçmen, serengül & somer, melek & süher, kemal. (2020). while trying to boost creativity through online meetings and assignments, blended architecture studios proved to be possible. however, much effort is required to complete the process. the following plan (figure 5) is extracted as new practices that use information and communication technology are developed. the architecture department is used as a case study to enhance and develop the idea of blended learning. figure 4: part of the interactive teamwork inside the design studio for a residential house (source: architecture class 2020/2021) makram/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 it helps and boosts the educational system, especially those courses that need direct interaction, such as architectural design, building construction, and execution drawing courses. it depicts the following steps: first, all the academic lectures and educational material should be uploaded weekly for the students with the required assignments attached and explain how to handle the feedback through the dulms platform. second, schedule a zoom meeting for students to discuss their work in teams or individually after dividing them into groups by the staff members. third, give a graded weekly assignment on a due date similar to the ones they used to have during the actual meeting in the architectural studio. fourth, after they can access the assignment, students can download the assignment and start working on it either manually or freehand, especially at the early stages of the design studio, and then upload their work online on the link of the assignment. fifth, the academic staff starts to download the assignments of the students individually and review them with both manual and written feedback for students (table 4). extra time could be given to students who need help to boost their work. throughout the whole process, dulms, which acts as the web portal, is the main communication tool in the design studio. design studios are mostly known for adapting the idea of a final jury to help all students get comments from their peers and tutors to improve and enhance the design idea of the whole project, which is disabled by moving to online learning and virtual design juries (salem, w. (2016). the architecture department introduced the smart projector with an interactive face, which helped the tutors get more information and interactions with their students through virtual meetings and virtual juries. figure (5) the plan developed by the department to engage face-to-face and online learning altogether (source: the auother) makram/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 5.2 design studios results and participation • survey on students’ perception of blended learning design studios after the challenging conditions posed by the pandemic experienced in the past few years, online learning was brought to the surface. educators and students face the challenge of adapting to the online learning technique to complete the academic semester effectively (gritsova, o.a., & tissen, e.v. (2021). students have to face many challenges, especially in handling their work online through dulms. in addition to upgrading computers and laptops to cope with the digital system software autocad or 3d max, students face other challenges such as poor connection, printers, drawing papers and study model materials, and many other obstacles while receiving and sending their assignments. therefore, an investigating and monitoring survey is conducted after the end of the online design courses to evaluate the real impression of online learning, stand on the problems that the students face, and overcome future problems while enhancing the system of learning. the survey is mainly conducted on architectural design students with varied levels of gpa to examine their opinions and experience of online learning for design studios throughout the term. it includes the second-, third-, and fourthyear students of architectural design studios. moreover, the survey is designed on the google forms platform as a free online survey tool. the survey mainly consists of thirty-three questions attached to an introduction about the students' gpa, level, age group, and the current design studio they enrolled in. it is made up of two essay questions and thirty mcq questions. most of the questions are designed to measure the satisfaction of the student while using the online portal; how they table 4. the virtual design studios -fifth phasedownload the assignment -editingprivate comments (source: the researchers) figure 6: the difference between virtual and face-to-face jury (source: the auother) makram/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 manage to submit their digital work online and how they evaluate all aspects of the design process. an additional question is added to get the students' feedback on how to improve online architectural studios. the survey received 88 responses, 31 female and 57 male, with a gpa ranging from 1.5 to 3.7. it targeted mostly students from levels 3 and 4 who are enrolled in architectural design 4 and 5. • results of the survey (students) according to the survey, 52.6% of the students believe that technology has aided the online learning process, while 26.3% have a contrary viewpoint. in addition, 63% think that it is easy to deal with the online dulms portal of the college while 36.8% think it was not that easy. where assignments are uploaded by staff members, 39.5% of the students find it easy to understand while 13.2% find it difficult and require more illustration (table 4). as concerning the direct contact between the student and his/her staff member, which is a key component of architectural design studios, 44.7% of the students agree that they could communicate and make discussions directly through zoom and other online meetings, while 23.7% disagree that they could contact their staff members as freely as direct contact in design studios. most of the students with a percentage greater than 63.2% attend the online lectures on time, while the rest prefer recorded lectures, which allows them to concentrate more while studying (table 4). most of the students, 63.2%, did not find any problem dealing with the university portal whereas 36.8% found it useless. in addition, 44.7% of the students find that, in distance learning, dealing with teamwork during studio is an easy task whereas 42.1% think differently. in short, the students rated the whole online experience by an average of 7 out of 10 (table 5). the results of the previously mentioned survey are assessed independently according to the sequence of the questions and with respect to the student’s opinion throughout the whole process. all are linked and related to the student level inside the real and the virtual studio. the results and answers mainly show that students at the lower level are very excited about continuing the rest of the architectural design studios online using technological means (laptops, projectors, presentations, etc.) table 5: the student’s questioner results about the direct contact between them and using technology source: the researchers makram/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 • faculty and department questionnaire results another questionnaire is conducted to examine the perspectives of the academic staff regarding the experience of blended learning and its outcomes, particularly on design studios and practical courses. it aims to provide a comprehensive picture and to better serve the community and the department. the findings are used to assess online and distance learning in the department and faculty services unit and identify the areas of improvement. the questionnaire is available in an online form to facilitate the transfer of data. it consists of 17 questions involving the academic experience of the staff during the period of the covid-19 pandemic. the survey collected 32 responses, 72.2% from assistant professors, 18.2% from associate professors, and 9.1% from associate professors. 72.7% are female and 27.3% are male academic staff members. 36.4% of the courses studied during covid-19 are graduation courses and design (4) (third level), compared to 18.2% for design (3) (second level) and design (1) and 9.1% (level 1). most of the respondents (figure 7) have taught design several times before. a percentage of 90.9% and 9.1% of the academic staff members have no experience in design studios before that year. by asking about the ability of distance learning to "help students at different levels," most of the answers are negative, with a percent of 45.5 to 36.4 positive answers. additionally, 18.2% strongly agree that it can help the students and give good results in design studios. finally, 54.6% agree that distance learning can help students in different learning aspects whereas 45.5% disagree. one of the most common problems introduced by the questionnaire is that most of the time it is difficult to connect online. most of the academic staff members stated that the number of students in online classes is way less than in the real design studio. moreover, it is stated that the most important tool in distance learning is smart boards and the high technology applied to computers inside the campus, followed by the importance of a high-speed internet connection accompanied by professional teaching staff. most of the academic staff members agree that the online content for the course is available and clear to be evaluated using dulms or any other virtual meeting class with a percentage of 63.6 to 27.3. additionally, the process of online evaluation is clearer and easier. furthermore, they stated that the online design studio takes much more time than the real design studio as they have to work with each student individually. table 6: the student’s questioner results about the direct contact between them and the staff members source: the researchers figure 7: part of the academic staff questionnaire results source: the researchers makram/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 most of the recommendations stated by the academic staff members do not support full-time distance learning and encourage the process of blending both online and face-to-face studios. some important notes are mentioned as follows: design courses should be developed to cope with the online interactive studio timetables for both students and teachers and to be more flexible to adapt to the e-learning timing studios as it takes more time to aid in the process. students should enroll in basic computer skills programs. blended learning makes education more accessible. distance learning is not an efficient learning method. it is preferable to communicate with students face-to-face throughout the process where tools to assist students in learning could be much better. online learning is great for helping students who would not otherwise have access to university courses. 6. results the whole experience of transforming online architecture design studios into virtual studios is an evolution in the educational systems. dealing with the pandemic or other crises that involve blended learning through this development presents real opportunities and challenges. the study indicates that most students are connected to the use of online technological tools and are open to the experiment as they are accustomed to interacting with social media platforms and online meetings on both the social and educational levels. they view the studio as a platform that they can handle more effectively. additionally, most of the recommendations stated by the academic staff members do not support full-time distance learning and encourage the process of blending both online and face-toface studios. the research contributes to developing a framework (figure 8) that links the architectural design process and the learning pyramid through two groups: passive learning and active learning. it demonstrates the effectiveness of different teaching methods that require students to actively participate in the learning process through bloom's taxonomy in the architectural design studio, which takes into account the level of quality achieved at different stages. based on the previous results, the research introduces a framework that enhances flexible blended learning in architecture studios as follows (figure 8). the integration of face-to-face design studios and remote learning contributes to the creation of a more flexible, inclusive, and successful learning environment for architectural design students. it makes architectural education more accessible to a broader spectrum of students, such as part-time students, international students, and those with physical disabilities. students can better organize their time by reviewing previously recorded lectures or feedback sessions. in addition, technology can be optimized by combining manual and digital processes, both of which are crucial in modern architectural education. on the one hand, combining association and teamwork gives the students an opportunity to be more prepared for the globalized nature of the architectural profession, which frequently demands distant interaction with overseas teams. besides, the feedback mechanism is improved to provide the students with a range of feedback techniques and quick replies to respond to the comments of their touters online. on the other hand, blended learning helps to maintain sustainability within the learning environment allowing a reduction of the physical resources. makram/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 7. conclusion by combining face-to-face design studios with distant learning via visual technologies, architectural education becomes more adaptable, accessible, and in line with the current practice. students benefit from in-person engagement and hands-on learning while simultaneously gaining important digital skills and cooperating in a globalized setting. this hybrid method improves learning results and flexibility in professional architecture situations. the study concluded that the characteristics and nature of the design studio should govern the entire process of architectural design courses. furthermore, this process should be integrated and equipped with online and virtual studios that are in line with the digital age to promote more blended learning and provide more flexible teaching methods for students in the architectural design studio. this integration facilitates the continuity of education in times of isolation and disasters and promotes self-learning and time management. additionally, it simplifies the process of evaluation and criticism of student projects at some stages of the design process which has a significant impact on developing the future path of architectural education toward more interactive and dynamic architectural design studios. the research contributes to developing a framework (figure 9) that promotes blended learning for the architectural design process to provide more flexible teaching methods for students in the architectural design studio. it combines the traditional studio that provides a stimulating work environment, achieves solidarity, and gives positive energy to students with the virtual studio that promotes self-learning, brainstorming, and skills. this can be achieved through meetings with diverse practices of specialists, professionals, and faculty members to enhance their experiences and educational capabilities. thus, it helps students to be more creative and productive. in addition, it saves students time and costs in the development, presentation, and evaluation stages, helps expand the design studio with digital technology, and creates a fun interactive learning environment through social, physical, and virtual environments. this study opens the way for many studies to enhance flexibility in teaching through architectural design studios. it figure 8: framework that enhances the flexible blended learning in architecture studios as follows offered by the researchers source: the researchers makram/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 attempts to achieve several future goals that focus on mastering digital technologies to manage the dissemination of architectural knowledge and improve the quality of architectural design education. acknowledgment not applicable. funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references: adiloglu, fatos. 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(2022). institutional adoption and implementation of blended learning in the era of intelligent education. appl. sci. 12, 8846. https://doi.org/10.1177/2347631120983481 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 12 december 2023, accepted: 21 march 2023, published online: 31 march 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i1.1066 a critical analysis of institutional and regulatory framework for building stock energy efficiency and transition in pakistan nida batool sheikh1, jelle laverge2, marc delghust3 1phd scholar, faculty of engineering & architecture universiteit gent, belgium 2associate professor, faculty of engineering & architecture universiteit gent, belgium 3post doctoral research fellow, faculty of engineering & architecture universiteit gent, belgium abstract climate change has emerged as a global focal point, notably affecting vulnerable countries like pakistan. the country faces heightened risk, prompting concern among many due to its susceptibility to climate-related hazards. an imperative challenge arising from this phenomenon is the necessary shift towards sustainable energy, particularly concerning energy consumption within the building sector. buildings significantly contribute to daily energy usage and subsequent ghg emissions. in pakistan, transitioning to energy-efficient building stock holds pivotal importance in mitigating climate change impacts. this hinges on establishing a robust institutional framework and regulatory structure centered around energy efficiency. while pakistan possesses policies and national guidelines advocating for energy-efficient buildings, their practical enforcement and application remain inadequate. the inception of the building energy code of pakistan in 1990, based on ashrae 90.1 standards, marked a step forward. however, obstacles rooted in institutional weakness and limited capacity building have impeded its effective adoption and adherence. although the energy provisions of 2011 introduced modifications, their scope remained confined mainly to commercial structures. this paper conducts an extensive assessment of pakistan's existing institutional and regulatory framework for building energy efficiency and transition. drawing on literature insights and stakeholder perspectives, an in-depth understanding of prevailing policies and institutions uncovers underlying reasons for noncompliance and limited implementation. additionally, input was gathered from stakeholders through interviews, aiming to identify barriers obstructing the reinforcement of building energy efficiency measures in pakistan. discourse and narrative analysis, informed by literature and stakeholder interviews, revealed the significance of awareness, participation, coordination, capacity building, technical expertise, finance, and resources as key factors contributing to deficient compliance and implementation of existing codes and policy guidelines. this paper also proposes actionable recommendations to expedite the transition towards a sustainable, energy-efficient building stock in pakistan. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review is under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords energy efficiency; building stock; building code; institutional framework; regulatory framework; stakeholders perspective 1. introduction globally buildings are a significant energy consumer, accounting for about 40% of the world’s energy consumption and 33% of ghg emissions (iea, 2019; ali. et al., 2019). with an estimated 15.7 mtco2 emissions (83 kg co2 per capita) in 2017, buildings operation in pakistan accounts for about 30% of total emissions and is growing at annual http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i1.1066&domain=press.ierek.com sheikh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 growth rates of 4.7% and 2.5% in the domestic and commercial sectors, respectively (undp, 2019). in developed countries, residential buildings consume the majority of energy, whereas in developing countries, residential, commercial, and institutional buildings all consume energy (javed et al., 2016). among the many factors, hvac systems contribute significantly to the energy use of a building alongside degrading the environment (ashrae, 2001; zheng et al., 2011). this has raised concerns regarding energy efficiency among many all around the globe (pylse & kalema, 2008). new concepts and approaches for example zero energy, positive energy districts, zero carbon, and carbon neutrality have, thus, emerged to address the issue of inefficient energy use of buildings (parker, 2009; chen, 2021; seto et al., 2021; derkenbaeva et al., 2022). several other studies have also been done with respect to different regions for reducing energy consumption in buildings and making them energy efficient (brøgger & wittchen, 2018; uihlein & eder, 2010; attia et al., 2022). transitioning to energy-efficient building stock is a crucial step in lowering total energy demand, and greenhouse gas emissions as well as combating climate change. a study by the international energy agency reveals that the transition to energy-efficient buildings based on sustainable heating and cooling systems could reduce co2 emissions from buildings by 80% by 2050 as well as reduce energy consumption (iea, 2019). in order to achieve this it is important to have a stable and well-structured institutional and regulatory framework that entails sound policies and plans toward sustainable building stock. rapid urbanization in developing countries has increased energy use and co2 emissions in the building sector (iea, 2017), and these emissions have caused pakistan's average temperature to rise by 0.6 to 1 degree celsius (ministry of climate change, 2017). in pakistan, about 30% of the national electricity (adb, 2017) is attributed to buildings. between july 2017 and february 2018, the residential sector in pakistan accounted for 51% of the country's total electricity consumption. figure 1 presents a clear picture of this in this regard. figure 1: electricity consumption in pakistan (mof, 2018) to address these concerns, a strengthened institutional backbone is essential for providing the necessary policy framework, capacity-building opportunities, financing mechanisms, coordination and collaboration, and monitoring and evaluation systems to ensure that energy efficiency goals are effectively pursued and attained (afzal et al., 2021). several organizations and government bodies in pakistan develop and implement policies and programs regarding energy efficiency in buildings as part of the institutional framework for building energy efficiency in pakistan. the diversity of building types, ranging from traditional constructions to modern high-rises, poses a unique challenge in devising strategies that cater to this wide spectrum. despite notable efforts to promote energy efficiency in buildings, pakistan faces several challenges that hinder the effective implementation of energy-saving measures and sustainable building practices (young, 2018; ali, imran & ali, 2018; ali & khursheed, 2021). according to the existing literature, diverse views regarding the energy system of pakistan are found (asif, 2009; sheikh, 2010; rauf, wang, yuan, & tan, 2015). there is a whole series of papers examining the challenges which hinder the development of energy-efficient building stock in pakistan (bhutto, bazmi, & zahedi, 2011; bhutto, bazmi, & zahedi, 2012; bhutto, bazmi, & zahedi, 2012b; bhutto, bazmi, & zahedi, 2013; abbas, et al., 2014). these studies also highlight the various constraints including financial, technical, energy planning, capacity building, and governance in way of energy efficient framework. pakistan also faces significant policy mistakes which become a key barrier to sustainable development in pakistan (rafique & rehman, 2017). this study aims to analyze and assess the existing institutional framework for building energy efficiency and transition in pakistan. it will delve into the roles and responsibilities of various organizations and government bodies, examine sheikh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 the current building codes and standards, and evaluate the effectiveness of policies and programs that have been implemented. by addressing the outlined challenges and gaps, this research seeks to provide insights and recommendations that can guide the enhancement of pakistan's institutional framework for energy efficiency and promote a more sustainable and energy-efficient building stock, contributing to both national energy security and global climate goals. this paper is aimed at analyzing the existing institutional framework of building stock energy efficiency and transition in pakistan to achieve the following study objectives: − to identify the pakistani institutions and regulatory framework responsible for implementing building energy efficiency codes and policies − to evaluate the existing building energy efficiency codes and policies in promoting building energy efficiency − to identify the obstacles in adopting building codes and policies for devising ways to overcome these constraints − to examine the role of stakeholders in promoting energy efficiency in building construction in pakistan this research relies primarily on the existing literature and past studies to analyze the institutional and regulatory framework of energy efficiency in building stock in pakistan. it is based on an extensive assessment of pakistan's existing institutional and regulatory framework for building energy efficiency and transition. drawing on literature insights and stakeholder perspectives, an in-depth understanding of prevailing policies and institutions uncovers underlying reasons for non-compliance and limited implementation. additionally, input is gathered from stakeholders through interviews, aiming to identify barriers obstructing the reinforcement of building energy efficiency measures in pakistan. hence, based on discourse and narrative analysis, the key factors contributing to deficient compliance and implementation of existing codes and policy guidelines have been identified. 2. literature review: institutional and regulatory framework the following section will explain in detail the institutional and regulatory framework for buildings’ energy efficiency and transition that exists in pakistan. 2.1. institutional framework pakistan has several key institutions involved in promoting energy efficiency (undp, 2018). the pakistan engineering council (pec) is in charge of developing and implementing building codes and standards, such as the building energy code (bec). the ministry of energy (moe) formulates and implements energy policies and programs, including those about efficient buildings. the national energy & conservation authority (neeca) promotes and implements energy efficiency and conservation measures in all economic sectors, including buildings (maher et al., 2019). at the provincial level, energy departments implement energy policies and programs, while municipalities and building departments enforce energy-efficient building codes and standards at the local level. the following section will talk in detail about these current key institutions for energy efficiency and transition in the country. 2.2. pakistan engineering council (pec) pec was founded in 1976 (pec & enercon, 2011) and is primarily responsible for accrediting engineering programs, regulating the engineering profession, and registering engineers, firms, and consultants. in addition, it coordinates with the other national institutes for the establishment of scientific standards applicable to the country. one of the council's major accomplishments is the creation of the bec of pakistan, associated standards, implementation, and enforcement at various levels. moreover, pec has the authority to make modifications to these standards as and when necessary. they collaborate with various stakeholders, such as the engineering community, government bodies, and academia, to develop and implement engineering standards and practices-related policies. additionally, pec solicits public feedback on a variety of issues via its website and social media platforms. sheikh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 2.2.1. national energy efficiency and conservation authority (neeca) in 2016, enercon which was the national energy conservation centre became the national energy neeca (enercon, 2001). the authority prepares energy conservation plans and programs in major energy consumption sectors of the country. it also formulates policies alongside implementing and monitoring energy-related works which are catered by different public and private sectors. simultaneously, it also conducts training programs for knowledge exchange and implementation guidance for its policies as well as practices. the energy efficiency and conservation act of 2016 gave neeca the authority to develop and implement policies as well as programs regarding energy efficiency in various sectors as well as buildings. through inspections and audits, neeca has the authority to enforce the bec (enercon, 2001). it may also impose penalties on building owners who do not adhere to the code's energy efficiency standards and guidelines. 2.2.2. ministry of energy (moe) moe creates and executes energy policies and programs (ministry of energy, 2022), and is primarily responsible for developing and implementing policies pertinent to the production, transmission, and distribution of energy in pakistan. it also develops policies for renewable and alternative energy sources, including solar & wind as well as hydropower. the ministry also coordinated with other government agencies, including the national electric power regulatory authority (nepra), the national energy efficiency and conservation authority (neeca), and the alternative energy development board (aedb). moe also plays a positive role in spreading awareness among the public regarding energy conservation and efficiency measures. it has also, collaboratively, played a role in developing the bec and has also launched an initiative titled "pakistan energy star" to promote energy-efficient appliances and equipment. 2.2.3. punjab energy efficiency & conservation agency (peeca) the peeca is the pioneer among the provincial agencies on energy efficiency and has the role of overseeing plans and policies regarding the subject within the punjab province. established in 2016, peeca played an effective role in modifying the bec in the context of the punjab. the agency has also held various workshops in lahore, rawalpindi, and multan to ensure energy efficiency. it also focuses on building compliance ways and tools applicable within the provincial context. the punjab energy efficiency building code (peebc), as well as the punjab energy efficiency and conservation program, have been taken up for implementation by the agency to ensure energyefficient building stock (peec). it also oversees the design and construction of buildings. 2.2.4. pakistan green building council (pgbc) this is a non-profit organization that works under the world green building council umbrella to promote sustainable building design practices (sdpi, 2018). although pgbc has little to do with the formulation of policies and plans, it promotes the significance of sustainable building construction and design among the general public. the council was able to draft pakistan's first green building guidelines, namely seed, in 2016, which was published in october 2016 but not made available for public use (sustainability in energy and environmental development). seed is concerned with how buildings (of all types) and communities are planned, constructed, and maintained but targets only new construction (pgbc, 2020). in connection with this, pgbc launched a building rating system in 2016 that has gained immense popularity in the green building industry and has been successfully implemented throughout pakistan. this is known as the seed certification, and several workshops and training programs have been conducted to raise awareness. the certification evaluates the structure based on various sustainability parameters, after which points are assigned. the buildings are awarded the rating level gold, silver, platinum, and titanium based on their points which get totaled based on various design and construction parameters (liu et al., 2010). although pgbc's operations appear promising, its influence over the formulation and implementation of codes and policies is questionable and weak. 2.2.5. local authorities and departments in the bec (ep-2011), the local authorities were given the authority having jurisdiction (ahj). this assigned them the role of granting planning permission, and preparing building codes, to ensure local development and policy implementation. despite this, it has been observed that the majority of these authorities lack technical and skilled sheikh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 personnel who can comprehend existing plans and proposals. typically every metropolis in pakistan has a development authority, for example, the lahore development authority (lda) looks into the aforementioned work (lums, 2017) in lahore. although their role in planning and development at an urban scale remains satisfactory, there is a significant gap in performing energy efficiency and conservation tasks. 2.3. regulatory framework the regulatory framework, on the other hand, consists of energy efficiency codes, policies, and provisions developed in pakistan to promote energy conservation and efficiency. a review of these initiatives reveals that significant efforts have been made to improve energy efficiency, although the implementation of these policies and provisions remains difficult. the following sections will provide a detailed insight into the different building energy codes and policies. 2.3.1. building energy code of pakistan (becp) the national energy conservation centre, also known as enercon, in 1990 was the pioneer in developing pakistan’s building energy code. its most recent version came out in 2018. this is a revised version of the ashrae 90.1 standard and entails minimum performance standards for buildings in terms of energy efficiency (ashrae, 2013). the bec only covers commercial structures and does not take into account the residential requirements as laid out in ashrae standard 90.2. climate is another important parameter kept in consideration. 2.3.2. the 2011 energy provisions the year 2011 saw a new development as the bec of pakistan received a modification in terms of the energy provisions (peeca, 2020). because the pec (pakistan engineering council) is responsible for reviewing as well as approving building regulations, it approved these energy provisions in 2011 which was published in 2013 within the building energy code pakistan (enercon, 1990). these new provisions provided a framework for architects, engineers, and contractors to improve energy efficiency in building stock in pakistan. it is also a guided resource for building owners and managers seeking to implement energy-efficient techniques and minimize energy usage in their structures. it is an essential policy instrument for promoting sustainable building practices and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in pakistan's building sector. the primary objective of these regulations is to establish minimum criteria for the design and construction of energy-efficient buildings. these provisions are based on the ashrae 90.1 standard from 2004, whereas the building envelope part is designed with consideration for local environmental circumstances and the energy codes of other regional nations. figure 2 below summarizes the institutional hierarchy and associated policies & plans in pakistan. figure 2 institutional hierarchy and associated policies and plans sheikh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 3. stakeholders’ perspective stakeholders’ perspective plays a significant role in identifying the roles, needs, and expectations of different organizational players for enhancing energy efficiency in buildings and for their better management. interviews with stakeholders from moe, neeca, peeca, pec, and lda held as part of this research, gave insight into the current situation regarding building stock energy efficiency, and helped identify the missing gaps and prospects for future planning. the officials from these authorities were asked to participate in a semi-structured interview, either physically in person, or virtual over the phone or online (teams/zoom/skype), with a duration of about 20 30 minutes. the responses gathered from the stakeholders of different organizations have been briefly summarized in table 1 below. table 1 stakeholders' interview response sr. no. name of organization type of organization response 1 ministry of energy (moe) national ▪ works closely with neeca to promote energy efficiency and conservation in different sectors including buildings ▪ adhere to becp, and ecbc, and provide financial incentives for energy-efficient buildings ▪ performs costs & benefits analysis for energy-efficient measure ▪ evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of different energyefficient solutions ▪ holds a multi-pronged approach to address the economic, technical, institutional, and behavioral barriers to energy efficiency in buildings ▪ involved in raising awareness and capacity building, providing financial incentives, promoting technology development and adoption, and improving the regulatory framework 2 national energy efficiency & conservation authority (neeca) national ▪ follows primarily becp and takes guidance also from international standards ▪ the present code and provisions mostly meet the requirements of new commercial buildings. the residential and retrofitting of the old stock – “we still are behind the track”. ▪ as per the law the codes/provisions need to be revised every 3 to 5 years, but most of the time this is not possible due to a lack of data and institutional barriers ▪ at all institutional levels compliance with the code and policies must be strictly followed but unfortunately, due to political and several vested interests, this is been overlooked ▪ knowledge regarding energy-efficient building stock is lacking among the individuals. ▪ over the past we have seen serious energy crises and buildings have been a key contributor to that. if awareness is not being raised, it is feared that the country might end up seeing another major crisis 3 punjab energy efficiency & conservation agency (peeca) provincial ▪ becp forms the foundation of peeca ▪ ensures that all new buildings meet the minimum standard requirements ▪ works in close coordination with neeca and punjab’s other departments, but capacity building is an issue ▪ every province has a different climate, but for punjab, it is quite challenging as summer is harsh and so is the winter. so planning is a tricky ▪ spread of awareness among different companies and individuals through workshops and trainings sheikh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 ▪ installation of solar panels is, although going high in lahore, but still it is important to curtail energy consumption ▪ peec provides standardization and labelling of electrical appliances for adopting minimum energy performance standards ▪ work is also going on establishing an “air conditioning unit testing lab”, to reduce the energy deficit nationally ▪ the newly launched “powerscourt mobile app” is another way to cope with the issue of high energy use 4 pakistan engineering council (pec) national ▪ formulated the becp and monitored it as well as the associated policies ▪ however, a lack of the right skills causes delay in assessment ▪ energy efficiency cannot be achieved without considering all types of buildings, but unfortunately, it is that residential and old buildings still lack the right standards ▪ works in close connection with other consultants, operators, and companies to ensure their work, but the right expertise and tools in energy-efficient building stock is a drawback 5 lahore development authority (lda) local ▪ ensures that all new building plans are approved and passed after going through a thorough assessment that involves the minimum requirements of the energy efficiency standards ▪ for old buildings not much can be done except to raise awareness to bring a change in lifestyle and willingness to adopt energyefficient measures ▪ due to the vested interests of the people and political influence, the issue of approval without the assessment is being faced ▪ building construction in lahore is quite unsustainable and the element of energy-efficient design is missing. this can be followed for new construction but challenging for the existing ones ▪ place-specific plans and policies are missing, the formulation of which will the implementation of sustainable design easy 4. discussion and findings the discourse & narrative assessment based on the literature and stakeholder interviews identified several obstacles toward energy-efficient building stock in pakistan. 5. barriers the building stock in pakistan is diverse, and while there have been efforts to promote energy efficiency in buildings, the transition also faces several challenges based on the literature findings and stakeholders' perspectives. − lack of awareness and capacity building: this is partially attributable to the lack of comprehensive training programs and certification processes for building professionals. many politicians, building owners, and construction professionals lack an understanding of the benefits of energy efficiency, as well as the technical knowledge and skills necessary to adopt energy-efficient techniques. as a result, they often do not prioritize energy efficiency in their building projects. − inadequate regulatory framework: pakistan's regulatory framework for building energy efficiency is deficient, with minimal mandated building energy efficiency criteria. in addition, there is a lack of enforcement measures to ensure compliance with current requirements. building owners and managers have little incentive to invest in energy-saving technology or adapt existing structures to increase energy efficiency. the public is generally unaware as well. − limited financing and incentives: there are not many incentives for builders and owners to engage in energy efficiency measures. typically, energy-efficient technology and construction materials are more expensive than their conventional counterparts, which might dissuade builders and developers from adopting them. without sheikh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 accessible financing and incentives, the move to an energy-efficient building stock would be sluggish and constrained. − inadequate monitoring and evaluation: there is a lack of in-depth data regarding the energy performance of buildings in pakistan, which makes it difficult to track progress and assess the impact of energy efficiency policies and programs. without effective monitoring and evaluation, it is challenging to measure the impact of energyefficient building initiatives on energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and other key indicators. − limited human resources: there is a lack of specialists skilled in planning, constructing, and renovating energyefficient buildings. this deficiency might hinder the implementation of energy-efficient building techniques and technology. in addition, building professional training programs in pakistan frequently lack information on energy-efficient construction methods and technology. − lack of coordination: various institutions may have competing aims and objectives, resulting in uncertainty and a lack of clarity over the appropriate course of action. this can result in inefficient resource allocation, including duplication of efforts, waste of resources, and delays in the implementation of energy-efficient building programs. ineffective coordination between institutions can also result in inadequate policy execution, undermining the efficacy of energy-efficient building regulations and diminishing the impact of energy-efficient building efforts. 5.1. needed steps to a working institutional and regulatory framework to solve these difficulties, a concerted effort including all relevant parties is necessary. this research focuses on strengthening the institutional capacity, enforcement of existing standards, increasing stakeholder engagement, and developing a futuristic strategy pertinent to energy efficiency and building stock in pakistan. the need to have a central institutional body is pivotal for the effective working of plans and policies. this central body must have the required resources and skillset to not only enforce the standards but also to oversee any modifications. moreover, imposing penalties and strict fines for non-compliance with the standards is also a much-needed step. however, this may require an independent regulatory body that can supervise the aspect of compliance strictly. in addition, knowledge sharing and spreading awareness among stakeholders as well as the public is of prime importance, as they must be informed well regarding energy-efficient buildings. this may take place through training programs, awareness campaigns, and several other outreach activities. also, finances must be adequately made available to involve contemporary technological practices towards sustainable construction and development. one possible way to accomplish this could be the provision of tax incentives, grants, or loans to building owners and developers to foster energy-efficient practices. nevertheless, to address the shortcomings of pakistan's institutional setup in terms of building stock energy efficiency and transition would need a determined effort from the government, the private sector, and the society. this will emphasize developing effective policies, capacity building, and participation. 6. conclusion pakistan offers enormous potential for energy savings and greenhouse gas reduction through energy-efficient building techniques and technologies, as its construction industry is a major energy user. yet, institutional and regulatory barriers have impeded the development of energy-efficient construction practices and technologies in the country. to encourage the shift to energy-efficient building stock in pakistan, a regulatory framework is necessary. there are inadequacies in the institutional legal and regulatory structure, which hinder the implementation of energy-efficient plans and regulations. the energy conservation act of 2016 and the building energy code of 2011 offer a stabilized framework for energy efficiency in buildings, however implementation and enforcement gaps exist. ineffective enforcement measures, for instance, contribute to low compliance with energy efficiency regulations. moreover, the institutional environment for energy efficiency is fragmented, with several agencies and departments responsible for various areas of energy efficiency. this fragmentation produces a lack of coordination and coherence, making it difficult to execute policies and programs that promote energy efficiency efficiently. in terms of building design and construction procedures, there are also problems on the technological front. several buildings in pakistan are constructed without regard for energy efficiency, and the design and construction sector lacks understanding and skills in this area. this ignorance frequently results in an emphasis on aesthetics rather than energy efficiency. on the technical front, there is a need for more education and training for designing and constructing energy-efficient sheikh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 buildings. this might entail providing training programs for construction experts and encouraging the use of energyefficient technology through finance mechanisms and tax incentives. to construct a solid framework for energyefficient building stock in pakistan, all provinces, local authorities, and line departments must be on board, as the execution of policies is largely institution-dependent. lack of technical competence and ineffective tools are further obstacles to the implementation of the code and rules. training, workshops, and skill development can contribute to a deeper grasp of the topic. only institutional capacity building and 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(2011). new concepts and approach for developing energy efficient buildings: ideal specific heat for building internal thermal mass. energy and buildings, 43(5), 1081–1090. doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2010.08.035 https://doi:10.1063/1.4959974 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5115364 http://www.energy.gov.pk/ https://peeca.punjab.gov.pk/ https://www.pakistangbc.org/index.php pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i2.912 connecting cities across infrastructural divides: case studies from self-build practices in tshwane east paul g. devenish 1 , denambaye m. demba 2 , alexia katranas 3 and delani kriek 4 1phd candidate & master’s studio supervisor, department of architecture, university of pretoria, rsa 2,3,4 2021 master’s degree graduates, department of architecture, university of pretoria, rsa abstract this paper investigates opportunities to connect divided cities by analysing ways in which occupation practices operate alongside, subvert and potentially transform historic, and presently developing urban infrastructure divisions in tshwane’s eastern urban region. through a critical theory lens, existing and perpetuating conditions of infrastructural segregation are examined in order to understand scenarios through which built environments, as assemblages, maintain conditions of extreme inequality and power. in this respect, urban spatial research projects, analysing formal and informal settlement patterns are presented. the projects form part of an architecture design lead research studio that focuses on discovering alternative scenarios for urban environments by examining existing infrastructure barriers, and unpacking methods for the transformation of segregative systemic forms. extracts of the projects are presented as case studies with a focus on areas around mamelodi east and moreleta park in rapidly growing parts of tshwane. these projects demonstrate conditions through which urban divisions of scarcity are established and constructed along infrastructure development zones in the region. they also raise key spatial questions pertaining to inequality and the role of capital investment in its perpetuation. the second part of the project involves socio-spatial methods of mapping self-build situations occurring alongside hard infrastructure zones in the region. the studies focus on the composition of building fabrics that actively attempt to circumvent issues of scarcity and unequal access to material and social infrastructures. through the establishment of physical interfaces, people form modes of operation despite extreme resource limitations. the project aims to identify alternative ways of reading territorialised urban infrastructure assemblages by examining critical zones of urban occupation. while the examples expose many of the volatile situations that the urban majority experience on a perpetual basis, the primary aim is to reveal from the everyday – urban spatial emergence and methods of coding and mapping these emergences towards an adaptive, reparative and transformative approach to divided cities. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review is under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords assemblage; infrastructure space; interfaces; informality; urban networks 1. background the sustainable development goals (sdgs) recognise a universal right to basic resources, to water and sanitation, and to safe, resilient, and sustainable cities (united nations, 2015). achieving these targets requires new ways of environmental science and sustainable development http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i2.912&domain=press.ierek.com pg. 2 paul g. devenish, denambaye m. demba, alexia katranas and delani kriek / environmental science and sustainable development responding to urban occupation in contexts marked by extreme wealth disparity and unequal access to infrastructure. the challenge of transforming urban environments is complex – not only does it raise key questions about citizenship and the right to the city, but it also highlights the urgent need for infrastructure that facilitates viable livelihoods for vulnerable inhabitants. in facing future city scenarios, in contexts of growing inequality, it is important for urban and architectural designers to examine systemic frameworks through which cities operate as they grow and perpetuate ingrained systems of infrastructural inequality. these issues are made stark and legible in the many scars and divisions in urban landscapes in south africa, the most unequal country in the world (world bank, 2022). for the sdgs to be realised here there needs to be a rapid and substantial shift in how basic services and associated urban infrastructures are conceived and developed, and a re-evaluation of the mechanisms and methods by which people gain access to them. the growing body of research on this topic recognises that urban infrastructure is not simply a set of facile technical devices that control and regulate mechanical, electrical, informational, transportation, and/or other material flows, but rather a systemic network of interfaces that connect (or exclude) people, resources, services, capital and wealth. thus, urban infrastructures act as assemblages that establish power over, and shape territories of material distribution and equality or inequality (dovey, 2012, lawhon et al., 2014; von schnitzler, 2016; wafer, 2020). colonial, apartheid, and modern planning practices have entrenched patterns of compartmentalization and systems of resource and labour extraction producing tight strictures of exclusion through which people must operate. south african apartheid-era urban development was implemented with specific intentions of racial segregation. this was achieved via tightly controlled land-use regulations and the rollout of built services and social infrastructures in ways that benefited the white minority (von schnitzler, 2016; mbembe, 2019; judin, 2021; mpofu-walsh, 2021). examples of this include regulated provisions for transport, water, electricity, education, work, recreation, and skills development – the legacies of these exclusions are still evident and in cases highly entrenched in the south african landscape. today, public and private development patterns – both of which follow the dictates of neoliberalism – reinforce unequal urban systems, with built infrastructures continuing to perpetuate poverty and exclusion at multiple scales (peres, 2015; maharaj, 2020; mpofu-walsh, 2021). these historic and unfolding territories of infrastructure operate as adaptive assemblages that interconnect through built environment spaces. from a critical theory paradigm, these spaces are understood as devices that maintain power over and facilitate the territorial marginalization of large majorities of inhabitants (judin, 2021), particularly in cities of the global south. conditions of control are partly reinforced by crime responses and more generally by systemic aspirations for exclusive and consumptive urban lifestyles. formalised urban environments are structured to maximise barriers, surveillance, and private policing while not disrupting the circulation of material market economy consumables. in this respect, capital moves freely through infrastructures of freight warehousing, distribution, and ‘lifestyle’ offerings often segregated alongside conditions of extreme poverty, infrastructural decay, and violence. the aim of the study is to identify methods of representation and coding of socio-spatial occupation scenarios that reveal potentialities for the transformation of divisive structures. material separations between inhabitants of the tshwane east region are analysed both in terms of characteristics and in terms of potentialities – that is by the relationships that exist between material and human urban assemblages and the opportunities that these relationalities present (simone, 2004; du plessis, 2012; de landa, 2016). scenarios for the rescripting of infrastructure development strategies are identified through the observational drawing and documentation of existing occupations in marginalised spaces. challenges are articulated alongside innovative modes of practice in the face of extreme resource scarcity. the reading of urban infrastructure from an adaptive territorial perspective helps us think about alternative modes of material and resource exchange. it demonstrates existing and emergent scenarios at play in our built environments operating through urban junctions at multiple scales over time. the approach to scale follows the ontological positions set out by de landa (2016) – micro-urban form emerges at the individual scale of people and the interactions they share with the material worlds surrounding them. the mezzo scale operates beyond the neighbourhood as regional territories, and in this investigation, the macro scale is set as pg. 3 paul g. devenish, denambaye m. demba, alexia katranas and delani kriek / environmental science and sustainable development the whole urban form and its broader territorial network. this multiscale approach enables the visualisation of ‘thick descriptions’ as identified by van aswegen (2021) which provide a qualitative lens through which the mapping processes are developed and articulated. it also helps us think about our infrastructure as both hard and soft, and as complex, adaptive assemblages. from a socio-spatial perspective, formal and informal material worlds are seen to operate through interfaces that can enable or disable dialogue and exchange. the distinction between the formal and the informal is developed after dovey (2012) who acknowledges the complex spectrum that exists between these two terms and recognises that they generally operate in tandem as part of social structures and built environments where the formal and informal operate in a kind of symbiosis. informal in the context of this paper is used to describe built environments that fall outside of formal building approval processes, that are generally made from the adjoining of adhoc components and materials to fulfill basic built environment needs or opportunities. it is important to note here, that while the distinction between formal and informal is made in this paper, we recognise more generally the association of the informal building sectors with greater assemblages of other formal and informal processes. given the rapid population growth and densification expected in the tshwane east region alongside historic and perpetuating conditions of urban inequality, it is important to consider the latent potentials at play between formal and informal, and static and kinetic actors within our built environments, to reconfigure existing boundaries of segregation as productive and sustainable sites for human habitation. 2. theoretical framework & methodology 1. assemblage theory the methodology is built from an assemblage perspective by examining the spaces between urban objects as a study of dispositions (till, 2009), territories, and potentialities (de landa, 2016). this approach facilitates an understanding of urban fabrics from the perspective of its spaces, seen as the gaps between urban actors and objects. in this way, the fields of architecture and urbanism can borrow and build on the pedagogy posited by mushakavanhu in ‘reading zimbabwe’: how do we engage with archives as sites of erasure, how do we archive gaps and how can we translate these experiences in the form of critical knowledge production? (mushakavanhu, 2021) when considered in relation to urban landscapes, these questions challenge us to develop both new methods for mapping and understanding divisive infrastructures and new frameworks for repairing damaged cities. they also underscore the need to access and prioritise knowledge systems emerging out of informality and to consider how these might impact built environments. new urban arrangements emerge at multiple scales from both informally and formally developed built environments. to better understand this pieterse (2009) after long (2001) propose a method of reading and mapping that considers the urban occupant’s ‘lifeworld’, which includes the various urban systems and built environment interfaces that people engage with in their everyday lives. processes of observational drawing and mapping examine socio-spatial urban patterns of relation which reveals soft infrastructure scenarios. this approach informs the understanding of relationships between urban assemblages which serve as case studies. the case studies function as socio-spatial lenses that help us to understand emergent characteristics as well as territorialisation tendencies at play in tshwane east.. the socio-spatial network and lifeworld mapping techniques are analysed through a structured assessment of conditions of territory and relationality (de landa, 2016) and acknowledge limitations at play in terms of occupation tenure (simone, 2004). the analysis aims to highlight emergent networks and built environment systems that are operating as workarounds to infrastructural exclusions. understood from the perspective of dovey & ristic (2017) the drawing or mapping process involves interpretations and perspectives of the worlds around us. maps represent aspects of existing space but also involve numerous biases in their coding of types and classifications, virtual characteristics, and in some cases, future scenarios. in this respect, maps are seen as forms of representation that present aspects of physical, perceived, and conceived worlds. maps reveal points of novel intersection and pg. 4 paul g. devenish, denambaye m. demba, alexia katranas and delani kriek / environmental science and sustainable development provide opportunities for the connection of seemingly separate urban forms, but they can also reinforce conditions of segregation and inequality. an assemblage perspective involves a reading of urban environments as conglomerates of heterogeneous material and social parts operating as relational systems. the term is a translation from the french word agencement used by deleuze & guattari (1987) to describe the arrangements of social and material realities. this perspective facilitates the identification of conditions of relationships and territories which de landa (2016) expands on by emphasising the significance of potentialities that exist within such assemblages. by analysing the various scenarios that are possible within a system and exploring ways of mapping and coding these relationalities and potentialities, we identify opportunities that may enable and transform segregated urban assemblages and territories. 2. infrastructure space & life world mapping the concept of infrastructure space is understood from the perspectives of easterling (2016) who argues that built environment services operate as systemic entities through complex networks of spatial composition and connection. viewed from this perspective we recognise that infrastructure systems function to regulate the flows of materials, resources, people, and ultimately wealth, capital, and power. it is important to note here that the infrastructural means and interfaces by which people are able to communicate and connect, access services, move around, maintain themselves, and generally operate viable livelihoods are often nested within macro systems and devices of political and economic surveillance and/or control. in this respect, they can be understood as operating systems that regulate power and wealth structures. wafer offers a useful interpretation: infrastructures include a complex network of material and institutional structures that underpins the functioning (and dysfunctioning) of modern cities. to the extent that infrastructures are understood as complex networks, they are also therefore implicated into systems of power and politics ... [they] coordinate, connect and distribute people, commodities, capital, and resources. (2020: 86) building on this concept, easterling (2021) emphasises the importance of understanding architecture as suspended in thick, lumpy, material mediums and scenarios of operation. a useful distinction to make here is the relationship between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ infrastructure as described by winning (2010) and matsipa (2017) – that is the physical services (hard elements) that operate through softer human and non-human interfaces and networks. in the same way that software facilitates interactions between components in a computer and hardware represents the electronic fabric of the device, we can think of our cities as a product of both the hard-built environments suspended in and operationalised through softer networks including social norms, customs, laws, relationships, politics, power structures, energy supplies, exchange contracts, etc. by thinking of the spaces that enable or exclude social or exchange arrangements we develop a view to uncover potentialities for recoding segregated worlds. seen from this perspective we take a reading of space as a principal regulator of urban networks, often nested within territories of surveillance and power. through the operating potential of space easterling (2016) proposes a ‘hacking’ or infiltrating and subverting of the devices of power that can potentially reconfigure the internal operations of segregated city forms. building on the process of lifeworld representation, casakin & valera (2020) pair occupation patterns with actor networks to understand public space complexity through studies of relationality. the understanding of this relationality means that we can think about designing beyond objects, till (2009) unpacks this by interrogating approaches to design that recognise the interdependencies of materials and making processes and the implications of time and disposition. part of this argument means that we think about ways in which we adapt and reuse existing built environments, how we inhabit infrastructures and spaces in transformative regenerative ways (du plessis, 2012), and what the worlds we make today will enable in the future. as a means of accessing this, frichot (2019) draws on ideas of gleaning, collecting, gathering, and quilting, bhan (2019) makes an argument for occupying and repairing urban divide and mehrotra & vera (2018) recognises the synergy between static forms and kinetic actors as socio-spatial change enablers. pg. 5 paul g. devenish, denambaye m. demba, alexia katranas and delani kriek / environmental science and sustainable development 3. south africa and tshwane context: historic and perpetuating inequalities figure 1. maps showing location of case studies in south africa, gauteng and tshwane contexts the methods and themes identified from the theoretical framework above are used in the contextual analysis to better understand patterns of spatial emergence in highly segregated contexts. the case studies include self-build urban occupations in formally developed areas in tshwane east. this region makes up the northern portion of the gauteng province in south africa and adjoins various other urbanised zones that make up the greater gauteng city region (gcr) assemblage. as a seat of fiscal and national governance and as part of the largest urban economy in south africa, the gcr exhibits significant capital investment alongside extreme spatial segregations and inequalities both historic and perpetuating (ballard, et. al., 2021). the specific case studies focus on two mezzo-scale settlements in tshwane east (see figure 1.). case studies 1 and 2 are based in moreleta park and explore issues of informality, urban spatial emergence, constructed scarcity, and material assemblages. this area was designated under apartheid for low-density exclusive white occupation with existing black residences displaced. in its present-day moreleta park’s development patterns are highly segregated and compartmentalised, with a number of established gated residential and commercial developments alongside informal self-build settlements. the second set of studies are located in mamelodi and focus on social and recreational infrastructure. mamelodi was established in 1945 and designated for the resettlement of displaced black persons under apartheid. both areas exhibit characteristics of informal occupation and self-build adaptations alongside formal infrastructure segregations. the analysis of conditions of segregation and accessibility in these two historically distinct regions allows for a broader sampling of conditions through which infrastructural segregation perpetuates and provides varied insights into ways in which infrastructural interfaces are established, occupied, and potentially transformed. 3.1. urban infrastructure segregations under apartheid prior to apartheid, segregation was already common in south africa – racial separation, settlement control and urban compartmentalisation characterised colonial occupation as seen in examples of legislation such as in the natives land act of 1913. in this example we can see how the state sought to establish power and control over mining and agricultural capital in south africa, by reserving the right to rent or own strategically located land to the white population. in addition, the act spatially secured exploitative access to black labour to support the production of capital at a much larger scale (philip, 2014). paul g. devenish, denambaye m. demba, alexia katranas and delani kriek / environmental science and sustainable development in 1948, south africa saw the election of the nationalist party into government, whereby apartheid was formalised on an institutional level. the party’s strong “religio-political” afrikaner nationalist agenda, which sought to further secure the interests of the white minority in relation to land rights, was evident in the urban policies that followed (janse van rensburg, 2009). apartheid-era built infrastructures adhered to a vision of racial segregation that was established under colonial rule but sought to formalise and further entrench aspects of this segregation in law, urban and regional settlement forms, and in labour and industry. urban development in this period was characterised by strict regulation of land occupancy and use as well as by intentional decisions about the development of service infrastructure (transport, water, electrical, waste, data, etc.) and social infrastructure (courts, banks, education, health, recreation, etc.) (von schnitzler, 2016; mbembe, 2019; judin, 2021; mpofu-walsh, 2021). the apartheid city served not only as a place of racial and class segregation but also as a complex engine for promulgating labour exploitation and wealth extraction. its carefully planned infrastructure served as a vehicle for entrenching white supremacy in all aspects of life. at the micro and mezzo urban scales, ‘the group areas act of 1951’ saw the demolition of many neighbourhoods; the forced relocation of people based on racial, ethnic, and class segregation; and the establishment of infrastructural boundaries, with severe restrictions on the movement of non-white persons and on their access to resources, transportation and land tenure (maharaj, 2020; judin, 2021). at the macro scale, ‘the black homelands citizenship act of 1970’ included the formalisation of bantustans as an attempt to denationalise black citizens from the country and enforce control over interregional movement. 3.2. perpetuations of segregation after apartheid the post-apartheid city continues to perpetuate unequal access to infrastructure. formal urban development has tended to prioritise compartmentalised, privately managed, and serviced enclaves. extractive industries operate under corporate industry ownership and social infrastructure such as healthcare, security, schooling, communication, etc. is frequently accessed privately by the wealthy. in the transition into democracy, we have seen racial segregation evolve into wealth-based infrastructural exclusion, though the latter continues to reflect historical racial divisions (mpofu-walsh, 2021). rapid urbanisation without adequate industrial growth and an existing infrastructural deficit is the dominant condition subjected to most post-colonial african cities, resulting in high unemployment and poverty (pieterse, 2011). despite displaying an inefficient urban form, tshwane boasts a comparatively lower unemployment rate and a higher gdp per capita than the south african average (un-habitat, 2020). this is a major pull for economically strained citizens of peripheral rural areas, neighbouring provinces, and sadc countries such as zimbabwe and lesotho. however, the city faces high levels of inequality, represented by a high gini coefficient (gauteng provincial government, 2021). levels of multidimensional poverty have seen an increase in peripheral areas (former black homelands), with affluence and capital investment projects remaining largely concentrated in previously advantaged white areas, on the opposite end of the city (katumba et. al., 2019). the combination of inaccessible private spaces and rapid population growth has however also resulted in the emergence of informal economy-based self-build settlements. as city regions such as tshwane east expand and adjoin one another in the gcr it is notable that despite limited formal land tenure and poverty, these self-build settlements have established and continue forming alongside and in between capital investment areas in highly unequal spatial arrangement patterns. according to maharaj (2020), self-build settlements in south africa have tended to establish near inner-city areas, on the edges of former white suburbs, and growing alongside affluent development zones. considering current legislative efforts such as the spatial planning and land use management act of 2013 (spluma) a shift has occurred regarding the legal redressing of urban inequality and the protection of occupants of these settlements (joscelyne, 2015). despite this, tshwane remains a deeply divided “dual city” with policy implementation limited in the face of continued uneven development served by the labour of inhabitants from marginalised areas (horn, 2020; peberdy, 2017). a firm correlation has been drawn between the insecurity induced by segregation and scarcity, racial tension, and the subsequent socio-spatial division that prevails in south african cities. similar conditions of segregation are pg. 6 pg. 7 paul g. devenish, denambaye m. demba, alexia katranas and delani kriek / environmental science and sustainable development analysed in five other divided cities by calame & charlesworth (2012) their analysis focuses on tendencies and patterns of spatial divisions, and the ways in which such divisions form and adapt in efforts to control issues of insecurity through segregation changes over time. from this, standard pattern codes emerge and assist in the reading of processes of reorganisation and compartmentalisation evident in a segregated urban context as illustrated in figure 2 (katranas, 2021 after calame & charlesworth, 2021). as a prerequisite for real spatial healing and reparation of the injustices of colonialism and apartheid, it is important to acknowledge the significance of socio political territories as well as processes of deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation. to design integrated cities, the perspectives of an emerging, marginalised, urban majority should be considered to address social, economic, and geographic exclusion (harvey, 2007; pieterse, 2011). the following section considers relationships between informal and formal built environments in order to understand the emergence of socio-spatial patterns from the perspective of everyday lived experiences. figure 2. segregated spatial patterns and scenarios of change over time 4. moreleta park and plastic view 4.1. urban fabric on an inter-neighbourhood scale, the emergence self-build settlements alongside gated communities in moreleta park as the pace of local urbanisation intensifies in south africa, the continual emergence of self-build urban settlements in areas of commercial and residential development will too (neuwirth, 2008). mehrotra & vera (2018) maintain that spontaneous kinetic currents supersede and evade the norms of the static formal city, increasing their presence and effect as urbanisation intensifies. reluctance to recognise and negotiate this inevitable kinetic urban future can result in an even more volatile urban landscape that further endorses exclusion. moreleta park is analysed through this lens as a product of rapid sprawl since the early 1990s (landman, 2004), the area is made up of a residential assemblage of gated communities and shopping centres on ecologically valuable land. moreleta park most evidently displays the many negative effects of sprawl on the urban environment this suburban archipelago enforces further exclusion through rampart boundary conditions without planning for a spatially just urban future (soja, 2010). the area also lacks the sensibility of scale and organisation necessary to secure resilience in its morphology (peres, 2015; katranas, 2021) characteristic of a ‘floating city’ (salat et al., 2011), large shopping malls and centralised amenities dominate the landscape yet remain monofunctional as static change averse urban islands. empty pockets of land (aiding in the increasing emergence of self-build settlements) create barriers between isolated developments and the only planned attempt at stitching these suburban islands together exists in the form of wide roadways (city of tshwane, 2018). solomon mahlangu drive is an important anchor in this respect; where urban sprawl and urbanisation meet; and where a number of self-build settlements, such as plastic view, are identified in leftover spaces between developments and along urban infrastructure servitudes. the reasons behind the emergence of self-build settlements along this spine are a combination of inherited issues and situational influences. the exclusionary landscape of moreleta park is also characterised by a number of residual areas occurring between development, these spaces are classed as sloap (spaces left over after planning) and can be viewed as a hyper-densified trope of south africa’s tense suburban state – and its possible future (creswell, 2013). pg. 8 paul g. devenish, denambaye m. demba, alexia katranas and delani kriek / environmental science and sustainable development sloap can also be associated with junkspace (koolhaas, 2014) which includes, conceptually, the disjunction of modern planning approaches where multiple ideas and agendas are often compartmentalised and their junctions left unresolved. sloap tends to be situated between up-market housing developments and malls, creating a perfect niche of opportunity for spontaneous settlers to build a livelihood (du plessis & peres, 2013). as informal currents often do, these in-between spaces address a need for affordable living spaces close to work opportunities, in reaction to non-provisions thereof. as soja (2010) argues, from these far-reaching implications one can affirm that justice or, for that matter, injustice is inextricably bound to a consequential geography. case study 1 includes the cataloguing of 18 new spontaneous urban settlements in the region (see figure 3). in line with urbanisation trends traced in gauteng, at least ninety other spontaneous settlements have emerged in pretoria over the last five years (du plessis & peres, 2013). the mapping process shown here forms part of a socio-spatial lexicon of patterns of development of emergent self-build settlements and are descriptive of soft and hard infrastructure interactions and entanglements. through the cataloguing and coding of various individual socio spatial attributes of the spontaneous urban settlements selected in the analysis, eight shared characteristics have been revealed as shown. these characteristics range from patterns of emergence to settlement configurations and when understood together, this list has the ability to determine the location probability of future spontaneous settlements. the record of attributes has proven applicable to countless other existing self-build settlements, tracked with a variety of gis programming, all over south africa. since a kinetic neighbourhood located within a static suburb isn’t an anomaly bound to moreleta park, the possibility of a prototypical architectural response to the urban and architectural issues, is revealed. 4.2. the microscale of emergent self-build settlements despite policy reform during the post-apartheid period lingering social constructs prevent the active dismantling of divisive urban forms. informal settlements are regarded as obstacles to be removed by formal development actors. plastic view, identified in the previous section as a self-build settlement of moreleta park, is emblematic of this broader issue of continued exclusions and stands as a densified narrative of the post-apartheid south african urban condition. the reluctance of the moreleta park community and of practitioners to recognise and engage with the formalised settlement of plastic view is emblematic of a broader reluctance to negotiate with this kinetic mode of urbanism (mehrotra & vera 2018). the non-recognition of the permanence of plastic view is further demonstrated by an open letter sent on the 14th of may 2021 to the mayor of the city of tshwane, randall williams, and other recipients. in this letter the community caring forum (2021) reminds its readers of the seventeen court orders against plastic view, leading up to a list of requests including “the removal and deportation of all undocumented occupants” and “the breaking down of the shacks to prohibit expansion at all costs” (community caring forum 2021: 6). case study 2 aims to reveal the social spatial value of such self-build housing settlements and scenarios through which basic livelihood infrastructure is achieved despite very limited resources and basic rights. figure 4 details a planned view of building fabrics and a scenario of typical use for a portion of plastic view. the plan reveals characteristics of street interfaces with individual housing units defining the rhythm of street setbacks and entrances. centrally located is a creche and 2 shops, a tavern, and community office that demarcate other edges of this communal area, and the play area and sports field are also situated within surveillance range of these shared, more public facilities. pg. 9 paul g. devenish, denambaye m. demba, alexia katranas and delani kriek / environmental science and sustainable development figure 4. occupancy plan of an area of plastic view showing a scenario of sunday morning activities and street interfaces (katranas, 2021) figure 5. illustration of design iterations exploring the connection of divisive urban infrastructure hypothetical future scenarios based on field observations of building practices in plastic view (katranas, 2021) pg. 10 paul g. devenish, denambaye m. demba, alexia katranas and delani kriek / environmental science and sustainable development through the assemblage of self-built spaces, a marginalised community has established a number of interconnected social and economic infrastructures that operationalise a mutual support in the face of extreme conditions of scarcity and exclusion. figure 5 builds on this and presents a speculative axonometric drawing considering scenarios of formalisation of the kinds of interfaces that are observed in plastic view. this exercise functions as a speculative mapping process that allows us to consider developmental scenarios for transforming infrastructural divides in informal self-build settlements as productive and effective forms of housing and livelihood infrastructures. case studies 1 and 2 reveal the emergence of urban processes at the mezzo and micro scales where people are operating through self-made and adaptive urban assemblages despite extreme resource limitations and poverty. moreleta park is in this respect a context possessive of both the challenges and opportunities through which the future city can be postulated; where within a 3km2 area, infrastructural deficit meets excess. in the interrogation of these issues kriek (2021) explores opportunities for repairing urban divisions, noting the urgent need for the static city to incorporate adaptive characteristics of kinetic occurrences in establishing urban resilience. 5. social infrastructure interfaces in mamelodi east during the peak of apartheid, a number of displaced black populations were relocated to mamelodi from the 1950s through to the late 1970s (breed, 2012). infrastructure development implemented during the period focused on the construction of housing, the regulation of transportation, and the limitation of access routes to ‘white’ areas of the city (strauss, 2019). here the scarcity of public open space and social infrastructure can be understood as a direct legacy of apartheid planning and as a means to control the gathering potential of non-white groups during the time (city of tshwane, 2005). in the post-apartheid period, the housing shortfall in townships has seen a focus on subsidised state housing; the resultant limited focus on non-housing services has led to a lack of maintenance or development of public open spaces and recreation facilities (mcconnachie & shackleton, 2010; denoon-stevens & ramaila, 2018). where state or ngo-developed social infrastructures have been implemented they often stand as monofunctional giants following the established segregated grain of the region, disconnected from community dynamics. therefore, as a response, many social infrastructures and services are developed through informal economy sectors and community organisations (urban studio, 2020). this spontaneous dynamism often relies on taking inspiration from existing elements (directly linked to services or not) and bringing alterations, additions, different uses, activities, and meanings to objects and spaces to satisfy communal needs (demba, 2021). case study 3 builds on the theme of kinetic potential (see figure 6) and illustrates on an interpersonal scale, the socio-spatial scenarios and networks observed along a stormwater and access servitude in mamelodi. here demba (2021) examines the accessibility of social infrastructure as well as methods by which people build alternative socio-spatial networks, nodes, and routes to facilitate the operations of their daily lives. these ad hoc inventive means are developed through informal economies, and community organisations (de beer et al., 2020). examples of social and recreational activities are observed as part of informal infrastructures of trade, gathering, playing, maintaining, exercising, etc., spatial material interventions are adaptive and straightforward in fulfilling needs and are developed through social practice. the occurrence of these activities along a stormwater channel can be attributed to the open space that it maintains which makes it a viable movement route. an important observation in this respect is the common space that these various activities share, this is part of the reason that recreational spaces are considered as they pair human practices with human needs to foster hybrid scenarios catering to social needs. here, one can draw comparisons to the above scenarios in moreleta park where formal infrastructures are considered static elements while the informal and community-based activities represent the kinetic part of the township; where the varied collective actions, patterns of occupation, and the links established between them create systems capable of participating in the sustainable development of future urban schemes if understood correctly and contextually (demba, 2021; katranas, 2021; kriek, 2021). just as pieterse (2009) after simone (2004) considers the important role that people play in providing infrastructure as collectives to benefit communities in developing contexts of cities of the global south, the study of everyday street interfaces and occupations aims to find ground-up solutions capable of reconciling and reintegrating isolated pg. 11 paul g. devenish, denambaye m. demba, alexia katranas and delani kriek / environmental science and sustainable development or underused infrastructures. by recognising all the many human and non-human actors that make up the public realm as an assemblage, we establish new meanings and opportunities for the rescripting of divided spaces. figure 6. activity mapping along open space network in mamelodi east (demba, 2021) 6. outcomes and conclusion through a process of life-world observations of urban occupations, the case studies attempt to reveal systems of socio-spatial networks and assess their operating potential in relation to infrastructural exclusions and needs. the case studies present a broad sample of ways in which urban infrastructures emerge through socio-spatial arrangements in tshwane east – often operating to circumvent conditions of extreme inequality, scarcity, and exclusion. of particular interest is the observation of the concurrent evolution of informal self-build settlements alongside gated communities. here conditions of territorialisation are seen to agglomerate around capital investment zones and projects. both formal and informal built environments coevolve through processes of fortification, exclusions, and compartmental occupation. the relationality between occupants of informal economies and those of more formal areas is seen to overlap in many instances, people living in one sector may find themselves working or operating in another. in line with this idea, the contextual analysis reveals the inevitability of the coexistence of formal and informal residential settlements and economies in the region. through a study of patterns of the assemblage of self-build settlements, the case study also reveals socio-economic relationality an example of this is the emergence of settlements in congruity with building construction sites as a result of job opportunities. an important question that arises here is what role the funders of capital investment infrastructure projects play in the transformation or perpetuation of conditions of major urban inequality. built environment projects are always a product of a collaboration between designers, builders, makers, and other stakeholders, and they always operate through relational flows within their contexts. by recognising and affirming these collaborations and partnerships pg. 12 paul g. devenish, denambaye m. demba, alexia katranas and delani kriek / environmental science and sustainable development we can potentially transform the way we make our worlds. in facing the urgent need to redress issues of urban inequality it is imperative that built environment practitioners explore scenarios for the establishment of shared access to basic resources and acknowledge the inevitable coexistence of the static and kinetic, and the formal and informal forces that shape our cities. by illustrating spatial settlement practices alongside divisive urban infrastructures the project identifies key occurrences in tshwane that are attempting a repair and recalibration of divisive infrastructure. south africa’s urban fabric is constituted of vast networks of civil systems, stormwater services, roadways, parks, servitudes, railways and other publicly owned property. by examining scenarios that challenge infrastructural exclusion this project identifies and tests opportunities for reconceptualising urban forms to reimagine them as shared common elements that have multiple sides and potential functions that can connect rather than divide. the future development of tshwane and possibly other regions of gauteng can evolve by fully revealing, representing, analysing, and understanding the variables and relationships that make up the public realm. references ballard, r. et al. (2021). scale of belonging: gauteng 30 years after the repeal of the group areas act. urban forum, 32(2), pp. 131– 139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-021-09429-5 bhan, g. (2019). notes on a southern urban practice. environment and urbanization, 31(2), 639 -654. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247818815792 breed, c. (2012). the transient aspects of city life: their understanding and interpretation for design purposes. south african landscape architecture, unisa press, pp. 1-33. (print copy) calame, j. & charlesworth, e. (2009). divided cities: belfast, beirut, jerusalem, monster, and nicosia. university of pennsylvania press. https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812206852 casakin, h. & valera, s. (2020). the complexity of urban public space and social network analysis: a case study of barcelona. architext, 8, pp. 8-23. https://doi.org/10.26351/architext/8/1 city of tshwane. 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(2021). negotiating the future city: cataloguing consequential spontaneity in the static city (unpublished master’s dissertation). university of pretoria. mbembe, a. (2019) necropolitics. translated by s. corcoran. duke university press. available at: https://doi org.uplib.idm.oclc.org/10.1515/9781478007227 mc connachie, m. & shackleton, c. (2010). public green spaces inequality in small towns in south africa. habitat international, 34(2), 244-248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2009.09.009 maharaj, b. (2020). the apartheid city. in massey, r. & gunter, a. (eds) urban geography in south africa: perspectives and theory (pp.39-54). (ser. geojournal library). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25369-1_3 matsipa, m. (2017). soft infrastructure: recalibrating aesthetics, economies, and urban epistemologies (special public lecture). wits city institute, university of the witwatersrand. mehrotra, r. & vera, f. 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(2015). the translation of ecological resilience theory into urban systems (doctoral dissertation). university of pretoria. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/56100 pieterse, e. (2009). african cities: grasping the unknowable (public lecture). university of cape town. https://www.alnap.org/system/files/content/resource/files/main/grasping-the-unknowable-26-august-09.pdf pieterse, e. (2011). rethinking african urbanism from the slum. cities, health, and well-being conference hong kong, november 2011. philip, k. 2014. a history of townships in south africa, from mahajan, s, ed. 2014. economics of south african townships: special focus on diepsloot. world bank studies. world bank, pp. 31-49. https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.uplib.idm.oclc.org/lib/pretoria ebooks/detail.action?docid=1771195 salat, s. et al. (2011). cities and forms: on sustainable urbanism (print copy). cstb urban morphology laboratory. simone, a. (2004). people as infrastructure: intersecting fragments in johannesburg. public culture 16(3), 407 429. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/173743 soja, e. (2010). the city and spatial justice. in: bret, f. & gervais-lambony, p. (eds). justices and injustices. university of paris press: pp. 55– 74. https://www.jssj.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/jssj1-1en2.pdf strauss, m. (2019). a historical exposition of spatial injustice and segregated urban settlement in south africa. fundamina, 25(2), 135–168. https://doi.org/10.17159/2411-7870/2019/v25n2a6 till, j. (2009). architecture depends. cambridge (print copy). mit press. http://www.treasury.gpg.gov.za/ http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19785 http://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/cityhttp://www.ted.com/talks/robert_neuwirth_the_power_of_the_informal_economy?utm_campaign=tedspread&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_ http://hdl.handle.net/10539/23592 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/56100 http://www.alnap.org/system/files/content/resource/files/main/grasping-the-unknowable-26-august-09.pdf http://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/173743 http://www.jssj.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/jssj1-1en2.pdf pg. 14 paul g. devenish, denambaye m. demba, alexia katranas and delani kriek / environmental science and sustainable development united nations. (2015). the millennium development goals report 2015. https://www.undp.org/publications/millennium-development-goals report-2015 united nations habitat, (2020). world cities report 2020: the value of sustainable urbanization. un habitat. https://unhabitat.org/world%20cities%20report%202020 urban studio. 2020. healing urban fractures, inside a pandemic, vulnerability, imagination, innovation in the city of tshwane. de beer, s., thomos, l., nnorom, j (eds), university of pretoria. https://www.up.ac.za/media/shared/187/zp_resources/2020-healing-urban-fractures report.zp196770.pdf van aswegen, a. (2021). disruption by dissociation: exploring human-centred design through transformative engagement in the spatial design studio. phd dissertation, university of pretoria von schnitzler, a. (2016). democracy's infrastructure : techno-politics and protest after apartheid. princeton university press (print copy) wafer, a. (2020). infrastructure in south african cities. in massey, r. & gunter, a. (eds) urban geography in south africa: perspectives and theory (pp.85-96). (ser. geojournal library). springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25369-1_6 winning, f. (2010). creativity and flexibility: the nexus between infrastructure space and art. australasian drama studies, (56), pp.7 –24. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.041086683238351 world bank. (2022). inequality in southern africa: an assessment of the southern african customs union. world bank publishing. https://doi.org/10.1596/37283 http://www.undp.org/publications/millennium-development-goalshttp://www.up.ac.za/media/shared/187/zp_resources/2020-healing-urban-fractures http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received:15 october 2024, accepted: 10 february 2025, published online: 27 march 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd. v10i1.1136 assessment of contributions of informal small businesses to the environmental pollution in the rand-west city local municipality: south africa p hlongwane 1*, p khumalo2, bc lekonyane3, p raseala4 1 * associate professor in the department of public administration and management, university of south africa (unisa) 2 professor in the department of public administration and management, university of south africa (unisa), 3lecturer in the department of public administration and management, university of south africa (unisa), 4senior lecturer in the department of public administration and management, university of south africa (unisa) abstract even though certain significant players in the economy's informal sector operate in an environmentally polluting manner, the informal sector plays a critical role in reducing poverty and creating jobs. large companies' waste production and its impact on the environment have been the subject of much empirical study from both developed and developing nations. nonetheless, there is a dearth of empirical data regarding south africa's informal small businesses' waste output and environmental effects. the main objective of this study was to assess how the informal small enterprises in the rand-west city local municipality of south africa's contributed to environmental degradation. a qualitative research methodology was applied, in which case semi-structured interviews were conducted with informal business owners while observation schedules were used to record evidence from the physical environment. a purposive sampling strategy was used to select 25 informal business owners whose businesses operated in the rand-west city municipality in south africa. a thematic analysis was used to analyse empirical data collected through interviews and observation schedules. the findings of the study reveal that informal small businesses within the above-mentioned local municipality contributed to environmental contamination through the burning of waste or indirectly through littered plastics and boxes thrown away by customers. another way through which some informal small businesses contributed to environmental contamination is oil spillages during vehicle service and maintenance in open public spaces. the article concludes that to guarantee that the environmental design is conducive to reducing contamination or pollution, informal small businesses should be given suitable spaces for the purpose of diverse business operations. apart from the support for the informal businesses, the findings of this study imply that the rand-west city local municipality will need to draft comprehensive policies and by-laws to regulate the activities of informal businesses in an attempt to minimise environmental degradation that may result from waste contamination. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords chemical waste; environmental contamination; informal small businesses; oil spillages; vegetable waste. http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i1.1136&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ hlongwane / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 1. introduction the informal sector remains a key contributor to alleviating poverty and creating job opportunities. however, the operations of some important players in the informal sector of the economy are accompanied by environmental pollution (soharwardi, firdous & gill, 2021). the informal sector entails the small and medium enterprises whose operations are outside government regulation or taxation; it operates outside of the formal economy and is driven by small-scale entrepreneurs with written contractual arrangements and blurred lines between labour and capital (sultana, rahman & khanam, 2022). in other words, the informal sector of the economy consists of informal businesses such as spaza shops, hawkers, pavement sellers, street vendors, and any other business that is operated from home or open public space, that is not regulated or taxed by government. chaudhuri and calcutta (2006) argue that due to the tax implications, the formal sector is curtailed from exceeding their quota of an acceptable or tolerable level of pollution. consequently, the informal sector, which is not regulated in terms of pollution tax, has contributed to high levels of tax, especially through subcontracting by the formal businesses. indirectly, by subcontracting an informal player, the formal businesses evade the tax for exceeding the permissible levels of pollution. in consonance with the observation above, sultana et al. (2022) opine that the informal sector is detrimental to sustainable development. the assertion that the informal sector is incongruent with sustainable development must be understood in light of the scourge of poverty and unemployment affecting most of the global south countries, such as south africa. the different facets of sustainability should be examined to arrive at a generalisation that this sector’s contribution to sustainable development is negative, that is, economic efficiency, environmental protection, and social equity. development becomes meaningful and sustainable when it addresses these three aspects. there are positives that the informal sector is contributing, particularly to providing accessible services and creating employment. despite the criticism levelled against informal businesses, they remain a very important sector in the economy. in countries such as pakistan, the informal sector contributes about half of the dgp (sultana et al., 2022). the sector has emerged as a means for survival for many in the developing and less developed world. the growing unemployment in south africa makes this sector very important in keeping many households afloat. it is also important to note that due to high levels of inequalities in developing countries such as south africa, the economic performance of the country may not translate to a better life for all as the wealth is in the hands of a few. the country topped the world inequality measurements for 2022 with a gini-coefficient of 0.75 (hasell, arriaga, ortiz-ospina & roser 2023). the informal economy in south africa is very important in addressing some of the inequalities, particularly the gender disparities in employment. the 2022 statistics show that women occupy 33% of the total informal employment in nonagricultural workplaces, and according to the international labour organisation, the global informal employment rate is at 57.8% (international labour organisation, 2024). empirical research from various developed and developing countries has revealed significant issues in terms of waste generated by large corporations and their contributions to environmental damage (see, for instance, gani & sharma, 2009; parker, redmond & simpson, 2008; redmond, wang, simpson & parker, 2008; redmond & walker, 2009; ristovska, 2010; voca, 2014). however, there is paucity of empirical evidence on the trash produced by informal small businesses and their environmental impact in south africa. the primary purpose of this research is to assess how informal small businesses contribute to environmental pollution in the rand-west city local municipality in south africa. the issue of environmental pollution arising from various activities of informal small businesses is rife in the rand-west city local municipality while this informal sector of the economy remains largely unregulated in south africa. the study is important because it is undertaken at the time when informal small businesses are mushrooming in the aforementioned local municipality due to high unemployment rate (32%). unemployed people resort to operating informal businesses to earn income for survival despite the fact that some of their business operations may contribute directly or indirectly to environmental pollution. 2. literature review inasmuch as informal businesses contribute to environmental pollution, they can also provide solutions to these challenges. the case of bandung in indonesia is quite instructive in this regard. the informal businesses became players in the recycling space, utilising the material flow method (sembiring & nitivattanani 2009). in terms of solid waste, informal businesses in indonesia’s bandung recycled 303 metric tonnes of the total 2295 overall garbage hlongwane / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 produced in the city each day. some scholars, such as sultana, rahman and khanam (2022), advocate for formalisation as a way of addressing the pollution emanating from the informal sector. this arises from the need to address the concerns around the compound effect of informal businesses’ contribution to pollution. the informal economy has been globally recognised for positively contributing to employment and providing balance between the economy, environment, and equity, and earlier studies such as those done by ruzek (2015) have viewed the sector as a transformative force with the capability to turn focus from the globalised capital society to an eco-localism with the attendant advantages of ease of adjustment in line with rapid changes (sultana et al., 2022). a closer look at the south african case of west rand will assist in drawing out some important lessons. south africa's rising population and economy have led to increased waste generation. according to the 2018 state of waste report, in 2017, south africa produced 55 million metric tonnes of general trash, with only 11% diverted from landfills. these tendencies, combined with limited gdp development, are linked to increased trash generation" (national waste management strategy 2020). the significant development pressure was placed on the west rand district municipality (wrdm) and its four local municipalities (lms), randfontein, mogale city, westonaria, and merafong, about proper solid waste management and minimization. the majority of waste generation areas are residential, which reflects the role of the domestic and industrial sectors as major waste generators. waste is assumed to make up the majority of disposed waste, with industrial waste and rubble accounting for the remaining waste stream (ginindza, 2017). according to serge-kubanza and simatele (2020), south africa is a significant producer of solid waste, producing millions of metric tonnes annually, making it an upper-middle-income country. 42 million metric tonnes of household solid garbage and 59 million metric tonnes of general waste were produced in the country in 2012, according to estimates (serge-kubanza & simatele, 2020). the gauteng province, which has the highest population and is the country's economic centre, contributes the most (42%), according to the 2019 south african department of environmental affairs and tourism (deat), which reports that the country generates over 42 million cubic meters of general waste annually. (aboginije et al., 2020; duncan et al., 2012; nyika & onyari, 2021; omotayo et al., 2020). south africa’s biggest contributors to the solid waste production are mining with 72.3%, pulverised fuel ash of 6.7%, waste from agricultural activities of 6.1%, waste from urban activities of 4.5%, and sewage sludge of 3.6% (muzenda, 2014; nkosi et al., 2013), with 90.1% of the country’s waste being landfilled, while the waste recycling level has remained at 9.9%, being very low compared to the international standards, with the western nations, such as germany and austria, recycling up to 63% of theirs (premalatha et al., 2014). furthermore, as the production of solid waste is growing exponentially while the need for basic sanitation services has not, goal 2 of south africa's national waste management strategy seeks to guarantee adequate waste service delivery. the waste act 59 of 2008 provides information on several waste classifications and instruments (serge kubanza & simatele, 2020). in order to specifically fulfil the goals of the national environmental management waste act 59 of 2008, the department of environmental affairs in south africa issued the national waste management strategy in 2020. the national waste management strategy seeks to "create a common platform for action among stakeholders to systematically improve the waste management sector" and is based on south africa's hierarchical waste management system. due to a growing population and increased levels of urbanisation in south africa, there is a growing need to enhance waste production and management as well as effective disposal of waste (omotayo et al., 2020; rodseth et al., 2020). to prevent insect breeding, pollution, and other environmental hazards, a reported solid waste container must be removed within 24 hours and at least once a week, according to the national standards for waste collection in south africa (haywood et al., 2021; oelofse, 2011). it also outlines the various service delivery requirements. despite this, 66% of the country still receives proper waste collection services from private companies or local authorities. this suggests that there are clear problems with solid waste disposal and that solutions are needed to turn solid waste into a source of income (samson & creation, 2004). it's important to consider and prioritise south africa's recycling sector's potential from an economic standpoint (godfrey et al., 2013). according to hlahla et al. (2014), this is a way to encourage the country's sustainable waste management practices. therefore, improving a household's means of subsistence in south africa may help the impoverished and marginalised households there by enabling them to pay for other financial commitments as well as solid waste disposal. likewise, akintola and hangulu (2017) stated that hlongwane / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 the green economy principles should promote the recognition of non-governmental organisations' (ngos') solid waste disposal contribution in south africa as a commonality. once a piece of land has been utilised as a landfill, it can no longer be used for residential, commercial, or institutional purposes, which is why it should ideally not be allowed. according to the 2011 national waste baseline survey, tonnes of commercial and industrial waste were produced in south africa. the remaining percentage was disposed of in landfills, with little over 77% of this volume being recycled (dea, 2012). this suggests that there was a notable rise in recycling in 2006–2007. businesses should be totally dedicated to recycling, reducing, reusing, and the responsible disposal of trash in light of the waste regulation that is already in place (worthington-smith, 2009). one of waste management's advantages for companies is that it can save operating expenses by treating waste as an intrinsic part of operations and gaining reputation from being perceived as an environmentally responsible business. in 2018, the united nations environmental programme (unep) stated that sustainable waste management is one of the policy priorities for africa, and various continental, regional, and country-specific policy initiatives and strategies are being implemented. since waste management is a pressing issue in south africa at the moment, the legislature has enacted the national environmental management waste act, a specific piece of legislation purported to address waste management issues exclusively. in 2016, the department of environmental affairs stated that "sound waste management practices contribute to sustainability, making waste management one of the critical elements of sustainable development." the national waste management strategy outlines that the legacy of inadequate waste services, poorly planned and maintained waste management infrastructure, and limited regulation of waste management persistently threaten the health and wellbeing of everyone in the country. addressing this legacy and its negative environmental and social consequences advances people's constitutional right to a healthy environment (department of environmental affairs, 2012). all levels of government (local, district, provincial, and national) are legally accountable for waste management and respecting the south african constitution and the national environmental management: waste act, 2008 (act no.59 of 2008) (nemwa). environmental policy, particularly waste regulation, is relatively recent in south africa, with the majority of it passed since 1998 (oelofse & strydom, 2010). it has historically been fragmented and continues to be so (dea, 2011). nonetheless, south africa has made progress in meeting waste management criteria, critical difficulties, and obstacles. in south africa, environmental concerns have been tied to trash management and disposal (economic value) rather than focussing on waste prevention through legislation. as stated above, to preserve and safeguard the environment, it is crucial to follow the waste hierarchy of prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery, and disposal. nevertheless, the majority of south africans trash their waste because they do not recycle or repurpose it. the waste management hierarchy (avoid, reuse, reduce, recycle, recover, and dispose of trash) may be implemented with the help of smmes (manavhela, 2017). 3. materials and methods this study assesses how informal small businesses contribute to environmental pollution in the rand-west city local municipality in south africa, using qualitative research methodology. the target population for this particular study was the owners of informal small businesses located in townships and urban areas within the rand-west city local municipality in the gauteng province in south africa. however, the number of owners of informal small businesses was indeterminate because the municipality does not have complete records of all informal small business owners. there are only a few informal small business owners who had registered with the municipality when they applied for rental stalls to operate their business. semi-structured interviews were undertaken to collect empirical data from owners of informal small businesses. using semi-structured interviews was found useful because interview guides were prepared in advance to assist researchers in remaining focused on a particular topic. ruslin, mashuri, alhabsyi and syam (2022:24) contend that having an interview guide—a sort of unofficial compilation of subjects and enquiries that an interviewer might pose differently to each participant—is usually advantageous for interviewers. the guide frees researchers from format-specific restrictions so they can concentrate on the subjects at hand. equally important, a purposive sampling technique was applied to select the research participants, in which case a total of 25 owners of informal small businesses were chosen for interviews. hlongwane / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 the owners of informal small businesses interviewed in this study were involved in different operations such as hair saloon, take-away food stalls, vegetable stalls, roadside motor mechanics, and spaza shops. most of the owners were involved in the day-to-day operations of their businesses in the rand-west city local municipality. in other words, the owners of informal small businesses whose business operations were located outside the jurisdiction of the randwest city local municipality were not interviewed or selected for interviews. appointments were made with all the research participants, and they were informed about the purpose of the study before their participation in interviews. they were subsequently informed of the right to withdraw from participating at any stage of the interviews whenever they felt uncomfortable to proceed with interviews. all interviews were conducted at the places where the day-to-day business operations took place. another qualitative data collection technique that was applied was observation. one of the simplest techniques for gathering data is observation, which is "seeing" things (such as relationships, processes, objects, and events) and officially documenting and evaluating what is observed (intrac, 2017). further, observation was used to record the environmental cleanliness in areas where the informal small businesses operated. as a matter of fact, two dimensions were considered in relation to the use of observation. firstly, the descriptions of what the researchers have observed; secondly, reflections on what was observed. these were achieved by taking accurate notes of what was observed around areas where the informal small businesses operated. data collected through observations were used to confirm interview findings and to show contradictions. a strategy used by researchers to methodically organise and analyse complicated data sets is thematic analysis, which is a qualitative research technique (dawali, 2020:62). given the complexity of data collected through interviews, thematic analysis was applied to analyse such data. researchers familiarised themselves with data, generated initial codes, searched for themes, reviewed the themes, named and defined themes, and finally wrote the report on findings. on the other hand, qualitative content analysis was employed to analyse data gathered via observation schedule. to analyse observation data, the content that was to be analysed was succinctly identified and selected, units and categories of analysis were defined, a set of rules for coding was developed, and text was coded in lined preselected rules as recommended by luo (2023). since this study involved human participants, ethics clearance was granted by the college of economic and management sciences at the university of south africa as per reference number: pam/2020/009. 4. results. the findings of this study are presented herein in accordance with identified themes emanating from empirical data. therefore, this section presents the type of waste generated by informal small businesses, thereby stating how informal small businesses contribute to environmental degradation in the rand-west city local municipality in south africa. 4.1 boxes, plastic bags and foam plates the findings show that the informal small businesses in the rand-west city local municipality produce waste such as foam plates, plastic bags, and boxes. these types of waste are predominantly produced by informal businesses that sell take-away food parcels. in that regard, foam plates are used to serve food for customers, while plastic bags are used to insert different food parcels for customers. boxes are used by owners of informal small businesses to carry different food products to and from the market. unfortunately, some of the boxes, plastic bags, and foam plates are littered indiscriminately after use by customers. this trend was confirmed by observations of the physical environment adjacent to the markets where food stalls were operating. in that sense, it was clear that informal small businesses contributed indirectly to environmental contamination. one of the research participants commented that: “if you look at the nature of our business, you would have immediately noticed that the type of waste that we produce here includes used plastics, foam plates, as well as boxes. yeah, we use boxes to carry some of our products, but when they are broken, we must discard them. sometimes we do not have full control over some of the waste generated hlongwane / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 from what we sell because customers may choose to litter containers instead of using refuse plastics that we buy for the purpose of storing waste.” anonymous food stall owner b. the way some of the spaza shop owners handled it contributed to environmental pollution because burning nonrecyclable waste is not encouraged while recycling is commendable. in that regard, one participant explained how waste was disposed of: “we burn the plastic waste at one of the dumping sites next to the township. at the same time, we take recyclable waste such as polystyrene bottles and boxes to the nearest recycling stations.” anonymous spaza shop owner a. data collected through observation indicated that spaza shop owners as well as the vegetable stall owners made efforts to keep their working environment clean by sweeping their operating spaces before commencing with business. at the same time, it was observed that despite the absence of wheely refuse bins, some of the informal business owners had refuse bags into which they could put waste generated from their business operations. 4.2 defective motor vehicle parts. the findings emanating from interview data indicate that informal small businesses, especially the motor mechanics, produce multiple forms of waste in the form of defective motor vehicle parts. the defective motor vehicle parts include tires and mechanical and non-mechanical components. in most instances, vehicle owners do not collect replaced parts; instead, they choose to leave defective components with motor mechanics. two participants made the following remarks: “there is numerous waste that we produce as we repair vehicles. i may not be able to list them all, but i can only highlight a few for now. for example, defective motor vehicle parts (metal and plastic), and punctured motor vehicle tires." anonymous motor mechanic g. “our customers leave damaged spares with us here. so, we gather all broken and old vehicle spares in one refuse container for disposal." anonymous motor mechanic f. most of the defective motor vehicle spares are managed by keeping them in one container and dispatching them to recycling sites. observations indicate that worn-out tires were burnt in the open area adjacent to the place where motor mechanics operated. some of the defective non-metal spares were discarded in the open area without due regard to environmental cleanliness. 4.3 used motor vehicle oil. the findings of this study revealed that the informal small businesses contributed to environmental pollution when draining used oil from motor vehicles. based on this finding, it is evident that the roadside motor mechanics are the ones that contributed immensely to the environmental pollution during the process of drawing oil from motor vehicles. one participant explained: “the type of waste we produce during our business operations is used oil from different motor vehicles that we service. this may also include accessory parts." anonymous motor mechanic b. concerning the disposal of oil from serviced motor vehicles, some participants indicated that they recycle the oil. “we make sure that the oil coming from serviced motor vehicles is stored in a big drum until it is full. once it is full, a truck will come to collect it for recycling. unfortunately, we do not receive enough income from recycling. since we do not have our own space to keep the oil drums, we have requested to keep our drum nearby." anonymous motor mechanic c. one of the motor mechanics stated that they invented a special approach to handling oil spillages. however, such an approach does not seem to redress environmental pollution. the participant commented that: “when oil spills onto the ground during the process of draining it from a motor vehicle, we simply use soil to cover pillages." anonymous motor mechanic h. hlongwane / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 contrary to the interview findings, observation records indicated that the environment where the roadside motor mechanic operated was heavily stained with grease and oil. it was also evident that the oil spillages could be easily swept to the nearby water drainage systems as well as streams, especially when it rains. moreover, in terms of waste that is produced, there were multiple boxes stained with oil. it was not clear how these boxes were disposed of after business operations, as the mechanic did not reflect on that subject matter during interviews. 4.4 vegetable wastes. the informal small business owners that operated vegetable stalls highlighted that waste produced from their business operations was spoilt vegetables. since the type of waste produced was non-recyclable biodegradable waste, it was constantly difficult for some of the business operators to manage, especially when the municipality fails to collect waste. the level of difficulty was increased by the lack of refuse bins adjacent to the markets where vegetable stalls operated. observation data revealed that due to the non-collection of refuse in some of the areas where vegetable stalls operated, vegetable wastes were scattered, contaminating the environment. a participant stated that: “well, the type of waste that we produce here, i can say, is mostly vegetable waste, especially when some of those vegetables are wilted and spoiled." anonymous vegetable stall owner a. regarding the handling of vegetable waste, the vegetable stall owner explained: “the waste generated here is normally gathered in a black refuse bag for disposal in preparation for collection by the municipality’s waste collection trucks." anonymous vegetable stall owner a. one participant expressed frustrations about the fact that they utilise their own resources to keep their operating environment clean. “most of us intend to keep this place clean so that we can operate in a cleaner environment because we sell food to the community. also, we are using our money to buy refuse bags to put waste generated from our business operations." anonymous foodstall owner a. while this issue of waste collection was handled differently by one participant, the other participant involved in selling vegetables appeared to have an interesting approach to handling vegetable waste, as evidenced by the following remarks: “we do not produce much waste from vegetables. however, we do offer vegetable waste to one of the community members to feed swine." anonymous vegetable stall owner b. 4.5 chemical waste and hair off-cuts. interview findings revealed that informal small businesses such as hair salons produced various types of waste. these included tin foils, aerosol cans, and styling product containers. hair off-cuts were also part of the waste produced by hair salons. in the same way as vegetable stalls, some of the hair salons experienced intermittent collection of refuse. in instances where there was no refuse removal, the environmental contamination would be resultant. one participant commented that: “as a hair salon, we produce multiple wastes because we make use of different cleaning products. this explains that you can find some chemical waste. we sometimes produce waste such as aerosol cans, tin foil, styling product containers, and old hair straighteners. one that is obvious is the hair off-cuts because we style people. that is to name a few." anonymous hair salon owner a. the participant went on to highlight how refuse is managed to minimise environmental contamination. “in terms of managing waste originating from our business operations, we rely heavily on the municipality for refuse removal. the unfortunate part of it is that those services are not provided regularly. as you can see here, we do not have any refuse bins, and no one is supplying us with refuse bags either. so, we are on our own when the municipality does not come to remove waste. when there is no waste removal, refuse bags ultimately break open and one gathers the refuse together again, which means that it will start scattering all over the place. even worse, there are no toilets hlongwane / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 here, and it is difficult to operate in this environment. people urinate in open spaces when they are pressed." anonymous hair salon owner a. it was observed during observations that although the salon owner made efforts to keep the area clean, it remained a challenge to maintain the place as there were oil spillages around the premises. moreover, there was a stench in the vicinity due to the urination adjacent to the property, ostensibly because of the absence of toilets. this implies that customers who visit the establishment experience hardships when a need arises to use bathrooms to relieve themselves. the only alternative customers and owners have is to walk to the nearest mall. 5. discussion. a study conducted by parker, redmond and simpson (2008) found that although smes play a significant role in the global economy, they are also believed to be accountable for 70% of all pollution and about 60% of all carbon dioxide emissions from uk businesses. this is an indication that small businesses, whether formal or informal, do play a role in terms of environmental contamination. this current study has found that the informal small businesses in the westrand municipality do contribute to environmental pollution albeit in different ways, for example, littered plastic bags, boxes, and foam plates. in other words, both biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste were produced by informal businesses. juvan, grun and dolnicar (2023) found that businesses in the hospitality sector, such as restaurants and hotels, generated waste such as paper and cardboards or boxes that are used to package supplies for business operations. unfortunately, in some instances, informal business owners in the rand-west loca,municipality resorted to burning excess waste (e.g., plastics, papers, cardboard) produced during operations. this study found that most biodegradable waste, such as vegetable waste, was used to feed pigs as a way of preventing environmental contamination. importantly, this finding is in agreement with juvan et al.’s (2023) recommendation that food waste should be used to feed animals, albeit under strict hygiene principles to prevent harm to animals. this study found that some of the informal business owners collected recyclable waste generated by their businesses with the purpose of recycling, especially defective motor vehicle parts and used motor vehicle oil. the importance of waste recycling by informal small businesses was noted by sembiring and nitivattanani (2009), stating that in indonesia's bandung area, approximately 303 metric tonnes of solid waste (2295) produced were recycled by informal small businesses. in this regard, sultana et al. (2022) emphasised a need to prevent environmental pollution emanating from the informal sector. while this study found that oil was kept in containers by some informal businesses that repaired and serviced vehicles, it was noted that environmental contamination was observed where oil spillages took place in areas where vehicle repairs were undertaken. this finding is in agreement with soharwardi et al.’s (2021) statement that the operations of some businesses in the informal sector of the economy are accompanied by environmental pollution. according to sultana et al. (2022), the informal sector impedes long-term growth. there are benefits to the informal sector, particularly in terms of providing accessible services and establishing job opportunities. the thesis of sultana et al. (2022) is based on the linkages between the informal sector and concerns of low income, low productivity, unfair labour practices, and environmental damage. based on the empirical findings emanating from this study, there was little evidence that informal businesses sought to pursue recycling as a method to prevent environmental degradation. given the current waste regulations, worthington-smith (2009) is of a view that businesses should be fully committed to recycling, reducing, reusing, and disposing of garbage responsibly. one benefit of waste management for businesses is that it can reduce operating costs by treating garbage as an essential component of operations and enhancing a company's brand by being seen as an environmentally conscious enterprise. to assist small businesses in addressing environmental contamination, redmond and walker (2009) noted that small business owner-managers regard education as the most effective approach to minimising negative environmental consequences from within the industry, which provides some evidence that this perspective is in line with small business viewpoints. moreover, various educational approaches have been proposed for delivering environmental education, including evolutionary/cognitive/motivational, mixed method, participative problem solving, positivist, expert-controlled awareness raising, and transdisciplinary. hlongwane / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 6. conclusions. this study has offered key insights regarding how informal small businesses contribute to environmental pollution in the rand-west city local municipality in south africa. the study revealed that informal businesses generate multiple types of waste that can have negative impacts on the environment if they are not managed appropriately. waste generated from different activities of informal business affects the environment differently. for instance, oil spillages and littered vegetable wastes will have varying degrees of impact in terms of pollution. this may necessitate a diverse response to address these types of environmental contamination. in terms of policy implications, it can be argued that homogeneous approaches in waste prevention policies may not be helpful, especially when environmental pollution patterns remain completely heterogeneous. this implies that different policy approaches may need to be developed to curb increased levels of environmental pollution in different informal sectors. given the intricacies of waste management in the rand-west city local municipality, the government will need to provide dedicated refuse bins that can be utilised by informal business owners during their day-to-day operations. however, this will have to be undertaken in an orderly fashion whereby informal business owners are formally registered with the local municipality office. as part of the full recognition of the informal small businesses, the municipality may need to assist with dedicated areas where some of the informal small businesses, such as food stalls, motor mechanics, and hair salons, can operate with minimal prospects of environmental contamination. in other words, informal small businesses should be provided suitable places for the purpose of various business operations to ensure that the environmental design is conducive to minimising contamination or pollution. a major limitation of this study is that it lacks quantitative data on informal small businesses that operate in various sectors of the economy. such data could be useful in the disaggregation of environmental impact based on the activities of informal businesses in their various sectors. therefore, future studies may need to consider this exercise to understand how activities of informal small businesses impact the environment in different sectors of the economy. despite the limitations highlighted above, this study improves on the previous studies that have considered the topic of environmental contamination thereby highlighting specific ways through which informal businesses contributed to environmental pollution. at the same time the study serves to raise awareness among the informal business owners about the impact of the business activities as they relate to environmental contamination. by so doing, most of the informal business owners can be able to engage in activities that are environmentally friendly and sensitive without compromising the opportunity to earn income. acknowledgments not applicable. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval: this study involved human participants; therefore, ethics clearance was granted by the college of economic and management sciences at the university of south africa as per reference number: pam/2020/009. conflict of interest: the author(s) declare that there is no competing interest. references 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sultana n, rahman mm, khanam r. the effect of the informal sector on sustainable development: evidence from developing countries. business strategy & development, 2022; 5(4): 437-451. yakubu y, zhou j. novel approach to quantify municipal solid waste management hierarchy based on analytical hierarchy . inter j of environ sci and tech 2018; 16: 1897-1908. https://ourworldindata.org/economic-inequality https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/informality/ http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i3.955 covid impact on usage of public spaces in brasilia, brazil carla costa1 1msc. urban management and development at institute for housing and urban development studies of erasmus university rotterdam, the netherlands abstract covid 19 has proved to be a challenging time worldwide. for the last three years, academics have researched its impacts through different lenses and perspectives in many significant fields. in the urban academic realm, there has been a growing debate on the potential change in behavior towards public space usage during the pandemic. after compulsory confinent, public spaces became under the mainstream debate of the importance of public spaces for livelihood in times of crisis. still, assessing its impacts on public space is still not widely done, neither quantitatively nor qualitatively. this research brings brasilia as a study case to understand whether the pandemic has affected the usage of the iconic abundance of green spaces of the capital city on the first 18 months, before the introduction of vaccination. brasilia as a garden-city, a concept brought by the modern urban design movement, has always faced criticism for its hygienist design and the ample provision of green spaces. the garden-city features was put to a test after covid 19 through the analysis of five different types of public spaces using surveys and interviews with local residents of plano piloto (n=147). the results show that during the pandemic the usage of local neighborhood parks within walking distance has indeed increased. people tend to use these spaces for exercising but most importantly to socialize with friends and family. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords covid-19;public spaces; brasilia;pandemic. 1. introduction after 2020, it is clear that life has changed due to the global covid 19 pandemic. cities are on the frontlines of this crisis, with economic activity being affected, high rates of infection and inadequate resources. much has been discussed already on how the covid-19 situation will shape the future of cities. it has highlighted the inequalities and fragilities of the way we live. as a component of urban fabric, public space has become crucial in helping maintain people’s sanity during lockdowns. the importance of public space on the quality of life is irrefutable, after all it is where social interactions occur (costa et al., 2020), the source of a community’s collective life, and the foundation of its identity (sepe, 2021). public spaces depend on public life and public life influences the vitality of public spaces (bal, 2008). whenever there is a decline in the usage, there is a decline in vitality of ‘these centers of activity and communication’ (pasaogullari & doratli, 2004, p. 226). whenever there is a constant presence of people using it, public space is considered vibrant, and that extends to the perception of high quality of a particular city. the interaction is clear: life cannot happen without space and space loses its purpose without people. daily life occurs in a physical setting but the provision of public spaces alone is not a guarantee that it will be fully used by its residents. there are unlimited ways to evaluate the interaction of public life and public space. however, gehl & svarre (2013) suggest that although each city or context is exclusive, what happens depends on people’s choices (carmona et al., http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i3.955&domain=press.ierek.com carla costa / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 2010). the activities people choose to do in public spaces can be categorized in three main groups: ‘the necessary activities, the optional activities and the social activities’ (gehl et al., 2006). the interaction of public life and public space has changed as a result of the pandemic: some necessary and optional activities could be done without getting out of the house: work from home, shopping online, exercising with the help of mobile apps all to limit physical contact to a minimum and stop the spread of the virus. public life as we once knew it became digital. nevertheless, the need to go outdoors was an overall longing for everyone, and the provision of public space became a global spotlight. the modernist cities are in a favorable position when it comes to dealing with pandemics. the whole concept of garden city came from the hygienist utopia brought by ebenezer howard and, later, by le corbusier. “covid-19 is not our first pandemic, nor is this the first time planning and design has focused on improving public health. improving the sanitary conditions of cities motivated planners, architects and engineers to re-design cities before and more strongly in the late 19th century (jordi honey-rosés et al., 2020). the idea of opening spaces to prevent diseases affected urban design: green belts, ventilation, large openings on the facades are some of the characteristics of these particular modernist cities. the wide provision of public spaces is one of many attributes, besides the segregation of functions and the car-oriented design. regarding public spaces, jacobs (1992) and holston (1989) were amongst the critics of the brasilia configuration for having ‘infinite public space’, ‘empty spaces’, where it is difficult to promote encounters or, more broadly, where daily life should occur. the general perception of those infinite public spaces is the lack of expectation of public life. like tenorio rightly put it: “in brasilia, we don’t normally expect to see a vibrant public life, therefore it is not a problem when we don’t find it” (tenorio, 2012, p.209). intriguingly, the pandemic has brought new life to those ‘empty spaces’ of brasilia. the hypothesis brought on this research is that after covid-19, public spaces are being used like never before in brasilia. five different types of precincts were selected as case studies to measure this change according to the three different categories of activities (necessary, optional and social) related to the daily lives of the residents in the plano piloto area. these were chosen to explore the diverse range of modernist spaces that are involved in daily life of residents. they all have the potential to provide social distancing, are fully used by different types of people, can host different types of activities and testify to the functional characteristic of public space provided by the modernist urban planning tradition. the diversity of the selected public spaces demonstrates the different levels of usage as not all spaces were meant to have the same level of vitality. 1.1. relevance the relevance of the present research comes from the current situation the entire world is experiencing. the impacts of covid-19 are being researched in different fields such as health, economics, psychology, and politics. in regards to health, there is no better time to study the impacts of public spaces on health than now. the context is exceptional: since the spread of sars covid-19 was widely known, the first wave left the cities with a different image: streets and public spaces were left empty. every person in the world could observe that the synergy between people on the streets have become ‘unfamiliar and distant’ (jordi honey-rosés, 2020). in the urban academic realm, there has been a growing debate on the potential change in behavior towards public space usage during the covid-19 pandemic. weinberg and alexander (2021) have found that public spaces are being repurposed during the pandemic. cook and thorsen (2021) found that public life became more vibrant in public spaces during lockdowns providing ‘social infrastructure’ to local residents. a global research carried by gehl (o’connor, 2020) with more than 2000 respondents in 68 countries from all continents found that 65% of them have used public space daily during the pandemic. it also found that the main reason for doing so relates to physical and mental health activities. there is still much to be answered and no better timing to research the impacts of covid19 than now, since covid is still, unfortunately, an ongoing issue. it is critical to study and measure the changes in usage of public spaces during this pandemic, as a way to inform future planning and public policies in a post-covid world (jordi honey-rosés, 2020). additionally, those impacts have not yet been researched in a modernist city, which provides an opportunity to evaluate the design principles derived from a hygienist concept. carla costa / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 1.2 research objective the current research aims to get an insight on what has changed for the residents of brasilia in terms of usage of public space and ultimately make a south american contribution to the global mainstream debate of the importance of public spaces in times of crisis. moreover, it aims to test the hypothesis that public spaces are being used more than ever during the pandemic. the research aims to evaluate the main question: to what extent has covid-19 affected the usage of public spaces by local residents of brasilia? 1.3 limitations since the research was conducted online due to travelling restriction during the first wave of the pandemic, on-site observations were not possible. this limitation prevented the collection of on-site data on usage of the chosen precints, relying only on the feedck given by the respondents complemented by interviews. the number of respondents (n=147) were not representative of the population of the neighbourhood (over 225.000 people), and yet, the spatial configuration of plano piloto is so unique that does not represent the entire city of brasilia. in that sense, the typology of public spaces are confined exclusively in the plano piloto area. figure 1: plano piloto and its five types of public spaces: superquadras (yellow), entrequadras (orange), ‘eixão do lazer’ (pink), paranoa lake (blue) and city park (green). (source of the base map: seduh/gdf, 2021) carla costa / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 2. public space 2.1 physical dimension public space within the urban context is the starting point of this research. although some people believe defining public space is rather obvious, a precise definition is a complex challenge. each person defines it according to their own lens. the definition varies amongst authors and researchers. carmona (2010) in his literature review-based paper proposes his own typology of urban spaces with 20 categories after analyzing many proposals. those typologies helped in choosing the five precincts subject of this research: public open space: typically green and available to all. it is located surrounded by residential areas and caters to a diversity of cultural, leisure and contemplative uses for its local adjacent residents. it is normally equipped with sitting benches, playgrounds, gardens, sports courts, hosting different users at different times of the day. see figure 2. left over space: space that has no specific functions other than to separate residential areas or to connect them to others. it has a wide continuous green surface space filled with lawn and fewer random trees with few or no equipment. it has well defined edges and it is perceived often as a deserted area. see figure 3. movement space: space that has as main function to serve vehicular traffic, and therefore it has little pedestrian movement. however, it transforms to a linear park when it is closed to cars during weekends making room for a diversity of activities for local residents. see figure 4. civic space: it is often a point of reference for a number of events that affect public life, having a collective interest. for that, it contains multiple areas that cater to combined uses and different needs such as large greenery surface, water features, barbeque facilities, amphitheaters, sports courts, playgrounds, etc. it is accessible by different modes of transportation and easily recognizable by the residents. see figure 6. natural urban space: as an important natural element within the urban landscape such as lakes, rivers, seashore, and canals, it has a wideness characteristic and has an ecological importance. it is associated as a resting and socializing space that could also host recreational activities. see figure 5. figure 2 (left): aerial view of a superquadra with its inner green areas. the vast empty green area in between superquadras is an entrequadra. (photo credit: joana franca, 2018) carla costa / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 figure 3 (right): entrequadra 309/310 north. between two superquadras, this area is perceived as an empty area. under the red polygon, there is a church, one of the common uses for this space. the highlighted area has 1.7 hectares approximately. (base images extracted from google earth, 2021.) figure 6: birdview from city park and its inner lakes. (photo credit: heitor menezes, 2016) 2.1. social dimension: usage of public space from an environmental psychology approach, canter (1977) emphasizes the reciprocal relation between space and human behavior. it is difficult to disassociate the social component from the physical one in trying to define public space. he states, “behavior is related to a particular setting and thus constrained by it” (p.44). additionally, our behavior is determined by our subjective interpretation of our individual experiences (p.22), it is related to what we do, as activities, and what we feel, as perception (p.40). different from other spaces that often relate to a certain type of activities, public spaces seem to have a capacity to host several activities. kaplan & kaplan (1989, p.6) relate people to a natural environment, which includes parks and green areas. although it is about a specific spectrum, we can amplify their findings to all types of public spaces. according to them, human species are ‘strongly oriented to visual and spatial information’. moreover, spatial organization gives substantial information about what one can do in a particular setting. figure 4 (left): aerial view from residential highway axis, also known as ‘eixão’. (photo credit: joana franca, 2020) figure 5 (bottom): birdview from lago paranoa and jk bridge. (photo credit: bento viana, 2018) carla costa / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 there are many ways to categorize what one can do in a public space. activities can vary from place to place and from time to time, ‘undergoing continuous change’ (gehl & svarre, 2013, p.19). new activities can appear depending on external factors such as changes in legislation, new technological products or a big event, for instance. due to limitations, the passive engagement, sensorial behavior, stationary activities were intentionally left out since it requires on-site observations (watching, hearing, speaking, standing, sitting). the categories used in this research are derived from gehl et. al (2006, pp. 9-12). they are divided in: necessary activities are related to everyday tasks and do not depend much on the spatial conditions (e.g. working, shopping, walking to school, taking the garbage out); optional activities depend more on willingness and external conditions (e.g. strolling, jogging, reading a book). the optional activities have a higher importance because they relate to peoples’ preferences. if a public space offers better spatial quality, chances are that people will choose to use it more often; social activities can occur in either or both of the abovementioned, and depend on interaction with others (e.g. children playing, playing soccer). 3.0 methodology the strategy for this research is a combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods. a case study is necessary to explore and describe the unique physical dimension of public spaces in plano piloto neighborhood. regarding accessibility and proximity, public spaces in brasilia can be divided in three types considering the distance from the residential areas: local areas (immediate access, less than 5 minutes walking), adjacent open areas (from 5 to15 minutes walking access), and further public spaces (over 15 minutes walking). the selection of the five precincts were based not only on the levels of proximity mentioned earlier, but also to cover the different typologies of public spaces. the level of recognition by local residents was also a reason for the choosing the abovementioned precincts. multiple case studies can help understand why some places are more susceptible to public life than others are. secondly, an online survey with close-ended questions provided insight to the change in behavior in relation to the chosen public spaces considering the time dimension. the usage of public space was measured by frequency divided in three main groups of activities in each precinct: the necessary activities, the optional activities and the social activities’, proposed by gehl (gehl et. al., 2006). the survey contains the same questions divided in two parts: before and during the pandemic, to evaluate change, yielding a total of 26 variables analyzed. the target population was plano piloto’s residents (n=147) who live in the area, at least, for 2 years in the interest of evaluating change in usage before and during the pandemic, considering that it has officially started in brasilia in march 2020. 4. research findings many scholars are writing about the relation between covid and public spaces and this thesis wants to contribute to this debate. as i write this in the fall of 2021, 18 months after the outbreak of covid-19, we are still learning from the potential and importance of public space, as a ‘socially produced space’ (van melk, filion, & doucet, 2021, p. 16). it can certainly not be dissociated from people within the city. although we might be facing a ‘recovery’ or a ‘reopening phase’ all over the world, the virus is still a threat, and obviously requires more than park provision. we could not be at a better laboratory. as jacobs (1992, p.6) said, “cities are an immense laboratory of trial and error”. interesting choice of the word laboratory for a city where a virus is literally spreading. the city has indeed become a laboratory to test the best practices to avoid spreading the virus amongst its inhabitants. the pandemic has changed the way the inhabitants see and use public space: “the search for essential outdoor and climatic human needs has become more valuable” (gehl, 2020, p. 11). in gehl’s exemplary study in four different danish cities it was found that “people have adapted existing offering of public spaces to fit their physical activities needs (recreation, play, exercise) even in places that don’t have exercise equipment” (gehl, 2020, p. 19). this also applies to the case of brasília, where public spaces closer to residences have few amenities available. the present research demonstrated the impacts of covid-19 on the usage of public spaces in brasilia. the physical dimension of public spaces in plano piloto, unchanged over time due to its heritage-listed condition, set the context where the social dimension of public life occurred. the covid 19 is a mediating variable, an external shock that affected this ongoing relationship. even though the data showed that some residents stopped using public spaces carla costa / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 reflecting contagion concerns, there was an overall increase in frequency from those who remained using them. in that sense, the empiric observation was tested and confirmed that public spaces are being used more than ever during the pandemic. moreover, it demonstrated the differences in use between different types of public spaces and how use changed before and during the pandemic. researching the five precincts gave insight on how the usage differs according to the physical characteristics of a public space. the importance of local neighborhood areas within walking distance was the main outcome, supporting the outcomes of gehl’s research in denmark (gehl, 2020). local or neighborhood parks were more intensively used than the ones that are located in the city center, correlating proximity and increase of usage during the pandemic. 4.1 usage before the pandemic when residents were approached to reflect on their usage of public space during corona, it brought a retrospective perspective of what it was like before the covid interrupted our lives. this baseline was necessary to set grounds to a comparison analysis. the subquestion ‘how was the usage of each different type of public space before the pandemic regarding necessary, optional and social activities’ has shown that there was a significant usage of public spaces already in brasilia. the number of respondents and their frequency of usage showed that the five precincts were more intensively than often thought. the usage was especially high on the further precincts: 46% of the respondents said they always used paranoa lake and 42% used the city park always. those places were mostly reached by private vehicles by 69% and 67% of the respondents, respectively. as per types of activities, the closest precincts were mostly likely to be chosen for necessary activities (35% in superquadras and 33% in entrequadras), whereas the paranoa lake was mostly used for relaxing, an optional activity. eixao and city park were precincts chosen mainly for exercising (47% and 35%, respectively). comparing weekday usage with weekend usage, the latter was more intense on eixao, paranoa lake and city park (77%, 65% and 58%, respectively), confirming those public spaces as common weekend destinations. from all the precincts research, city park had the more intense night usage. that outcome contradicts some criticism of the modern tradition itself. holston once said that in “brasilia ‘there are no people in the streets’, the city ‘lacks crowds’ and ‘lacks the bustle of street life”. the absence of an urban crowd has earned brasilia the reputation of a city that “lacks human warmth” (holston, 1989). of course, the vitality will always be a difficult attribute when someone refers to brasilia in comparison to a traditional city. even so, the city has its own dynamics. pinto in his research concluded that the “residents attributed a special meaning to brasilia’s public spaces, a place status that is attached to a way of living. (…), this (place) can constitute a reference to affection, that some can call quality of life, expressing a relation to a place, a spatial reference to one’s life.” (pinto, 2011, p.103). carla costa / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 7: difference between the type of usage of the 5 different types of public spaces in abosulte percentage from the survey. it is possible to make comparisons betweens types of public spaces, types of activities and time, considereing the pandemic. (source: the author, 2021) 4.2. usage during the pandemic activities can vary from time to time, ‘undergoing continuous change’ (gehl & svarre, 2013, p.19). the covid 19 pandemic was an external factor that brought new ways of living and new ways to use public space in brasilia. “when i went for a walk here, in the band 700, between the blocks there are some gardens, trees, i noticed people making picnics, they put a chair away from each other, a towel, and they have a snack, under the trees, that got my attention". r10 (female, 53 years old) the research subquestion ‘how was the usage of each different type of public space during the pandemic regarding necessary, optional and social activities’ brought the outcomes regarding change in time on this usage. the results show that even though there might be people who ceased to use the public space after the start of the pandemic, the ones who continued to use the public space are using it more frequently. the number of respondent who answered they use ‘always’ the superquadra open spaces increased 10% in comparison to the usage before the pandemic. on the other hand, the ones who use it ‘rarely’ increased significantly by over 30% on the further precincts (31% at eixão, 31% in paranoa lake and 37% at city park). that confirms the suspicion that proximity plays a major role during the pandemic, when local public spaces have been more used than ever. in the context of brasilia, the way you reach those spaces has not changed much: walking is still the preferred mode to reach the closest areas whereas cars to reach the further ones. in regards to types of activities, there was an overall decrease in socializing, which is predicted in a pandemic scenario. one can say that socializing was mainly happening inside our houses, through digital platforms and social media. the research found that at eixão, paranoa lake and city park there were no respondents who said they have used those carla costa / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 spaces for social activities during the pandemic. walking a dog and relaxing had a slight increase both in superquadra and entrequadras areas. exercising increased only in superquadra areas, stating that people would choose closest public spaces not only for necessary activities but also to keep fit during the pandemic. when it comes to weekend preferences, the results were relatively the same, confirming that the further public spaces continues to be the weekend preferred destinations even during the pandemic. figure 8: why do you use the public space? before the pandemic (left) during the pandemic (right). (source: the author, 2021.) figure 9: why don’t you use the public space more often? before the pandemic (left) during the pandemic (right). (source: the author, 2021) prompting for the reasons for not using the public space more often, respondents were asked to think about the public space they use the least. interestingly, the motivations have changed significantly due to the pandemic. the top two reasons for not using public spaces before the corona crisis were lack of time and lack of motivation to go. during the pandemic, one can imagine that time was plentiful and motivation to go out after being stranded at home for a long period was not valid any longer. during the pandemic, the reasons for not going to public space more often shifted to perception of safety and crowds. the safety measures may have played a good part in it. since the question had an open space for respondents to add other reasons, most of them added the distancing and fear of contamination as reasons for not using public space. gehl’s study showed that ‘some local places are becoming full and it is harder for people not to cluster in large groups and keep distance’ (gehl, 2020, p. 30). another finding related to night usage found that in one hand, the number of residents who stated they used the city park during nighttime have decreased during the pandemic on the other it has increased in entrequadra areas, also confirming the importance of proximity in changes in usage behavior. the need for a wider space was the main motivation for using public space during the pandemic: it has increased 6% in comparison to before the pandemic. the main reason for not using more often the public space was the perception they were too crowded, which had an increase of 11% in comparison to before the pandemic. this last finding can also add to the empiric perception that public spaces in plano piloto were being more used than before the pandemic. the relation between residents and public space changed due to a global pandemic. people started to build new relations, relations where the base is the fear of contamination. even with a horrible motivation to use, local residents in brasilia seeked to overcome this difficulty and found in the wide public spaces a safe escape. “i believe that the pandemic revolutionized the way ‘brasilienses’ see their city” r1 (female, 44) carla costa / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 moreover, it has shown that there were some activities people prefer to do in public spaces during a pandemic. exercising and relaxing were the main ones, and are probably the ones that would persevere in a post covid scenario figure 9: superquadra 'new normal': celebrating birthdays on public spaces. (photo credit: virginia manfrinato, 2021) figure 10: ‘eixão do lazer’, a highway closed for cart traffic on sundays during the pandemic, in august 2020. (photo credit: acacio pinheiro/agencia brasilia) carla costa / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 5. conclusion despite the differences in dealing with the spread with stay at home, compulsory usage of facial mask, lockdowns measures, we have observed that even though there was an initial closure of public spaces (that varies differently between countries and types of public spaces), and then more and more public spaces were getting used, with pressure growing on large urban parks. the small local parks seemed to be undergoing a resurgence (van der berg, 2020). the pandemic has shown how public spaces are more than just nice amenities; they are vital community hubs. through a multi-method impact assessment for knight foundation, gehl documented how public spaces fostered more equitable access and community resilience (weinberg & alexander, 2021). the research has confirmed the empiric observation that, even though people were avoiding encounters due to the pandemic, they used more frequently the surrounding public spaces than before the pandemic. the proximity factor was one of the key attributes that impacted this change in behaviour. the trend was not only observed in brasilia, but in a global scale, where public spaces played a major role during the pandemic. brasilia is a city that its residents have wide access to green areas and public spaces within walking distance, which is a feature that was embedded in its creation in 1960, in the midst of the modern movement trend. the perception of residents during the pandemic changed in a way that they realize the privilege of living in a city with wide provision of spaces. “when you are forbidden to go out, we recognize the importance of having public spaces”. r5 (male, 35) there is a window of opportunity to be taken from this pandemic by identifying options in managing public spaces during a crisis. the complexity of urban issues shows that public life experiences can vary greatly between different groups and that can highlight inequalities from levels other than spatial. a pandemic brought attention on how fast this change can disrupt lives and the urge of having a fast response. the management of public spaces must be realized through intersectional approaches that focus not only in designing policies but also in individual and collective action. discussion a vision for public spaces can rise new possibilities and ideas in the planning and policy realms for the existing and potential open areas. short-term approaches is possible, as many initiatives around the globe can show. in addition, long-term perspectives are also desirable and urgent. our cities should be resilient to the next shock whether is unexpected or not. covid-19 is still a reality, but other pandemics can emerge. what happened with the pandemic is an extraordinary opportunity to learn from other cities and people about change in behaviors, mobility patterns, community business and environmental approaches to strategically improve not only the city planning itself but also our citizens wellbeing. 7. recommendations a further step in academic research would be getting a broader horizon on the subject of public spaces in south america, where there is little literature in this context. an interesting comparison between other modernist cities could bring more in depth knowledge on how the modernist principles affect the usage of public spaces by its residents in a crisis. furthermore, since this research was focused on residents of plano piloto, a broader view could start in comparing this data with similar neighborhoods. noroeste and sudoeste are neighborhoods that have a similar spatial configuration as seen plano piloto. this comparison could bring similarities or differences considering the same types of public spaces. since both these neighborhoods have demographic similarities, another way to improve the comparison would be to compare neighborhood parks from surrounding districts, also known as ‘satellite cities’. as those areas have a completely different spatial configuration, further research could test the proximity to public spaces variable to see how it affects figure 11. waiting for vaccination. photo: roberta saita, september 2021. carla costa / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 usage behavior. moreover, a future investigation can compare whether there was a significant change in usage in a post covid scenario. we can then draw more conclusions on whether covid-19 has indeed transformed the way people use public space. references bal, m. (2008). perceptions, planning and principles of public open spaces (pos): realities of cape town and kosovo informal settlement, south africa. rotterdam: ihs. canter, d. (1977). the psychology of place. new york, ny: st martin’s press. carmona, m. (2010). contemporary public space, part two: classification. journal of urban design, 15(2), 157-173. carmona, m., tiesdell, s., heath, t., & oc, t. (2010). public spaces urban spaces. the dimensions of urban design. new york, ny: routledge. codeplan. (2016). pesquisa distrital por amostragem de domicilios: plano piloto pdad 2015/2016. brasilia: gdf. cook, r., & thorsen, s. (2021, 14 04). social media and social space: studying public life in the time of covid. retrieved from gehl people: https://gehlpeople.com/blog/social-media-and-social-space-studying-public-life-in-the-time-of-covid/ costa, c., mačiulienė, m., menezes, m., & marušić, b. (2020). co-creation of public open spaces. practice, reflection, learning. lisbon: ediçoes universitárias lusófonas. gehl. (2020). public spaces & public life during covid 19. copenhagen: city of copenhagen. gehl, j., & svarre, b. (2013). how to study public life. washington: island press. gehl, j., gemzøe, l., kirknæs, s., & & søndergaard, b. s. (2006). new city life. arkitektens forlag. holston, j. (1989). the modernist city: an anthropological critique of brasilia. chicago: university of chicago press. jacobs, j. (1992). the death and life of american cities. new york ny: vintage book. jennings, v., & bamkole, o. (2019). the relationship between social cohesion and urban green space: an avenue for health promotion. international journal of environmental research and public health, 16, 452. jordi honey-rosés, i. a. (2020). the impact of covid-19 on public space: an early review of the emerging questions – design, perceptions and inequalities. cities & health, 1-18. kaplan, r., & kaplan, s. (1989). the experience of nature: a psychological perspective. new york, ny: cambridge university press. moser, g. (2004). urban environments and human behaviour. in c. d. spielberger, encyclopedia of applied psychology (pp. 621-631). elsevier inc. o'connor, e. (2020, may 07). public space plays a vital role in pandemic. retrieved from gehl people: https://gehlpeople.com/blog/public-spaceplays-vital-role-in-pandemic/ pasaogullari, n., & doratli, n. (2004). measuring acessibility and utilization of public spaces in famagusta. cities, vol. 21, no. 3, p. 225–232. pinto, f. (2011). um caso peculiar de unidade do diverso: um olhar sobre a apropriação de espaços públicos em áreas residenciais do plano piloto. brasília: universidade de brasília sepe, m. (2021). covid-19 pandemic and public spaces: improving quality and flexibility for healthier places. urban design international. tenorio, g. (2012). ao desocupado em cima da ponte. brasilia, arquitetura e vida publica. brasilia: universidade de brasilia. un-habitat. (2020). un-habitat guidance on covid 19 and public space. un-habitat. (2021). cities and pandemics: towards a more just, green and healthy future. isbn number: 978-92-1-132877-6. urban land institute. (2021). the pandemic and the public realm global innovations for health,social equity, and sustainability. washington dc: urban land institute. van den berg, r. (2020, april 10). how will covid-19 affect urban planning? retrieved from the city fix. https://thecityfix.com/blog/willcovid-19-affect-urban-planning-rogier-van-den-berg/ van melk, r., filion, p., & doucet, b. (2021). global reflections on covid 19 and urban inequalities. volume 3 : public space and mobility. bristol: bristol university press. weinberg, l., & alexander, e. (2021, march 24). public spaces: a platform to connect during covid 19 and build equitable cities beyond. retrieved from gehl people: https://gehlpeople.com/blog/public-spaces-impact-assessment/ https://thecityfix.com/blog/will-covid-19-affect-urban-planning-rogier-van-den-berg/ http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 15 july 2023, accepted: 13 september 2023, published online: 30 september 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i4.973 prioritizing the components of the disaster resilient system using dematel and anp for urban areas hajar sarmadia1, siavash aghababaei2 1senior lecturer in civil engineering, manukau institute of technology tepukenga, auckland, new zealand 2senior transportation engineer | resilience, wsp, auckland, new zealand abstract although many research studies have been performed on vulnerability assessment and hazard mitigation, it is extremely hard for communities to cope with disasters appropriately. there are many uncertainties and unanticipated issues in disasters; therefore, coping with disasters and emergencies is not as simple and easy as mitigation and preparedness activities. the concept of disaster resilience has been described as a method to overcome unforeseen problems. this paper aims to discover and prioritize dimensions and components of disaster resilient systems (drs) in urban areas using delphi, decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (dematel), and analytic network process (anp). numerous frameworks and models have been used to define relevant dimensions and components of drs based on the delphi method. the relationship between the components has been determined using dematel. finally, the obtained data has been applied to anp to define a conceptual model and to obtain a weighted supermatrix for prioritizing the main components of drs. the results of the study have shown that a comprehensive emergency plan (cep) is the most important component for earthquake resilience in urban areas. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords analytic network process (anp); delphi method; dematel; resilience; disaster resilient system (drs); earthquake. 1. introduction recent incidents indicate that communities and people are increasingly becoming more vulnerable to disasters, and the risks are globally rising (mayunga, 2007; ainuddin and routray, 2012). however, risk reduction and vulnerability are often ignored until the occurrence of disasters (cutter et al, 2008b). under these circumstances in which risks and uncertainties are growing, the concept of resilience has been defined as the managing of disturbance, unanticipated events, and change (mitchell and harris, 2012). resilience to natural hazards and disasters has been defined as the ability of communities exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential structures and functions (unisdr 2009). while the concept of resilience has been used in science since 1625 (alexander, 2013), in the field of ecology; it was first introduced by holling (1973) and has been applied in disaster risk reduction since 2000 (alexander, 2013). in fact, after the presentation of the hyogo framework for action (1995), an evident paradigm shift has occurred from hazard assessment to vulnerability analysis and community resilience creation in recent hazard literature (ainuddin and routray, 2012). although there is a variety of frameworks and models in disaster resilience, there is http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i4.973&domain=press.ierek.com pg. 2 sarmadia/ environmental science and sustainable development no consensus among researchers on the components and standard metrics of resilience. moreover, the variables that should be utilized to measure resilience have not been determined (ainuddin and routray, 2012; cutter et al., 2008b; twigg, 2009). vulnerability and resilience are indeed dynamic processes; however, they are often considered as static phenomena because of their measurement purposes (cutter et al., 2008b). recent literature (norris et al., 2008; mitchell, 2012) considers resilience as a process rather than an outcome and specifies resilience as a dynamic system. in addition, various definitions have been presented for disaster resilience. mayunga (2007) has summarized some selected definitions of the resilience concept published in disaster and hazard literature. a number of recent definitions have also been provided all of which indicate there is no consensus among researchers and practitioners on a common definition of the concept. it is evident that the definitions are diverse, reflecting the complex nature of the concept, and most of them emphasize the capacity to cope with disasters, disturbances, or emergencies. in other words, resiliency is often the flexible capacity of a system to absorb stresses and recover rapidly from emergencies. accordingly, a resilient community has been defined as one that which can cope appropriately with disasters, has the highest level of flexible capacity, and will not be greatly influenced by disasters. a disaster-resilient community can also be defined as ‘the safest possible community that we have the knowledge to design and build in a natural context’ (twigg, 2009). two kinds of strategies have been suggested; anticipation and resilience strategies. anticipation strategies usually operate to resolve known problems, while resilience strategies better resolve unidentified problems (wildavsky, 1988; normandin et al., 2011). resilience concentrates on community resources and methods of strengthening community capacities, instead of focusing on their vulnerability and deficiency (twigg, 2009). on the other hand, vulnerability, as one of the most common elements of risk that is applied directly or indirectly to risk assessment methods, is often considered as contradictory to resilience (twigg, 2009). however, resilience goes beyond the capacity component of vulnerability and the combination of these two concepts can lead to a more comprehensive understanding of disasters (obrist et al., 2010). according to godschalk (2003), a resilient city is a combination of physical systems and human communities. resilient systems that can be applied to physical and social systems tend to be redundant, diverse, efficient, autonomous, strong, interdependent, adaptable, and collaborative (godschalk, 2003). a resilient community contains a variety of complex issues. thus, many elements are involved in resilience due to which its description in a clear and organized manner is almost impossible. therefore, the disaster resilient system (drs) is defined as a resilient system that proposes and prioritizes appropriate dimensions and components of resilience against contingency earthquakes in urban areas based on experts' comments using delphi, decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (dematel), and analytic network process (anp). it specifies the components that are vital for disaster (especially earthquake) resilience in urban areas with high levels of disaster as a result of earthquakes and should be considered by authorities and managers as their priorities. some research has been conducted regarding disaster resilience in urban areas. the economic and institutional resilience of four different districts of tehran was evaluated by rezaei (2014). he assessed institutional resilience (institutional context, institutional relations, institutional efficiency) and economic resilience (loss rate, loss compensation capacity, ability to recover) using analytic hierarchy process (ahp) and preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation (promethee). he found that the loss rate indicator (0.383) and compensation capacity indicator (0.281) had the highest importance. 2. methodology: 2.1 finding the dimensions and components of drs using the delphi method the first stage was the identification of appropriate criteria for the disaster resilient system in urban areas. the delphi method was suggested for the demonstration of the dimensions and components of drs. the delphi method originated from the studies of the rand corporation in the 1950s and is known as a method that is applied to a wide variety of fields and a tool for expert problem-solving. the delphi study is designed to answer questions with high pg. 3 sarmadia/ environmental science and sustainable development uncertainty and based on speculation. hence, only individuals with a high level of relevant knowledge are eligible to respond to these questions (okoli and pawlowski, 2004). in the first step of the delphi method, a group of relevant experts was identified and selected. for this research, a group of 26 experts in the fields of disaster management, urban planning, civil and environmental engineering, and geography were chosen. after the identification of experts, a relevant questionnaire should be designed. therefore, in the second step, we selected 16 studies in the field of disaster resilience (table 1) and classified their selected factors into 6 dimensions as main elements of drs. then, based on the obtained dimensions and components, the questionnaire was designed and sent to experts. the experts were asked to respond to the questionnaire and to offer feedback on the position of dimensions and components and consolidation or expansion of components, or to propose other new elements which they thought were important for drs. in the next step, the responses of experts were received and analyzed. then, a new questionnaire was designed for the second round. the respondents were asked to revise their first response and answer other questions based on their responses to the first survey. they could change their responses or maintain their previous opinion. this process was repeated until more than 77% of respondents attained a component identical to that acceptable for drs. finally, 41 components in 6 main dimensions were selected (table 2). 2.2 determination of the intensity of the direct and indirect relationships between drs components using dematel dematel is one of commonly used techniques in multiple-criteria decision-making (mcdm) which is suitable for the analysis of the direction and strength of the direct or indirect relationships between defined components (chen, hsu, and tzeng, 2011). the different steps of this method are described below. step 1: in this step, the direct relation average matrix should be calculated. the degree of the direct impact that each perspective i exerts on each perspective j is determined by respondents (chen, hsu, and tzeng, 2011) using a scale ranging from 0 to 4 (0: no impact, 1: low impact, 2: medium impact, 3: high impact, 4: very high impact) (chen, lien, and tzeng, 2010). the mean of the same perspective in the various direct matrices of the respondents is used to obtain an average matrix c (eq. 1) (chen, hsu, and tzeng, 2011). c=[ 𝑐11 𝑐1𝑗 𝑐1𝑛 𝑐𝑖1 𝑐𝑖𝑗 𝑐𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑛1 𝑐𝑛𝑗 𝑐𝑛𝑛 ] (1) step 2: the initial direct impact matrix is calculated in this step. therefore, the average matrix c should be normalized to obtain the initial direct impact matrix d using equations (2) and (3). d=sc (2) s=min [ 1 𝑚𝑎𝑥 ∑ |𝑐𝑖𝑗| 𝑛 𝑗=1 , 1 𝑚𝑎𝑥 ∑ |𝑐𝑖𝑗| 𝑛 𝑖=1 ] (3) step 3: the total impact matrix is calculated in this step. by obtaining the normalized direct-impact matrix d, the total impact matrix t can be calculated using equation (4) as follows: 𝑇 = 𝐷 + 𝐷2 + ⋯ .+𝐷𝑘 = 𝐷(𝐼 − 𝐷)−1 (4) 𝑇 = [𝑡𝑖𝑗]𝑛∗𝑛 i,j=1,2,…,n (𝐼 − 𝑋)(𝐼 − 𝑋)−1 = 𝐼 where i is the identity matrix. step 4: in this step, the sum of each row and column of matrix t are obtained using equations (5) and (6). sarmadia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 𝑑 = [∑ 𝑡𝑖𝑗 𝑛 𝑗=1 ] 𝑛∗1 (5) 𝑟 = (𝑐𝑗)1∗𝑛 ′ = [∑ 𝑡𝑖𝑗 𝑛 𝑖=1 ] ′ (6) 𝑑𝑖= the sum of the ith row of matrix t 𝑟𝑗= the sum of the jth column of matrix t therefore, 𝑑𝑖 illustrates the sum of direct and indirect impacts of component iion the other components. on the other hand, 𝑟𝑗 shows the sum of direct and indirect impacts that component j has received from the other components (chen, hsu, and tzeng, 2011). moreover, di+rj indicates the intensity of the relationship between components, and di-rj indicates the intensity of impacts among components (azizi et al., 2014). 2.3. applying dematel data to anp to find weighted supermatrix using supper decision software finding the intensity and interrelation between the components and dimensions in a complicated system such as drs is very difficult. dematel is not only used to find interrelation between factors, but is also used to specify the more accurate weights of the pairwise comparison (chen, hsu, and tzeng, 2011). moreover, due to its nonlinear structure, anp can manage interdependencies between clusters (dimensions) and nodes (components of each dimension). anp is one of the mcdm methods, is an extension of ahp, and was introduced by saaty in 1996 and 2001. a combination of dematel and anp is increasingly used in different subjects such as equity investment (lee et al., 2011), environment watershed plans (chen, lien, and tzeng, 2010), hot spring hotel performance (chen, hsu, and tzeng, 2011), brand marketing (wangand tzeng, 2012), and entrepreneurship policy (tsai and kuo, 2011). the first step of anp is defining a conceptual model which determines interconnections among dimensions and components. the second step is a pairwise comparison between components using super decisions software. the super decisions software is a mathematical theory that applies anp to find dependence and feedback of dimensions and components. in this step, pairwise comparison is performed through number coding (from 1 to 9) in super decisions software (fig. 1) (azizi et al., 2014). fig 1: pairwise comparison in super decisions software the next step is the calculation of the primary supermatrix which is obtained from weights of the pairwise comparison of the previous step. equation 7 indicates the general form of the supermatrix. eq. 7: 𝑤 = d1 𝐷2 𝐷𝑛 𝐶11 c12 ⋮ 𝐶1𝑚1 𝐶21 𝐶22 𝐶2𝑚2 ⋮ 𝐶𝑛1 𝐶𝑛2 ⋮ 𝐶𝑛𝑚𝑛 [ 𝑊11 𝑊21 ⋯ 𝑊1𝑛 𝑊12 𝑊22 … 𝑊2𝑛 ⋮ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ 𝑊𝑛1 𝑊𝑛2 ⋯ 𝑊𝑛𝑛] this equation has 6 dimensions and 41 components. therefore, it is a 41*41 supermatrix in which wij denotes the connection between the ith component and the jth component. in the final step, the dimension weights are calculated pg. 5 sarmadia/ environmental science and sustainable development by weighting the primary supermatrix, which is obtained by multiplying the dimension weights matrix by the primary supermatrix (azizi et al., 2014). 3. discussion and results as mentioned previously, the delphi method was used to find the relevant dimensions and components of disaster resilience in urban areas. therefore, the opinions of 26 experts, mostly with experience in disaster management and primary knowledge of resilience, were applied. we tried to include various perspectives in our delphi process to evaluate the results. in the first design of the drs, six dimensions and relevant components were introduced based on the 16 mentioned studies (table 1). they were used to design a structured questionnaire. the experts were asked to comment on drs and their components (dimensions and components that are thought to be appropriate for drs). the structured questionnaire was sent to experts by email, fax, and rarely by mail based on their convenience. in addition to the questionnaire, the main base and origin of each dimension and component were provided to experts for their knowledge. then, they were asked to modify the classification and the position of components if they had new ideas or comments. these comments were gathered and analyzed by the researchers. identical responses were removed and other perspectives were consolidated to provide a new questionnaire. table 1: models and frameworks of resilience model or study factors ema (2001) personal attributes (health, income, age, gender, skills, network, and lifestyle choices); infrastructure status (coverage, accessibility, and reliability); community attributes (networks, amenities, and facilities); economic status and trends (growth or decline, employment levels, and innovation); demographic status and trends (age structure, immigration, and gender balance); environmental status (sustainability, diversity, and pollution); geographic attributes (remoteness, topography, and weather) buckle (2006) shared community values, knowledge of hazards, established social infrastructure, positive socioeconomic trends, partnerships, resources, and skills. csiro(2007) metabolic flows (production, supply, and consumption chains); governance networks (institutional structures and organizations); social dynamics (demographics, human capital, and inequity); built environment (ecosystem services in urban landscapes) mayunga (2007) social capital (trust, norms, and networks); economic capital (income, savings, and investment); human capital (education, health, skills, and knowledge/information); physical capital (housing, public facilities, and business/industry); natural capital (resource stocks, land and water, and ecosystem) twigg (2009) governance (policy, planning priorities and political commitment, legal and regulatory systems, integration, institutional mechanisms, capacities and structures, allocation of responsibilities, partnerships, and accountability and community participation); risk assessment (hazards/risk data and assessment, vulnerability and impact data and assessment, and scientific and technical capacities and innovation); knowledge and education (public awareness, knowledge and skills, information management and sharing, education and training, cultures, attitudes, motivation, and learning and research); risk management and vulnerability reduction (environmental and natural resource management, health and wellbeing, sustainable livelihoods, social protection, financial instruments, physical protection, structural and technical measures, and planning regimes); disaster preparedness and response (organizational capacities and coordination, early warning systems, preparedness and contingency planning, emergency resources and infrastructure, emergency response and recovery, participation, voluntarism, and accountability). cutter et al. (2008a) social vulnerability (race and ethnicity, age, socio-economic status, gender, employment, education, household structure, access to services, occupation, housing, and special needs); built environment and infrastructure (residential, commercial and industrial development, lifelines, transportation infrastructure, and monuments and icons); natural systems and exposure; hazards mitigation and planning (emergency response plans, building standards and codes, hazard mitigation plans and vulnerability assessments, comprehensive plan, coop, interoperable communication, recovery plans, and etcetera) cutter et al. (2008b) ecological (wetland acreage and loss, erosion rate, impervious surface, biodiversity, and coastal defense structure); social(demographics, social network and social embeddedness, community values-cohesion, and faith-based organization); economic (employment, value of property, wealth generation, and municipal finance); institutional (participation, hazard mitigation plans, emergency services, zoning and building standards, emergency response plans, interoperable communications, and coop); infrastructure (lifelines and critical infrastructure, transportation network, residential housing stock and age, and commercial and manufacturing establishments); community competence (local understanding and risk, counseling services, absence of psychopathologies, health and wellness, and quality of life). sarmadia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 model or study factors norris et al. (2008) economic development (risk and vulnerability to hazards, level and diversity of economic resources, and equity in resource distribution); social capital (received social support, perceived social support, social embeddedness (informal ties), organizational linkage and cooperation, citizen participation, leadership and roles (formal ties), sense of community, and attachment to place); community competence (community action, critical reflection and problem-solving skills, flexibility and creativity, collective efficacy empowerment, and political partnership); information and communication (narratives, responsible media, skills and infrastructure, and trusted sources of information) normandin et al. (2011) income; water; emergency planning; population; energy; insurance; telecommunication; environment condition; housing condition; safety standards and codes; age; education; gender; business; health; transportation; urban planning; community involvement; training; risk assessment lo´pez-marrero and tschakert (2011) suggested focusing on community-level disaster prevention supporting local authorities and civic organizations, building cooperative partnerships, strengthening disaster prevention knowledge and capabilities, and encouraging the expression of relevant thoughts or opinions on disaster prevention issues through the implementation process to ensure consensus building for key disaster management issues smith et al. (2011) suggested that community-based disaster prevention measures should provide resident participation and transformational approaches, including disaster management implementation plans, expert assistance and analysis, and capability assessment models and experience transfer, thus increasing public disaster prevention awareness and improving emergency and crisis response capabilities mcgee (2011) proposed supporting community-based disaster prevention by localizing disaster and emergency management responsibilities and capabilities. recommended government support of community organizations and residents in implementing community-based disaster prevention, along with the establishment of public-private partnerships for disaster prevention and rescue work ainuddin and routary (2012) leadership and politics, structural and societal changes, physical location, age, attitudinal factors, health, income, gender, long-term commitment, social networks, government policies, short-term recovery, capable agencies, reaccumulation of capital, and long-term rehabilitation wilson (2013) proposed the use of government channels to promote community-based disaster prevention, coordinate the timing of policy implementation, define the rights and responsibilities of various stakeholders, and control funding to ensure proper implementation of community-based disaster prevention measures parsons et al. (2016) absorptive capacity was social character, economic capital, community capital, emergency services, planning, infrastructure, information, and engagement. on the other hand, adaptive capacity included themes such as governance, policy, leadership, social engagement, and community engagement mohammed hamidul hasan et al. (2020) demographic structure, economic capital, social capital, community engagement, plan and policies, infrastructure, existing resources, knowledge of hazards in the second round, experts provided their comments on the modified questionnaire. finally, after 4 rounds, an agreement was reached by experts and more than 77% of participants accepted the dimensions and components of table 2 as the elements of drs. although some of these components such as land use can belong to different dimensions, they were placed in only 1 dimension based on experts’ comments. table 2: proposed dimensions and components of drs conception dimensions components explanation disaster resilient system economic dimension access to services (c1) availability, diversity, frequency, and distance from services economic diversity (c2) income and occupational resources in the community economic growth (c3) economic safety (c4) security and safety in national and international investment and production economic stability (c5) stability in international deals and exchanges, and stability in national currency exchange rate individual economic condition (c6) employment, income, savings, investment, value of property, housing, and occupation municipal finance (c7) role of governmental-based assistance during and after disasters sustainable livelihoods (c8) occupational security, unemployment security, and distribution of wealth and livelihood assets environmental dimension biodiversity (c9) geographic attributes (c10) remoteness, topography, and weather land use (c11) urban open spaces such as parks and green spaces for settlement operations, commercial and residential use, and their distance to open spaces sarmadia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 conception dimensions components explanation natural capital (c12) resource stocks, land and water, and ecosystem pollution (c13) extension and kind of produced pollution potential hazards and exposure (c14) sustainability (c15) infrastructural dimension critical infrastructure (c16) national public media, nuclear facilities, internet networks, emergency centers, government organizations, and military sites coverage, accessibility, and reliability (c17) coverage of, accessibility to, and reliability of critical infrastructures, lifelines, and public facilities lifelines (c18) electric power facilities, water and wastewater facilities, oil and natural gas facilities, telecommunication, and transportation public facilities (c19) police stations, hospitals, fire stations, schools and universities, and nursing homes institutional and planning dimension comprehensive emergency plan (c20) response plans, continuity of operation, recovery plans, preparedness and contingency planning, urban planning, hazard mitigation plans and vulnerability assessments, and infrastructure protection plan early warning systems (c21) governance networks (c22) connections between governmental organizations and agencies hazard insurance (c23) acceptance and coverage of hazard insurance by the public, and the existence of scientific-based insurance institutional mechanisms, capacities, and structures (c24) institutional mechanisms, capacities, and structures to respond to disasters and emergencies, and the role of ngos and related organizations in disasters legal and regulatory systems (c25) existence of emergencies and disasters laws, and law enforcement actions responsible media (c26) role of media in disasters socio-cultural dimension attachment to place (c27) dependence on location, and neighborhoods community competence (c28) local understanding and risk, counseling services, absence of psychopathologies, health and wellness, quality of life, community action, critical reflection and problem-solving skills, flexibility and creativity, collective efficacy and empowerment, and political partnership demographics(c29) age structure, gender balance, populations with special needs, and immigration education and training (c30) level of education, level of public information about disasters, level of disaster training among people, and public knowledge household structure (c31) number of children, family network and connections, distance between family and their relatives, health, and age sense of community (c32) social network (c33) social cohesion, individual and public participation, race and ethnicity, beliefs, social embeddedness (informal ties), and leadership and roles (formal ties) social protection (c34) social mutual assistance systems, access to social services, and social information channels structural and physical dimension hazardous facilities (c35) locations, amount, kind, and preservation activities historic landmarks(c36) locations, importance, age, usage, and popularity industrial and commercial units (c37) number of employees, structural conditions, kind of activity, and access to services physical protection (c38) civil engineering activities for physical empowerment and strength residential units (c39) structural condition, number of residents, and access to services standards and codes (c40) structural and technical measures (c41) in the second step, the experts were asked to specify the extent of the impact of each component on other components through the numbers 0 to 4 (0: no impact; 1: very low impact; 2: low impact; 3: high impact; 4: very high impact) regarding the earthquake condition and resources of urban areas. therefore, based on the obtained data, dematel techniques, and programming by matlab software, the intensity and direction of the relationship between pg. 8 sarmadia/ environmental science and sustainable development components were calculated. the outcomes were applied to introduce a conceptual model in anp. figure 2 illustrates the overall defined conceptual model of drs in super decisions software. it shows how dimensions are connected and therefore impact each other. as mentioned previously, connections and intensity among components (connected to or from each component) were computed by importing dematel outcomes data and defining user formulas to this software. fig 2: the conceptual model of drs in super decisions software in the next step, pairwise comparisons were performed between dimensions and components to specify the importance of dimensions and components to each other for urban areas. finally, the results of the model were obtained as a weighted supermatrix, normalized components, and overall synthesized priorities for alternative dimensions in the following charts and tables. sarmadia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 figure 3: urban areas dimension matrix the intensity between dimensions is shown in figure 3. data in columns indicate the impact of each dimension on others. it can be seen that the economic dimension of urban areas has the most impact on structural and infrastructural dimensions (0.21837, 0.213053), and then, on the institutional and planning dimension (0.130875). this means that a strong economic dimension results in powerful and resistant infrastructural and structural dimensions in urban areas. it also illustrates the impact of the economic dimension on other dimensions which is relatively high in comparison with other dimensions. the environmental dimension also has a high impact on structural and infrastructural dimensions (0.17263, 0.184595). obtained data indicate that the infrastructural dimension is more influential on structural resilience (0.303017) and economic resilience (0.153694) in urban areas. the high impact of planning and socio-cultural dimension on economic dimension can also be seen in urban areas. however, in the next rank, planning is more influential on structural and infrastructural dimensions. it should be noted that the socio-cultural dimension has a reasonable impact on planning. finally, the structural dimension also has a high impact on the infrastructural dimension, and then, with a significant difference, on the planning dimension. sarmadia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 c1 c2 c3 c4 c5 c6 c7 c8 c9 c10 c11 c12 c13 c14 c15 c16 c17 c18 c19 c20 c1 0 0 0.03539 0.04204 0.05216 0.02155 0.0616 0.01298 0 0.02226 0.01185 0.00838 0 0.01068 0.00242 0.00658 0.04131 0.00801 0.02562 0 c2 0 0 0.0498 0.01498 0.04062 0.05661 0 0.03363 0.00833 0.00471 0 0.00205 0 0.00288 0.0022 0 0.01071 0 0 0 c3 0 0.13965 0 0.14147 0.11516 0.14236 0 0.10607 0.04806 0.01031 0 0.00651 0 0.00661 0.01354 0.04199 0.06573 0.04864 0 0 c4 0 0.07782 0.06237 0 0.08765 0.06106 0 0.03573 0 0 0 0.00205 0 0.00178 0.00452 0.01552 0.01797 0.01641 0 0 c5 0 0.08074 0.07165 0.07716 0 0.06106 0 0.03573 0 0 0 0.00205 0 0.00183 0.00452 0.01552 0.01797 0.01641 0 0 c6 0 0.01907 0.011 0.042 0.02744 0 0 0.08387 0 0 0 0.00479 0 0.00361 0.00471 0 0 0 0 0 c7 0 0.04947 0.04465 0.03809 0.03594 0.01733 0 0 0 0.00505 0.03554 0.01678 0 0.01577 0.00652 0.07408 0 0.06422 0.12808 0 c8 0.30801 0.02465 0.03315 0.03567 0.03243 0.03143 0.24641 0 0.01733 0.00505 0 0.00479 0.06552 0.00424 0.00894 0 0 0 0 0.30801 c9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.05921 0.02586 0.04879 0.05028 0.02221 0.03968 0 0 0 0 0 c10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.23356 0 0.0807 0.15884 0.31963 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 c11 0.01935 0 0.00177 0 0 0 0.00312 0 0.03402 0.09315 0 0.10598 0 0.10165 0.18251 0 0 0 0 0.01935 c12 0 0 0.01129 0 0 0.03074 0 0 0.08363 0.15195 0.0807 0 0.16085 0.06253 0.11979 0 0 0 0 0 c13 0 0 0.00342 0 0 0.00615 0.00153 0 0.12058 0.06084 0.02303 0.02072 0 0.01503 0.02547 0 0 0 0 0 c14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00849 0 0.05123 0.0382 0.18064 0.03231 0 0 0.07996 0 0 0 0 0 c15 0.00968 0.03689 0.01255 0.03689 0.03689 0 0.01589 0.02903 0.17301 0.04405 0.05647 0.08076 0.08782 0.04598 0 0.05292 0.05292 0.05292 0.05292 0.00968 c16 0 0 0.06087 0 0 0 0.06653 0 0 0.05869 0 0.05538 0 0.06831 0.06153 0 0.17984 0.16683 0.15415 0 c17 0.11716 0 0.03044 0 0 0 0.01792 0 0 0.01694 0 0.01846 0 0.0184 0 0.05138 0 0.10105 0.05138 0.11716 c18 0.05119 0 0.06087 0 0 0 0.06653 0 0 0.05448 0.1846 0.05538 0 0.06372 0.06153 0.15415 0 0 0.15415 0.05119 c19 0.0447 0 0.06087 0 0 0 0.06207 0.21305 0 0.05448 0 0.05538 0 0.03416 0.06153 0.15415 0.17984 0.0918 0 0.0447 c20 0 0 0.03539 0.04204 0.05216 0.02155 0.0616 0.01298 0 0.02226 0.01185 0.00838 0 0.01068 0.00242 0.00658 0.04131 0.00801 0.02562 0 c21 0.01828 0.12473 0.02182 0.0467 0.04463 0.12473 0.02834 0.09816 0.14336 0.01434 0.00861 0.01684 0 0.0274 0.06297 0.02743 0.00844 0.0104 0.0147 0.01828 c22 0 0 0.01387 0 0 0 0.0222 0 0 0.03598 0.02809 0.02564 0 0.02518 0 0.04331 0.0441 0.02369 0 0 c23 0.06908 0 0.0378 0 0 0 0.02892 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.01011 0 0 0.02622 0.03804 0.05554 0.06908 c24 0 0 0.00782 0.02245 0.01949 0.04158 0.02777 0.03272 0 0.00555 0.0132 0.00884 0 0.01466 0.01841 0 0 0 0 0 c25 0.04352 0.04158 0.04957 0.09715 0.10218 0 0.02364 0 0 0.02618 0 0.04083 0 0.00693 0.01077 0.01581 0.0148 0.01524 0.02333 0.04352 c26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.04226 0 0 0.00339 0 0 0 0 0 0 c27 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0101 0 0 0 0.00448 0 0.007 0 0.00619 0 0 c28 0 0 0 0 0 0.00424 0 0.00353 0 0.01214 0 0.00376 0.01054 0.0028 0 0 0 0 0 0 c29 0.01739 0.08197 0.03819 0.0448 0.06064 0.01324 0.08144 0.02459 0 0.00515 0 0.01287 0.04826 0.02067 0.01945 0.01074 0.03714 0.01182 0.00952 0.01739 c30 0.03853 0.02483 0.02307 0.01896 0.01767 0.00773 0 0.00689 0.08689 0.02273 0.04468 0.02209 0 0 0.00479 0.01702 0 0.01668 0.01855 0.03853 c31 0.009 0 0.00841 0 0 0.01613 0.02036 0.01263 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00801 0 0 0 0 0.009 c32 0 0.02255 0.00415 0.01091 0.00779 0.02301 0 0.00755 0 0 0 0 0 0.00783 0.00223 0 0 0 0 0 c33 0 0 0 0 0 0.00436 0 0.00309 0 0.0113 0.01117 0.0026 0 0.00229 0 0 0 0 0 0 c34 0.03077 0 0.0171 0 0 0.03288 0 0.02359 0 0 0 0.00891 0 0.01503 0.01553 0.00643 0 0.00577 0.00619 0.03077 c35 0.00611 0 0.01088 0.05468 0.04326 0.02777 0 0.01992 0 0.00454 0 0.00564 0.01842 0.00723 0.00585 0.00294 0 0.00288 0.00287 0.00611 c36 0 0 0.01066 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.01278 0.02849 0.06601 0 0.01982 0.00671 0.08132 0.03528 0.03823 0.04759 0 c37 0 0.13803 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.01133 0.048 0.01026 0 0.00582 0.00977 0 0 0 0 0 c38 0 0.13803 0.10797 0.20704 0.18403 0.01704 0.01484 0.11017 0 0.01278 0 0.03346 0 0.01008 0.02942 0.18618 0.08493 0.07913 0.17988 0 c39 0 0 0.02347 0 0 0.03635 0.07955 0.04428 0 0.04467 0.01449 0.01428 0 0.05176 0.05917 0 0 0 0 0 c40 0.02848 0 0.04905 0 0 0.15776 0.01484 0.01851 0 0.01278 0 0.03346 0.23868 0.01439 0.0202 0.03552 0.02648 0.02708 0.07555 0.02848 c41 0.04521 0 0 0 0 0 0.0343 0 0 0.03363 0.06514 0 0 0.02915 0 0 0 0 0 0.04521 table 3: urban areas weighted supermatrix sarmadia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 c21 c22 c23 c24 c25 c26 c27 c28 c29 c30 c31 c32 c33 c34 c35 c36 c37 c38 c39 c40 c41 c1 0 0.02679 0.06635 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.02076 0 0 0 0 0 0.09862 0 0 0.01233 0 0.01409 c2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.007 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.01263 0.00274 0 0 0 c3 0.10049 0.07364 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.12755 0.05198 0.02235 0 0 0 0 0 0.03773 0.02475 0 0 0 c4 0.01819 0.01721 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.01285 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00727 0 0 0 c5 0.01819 0.01721 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.01285 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00727 0 0 0 c6 0 0 0.01639 0.09332 0 0.0633 0 0 0.01857 0.08023 0.16468 0.18577 0 0.24769 0.27495 0 0 0.00495 0 0.04437 0 c7 0.07604 0.11839 0.14028 0.2091 0.34002 0.18993 0.3548 0 0.06757 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.08455 0.03623 0.08629 0.10158 0.08453 c8 0.04033 0 0.03021 0.03123 0 0 0 0 0.03401 0.04438 0.06067 0.06192 0 0 0 0 0 0.0154 0 0.01938 c9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 c10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 c11 0.00881 0 0.00776 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0018 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.08168 0 0 0 0.01194 c12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.01489 0.01011 0.03103 0 0 0 0.0361 0 0 0.03687 0.08342 0 c13 0.00219 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00356 0.00321 0.00776 0 0 0 0.00626 0 0 0.00511 0.01668 0 c14 0.0159 0.02661 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00646 0.00958 0 0 0 0.0097 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 c15 0.00414 0.00443 0.02328 0 0.04168 0.02661 0 0 0.03232 0.00619 0.02547 0 0 0.02909 0.04305 0.01735 0 0.05971 0.01773 0 0.04777 c16 0.03318 0.05036 0.02323 0 0 0.03871 0 0 0 0.02375 0 0 0 0 0 0.05095 0 0.08966 0.04483 0 0.0807 c17 0.01659 0.01029 0.04646 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.13874 0 0 0.13449 0 0.0269 c18 0.03318 0.02774 0.02323 0 0 0.03871 0 0 0 0.02375 0 0 0 0 0 0.05095 0 0.08966 0.04483 0.22548 0.0807 c19 0.03318 0.02774 0.02323 0 0 0.03871 0 0 0 0.02375 0 0 0 0 0 0.02835 0 0.08966 0.04483 0.22548 0.0807 c20 0 0.0983 0.255 0.48306 0.13768 0.08908 0.06021 0.13979 0.03519 0.03088 0.09974 0.09974 0.18638 0.02063 0.14762 0.01357 0.18005 0.09871 0.03767 0.22066 0.03021 c21 0.06593 0 0 0 0.04609 0 0.31561 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00949 0 0.07625 0 0 0.00792 0 0 c22 0.12696 0 0 0 0.30851 0.17036 0.13786 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.03248 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 c23 0.01747 0.02508 0.02765 0 0 0.05243 0 0.0466 0.00719 0 0.03325 0.03325 0 0.00627 0 0.03507 0 0 0.06569 0 0.01538 c24 0.08051 0.04921 0.08397 0 0 0.03626 0 0 0.02664 0.09264 0 0 0 0 0 0.00673 0 0.0329 0.02034 0 0.00833 c25 0.04559 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.05083 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0777 c26 0.03016 0.19403 0 0 0 0.0185 0 0 0.01315 0 0 0 0 0.06412 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 c27 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.04661 0.02033 0.10733 0.29054 0.14267 0.04284 0 0.01378 0 0 0.00788 0 c28 0.06448 0.02519 0.02396 0 0.09452 0.09386 0.03288 0.0497 0 0.01809 0.07498 0.03254 0.05434 0.02233 0.05273 0.03004 0 0 0 0 0.03755 c29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.10411 0.04516 0 0.04106 0.06005 0.12311 0.11447 0.10233 0 0 0 0 0.03444 0 c30 0.01188 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.22293 0.04763 0 0 0 0.017 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 c31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.14114 0.16298 0 0 0.06828 0.08704 0 0 0 0 0.01636 0 c32 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.18442 0.02227 0.04526 0.02033 0.12967 0 0.08599 0.03041 0 0.00602 0 0 0.00427 0 c33 0 0.05767 0.06039 0 0.03151 0 0.09864 0.25437 0.12749 0.10304 0.10896 0.12716 0.16151 0 0.21902 0 0.03156 0.03004 0 0 0 c34 0.0175 0.011 0.00951 0 0 0 0 0.08209 0.06355 0.04534 0.05277 0.02465 0.04518 0.03065 0 0.00751 0 0.00751 0.03755 0 0 c35 0.03782 0.03991 0 0 0 0.01869 0 0 0 0.01104 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.07812 0 0.05828 c36 0.00547 0.00565 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00667 0 0 0 0 0 0.03641 0 0 0.01584 0 0 c37 0.02136 0.03544 0.0754 0 0 0.00648 0 0 0 0.02467 0 0 0 0 0 0.26827 0 0 0.05284 0 0.03714 c38 0.00899 0.00768 0 0 0 0.02358 0 0 0.02478 0 0.04957 0 0 0.04957 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.14222 c39 0.03275 0.02709 0.01902 0.18329 0 0.00979 0 0.13894 0 0.04968 0 0.09913 0.13894 0 0 0.09883 0 0.40352 0.03001 0 0.02366 c40 0.01377 0.01445 0 0 0 0.05384 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.4416 0 0 0 0 c41 0.01895 0.00887 0.03588 0 0 0.02673 0 0 0.07435 0 0.04957 0 0 0.04957 0 0 0.1104 0 0.22671 0 0.14222 sarmadia/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 table 3 illustrates the weighted supermatrix which is the result of pairwise comparison of components. this table also represents the connection or disconnection of components with each other and the impacts of each component on the other components. the impact of each component on the other components is shown in each column. it can be seen that potential hazards and exposure, natural capital, and geographic attributes of urban areas have the highest impacts on the other components. the comprehensive emergency plan (cep) is also one of the vital components of urban areas, which is under the influence of most components. charts 1 to 6 illustrate overall synthesized priorities of urban areas for the dimensions which have been represented in 3 forms; ideal, normal, and raw which are based on three different methods by idealzing or normalizing the values. the first normal priority in the economic dimension is municipal finance. sustainable livelihood and economic growth are, respectively, in the second and third rank (chart 1). sustainability, natural capital, and land use are the priorities of the environmental dimension (chart 2). as can be observed in chart 3, the infrastructural priorities are critical infrastructure, lifelines, and public facilities which are close to each other. the cep is the priority of the planning and institutional dimension. governance networks and institutional mechanisms, capacities, and structures are the chart 1: overall synthesized priorities for the economic dimension chart 2: overall synthesized priorities for the environmental dimension chart 3: overall synthesized priorities for the infrastructural dimension chart 4: overall synthesized priorities for the institutional and planning dimension chart 5: overall synthesized priorities for the sociocultural dimension chart 6: overall synthesized priorities for the structural and physical dimension pg. 13 sarmadia/ environmental science and sustainable development next priorities (chart 4). community competence and social network are also close in socio-cultural dimension and demographics are the subsequent priority (chart 5). chart 6 illustrates that industrial and commercial units and residential units are in the highest normal priority. table 4: prioritized components of resilience in urban areas dimensions components score* dimensions components score* economic (20.2%) access to services (c1) 1.7209 institutional and planning (17.7%) comprehensive emergency plan (c20) 6.9827 economic diversity (c2) 0.5676 early warning systems (c21) 1.8935 economic growth (c3) 3.3122 governance networks (c22) 3.1218 economic safety (c4) 1.0929 hazard insurance (c23) 1.5451 economic stability (c5) 1.1122 institutional mechanisms, capacities, and structures (c24) 2.709 individual economic condition (c6) 2.5234 legal and regulatory systems (c25) 0.5647 municipal finance (c7) 6.4238 responsible media (c26) 0.877 sustainable livelihoods (c8) 3.4959 sociocultural (12.3%) attachment to place (c27) 0.9722 environment (7.8%) biodiversity (c9) 0.301 community competence (c28) 2.7394 geographic attributes (c10) 0.7003 demographics(c29) 1.7455 land use (c11) 1.056 education and training (c30) 1.1045 natural capital (c12) 1.5296 household structure (c31) 0.9598 pollution (c13) 0.4467 sense of community (c32) 0.8087 potential hazards (c14) 0.7953 social network (c33) 2.6542 sustainability (c15) 2.9616 social protection (c34) 1.3013 infrastructure (20.1%) critical infrastructure (c16) 4.953 structural (21.9%) hazardous facilities (c35) 2.2482 coverage, accessibility, and reliability (c17) 2.7038 historic landmarks(c36) 0.4567 lifelines (c18) 5.968 industrial and commercial units (c37) 5.8221 public facilities (c19) 6.4885 physical protection (c38) 2.4908 * residential units (c39) 5.7727 standards and codes (c40) 0.7692 structural and technical measures (c41) 4.3084 the next analysis of the drs was the analysis of normalized components by dimension which has been illustrated in table 4. this table represents the components that should be noticed for resilience in urban areas and illustrates the prioritized components of urban areas. it has been shown that the cep is the priority of urban areas and the most effective component of the system. this means that experts believe there are some deficiencies in the cep for urban areas. this also shows the role of emergency plans in resilience in urban areas. with minor differences, sustainability stands in second place. the next 8 important components for urban areas are, respectively, public facilities, municipal finance, lifelines, industrial and commercial units, residential units, critical infrastructure, community competence, and social network. it is evident that the majority of priorities are related to structural and infrastructural resilience in urban areas. among the final 10 priorities, the outstanding role of social components can be observed in urban areas resilience. 4. conclusion: since the use of the resilience concept in disaster risk reduction (alexander, 2013), various models and frameworks have been proposed by scholars and scientists. moreover, resilience has been analyzed in different fields, from environment to engineering and disasters. although there is a variety of frameworks and models in disaster resilience, there is no consensus among researchers on components and standard metrics of resilience and the variables that should be used to measure resilience have not been determined (ainuddin and routray, 2012, cutter et al., 2008b, twigg, 2009). in this article, the physical and nonphysical dimensions of resilience were examined for urban areas disaster resilient system and the relationship between selected components and dimensions was specified using dematel and anp. pg. 14 sarmadia/ environmental science and sustainable development whenever an emergency occurs, communities in urban areas are confronted with disturbances and interruptions; therefore, destruction and entropy are created based on community vulnerability. the community system of urban areas is resilient and has the capacity to cope with disasters if drs is performed and implemented accurately. the selected elements, which consisted of 6 dimensions and 41 components, were determined using the delphi method. anp and dematel were used to find the interactions between components in addition to their weights. although anp determines interactions between components, it cannot specify the weights of the components (azizi et al., 2014). therefore, the application of dematel was suggested in combination with anp to increase accuracy. as a result, the direction and the intensity of the relationship between selected dimensions and components were calculated using dematel. finally, the weight and importance of the components were obtained through anp. it should be mentioned that due to the time-consuming process of responding to the questionnaire, it was very difficult to convince participants to take their time to complete it. one of the key findings of this research is dimensional interrelationships. according to the findings, structural and infrastructural dimensions have the most impact on each other. furthermore, the institutional and planning dimension and socio-cultural dimension have the most impact on the economic dimension. furthermore, the economic dimension also has a noticeable impact on structural and infrastructural dimensions. according to experts’ comments and the analysis conducted using anp and dematel, the first prioritized component for contingency earthquake of urban areas is a cep. this is mostly due to the lack of existence of a cep for urban areas which should contain response plans, continuity of operation plans, recovery plans, preparedness and contingency plans, urban plans, disaster risk reduction plans, and infrastructure protection plans. these are pieces of a puzzle that should be defined with respect to each other. it is suggested that the tdmmo, as a responsible organization in disaster management in urban areas, provide a cep for urban areas as one of the vital criteria in responding to this devastating disaster in urban areas. for the second priority of urban areas resilience, the sustainability indexes of urban areas should be recognized and defined. moreover, in the first 10 prioritized components, the important role of public facilities resilience, lifelines resilience, industrial and commercial resilience, residential resilience, and critical infrastructural resilience was noticeable. this finding indicates that, besides other responsible organizations and agencies, tdmmo should implement projects to improve the resilience of the mentioned components. finally, experts believe that community competence and social networks are in a reasonable condition in urban areas; however, they have not been well-implemented in the cep for urban areas. therefore, it is suggested that authorities and managers consider these components as nonphysical components of resilience in their programs and decisions. acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented in resilient and responsible architecture and urbanism (rrau) – 5th edition which was held on the 20th of april 2023. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval: not applicable. conflict of interest: the 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(1988). search for safety. new brunswick: transaction books. wilson ga (2013) community resilience, policy corridors and the policy challenge. land use policy 31:298–310 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 21 september 2024, accepted: 31 october 2024, published online: 31 december 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i4.1120 remote sensing for sustainable crop water management in a changing climate yousra cheikhaoui1, sadiki mohamed2, allouza mohamed3, chakiri saïd4, bouabdli abdelhak5 and kadiri hassani kenza6 1phd student in laboratory of geosciences, department of geology, faculty of sciences,ibntofail university,kenitra, morocco 2professor in laboratory of geosciences, department of geology, faculty of sciences,ibntofail university,kenitra, morocco 3professor in laboratory of geosciences, department of geology, faculty of sciences,ibntofail university,kenitra, morocco 4professor in laboratory of geosciences, department of geology, faculty of sciences,ibntofail university,kenitra, morocco 5professor in laboratory of geosciences, department of geology, faculty of sciences,ibntofail university,kenitra, morocco 6phd student in laboratory of geosciences, department of geology, faculty of sciences,ibntofail university,kenitra, morocco, in the international center for agricultural research in the dry areas (icarda), rabat, morocco and in the research unit on environment and conservation of natural resources, regional center of rabat, national institute of agricultural research, rabat p.o. box 6356, morocco. abstract climate change is escalating, posing challenges that impact agricultural regions, including the gharb irrigated area in north-western morocco. this paper explores the role of remote sensing as a powerful geospatial tool for identifying, characterizing, and landmarking resources in agriculture over a large surface area. it proposes adaptive strategies for sustainable agriculture amid dynamic climatic conditions, with a particular focus on addressing water management challenges. this research estimates the water requirements of different crop types in the gharb plain irrigated area by combining geospatial technological development, crop modeling, and multi-date data. throughout the study, we address key challenges such as crop dynamics, data accuracy, and policy integration. the findings show that remote sensing plays a significant role in crop water management, promoting sustainability, and precision agriculture despite the challenges posed by climate change. furthermore, the study emphasizes the necessity of continued research, technological advancement, and policy implementation to fully realize the potential of remote sensing in guiding agriculture toward a resilient and sustainable future. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords: remote sensing; climate change; water requirement; gharb plain http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i4.1120&domain=press.ierek.com cheikhaoui/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 1. introduction in recent years, remote sensing data has increasingly become valuable for various applications, serving as an essential analytical resource for monitoring crucial land cover changes in sustainable crop water management. amidst climate change challenges, sustainable crop water management has emerged as a vital solution. by optimizing water use efficiency and enhancing resilience, it ensures the sustainability of agricultural practices, conserves resources and promotes economic viability for farmers worldwide. projections indicate a 70% increase in global agricultural production required to meet the needs of an anticipated population of 9.8 billion by 2050. according to the united nations department of economic and social affairs (2017), the global population is expected to grow from 7.6 billion currently to 8.6 billion by 2030, 9.8 billion by 2050, and 11.2 billion by 2100. these projections highlight the critical importance of adopting sustainable farming practices to meet the growing demand for food while safeguarding the environment. the agricultural sector faces increasing challenges due to climate change's impact on crop productivity and essential production inputs (ortiz-bobea, 2021). studies, such as those conducted by porter et al. (2014), have extensively analyzed the effects of observed climate changes on crop yields over the past half-century. amidst these challenges, satellite remote sensing has emerged as a critical tool for identifying crops and monitoring their conditions (potgieter et al., 2021; weiss et al., 2020). this technology allows the assessment of crop growth status and eventual production, providing valuable insights into agricultural sustainability and food security. recent advancements in satellite technology, combined with cloud-computing platforms like google earth engine (gee) (gorelick et al., 2017), have significantly enhanced our capacity to identify and monitor crops at high spatial and temporal resolutions, overcoming previous constraints in satellite data processing and information extraction. the agriculture in the gharb plain faces significant challenges due to climate variability, characterized by unpredictable weather patterns, changing precipitation, and an increased frequency of extreme events. these variations disrupt traditional farming practices, affecting crop yields and water availability. to effectively address these challenges, advanced tools like remote sensing become imperative. remote sensing offers a comprehensive and real-time assessment of the region's climatic conditions, enabling farmers to make informed decisions about water management, crop planning, and resource allocation in response to the dynamic climate of the gharb plain. previous studies have provided fundamental insights into the interplay between climate change, agricultural productivity, and the role of remote sensing in mitigating these challenges. for example, research by parmar et al. (2023) highlighted the high correlation between ndvi and crop coefficient, while studies by potgieter et al. (2021) and weiss et al. (2020) emphasized the critical role of remote sensing in monitoring crop conditions. additionally, a study conducted by smith et al. (2023) investigated the impact of climate variability on agricultural productivity and highlighted the effectiveness of remote sensing techniques in assessing crop health and yield predictions. furthermore, recent research by cheikhaoui et al. (2024) provided insights into the estimation of water requirements. building upon these findings, the present study aims to estimate the annual irrigation water requirements for different crops (rice, cereals, sunflower, sugarcane, and citrus) during their development stages between 2019 and 2022. based on prior research and through the employment of advanced remote sensing techniques, this research contributes to the advancement of sustainable agricultural practices in the face of climate change challenges, providing valuable insights into sustainable water management amidst changing climatic conditions. addressing the necessity of sustainable food production while mitigating ecological disruption is a pressing concern in the irrigated area of the gharb plain. accurate estimation of water requirements in irrigated areas is crucial for efficient water allocation and reducing ecological footprint. 2. materials and methods 2.1. study area the gharb plain, situated at coordinates 34°15′n 6°35′w, occupies the northwestern region of morocco as shown in figure 1. encompassing approximately 6160 square kilometers, it stretches approximately 80 kilometers along the cheikhaoui/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 atlantic coastline and extends inland for about 110 kilometers. this region experiences a mediterranean climate, characterized by hot, arid summers and mild winters. however, there is notable local variation in climate, with semi-arid conditions prevailing inland and sub-humid conditions along the coast. annual rainfall typically exceeds 400 millimeters across most of the plain, with average temperatures hovering around 18.62°c. the cooler, wetter season lasts seven months from october to april. the boundaries of the gharb plain are defined by natural features: the hills of lalla zohra to the north, the prerifans hills to the east, the maamora plateau to the south(which is part of the moroccan meseta), and the atlantic ocean to the west. figure 1: location map of the study area (cheikhaoui et al.2024) the hydrographic network of the region is represented by the sebou river, one of the major rivers in the kingdom, along with its tributaries including the ouergha, beht, rdom, and tiflet rivers. 2.2. data the data processing encompasses several key components (fig.2): firstly, we computed vegetation indices such as ndvi (normalized difference vegetation index), ndwi (normalized difference water index), savi (soil adjusted vegetation index), evi (enhanced vegetation index), and gndvi (green normalized difference vegetation index) for landsat images available within google earth engine (gee) table 1. this process yielded annual maximum and minimum changes in vegetation indices from 2013 to 2023. secondly, we leveraged growing season images from 2019 to 2022 to delineate various land cover types and crop characteristics. finally, we determined the land cover types of crop areas by overlaying land cover classification with the distribution of vegetation types. table 1 : formula and source of vegetation indices vegetation indice source temporal resolution spatial resolution reference formula ndvi landsat 8 oli/tirs collection 2 tier 1 16 days 30 meters usgs earth explorer (nir red) / (nir + red) cheikhaoui/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 toa reflectance ndwi landsat 8 oli/tirs collection 2 tier 1 toa reflectance 16 days 30 meters usgs earth explorer (green nir) / (green + nir) gndvi landsat 8 oli/tirs collection 2 tier 1 toa reflectance 16 days 30 meters usgs earth explorer (nir green) / (nir + green) savi landsat 8 oli/tirs collection 2 tier 1 toa reflectance 16 days 30 meters huete, a. r., et al. (2002). ((nir red) / (nir + red + l)) * (1 + l) evi landsat 8 oli/tirs collection 2 tier 1 toa reflectance 16 days 30 meters huete, a. r., et al. (2002). 2.5 * ((nir red) / (nir + 6 * red 7.5 * blue + 1)) leveraging gee’s extensive library of analysis tools and computing resources, we implemented a workflow for calculating vegetation indices, and advanced image classification algorithms to identify and map different land cover classes, ensuring accuracy in our measurements. the following figure represents the workflow of the overall methodology of the study: figure 2: methodology of the study the gharb regional development office ( ormvag) provided data socioeconomic for 2019/2020,2020/2021, and 2021/2022, which included details about crop types, areas, and production in the gharb plain. these datasets cheikhaoui/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 were integrated with remote sensing, google earth engine platform, and meteorological data to analyze the spatial and temporal patterns of crop water consumption in the gharb irrigated perimeter from 2019 to 2022. solar and meteorological data obtained through power data access viewer (dav)(power.iarc.nasa.gov) from nasa were used in this study. monthly and annual observed maximum and minimum air temperature, rainfall, wind speed measured at 2m height, relative humidity and daily sunshine duration data were available (cheikhaoui et al. 2024). to determine the irrigation water needs of crops such as rice, citrus, and sugarcane, factors such as evapotranspiration, crop coefficients, effective rainfall, crop water requirement, and irrigation coefficients are taken into account, using relevant meteorological data from studies by allan (2003), allen et al.(1998), and cammarano et al. (2016). 2.3. methodology 2.3.1. references evapotranspiration (et0) et0 was calculated using the fao-56 penman-monteith equation (allen et al., 1998), which is a modified version of the original penman-monteith equation (monteith,1965). the equation (1) is expressed as follows: eto = (1) where et0 is the reference evapotranspiration (mm/d), t is the air temperature (°c),rn(net surface radiation), g (soil heat flux density), u2(wind speed at 2m height),es(saturated vapor pressure),ea(actual vapor pressure), δ (slope of vapor pressure curve), and γ (psychrometric constant). 2.3.2. crop water requirement (cwr) the rice, sugarcane and citrus cwr during the growth period in the study area were estimated using the crop coefficient method by the food and agriculture organization (fao), equation (2): etc = et0 × kc (2) where etc is the crop evapotranspiration, et0 is the reference evapotranspiration and kc is the crop coefficient (allen et al.,1998) the water requirement for the three crops is calculated as follows, equation (3): cwr= etc-pe (3) where cwr is the crop water requirement and pe is the effective precipitation. 2.3.3. crop coefficient (kc) kc at different stages (kcini, kcmid and kcend) where rice, sugarcane, citrus, sunflower, and cereals were calculated using the fao single crop coefficient method. these values are based on meteorological and soil conditions and are documented in the food and agriculture organization (1977), which provides comprehensive data for various climates and locations. in the early stage of crop growth, kcini values are mainly based on fao’s standard values at the initial stage multiplied by the fraction of surface wetted by irrigation or rain. 2.3.4. effective precipitation effective rainfall is calculated using the department of soil and water conservation of the united states department of agriculture method according to the following equation(4): cheikhaoui/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 peff = (4) where pmonth is the actual monthly precipitation. 2.3.5. irrigation efficiency (ie) water use efficiency in irrigated agriculture is the ratio of estimated irrigation water requirements to the actual water withdrawal from river channels or reservoirs (fao,2022). the ie values utilized in this study to calculate the irrigation water requirement (iwr) for different provinces in the gharb region are obtained from the ormvag. these values, outlined in table 2, take into account factors such as irrigation system management, water distribution characteristics, crop water use rates, as well as weather and soil conditions. table 2: irrigation efficiency for the equipped area of the gharb plain between 2019 and 2022. year 2019 2020 2021 2022 ie 71% 73% 76% 75% 2.3.6. irrigation water requirement (iwr) the net irrigation water requirement (iwr) (5) can be calculated by (li y. and al., 2020): iwr= a cwr / ie (5) where a is the planting area of the crop, and cwr is the crop water requirement. 3. results 3.1. vegetation indices changes our study utilized landsat imagery, accessible through the cloud-computing platform google earth engine (gee), to analyze temporal trends in vegetation indices within the gharb-irrigated perimeter from 2013 to 2023. the selection of vegetation indices, including the normalized difference vegetation index (ndvi), normalized difference water index (ndwi), soil adjusted vegetation index (savi), enhanced vegetation index (evi), and green normalized difference vegetation index (gndvi), reflects a comprehensive approach to understanding ecosystem dynamics. ndvi, a widely used indicator of vegetation health, assesses the presence and vigor of vegetation based on the contrast between near-infrared and red reflectance. ndwi, on the other hand, highlights water bodies by exploiting the contrast between green and near-infrared reflectance. savi incorporates a soil adjustment factor to better account for soil background effects in dense vegetation areas. evi, developed to overcome some limitations of ndvi, provides enhanced sensitivity in regions with dense vegetation. gndvi, similar to ndvi but using the green band instead of the red band, offers an alternative perspective on vegetation dynamics. by analyzing the temporal distribution of these indices, we gain insights into long-term vegetation dynamics, including seasonal variations, trends in vegetation health, and responses to environmental factors such as water availability and land management practices. the line graph illustrates the time series of various vegetation indices from 2013 to 2023 in the gharb-irrigated perimeter. (fig.3) the graph indicates similar trends for the normalized difference vegetation index (ndvi), enhanced vegetation index (evi), and green normalized difference vegetation index (gndvi) in the gharb-irrigated perimeter during the period. the mean values for these indices peaked in march 2017, with ndvi reaching 0.657, gndvi reaching 0.568, and evi reaching 0.651. regarding minimum values, the ndvi reached a mean of 0.255 in july 2022, the gndvi reached 0.237 in november 2013, and the evi reached 0.212 in october 2021. conversely, the minimum mean values for these cheikhaoui/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 indices occurred at different times. ndvi reached a minimum of 0.255 in july 2022, gndvi reached 0.237 in november 2013, and evi reached 0.212 in october 2021. in contrast, the savi (soil adjusted vegetation index) indices displayed different fluctuations. savi peaked at 0.197 in march 2017 and reached a minimum of 0.064 in november 2013. furthermore, the ndwi (normalized difference water index) peaked in december 2016 at -0.244 and reached a minimum of -0.372 in may 2020. figure 3: time series for vegetation indices between 2013 and 2023(gee platform) 3.2. google earth engine crop classification analysis using google earth engine, we conducted a classification analysis aimed at mapping crop types across the gharbirrigated perimeter (fig.4). leveraging the capabilities of this platform, we employed a classifier trained with landsat imagery and ground-truth data. the result was a classification map boasting an impressive 100% accuracy rate, indicative of the reliability and precision of our approach. our observations unveiled distinct spatial patterns where various crops, including rice, sugarcane, citrus, sunflower, and cereals, flourished, each occupying specific geographic zones dictated by environmental and agronomic factors. the concentrated cultivation of rice in the northwest region of the irrigated perimeter, encompassing areas along the province of kenitra and sidi kacem. in contrast, sugarcane fields dominate the expansive plain flanking both banks of the oued sebou river, showcasing the suitability of these areas for this particular crop. moving further, we noted the cultivation of citrus orchards across the plain, especially prevalent within the three provinces of the gharb. these orchards thrive in the region's mild climate and well-drained soils, forming a distinct feature of the agricultural landscape. sunflower fields, characterized by their vibrant yellow blooms, were found scattered across the northern reaches of the study area. the abundant sunlight and nutrient-rich soils provide optimal conditions for sunflower cultivation, contributing to the agricultural diversity of the region. lastly, cereal crops, including wheat and barley, make their mark in both the northern and southern parts of the perimeter. these crops benefit from cooler temperatures and seasonal rainfall, creating favorable conditions for their growth and contributing to the agricultural mosaic of the gharb-irrigated perimeter. in summary, our classification analysis not only provides a detailed map of crop distribution but also offers valuable insights into the complex interplay of environmental factors and agricultural practices shaping the plain of the gharb-irrigated perimeter. cheikhaoui/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 4: classification map of crop types in the gharb-irrigated perimeter (gee, 2021) 3.3. temporal analysis of crop area dynamics the bar chart (fig.5) illustrates the crop area evolution in the gharb-irrigated perimeter from 2019 to 2022. our analysis of this temporal crop area evolution within our study area reveals intriguing trends for rice, sugarcane, citrus, sunflower, and cereals. notably, rice cultivation showed a fluctuation, increasing from 6101.38 hectares in 2019 to 6604 hectares in 2020, declining to 5827.33 hectares in 2021, then rebounding to 7349.56 hectares in 2022. similarly, cereals experienced fluctuations, increasing from 1011.76 hectares in 2019 to 9722 hectares in 2020, sharply decreasing in 2021, then rising again in 2022.in contrast, the sugarcane cultivation saw a general trend of decrease, with areas of 7530.79 hectares in 2019, 6949 hectares in 2020, 5829.37 hectares in 2021, and 4082.92 hectares in 2022. sugar beet cultivation area increased by 2677.74 hectares from 2019 to 2020 and by 1767.76 hectares from 2020 to 2021 but significantly decreased by 5309.42 hectares in 2022. meanwhile, sunflower cultivation area showed a gradual increase, reaching 3703.72 hectares in 2022, after fluctuations from 257.35 hectares in 2019 to 2307 hectares in 2021 and a notable decrease to 844.11 hectares in 2022. citrus cultivation area remained relatively stable, starting at 12152.41 hectares in 2019, increasing slightly to 12192.57 hectares in 2020, decreasing to 9269 hectares in 2021, rebounding to 11707.43 hectares in 2022, then decreasing again to 8915.32 hectares. figure 5: crops area evolution between 2019 and 2022 cheikhaoui/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 3.4. temporal analysis of evapotranspiration, precipitation, and temperature the line graph (fig.6) outlines evapotranspiration (et0), temperature (t) and precipitation (p) changes from 2019 to 2022 across the three provinces of the irrigated perimeter of the gharb: kenitra, sidi kacem, and sidi slimane. in kenitra, precipitation started at 0.54(mm/day) in 2019 and experienced fluctuations over the years, while temperature gradually increased from 16.95°c to 18.66°c in 2022. sidi kacem exhibited a similar trend with a slight decrease in precipitation from 0.31 in 2019 to 0.15 in 2022, while temperature increased from 21.97°c to 23.22°c during the same period. sidi slimane demonstrated fluctuations as well, with precipitation decreasing from 0.45 in 2019 to 0.21 in 2022, and the temperature gradually rising from 22.07°c to 23.3°c. evapotranspiration fluctuated, with an increase from 6.717 in 2019 to 8.390 in 2020, followed by a slight decrease to 6.970 in 2021 and a subsequent rise to 7.735 in 2022. similarly, in sidi kacem, evapotranspiration decreased from 11.198 in 2019 to 10.438 in 2020, then increased slightly to 10.953 in 2021 before declining to 9.042 in 2022. in sidi slimane, evapotranspiration decreased from 11.554 in 2019 to 10.176 in 2020, increased slightly to 11.004 in 2021, then decreased to 9.310 in 2022. fluctuations in evapotranspiration (et0), temperature, and precipitation suggest diverse water demand and climatic conditions across locations. understanding their relationship is crucial for managing water balance in ecosystems and agriculture, as temperature influences evapotranspiration rates while precipitation restores soil moisture. figure 6: temporal distribution of evapotranspiration, precipitation, and temperature (2019-2022) 3.5. crop water requirements the bar graphs represent the crop water requirement (cwr) for different crops in the provinces of kenitra, sidi kacem, and sidi slimane between 2019 and 2022.(fig.7) for the cwr of rice crops in the provinces of kenitra, sidi kacem, and sidi slimane over the four-year period. sidi slimane consistently shows the highest cwr, followed by sidi kacem and kenitra. additionally, there's a general decreasing trend in cwr from 2019 to 2022 across all provinces. in kenitra, the highest cwr value was observed in 2019(3.942mm/day), while the lowest was recorded in 2021(1.828 mm/day), indicating a decrease over the years. similarly, in sidi kacem, the highest cwr cheikhaoui/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 was noted in 2019(3.910 mm/day), with the lowest in 2022(1.489 mm/day), showing a consistent decrease over the period. sidi slimane exhibited the highest cwr in 2019(5.885) and the lowest in 2022(2.164), indicating a decreasing trend in cwr from 2019 to 2022 across all provinces. for cereals, in kenitra, the crop water requirement (cwr) was highest in 2019(4.306 mm/day) and lowest in 2021(1.998 mm/day), showing a decrease over the years. in sidi kacem, the highest cwr was observed in 2019(4.254 mm/day), while the lowest was recorded in 2022(1.622 mm/day), indicating a decrease over the period. sidi slimane exhibited the highest cwr in 2019(6.403 mm/day) and the lowest in 2022(2.358 mm/day), showing a decreasing trend in cwr from 2019 to 2022 across all provinces. regarding citrus crops, in kenitra, the cwr decreased from 2.553 mm/day in 2019 to 1.519 mm/day in 2022. similarly, in sidikacem, the cwr decreased from 2.680 mm/day in 2019 to 1.010 mm/day in 2022. in sidi slimane, there was also a decrease in cwr from 4.046 mm/day in 2019 to 1.459 mm/day in 2022. overall, there is a noticeable decline in the cwr for citrus crops across all three provinces over the four-year period. for sugarcane crops, the crop water requirement (cwr) showed a decreasing trend across all three provinces from 2019 to 2022. in kenitra, the cwr decreased from 4.718 mm/day in 2019 to 2.745 mm/day in 2022. similarly, in sidi kacem, there was a decline in cwr from 4.712 mm/day in 2019 to 1.793 mm/day in 2022. in sidi slimane, the cwr also decreased from 7.096 mm/day in 2019 to 2.603 mm/day in 2022. overall, there is a consistent reduction in the cwr for sugarcane. in summary, the analysis of cwr trends across different crop types and provinces highlights a complex interplay of factors impacting water demand in agricultural regions over time, underscoring the importance of adaptive water management strategies in response to evolving climatic and agricultural conditions. figure 7: crop water requirement (cwr) for various crops from 2019 to 2022 3.6. irrigation water requirements the bar graph represent the irrigation water requirement (iwr) in cubic meters (m³) for various crops across different years shows distinct patterns (fig.8). specifically, for rice crops, a decrease in iwr is evident from 2019 to 2022, with the highest demand recorded in 2019(143,623,494.6 m³) and the lowest in 2021(63,155,873.24 m³) indicating a significant reduction over the period. cereals, on the other hand, exhibit fluctuations, with a substantial increase in 2020 followed by a notable decrease in 2021, then a slight rise again in 2022, reflecting dynamic trend in water requirements for cereal cultivation. in contrast, sugarcane cultivation demonstrates a decline in iwr over the years, with the highest demand in 2019(213,268,574.7 m³) and the lowest in 2022(47,296,741.61 m³). similarly, citrus crops display a consistent decrease in iwr, with the highest demand in 2019(193,876,163.3 m³) and the lowest in 2022(57,674,646.93 m³) over the specified period. these observations underscore the dynamic nature of cheikhaoui/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 water demand across different crop types, highlighting potential shifts in agricultural practices, technological advancements, or environmental influences that may impact irrigation needs over time. figure 8: irrigation water requirement (iwr) for various crops from 2019 to 2022 4. discussion in the following discussion, we delve into the pivotal role of remote sensing technology in addressing water management challenges and promoting sustainable agriculture within the gharb irrigated area of north-western morocco. through the utilization of geospatial tools and multi-date data, this study estimates the water requirements of diverse crop types, emphasizing the significance of accurate irrigation water requirement (iwr) estimation for resource allocation in semi-arid regions like the gharb plain (cheikhaoui et al., 2024). by employing remote sensing techniques, such as satellite imagery and vegetation indices, this study contributes to the ongoing efforts in precision agriculture by providing detailed insights into water demand dynamics. analyzing the extremes of vegetation indices helps assess vegetation health, detect changes, and understand ecosystem resilience to environmental factors. the maximum and minimum values of vegetation indices provide insights into the health, dynamics, and environmental responses of vegetation over time (pettorelli et al., 2005). peak values indicate optimal growth conditions and vigor, while minimum values often signal stress or disturbance events. the integration of these indices, including the normalized difference vegetation index (ndvi), enhanced vegetation index (evi), and green normalized difference vegetation index ( gndvi), allows a comprehensive assessment of vegetation dynamics (zhang et al., 2022; rouse et al., 1974). the synchronized trends observed in ndvi, evi, and gndvi highlight consistent vegetation dynamics within the gharb-irrigated perimeter, indicating periods of optimal growth and health with peak values. fluctuations in savi suggest varying vegetation stress levels, while ndwi trends reflect changes in water availability (guan et al., 2019; jiang et al., 2020). these findings underscore the importance of monitoring vegetation indices for identifying crop types and provide crucial insights for effective land management by quantifying vegetation health and vigor through remote sensing technology (wu et al., 2020). they facilitate informed decision-making in agricultural practices, enhancing productivity and sustainability across diverse landscapes. the classification analysis conducted using google earth engine(gorelick et al. 2017) successfully identified various crop types within the gharb-irrigated perimeter with a remarkable accuracy rate. the spatial distribution of crops, including rice, sugarcane, citrus, sunflower, and cereals, underscores the diverse agricultural landscape of cheikhaoui/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 the region. this comprehensive understanding of crop distribution is invaluable for informed decision-making in land management, crop planning, and resource allocation, thereby promoting sustainable agricultural practices and enhancing productivity in the gharb area. the relationship between temperature, precipitation, and evapotranspiration (et) is crucial in understanding water balance dynamics in an area (feng et al., 2018; allen et al., 1998). generally, higher temperatures lead to increased evapotranspiration rates due to greater atmospheric demand for moisture. conversely, higher precipitation levels can replenish soil moisture and potentially offset increased et rates. analyzing the results, we observe that in kenitra, higher temperatures in 2022 coincided with an increase in evapotranspiration compared to the previous years, despite similar or slightly decreased precipitation levels. in sidi kacem and sidi slimane, higher evapotranspiration rates in 2019 corresponded with higher temperatures, followed by fluctuations in subsequent years that did not always align with precipitation trends. these observations suggest that while temperature plays a significant role in driving evapotranspiration, other factors such as soil moisture, humidity, and vegetation cover also influence et rates. additionally, the relationship between temperature, precipitation, and evapotranspiration can vary depending on the provinces climate conditions and landscape characteristics. regarding, the analysis of crop water requirement (cwr) for various crops across kenitra, sidi kacem, and sidi slimane provinces from 2019 to 2022 reveals significant trends. there is a consistent decreasing pattern in cwr observed across all provinces for rice, cereals, citrus, and sugarcane crops over the four years. this decline suggests potential shifts in agricultural water demand and emphasizes the need for efficient water management strategies to ensure sustainable crop production in the face of changing climatic conditions. these findings underscore the importance of ongoing monitoring and adaptation efforts to optimize water use efficiency and mitigate the impacts of water scarcity on agricultural productivity in the region. the analysis of irrigation water requirements (iwr) of the various crops over different years reveals distinct patterns, with notable fluctuations observed. for rice crops, there's a decrease in iwr from 2019 to 2022, indicating potential improvements in water efficiency. cereals show fluctuations, possibly influenced by factors like weather variability and market demand. sugarcane crops demonstrate a decline in iwr, reflecting efficient water management practices. similarly, citrus crops show a decrease in iwr, suggesting optimized irrigation strategies. the decrease in irrigated areas during the covid-19 pandemic in 2021 may be attributed to labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, financial constraints, shifts in crop demand, government policies, and water availability challenges (kumar et al., 2021). these multifaceted factors, alongside regional and agricultural-specific considerations, likely contributed to the observed changes in irrigated areas during the pandemic year, highlighting the complex interplay between external influences and agricultural practices. while our study contributes valuable insights into water management and agriculture in the gharb region, future research should integrate detailed ground-based observations, advanced modeling, and socioeconomic factors to improve water management strategies. despite potential biases and challenges, such integration promises more tailored approaches. furthermore, smart irrigation, offers a promising solution for conserving water while optimizing crop yield. however, challenges initial costs and technological expertise need addressing. considering climate change, the imbalance between water demand and supply in the gharb-irrigated perimeter underscores the need for adaptive management strategies to accurately mitigate future impacts 5. conclusion in conclusion, our research offers a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between environmental factors, technological advancements, and agricultural practices in the gharb irrigated area of north-western morocco. through the utilization of remote sensing technology and geospatial tools, we have gained valuable insights into crop distribution, vegetation dynamics, and water management practices, which are essential for promoting sustainable agriculture in semi-arid regions. our analysis of vegetation dynamics using vegetation indices such as ndvi, evi, and gndvi provided detailed insights into water demand dynamics and highlighted periods of optimal growth and health within the region. furthermore, the classification analysis successfully identified various crop types, facilitating informed decision-making in land management and resource allocation. additionally, our cheikhaoui/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 examination of the relationship between temperature, precipitation, and evapotranspiration (et) revealed the complex interplay of factors influencing water balance dynamics. the consistent decreasing pattern in crop water requirements (cwr) across all provinces suggests shifts in agricultural water demand, emphasizing the need for efficient water management strategies. moreover, our analysis of irrigation water requirements (iwr) revealed distinct patterns, with fluctuations observed across different crops and through the years, indicating potential improvements in water efficiency and optimized irrigation strategies. overall, our findings contribute to the ongoing efforts in precision agriculture and underscore the importance of monitoring and adapting to changing climatic conditions to ensure sustainable crop production and water resource management in semi-arid regions like the gharb plain. moving forward, it is imperative to integrate these findings into policy frameworks and on-theground interventions to support resilient and sustainable agricultural development in the gharb region and beyond. by embracing innovation, collaboration, and advanced approaches, we can forge a path towards a more equitable, resilient, and environmentally sustainable agricultural future, not only in the gharb region but also across similar agroecological landscapes worldwide. acknowledgment: the abstract of this paper was presented at the geographic perspectives on climate change mitigation in urban and rural environments (gcue) conference – 1st edition which was held on the 25th 27th of june 2024. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors / individuals. ethics approval: not applicable. data availability statement all relevant data are included in the paper or it’s supplementary information. conflict of interest the authors declare there is no conflict. references allen, r. g. 2003 crop coefficients. encyclopedia of water science. marcel dekker publishers, new york, 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(2022). the contributions of natural and anthropogenic factors to ndvi variations on the loess plateau in china during 2000–2020. ecological indicators, 143, 109342. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 2 february 2024, accepted: 28 february 2024, published online: 31 march 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i1.1065 assessing the level of employees' sustainability awareness and its effect on sustainable development progression a case study of greater karak municipality/ jordan sara s. el-shqeirat1 1head of the sustainable development department, greater karak municipality, al-karak, jordan. abstract the current discourse on sustainability awareness (sa) is mainly focused on offering employees environmental training and education that aims to increase their participation in the organization's sustainable progress. hence, overlooking the importance of the sa policy-making phase as well as the critical role designing sa programs plays in activating employees' efficient contribution to sustainability initiatives. therefore, the significance of this research lies in offering an alternative model that integrates both processes of measuring and raising sa with the prospect of altering the organization's culture where sustainability value is created to motivate employees' engagement. in addition, this research will justify the failure of cases where environmental education, training, and sa programs did not positively affect employees' engagement nor did they benefit the organization's sustainable progress. this research presents organizations and decision-makers with a new approach to raising sa levels aiming to increase the potential for effective employment of the newly acquired knowledge. hence, makes sustainable achievements more tangible. this model suggests the use of a qualitative approach to measuring employees' sa levels; a model that includes collecting data on employees' insights, conceptions, sources of knowledge, and personal experiences of sustainability. this model would replace the commonly used quantitative approach to measure sa which is limited to analyzing data numerically to draw a statistical picture aiming to determine whether a pre-designed sa program should be implemented. instead, managers could benefit from the data collected in the sa measuring process to identify the focus areas of the saraising program. furthermore, such data would help organizations design sa programs that are specifically tailored to target a change in their employees' mindset and beliefs. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review is under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords sustainability awareness; employees engagement; environment-friendly behavior; conception of sustainability; sustainable development progression; sustainable initiatives' success 1. introduction the arab world is facing critical challenges when it comes to achieving sustainability. considering the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability, the arab world has its share of obstacles in each of these aspects that could hinder its progression toward sustainability such as the severely arid climate, extreme shortages of water, poverty, demographic transition, and using fuels as the main source of energy (zafar, 2023). the arab forum for environment and development public opinion survey in 22 countries in the first half of 2017 revealed that weak environmental and sustainable awareness is one of the most important challenges facing the arab world (saab, 2017). unfortunately, sustainable development initiatives in the arab world were fragmented, focused in some areas but neglected in others, http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i1.1065&domain=press.ierek.com el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 and mostly ineffective (asi, 2021). 95% of arabs believe that their countries are not doing enough when it comes to tackling environmental challenges (saab, 2017). hence, a comprehensive sustainability agenda is needed if the arab world were to tackle these critical challenges, further, raising sustainability awareness could represent the key to success in such endeavors. the lack of sustainability knowledge among the arab countries can be driven by their inability to achieve effective sustainable development initiatives which is considered the main motivation behind this study. considering the fact that most arab countries are embracing sustainable development plans as part of their commitment to the paris agreement -and yet their efforts are still characterized as fragmented and ineffectiveis creating pressure to focus on the sa part of the above-mentioned connection. this research is a response to the urge to study the role sa can play in increasing the efficacy of sustainable initiatives. this research raises questions such as: can a high sa level positively affect sustainable development? would the process of measuring sa play a role in articulating raising sa policies? raising sa introduces the possibility of altering the nature of sustainable initiatives into a more successful and effective form, hence, reflecting the significance of this topic as a positive factor in sustainable development. further, this research aims to address the literature's lack of justification for cases where sustainability education programs and high levels of sa did not yield a positive impact on the organization's sustainable performance. along with assessing the relationship between sa and sustainable initiative success, this research also aims to assess a model of measuring employees' sa that relies on deep conversations where all aspects of their sustainability knowledge are discussed. this research suggests the existence of underlying benefits behind conducting extensive studies on employees' perspectives of sustainability as a method to measure sa. these benefits will be translated into specified policies aiming to raise both employees' sa levels and their motivation to contribute to sustainable development. in order to reach a deep understanding of employees' conception of sustainability, a qualitative research approach was chosen that relies on collecting non-numerical data as a way to comprehend people's attitudes, beliefs, and motivations. 1.1 sustainability in jordan jordan adopted the 2030 agenda for sustainable development after pledging to achieve the united nations' 17 goals of sustainable development (sdgs) in september 2015 (mop, 2017). an action plan to achieve sustainability development has been devised with the sdgs being mainstreamed into budgeting, national/sub-national planning, and monitoring frameworks. jordan is also one of the 198 united nations parties that signed the paris agreement in 2016 pledging to pursue efforts to limit the temperature rise even further to 1.5 degrees celsius (un, n.d.). as a developing country, jordan is facing many challenges that could hinder its commitment efforts to these pledges. population growth, lack of funds for public projects, water shortages, and being located at the center of one of the most volatile regions in the world, are all some of the challenges that represent an imminent threat to national resilience and have a poor influence, if not undermines, jordan's capacity to accomplish sdgs as a host country (ali & nsairat, 2009). despite the numerous challenges jordan is currently facing, the jordanian government has stated in many reports that it is determined to maintain its recent development achievements while ensuring a more resilient, thriving, and inclusive economy in the future, not to mention its commitment to the 2030 agenda. 1.2 greater karak municipality (gkm) gkm is a governmental organization offering different services (land organization, public work bids, street maintenance, building licenses, weather emergencies….etc.) to 32,216 citizens. al-karak is a city located on the southern side of the hashemite kingdom of jordan with a 3,495 km² area. gkm has 111 employees between the ages of 18 and 55 who work in 19 departments under the leadership of an elected mayor. gkm was selected to be part of the model of nexus approach and renewable energy technologies (minaret) initiative that intends to address the mena region's unique sustainability challenges and possibilities by building local and regional sustainability capacity through the use of synergies between renewable energy technologies and efficiency, water management, and food security (minaret, n.d.). in september 2015, a carton, paper, and plastic recycling station was established in al-karak with the support of the german association for adults education, german cooperation council, gkm, and jordan hashemite fund for human development (giz, n.d.). gkm also participated in the european union's cleaner and energy-saving el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 mediterranean cities (ces med) initiative aiming to strengthen the capacity of local governments to design and implement long-term local policies (eeas, n.d.). in 2016, a sustainable energy and climate action plan (secap) was developed by the consortium of institute of communication and computer systems (iccs), the national technical university of athens (greece), and jordanian national energy research center (nerc) for gkm to adopt on a time frame that extends between 2018 and 2023 (ces-med, 2016). the secap has very powerful insights on enhancing the social line of the triple bottom line framework (tbl) and how to raise not only the employees' but also the community's awareness of sustainability and environmentally responsible actions. for example, the secap suggested actively promoting the recycling context through awareness efforts where these efforts will include information days, promotional materials such as flyers and posters, and even statements in local media (tv, radio, and social media). the secap also encouraged gkm to adopt a comprehensive communication strategy tailored to all stakeholders. (ces-med, 2016). the secap proposed two scenarios, in the first one, the target was to reach 14% co2 emissions reduction in 2030. after analyzing different awareness-raising activities -suggested by the secap's first scenariodedicated to different groups, the secap ensures that gkm will reach 8869.48 (mwh) of saved energy and 3142.2 (tn co2) of reduced emissions by only raising sa. as shown in table 1. table 1. awareness activities directed to different groups and their effect on both energy saving and emission reduction (data from secap) the 14% target of the first scenario represents a total energy saving of 56736.74 (mwh) and a total emission reduction of 107900.84 (tn co2). hence, awareness activities could contribute to 3% of the emission reduction target and 13.5% of the energy saving target, as shown in figure 1&2. other sustainable endeavors contribution 86.5% "raising sa" contribution to the target. 13.5% 13.5% figure 1. "raising sa" contribution's percentage to the secap's energy saving target (data from secap) el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 2. literature review 2.1 sustainability awareness in different sectors despite the extensive study and research work in the field of sustainability, there are few studies on the relationship between sustainability implementation and employees' sa levels. the recent research work on sa has been focusing on three main aspects of awareness. the first one is raising sa in the educational sector. educational institutions have an obligation to carry out initiatives and procedures that promote sustainable development (lopes et al., 2018). raising sa levels in the education sector is essential to prepare the next generations for the risks they might face (herremans & reid, 2002). focusing on education is justified considering its ability to foster understanding and motivate individuals to acquire the skills, mindsets, and values necessary for a sustainable future (ridwan et al., 2021). the second aspect of focus in the recent research is stakeholders' awareness. stakeholder involvement is widely recognized as a crucial element of sustainable development, stakeholders' engagement represents a significant role in the formulation and capturing of sustainable value propositions (fobbe & hilletofth, 2021). the third aspect of focus is on raising local communities' awareness of sustainability. sustainable development demands a fundamental shift in how humanity progresses and respects environmental boundaries. enhancing sustainability awareness on local communities' level enriches their obligation toward future generations, hence, preparing them to make the transition towards a sustainable planet (pinho & gomes, 2023). however, when it comes to employees, the research work's focus shifts to employees' engagement, involvement, and contribution to the transition to sustainability despite the fact that some of the older generations who started their careers without any education on sustainability might find themselves involved with projects dedicated to the shift to sustainability with no strong foundation of understanding for this new emerging global trend. further, organizations cannot rely on the fact that employees are part of local communities so awareness efforts could include them eventually. the triple bottom line (tbl) of the planet, profit, and people framework presents an understanding of sustainability where making the transition to sustainability is based on three crucial dimensions of sustainable development: environmental quality, social equity, and economic benefits (elkington, 1998). tbl's social line refers to engaging in instructive and fair business practices for human capital-labor, and the community in general (elkington, 1997). such practices can create value for society and enhance the interaction between organizations that work on being sustainable and the community (goel, 2010). this research argues that in order to earn the maximum value behind activating the tbl's social line, organizations should prioritize the elevation of their employees' awareness of sustainability before shifting their efforts to local communities. "raising sa" contribution to the target. 3% figure 2. "raising sa" contribution's percentage to the secap's emission reduction target. (data from secap) other sustainable endeavors contribution 97% el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 2.2 employees' sustainability awareness successful sustainable initiatives' constraints have been discussed widely in various publications. according to perron et al. (2006), some of these constraints are related to human aspects of the organization considering employees as an important part of the implementation process. stone (2000) prioritized an organization's human size when it comes to implementing sustainable creations. employees can act as the foundation of the company's sustainability strategy as they alter their daily routines and behavior to achieve the targeted environmental performance gains. klinkers l and nelissen (1996) argue that employees' support of sustainability initiatives could increase its success possibility. furthermore, law et al. (2015) attributed an organization's inability to achieve its overall sustainability goals to the absence of employees' support and commitment. what makes employees' involvement crucial is the fact that they represent a valuable source of knowledge, skill, and innovation regarding the organization's practices. nadler (1981) also expressed the importance of employees' participation by describing it as the key to the motivation required for change. however, individuals' attitudes toward different challenges are vital to solving problems. hence, employees' contribution relies on their knowledge of sustainability and its applications. for organizations, moving toward sustainability is considered a transformation which bernstein (1992) described as: "managing [change] is impossible without employee participation. participation is impossible without understanding". moreover, safari et al. (2018) emphasize that once an organization starts sustainable and environmental initiatives, it could put a lot of pressure on its employees who might not be familiar with sustainability concepts and practices. to overcome such obstacles, renwick et al (2013) suggest raising employees' sa and training them to cope with green practices. further, yilmaz and ameen (2022) suggest that sa would help to transform conscious conduct into human environmental awareness and attempt to equip individuals for natural success by providing people with the values, information, skills, and talents they need to handle current and upcoming environmental challenges. therefore, organizations should focus on raising sa to guarantee employees' involvement in sustainable development efforts (hart t., 1996). promoting a culture of sustainability where employees are aware of key environmental, social, and economic concerns, behave sustainably, and are dedicated to a sustainable lifestyle for the present and the future can be challenging in light of the current materialism and conspicuous consumption culture (marans et al., 2015). garbi (2015) predicts that raising employees' awareness of sustainability at work might motivate them to incorporate sustainability concepts and techniques into their daily activities. further, this research investigates how a work culture where a comprehensive understanding of sustainability is embedded would not only raise employees' responsibility toward the planet, it also assist organizations in their sustainable endeavors. 3. research methodology 3.1. measuring gkm employees' awareness level 3.1.1. problem statement albeit gmk's commitment to a 14% reduction of its ghg emissions as well as to an adaptation to climate change as part of the secaps’ launch in al-karak, gkm did not achieve the 14% target. hence, creating damaging consequences in the long term considering that the main development challenges gkm has are limited natural resources and a stagnant economy. in addition, other gmk's sustainable initiatives did not meet their targets, for example, the widelyrecognized waste recycling station is only working on separating the waste with no recycling capabilities. the involvement of gkm's employees is considered to be crucial for the secap's target to be achieved. this research argues that the absence of employees' involvement in the secap and other gkm's sustainable initiatives prevents gkm from stepping forward with its sustainable targets. employees' engagement in sustainability-related initiatives requires a proper understating of the term itself and its applications. hence, this research aims to measure gkm's employees' awareness level of sustainability to determine the possibility of an efficient involvement as well as to determine if a higher level of awareness could have a positive influence on gkm's progression toward sustainability. el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 3.1.2. research methodology to determine the level of gkm employees' sa, individual in-depth interviews with employees, decision-makers, and employees working on gkm's sustainability agenda were conducted to provide a rich description of how sustainability is conceptualized and the reasons behind this conception. 3.1.3. sampling in-depth interviewing is a qualitative research approach that involves running intense individual interviews with a limited number of respondents to investigate their viewpoints on a certain topic, program, or issue (marshall et al., 2013). as sampling entails choosing a small segment of participants to generalize results to a wider group. creswell & creswell (2018) estimated the number of participants to be between 10 to 50 as being sufficient depending on the research question. this research aims to determine gkm's employees' level of sa, hence, including at least 50% of gkm's employees would justify the results. after reaching both theoretical and data saturation, the study sample contained 70 employees representing 63% of gkm's staff located in its headquarters. the number of participants complies with guest et al. (2020) recommendation to include a larger sample when dealing with a diverse and ethnographic set of participants. the 70 interviews were conducted with male and female employees between the ages of 26 and 55 years old as well as al-karak's mayor -who represents the decision-maker figure in gkmand gkm's chief executive officer (ceo). in addition, a focus group discussion was held with employees involved with sustainability-related projects. employees' approval was ensured before initiating the interviews, and their privacy was guaranteed. the interviews were conducted in a four-week time frame, each interview was 25-60 minutes long. to maximize the quality of the data, the focus group discussion and individual interviews were constructed based on the research purpose, as shown in figure 3. would awareness make a difference? in this section of this research, the relationship between sa and sustainable initiative success will be tested by using an empirical approach. figure 1: research methodology (in-depth interviews and focus group discussion) el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 the paper-consumption reduction initiative/experiment an initiative to reduce paper consumption was designed and implemented in two of gkm's departments to assess the relationship between sa and sustainable initiative success. experiment description gkm is highly dependent on paper as the core of its service-providing process. for instance, citizens would come to gkm to apply for a building license and the application would be in a file form containing at least 30 pages, in addition, another 10 pages will be added as part of the auditing process. the initiative is based on examining employees' capabilities to reduce paper consumption through articulating ideas, techniques, and recommendations as part of an effective contribution. the initiative was conducted in two different departments. based on the results and observations from the process of measuring gkm employees' sa level, the two departments were selected by the following three criteria: 1) based on the interviews with gkm employees, both departments (dep a) and (dep b) should have employees with the least knowledge of sustainability and sustainable development (level 1, categories 1-4). 2) the two departments should have a high consumption of paper reams (this data will be collected by contacting gkm's supplies department). 3) the two departments should be separated in terms of location and tasks to guarantee a minimum discussion between the two departments' employees about the initiative would occur to maximize the accuracy of the results. for dep a, the initiative was introduced as a request to cut expenses. on the other hand, a focus discussion group was held with dep b's employees to build on their sustainability knowledge and to explain the positive impact of paper consumption reduction on the environment using facts and numbers. for example, the group discussed the meaning behind sustainability, environmentally responsible behaviors, and high-paper consumption disadvantages by using facts such as 42% of all trees harvested for industrial use go to making paper which could lead to deforestation which is considered one of the main environmental problems humankind is facing currently (suraj & khan, 2015). in other words, the researcher tried to create motivation and value for the initiative by raising dep b's awareness of the purpose behind it. each department's current consumption rates of paper were established and compared with the rates after the initiative to examine its success. another comparison was conducted between the two departments to determine if there is a relationship between sa and sustainable endeavors' success. experiment participants dep a has six employees between the ages of 35 and 50 with different educational backgrounds. dep a's consumption is two reams of paper (800 sheets of paper) on a weekly basis. dep b has eight employees between the ages of 26 and 43 with different educational backgrounds. dep b's consumption is three and a half reams of paper (1400 sheets of paper) on a weekly basis. experiment duration the initiative took place over two weeks. although results can be determined in a week, the researcher's aim was to examine employees' willingness to contribute to the initiative by giving them more time to come up with ideas and suggestions that can leverage the initiative. interviews with the employees were conducted at the end of each week to examine their progress. 4. results 4.1. interviews results the interviews' results show that gkm's employees can be organized into six different categories when it comes to the level of awareness they have of sustainability and how they conceptualize it based on the question "what do you think sustainability is". as shown in table 2. el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 table 2. results of the employee interviews employees interviews the mayor's and ceo's interview category #1 24 employees never heard the term sustainability before. they asked the researcher to repeat the word as they tried to place it in their memory. some employees took more time to answer the question and ended up asking for more clarification. hence, in these cases, the question became "what is meant by "sustainable" when referring to a project?" a 38-year-old employee stated: "i don't know what sustainability is. maybe i have heard it before as i watch a lot of news. however, there is so much going on in the world right now and it's hard to keep up." after a brief introduction about the research purpose, the researcher could not proceed with any questions related to the secap as the mayor stated: "i do not know that such a plan exists, i may recall working with the european union on a project related to energy consumption back in 2016. however, due to the leadership transition that occurred in early 2017, i did not have the opportunity to witness any outcomes of this partnership". note: "the current mayor was elected in 2022, he also filled the position between 2012-2016" gkm's employees' level of awareness was discussed and the mayor was asked for a justification in this regard when he stated: "both employees and gkm should be blamed, employees are focusing on the financial benefit of working for the governmental sector rather than improving their knowledge. gkm's employees do not have knowledge management skills which could be considered as a characteristic of governmental sector workers" the mayor also stated: "employees' lack of knowledge and low levels of awareness could negatively affect our sustainability endeavors as well as any other projects gkm is working on" when asked about any intentions to reactivate secap, the mayor stated: "yes, gkm would consider reactivating the secap while focusing on its employee engagement" gkm's ceo has been in this position since 2017; she had the opportunity to supervise most of gkm's sustainability initiatives. gkm's employees' level of awareness was discussed and the ceo was asked for a justification in this regard when she stated: "i admit that we failed when it comes to raising our employees' awareness of sustainability. however, working on sustainable projects was very overwhelming considering the government's lack of infrastructure in terms of regulations and procedures concerning sustainable projects' implementation. sometimes we had to partner with the private sector which required a massive amount of time and energy leading to the dereliction of duties on our part regarding awareness". category #2 20 employees assumed that sustainability is something that endures over time, however, without connecting their definition to any threats that could face future generations as a result of this long-time performance. this specific interpretation might be driven by the fact that the word "sustainability" in arabic reads as "always", hence, when an arabic native speaker -who is not familiar with the term sustainabilityhears a sentence such as "this project is sustainable", the closest interpretation will be "the project is permanent". employees in this category used structural analysis to drive the word back to its root which is a technique used when someone encounters a new word (sujadi & wulandari, 2019). a 35-year-old employee stated: "a sustainable project is a project that keeps performing for a long period of time." el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 category #3 10 employees misinterpreted the word sustainability as something being merely successfully performing such as a company that is making a profit or a group of people working efficiently. employees in this category sensed the positivity in the term sustainability even though they do not exactly know what it means. each one of them interpreted sustainability based on his/her view of success and perfection. a 33-year-old employee stated: "we can call a project sustainable when it keeps making a profit for a long period of time despite any change in its leadership" another 45 years old employee, stated: "sustainability is when everybody is working with harmony on a specific project ". the focus-group discussion a focus group discussion was held, and six employees involved with sustainability-related projects were asked about their conception of sustainability. the purpose of this focus-group discussion was to determine if the group's work on sustainability is based on a comprehensive understanding of its concept. four of these employees are located in category 2 of the first level of sa, whereas the other two are located in category 5 of the second level. in addition, employees were asked to justify the low level of sa their co-workers have. a 37-year-old employee (category 5) stated: "i have attended a lot of conferences about sustainability, however, conversations with other employees were not made about their outcomes as i don’t think they would be interested in this topic. our focus was on local communities" another 42-year-old employee (category 2): "other employees would feel uncomfortable when trying to inform them about something new. they would not accept the idea that a fellow co-worker is trying to teach them about anything" all employees who are involved with sustainability-related projects believe that their co-workers' involvement in such projects could be beneficial. a 37 year old employee (category 5), stated: "it would make a great difference if other employees were working with us. they have great potential. however, i think we are not qualified to transfer knowledge to our coworkers as it needs some kind of skills we don’t have" category #4 9 out of the 70 employees who have been interviewed associated sustainability with technology and industrial evolution. employees in this category tried to justify their lack of information about sustainability by considering it as a manifestation of technological development. employees in this category viewed sustainability as an emerging technology in a modern world where they are trying their best to be updated on its development. category # 5 7 employees showed a good foundation of sustainability knowledge. they showed a fair yet brief understating of some of the core concepts of sustainability. the knowledge on sustainability obtained by employees in this category was driven by the emphasis on introducing sustainability into the education sector. a 27-year-old employee stated: "sustainability is focused on environment preservation and co2 emissions, so when a company is sustainable that means it could last for a long time by being environmentally responsible" when asked about the source of his information, he answered: "in my last year in college, i took a course named "green buildings" which was really interesting" have you heard the term "sustainability" before? when asked if they heard the term "sustainability "before in their workplace, 94% of employees in the study sample gave a negative response. the remaining 6% stated that they have heard the term, however, when explaining in what context the term was used, the explanation was based on their inaccurate understating of sustainability. a 42 year old employee (category 2), stated: "i have been asked to ensure my work is sustainable, so if i'm not there for any reason, my department keeps running smoothly" another 30 year old employee (category 3), stated: "before i start working on my latest project, i agreed to keep monitoring it even after it's finished to ensure it's working properly which makes it sustainable" employees who confirmed hearing the term "sustainability" in their workplace are located in categories 2-4. describing the context where the term was used might be driven by their commitment/devotion to their own definition of sustainability; they tried to match their el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 category # 6 unfortunately, gkm did not manage to enhance employees with a comprehensive understanding of sustainability and its applications, nor allow them to participate actively in sustainability-related initiatives that could embed sustainability in their everyday life. if existed, these employees could have been located in category 6 in gkm's three levels of sustainability awareness model representing the third and highest level of sa, as shown in figure 4. definition with their specific job requirements even if they had not heard the term "sustainability" before. after the researcher made a brief description of what exactly sustainability is and gkm's actions in this regard, employees in the study sample were asked if they think that efforts dedicated to raising their sa levels would make a positive difference regarding gkm's sustainable endeavors. 97% of the sample study gave a positive response. a 42 year old employee (category 2), stated: "it would be really interesting and beneficial to be part of this new emerging trend. sometimes i feel like a robot doing what i do since i was hired in 2007" another 32 year old employee (category 1), stated: "i believe i have the potential to contribute effectively to projects related to sustainability, after knowing what sustainability is i guess i have been practicing some sustainable activities. i have been separating plastic waste in my home for two years now, aiming for some extra cash but it never accrued to me that it's what you just called an "environmentally responsible behavior"" another 31-year-old employee (category 3), stated: "it is really disappointing to know that my organization is working on such a decent purpose without engaging us. i have five sisters in both universities and schools causing tons of paper waste that i'm giving away to a paper recycling start-up just to free up some space at home. although my purpose is not environmentally oriented, it proves that i have problem-solving skills which could be handy when it comes to gkm's sustainability plans" based on the data collected from the interviews, gkm's employees showed a lack of knowledge of the notion that sustainability is "a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” (harlem, 1987, p.41). figure 4. gkm's three-level model of sustainability awareness el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 the results show that most employees in the study sample are located in level 1 of the three levels of sa model (categories 1 to 4) which reflects a severe lack of knowledge of sustainability, as shown in figure 5. both employees who directly stated their ignorance of the term "sustainability" (category 1) and employees who tried to analyze the term using their logic –which led to insufficient understanding(category 2-4) represent 90% of the study sample. on the other hand, employees who managed to capture some of the core concepts of sustainability represented only 10% of the sample study. gkm's employees suffer from a severe lack of knowledge of sustainability and its applications. despite gkm's efforts in sustainability-related projects, 94% of the study sample had not heard the word sustainability before in their workplace. the interviews managed to give gkm employees a brief explanation about sustainability which made them realize that some of their everyday activities could be considered environmentally friendly behaviors. hence, leading them to believe in their ability to positively contribute to gkm's sustainability endeavors. on the other hand, employees involved with gkm's sustainability-related projects did not have a comprehensive understanding of sustainability, their conception of the term sustainability was limited to gkm's sustainable projects; they defined sustainability according to what they have been working on "such as the waste management station". they believed in the power of other employees' engagement without any intention to put effort in this regard. gkm's leadership recognizes the negative consequences of employees' engagement absence in sustainability-related endeavors. intentions to activate employees' roles in the future were expressed by gkm's leadership. 4.2. results of the paper-consumption reduction initiative/experiment table 3. the paper-consumption reduction initiative/experiment's results the experiment process first-week benchmark after the first week of the initiative, the researcher interviewed both departments' employees as part of the data collection process. along with establishing their paper consumption so far, employees were asked if they offered any ideas or insights that contributed to the initiative. department a department b figure 5. employees’ distribution among the six categories of sa. el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 through the first week of the initiative, dep (a)'s paper consumption kept its rates. employees did not prioritize reducing paper consumption when performing their everyday tasks. a 37-year-old employee stated: "we have a lot to do already, our job requires archiving each document using three copies at least. i want to get that done and thinking about how to reduce paper consumption will waste my time" another 41 years old employee stated: "since we had this new printer, our paper consumption increased. we spent a month learning how to use it and yet we couldn’t figure it out completely. due to this inconvenience, we waste a lot of paper reams on printing trials" another 38 years employee, stated: "it is not like i don’t want to contribute but they are asking us to reduce paper consumption while the reason we are using a lot of paper is them. after printing 3 copies of a required document, it has to go through three checkpoints: my direct manager, the ceo, and the mayor. each one of them would edit something so i update and reprint the 3 copies then the others would edit another thing until i end up wasting 6-9 sheets of paper" dep (a)'s employees did not have any motivation to participate. they made legitimate excuses including the unsupportive work conditions they are facing. however, dep (b) is facing the same conditions; dep (b)'s employees did not receive any training on using printers, they have to archive three copies of each document, and the editing process of printed documents includes many checkpoints. through the first week of the initiative, dep (b)'s paper consumption dropped from 3.5 reams of paper (1400 sheets of paper) to 2.5 reams (1000 sheets of paper). conversations were spotted where employees discussed their paper consumption with their coworkers, they also shared insights on new techniques to minimize paper waste. interviews were conducted with dep (b)'s employees to explain their contribution to this reduction. another 42 years employee, stated: "i'm part of the auditing team and i usually pick out an a4 sheet of paper, write down my notes, and attach it to the file. now i noticed my notes do not need that much space and i have a lot of wasted paper due to printing errors. so, i started cutting each wasted a4 sheet of paper into two a5 sheets of paper and using them to write down my notes" dep (b)'s employees started examining their everyday practices regarding paper consumption. although their contributions seemed simple, they managed to reduce paper consumption by 28.6%. however, some employees showed a lack of interest in contributing to the initiative. a 42-year employee stated: "i totally support the cause and i truly love nature but i think whatever is happening to the planet is all in god's hands" employees' resistance is a normal aspect of any change process. employees' resistance to change is usually driven by either stress or uncertainty surrounding the change process (rehman et al., 2021). uncertainty might be the cause behind any resistance that appeared in dep (b) considering the unprecedented experience and cause this initiative represents. second-week benchmark department a department b through the second week of the initiative, dep (a)'s paper consumption dropped from 2 reams of paper (800 sheets of paper) to 1.8 reams (720 sheets of paper). employees were asked to explain the techniques they used to achieve this reduction. a 41-year-old employee stated: "instead of printing the usual three copies of each document, i informed other departments that if the document concerns you then you have to print it on your own" another 47 years old employee, stated: "i brought my own notebook" dep (a) employees managed to reduce both paper consumption and some of their tasks. employees felt the pressure to achieve reduction even if they -or other departmentshad to replace the reduced amount of paper. through the second week of the initiative, dep (b)'s paper consumption dropped from 2.5 reams of paper (1000 sheets of paper) to 2 reams (800 sheets of paper). 75% of dep (b) employees started to show commitment to the initiative by tracking their paper consumption on a daily basis. a 34-year-old employee stated: "i keep a small piece of paper on my desk where i write down the number of paper sheets i use. each day i try to hit a smaller figure without sacrificing my work quality" another 30 years old employee stated: "the other day and by mistake i printed out four copies of a document instead of one. i felt guilty for something i used to not even consider harmful or even bothering" new techniques to reduce consumption also appeared in the second week of the initiative. a 42-year-old employee stated: "the auditing process includes archiving four documents for internal use. all i did was print out every two documents as two-sided of the same sheet of paper and it felt like doing the right thing" in the second week, dep (b)'s employees' managed to reduce paper consumption by 20% making the total reduction 48.6%. el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 results the results showed a significant difference between the two departments' reduction rates; dep (b) managed to achieve a higher reduction percentage than dep (a), as shown in figure 6. these results prove the constructive/ positive relationship between sa and sustainability initiatives' success. dep (b) had a better understanding of sustainability with an emphasis on paper consumption; an understanding that managed to assist in creating motivation and value efficient enough to drive constructive contribution to a relatively simple sustainable initiative. on the other hand, dep (a)'s employees did not feel the urge to contribute. their attitude toward the initiative differs as 60% of them made excuses to justify their lack of interest. the other 40% made contributions that only benefitted their department as the reduced number of papers was transferred to be used in other gkm departments. dep (b)'s success represents a promising future for gkm. employees showed how effective their engagement could be when efforts are dedicated to raising their sa levels. naturally, larger in-scale and more inclusive sustainable projects would need more devotion in terms of time and effort when it comes to raising sa. 5. recommendations after measuring gkm’s employees' sa level and proving the positive impact a high level of sa has on the success of sustainable endeavors, serious concerns have been revealed regarding gkm's workplace culture and the value behind its sustainable initiatives. gkm does not have a knowledge management strategy; its work environment is fractured in the sense that each department is working as a separate entity. several sustainable projects were launched carrying gkm's name, however, this effort represents gkm's leadership and the few number of employees who worked on these projects but not gkm as a whole. 5.1. employees resistance employees' resistance to change could not be the reason behind this lack of engagement as employees were not informed about nor asked to participate in sustainable-related matters. gkm's leadership and employees working on sustainability made a mere prediction that the rest of gkm's employees will not only resist change, they predict resistance to awareness. the only reason behind this kind of prediction is to justify the low level of sustainable awareness gkm's employees have. even if employees would resist awareness, using the wrong methods to approach them might be the cause. the methodology this research adopted was meant to measure the level of sa of gkm's employees. however, these interviews managed to raise employees' awareness of sustainability without intention in this regard. a large number of employees asked several questions about sustainability and its application. even after the interviews were conducted, they reached out to the researcher asking for sources to learn more about sustainability. the level of awareness gkm's figure 6: results of the paper consumption reduction initiative. el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 employees have will probably be higher now due to a number of 25 to 60-minute interviews which makes us wonder what improvement would occur if serious efforts are dedicated to this purpose. gkm's strategy to raise awareness on sustainability should be focused on the best method to reach employees concerning their different educational backgrounds, ages, and job requirements. awareness efforts' nature should be specific to each group of employees to guarantee that their attention is caught and their curiosity is evoked. for instance, for employees with a low level of sa (category 1), sustainability should be introduced as a new emerging global trend with a focus on the fact that it is normal not to know anything about it. further, the language used to deliver sustainability-related knowledge should be informal and friendly by keeping in mind that raising employees' awareness is not the same as lecturing them. employees should not feel ashamed of themselves for their lack of awareness which could repel them and lead to losing their interest. when it comes to employees who tried to identify sustainability using their own logic and experience (category 2-4), sustainability should be explained by using their own -close to the termexamples and conceptions. for example, for employees who associated sustainability with smart cities (category 4), the connection they made should be used to illustrate what sustainability is. the same goes for employees who used linguistic structural analysis (category 2), the notion that "sustainability does indeed represent the concept of a long-lasting performance, however, this performance has to meet a set of requirements if we were to consider it sustainable" should be emphasized when sustainability is introduced to them. using employees' own interpretation of sustainability and trying to link it to "what sustainability really is" -instead of asking them to neglect their wrong conceptioncould make them feel relevant. hence, leading to an efficient type of communication where employees start exploring their interpretation from a sustainability perspective. on the other hand, employees with a higher level of sustainability awareness (category 5) should be praised for their knowledge even if it's not comprehensive, making the employees feel proud of what they already know would make them eager to expand their knowledge. the awareness effort dedicated to such employees should focus on reminding them of the importance of what they already know and how beneficial it could be to improve this knowledge. interviews with gkm's employees showed their interest in storytelling. even when employees stated their ignorance of the term sustainability, the researcher kept asking questions about their lifestyle as a way to find any environmentfriendly behaviors which included giving them examples of responsible practices. as mentioned in the previous section, some employees realized that they have been environmentally responsible by recycling paper or plastic, using solar energy, and driving hybrid cars. when such realization came to the surface, employees were engaged in the discussion and started to explain those behaviors. they did not expect such modest behaviors to be a positive contribution to the term sustainability which they stated they never heard about moments earlier. gkm should use these stories to minimize the gap between employees and sustainability. when addressing employees, using such stories about their coworkers could prove that "even if you – employeesdo not have a deep understating of sustainability, you are contributing to the planet". this contradiction would act as a hook driving employees' attention, hence, their curiosity to learn more. all awareness efforts should emphasize behavioral change as well as the relationship gkm's employees have with the environment rather than associating sustainability with only gkm's success. it is important to create value at this level by answering questions such as "how sustainability can benefit our future generations?" instead of "how sustainability can benefit gkm?" a solid foundation of sustainability knowledge would lead to employees' active participation in gkm's sustainability-related initiatives, in addition, employees' behaviors and their everyday routines could change to become a part of a sustainable lifestyle. awareness should also consider the wide range of services gkm provides through its 19 departments. sustainability should be connected with employees' different job requirements to avoid questions like "what is the relationship between sustainability and my work?" for instance, awareness efforts dedicated to the transportation department should rely more on giving examples of ghg emissions and the benefits of using hybrid vehicles, the studies department -which is responsible for designing and constructing gkm's buildingsshould be given examples of the benefits of using sustainable building materials and utilizing natural light. el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 to sum up, in order to exploit awareness, differences among employees should be respected. although this strategy might take more time to raise awareness, it will lead to a permanent shift in the employees' mindset. 6. incremental change gkm should adopt an incremental change approach if employees' mindsets are to be sustainably oriented. the change from a low level of sa to sustainability being embedded in gkm's culture should occur gradually and thoughtfully. when adopting such an approach, raising sa will be the pilot project that will act as the momentum for change. gkm should design this pilot project with respect to its culture and status quo, it should also be specified to groups of employees based on their sa level. gkm should acknowledge that raising sa is not a mere requirement that can be achieved through staff meetings where sustainability is explained, instead, it’s a preparation phase where value is created. creating a value with the capability to positively affect success may take a long time considering the complexities of altering the mindsets of gkm's diverse workplace. in an incremental change strategy, gkms should follow three main criteria when it comes to the preparation phase (raising sa). first, gkm should focus on using unconventional tools to approach employees instead of indoctrination. this may include sustainability-related competitions among departments, field visits to gkm's sustainable projects, hosting external expertise, and having a benchmarking phase where employees are allowed to share their insights and personal experiences about what has been achieved. second, creating a change agent position. the change agent will be responsible for outlining and designing the preparation stage, managing the success of the sa raising, and modifying externally designed programs to fit gkm's work environment. looking internally for change agents is also recommended to guarantee that knowledge and capabilities are internalized which is necessary for organizational learning to occur and for the skills to be preserved for use in future change initiatives (benn et al., 2018). third, celebrating small successes. gkm's strategy does not involve setting targets for its employees, hence, celebrating both small and big wins is not embedded in gkm's workplace culture. if this was not the case, employees would have known about their organization's sustainable achievements. although this may sound like a disadvantage, the change agent can exploit this situation. the fact that employees are not familiar with celebrating small wins could drive their enthusiasm to step up, participate, and eventually be part of this new work culture. introducing this technique might accumulate and deepen the momentum for change (wieck, 1984). once the number of small wins is increased and employees start setting targets through their sustainability learning process, their routines, values, and beliefs could be altered, hence, offering the possibility for transformational changes in the long run (termeer & dewulf, 2019). in conclusion, gkm should follow the clues to achieve sustainability. the secap showed the importance of sa in numbers, some of gkm's sustainability initiatives did not meet their objectives, and employees have a low level of sa, yet associated with willingness for improvement and efficient contribution. 7. the silver lining despite the low level of sa that employees have as well as the time and efforts needed to raise this level, gkm could benefit from the situation. gkm is offered an exceptional opportunity to solidify and deepen a comprehensive understanding of sustainability. the current situation allows gkm to build a solid belief system that is based on experience, efficient communication, insights sharing, and value creation. this represents a privilege that can guarantee a constructive relationship between a high level of sa and sustainability success. other organizations may have a higher level of sa, however, a higher level does not necessarily associate with the existence of values and beliefs. for instance, employees could be fully aware of what sustainability is, however, they do not believe in its core concept nor are they willing to incorporate sustainable behavior into their daily routine. this type of awareness could be unbeneficial as it represents a mere set of obtained information without the passion nor the interest to contribute to the success of sustainability ambitions, hence, exemplifying an inefficient form of high sa level. gkm should avail its status quo by raising both sa and passion towards sustainability leading eventually to effective participation and involvement. el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 8. discussion in sum, these research findings add to the current literature on sustainability awareness by emphasizing the crucial role of sustainability knowledge and awareness in achieving successful sustainability endeavors. in their research entitled "employees give business its green edge", klinkers and nelissen (1997) found that employees are key when it comes to the implementation process; their support of sustainable initiatives will increase the potential of successful implementation. in a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in different organizations in erbil-iraq that aimed to identify the impact of an organization's environmental awareness policies on employees' behavior and the relationship between them, yilmaz and ameen (2022) found that an organization's environmental awareness policies can lead to improving employees' behavior which eventually leads to the achievement of the organization goals and implementation of the organization plans and strategies. remmen and lorentzen (2000) conducted practical experiments in five danish firms within different industrial sectors aiming to develop a more active role for employees in environmental activities. these experiments showed that the firms' employees who had a comprehensive understanding of environmental problems and solutions enabled them to improve the firms' environmental activities. hence, emphasizing the notion that employee participation can have a strong effect on increasing environmental consciousness which leads to a successful implementation of sustainable initiatives. these research findings also agree with haugh and talwar's (2010) perspective of how organizations can address sustainability issues; they stated: "the dissemination of information about sustainability should be companywide and not restricted to small groups of selected employees". however, this research argues that awareness efforts are not necessarily translated into successful sustainable achievements. raising sa is a critical phase of an organization's journey toward sustainability that requires time and effort and can be outlined by data collected in the sa measuring process. otherwise, the benefits of sustainable initiatives will most probably not be realized. furthermore, this research argues that even if sustainability awareness efforts were made and an organization conducted training programs that meant to embrace its employees with sustainability and environmental knowledge, it is not necessarily that employees would use this knowledge to participate in the organization's sustainable ambitions nor it will drive any success for such endeavors. in support of this argument, perron et al. (2006) presented a case study of the environmental management education and awareness training efforts in two canadian electricity companies. managers of company 1 invested a lot of time and money in an environmental awareness training program; the level of sustainability knowledge obtained by this company's employees was compared to the level of knowledge (company 2)'s employees have –(company 2)'s employees were not subjected to training programs(perron et al., 2006). the study assessed the environmental knowledge acquired by the employees of both companies and found that the employees of company 1 did not meet the level of environmental awareness that the literature associates with better environmental performance. perron et al. (2006) also found that "the environmental knowledge of employees in company 1 was not found to be different from the environmental knowledge of the employees of company 2. .... although a higher mean score was found for company 1 for half of the questions pertaining to environmental knowledge,... the difference was not significant". perron et al. (2006) predicted that the awareness training provided to company 1 was not sufficient enough to increase the environmental awareness of their employees and they suggested a pre-training assessment program if company 1 were to ensure the effectiveness of the training. the canadian companies' case study supports the argument of this research. not all sa efforts are qualified enough to offer the possibility of succeeding in sustainable initiatives. in addition, what this research recommends is to exploit the sa measurement process as a database to outline sa programs instead of a pre-assessment training program. further, the slight difference between the two companies -company 1 scored higher in questions related to the environmentdid not lead company 1 to perform better than company 2 regarding environmental issues. this contradiction proves what this research introduced as "the inefficient form of high sa level". 9. limitations and directions for future research the findings of the present research should be interpreted in the context of its limitations. the results of this study should be treated cautiously considering the contextual effects and cultural differences that may affect individuals’ el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 attitudes and behavior toward sustainability. the cross-sectional nature of the research could also represent a limitation. although the selected two departments shared major similarities regarding work logistics and general procedures, the services offered by each department differed in some aspects. another limitation is the relatively long timeframe the qualitative approach would need to measure sa compared to a quantitative approach. this research establishes a basis for future studies to examine a model to increase the potential of a successful sustainable initiative implementation where the sa-raising process fully relies on the measurement process. scholars should also consider examining indicators of the existence of an inefficient type of high sa level in an organization which can jeopardize its progress toward sustainability. the different results between this research experiment on two of gkm's departments and perron et al. (2006) case study might be driven by differences in the study sample size and nature of the targeted performance. in other words, gkm's case study is focused on a relatively controllable issue -paper consumptionthat involved a small number of participants. however, other variables should be examined such as organizations' leadership approach and characteristics, work culture, employees' sense of belonging and commitment to their organization, and the size of the targeted employees' group. such examination could justify the differentiation in the level of employee participation in sustainability initiatives between companies that share the same level of sa. 10. conclusion in seeking to assess the level of sa and its effect on sustainable development progression, this research used a qualitative research approach that involved running intense individual interviews to measure gkm's employees' sa levels. it also used a sustainable initiative as an experiment in two departments with different sa levels to assess the relationship between sa and sustainability endeavors' success. the results showed that sa cannot be measured without exploring employees' beliefs, attitudes, and conceptions of sustainability. such a deep measurement process can allocate employees on different scales of sustainability understating. hence, different levels of sa require an in-house tailored strategy to approach employees and raise sa levels instead of packaged and off-the-shelf change programs. the results also showed that a higher level of sa can lead to more potential for success when it comes to sustainability initiatives. these results represent the need for gkm to prioritize raising sa as a crucial factor that leads to the success of its sustainable ambitions. raising sa should be seen as a value and belief-building phase that can overcome any leadership transitions that gkm could encounter. building value will assist more of gkm's employees in joining category 6 where a comprehensive understanding of sustainability and its applications is acquired. hence, offering an active participation in sustainability-related initiatives as well as consideration for sustainability in employees' lifestyles. this research also introduces the possibility that organizations with low sa levels have the opportunity to build a comprehensive and deep understanding of sustainability from scratch. winston (2014) argues that if you run a business or a government as if the future will look exactly like the past, you will become irrelevant. in gkm's case, looking internally is the key to a relevant, sustainable future. acknowledgements not applicable funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals ethics approval: the authors have received ethics approval from the ethics committee of the greater karak municipality for the interviews and surveys that were conducted by the author. conflict of interest: the authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper. el-shqeirat/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 18 references ali, h. h., & nsairat, s. f. a. 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(2023). sustainable development and the arab world. ecomena. retrieved from https://www.ecomena.org/introduction-sustainabledevelopment/#:~:text=arab%20world%20is%20facing%20major,unique%20challenge%20in%20arab%20countries. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2011.00328.x https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1806/1/012135 http://www.afedonline.org/en/reports/details/arab-environment-in-10-years https://doi.org/10.1108/cg-08-2016-0168 https://doi.org/10.1016/s0959-6526(00)00037-8 https://doi.org/10.31571/bahasa.v8i1.1136 https://www.ijert.org/research/environmental-impact-of-paper-industry-ijertconv3is20096.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2018.1497933 https://unfccc.int/most-requested/key-aspects-of-the-paris%20agreement#:~:text=the%20paris%20agreement's%20central%20aim,further%20to%201.5%20degrees%20celsius https://unfccc.int/most-requested/key-aspects-of-the-paris%20agreement#:~:text=the%20paris%20agreement's%20central%20aim,further%20to%201.5%20degrees%20celsius https://unfccc.int/most-requested/key-aspects-of-the-paris%20agreement#:~:text=the%20paris%20agreement's%20central%20aim,further%20to%201.5%20degrees%20celsius https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/focusing-on-what-90-of-businesses-do-now-is-a-big-mistake/ https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/beuiibfaid/issue/73015/1036501#article_cite https://www.ecomena.org/introduction-sustainable-development/#:~:text=arab%20world%20is%20facing%20major,unique%20challenge%20in%20arab%20countries https://www.ecomena.org/introduction-sustainable-development/#:~:text=arab%20world%20is%20facing%20major,unique%20challenge%20in%20arab%20countries http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 28 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i1.866 sustainable urban development: bioregionalistic vision for small towns surekha k c1 1assistant professor, school of planning and architecture, bhopal, india abstract cities and towns are the social constructs in regional settings. they physically manifest and exist as power centres through various layers of culture, economy, politics, and religion. there was a symbiotic relationship between the ‘setting’ and the ‘construct’ in the past. with time and advent of technology, haphazard developments led to degradation of ecological systems and have become a confronted affair. global warming, its adverse effects and the constant references to the words ‘sustainability’ and ‘resilience’ pose questions on the existing planning models. small towns experiencing a tremendous pressure of urbanisation and rich in natural resources, coherence and identity are fast changing. an indispensable change in the planning models is necessary to mitigate this existential crisis and condition the emerging urbanism in small towns sustainably. this paper unearths the role and possibilities of bioregional planning as a sustainable urban development paradigm and suggests few indicative parameters for envisioning bioregionalism in small towns. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords bioregionalism, region, small town, sustainable 1. introduction the region in its geographical domain coexists with the unique natural elements and is continuously evolving and shaping the cultural landscape within it, irrespective of its scale from local to global (vidal de la blache, 1926, passi, 1991; keating, 2001; macleod & jones, 2001; murphy, 1991). the relationship between the natural regional features sustaining life, the physical/built features ensuring health and safety and the cultural features propagating tradition were strong, cohesive, and interdependent in ancient settlements. “a region becomes established when it is identified in social practices and regional consciousness, both inside and outside the region – it has an ‘identity” (paasi, 1991). we lost the classic concept of the region as a sustainable setting and identity with the dawn of industrialization, new technological advancements in planning, transportation, materials, and networking. the studies on the world’s population projection trends inform that 68 percent of the total global population will live in urban areas by 2050 compared to 54 percent in 2016 (data retrieved from un world urbanization prospects). these overwhelming trends of urbanization, globalization, consumerism, and networking have led to a condition which totally cuts off humans from the rooted ground. the focus is on global values, which resulted in stereotype projects and few major accepted trends in all fields. the urban pattern spreads out haphazardly without respecting the natural systems and cultural landscape pertaining to the region. these “natural processes are the foundation of every region’s sustainability and are essential to all life and human settlements” (daniel, 2007). http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i1.866&domain=press.ierek.com surekha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 29 “by 2030, the world is projected to have 43 megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants, most of them in developing regions” (un world urbanization prospects, 2018). this expected development will mostly happen in small towns; “they are towns where ordinary residents experience the vagaries of the global economy and the impacts of global climate changes. they are places that often play a pivotal role within regional economies, that lend character and distinctiveness to their regional landscapes, and that collectively account for a significant fraction of population in many regions” (knox & mayer, 2009). in view of the aspirations of small towns and the fast pace of urbanization; it is right to intervene and condition the emerging urbanity sensibly respecting the various layers of plurality that exist in an urban environment. this will make our developing towns more livable and add to the quality of life. what is needed is not a curtailment of urban space planning and design because we cannot afford to do it by means adopted in the past, but recognition of natural factors as determinants of urban land use and reorientation of our planning and design policies towards solutions based on management policies which harness the economic forces of nature (laurie, 1979). newer development perspectives should be adopted for integrated growth between urban, nature and cultural landscape. this should consider the carrying capacity, land suitability, and feasibility of functions introduced in a region. the urbanity of a region should be molded locally with a holistic and sustainable urban development paradigm as portrayed by the philosophy of bioregionalism, eco urbanism, eco polis, biophilia etc. “one another approach gaining increasing attention in this context is ecosystem-based adaptation (eba), explicitly bringing ecological principles and ecosystem conservation together with climate change adaptation; it may be linked to community-based adaptation (cba), which may be a fruitful way forward in urban contexts” (simon, 2016). “transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development” (coined by un, department of economic and social affairs) reiterates the role of ecology in accomplishing the sustainable development goals and the “sdg, goal 11: make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” (coined by un, department of economic and social affairs). “an environmentally led approach suggested a return to a more symbiotic relationship between built culture and natural systems, a return with far-reaching spatial implications” (hagan, 2015). in this view, “bioregionalism is a new process of thinking and is one such option. it is a way of making a new social construct through territories with different entrances, where we will have to work with concepts like consciousness of place and global archaeology and formulate new proposals and test them on the ground” (prost, 2017). the paper tries to establish bioregional planning, an inclusive doctrine which integrates ecology and social constructs to build up a sustainable development framework for small towns. 1.1. research questions and objectives r1. what are the common threads/relations between these philosophies/theories sustainable urban development, bioregionalism and small town urbanism? objective 1: investigating each theory/philosophy through a critical analysis of literature available and deciphering common underlying principles. r2. can bioregionalism be an alternate development paradigm for achieving sustainable urban development in small towns? objective 2: detailing out the possibilities of bioregional planning by further analysing based on common underlying principles. r3. what are those few indicative parameters to be looked in to mould a bioregionalistic vision for small towns? objective 3: summarising the study by arriving at indicative parameters for designing small towns. 2. methodology an extensive literature review on these three theories (sustainable urban development, bioregionalism and small town urbanism) is used as a methodological tool to analyse critically and correlate the common pronicples among them. this will help to establish that all three are interelated and work together for fostering sustainable habitats. further, the possibility of bioregional planning is explored based on these common principles for suggesting indicative parameters for envisioning bioregionalism in designing surekha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 30 sustainable small towns. figure 1 shows the methodology of the paper. methodology. source:author. 3. literature review: core concepts of theories/philosophies the following section will look at each theory individually to decipher its core concepts, values, and attributes. 3.1. bioregionalism as an ‘eco-cultural’ centric theory “bioregionalism is a body of thought and related practice that has evolved in response to the challenge of reconnecting socially just human cultures in a sustainable manner to the region-scale ecosystems in which they are irrevocably embedded” (aberly, 2005). it originated as a social activist campaign in north america in the early 1970s. peter berg’s and gary snyder’s writings in the 1960s rooted the initial concept of bioregionalism and they strongly believed to take cues from the traditional wisdom of our ancestors and identify ecosystem as a place for a successful life ahead. he emphasizes the importance of a healthy and just population with individual and cultural identities, marked by natural boundaries rather than political administrative boundaries (aberly, 2005). “bioregionalism is a technical process of identifying biogeographically interpreted culture areas called bioregions” (van newkirk, 1975). “within these territories, resident human populations would restore plant and animal diversity, aid in the conservation and restoration of wild eco-systems, and discover regional models for new and relatively non-arbitrary scales of human activity in relation to the biological realities of the natural landscape” (aberly, 2005). “bioregions are resource-rich regions such as a common watershed, biota, landform, and biogeography (snyder 1990, 1995; mctaggart 1993; robertson 1996; foster 1997; house 1999; mcginnis 1999) which forms a life place and gives a unique identity and value to a particular region. identifying such bioregions will help in creating sustainable cultural built forms which can strengthen the natural landscape and add to coexistence and resilience. the final boundaries of a bioregion are best described by the people who have lived within it, through human recognition of the realities of living-in-place” (berg & dasmann 1977). in their writings, they emphasized the importance of a decentralised, bottom up approach of governance and identification of boundaries based on culture and ecology; questioning the arbitrary political and administrative boundaries of governance. it rejects the phenomenons of industrial, consumerist and globalised stereotypes and desires to flourish a localised, resilient and cyclic economy in a symbiotic identifiable cultural landscape. kirkpatrick sale proposed “bioregionalism as an alternate development paradigm by based upon principles including”: division of the earth into nested scales of natural regions. surekha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 31 development of localized and self-sufficient economies. adoption of a decentralized structure of governance that promotes autonomy, subsidiarity, and diversity. integration of urban, rural and wild environments (sale, 1985). bioregional planning addresses the conflicts existing between civilisation and nature; issues of development and the need for conservation; adapting to vernacular and experimenting the new; bring revolutionary change and achieving stability; balancing the economy, market forces and protecting the ecology. so, it is an eco-cultural and place centric theory which advocates sustainable habitats for all life forms on earth. place, ecology and governance become the foundational base for bioregionalistic vision. bioregionalism can be envisaged as a continuing and evolving process and requires adaptation with its context at every point of time for fostering sustainable future. figure 2 shows the summary of the theoretical understanding of bioregionalism. figure 2 diagrammatic representation of the summary of the theory of bioregionalism. source:author. 3.2. other supportive regionalist theories the former works of frederick jackson turner, howard odum, lewis mumford and patrick geddes contributed substantially to regionalism. geddes’ theory of ‘place, work and folks’ and gedessian valley section reinforces the quest for the sustainable development at the regional level. “geddes called for the ‘systematic planning of entire regions’, and insisted on the importance of ‘survey before plan’, a survey of local and regional conditions social, historical and physical before proposing any interventions. this was important not only in geographical terms, but in temporal ones: the past informs the present informs strategies for the future or should” (hagan, 2015). “this integration of settlements and modes of production and consumption into the context and conditions of their natural region, roughly delineated by the local watershed, later formed the conceptual basis of bioregionalism” (w. stephen, 2004). another important proponent of ecologically conscious planning and who devised a method of mapping for the same was ian mcharg. “ecological planning is that approach whereby a region is understood as a biophysical and social process comprehensible through the operation of laws and time. this can be reinterpreted as having explicit opportunities and constraints for any particular human use. a survey will reveal the most fit locations and processes” (mcharg, 1997). lewis mumford, a disciple of geddes, focussed on “ecological regionalism that combines planning, design and a biocentric understanding of natural processes within a politically grounded and civic-minded environmentalism” (critchley, 2004). thus, many theories have developed over time, which reinforce the need for an eco-cultural urban development. 3.3. small towns, small town urbanism and the need for an alternate development paradigm “small towns can be extraordinary places, towns that have their own identity and a sociable and enjoyable way of life for their inhabitants” (knox & mayer, 2009). these towns could be resource-rich regions and have a unique cultural landscape. they can be places of environment and pedestrian friendly, encouraging and promoting local crafts, cuisine, traditional wisdom and architecture. “the small town is a context-dependent concept, and should be defined by a variety of indicators comprising material forms, socioeconomic functions, types of administration, and so forth” specific to region and geographic location setting. (bell & jayne, 2009). based on population, small towns are urban agglomerations, having 20000 to 500000 population (un world urbanisation prospects, 2018). small town urbanism is the emerging condition of urbanity that envisions for a fair, affordable, incremental, grassroot level participatory sustainable urban development. it refers to the way of life, ever developing through migration, integration to built fabric, expressing identity as materiality and society through tangible and intangible elements. the heterogeneous surekha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 32 morphology of small towns with the rural-urban dichotomy adds to the distinctiveness of place. “different kinds of small towns in different settings have different needs, challenges and opportunities. their well being is often critical not only to their inhabitants but also to the economic and social cohesion of metropolitan regions and deep rural areas. they can be havens in a fast world, places whose inhabitants think globally and act locally. yet globalisation undermines the distinctiveness of many smaller urban places and threatens vitality and culture” (knox & mayer, 2009). there are chances of small towns getting engulfed within the urbanised areas because of urban sprawl and completely transforming its cultural landscape. they also face the adverse effects of global warming, being less resilient. “the social and cultural forces, associated with globalization, have overwritten local social and cultural practices and globalization has generated a world of restless landscapes, in which the more places change the more they seem to look alike and the less they are able to retain a distinctive sense of place” (ritzer 2007). thus, small towns give immense opportunities to develop as centres of sustainable habitats, respecting the characteristics and uniqueness of the region. it is at this venture that the paper tries to explain bioregional planning as an alternative development paradigm for designing these towns. the paradigm should have context based parameters to build sustainable strategies for environment, social and economic aspects of the town. “therefore, sustainability in small cities has to ensure that this reformulation is not laborious and does not create imbalances, and that identity of people and places is the main concept of any project to conserve the small cities quality of life” (ricci, 2007). small towns could be a model of decentralised self sustainable habitats dispersed amidst lush agricultural hinterlands as polarised growth centres keeping a high-speed connectivity to the urbanised neighbouring city. the carrying capacity of the region and the resources that offer a good quality of life can restrain the growth and extent of small towns. it can also look at nature based solutions for resilience and involve local self governments and participatory planning at grass root level for a bottom up planning. so a guiding development paradigm based on the indicative parameters is a necessity to condition urbanism. figure 3 shows the indicative parameters for the assessment of small town urbanism based on the three major aspects of sustainable urban development. indicative parameters for the assessment of small town urbanism. source:author 3.4. sustainable development bioregionalism and small town urbanism “the development of a vision for a sustainable city means setting up goals that depend on the needs of the community, the environmental, social and economic values. it is not a defined static state, but a process that changes with the changes in the society, the institutions and culture of living” (sofeska, 2016). “the small town sustainable development is a combination of economic development, social and cultural progress and environmental protection with full respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development, while achieving surekha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 33 stability and peace throughout the world” (un-habitat, united nations human settlements programme, 2019). bioregionalism and small town urbanism summarises on ecological bonding; indigenous cultural coherence; democratic decentralised governance; and region reliant and dependent economy. both these concepts envisions sustainable development. “furthermore, in the sustainable development philosophy, the notion of think global, act local tends to favour local actions and thus small localities are places where such experimentations can take place” (mainet, 2015). “a true shift toward sustainability ultimately will require what i call green regions: spatial units that mix urban settlements with surrounding hinterlands and ecosystems and that together yield compact, sustainable cities and settlement patterns” (beatley, 2011). 3.5. common principles and focus areas deciphered out of literature review from the critical analysis of the theories/philosophies, it could be concluded that bioregional planning of small towns can condition the small-town urbanism envisioning sustainable urban development. figure 2.3 shows the grouping of the major keywords associated with each theory governed by four major focus areas – place, ecology, governance and economy. table 1 shows the comprehensive relational framework of the theories based on place, ecology, governance and economy as the common principles/focus areas. figure 4 keywords narrowed down to four major focus areas. source:author table 1. comprehensive relational framework of the theories. source:author. bioregionalism small town urbanism sustainable urban development e c o l o g y eco-cultural centric place-people centric ecology, social and economic sustainability. mega-meso-micro scale bioregion-ecoregionwatershed micro scale town architecture mega-meso-micro scale regional-metropolitan-townarchitecture natural features as shared commons unique features of the town as shared commons common and fair stake of resources surekha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 34 table 1 continued p l a c e decentralized growth centres as urban hubs amidst natural landscape depending on the carrying capacity of the bioregion. compact city development, concentrated growth poles connected by high-speed networks to other small towns or megacities in the region, polycentric development. holistic spatial development of balanced growth in rural and urban areas and reducing concentration at centres and distributing in satellite parts. natural features, boundaries as extend and assets, symbiotic relationship with cultural landscape for character and identity. unique features of the town (ecology, culture, tradition, heritage, local arts, crafts, economy) and its natural assets as a base to establish a sense of place and identity. focus on cultural landscape and local identity for the sustenance of the region. g o v e r n a n c e decentralized governance pattern vested on local self governments informed by people. participatory planning, community level stewardships and local governing bodies. grassroot level and bottom top planning approach. e c o n o m y development of localized and self-sufficient economies localised economies for surviving indigenous communities global based local economies for sustaining the region 4. exploring the possibilities of bioregional planning in small towns the place dynamics and the aspirations of small towns urge for a framework to support a guided growth pattern in order to curtail the urban transformation likely to happen in the future. the core principle to base upon will be a shift in the approach of planning to a ‘place and people centric sustainable habitat’ approach. therefore, the setting and the communities are always in the forefront and all the allied layers of physical, economy, politics etc act as supporting background systems to achieve sustainability. this section of the paper tries to analyse and detail out the possibilities of bioregional planning in small towns based on common underlying principles/focus areas identified. each subsection will discuss the planning and design strategies for envisioning bioregionalism in small town development. 4.1. ecology bioregionalism is grounded in environmental ethics as nature forms the base for sustenance of life. the first strategy would be to reify the ecological layer as the determinant for the growth of town to mold the cultural landscape and providing food, water, energy, shelter, and resilience. it is extremely important to recognize the function of the environment, its attributes, and resources as shared commons. bioregionalism urges making resources as shared commons on a fair base. the concept of boundaries and territorial demarcation advocated by bioregional planning relies more on natural boundaries like watersheds rather than administrative or political boundaries. watershed planning from a regional perspective would be enabled by the second strategy. the prime step involved in creating a bioregional plan is to do mapping of the existing resources and patterns (shared commons) in the region. (wahl, 2017). so, mapping of the covers – ‘blue, green and brown’ of the region becomes the third strategy to comprehend unique bioregional patterns and resource base of the region for formulating action plans and councils for protecting watersheds. “once identified, these ecological patterns and spatial resources are logical form determinants – they suggest the spatial form to guide plans toward sustainability” (silbernagel, 2005). “bioregionalists view the local watershed as an appropriate scale for decentralized, community-based environmental learning and self-governance. they visualize federations of watershed communities united at the level of the larger region” (nelson & weschler, 2001). the watershed-based planning approach is fairer encompassing bottom top approach, inclusive, participatory, surekha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 35 holistic regional development, preserving/conserving the sensitive areas and fosters sustainability (foster,1985; slocombe, 1993; johnson et al., 1998). “an environmentally sensitive approach to land use planning and urban development is key to successful sustainability efforts in small towns” (knox & mayer, 2009). this must be conceived and implemented at two levels – spatially and regulatory. reducing ecological footprint and encouraging compact developments will help to contain spatial growth within the carrying capacity of the region. at a macro-level, several small towns can form polycentric dispersed growth centres with high-speed transit systems at a regional level for networking and movement. within the small town, a compact city ensuring adequate natural open spaces as lungs for leisure and resilience. decentralized approaches in terms of physical development and governance are yet another trait of bioregionalism; small town urbanism can also work at its best adopting a decentralized model. small towns could have an adaptive cyclic model based on carrying capacity and apportioning of resource base for current and future needs. “the adaptive cycle model suggests a tendency (rather than a deterministic relationship) for systems to pass through phases of growth (seizing opportunity), conservation (accumulation and specialism), release or creative destruction (collapse and uncertainty) and reorganization (innovation and restructuring)” (powe, 2020). in a nutshell, the focus of bioregional planning for small towns should be on an eco-place centric approach concentrating on ‘place’, ‘setting’, ‘context’, ‘ecology’ and ‘environment’. the bioregional patterns need to be understood from a regional scale and not in piecemeal project basis. the scales can vary from macro-meso-micro to efficient knowledge of the unique systems referring to the region/small town. “to bring about real change, environmental sustainability efforts must be integrated into the social and economic fabric of small towns” (knox & mayer, 2009). 4.2. place “thayer (2003) uses the term life-place synonymously with bioregion. the study of life-place connects natural place, sacred place, identity, local arts, practices, food, and wisdom into a holistic knowledge set. the bioregion, a unique area defined by natural boundaries and supporting distinct living communities, is emerging as a meaningful geographic framework for understanding place and designing long-term sustainable communities. bioregional patterns are regionally unique and fit with geomorphic, climatic, biotic, and cultural influences of a place” (silbernagel, 2005). thus, the social components of a region shape the cultural landscape and will be physically manifesting as built forms or as tangible, and intangible elements. theory of bioregionalism tries to unearth these elements to allow for future developments sensibly and gives identity to the small town. the first strategy is to identify these elements which form the spatial metaphors for placemaking and place marking in small towns. further, they are enhanced by natural cues of the region such as green belts, agricultural fields, and hinterlands, green and blue corridors in determining the growth and extend of the small town, formulating development regulation guidelines and techniques of land development including setback regulations, minimum lot sizes, zoning, and controlled land uses. sustainable methods of construction with indigenous resources and materials become the second strategy for bioregionalistic vision and can also help in lowering the carbon footprint. the combined effort of vernacular wisdom and experimental efforts in modern construction can reduce embodied energy and bringing in new vocabulary and identity to the small town. bioregionalism theory advocates the natural energy cycles which are close ended in a loop. circularity in resource consumption and ‘cradle to cradle’ practices in a small town make it a sustainable entity. third, well derived policies supporting sustainable regional growth patterns add to the aspirations of small-town development. “policies for small towns need to build on the assumptions about the relations between people and place, activities, locational dimensions, resonance with material experiences and cultural imageries” (healey, 2007). the place making and landscaping of small towns should be conversant through bioregional patterns and should be appropriate to give an inclusive character and dynamism. the space within the town becomes compact settings to enhance social interaction and place identity (powe et al., 2017; daniel, 1999; tolbert et al., 2002; hanna et al. 2009). the sense of place, the associational value of people, and place attachment nurtures through bioregional planning. apart from this, mixed-use developments, walkable neighborhoods and transit oriented developments, sustainable modes of transport including cycling and public transport, passive solar designs, greening, inclusive and universal design, waste management and sustainable resource production and consumption for food, water, energy, promoting surekha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 36 local arts and crafts are all ways of incorporating bioregional vision at the place level. small towns that pursue sustainable measures augment community development, place identity, and mobilize resources. (friedman, 2014; dale et al., 2008). in short, a symbiotic relationship between culture and ecology can promote a reduced ecological footprint. the social construct of small town depends on the history and legacy associated with it. bioregionalism offers a platform for analyzing these life forms and incorporating them into future developments. undoubtedly, the quality of living and the livability index will be thoroughly enhanced with this alternate development paradigm. 4.3. governance “bioregionalism is a daringly inclusive doctrine of fundamental social change that evolves best at the level of decentralized practice. although none of the tenets of bioregionalism are etched in stone, these tenets stake claim to a dynamic, grass-roots approach to conceptualizing and achieving transformative social change” (aberly, 2005). environmentally sensitive land use planning regulations as part of the governance and laws should be implemented for mainstreaming bioregionalistic vision. the power of taking decisions shall be vested upon the local governing bodies for more inclusive, fair and informed planning. the regional resources and patterns can be best identified and conserved by the residents or communities of the region or a town. bioregionalistic vision for small towns advocates a democratic mode of governance in its strictest sense. some common decentralized approaches to governance which can be adopted includes collaborative environmental planning (wondolleck and yaffee, 2000), community based environmental management (agrawal and gibson, 1999), institutionalized participation (ribot, 2002), and an enhanced role for civil society (friedmann, 1998). the local level decision making strengthens communities and the bonding with nature; helps in efficient implementation of policies; monitoring the resources and for better resilience. 4.4. economic according to urban theorist jane jacobs (1961) “cities are settlements that generate economic growth from their own local economy”. the word ‘local’ needs to be stressed here as it suggests rootedness and living in place, core concepts of bioregionalism and small-town urbanism. economic sustainability is yet another dimension to achieve an integrated urban development perspective. “the goal of economic activity is to achieve the highest possible level of cooperative self-reliance in bioregionalism” (aberly, 2005). projecting and paving a way for economies of localization forms a major strategy. localized economies based on the identified assets of the small towns, along with revitalization efforts for declining sectors to bring in newer job perspectives and products with experiments and exploration through networking and globalization, can reinforce the place economics. small town urbanism, since it is based on local character, place identity; the urban form and morphology can contribute to economic sustainability through responsible tourism initiatives. as the town itself becomes an artefact for enjoyment, responsible tourism initiatives will have fewer negative effects on the socio-cultural and environmental context and generate economic benefits for local people and is participatory, interdependent in all tourism related activities. “providing desirable places to live in and visit, where a combination of heritage buildings and desirable locations near natural amenities, encourages business to set up to supply the emerging local economy and/or niche manufacturing which may have a wider market” (powe & hart, 2017). local crafts, arts, heritage, food, indigenous resources, architecture etc. becomes central for achieving a unique economic model prevailing to the region/town. these can become self-expressive for maintaining the cultural landscape and to bring in conviviality and hospitality. “an asset-based approach developed by john kretzmann and john mcknight in the early 1990s helped sell their unique selling points (usp’s) in a global world and found a niche. the homogenization that results from globalization may even allow small town economies to be distinct and to draw economic success from being different” (knox & mayer, 2009). so, these localized economies become as much as part of the global economy and contribute to the gdp of the nation. this further strengthens the spatial dynamics and interdependence of a ‘mega city and a neighboring small town’ or ‘urban and rural’ or ‘city and the suburb’ relationship. with small towns, they can become primary centres of manufacturing activity too, providing employment opportunities and parasitic small business growth. the proximity of living and working places advantages the economic setups combined with the space/time compression of a globalized world. being indigenous and rooted to place help in building ‘eco-economics’ for the community. “ecosurekha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 37 economics means bioregionally-scaled economies designed based on ecological principles. it means running an economy the way nature runs a forest. ecological principles mandate decentralization, deconcentration, and regionalization of our economic systems. as much as possible, there must be local production, consumption, and fullscale recycling, drawing from local resources. it further mandates that no economic activity be allowed that is destructive or compromising to the ecological integrity of the region within which it takes place” (haenke, 1996). 5. a framework for a bioregionalistic vision for sustainable small town there is a lot of possibility for the betterment of small towns in planning, advocacy and the approach attributed to creating sustainable habitats within them. the paper has elaborately discussed the need for being visionary and flexible to adapt to newer paradigms – bioregionalism in particular. also the relational bonding of various layers of urban and their correlation within the three theories/philosophies of bioregionalism, small town urbanism and sustainable urban development has been thoroughly deliberated. the thrust areas of these three theories/philosophy are evidently interrelated and could be summarised as ecology, place, governance, and economics. figure 4.1 shows the summarised thrust areas of the theories/philosophies discussed and ultimately leading to sustainability. a detailed approach for incorporating the bioregionalistic vision is discussed in the next subsection. figure 5 summarised thrust areas of the theories/philosophies discussed leading to sustainability. source:author. 5.1. indicative parameters for bioregionalsitic vision for sustainable small towns having identified the thrust areas of theories/philosophies which clearly propose an eco-cultural development perspective; certain indicative parameters are devised for formulating the bioregionalistic vision of small towns. “bioregionalism is a social movement and action-oriented field of study focused on enabling human communities to live, work, eat, and play sustainably within earth’s dynamic web of life. at the heart of the matter is this core guiding principle: human beings are social animals; if we are to survive as a species, we need healthy relationships and secure attachments in our living arrangements with one another and with the land, waters, habitat, plants, and animals upon which we depend” (pezzoli & leiter, 2016). so bioregionalism is essentially an attempt to bring back nature to daily life for sustenance of life forms on earth and to create just, safe, resilient and healthy sustainable habitats. “it is at the human-scale of community where sustainability turns from a concept into a lived reality of regenerative cultures adapting to the uniqueness of the lifeplace they inhabit” (wahl,2017). a set of indicative parameters and strategies has been identified to ground the theory of bioregionalism spatially and also to aid in adopting a practical approach for designing sustainable small towns. these parameters focus on the three thrust areas of bioregionalism – ecology, place and governance. “a society which practices living-in-place keeps a balance with its region of support through links between human lives, other surekha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 38 living things, and the processes of the planet — seasons, weather, water cycles — as revealed by the place itself” (berg & dasmann, 1977). the indicative parameters also look at these large processes at a regional scale (to set a base), to a town and community level (to understand the relevant negotiations shaping a cultural landscape) and to a need and scale of one’s own self (to change the behaviour and attitude towards nature). table 2 shows the indicative parameters and a framework for bioregionalistic vision of small towns. table 2. indicative parameters and a framework for bioregionalistic vision for small towns. source:author suggestive parameters of small towns indications leading to planning and design strategies for sustainable small towns based on bioregional planning research methods for data collection thrust areas identified boundaries/exten ds reestablish the boundaries based on natural assets. setting up of action plan cells based on natural boundaries. space as watershed.1 regional mapping with gis tools ecology, natural place shared commons/terrain and its features/ territorial domain land characteristics as unique features – blue, green and brown cover. hydrology, geology, vegetation, cultural landscape. delineation of bioregion 2 for macro level spatial planning, recognizing suitable areas for development and marking reserved natural areas. identifying ecological assets. site survey, mapping with gis tools, aerial photography, bioregional mapping 3 place, cultural landscape, ecology resource base identifying resources unique to the region and having a symbiotic relationship with its culturally built form for optimum allocation of resources 4 and to find the dependency over neighbouring towns/cities/regions for scarce resources. resource inventory through survey, mapping natural/cultural place determinants of growth determining the geographic, climatic, socio-cultural, political, religious, economic determinants of growth to understand the evolution of the spatial pattern of the town. 5 documentation, historiography, on site interviews, old repositories. natural place and cultural place carrying capacity computing calculations based on the study of a region’s capacity to hold species without failing the natural system. 6 carrying capacity evaluation models ecology, natural place disasters and resilience measures determining risk prone areas for a resilient spatial development pattern7, type and frequency of disasters, use of “nature based solutions for mitigation” (kabisch et.al., 2017) and check on statistical data of global warming and its side effects on towns. collaborative and community participatory climate and disaster risk mapping and indexing. ecology, place, communities surekha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 39 table 2 continued size, shape and pattern of development understanding the existing pattern to identify whether it has followed the geography, outgrowth, and sprawl. mapping, land use maps, old repositories, photographs ecology, place demographics, density analysing statistical data to project population and migration trends. density in terms of numbers and spatial density. census data place local and indigenous traits and usps documenting, analysing local 8 arts, crafts, construction techniques, architecture, settlement patterns, history and heritage, food, modes of transport. implementing cultural asset based approach for localized economies. on site documentation and mapping, videography, photography, interviews, surveys place community identification of community 9 set ups based on ethnicity, ghettos, or any similar cultural trait, religion, caste, etc. on-site documentation, survey, mapping place place attachment and value identifying the sense of place 10 for sustaining the character and identity of the town. phenomenological study, cognitive mapping, visual survey methods and mapping. place, ecology, cultural landscape. urban morphology analyzing the urban transformation based on – its form, time and resolution and to unearth the forces acting on the physical structures. on site documentation, survey and mapping place, governance mobility existing mobility trends and modes of transport and related issues. identifying potentials of blue cover for alternate transportation systems, rapid transit systems for promoting a compact urban form. walkability, pedestrian experience, use of non-motorized transports for a sustainable transport network. on-site documentation, survey and mapping place, governance urban systems recognizing the underlying systems of waste management, water, power, networks, energy. suggesting closed loop systems and making it more sustainable. use of indigenous regional features for sustainable means of energy production, recycling, upcycling, etc. on-site documentation, survey and mapping, interviews, videography, photography place, ecology, governance establishments of power identifying religious and political scenarios, tolerance levels. to find out how leadership could help in bringing awareness at community level for a more decentralized and grassroot level system. survey and documentation place, governance surekha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 40 table 2 continued governance recognizing the rules and regulations pertaining to the community, conduct, administration and construction. analysing and programming to a democratic system, bottom-top planning approach, inclusive and participatory, community level grassroot planning, decentralized governance. 11 documentation, interviews, survey place, governance policies, programs and self stewardship deriving policies at various scales of town structure from municipal to neighborhood to one’s own self. informing using workshops, behavioral and attitude change of one’s own. creating awareness among the inhabitants through environmental stewardship. 12 interviews place, governance “space as watershed, watersheds, as models that delineate local natural communities, are thought to provide the organizational basis for mediating relations between cultures and local environments” (ryan, 2012). “bioregions are geographical provinces of marked ecological and often cultural unity, its subdivisions...often delimited by watersheds, or water divides of major streams” (berg, 1985). “the term ‘bioregionalism’ names a social movement advocating the formation of environmental policy within the natural boundaries of a bioregion rather than the artificial boundaries of existing states or other political jurisdictions” (mcginnis,1999). “in terms of composition, the bioregion should be delineated with a clear basis in geography and ecology that has an impact on place without determinism” (ryan, 2012). “bioregions can be distinguished by particular attributes of flora, fauna, water, climate, soils, and landforms, and by the human settlements and cultures those attributes have given rise to” (sale, 1985). “bioregional mapping is a community and participatory process to create maps that combine ecological and physical information with social and cultural information within a given place, as defined by those living there or the communities most impacted. it is both a tradition that dates back thousands of years, inspired by countless forms of indigenous mapping, and also that has emerged as a direct and modern response to the erasure of local cultures in the face of our current ecological, economic and social crises” (letsinger, 2020) “bioregionalism involves the process of mapping cultural and biogeographical forces. maps are important forms of communication and relationship building. mapping place is an essential first step to self-governance and community-based empowerment” (aberley 1993; aberley et al. 1995). “bioregionalism is prefaced by an understanding of the land, its geographical features, resource inventory, and carrying capacity” (sale, 1985) “the growth of urban systems is also influenced by the scale of urban space, traffic network, and complexity of the terrain” (fan, y et al., 2018) (thapa et al., 2011; ayazli et al., 2015; zhang et al., 2013). “carrying capacity the maximum number of a species that can be supported indefinitely by a particular habitat, allowing for seasonal and random changes, without degradation of the environment and without diminishing carrying capacity in the future” (hardin,1977). “strong bioregionalist premise (or sbp), which maintains not only that the planetary ecosystem must remain within its carrying capacity (implied by any conception of sustainability),but also that individual bioregions must likewise remain within their carrying capacities” (vanderheiden, 2008). “carrying capacity is the limit of growth or development of each and all hierarchical levels of biological integration, beginning with the population, and shaped by processes and interdependent relationships between finite resources and the consumers of those resources” (monte-luna et al., 2004). “building a resilient city requires detail and careful assessment of its current level of vulnerabilities and resilience” (parwin et al., 2011). “during such assessment and initiatives it should be remembered that there are large differences in risk and vulnerability within urban areas” (satterthwaite et al., 2009). surekha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 41 table 2 continued “a contextual knowledge aimed to define planning and design decisions as place-specific bioregional signatures, and also suitable to keep resources use at a regenerative level and avoiding resources drawbacks” (sale, 1985). “the system of shared service in a community connects the society to the regional terrain. a bioregional relationship to the landscape is based on the scale at which the region and place is perceived and includes the scale at which one perceives the community’s sphere of responsibility and action. moreover, the map of a landscape can result from the inhabiting of a place by a community” (aberley et al. 1995). “ the ideal of community-as-bioregion is an image of behaving organisms that shape a system of meanings and self~ regulating relationships” (mcginns, 1999) “understanding people’s sense of place that is, the affective bond[s] or link[s] between people and specific places” (hidalgo et al., 2001) “can provide insights into how people interact with and treat both natural and built environments” (gosling & williams, 2010). “the findings of sense-of-place research can, for example, inform understandings of pro-environmental behavior (scannell & gifford, 2010; vaske & kobrin, 2001), placeprotective action (lukacs & ardoin, 2014), management of regional amenities (carrus et al., 2005), participatory landscape planning (manzo & perkins, 2006), and environmental education initiatives (kudryavtsev et al., 2012). in short, place matters” (gifford, 2014). stedman (2003) observes that “landscape characteristics such as land use, land cover, and population density collectively produce meanings (e.g., solitude, beauty, wilderness) to which people develop affective bonds of attachment”. “bioregional philosophy posits that communities should be decentralized, governed by self-rule, and distributed within the natural boundaries of a region” (church, 2014). “it is through the social practices of neighborhood-oriented stewardship that community identity and place and community attachment can be fostered. individual actions can be influenced through reflective and transformative learning processes during or following neighborhood-oriented stewardship activities, or by public discourse. policies that reflect urban bioregionalism would provide opportunities for nature activities through the support or implementation of municipal programs and partnerships in the region” (church, 2014). 6. conclusion throughout the discourse of this paper, there has been a constant attempt to establish the need for ‘going back to our roots’ for sustenance of life. theoretically, the paper argues that with sensible and sensitive planning efforts, both the dimensions of culturally built environment and natural environment can coexist and mutually help each other sustain and mitigate. bioregionalism is one such paradigm, which could be mainstreamed in planning sustainable small towns. the research can continue taking up each of its thrust areas and elaborating further on the possibilities of achieving it fully. evaluating relevant case studies for exploring more strategies could be another methodological take away for this research to continue. it is extremely important to be global but better informed locally. “bioregionalism developed out of a grass-roots interest in how to bring about social change that would lead people to protect and restore the environment on a local level” (wahl, 2017). within the concept of bioregionalism, it is flexible and adaptive based on place parameters. that is how it fosters self-sustaining habitats and maintains distinctive places (small towns) within a region. a revival and retrofitting at various scales are necessary to ground this concept and to make it practical. thus, geopolitics, fluidic boundaries and local communities and features form the basis of the bioregionalistic vision. it also encompasses selfrealization, self-propagation and being responsible in a certain way for being environmental stewards. “the bioregional principle has important worldwide connotations. it is in line with the vision of gandhi and schumacher, who saw a new world order based on small, organic groupings, geared to satisfy all the needs of whole human beings, respecting each other’s identities, exchanging surpluses, and cooperating 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(2013). identifying determinants of urban growth from a multi-scale perspective: a case study of the urban agglomeration around hangzhou bay, china. applied geography, vol. 45, 193–202. zhang, mo., liu, yiming., wu, jing., wang, tiantian., (2018). index system of urban resource and environment carrying capacity based on ecological civilization. environmental impact assessment review, volume 68, 90-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2017.11.002 https://doi.org/10.1111/rsp3.12424 https://designforsustainability.medium.com/ https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098032000084550 http://www.jstor.org/stable/2768119 https://unctadstat.unctad.org/en/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2017.11.002 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 66 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i1.868 analysis of solar radiation towards optimization and location of the urban blocks in the neighborhood units omid veisi1,*, amir shakibamanesh2 1,* faculty of architecture and urban planning, art university, tehran, iran. email: o.veisi@student.art.ac.ir, 2associate professor of urban design, department of urban planning and design, school of architecture and urban studies, tehran art university, tehran, iran. email: a.shakibamanesh@art.ac.ir abstract increasing population causes energy consumption and environmental pollution. it is essential to consider renewable forms of energy, especially solar power, to reduce energy consumption. this requires attention to energy issues in the early stages of urban design and practical and creative solutions for more efficient use of this type of energy. this study aims at calculating the annual solar radiation at a city scale through a novel process and methodology. in this regard, artificial intelligence algorithms and satellite data can help maximize the amount of sunlight in neighborhoods and urban blocks in neighborhood units during the development process. in the simulation process, location, and optimization of the urban form, it is necessary to consider the limitations and resources for field study and simulation of urban blocks. therefore, in this study, farhangian neighborhood in phase 1 of kermanshah, iran, which has a good level of structural diversity and lends itself to field studies, was selected and studied at neighborhood and urban block scales. the case study indicates the significant role of calculating and optimizing the patterns of urban blocks to achieve maximum solar energy. estimates at different levels show that urban block variables effectively access solar radiation energy and, given various scales of development from macro-scale spatial planning to micro-scale local design can improve energy intake by 3 to 5 percent. accordingly, the results show that to accelerate the calculation of energy at the planning scale, the use of 2.5d locating model and 3d optimization contribute to achieving the maximum or minimum solar radiation, respectively. on the other hand, this method can be used to organize calculations and planning for maximum absorption of solar radiation at different stages of development. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords urban morphology, solar radiation, optimization, parametric design, gis, ladybug; 1. introduction efficient energy planning and design denote the relationship between land use and building design. principles of efficient energy planning involve the systematic examination of the city in terms of three scales, i.e., settlement characteristics, building block characteristics, and building characteristics when deciding on land use. therefore, it is necessary to consider ideas for mitigating the effects of climate change and ensuring the efficient and effective use of energy (mert & saygın, 2016). the related literature shows that urban geometry and energy consumption are closely related. in this regard, previous studies have examined in detail the relationship between urban morphological parameters and the theoretical energy efficiency and energy heat generated by the spatial configuration of cities. a http://www.press.ierek.com/ mailto:o.veisi@student.art.ac.ir mailto:a.shakibamanesh@art.ac.ir https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i1.868&domain=press.ierek.com veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 67 common theme in global approaches to the city and energy revolves around the sun's potential as the most significant energy source available to all urban areas(amado et al., 2016). the process of energy efficiency or, more broadly, improving the sustainability of building quota is not just a matter of technology optimization but also involves decision-makers, investors, and citizens. to promote and regulate such a large and complex process in renovation projects, local authorities, i.e., decision-makers, must have the required knowledge and tools to design plans or programs that integrate the energy model into more comprehensive approaches to urban renovation(pili et al., 2018). in addition, the analysis of constraints on an urban scale makes it possible to determine more realistically the solar potential of construction surfaces. however, the studies of typological factors and their sensitivity and relationship with solar technology can lead to different interpretations by introducing weight indicators for different geometry, typology, and construction constraints that affect the integrity of the solar energy system. despite using solar energy in cities to create sustainability in housing facilities, there is no related commitment in construction. similarly, the amount of solar radiation is usually not taken into account in urban planning decisions. it is essential to know the solar radiation levels reaching those parts of the building used to install solar panels or heat collectors to formulate energy efficiency measures in new buildings (fernández-ahumada et al., 2019). the methods and tools used in the initial design phase should support architects and planners in decisions leading to solar buildings and help further develop and evaluate various solar technologies in the construction phase(horvat & wall, 2012). tool constraints include model configuration and model simulation time for urban projects indicating the need for different solutions and simplifications to increase the speed and accuracy of such models(dogan, 2015). urban morphology significantly impacts solar potential, daylight, and natural ventilation. hence, comprehensive planning largely determines the inherent environmental performance and its blocks. architectural and urban planners should develop a wide range of related guidelines and simulations in their design process. this parametric study, performed by simulation tools in a process-oriented approach at two different scales, is probably the first step to this end because it analyzes the different types of morphological structure and urban blocks and their potential contribution to locally produced energy. this study seeks to find a comprehensive solution to quantify the role of solar energy as a source of renewable energy in various urban morphologies. in addition, it investigates the possibility of achieving the maximum amount of solar radiation through the use of the 2.5d measurement method and three-dimensional data, especially data on the urban block scale and a combination of these two data types. 2. background urban areas have expanded widely in recent decades, and the rise will probably continue in the coming decades. many countries provide excellent opportunities for local generation and energy use, thereby minimizing energy loss or transfer(mohajeri et al., 2016). typology is a tool admired by urban designers. mapping the future of cities in europe from the late 1960s to the 1970s encouraged krier(krier, 1978) to use typological studies to guide design, reintegrate fragmented parts of the town, and emulate the best pre-industrial cities. however, as people's lifestyle changes much more dramatically than in the past, the typology of the city will no longer host it forever, and the elements of the urban form are constantly changing and getting replaced. thus, new typologies emerge, reflecting people's unique lifestyles, though not entirely invented. on the other hand, the building plan usually determines the activities and programs inside the building. after decades of implementation and critique of zoning, the mixed-use approach has become a common strategy for programs on a regional scale (shi et al., 2017). these forms should be considered in line with climate programs and part of a long-term plan based on environmental needs. using the 3d model for analyzing solar radiation due to different limitations, such as large scales and solar direct radiation in urban areas, is always not possible. also, selecting an algorithm for calculating solar radiation by comparing different models is possible, because computational algorithms adopt different models of sky vision and sources for climate data(noorian et al., 2008). in some cases, the researcher utilizes small-scale analysis and statistical models. while others compare the results provided by more well-known tools for urban-scale solar analysis or with more accurate calculations performed by software for building-level dynamic solar analysis. computational time and activities, the demand for setting up basic data, and interpreting results are some of the critical issues that can limit the application of these models in areas with high economic and human resources. building energy performance is influenced by urban geometry, building design, systems efficiency, and residents' behavior. also, these factors are veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 68 under the control of various actors in the construction sector: urban planners and designers, architects, and system engineers(ratti et al., 2005). thus, the calculation in different scales of the cities is divided into three scales: small scale, middle scale, and macro scale. 2.1. solar energy modeling methods on the macro scale in this framework, developing a comprehensive urban planning process based on solar energy and its composition in an urban area is called solar urban planning(amado & poggi, 2012). this approach is used by a variety of planning methods that support the use of solar potential as a significant urban design issue to improve energy supply and productivity in existing urban areas and to promote integrated photovoltaic building (bipv) in new cases(amado & poggi, 2012; lobaccaro & frontini, 2014). predicting the right location for photovoltaic systems on buildings and providing their potential energy is essential in supporting solar urban planning methods(gadsden et al., 2003). therefore, the framework encompasses a combination of technological and strategic solutions that contribute to energy efficiency at the local level if they are still sufficiently organized to deal with the city's conception, development, and management. the energy efficiency challenge requires the development of urban models that lead to energy savings and the installation of photovoltaic systems with the parallel integration of smart grids to develop a framework beyond the single building (amado & poggi, 2014a). in this case, energy efficiency involves changes on a much longer scale. a new study by amado and poggi (2014b) suggests that urban cells should be considered for automated urban planning based on the concept of automata cellular (ca). they offer an approach to discovering the potential of photovoltaic solar power in cities that are divided into urban units by region and neighborhood(amado & poggi, 2014a). in this approach are the scientific perspectives of ca models developed to analyze various aspects of macro-spatial urban development, such as city shape, city size distribution, and population density, which include a set of intertwined methods and tools. so, using these analytical approaches in the urban system, the relationship between solar potential and energy consumption patterns can be effectively investigated, and urban parameters can be turned into a field of urban readjustment(besussi et al., 2010). the concept of parametric models emerged in the second half of the 1990s in technological and computer-aided models, which originated from the development of software created to construct buildings in a digital environment. this generation of new tools, called building information modeling or bim, is basically based on the process of producing and managing all information related to buildings in different phases of design, project, construction, and user usage period. recently, the parametric approach introduced by bim in the architecture industry has been experimentally used on an urban scale(eastman et al., 2011) urban form is a determining factor for the energy efficiency of a city. in a review, abd alla et al. introduced an approach to improve renewable energy technologies' resources in municipal planning and to review urban management policies to strengthen their effectiveness. the analysis emphasizes the potential of solar energy and the local energy needs of the city. it uses an analytical method based on the facades of existing buildings to convert them into gis maps, making it possible to identify areas where investment and unique technology are more efficient(abd alla et al., 2020). in another study, amado et al. used redesign of urban areas and planning of different regions through a cellular model to investigate the energy consumption and solar energy supply with urban morphology parameters and their relationship with electricity consumption. the purpose of the study was to provide a detailed framework of urban planning guidelines to support the optimization, adaptation, and development of energy-efficient cities(amado et al., 2016). another study by chen and norford investigated five simple indicators covering three performance areas, i.e., solar, ventilation, and connectivity potentials. based on two different geometry types, the study showed that geometric data changes could be used to obtain the appropriate urban form to optimize the data. finally, these indicators were developed in the open-source library of pyliburo in python, accessible for designers and researchers to be used in their existing design workflows(k. w. chen & l. norford, 2017). on the other hand, three-dimensional solar radiation models are needed to facilitate the interactive evaluation of photovoltaic potential in complex urban environments. surfsun3d is a visualization-oriented full 3d solar radiation model used by liang et al., who introduced a framework for integrating surfsun3d in a 3d gis-based application for interactive evaluation of veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 69 photovoltaic potential in urban areas to achieve efficient calculations and visualization for 3d urban models(liang et al., 2014). recent efforts have been made to integrate energy considerations into urban planning and design using artificial intelligence(rahbar et al., 2020). the research introduced by lila et al., the adaptation and development of an opensource artificial neural network (ann) with the aim of predicting solar radiation for newly generated neighborhoods in aswan, egypt, as an example of a hot arid zone. the outcomes are the result of training the ann on a database of classified urban geometries and their solar radiation simulation results for local weather conditions(lila et al., 2021). to sum up, the researcher will be investigated to find the integrated result to calculate solar radiation and overcome the constraints of the city and its issues. 2.2. solar energy modeling methods on the mesoscale solar radiation models are used to estimate solar radiation collection at a location on earth. most existing models do not typically consider the effects of urban shading. universal radiation received at a point and in a specific period of time consists of direct radiation, scattered radiation, and reflected radiation. in most cases, the reflected radiation is negligible, and we can ignore them (fu & rich, 2000). solar maps support the localization of the most suitable building surfaces to predict solar system installations and make it possible to minimize the potential for solar energy harvesting. most cities have implemented online solar maps that provide information on the potential of solar energy and generation on the roofs of existing buildings. but some examples consider the solar potential of planned buildings(wall et al., 2017). one of the major research gaps associated with existing solar maps is that most maps related to solar potential estimation are available for small-scale roof installations but are not available for integrated solar facade systems (lobaccaro et al., 2012). most solar maps analyzed based on geometric data (ie buildings, lands, vegetation) are formed by light detection and ranging (lidar) data. 3d information focuses on radiation analysis and energy production by photovoltaic (pv) systems, although solar thermal output (st) is sometimes available (kanters, wall, et al., 2014). so, the best solution for solving this problem is using remote sensing and 3d form to analyze solar radiation. many researchers investigated how to calculate solar radiation by remote sensing(s. zhang et al., 2019) and 3d form in an urban area and urban blocks (shakibamanesh & veisi, 2021). the concept of form-based code is of fundamental importance in modern american urban planning. hence, parametric thinking is used in evaluating form-based code scenarios(zhang & schnabel, 2018). other studies by zhang et al. investigated the context of urban environmental morphology via parametric thinking. studies have shown that parametric techniques can effectively simulate the urban morphology of the environment by producing parametric models. the findings also include a critique of parametric thinking applied in urban environments and insights into the potential applications of parametric techniques to support quality environmental urban morphology(zhang & liu, 2021). in another study, urban building energy modeling (ubem) was used to evaluate the strategies for optimizing the use of building energy to support the building energy goals of a city. the study covered 16 single-family buildings, 16 multi-family buildings, and 14 office buildings. results showed that the standards of prototype building specifications, building dataset, and workflow could be used to create other building prototypes and to support the energy efficiency of the italian national goals for building and environmental protection(carnieletto et al., 2021). several studies at urban block scale have been carried out (vermeulen et al., 2015; vermeulen et al., 2018). in a study conducted by yi and kim on the building scale, the need for specific building codes for each building form in neighborhoods was stressed and deemed as the basis for the right of access to sunlight (yi & kim, 2015). on the other hand, an analysis based on the typology of urban patterns aimed at investigating daylight showed that choosing a specific typology could contribute up to 16% of total energy performance and up to 48% of sunlight in buildings with similar urban density(sattrup & strømann-andersen, 2013). 2.3. solar energy modeling methods in the microscale due to the high demand for monitoring the energy performance of buildings, evidence-based design becomes more important for all actors in the design process, especially in the municipality and city council, by validating various veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 70 design options and selecting the most appropriate options from all points of view. he does(kanters, horvat, et al., 2014). it is generally acknowledged that up to 80% of design decisions affecting the energy performance of a building are made at the initial design stage, which is where architects play a dominant role. the design and management of distributed solar in buildings involve multidisciplinary stakeholders with diverse aims and objectives, ranging from acquiring architectural visual effects to maximizing solar insolation at a given location, maximizing energy generation, and minimizing operation and maintenance costs. wijeratne analyzed the characteristics of 23 solar pv design and management software and four smartphone/tablet apps against 15 important criteria of solar pv design. the findings indicate that the chosen pv design and management tools cannot meet all pv design and management requirements(wijeratne et al., 2019). an international survey of architects on solar design tools and methods found that one of the obstacles for architects to engage in solar design is that some are unaware of the principles of solar design and the capabilities of existing solar design tools. research shows that solar design, the principle of passive solar design and active harvesting of solar energy, is not part of the core curriculum in some areas. this may soon be a problem, as in some municipalities/regions/countries, most of europe, some of the energy needed to operate the building must come from renewable sources. therefore, architects will soon be faced with the fact that they must be actively involved in this aspect of design(wall et al., 2017). reports from the subtask b subset show that there is a wide range of digital tools that architects use today(kanters, horvat, et al., 2014). although these digital tools can be classified into three main categories (caad tools, visualization tools, and simulation tools), only some caad tools and simulation tools can be used for solar design at the initial design stage. thus, analyzing solar radiation need special software based on different scale. in general, studies at different urban scales can be divided into three categories i.e., microscale studies, which cover regions, and cities; mesoscale, such as sub-neighborhoods neighborhood units, and urban blocks and macro-scale studies, which include urban neighborhoods. on a small scale, when architects face a high-rise building or a home, they can handle a wide range of software. but when urban planners, policymakers, and urban designers need limited information for designing or planning, they need to develop a methodology for analyzing different types of energy. general studies in this area are summarized in table1. table 1. studies on urban structure and solar energy intake source tools method / algorithm title data scale (tuhusdubrow et al., 2010) matlab genetic algorithm genetic-algorithm based approach to optimize building envelope design for residential buildings micro scale: building (redweik et al., 2013) grass r.sun algorithm sol lidar data solar energy potential on roofs and facades in an urban landscape (poon et al., 2020) parametric parametric study of urban morphology on building solar energy potential in singapore context (xu et al., 2019) grasshopper optimization genetic algorithm performance-driven optimization of urban open space configuration in the cold-winter and hot-summer region of china (martins et al., 2014) citysim multi-objective optimization nsga-ii from solar constraints to urban design opportunities: optimization of built form typologies in a brazilian tropical city veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 71 table 1 continued (zhu et al., 2020) sun position the effect of urban morphology on the solar capacity of three-dimensional cities middle scale: urban _block (j. zhang et al., 2019) rhinoceros3d ladybug honeybee radiance energy plus geometric parameters impact of urban block typology on building solar potential and energy use efficiency in tropical high-density city (amado et al., 2017) arcgis rhinoceros3d grasshopper diva geographical urban units delimitation parametric modelling a cellular approach to net-zero energy cities (vermeulen et al., 2018) envi-met evolutionary algorithms periodic urban models for optimization of passive solar irradiation (shi et al., 2017) city energy analyst (cea) differential evolution a review of simulation-based urban form generation and optimization for energydriven urban design macro scale: urban _neighbor hood, city (sarralde et al., 2015) arcgis arcmap the generic models for this simulation solar energy and urban morphology: scenarios for increasing the renewable energy potential of neighborhoods in london (makki et al., 2019) octopus grasshopper 3d pareto evolutionary algorithm 2 (spea-2) evolutionary algorithms for generating urban morphology: variations and multiple objectives (k. chen & l. norford, 2017) python ، pyliburo identification and application of the performance indicators evaluating urban forms for comparison studies in the massing design stage (lobaccaro et al., 2019) rhinoceros3d grasshopper honeybee diva revit dayism-based hourly method cumulative sky method simulation modeling, analysis, and processing tools a methodological analysis approach to assess solar energy potential at the neighborhood scale the gaps between research and methods are related to the calculation of solar radiation on different scales. studies show that the most common calculation methods are based on the "3d model in small scales, such as houses, highrise buildings, and urban blocks. while the researcher for calculating solar radiation in middle-scale and macro-scale need to integrate methodology. in this case, research focuses on this scale to find a methodology and their correlation. 3. methodology architects and urban planners often do not have enough knowledge and time to evaluate solar energy potential during the design process. therefore, having a technical background and determining the appropriate time for analysis can help them achieve maximum solar potential and encourage them to study more efficient design solutions for integrating solar systems into building coatings(lobaccaro et al., 2019). realizing solar energy potential in the urban veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 72 context requires determining the related criteria and parameters according to specific issues that should be considered(amado & poggi, 2014b). this study was analytical and was based on sustainable urban development and documented principles derived by the authors in the two fields of urban design and urban morphology. the aim was to compare the ideal situation with the current situation and to achieve the average height codes in urban blocks for future planning by optimizing the current situation. in addition, to speed up the planning process, the study seeks a connection between two-dimensional solar radiation data and calculated and optimized three-dimensional data. also, implementing a comprehensive approach to calculating solar radiation at different urban scales was another goal of this study. the process had been operationalized to help urban planners and designers link urban patterns and energy production factors. then, a customized workflow was designed using the paradigm of parameters and essential indicators at a city scale. a workflow was developed using gis, parametric modeling, and solar dynamic analysis at various scales based on figure 1. figure 1 general analysis of solar radiation at different levels of the city veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 73 simulation tools were generally divided into three categories: building energy performance analysis tools, microclimate analysis tools, and finally, tools that address neighborhood shape and energy consumption(wang, 2010). moreover, solar radiation calculations can be divided into three categories based on the solar radiation model and the tool that classifies the three-dimensional form of the city. these include i) all-in-one model, which couples the modules used for solar radiation treatment with design interfaces or three-dimensional object representation in a single software; ii) cad plugin-based model, which receives plugins from other software capable of performing radiation analysis; and iii) gis-based models (freitas et al., 2015). accordingly, this study had divided research modeling into two different phases. in the first phase, designers and planners, who might not be able to provide accurate information about building construction details and performance details in the preliminary planning and design period of the site (wang, 2010), study a layer of raster geographic information and makes it possible to examine displacement characteristics in the radiation model, such as slope, orientation, and latitude in large areas, on an urban planning scale (macro-scale) (redweik et al., 2013). the second stage, which was in the form of small-scale parametric data, marks the beginning of developing a research method with the ultimate goal of calculating solar energy at urban design and building architecture scales. the next step was to understand how to change urban planners' current design styles (mid-scale and micro-scale). to address the shortcomings of existing micro-scale techniques, the hybrid method of urban building energy modeling (ubems) has been proposed as a new simulation method, which uses bottom-up modeling with physics-based simulation techniques. within ubem, each building was presented as a thermal model based on the same principles of heat transfer that govern individual building energy models (bem). generation of ubem requires the definition of countless input data for building geometry and a large set of non-geometric energy-related parameters (structures, systems, use patterns, loads, etc.). however, the model processes created for individual buildings can be applied directly to the urban scale due to the larger model size and unavailability of data. they require the use of various abstraction and simplification methods. several methods have been proposed for generating building geometry from gis or lidar datasets and converting them to simple thermal models with reasonable simulation time (cerezo davila, 2017). 4. case study the first step in improving the energy performance of buildings is to study and simulate their behavior. many energy models and techniques have been developed for this purpose in recent years. however, these models are usually from the building designer's perspective, as they tend to consider buildings in terms of defined entities and ignore the importance of urban-scale phenomena. in particular, the effect of urban geometry on energy consumption is still controversial. one reason for this shortcoming is the problematic nature of modeling complex urban geometry(ratti et al., 2005). the study area was the farhangian neighborhood, phase 1, located in region two of kermanshah, iran. this neighborhood is bordered by the bargh neighborhood from the north, sarcheshmeh neighborhood from the south, dieselabad neighborhood from the east, and taxirani from the west. farhangian neighborhood, phase 1, is located in a strategic area of the city in terms of location in figure 2. this neighborhood has excellent potential for vertical expansion and development due to its proximity to the main urban square and is located in the central metropolitan area. such a development is access to more municipal services and high land prices in these areas. therefore, creating indicators and criteria for sunlight access in this area is particularly important. veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 74 figure 2location of region 2 in kermanshah and the relative location of the research site region 2 of kermanshah is one of the newly built regions with high economic potential with old patterns due to special blocks. the possibility of vertical development in the region was also increased due to its good access and convenient distance from the city center. in addition, various patterns of blocks can be seen in the area. therefore, farhangian neighborhood of kermanshah was selected as a suitable site for initial analysis. next, a general analysis of the site was carried out, and 2.5-dimensional radar data and two-dimensional data at the urban block level were reviewed to select index block patterns for final analysis. 5. results and discussion energy calculations at different stages of design require a comprehensive approach. though rodríguez-vlvarez adapted thermal and lighting calculations for use at the urban scale (rodríguez-álvarez, 2016). these calculations do not have optimal performance for different scales. on the other hand, various methods and software are used to study energy variables in the analysis and study of urban morphology. depending on the scale and complexity of the study, the study of urban morphology was faced with certain complexities. hence, this analysis can be reduced at largescale data and up to the building scale. entering different energy categories further exacerbates this complexity. therefore, researchers generally studied energy in two general areas. the first area, which includes technology and urban economic models, was investigated via a top-down approach. in contrast, the second area, which was divided into engineering and statistics, involves using a bottom-up method. urban building energy modeling is done through main approaches, i.e., "top-down" and "bottom-up"; the top-down approach involves using known energy consumption for a specific area and period (usually annual) and dividing it into sections attributed to particular groups of buildings. the bottom-up approach takes a reverse path and creates models at the scale of single buildings with the same energy consumption. then, the results were summarized for all buildings in the complex. while both approaches aim to describe energy consumption, the top-down models were limited because they were trained using historical data on consumption levels, construction conditions, economic indicators, etc. the ability to predict relies very small on changes in the status quo and, therefore, cannot model the consequences of technological advances, changes in construction practices, etc. the bottom-up approach did not have such limitations. another advantage was that energy consumption could be divided into final uses right from the beginning, and the results could have a high spatial resolution(cerezo davila, 2017). therefore, analyzing data in the field of energy and the management, calculation, and amount of this energy needs to be studied in various areas of urban modeling. however, studying these areas at different scales is impossible with a single tool to optimize early urban models. the duration of large-scale radiation energy analysis may not be costveisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 75 effective in terms of time and cost. therefore, different tools should be used depending on the process and the area under study. this study provides different models at each level. it analyzes each in terms of management and design studies that can effectively carry out solar radiation analysis within an urban block. 6. solar radiation: modeling city planning various methods have been developed for modeling solar radiation that differs mainly in their scattered radiation estimation. some solar potential estimation methods have been developed in recent years that consider topography from lidar data(bizjak et al., 2015). gis-based models with the ability to display real-world space for visualization and simulation purposes have been the most powerful. in terms of gis presentation, there are two ways to obtain a digital surface model (dsm) in an urban environment: i) achieving a set of three-dimensional points allowing the geometric reconstruction of the elements under study, and ii) using procedural or parametric modeling (machete et al., 2018). the most common is three-dimensional models derived from lidar through automated algorithms or manually devised with a simple cad method and building footprints. the input data are used for defining 2.5d raster layers (building heights, facets, slopes, etc.), which, along with other tool settings, form input data for gis-based solar analysis(pili et al., 2018). various methods should be used to assess the solar potential of urban areas. of these, it has been shown that geographic information systems (gis) help estimates regional renewable energy potential and practical support for urban-scale energy planning decision-making (groppi et al., 2018). the first step in energy analysis was to prepare the maps needed for measurement. there were two ways to receive raster data (dem). first, radar data taken from sources like the united states geological survey can be used. in this case, the map was based on 30*30 big black and white mosaic parcels. the scale of these maps was so large that the entire neighborhood being investigated was summarized in a few parcels, which was a fundamental problem in analyzing solar radiation data. solar radiation analysis performs calculations according to these parcels, and each parcel represents a certain amount of radiation, so fewer parcels means less radiation information. figure 3. algorithm of the generated tool for calculating solar radiation using radar data the second mode for calculating radiation was using data generated by point cloud in google earth software. to this end, we need to create a point cloud on the desired location based on map data in google earth. then, the cloud point was entered into www.gpsvisualizer.com to add height data to these points (visualizer, 2018). the website uses the global dem data to add a third column to the set of issues that show the height code of our intended points. then, this text data was entered into the gis environment and converted into points, which were then converted into a dem file using point to raster tool. the advantage of this method was the creation of a raster map with pixel dimensions of 5*5 meters. this was much smaller than the pixels in the previous process, which provides the user with larger and more detailed maps. this model was selected for the accuracy of its operation. figure 3 summarizes the steps of structural investigations in solar analysis. after the above steps, the data was entered into the area solar radiation plugin in the arcmap tool for research. the output can be seen in figures 4 and 7. veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 76 figure 4. solar radiation chart in different seasons of the year the diagrams in figure 4 above show the amount of solar radiation in different seasons of the year based on four variables, each in a particular range based on the radiation amount. two critical variables in this area, which were significant for this study, were radiation duration and direct radiation. veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 77 table 2. the amount of total, direct, and diffused radiation of the sun in different seasons of the year winter spring summer fall max min max min max min max min solar radiation 220868 184489 282972 244114 558118 541127 522860 498004 solar direct radiation 159549 123065 210836 171858 435835 418653 407296 382258 solar diffuse radiation 61849 61040 72753 71809 123302 121736 116530 115047 solar duration radiation 900 8431 968 904 1227 1154 1193 1122 figure 5 bar chart comparing different amounts of solar radiation in different seasons comparing different seasons in table 2 and figure 5 in the radar and cloud point data shows clearly that the ratio of direct radiation to total radiation in summer and autumn was higher than in the rest of the year. likewise, natural radiation had a larger share of total radiation than other computational radiations. this was why, in many studies, these two outputs were considered equivalent. figure 6. the amount of solar radiation relative to the earth orientation inspection of the data in figure 6 shows that the distribution of radiation changes at different times of the year was expected, and statistical tests can examine the changes in the data. on the other hand, it confirms that point cloud data provides higher accuracy and more information and can present on-site radiation information for different points with veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 78 different values. this can give planners and city managers more decision-making power when planning land use. therefore, there was a clear need for higher quality satellite data for further research. table 3. correlation among amounts of radiation in different seasons winter_radiation summer_radation spring_radiation fall_radiation winter_radiation 1 summer_radation 0/997508686 1 spring_radiation 0/996560543 0/988235843 1 fall_radiation 1 0/997508686 0/996560543 1 the relationship between radiation variables in figure 5 and table 3 shows a direct connection between the rate of change at different times of a season in a single region. the points that receive more radiation in a season during a year follow the same pattern in other seasons, and the same way can be used in planning. the study of the annual radiation variable using radar data in figure 6 shows a significant amount of radiation in farhangian, phase 1 in kermanshah. what was essential was the use of satellite data for planning on energy and urban scales. according to the 2.5-dimensional dem data, the minimum and maximum amounts of radiation energy for the earth's surface area are 1.4 and 1.6 million kwh, respectively. therefore, a significant difference can be made in the received radiation by choosing optimal locations. figure 7 annual solar radiation in farhangian, phase 1 region of kermanshah using the point cloud technique annual data on solar radiation in different modes confirmed the importance of solar radiation hours during a year. this data was essential because no technology can use all the solar radiation energy, both in the passive and active areas. thus, the duration of time when solar energy was available was more important than its amount. here, the sunshine time was maximum in most parts of the site, as shown in dark blue in figure 7. the maximum annual number of hours is 4365, suitable for using radiant energy in the study site. table 4. the amount of annual radiation in the point cloud method year2020 max min max min solar radiation 1610850 1490940 solar diffuse radiation 378202 373351 solar direct radiation 1235810 1115300 solar duration radiation 4365 4091 veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 79 figure 8comparison of the amount of annual radiation in point cloud method in the study of the amount of annual radiation in the point cloud method, direct radiation was maximum, comprising more than 80% of the total radiation energy. in other words, comparing the radiation time and the amount of direct radiation shows that cloudy days in this region were low, which can further be corroborated by examining climate data. table 5. comparison of annual radiation in the point cloud and radar mode radar point cloud max min max min solar radiation 1610850 1490940 1587260 1515230 solar direct radiation 12358100 1115300 1209970 1139340 solar diffuse radiation 378202 373351 378202 373351 solar duration radiation 4365 4091 4365 4091 figure 9 comparison of annual radiation in the point cloud and radar mode examining the radiation diagrams in figure 9 and table 5 shows two cases in which the changes in the two graphs follow the same pattern and their differences are at an acceptable level. similarly, in places where the amount of point veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 80 clouds is at its maximum, the radar mode was also at maximum, and in cases where the amount of solar radiation energy was at a minimum, the same is valid for radar data. 7. solar radiation: modeling urban design to facilitate simulation and performance evaluation, an integrated workflow using the grasshopper parametric modeling plugin for rhinoceros3d software(scott, 2010) and the ladybug plugin (roudsari, 2017) in grasshopper was created for both solar radiation and building energy. this custom workflow integrates the functions of threedimensional parametric modeling of buildings, performance simulation, calculation of geometric variables and performance indicators, data processing, and visualization of results in an integrated manner. the meteorological data of kermanshah, iran, had been used in the form of an epw file(energyplus_development_team, 2020) as input for solar radiation and building energy simulation, which includes statistical data representing some important meteorological parameters for a particular place, such as global and hourly horizontal radiation, dry-bulb temperature (dbt), relative humidity, wind speed, etc. the study of urban blocks in the intermediate level was done to identify urban blocks and the effects of different types and heights of the blocks of a neighborhood in absorbing the energy radiation of the surfaces. but as the figure below shows, examining all areas of a neighborhood comprising hundreds of blocks and thousands of plots with different height codes was a challenging and time-consuming task, which precludes further investigations by the user. therefore, this study examined the average height of urban blocks in the sub-neighborhood scale. thus, the farhangian neighborhood, phase 1 of kermanshah, was divided into four groups separated by the main routes. this ensures that the impact of the blocks on both sides of the street was minimized and did not interfere with the overall analysis. to study and analyze solar radiation on a local scale, three-dimensional data in the form of mesh surfaces were required in addition to two-dimensional maps. this simulation did not just serve the purpose of a general data analysis but aimed to optimize the height of urban blocks and their research. therefore, among the solar radiation analysis software, the grasshopper plugin in rhino software was used in this study to convert gis maps to parametric 3d maps. the following algorithm was used in the grasshopper environment to create these three-dimensional patterns. figure 10 the final algorithm for solar radiation on a neighborhood and urban block scale veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 81 the final algorithm shown in figure 10 consists of four parts prepared for optimization on microscale dimensions. this algorithm could optimize a set of urban blocks using changes in the height dimensions. in the first part of the algorithm, there were data recorders for storing data on changes in height and the amount of solar energy absorption. the second part placed the variables required for creating three-dimensional volume. the third part includes the variables needed to measure solar radiation. finally, the tools needed to display the amount of radiation and the height dimension were placed on each block, which was an innovative measure taken by the researcher, with the possibility to delete or add other parts to it. the following sections examined radiation at the sub-neighborhood micro scale. figure 11 calculation of solar radiation at sub-neighborhood scale for group a_b in winter and summer veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 82 figure 12calculation of solar radiation at sub-neighborhood scale for c_d group in winter and summer based on the evaluation of the patterns in different seasons in figures 11 and 12, the facade surface data support our previous hypothesis that the energy absorption was constant compared to other surfaces in different directions. this veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 83 means that energy absorption was consistently higher in the southward and westward surfaces of the region than in the northward and eastward ones. the amount of energy absorption in the height variable of 1 to 30 square meters, which was the range of height changes in our four groups, shows that climate change was almost the same for all elevated surfaces. the study of the higher height range was not performed due to the complexity and nature of the research that sought to optimize the status quo. on the other hand, ten residential floors equal to 30 meters were the allowed height limit in local regulations. table 6. investigation of the amount of radiation in the four sub-neighborhoods of farhangian, phase 1 by year and season (summer and winter) year summer winter radiation_groupa 458780000 150240000 80965000 radiation_groupb 201020000 65672000 35684000 radiation_groupc 476250000 154680000 85389000 radiation_groupd 343500000 110970000 62361000 figure 13diagram of changes in the amount of radiation in the four sub-neighborhoods of farhangian, phase 1 by year and season (summer and winter) examination of the amount of radiation in winter and summer in figure 13 and table 6 shows that solar radiation in summer was about 50% higher than solar radiation in winter. this ratio has always been constant in two-dimensional and three-dimensional studies. changes can be seen in other seasons due to the angle of incidence, and other atmospheric factors such as clouds, which prevent radiation from reaching the ground. 8. optimization algorithm in an urban block the radiation and its nature in urban space were associated with many complexities due to many related variables and factors in the city. assuming that the research time was constant, variables such as the height, length, and width of the block, the shape of the league, the number of lots and their orientation and scale, etc., were just a few quantitative parameters affecting solar radiation in an urban block. calculating solar radiation becomes more extended when the number of blocks increases and optimization becomes more complicated. therefore, each of these algorithms had complex calculations and a specific type of method for obtaining the answer. for example, cold metal, genetic, ant colony, etc., are only part of the answer process. given the continuous amount of radiation in a city, this study uses a genetic algorithm. this algorithm continuously examined different parts of the site. it optimized the amount of radiation based on the maximum amount of radiation with height changes in the range of 1 to 30 meters, taking into account changes in height dimension and other variables. this range and restriction in height dimension was the limited optimization time. indeed, the higher the levels of these variables, the longer the optimization time. veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 84 figure 14 optimization of urban block variables in winter and summer in group a. the optimization data in figure 14 show that the optimizer modifies its data over time and places a mark on the image by achieving new records. figure 15 shows the optimized data, which was the final result of examining the height variable. figure 15height changes in the existing and optimized states in figure 15, the height dimension changes can be seen for both existing and optimized states. the height dimension changes had been increasing but did not reach the maximum level, i.e., 30 meters, remaining at the average range of 15 meters. according to the results, the difference between summer and winter shows different optimizations, as seen in the figure below. height changes, in this case, needs further investigation, and no definitive conclusion can be drawn. veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 85 figure 16optimization of urban block variables in winter and summer in group b. examining more patterns in figure 16 in terms of optimization in the subgroups is further revealing. the average height and the amount of optimization show that the data gradually move towards a more optimal pattern with changes in height variables. however, these patterns in all dimensions of change never moved to maximum height so that the average size is usually 50% of the general state. a careful look at the optimal state marked with gray showed that the amount of radiation absorbed in the urban context has increased by 5 to 10%. table 7. comparison of optimal and existing states based on output variables from genetic algorithm analysis radiation avregie_high count_block max_high minhigh group a_summer 1.4441e+8 12.94 50 29 1 optimiz a_summer 1.5e+8 15.88 50 28 4 group a_winter 7.6861e+7 13.22 50 29 1 optimiz a_winter 8.23e+7 16.22 50 29 1 group b_summer 6.5861e+7 13.69 23 28 3 optimiz b_summer 6.9702e+7 19.04 23 28 2 group b_winter 3.3903e+7 13.69 23 28 3 optimizb_winter 3.8353e+7 15.78 23 26 3 group c_summer 1.5468e+8 12.63 63 18 7 veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 86 table 7 continued optimiz c_summer 1.6e+8 15.93 63 27 1 group c_winter 8.5389e+7 12.63 63 18 7 optimizc_winter 8.9074e+7 16.31 63 29 1 group d_summer 1.1077e+8 14.32 77 27 4 optimiz d_summer 1.15e+8 16.53 77 28 1 group d_winter 6.2361e+7 14.32 77 27 4 optimizd_winter 6.5319e+7 16.29 77 30 1 figure 17 comparison of optimal and existing states based on output variables from genetic algorithm analysis the optimized sample in table 7 and figure 17 shows that the height optimization rate increased radiation energy absorption by only 3 to 5%. however, it should be noted that in this case, factors such as the amount of light absorption for indoor environments, reduced power consumption, and other unusual uses can have a significant effect on reducing energy consumption in large structures. on the other hand, even a one percent increase was energy absorption efficiency can dramatically reduce energy consumption because this one percent gives us usable energy. therefore, it can be expected that only adjusting the height dimension in sub-neighborhoods relative to each other can significantly change the amount of solar energy absorption by 3 to 5 percent. height investigations, in this case, include hundreds of different data subdivided due to the nature of the research. however, studying these sub-neighborhoods requires a comprehensive investigation system that categorizes and analyzes the data. on the other hand, in this case, artificial intelligence was responsible for height optimization, and as galapagos software used for optimization had fixed command codes to keep the optimization process and repeated this process up to 50 steps. it changed the height about 25 to 100 times for each neighborhood, depending on user settings, and re-apply radiation calculations for each step. if about 500 new record analyses did not obtain a new record of maximum radiation, the optimization was stopped. therefore, the optimization process here was incomplete due to time constraints. however, previous researchers had pointed to this incomplete code in the optimization process and suggested a discrete approach obtained from the ant colony method for optimization processes where time was an essential element. figure 18 shows the height investigation in the optimized mode for two seasons of the year. these data are close to each other. we had set the time according to the season at this stage to limit time concerning speed so that the optimization speed can be increased in a shorter duration. it was emphasized that this height code was not the final optimal state, and the optimization process took more time. veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 87 figure 18 comparison of optimal winter and summer conditions related to height changes of group a from genetic algorithm analyses our preliminary studies in figure 19 demonstrated the influence of radiation absorption from the earth morphology on the macro-level data. this study shows that radiation absorption in different seasons with the proper location in an urban block can be expected to increase up to 200%, which was beyond the scope of this study. finally, the final analysis of this study is to match the macro-level data and the average height of existing and optimized blocks. in the process of optimization based on genetic algorithm, it was expected that in optimization based on genetic algorithm, height changes occur based on maximum solar radiation in correspondence to changes of solar radiation in the macrolevel data, i.e., satellite data. data analyzed via adaptation of the optimized data and the height change data (figure 19) shows that these data did not change according to the satellite algorithm and the morphological structure of the earth. in other words, these changes were not significant, indicating a need for further research tailored to adaptive algorithms. figure 19: evaluation of the compatibility of macro data at the satellite level and optimized data based on genetic algorithm based on analyses, simultaneous and intelligent use of satellite data in the initial development patterns and matching of height codes with such patterns can help determine the maximum radiation in the urban context. on the other hand, this study shows the need to develop intelligent algorithms based on machine learning algorithms and optimization algorithms in the future. the use of tools and algorithms on this basis can be helpful in the smart development of cities to receive maximum solar radiation and adapt the urban form to other climatic factors. veisi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 88 9. conclusion although city and urban morphology is subject to numerous dependent and independent variables and reviewing and isolating variables in the research process is the only possible solution at this point, research in the field of energy, especially solar radiation, has always been a challenging topic. the need to produce early models of solar radiation levels for a city and ways to access them has been widely discussed. this study suggests a complete model in which the independent variable of average height and a dependent variable of solar radiation and optimization of the research variables were evaluated to achieve an optimal model in which the amount of solar radiation absorption is increased by about 3 to 5%. the study of simulation at different scales has been assessed in macro and microdomains, each with its algorithm and type of analysis. however, in general, it can be concluded that in the macro-level data used in city planning whose documents and requirements are more related to land use, analyzes and simulations require higher speeds and less information. thus, the process uses 2.5-dimensional dem data, either collected through satellite data or point clouds, as fully described in the previous section. however, at the intermediate level, especially at the micro-level, 3d detailed data is needed, which is done using simulation within longer durations with higher accuracy. the only difference between the micro and the intermediate level is the amounts of variables being measured. at the intermediate level, the number of data should be controlled because the amount of data, in this case, is very high, and there may be an increase in computational error. however, in the micro approach, the independent data is lower, and the analysis speed is naturally higher. the main purpose of this study was to provide an optimal model to evaluate the maximum amount of solar energy absorption at urban block levels. first, the morphological variables at the urban block level were studied. then solar radiation energy at the macro scale and micro scales were investigated. using two radar and point cloud techniques at the macro scale, solar radiation energy was calculated in the study area, which indicated the importance of macro data analysis at the neighborhood scale. and even urban blocks in the field of planning. on the other hand, the results showed that radiation data in different seasons produce fixed spatial data compared to each other. the method of calculating radiation time, a significant variable, was also calculated. then in the next part, the neighborhood was divided into four sub-neighborhoods to measure the impact of different blocks on each other. in this part, optimization was done based on height dimension, indicating that the limitations in optimizer algorithms do not allow the measurement of more variables due to a large amount of information and data. results on the average height at urban block-level showed an increase of 3 to 5%. on the other hand, a comprehensive algorithm was presented, starting a 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(2020). the effect of urban morphology on the solar capacity of three-dimensional cities. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.10.027 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2020.100624 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2013.08.036 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.01.001 http://www.ladybug.tools/(accessed https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2014.06.028 http://www.grasshopper3d.com/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2017.05.006 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2018.01.014 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.02.033 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 7 april 2024, accepted: 23 september 2024, published online: 30 september 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i3.1072 analysing indoor air pollution: a study on pollutant levels and air quality assessment in social housing properties vishnupriya valeriparambil narayanan1, roshina rabbani shaikh2, arman hashemi3, heba elsharkawy4, darryl newport5, lucienne g. basaly6 1,2research assistant, school of architecture computing and engineering, university of east london, united kingdom 3senior lecturer, school of architecture computing and engineering, university of east london, united kingdom 4associate professor, kingston school of arts, kingston university, united kingdom 5professo r of energy and sustainable development, university of suffolk, united kingdom 6postdoctoral research fellow, school of architecture computing and engineering, university of east london, united kingdom abstract amid growing concerns over indoor air quality (iaq), this paper presents a comprehensive analysis of pollutants to assess the environmental health in a few case study buildings (csbs). the main objectives were to evaluate the levels of key indoor air pollutants (iaps) (pm10, pm2.5, co, co2, tvocs) and relative humidity across multiple social housing properties and to analyze how occupant behavior may affect iaq. utilizing quantitative measurements, the study investigates the range and exposure of the building occupants to iaps. the methodology involves the systematic measurement of iaps through the installation of data loggers, focusing on pollutant levels to evaluate air quality across multiple csbs. findings show fluctuation in pollutant levels, with some iaps demonstrating consistently within the acceptable range while others exhibit sporadic spikes in pollutant concentrations. the results indicate that significant attention should be given to pm10, co, and vocs. this study underscores the importance of continuous monitoring and targeted interventions to mitigate poor iaq and ensure healthier indoor environments for building occupants. further research and implementation of effective measures are imperative to safeguard public health and well-being. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords indoor air quality; indoor air pollutants; occupant health; energy efficiency 1. introduction in recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the profound impact of iaq on human health and well-being. the significance of this issue is underscored by studies indicating that indoor environments often harbor higher concentrations of pollutants compared to outdoor spaces, putting individuals at risk of various health issues (chenari, 2016). this is concerning given that most people spend approximately 90% of their time indoors (laumbach and kipen, 2012). while iaq assessments are crucial across all types of dwellings, special attention is warranted for http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i3.1072&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 social housing properties. residents in these settings, already among the most vulnerable populations facing economic, social, and health inequalities (baker et al., 2016), are further impacted by inadequate ventilation systems and maintenance protocols in their living spaces (vardoulakis et al., 2015). poor iaq in residential buildings can lead to various adverse health effects, ranging from minor discomfort to severe respiratory issues and chronic illnesses (mavrogianni et al., 2022). several studies have linked exposure to indoor air pollutants with increased risks of respiratory infections, asthma exacerbations, allergic reactions, and even cardiovascular diseases (beizaee et al., 2021). prolonged exposure to high levels of pollutants like carbon monoxide can potentially lead to neurological damage and even death (baeza-romero et al., 2022). low-income families may be more likely to experience poor iaq due to substandard housing conditions and inadequate resources for addressing the issue (national institute of environmental health sciences, 2024)). exposure to indoor air pollution, both short-term and long-term, can lead to a wide range of diseases (koivisto et al., 2019). therefore, the development of monitoring systems is crucial for iaq control. effective iaq control necessitates determining the sources of air pollution (tran et al., 2020). iaq in residential buildings is significantly influenced by three primary factors (marć et al., 2018; peng et al., 2017): (i) outdoor air quality, (ii) human activities within buildings, and (iii) building materials, equipment, and furniture. outdoor contaminant concentrations and building airtightness greatly impact iaq due to the potential for indoor transportation of outdoor contaminants (poupard et al., 2005). iaq can be impacted by the materials used in the construction and furnishing of buildings. many building materials, furniture, and household items emit volatile organic compounds (vocs) that can contribute to poor iaq (wolkoff et al., 2018). additionally, inadequate ventilation and poor maintenance of air filtration systems can exacerbate the problem by allowing these pollutants to accumulate in the indoor environment (yadav et al., 2023). furthermore, specific populations may be more vulnerable to the negative effects of poor iaq. for example, children, the elderly, and individuals with pre-existing respiratory conditions such as asthma are at higher risk of health problems due to exposure to indoor pollutants (hanssen et al., 2018). iaq is greatly impacted by occupant behavior and environmental circumstances. commonplace actions in communal housing, like using specific home goods, cooking improperly without enough ventilation as well as smoking indoors, can emit pollutants into the air (zhou et al., 2022). these activities also expose residents to various dangerous compounds and worsen iaq. a lack of knowledge and instruction on the consequences of these actions can make the problem worse. according to mannan and al-ghamdi, 2021, smoking indoors releases toxic compounds that linger and seriously endanger the health of those who live there, and not only smoking but also lightning items such as candles or incense sticks or items generating fumes make it a notable factor in poor iaq. apart from obvious reasons such as smoking and cooking some more habits of occupants may affect the iaq. cleaning habits and poor ventilation have also been important factors in degrading iaq, several cleaning products, highly fragranced products, and air fresheners all add to indoor pollution. when occupants choose these devices without sufficient ventilation, they unintentionally bring dangerous materials into their lives. another essential component of iaq is moisture management. it has been observed that certain behaviors such as drying clothes inside, increase the humidity within, especially without ventilation or less ventilation which consequently fosters the formation of mold (daphne et al., 2020, hermione et al., 2021). iaq issues can be exacerbated by indoor overpopulation, as it can lead to an increase in carbon dioxide levels (margaret et al., 2022, biros et al., 2021). regular monitoring of iaq levels and occupant education on the importance of maintaining good iaq are also crucial components of a comprehensive iaq management strategy (mendell et al., 2016). improving iaq in residential buildings requires a multifaceted approach that addresses both the sources of pollution and the ventilation systems. effective source control measures can include minimizing the use of products that emit pollutants, proper maintenance of combustion appliances, and implementing moisture control strategies (who, 2010). additionally, ensuring adequate ventilation through mechanical systems or natural ventilation can help dilute and remove pollutants from the indoor environment (chenari et al., 2016). this paper embarks on a thorough exploration of iaps within various social housing properties, aiming to not only evaluate how the behaviors of occupants in different flats can affect the iaq but also scrutinize potential exposure risks for residents. narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 2. methodology the study concentrates on measuring key pollutants such as particulate matters (pm10 and pm2.5), carbon monoxide (co), carbon dioxide (co2), and total volatile organic compounds (tvocs), along with assessing temperature and humidity levels on an average of 24 hours across seven case study buildings (csbs). measurements were taken during winter and pollutants such as co, co2, tvoc, pm10, pm2.5, and humidity were recorded using dl-1038 (figure 1. a). hobo mx1102a co2 monitor & data logger (figure 1. b) were also used to measure the temperature, relative humidity, and co2 levels. a) b) figure 1: a) dl-1038. b) hobo mx1102a co2 monitor & data logger. (source: the authors) data loggers were installed in the living rooms for 37 days starting from november 27, 2023, and were monitored at 15-minute intervals until january 2, 2024. daily average readings of each pollutant were analyzed to assess iaq and elucidate the impact of resident behavior on pollutant levels. the research follows the iaq guidelines and standards from organizations such as the world health organisation (who), chartered institution of building services engineers (cibse), american society of heating, refrigerating, and air conditioning engineers (ashrae), and leadership in energy and environmental designs (leeds) rating system. table 1 summarizes the iaq guidelines and standards used to analyze the collected data. table 1: iaq guidelines and standards pollutant guideline value source carbon monoxide 6 ppm (24 hr average) (who, 2021) carbon dioxide 1000 ppm (ashrae, 2019) tvocs 300 μg/m3 1 (8 hr average) (cibse tm40, 2020) pm2.5 15 μg/m3 (24 hr average) (who, 2021) pm10 45 μg/m3 (24 hr average) (who, 2021) relative humidity 40-70% ( cibse, 2021) temperature (winter) – living areas 22-23°c ( cibse, 2021) 1 according to arc's guide to reentry v1.1 (pyke, 2020), a conversion factor of 3.767 is used to convert μg/m3 to ppb to get a value approximately equal to 80 ppb. 2.1. the case study buildings the csbs were constructed between the 1950s/1966s and have cavity walls and double-glazed windows and are located in an urban area in the london borough of newhan. the occupants included pregnant women, elderly and young people, and people who smoked (vaped), burned candles or incense sticks, used air fresheners as well as used household cleaning materials. in terms of occupancy, the majority of the flats were always occupied apart from one which was occasionally occupied. the number of occupants is as follows: 2 flats (flat a and b) had 2 occupants, 3 flats (flat c, d, and g) had single occupancy, 1 flat (flat e) had 3 occupants, and 1 flat (flat f) had 4 occupants. all csbs were 1-bed, and 2-bedroom apartments most of which were located on the top and middle floors with facing north-south orientation, except from flat c which was located underground and was facing east-west. all buildings narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 had central gas heating systems and mechanical ventilation units to improve background ventilation, however, they were not used (for various reasons including noise and cold draft) by the tenants. table 2 summarizes the key characteristics of each flat in the case study, including location, number of occupants, area (number of bedrooms), and orientation. figure 2: case study buildings (source: the authors) table 2: summary of case study building characteristics (source: the authors) flat location number of occupants number of bedrooms orientation a building a 2 1 north-south b building a 2 1 north-south c building b 1 1 east-west d building a 1 1 north-south e building a 3 2 north-south f building a 4 2 north-south g building a 1 1 north-south 3. results and findings 3.1. co2 levels according to ashrae, 2019, the safe limit for co2 is 1000ppm. figure 3 shows co2 levels in case study buildings. the red line is the guideline for co2 levels. the data below is an average of 24 hours which are numbered as day 1 to day 37, and on the y-axis, the levels of co2 are mentioned in terms of parts per million(ppm). the detailed analysis of co2 readings across the csbs over 37 days reveals distinct patterns in iaq. flat c consistently maintained co2 levels below the ashrae guideline limit of 1000 ppm, indicating effective ventilation or lower occupancy levels and ensuring satisfactory iaq. flat g and f exhibited fluctuations in co2 levels, with occasional spikes, but most readings in flat f were consistently above the guideline limit, suggesting significant challenges in ventilation or occupancy control. flats b and e also displayed occasional exceedances of the guideline limit, indicating potential issues in ventilation or occupancy management. flat d exhibited minor spikes during the initial days but was under the limit on most days after that. these flats experienced fluctuations in co2 levels, with occasional spikes possibly attributed to increased occupancy or limited ventilation. in contrast, flat a consistently surpassed the guideline limit, indicating significant ventilation or occupancy issues requiring urgent intervention. its persistently elevated co2 concentrations underscore the need for targeted measures to improve ventilation and reduce occupancy levels, ensuring a healthy indoor environment for occupants. narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 figure 3: daily average readings of co2 levels (source: the authors) 3.2. co levels carbon monoxide is one of the most harmful pollutants (united states environmental protection agency, 2023). higher concentration of co is directly linked with high health risks. many studies have shown that if co levels rise too high in a room with no ventilation can result in fatal or even death. according to who, 2021, the safe limit for co is 6 ppm which is an average of 24 hours. figure 4 shows co levels in csbs, where the red line is the acceptable guideline for co levels. the findings reveal dangerously high co pollution permeating flats b, e, d, and a – facing extended durations exceeding 20 ppm daily averages by 3-20 times the safe limit. specifically, flat a suffered from sustained co levels between 30-96 ppm from november 27th to december 14th. additionally, extreme spikes reached up to 172 ppm on december 16th, indicating acute toxicity threats. in contrast, flats c, g, and f only demonstrated occasional co spikes above limits before recovering to alignment. figure 4: daily average readings of co levels (source: the authors) 3.3. tvoc levels tvoc are a group of chemicals that can be released into the air from various sources, including cleaning products, paints, and building materials. high levels of tvoc in indoor environments can lead to negative health effects, such as eye irritation, headaches, and respiratory problems. therefore, it is important to monitor the tvoc levels in indoor spaces to ensure occupant safety and comfort. according to cibse, the recommended limit for tvoc is 80 ppb. in figure 5, the data displays tvoc levels in the csbs over 37 days. the red line represents the recommended guideline limit. the research findings show that all flats experienced recurring spikes above 80 ppb, often reaching alarming levels up to 10-20 times the limit, requiring closer inspection. specifically, flat c had periodic elevations ranging from 5004000 ppb, including an extreme spike hitting 2019 ppb. similarly, flat d showed consistent ranges of 500-1500 ppb with spikes up to 2019 ppb. even more critically, flats f, b, and a had numerous tvoc measurements between 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 day 7 day 8 day 9 day 10 day 11 day 12 day 13 day 14 day 15 day 16 day 17 day 18 day 19 day 20 day 21 day 22 day 23 day 24 day 25 day 26 day 27 day 28 day 29 day 30 day 31 day 32 day 33 day 34 day 35 day 36 day 37 co2 levels averaged over 24-hours flat a flat b flat c flat d flat e flat f flat g guideline 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 day 7 day 8 day 9 day 10 day 11 day 12 day 13 day 14 day 15 day 16 day 17 day 18 day 19 day 20 day 21 day 22 day 23 day 24 day 25 day 26 day 27 day 28 day 29 day 30 day 31 day 32 day 33 day 34 day 35 day 36 day 37 co levels averaged over 24-hours flat a flat b flat c flat d flat e flat f flat g guideline narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 1000-5000 ppb. flat f had a maximum of 4610 ppb at one point and flat a reached 4860 ppb, representing extremely dangerous indoor pollution levels from volatile organic compounds. figure 5: daily average readings of tvoc levels (source: the authors) 3.4. pm10 levels pm10 is a common air pollutant that can have harmful effects on human health. to address this issue, who 2021 has set a guideline for pm10 levels on a 24-hour average of 45ug/m3. any pm level that exceeds this limit within 24 hours is considered poor air quality. in figure 6, we can see a comparison of pm10 levels in various csbs. the red line represents the guideline for pm10 levels. after analyzing the pm10 data from all monitored flats, some units consistently exceeded the specified threshold of 45 μg/m3. however, flats c, f, g, and b consistently maintained concentrations below this limit throughout the observation period, indicating good air quality. on the other hand, flats e, d, and a frequently recorded pm10 levels exceeding the limit, indicating poorer air quality conditions in these units. based on the provided data, we can conclude that flats c, f, g, and b are committed to maintaining satisfactory iaq levels for their residents by consistently adhering to the pm10 limit. these flats stand out as examples of good practices in ensuring healthy living environments. figure 6: daily average readings of pm10 levels (source: the authors) 3.5. pm2.5 levels pm10 and pm2.5 are said to be co-related to each other but still, there is a vast difference in terms of their acceptable safe limit guideline inside the room. according to who 2021, the guideline for pm2.5 on a 24-hour average is 15ug/m3. in figure 7, pm2.5 is compared in csbs for 37 days. the red line is shown as a guideline for pm2.5 levels. upon meticulous examination of the pm2.5 data, it's evident that none of the monitored flats surpassed the prescribed threshold of 15 μg/m3 throughout the entire observation period. even though some flats, such as flat g and flat a, sporadically recorded slightly elevated pm2.5 levels on certain days, these instances were still well within the acceptable range and did not breach the established limit. notably, flat f consistently exhibited exceptionally low 0 50 100 150 200 250 day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 day 7 day 8 day 9 day 10 day 11 day 12 day 13 day 14 day 15 day 16 day 17 day 18 day 19 day 20 day 21 day 22 day 23 day 24 day 25 day 26 day 27 day 28 day 29 day 30 day 31 day 32 day 33 day 34 day 35 day 36 day 37 pm10 levels averaged over 24-hours flat a flat b flat c flat d flat e flat f flat g guideline 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 day 7 day 8 day 9 day 10 day 11 day 12 day 13 day 14 day 15 day 16 day 17 day 18 day 19 day 20 day 21 day 22 day 23 day 24 day 25 day 26 day 27 day 28 day 29 day 30 day 31 day 32 day 33 day 34 day 35 day 36 day 37 tvoc levels averaged over 24-hours flat a flat b flat c flat d flat e flat f flat g guideline narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 pm2.5 concentrations, with values consistently below 1 μg/m3, showcasing excellent iaq maintenance. overall, all monitored flats maintained pm2.5 levels within acceptable limits, indicating effective measures in place to ensure iaq remained conducive to health and well-being throughout the monitoring period. figure 7: daily average readings of pm2.5 levels (source: the authors) 3.6. humidity levels humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. it depends on the temperature and pressure present in the air. high humidity levels can create a risk for excess moisture and condensation that potentially leads to mold while low levels can rapidly spread viruses like cold and flu. therefore, cibse 2021 has given a guideline for minimum and maximum limits of humidity levels present in the air which is 40% as the minimum safe limit and 70% as the maximum safe limit. in figure 8, the graph shows the humidity levels for all 7 csbs throughout 37 days. the red line shows the guideline for relative humidity. the analysis of humidity levels across seven residential flats over 37 days reveals varied conditions experienced by occupants. flat c generally maintained humidity levels within an acceptable range, fluctuating between 61.84% and 69.36%, consistently below the target limit of 70%. similarly, flat g exhibited relatively stable humidity levels ranging from 51.83% to 58.49%, ensuring comfortable living conditions throughout the observation period. in contrast, flat f experienced diverse humidity levels between 55.09% and 70.97%, occasionally approaching or exceeding the target limit, particularly on days 9, 10, 13, 17, and 25, yet overall conditions remained within an acceptable range for occupants. flat b consistently maintained humidity levels below the target limit, fluctuating between 45.71% and 56.59%, ensuring comfortable living conditions for its residents. likewise, flat e showed relatively stable humidity levels ranging from 46.84% to 63.85%, remaining below the target limit throughout the observation period. flat d recorded humidity levels between 52.49% and 66.78%, occasionally nearing the target limit but generally within an acceptable range. however, in flat a, humidity levels fluctuated between 61.24% and 73.47%, occasionally exceeding the target limit, particularly on days 29 and 37, potentially bordering on discomfort during peak periods. despite fluctuations, most flats maintained acceptable humidity levels, with flat a potentially requiring further monitoring and adjustments to ensure consistent comfort levels. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 day 7 day 8 day 9 day 10 day 11 day 12 day 13 day 14 day 15 day 16 day 17 day 18 day 19 day 20 day 21 day 22 day 23 day 24 day 25 day 26 day 27 day 28 day 29 day 30 day 31 day 32 day 33 day 34 day 35 day 36 day 37 pm2.5 levels averaged over 24-hours flat a flat b flat c flat d flat e flat f flat g guideline 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 day 7 day 8 day 9 day 10 day 11 day 12 day 13 day 14 day 15 day 16 day 17 day 18 day 19 day 20 day 21 day 22 day 23 day 24 day 25 day 26 day 27 day 28 day 29 day 30 day 31 day 32 day 33 day 34 day 35 day 36 day 37 humidity levels averaged over 24-hours flat a flat b flat c flat d flat e flat f flat g minimum limit maximum limit figure 8: daily average readings of humidity levels (source: the authors) narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 3.7. temperature the guideline levels for temperature are different in summer and winter. here considering winter, the guideline for temperature is 22-23°c for living room. temperature is important as this determines the thermal comfort of a room. occupant behavior plays an important role in measuring indoor temperature as it is directly related to the usage of heating devices in a room. here in figure 9, the temperature for 7 csbs is shown in 24-hour average data. in considering the guideline for temperature, it is equally important to consider minimum and maximum limits. therefore, the dark red line in figure 8 shows the maximum guideline and the light red line shows the minimum guideline for temperature dew point. the detailed analysis of temperature readings across seven case study buildings over 37 days reveals varying levels of thermal comfort experienced by occupants. flat c consistently maintained temperatures within the comfort range of 22 to 23 °c throughout the observation period, with occasional fluctuations but overall satisfactory conditions. similarly, flat g also exhibited mostly stable conditions within the comfort range, although minor deviations occurred on day 6. fluctuations in temperature readings were observed in flat f, with frequent exceedances of the upper limit of the comfort range, particularly evident on days 1, 3, 6, 7, 11, 12, 19, and 20, indicating potential discomfort due to warmer conditions. in contrast, flat b displayed relatively stable conditions within the comfort range, with occasional deviations such as on day 30. flat e also maintained conditions within the comfort range for the most part, with minor fluctuations observed on days 6 and 30. similarly, flat d generally experienced satisfactory thermal comfort levels, although slight deviations were noted on day 6. however, flat a consistently recorded temperatures below the lower limit of the comfort range, notably on days 30 and 31, indicating potential discomfort due to cooler temperatures. despite occasional deviations in some flats, most occupants likely experienced acceptable thermal comfort levels, with deviations in flat f and flat a warranting further investigation into factors such as insulation and heating/cooling systems to ensure consistent comfort across all flats. 4. discussion and conclusion the investigation into the iaq of seven residential flats has unveiled elevated levels of pollutants, posing potential health risks to the occupants. the findings from this study present a disconcerting scenario, with each residential unit exhibiting varying degrees of iaq deficiencies that warrant immediate intervention and remediation strategies. alarmingly, none of the monitored flats managed to maintain acceptable levels across all key pollutants, including co2, co, tvocs, pm10 and pm2.5, and humidity and temperature deviations. flat a emerged as a critical concern, exhibiting multiple iaq issues that require immediate attention. the persistent elevation of co2 levels above the guideline limit indicates inadequate ventilation. moreover, the dangerously high co concentrations, ranging from 30-96 ppm with extreme spikes up to 172 ppm, pose severe health risks. the alarming tvoc level of 4860 ppb, up to 20 times the recommended limit, could be attributed to the occupant's activities like candle burning, air freshener use, and vaping. furthermore, pm10 levels frequently exceeded the guideline, potentially linked to vaping. flat a's occupant behavior, such as not using extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom, and the potential for poor insulation or heating systems, as evident from temperature readings below the lower comfort limit, exacerbated the air quality concerns. flat d experienced significant challenges in maintaining acceptable iaq levels. high co levels, exceeding the safe limit several times, could be attributed to insufficient 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 day 7 day 8 day 9 day 10 day 11 day 12 day 13 day 14 day 15 day 16 day 17 day 18 day 19 day 20 day 21 day 22 day 23 day 24 day 25 day 26 day 27 day 28 day 29 day 30 day 31 day 32 day 33 day 34 day 35 day 36 day 37 temperature averaged over 24-hours flat a flat b flat c flat d flat e flat f flat g max. limit min. limit figure 9: daily average readings of temperature levels (source: the authors) narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 background ventilation, a broken extractor fan in the kitchen, and the occupants' reluctance to use bathroom fans due to energy consumption concerns. pm10 levels also frequently surpassed the guideline, potentially due to the same factors. the open kitchen layout, combined with three occupants, may have contributed to the elevated pollutant levels. addressing the ventilation issues and encouraging the use of extractor fans is crucial for improving air quality in this flat. iaq in this flat b was compromised by dangerously high co levels, exceeding the safe limit. the locked kitchen window, preventing proper ventilation, could be a significant contributing factor. as this flat houses a vulnerable elderly occupant, swift action to improve ventilation and mitigate co exposure is essential to safeguard their health and well-being. while most parameters of flat e were within acceptable limits, this flat experienced frequent exceedances of the pm10 guideline, indicating poorer air quality conditions. the presence of three occupants, including an elderly individual, underscores the importance of addressing the pm10 issue through ventilation improvements and source control measures. flat f exhibited several air quality concerns, potentially related to recent renovations, including new kitchen tiles and fresh painting, combined with a higher occupancy of four individuals, including a pregnant woman. tvoc levels reached up to 4610 ppb, well above the recommended limits, posing potential health risks, especially for vulnerable occupants. additionally, temperature and humidity levels frequently exceeded the recommended ranges, indicating a need for improved climate control and ventilation strategies. among the monitored flats, flat g demonstrated relatively acceptable iaq, maintaining tvoc levels below the recommended limit and stable humidity levels within an acceptable range. however, occasional co spikes above the safe limit suggest the need for further monitoring and potential ventilation improvements. flat c consistently maintained co2 levels below the guideline limit, indicating effective ventilation or lower occupancy levels. however, periodic tvoc spikes, with levels reaching up to 4000 ppb, suggest the presence of intermittent sources that require investigation and mitigation strategies. weather conditions played a pivotal role in the fluctuating levels of pollutants. peaks in pollutant levels were often recorded during colder days when occupants likely kept windows closed, reducing ventilation and trapping pollutants indoors. conversely, on milder days, lower pollutant levels were observed, correlating with increased natural ventilation. this was also observed during the site visits when occupants opened the windows during milder days and in some cases for thermal comfort reasons. there were also direct links between wind speed and concentration of iaps particularly for tvocs, and co2, however, the assessments were not conclusive for other iaps. figure 10, shows an example of the correlation between some iaps (co2 ) and wind speed in the csbs. the analysis highlights the varying degrees of iaq challenges faced by each residential unit, influenced by factors such as occupancy patterns, ventilation practices, and potential pollutant sources. comprehensive remediation efforts tailored to the specific circumstances of each flat are crucial to safeguard occupant health and ensure a comfortable living environment. these efforts may include ventilation system upgrades, source control measures, occupancy management strategies, and collaborative efforts among building owners, occupants, and relevant authorities to implement best practices, regular monitoring, and education. further research is required to assess the correlation between indoor/outdoor air pollutants, the effects of occupant behavior on iaq, as well as possible application of fuzzy logic techniques (versaci et al., 2022) on data analysis. -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 day 6 day 7 day 8 day 9 day 10 day 11 day 12 day 13 day 14 day 15 day 16 day 17 day 18 day 19 day 20 day 21 day 22 day 23 day 24 day 25 day 26 day 27 day 28 day 29 day 30 day 31 day 32 day 33 day 34 day 35 day 36 day 37 co2 levels averaged over 24-hours flat a flat b flat c flat d flat e flat f flat g guideline wind speed (km/h) temp. (°c) c o 2 le ve ls w in d sp ee d figure 10: correlation between the external temperature, wind speed, and iaps (source: the authors) narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 acknowledgment this document is an output from a research project, healthy energy efficient dwellings (heed), funded by the uk research and innovation (ukri), medical research council (mrc) [grant number: mr/y503186/1]. also, the authors would like to thank the newham council, hyde housing association, and iopt limited for supporting the project and providing access to the properties. the abstract of this paper was presented at the environmental design, material science, and engineering technologies (edmset) conference – 1st edition which was held on the 22nd-24th of april 2024. funding declaration this research was funded by the uk research and innovation (ukri), medical research council (mrc) [grant number: mr/y503186/1]. ethics approval the authors have received ethics approval from the ethics committee of the university of east london, for the interviews and surveys that were conducted by the authors. conflict of interest the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references ashrae. 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(2023). a comprehensive review of indoor air pollutants: sources, effects, and mitigation strategies. plant archives (09725210), 23(2). zhou, q., yang, q., and xing, j., (2022). enabling efficient wifi-based occupant behaviour recognition using insufficient samples. building and environment, 212, p.108806. https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/translational/justice https://www.epa.gov/co-pollution https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2015.09.010 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 23 july 2023, accepted: 16 august 2023, published online: 30 september 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i4.976 using resilience to analyze changes in an industrial community in china ying hu1, emilio j. garcia2, ferdinand e. oswald3, yichuan ji4 1phd candidate, school of architecture and planning at the university of auckland, auckland, new zealand 2,3senior lecturer, school of architecture and planning at the university of auckland, auckland, new zealand 4lecturer, school of fine arts, jinzhong university, china abstract besides its systematic identification with disasters and hazards, resilience could be a powerful tool for understanding changes in the built environment. this study analyses the development of the workers’ residential area in an industrial community (ic) in china after its economic transformation. how can a resilience approach help analyze the impact of economic changes on the built environment? ics were self-contained and multifunctional compounds that first emerged in socialist china in the 1950s and were used to organize social production (factory) and collective life (workers’ residential areas). although existing research has explored the possible changes in the built environment of ics before and after economic transformation, these changes that have either taken place or are still happening have never been quantified. additionally, the impact of changes in the level of enclosure of workers’ residential areas after the factory bankruptcy, a distinctive aspect of the built environment, has seldom been explored. thus, this study uses a resilience approach to analyze the impact of changes in the level of enclosure on the built environment of the workers’ residential area after the factory bankruptcy by taking the case of shanxi knitting factory (skf) in taiyuan, china. this study seeks to use resilience to understand changes in ics under the background of china’s economic transformation. the finding shows that the factory bankruptcy significantly impacts the changes in the built environment of its workers’ residential area, as well as affecting the level of enclosure in the built environment. with the disappearance of enclosures after the factory bankruptcy, the workers’ residential area of the skf is gradually shifting from an enclosed, isolated, and self-contained industrial auxiliary facility to an open, diversified, and heterogeneous space. it is gradually integrating into the surrounding urban neighborhoods. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review is under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords resilience; built environment; industrial communities; factory bankruptcy; workers’ residential area; 1. introduction after the founding of the people’s republic in 1949, most factories were structured into a state production unit administrative system known as industrial communities (ics) (lü & perry, 2015). from then until the 1980s, ics served not only as workplaces but also as the principal social institutions around which the lives of most urban http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i4.976&domain=press.ierek.com ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 residents were organized (schurmann, 1966). a typical ic primarily consisted of three elements located in close geographical proximity: production, housing, and social facilities (whyte & parish, 1985). these components were further integrated into two main sections of an ic: the factory used for production and the workers’ residential area, which contained most social facilities. the factory comprised a series of workshops, warehouses, and equipment rooms. in contrast, the workers’ residential area provided housing and other essential social facilities, such as health care, recreation, and education (bonino & de pieri, 2015). ics played a pivotal role in chinese society, combining political, economic, and social functions (dittmer & xiaobo, 1996). to demonstrate and highlight the advantages of the socialist system, ics provided their members with a comprehensive welfare arrangement known as taking care of people “from the cradle to the grave” (walder, 1986). for instance, ic members could secure lifelong jobs with a stable income in these factories, a social assurance termed the “iron rice bowl” (ding et al., 2020). in return, members and their families could access various social facilities in workers’ residential areas, catering to their daily needs. a primary feature of ics was their strategic space allocation and functional division, both of which were essential for efficient production and the promotion of collective living. walls, in this context, played a significant role. as bray (2005) observed, walls not only established the boundaries of ics but also separated them into distinct working and living areas. this perspective is further supported by lü & perry (2015), who pointed out that walls when combined with gates, set ics apart from the wider cityscape. additionally, within the workers’ residential areas, walls further divided space into smaller living units and public spaces, thereby enhancing the privacy of their residents (gaubatz, 1998). however, during china’s economic transformation in the 1980s, the public perception of ics began to shift. they were increasingly regarded as relics — both institutionally and physically — that hindered urban development (zhang et al., 2021). the following decade witnessed numerous factories, compromised by poor management, that finally succumbed to bankruptcy. due to the strains of enterprise reform and escalating market competition, a significant number of ics were repurposed for commercial endeavors. as a result, the identity that once characterized ics diminished, with their sense of collectivism being eroded in the face of economic change. this transformation inevitably influenced the built environment, reshaping social dynamics and lifestyles of residents within workers’ residential areas, and potentially introducing new societal spaces and tensions (ye et al., 2021). nevertheless, few studies have focused on the relationship between changes in the built environment of the workers’ residential areas within ics, as industrial auxiliary facilities, and the operating status of the factory. in recent years, the concept of resilience has emerged in urban studies as a valuable tool for explaining changes in the built environment, particularly for alleviating the effects of political, economic, or natural crises on urban landscapes (garcia, 2013). given the rapid renewal of the urban landscape following china's economic transformation, to what extent can resilience theory describe changes happening in ics? how can resilience be applied to assess changes in the built environment of workers’ residential areas before and after the factory bankruptcy? additionally, in what ways can resilience be used to evaluate the impact of changes in the level of enclosure on the built environment of the workers’ residential area after the factory bankruptcy? this study focuses on the shanxi knitting factory (skf), situated in the industrial city of taiyuan, china, as a representative example of an ic. it study stands as the first to apply resilience theory in exploring the impacts of china’s economic transformation on the built environment of workers’ residential areas of ics. by analyzing urban landscape changes based on resilience theory, this study aims to provide valuable insights to city managers, architects, and designers. it highlights the value of resilience theory in understanding the challenges china faced during its rapid urban renewal within the context of economic transformation. the subsequent section offers a literature review on the built environment and the concept of resilience in urban studies. section 3 details the data and methodology used in this study. the concluding section addresses the research question and discusses whether the once enclosed, isolated, and self-contained workers’ residential areas of ics are evolving into open, diversified, heterogeneous, and mixed-use urban neighborhoods. ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 2. literature review 2.1 the built environment the concept of the built environment was first introduced by social scientists (rapoport, 1976). broadly speaking, it includes man-made buildings and infrastructure that constitute the physical, natural, economic, social, and cultural capital (hassler & kohler, 2014). the built environment forms the foundation of the urban texture, a complex sociotechnical system comprising interrelated elements. these elements include building footprints, plots, blocks, streets, and building fabric, representing the dynamic three-dimensional form of the urban landscape (conzen, 1960). additionally, the built environment refers to specific elements related to buildings, such as doors and walls, or the spatial subdivisions of buildings involving their functions and arrangements (lawrence & low, 1990). in the context of cities, buildings are the fundamental units that sit on plots of land. these plots, often with street access, play a vital role in shaping the urban texture (garcia, 2013). the surrounding land formed by multiple plots constitutes blocks, and the size of these blocks is determined by the width of the streets and the distance between them. several blocks can be combined into larger units, like communities. each community exhibits its own unique history, distinct street patterns, and functional characteristics, and a city contains a series of communities (garcia & vale, 2017). in-depth analysis of changes in the built environment is crucial for urban planning and design because it helps us understand changes that have already happened or are currently taking place in cities, thereby providing valuable insights for decision-makers and urban planners. hence, in the context of rapid urban transformation, there is a need to explore methods and strategies that can guide cities towards more sustainable development. 2.2 resilience in the built environment of cities the concept of resilience has its roots in engineering and is described as the ability of systems to absorb changes and persist (walker & holling, 2004). it has been developed since the 1970s in various fields, such as psychology and ecology. three features related to resilience explain the functioning and development of systems. firstly, changes are cyclical because the system is always in the process of exploitation, conservation, release, and reorganization (holling & gunderson, 2002). the adaptive cycle can be used to describe these cyclical changes. secondly, such cyclical changes usually occur simultaneously on different scales and speeds (garcia, 2020). thus, a nested set of adaptive cycles forms a panarchy, describing the dynamic hierarchy that involves adaptation across multiple scales (garcia, 2013). thirdly, changes across multiple scales result in a landscape that is both discontinuous and heterogeneous. they are critical to understanding the complexity and resilience of systems as heterogeneity and discontinuity contribute to the diversity of the system (holling & gunderson, 2002). at the start of the 21st century, ecological resilience received attention in the field of urban studies because the city itself was in the process of constant change, and the built environment can be regarded as a record of long-term adaptation and overcoming the catastrophes of history (garcia & vale, 2017). therefore, resilience theory can be used to explain the cyclical changes, renewal, restructuring, and development of cities. for example, the cyclical change in the urban landscape is called the burgage cycle, as it experiences phases of continuous production, growth, waste, and shrinkage (feliciotti et al., 2018). panarchy can also explain changes in elements of the built environment, such as streets, as these elements undergo discrete changes at different speeds and quantities (garcia & vale, 2017). scholars, like garcia (2013), find that creating timelines and identifying key variables at different temporal and spatial scales is a reasonable way to assess the complexity of urban systems. this is because timelines provide important insights into the events and essential breakpoints that have shocked the system and the possible causes that triggered the changes. this process enables a deeper understanding of the heterogeneity and diversity of the built environment and the dynamics of change that occur at different scales (dhar & khirfan, 2017). most existing research linked resilience in the built environment to alleviating shocks caused by earthquakes, floods, and tsunamis. however, few studies focus on analyzing and developing methods to improve the resilience of the built environment to the problems that arise due to its complexity. this study uses resilience theory to describe the changes in the built environments of ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 the workers' residential area of ics. because resilience helps to understand the history and development of ics, revealing the complexity, organization, and relationships of the built environment. 3. data & methodology 3.1 case study this study uses the shanxi knitting factory (skf) as a representative example of an ic. founded in 1950 and situated in the south of taiyuan, the skf covers approximately 2.3 km2 and is home to about 6,800 residents. currently, the factory of the skf is gradually being replaced by new high-rise commercial complexes after its bankruptcy in 2007. nevertheless, the workers' residential area remains the home of the former factory employees and their families. (fig. 1) fig. 1 current location and layout of the skf as characterized by bonino & de pieri (2015), such ics operated much like encompassing “all the functions of a city”. in the case of skf, both its factory and the workers’ residential area were constructed on the same site. this design facilitated easy and efficient commuting for workers and contributed to the compact landscape within the skf. in the factory, giant office buildings and squares typically occupied central positions, symbolizing the supreme power of the communist party in socialist china. workshops, warehouses, and equipment rooms surrounded these central structures, demonstrating that all production activities should support industrial solidarity and serve the supreme power. in the workers’ residential areas, a variety of facilities, including cafeterias, grocery stores, and schools, were available to enhance the living conditions and welfare of the residents and their families. (fig. 2) ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 fig. 2 the layout of the skf before the factory bankruptcy scholars such as bjorklund (1986) and bray (2005) have observed that enclosed spaces, often surrounded by walls, were prevalent in traditional china because they efficiently organized various social activities. this insight sheds light on the fact that the construction of walls was usually the first step in establishing ics. beyond the conventional walls, building facades also served as boundary walls. in the case of the skf, some of these buildings, positioned alongside city streets or internal roads, were specifically designed to integrate their facades with conventional walls. this design highlighted the most prominent feature of the enclosure for the skf as an ic. gates, apart from walls, were another element contributing to the enclosure of the skf. while walls symbolized strong state control and spatial division, gates managed the interactions between the enclosed skf and the external city. specifically, they reinforced the isolation of the skf yet provided controlled access points, enabling necessary communication with the surrounding urban landscape. thus, gates functioned as both barriers ensuring isolation and connectors facilitating interaction within the skf. (fig. 3) moreover, the road network not only shaped the spatial organization of the skf but also played a pivotal role in shaping, defining, and segregating various spatial functionalities. it contributed to the skf as a multi-functional compound, including diverse land use for production, office, residential, and social activities (zhang & chai, 2014). ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 fig. 3 gates and walls inside and as boundaries of the workers’ residential area since the economic transformation in the 1980s, the development of the skf has been significantly influenced by the implementation of a series of reform policies related to enterprise restructuring, housing, and land. however, after the enterprise restructuring, the skf factory faced challenges in adapting to the new economic environment, resulting in decreased production efficiency and massive worker layoffs, particularly after the 1990s. these difficulties eventually led to the factory's bankruptcy in 2007. subsequently, the local government sold the brownfield to property developers to create new communities. despite the demolition of the factory, the remaining workers’ residential area persisted, continuing to accommodate former employees and their families. in recent years, many buildings located close to main roads within the residential area and adjacent to the city streets have been demolished as part of efforts to reorganize the workers’ residential area and widen the external city roads. additionally, there has been a noticeable reduction of enclosure in the workers’ residential areas, with increased gates and decreased walls, especially in response to the social appeal to “open up the enclosed community” after 2000. from this perspective, the decreased enclosure may allow the city to be more accessible to the workers’ residential area of the skf, allowing its boundaries to support a wider variety of functions and activities. it might also increase ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 the complexity of the road network, given the rise in connections between various functional land uses and service facilities within the area. the skf was chosen as the case study because its factory underwent rapid development, followed by a decline and eventual bankruptcy. considering its role as an industrial auxiliary facility, the workers’ residential area likely experienced significant changes. using resilience theory, this study analyses the changes in the built environment of the skf workers’ residential area impacted by the factory bankruptcy. the aim is to grasp the adaptive capacities of the workers’ residential area when facing disturbances. this, in turn, provides insights into the complexities and sustainability challenges cities face during china's economic transformation. 3.2 data collection this study focuses on the following research questions: (1) to what extent can resilience theory describe changes happening in the skf? (2) how can resilience theory be applied to assess changes in the built environment of workers’ residential areas of the skf before and after the factory bankruptcy? (3) in what ways can resilience theory be used to evaluate the influence of changes in the level of enclosure on the built environment of the workers’ residential area after the factory bankruptcy? for the purpose of drawing comparisons across a time domain, this study started by creating a timeline based on key events associated with the development of the skf. the bankruptcy of the skf factory stands out as the most significant breakpoint, thus positioning 2007 as the midpoint of the timeline. given these events, this study designates 1978 and 2022 as the starting and ending breakpoints of the timeline, respectively. the rationale for selecting 1978 as the starting breakpoint stems from the shift of the skf factory from state financial support to independent operation after the economic transformation. this meant that the economic efficiency of the factory could directly influence the development pace of its surrounding residential area. consequently, the timeline was divided into two phases: “before factory bankruptcy” and “after factory bankruptcy.” further essential breakpoints were incorporated into the timeline, including 1978, 2000, 2003, and 2007 (before the factory bankruptcy), as well as 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2022 (after the factory bankruptcy). to address the research question, a quantitative study on the resilience of the built environment in the workers’ residential area of the skf was conducted. raw data were gathered using various methods, including library resources, land use maps, the open street map api, and field research. microsoft office software was employed for statistical analysis. further, the analysis of changes in the built environment was carried out by using arcgis and adobe illustrator software. different data collection methods were applied for different development periods of the skf. (tab. 1) specifically, data before the factory bankruptcy were obtained from library resources and land use maps. on the other hand, data after the factory bankruptcy were obtained from library resources, land use maps, the open street map api, and field research. table. 1 method of data collection period methods of data collection before the factory went bankrupt (1978-2007) library resources; land use maps after the factory went bankrupt (2007-2022) library resources; land use maps; open street map api; field research this study analyses ten elements of the built environment in the workers’ residential area of the skf. elements related to enclosure include gate, boundary walls (bw), and buildings as boundary walls (bbw). other elements influenced by enclosure comprise the total road length (trl), building density (bd), green space (gs), commercial land (cl), residential land (rl), public service facility land (psfl), and mixed-use land (ml). (tab. 2) ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 tab. 2 elements in the built environment of the workers’ residential area of skf 3.3 research method & hypotheses to answer the first proposed research question, firstly, we aim to demonstrate that changes in the built environment are cyclical. to this end, we assess the land changes for residential purposes within the workers’ residential area of the skf to determine if these changes can be associated with phases of the adaptive cycle in resilience. secondly, it is essential to create a diagram for the quantitative observation of relationships among elements of the built environment in the workers’ residential area. if these elements reflect the independence of their respective development, it suggests a hierarchy in the built environment that can be compared to panarchy in resilience. thirdly, in panarchy, small-scale changes occur more frequently than large-scale changes. consequently, we need to track the quantity and frequency of change in these built environment elements of different scales to determine if these changes can be linked to resilience. finally, if evidence from the three steps supports the idea that resilience theory can be applied to analyze changes in the built environment of the workers’ residential area of the skf, it would answer the first research question. the differential analysis will be employed to address the second research question of this study. specifically, this method facilitates a comparison of the built environment changes in the workers’ residential area of the skf before and after the factory bankruptcy. our null hypothesis (h0) posits that there is no association between the factory bankruptcy and changes in the built environment of the workers’ residential area. in contrast, the alternative hypothesis (h1) suggests that significant differences exist between the two periods. if the result shows that differences are significant, we would then accept the alternative hypothesis and reject the null hypothesis. to address the third research question, we turn to multiple linear regression analysis. here, the null hypothesis (h0) is that changes in the level of enclosure have no impact on the built environment of the workers’ residential area after the factory bankruptcy. the alternative hypothesis (h1), on the other hand, contends that changes in the level of enclosure indeed affect the built environment of the workers’ residential area after the factory bankruptcy. if subsequent findings demonstrate that the level of enclosure influences other built environment elements and significant correlations exist among them, it would validate the alternative hypothesis (h1) and reject the null hypothesis (h0). a combination of quantitative and visual data software was used to map changes in the built environment of the workers’ residential area of the skf. if a diverse trend of functional land use is observed as the enclosure declines, the association between heterogeneity and resilience can help explain the ongoing changes in the built environment. finally, this study concludes by discussing whether the workers’ residential area of the skf is gradually integrating into the surrounding urban neighborhoods. content elements built environment enclosure gate boundary walls (m) (bw) buildings as boundary walls (m) (bbw) other built environment elements total road length (m) (trl) building density (%) (bd) greenfield space (%) (gs) commercial land (%) (cl) residential land (%) (rl) public service facility land (%) (psfl) mixed-use land (%) (ml) ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 3.4 data analysis (1) analysing changes in the built environment of ics fig.4 depicts the land changes for residential purposes in the workers’ residential area of the skf from 1978 to 2022. in 1978, the percentage stood at 33.14%. after that, it gradually increased to 46.74% in 2007 when the factory went bankrupt. since then, the land allocated for residential purposes sharply declined to 34.65% in 2016, before rebounding to 38.63% in 2022. these fluctuations suggest a cyclical change comprising four phases: exploitation and conservation from 1978 to 2007, followed by release and reorganization from 2007 to 2022. fig. 4 burgage cycle in the workers’ residential area of the skf the changes in the built environment of the workers’ residential area of the skf are depicted in fig. 5, with each line representing a built environment element from 1978 to 2022. despite belonging to the same landscape, these elements are independent and do not intersect. the observed changes offer evidence of the complexity of the built environment, which can be associated with the panarchy theory. (a) changes of elements related to the enclosure (b) changes in the other built environment elements fig. 5 different built environment elements in the workers’ residential area of the skf (1978-2022) tab. 3 presents the percentage of changes in the built environment elements of the workers’ residential area. it is observed that trl (33.49%) and bw (-36.86%) act as slow variables, contributing to landscape stability, while gate (125%), bbw (679.37%), and various functional lands such as ml (308.97%), psfl (101.65%), cl (68.24%), and gs (47%) are fast variables. additionally, rl (-16.65%) demonstrates a decreasing trend due to the local government’s planning after 2007, which aligns with the concept of panarchy. overall, the three steps confirm ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 that resilience can be employed to analyze changes in the built environment of the workers’ residential area of the skf, thus supporting the first hypothesis. tab. 3 percentage of changes in the built environment (2) measuring the impact of the factory bankruptcy on the built environment tab. 4 provides a differential analysis comparing data from two distinct periods: before and after the factory bankruptcy. the results highlight a variation in the mean value (m) between these two periods. after the factory's bankruptcy, all elements increased, except for the decrease of bw and rl. among all variables, bw and bbw showed the most pronounced changes (t>±5). moreover, the p-values for all variables are consistently <0.05, suggesting a significant association between factory bankruptcy and changes in the built environment. consequently, we accept the alternative hypothesis (h1) and reject the null hypothesis (h0). the results of the differential analysis indicate that changes in the operating status of the factory, specifically the factory bankruptcy, have a significant impact on the changes in the built environment of the workers' residential area of the skf. tab. 4 the result of the difference analysis elements year n m sd t p gate 1988-2007 4 5.75 1.26 -3 0.015* 2007-2021 4 8.00 0.82 bw 1988-2007 4 2898.99 87.82 5.1 0.003** 2007-2021 4 2132.75 287.48 cubb 1988-2007 4 149.59 127.47 -5.43 0.001** 2007-2021 4 625.18 119.69 trl 1988-2007 4 2218.42 304.71 -3.92 0.009** 2007-2021 4 2850.64 105.76 gs 1988-2007 4 11.66 1.15 -4.92 0.003** 2007-2021 4 14.88 1.28 bd 1988-2007 4 32.48 6.94 -2.9 0.017* 2007-2021 4 44.37 4.34 cl 1988-2007 4 9.34 1.61 -4.47 0.002** 2007-2021 4 14.75 1.81 rl 1988-2007 4 44.32 3.14 3.45 0.007** 2007-2021 4 37.50 2.41 psfl 1988-2007 4 6.02 2.15 -2.98 0.015* 2007-2021 4 9.78 1.33 ml 1988-2007 4 3.65 2.80 -4.15 0.004** 2007-2021 4 10.44 1.71 * p<0.05 ** p<0.01 element 1978 2022 percentage of change gate 4 9 125% bw 2809.21 1773.76 -36.86% bbw 89.21 783 679.37% trl 1791.95 2982 33.49% gs 26.20% 49.73% 89.8% bd 10.34% 16.46% 46.96% cl 6.96% 16.69% 68.24% rl 33.14% 38.63% -16.65% psfl 3.23% 11.03% 101.65% ml 2.1% 12.31% 308.97% ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 (3) assessing the impact of changes in the level of enclosure on the built environment the multiple linear regression analysis reveals the relationship between the level of enclosure and the elements of the built environment in the workers’ residential area (tab. 5). initially, we focused on the influence of gate (independent variable) on the other built environment elements (dependent variables). except for rl (beta=-0.52, p=0.183), all elements showed a positive association with gate (beta>0, p<0.05 or p<0.01). for example, 95% of the changes in mixed-use land (ml) (r²=0.95) can be attributed to gate. as for bw, while rl displayed a significant positive relationship (beta=0.90, p=0.002), most other built environment elements showed notable correlations with bw (beta<0, p<0.05 or p<0.01). regarding bbw, it consistently impacted all elements of the built environment. an exception to this trend was found in rl, which had a minor negative correlation (beta<0, p=0.032). on the other hand, all other elements had significant positive correlations with bbw, indicating its consistent positive influence (beta>0, p<0.05 or p<0.01). therefore, based on the results from the multiple linear regression analysis, we accept the alternative hypothesis (h1) and reject the null hypothesis (h0). tab. 5 the result of multiple linear regression analysis 3.5 result (1) the decreased enclosure in the workers’ residential area the traditional ics in socialist urban china are often depicted as enclosed compounds consolidating the proletarian regime (zhang & chai, 2014). however, this situation has totally changed with the widespread bankruptcy of factories after the economic transformation. in the case of the skf, we found that the number of walls in the workers’ residential area significantly reduced after its factory went bankrupt, while the number of gates increased. (fig. 6) iv dv non-sc sc beta t p r² f b se beta enclosure entrance trl 0.004 0.00 0.98 11.22 0.000** 0.95 125.8 4 glu 80.03 10.10 0.96 7.92 0.000** 0.90 62.74 bd 17.54 2.64 0.94 6.65 0.001** 0.88 44.22 clu 51.70 7.56 0.94 6.84 0.000** 0.89 46.83 rlu -18.15 12.07 -0.52 -1.50 0.183 0.27 2.26 pflu 57.29 6.73 0.96 8.51 0.000** 0.92 72.47 mlu 35.80 3.46 0.97 10.35 0.000** 0.95 107.0 3 bw trl -0.92 0.275 -0.81 -3.35 0.015* 0.65 11.24 glu -21746.91 4619.65 -0.89 -4.71 0.003** 0.79 22.16 bd -4555.81 1234.32 -0.83 -3.69 0.010* 0.70 13.62 clu -15093.71 2253.85 -0.93 -6.70 0.001** 0.89 44.85 rlu 9148.35 1796.93 0.90 5.09 0.002** 0.81 25.92 pflu -27037.47 4339.94 -0.86 -6.23 0.000** 0.73 38.81 mlu -9222.08 2268.77 -0.86 -4.06 0.007** 0.73 16.52 sbw trl 0.62 0.091 0.95 7.27 0.000** 0.90 52.78 glu 14569.34 1484.45 0.97 9.82 0.000** 0.93 96.33 bd 3114.42 502.94 0.93 6.19 0.001** 0.87 38.35 clu 9727.30 618.36 0.98 15.73 1 0.000** 0.98 247.4 62 rlu -4667.05 1677.76 -0.75 -2.78 0.032* 0.57 7.74 pflu 19749.49 5073.08 0.72 3.89 0.002** 0.52 15.16 mlu 6342.63 738.06 0.97 8.60 0.000** 0.93 73.85 * p<0.05 ** p<0.01 ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 fig. 6 the trend of decreasing walls and increasing gates ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 specifically, in 1978, there were only 4 gates between the skf workers’ residential area and the city, but this number rose to 9 by 2022. this change is attributed to the construction of new public facilities and efforts to better meet the residents’ needs. moreover, the reduction of walls in the residential area is often associated with the demolition of old houses due to urban development plans and real estate projects. beyond removing some boundary walls close to the city streets, the internal walls within the residential area have also been gradually demolished to give space for new facilities and land uses. as a result, the skf workers’ residential area is transitioning into an open and less clearly defined boundary space. (2) increased diversification of the land use in the workers’ residential area in the case of the skf, we observe that its workers’ residential area has undergone an increasing diversification of land use. for instance, from 1978 to 2022, the land dedicated to psfl (+11.03%), ml (+12.31%), cl (+9.73%), and gs (+6.12%) all experienced growth. particularly, after the factory bankruptcy in 2007, psfl, ml, and cl in the workers’ residential area of the skf have shown rapid expansion due to the decrease of enclosure and the increase in the mobile population. residents have also started selling inexpensive goods and services within the workers’ residential area of the skf to alleviate the economic pressures caused by unemployment and fulfill their needs. for example, the ground floors of residential buildings have been converted into informal shops, contributing to the increase of mixed land use in the workers’ residential area. the government and property management companies have also created land for gs by integrating and filling empty spaces in the workers’ residential areas of the skf. conversely, rl decreased from 40.14% in 1978 to 34.65% in 2022 due to municipal planning, which provides more space for future development. in summary, alongside the functional change of skf, the land use in the workers’ residential area has become more diversified and mixed-use. (fig. 7) ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 fig. 7 diversified land use in the workers’ residential area ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 (3) increased public facilities and commercialization of land functions in the early days of socialist china, ics were designed with a variety of public facilities that functioned as “social condensers” to strengthen the collective spirit of their members in workers’ residential areas (peiling, 2014). these facilities encompassed comprehensive social services to residents. even though these public facilities were set for its members, residents could access services from other ics. however, since every ic was self-sufficient, residents had little reason to seek facilities outside their community. in the case of the skf, most of the land for public facilities was initially concentrated in the central area of the workers’ residential area in 1978. however, driven by market interests and commercial needs, these lands gradually clustered near the community boundaries and main roads within the workers’ residential area to attract more clients. (fig. 7) this shift indicates that the workers’ residential area of the skf is undergoing a process of decentralization and commercialization after the factory's bankruptcy. 4. discussion & conclusion industrial communities, as the most significant social products of china's industrial development in the 1950s, still preserve the spatial imprint, routine lifestyle, and collective memory of that period (zhang & chai, 2014). however, after the economic transformation in the 1980s, a large number of bankrupt factories led to a new round of development in the ics, stimulated by the market economy. as industrial auxiliaries, the built environment of ics is undergoing rapid changes. therefore, this study seeks to use resilience to describe changes in the built environment of workers’ residential areas of ics. because resilience helps to understand the history and development of ics, revealing the complexity, organization, and relationships of the built environment. the findings demonstrate that resilience can indeed interpret the ongoing cyclical changes in the built environment, involving exploration, conservation, release, and reorganization. for instance, the workers’ residential area of the skf was originally established in the 1950s and flourished until the factory went bankrupt in 2007. it underwent a release phase, characterized by reducing walls and demolishing old housing, leading to its reorganization and integration into the surrounding neighborhoods. these cyclical changes in the built environment occur at various temporal and spatial scales, maintaining independence without intersection and highlighting the complexity of the workers’ residential area. additionally, the study adopts the concept of panarchy to analyze the dynamic changes in the built environment, considering the size and speed of changes. for instance, streets within the residential area of the skf exhibit minor variations, contributing to the overall landscape stability. in contrast, functional land use undergoes rapid changes, directly reflecting the development direction of the workers’ residential area after the factory bankruptcy. despite the significant impact of the factory bankruptcy on the workers’ residential areas of ics, they demonstrate a quick response and adaptability to changes. the evidence could be found in reduced walls, increased gates, and developed multi-functional land. this indicates that despite the disturbance caused by the factory's bankruptcy, the remaining workers’ residential areas still maintain their development through the adaptability of their built environment. the decrease in the enclosure of the workers’ residential area after the factory bankruptcy can be attributed to both the persistence of certain elements and changes in resilience. it aligns with the idea that the identity of a complex system constantly adapts, releasing certain elements to maintain persistence. in the case of skf, we delve into understanding how these changes affect its identity, linking resilience with its historical and cultural heritage. after the bankruptcy, the workers’ residential areas transitioned from factory-dependent, isolated industrial auxiliaries to more open, diversified, mixed-use, and heterogeneous areas. they are gradually integrating into the surrounding neighborhoods of cities. it is important to acknowledge the limitations of this study. firstly, this research primarily focuses on analyzing the changes in the built environment of workers’ residential areas in ics. although the study highlights the impact of factory bankruptcy on the workers’ residential area, there is no holistic integration of both the factory and the workers’ residential area to analyze changes in the built environment at the ic scale. secondly, this study mainly focuses on quantitative methods, but future research might benefit from qualitative research. by conducting interviews with former residents (who were previously employed by the factory), new immigrants, community committees, property managers, and former factory managers, we could gain valuable insights into their perceptions of the recent changes ying/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 in ics. attending public forums that foster dialogue between communities and planning offices could further illuminate an understanding of the realities and challenges facing ics. lastly, comparing multiple case studies across different regions of china would be beneficial. because these comparisons highlight the regional differences or similarities, offering a deeper understanding of the resilience of ics once they lose their industrial identity. acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented in resilient and responsible architecture and urbanism (rrau) – 5th edition which was held on the 20th of april 2023. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit 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(2021). property rights redistribution and the spatial evolution of the chinese danwei compound: a case study in beijing. journal of housing and the built environment, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-020-09810-z https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci5010007 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2014.01.011 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-020-09810-z http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 7 october 2024, accepted: 27 november 2024, published online: 31 december 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i4.1131 analysis of urban road network robustness under different attack conditions shuang tan1, lu zhang1* 1school of civil engineering, chongqing university, chongqing 400045, china abstract in preventing large-scale congestion caused by urban road traffic attacks, both random and deliberate attack methods were employed, with the robustness of the traffic system analyzed using a cascading failure model. the details of the proposed methods are, firstly, a road network model is constructed based on geographic information system (gis), and the traffic flow data of a provincial city during peak traffic hours is obtained by python. then, the flow data of origin-destination (od) pairs for the road network under normal operation is obtained using od estimation module in transcad, the urban transportation network is modeled based on the actual traffic flow distribution. subsequently, random attacks and deliberate attacks based on traffic volume were conducted on the road network. the traffic flow of the attacked segments was reallocated according to a cascading failure model, with the robustness of the urban road network assessed using topological and traffic flow indicators. the results indicate that, in the robustness analysis considering cascading failures, deliberate attacks have a more significant impact on high-traffic segments compared to random attacks with the same number of attack steps. therefore, future urban traffic management should focus on ensuring the efficiency of high-traffic road segments, and prevent it from becoming ineffective due to excessive traffic flow. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords robustness, road traffic network, random attacks, deliberate attack, cascading failure. 1. introduction as a critical infrastructure in modern cities, the functionality of the transportation network directly impacts economic development, social activities, and emergency response capabilities. with the acceleration of urbanization and increased transportation demand, the frequency of traffic accidents and congestion is rising. particularly in the face of emergencies and human disruptions, for example, houston was hit by hurricane "rita", several major roads out of the city were congested for hundreds of kilometers, and beijing was paralyzed by heavy rain caused by a large area of traffic, the robustness of the transportation network largely determines its overall performance. therefore, evaluating and enhancing the robustness of the transportation network is of significant research importance for urban traffic management. gao and shi (2007) researched the system's anti-destruction reliability in urban rail transit. they conducted a comprehensive evaluation of urban rail transit network topology and passenger flow distribution, providing a significant theoretical basis for improving the structure of urban rail transit. wang and yang (2009) investigated the http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i4.1131&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ zhang/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 complex network characteristics of shanghai's rail transit using network features such as degree and clustering coefficient. duan (2010) proposed a network robustness analysis method based on a bipartite graph model, studying the robustness differences between beijing's bus network and random networks under various attack conditions.gao peng and hu jianbo (2013) researched the robustness of beijing's urban rail transit network under different weights, calculating and optimizing the robustness by weighting different traffic nodes. li (2016) studied the anti-destruction capabilities of rail transit networks based on their topological characteristics and identified key nodes for city management. wang (2016) examined wuhan's public transportation network using node degree and clustering coefficient, finding that nodes with high degree values and clustering coefficients have excellent connectivity, though they are not necessarily the busiest in actual bus routes. based on this, relevant recommendations were proposed to address traffic congestion issues. in recent years,lu and guo (2018) researched the robustness of shanghai's bus network and found that random attacks are more robust than deliberate attacks. tran (2019) studied the robustness of vietnam's road network using topological metrics such as average path length and global efficiency, considering both random and deliberate attacks. qiang and zhao (2019) established a multimodal transport network topology based on complex network principles, comparing network characteristics through network feature metrics. jin and wang (2022) built an enhanced network to study the robustness of nanjing's bus-rail mixed network, finding that initial node capacity has a significant impact on cascading failures. li (2024) considers the impact of geological hazards, evaluates the robustness of the network in terms of structure and performance, and identifies key road sections.gao (2024) combined with the accessibility index of subway stations, the node importance evaluation system of the rail transit network was constructed, and the robustness of hangzhou metro network was studied by taking the global efficiency of the network and the maximum connectivity subgraph as the evaluation indexes. from the perspective of the current research status at home and abroad, the robustness of the complex transportation network is mainly focused on the bus network and rail transit network, while the research on the urban road traffic network is rare. in terms of robustness research methods, most of the studies focus on the robustness of the road network after removing the failed nodes through the analysis of network topological characteristics, and the traffic flow evaluation index is rarely used. in addition, the real road traffic flow analysis cascade failure process is not used in the analysis process, and the research lacks a certain degree of authenticity. this paper first introduces the use of the existing topology index and traffic flow index to evaluate the traffic network and explains the mechanism of the cascading failure model adopted in this paper. the real urban traffic network model is built through online traffic data, and the robustness of the urban transportation network is studied by using two attack methods: random attack and deliberate attack. 2. method 2.1. cascading failure model of urban roads the cascading failure process refers to a scenario where a key or a small number of nodes (or edges) in a network fail due to external or internal factors. this failure causes the traffic or load already assigned in the network to be redistributed based on optimal paths. this redistribution can lead to other nodes (or edges) collapsing due to overload, triggering a chain reaction that results in the failure of a large number of nodes (or edges) within the network, and potentially even leading to network paralysis. in the study of cascading failures in urban transportation complex networks, the capacity load cascading failure model is generally used (zuo 2008). the specific steps are as follows: step 1: assign the maximum capacity 𝐶𝑖 to each segment (newman 1999). ( ) = +  1 i c n (1) in the formula: 𝜌 is the capacity parameter, which determines the allowable capacity of the network segment; 𝑛 is the number of lanes on the road; 𝜔 is the traffic capacity per lane segment, referring to the general speed-flow model zhang/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 parameter table for different road levels (wang 2001). the traffic capacities for expressways, arterial roads, and secondary arterial roads are set at 1950, 1650, and 900 pcu/h, respectively. step 2: use both random and deliberate attacks. for deliberate attacks, three different strategies are employed: targeting edges with the maximum flow, edges with the highest betweenness centrality, and edges with both the maximum flow and the highest betweenness centrality. step 3: distribute the load of the failed segments evenly to the adjacent segments. step 4: after the initial distribution, calculate whether the load on adjacent edges exceeds the maximum capacity of those segments. if it does, consider the segment as failed and repeat step 3 until the load on all segments in the network is less than their maximum capacity. if the load is below the maximum capacity, the segment does not fail, and the distribution process stops. 2.2. robustness analysis of road networks based on topological metrics and traffic flow indicators the robustness of a transportation network refers to its ability to maintain its initial state in the face of disturbances, typically measured by the system's performance after a disaster. here, urban network robustness is defined as the ability of the urban road network to remain connected under random or deliberate attacks. random failures (attacks) can be understood as natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes, floods), while deliberate attacks can be seen as traffic congestion, road control, and accidents caused by human factors. this paper evaluates the robustness of the transportation network using both topological indicators and traffic flow methods. 2.2.1 topological metrics. topological indicators for assessing the robustness of transportation networks include global efficiency, average path length, connectivity, relative size of the largest connected subgraph, and betweenness. historically, average shortest path length has been a common evaluation metric. however, research shows that as network damage from attacks increases, average path length initially grows and then decreases, making it less meaningful for research purposes. thus, using average path length as an evaluation metric is unsuitable. betweenness accounts for changes in nodes and edges but does not consider overall network size changes. for analyzing urban road network robustness, the clustering coefficient measures local connectivity and is of limited significance for assessing the overall network's robustness. therefore, this paper selects the relative size of the largest connected subgraph and global efficiency as the two indicators for analyzing urban transportation network robustness, providing a more comprehensive assessment of the network's robustness. （1） relative size of the largest connected subgraph in a network, the largest connected subgraph refers to the subgraph with the fewest edges connecting all the nodes. the relative size of the largest connected subgraph is the ratio of the number of nodes in this subgraph to the number of nodes in the network that have been attacked. initially, the relative size of the largest connected subgraph is 1. when the network is attacked or experiences an incident, its topology changes and is divided into several subgraphs, causing the relative size of the largest connected subgraph to vary. the formula for calculating the relative size of the largest connected subgraph is as follows (dunn 2016): = v f n (2) in the formula, n represents the number of nodes, and v is the number of nodes in the largest connected subgraph after the network is attacked. before any attacks, v and n are equal. however, when the network undergoes targeted or random attacks, the network topology changes, and v gradually decreases as more nodes are attacked. thus, observing the relative size of the largest connected subgraph can indicate the extent of damage to the network. （2） network global efficiency zhang/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 paolo and vito (2004) proposed a measure for network connectivity called global efficiency. the efficiency 𝐸𝑖𝑗 between nodes 𝑖 and 𝑗 in the network can be expressed as the reciprocal of the shortest distance 𝑑𝑖𝑗 between these two nodes, 𝐸𝑖𝑗 = 1 𝑑𝑖𝑗 when nodes 𝑖 and 𝑗 are not connected, 𝑑𝑖𝑗 is infinite, and thus 𝐸𝑖𝑗 is 0. from the perspective of the entire network, the global efficiency is defined as the average of the efficiencies between all pairs of nodes, and is denoted by 𝐸𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑏, the formula is as follows (zhang 2018): ( ) =  − 1 1 1 glob ij e dv v (3) in the formula, |𝑉| represents the number of nodes, and 𝑑𝑖𝑗 is the path length between nodes. the range of 𝐸𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑏 is (0, 1], where 𝐸𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑏 = 1 indicates that any two nodes in the network are directly connected, reflecting the best connectivity of the network. 2.2.2 traffic flow indicators traffic flow indicators are based on principles of traffic engineering to allocate traffic demand across various segments of a network, quantifying changes in system functionality through traffic delay. the traffic flow method calculates congestion and travel time for each road segment and can account for the degradation of the service capacity of basic traffic components and its impact on system functionality. typically, total travel time or total travel distance are used to describe the overall traffic cost of the system (donovan 2017, joongmin and youngjoo 2021). in postdisaster studies, scholars often measure traffic network functionality loss by the increase in total travel time or total travel distance. the calculation formula is as follows (donovan 2017): =     ij iji i j j ttt ij iji i j j f t q f t ò ò ò ò (4) in the formula, 𝑄𝑇𝑇𝑇 represents the traffic network robustness evaluation index; 𝐹𝑖𝑗 and 𝑓𝑖𝑗 are the traffic flow on road segment after and before an attack; 𝑇𝑖𝑗 and 𝑡𝑖𝑗 are the travel times on road segment 𝑑𝑖𝑗 after and before an attack. figure 1 presents the detailed flowchart explained in the next subsections and section 3. figure 1: the robustness evaluation process of urban roads (source: by authors) 3. study area model construction 3.1 study area hefei is located on the western wing of the yangtze river delta and is part of the "yangtze river delta" urban agglomeration. it is one of china's 19 megacities. the study area in this paper includes the main urban districts of luyang, shushan, yaohai, and baohe, covering an area of 154.59 square kilometers with a residential population of zhang/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 approximately 1.9 million and a total of 339 roads. in 2023, hefei's commuting peak traffic congestion index was 1.597, ranking 15th among megacities. 3.2 collection of road traffic system data first, the gaode traffic network layer data (figure 2 (a)) for the study area was downloaded, and the information on expressways, main roads, and secondary roads was extracted using arcgis software. this resulted in the major road distribution map of the urban center shown in figure 2 (c). the map includes 198 nodes and 339 segments, with each network node representing a traffic zone. the regions were then divided into traffic zones using voronoi polygons. figure 2(a) traffic distribution o figure 2(b) hefei road map from google earth figure 2(c) hefei distribution of main roads in the central area of the city 3.3 acquisition and integration of traffic situation information this study uses feedback information provided by the traffic status interface of the gaode map’s api and processes it using python for reading and regional network segmentation, ultimately obtaining traffic status information for certain roads during the evening peak period. the traffic status is provided by an http interface from gaode map, which reports attributes such as road speed and congestion within a given area. the approach involves using python’ s `requests` module to retrieve traffic status data from the gaode map’s api, and then parsing the returned json data to store it in a csv file. subsequently, the transcad od (origin-destination) matrix estimation module was used to obtain the traffic flow and od data for all segments of the road network during the evening peak period, as shown in figure 3. the od matrix estimation function in transcad is based on the method proposed for estimating traffic demand from traffic flow. this method includes single-path estimation (spme) and multi-path estimation (mpme), where the od matrix is estimated based on input traffic flows. the estimated od matrix generates traffic flow as a random variable, which is compared with the actual traffic flow. this process is iterative: starting from an initial od matrix, the traffic flows produced by the estimated od matrices are compared with the actual traffic flows. if the error is large, the estimation is refined until convergence is achieved, producing the final output results. zhang/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 3 traffic distribution of the road network during peak hours 4. rsults based on the traffic network cascading failure model, this study investigates the robustness of urban road networks using two attack strategies: deliberate attacks based on segment traffic flow and random attacks. the analysis employs functional indicators such as total travel time, the relative size of the largest connected subgraph, and global network efficiency. the study uses the urban road traffic network within the second ring road of hefei as a case example. figure 4 (a) relative size of the largest connected subgraph figure 4 (b) network global efficiency figure 4 (c) total travel time figure 3 relationship between the number of attacks and different functional indicators according to figures 4 (a) and (b), under the same number of attacks, the hefei urban road network experiences a more significant decline in functionality under deliberate attacks based on edge traffic flow compared to random attacks. particularly, after approximately 10 key segments are deliberately attacked, the network functionality shows a noticeable decline, whereas random attacks result in a relatively constant rate of functionality decrease. as the number of attacks increases, the gap between the two attack strategies gradually narrows, at which point network functionality is mainly influenced by node connectivity. according to figure 4 (c), when using traffic flow indicators, deliberate attacks lead to a more significant decline in network functionality compared to random attacks, and the declining trends for both are essentially consistent. this 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 f number of attacks random attack deliberate attack 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.14 0.16 e gl ob number of attacks random attacks deliberate attacks 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 q t t t number of attacks random attack deliberate attacks zhang/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 is because traffic flow indicators measure vehicle travel time. after deliberate attacks destroy key segments, traffic is redirected to other adjacent segments, increasing overall traffic flow and travel time. 5. conclusions by analyzing traffic flow distribution during peak hours, the hefei urban road network was constructed and simulated. under two different road network attack strategies, the maximum connectivity subgraph, global network efficiency and total system travel time were used as evaluation indicators, the random attack strategy causes relatively less damage to the network, indicating that the hefei road network has strong robustness against random sudden events. however, under the deliberate attack strategy based on segment traffic flow, there is a sharp decline in network functionality, showing that the hefei road network has weaker robustness against deliberate attacks. after attacking the top 4% of the most trafficked segments, there is a rapid decline in network efficiency. segments with higher traffic have a greater impact on network robustness. according to the results, the topology index with the maximum connectivity subgraph and global network efficiency can better reflect the stepwise decline of the traffic network function after multiple attacks, while the traffic flow index with the total travel time does not reflect this characteristic. during the road planning and design phase, it is advisable to increase the road capacity of segments with high anticipated traffic and their adjacent segments. in the traffic management phase, when high-traffic segments fail, it is important to quickly redirect vehicles while strictly controlling the number and nodes of redirected vehicles to prevent large-scale cascading failures. in the future research on the robustness of the transportation network, the network modeling of the road sections that often occur in the actual city can be carried out, and the traffic distribution during the morning and evening peak hours can be simulated, so as to strengthen the traffic capacity of the congested road sections to improve the robustness. acknowledgment the abstract of this paper was presented at the resilient and responsible architecture and urbanism (rrau) conference—6th edition, which was held on the 8th – 10th of december 2024. funding declaration. this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector/ individuals. ethics approval. not applicable. conflict of interest. the authors declare 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(2008).research for scale-free network model and cascading failure (master's thesis, jiangsu university). doi: 10.7666/dy1262074 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2022.128252 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 received: 29 october 2023, accepted: 26 november 2023, published online: 31 december 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i2.1041 implementing epr as a tool for addressing environmental issues in vietnam thi yen anh tran1, kinh thi kieu2, sunil herat3, prasad kaparaju4 1ph.d. candidate, school of engineering and built environment, griffith university, queensland, australia 2associate professor, environmental management, university of science and education, university of danang, vietnam 3associate professor, school of engineering and built environment, griffith university, queensland, australia 4professor, school of engineering and built environment, griffith university, queensland, australia abstract the extended producer responsibility (epr) scheme has emerged as a critical environmental policy instrument around the world, holding great promise for addressing significant environmental challenges in vietnam, a country undergoing fast economic expansion and industrialization. this literature review proceeds to describe vietnam’s epr program, focusing on its regulations and implementation procedures. by highlighting several obstacles and directions in vietnam, this review emphasizes the importance of aligning epr strategies with the country's socio-economic context to achieve sustainable management of waste and a circular economy. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review is under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords extended producer responsibility (epr), vietnamese regulations, waste management, sustainable development 1. introduction the extended producer responsibility (epr) is defined by the organization for economic cooperation and development as “an environmental policy in which a producer’s responsibility for a product is extended to the postconsumer stage of a product’s life cycle” (oecd, 2001). epr represents a paradigm shift in environmental governance, with the core principle of placing the onus of responsible product management squarely upon producers. by doing so, epr aims to curtail the externalities of production and consumption, mitigate the environmental impacts of waste generation, and foster resource efficiency. its adoption marks a significant shift in global environment strategies (pouikli, 2020b), offering promising avenues to address environmental issues and transition toward a circular economy (jana brinkmann, 2022). vietnam is in the stages of development (world bank, 2023) and undergoing rapid industrialization and urbanization (nguyen et al., 2019; shibuya, 2018). it is one of the asean region's fastest-developing economies (hoang et al., 2019). however, this growth has resulted in the degradation of the environment (chu, 2018). the rapid growth of the population is outpacing the provision of essential resources such as clean water, adequate housing, and green spaces (nguyen van dao, 2020). vietnam used to emit very low greenhouse gas emissions, but in the last two decades, it has had some of the world's fastest emissions growth rates (world bank group, 2022). moreover, water pollution is particularly acute in urban and surrounding industrial areas, and river basins exhibit concentrated water quality degradation in their midstream and downstream regions (adb, 2022; hoi, 2020; monre, 2021). furthermore, http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i2.1041&domain=press.ierek.com tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 vietnam is shifting from an energy exporter to an energy importer because the finite supplies of fossil fuels continue to be depleted (x. p. nguyen et al., 2021). this country is also under enormous strain from solid waste since infrastructure and management are unable to keep up with the increasing volumes of waste, which have doubled in less than 15 years (office of the government, 2016). more especially, the vietnamese government subsidizes almost 80% of solid waste management costs (world bank in vietnam, 2018). therefore, with the burgeoning challenges of environmental degradation, resource depletion, and waste management in vietnam, the introduction of epr offers a timely opportunity to redress these issues and promote circular economies. this review, by synthesizing and critically evaluating the existing body of scholarly work, seeks to delineate the theoretical foundations of epr and present its regulations, implementation process, and potential challenges in the vietnamese context. additionally, its purpose is to identify gaps in the current research and present avenues for future actions, contributing to the effort to develop sustainable environmental management practices and policy development in vietnam. 2. overview about epr 2.1 epr concept establishing a clear and accurate notion of epr within the scope of environmental management is essential. introduced by thomas lindqvist in 1990 in a report to the swedish ministry of environment (abhishek gaur, 2022; thomas, 2000), epr is defined by the oecd as an environmental policy that broadens a producer's responsibility for an item to the post-consumer phase during the product's life cycle. this shift means that producers are now accountable, either partially or fully, for products environmentally, moving responsibilities from local government to producers and incentivizing eco-conscious product design (n. kunz, 2018; oecd, 2016a). according to the epr concept, its scope covers extends beyond financial responsibility for producers; it also encompasses accountability for information dissemination, transportation, waste management, and environmentally conscious product design (nathan kunz, 2014). in addition, as an environmental strategy, epr can be implemented using different policy instruments (forslind, 2005). at its foundation, epr is a commitment by manufacturers and producers to assume responsibility for their products throughout their entire lifecycle. it encompasses not only the producing and distributing phases but also the crucial post-consumer stage, which includes product collection, recycling, and proper disposal. (gupt & sahay, 2015; oecd, 2014b). by doing so, epr not only reduces the detrimental environmental effects of products but also encourages a more circular economic system in which resources are preserved and used efficiently. epr recognizes the complex relationship between production, consumption, and environmental repercussions, highlighting that efficient environmental management requires the active participation of those who introduce new items to the marketplace (cai & choi, 2021). therefore, it is a strategic tool for addressing the rising environmental challenges faced by contemporary society. 2.2 theoretical framework for epr the theoretical basis for the epr initiative is rooted in several key concepts and principles, as follows: firstly, epr is grounded in the principle of producer responsibility, requiring the producer or importer to be accountable for their product’s impact on the environment. this notion is based on the premise that individuals who deliver goods to the market should bear responsibility for every phase of their lifecycle, including disposal and environmental repercussions (n. kunz, 2018). furthermore, it aligns with the polluter pays principle, which states that those who cause environmental harm or pollution should share the expense of mitigating or controlling that damage. in the framework of epr, producers contribute financially to the collection, recycling, or secure disposal of their goods in order to reduce environmental effects (barbara siuta-tokarska, 2022; pouikli, 2020a). additionally, epr is closely related to the theories of a circular economy, striving to reduce waste while increasing resource efficiency. it promotes the development of items that are easy to either refurbish or reuse, thereby lowering the requirement for virgin resources and decreasing the harmful effects on the environment (bening mayanti, 2023; căpriță, 2019; n. kunz, 2018; pouikli, 2020a). lastly, epr emphasizes the importance of stakeholder engagement tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 and collaboration among different parties, such as producers, government organizations, consumers, and waste management organizations, which is essential for successful epr implementation. the framework highlights the significance of working together to achieve environmental goals. (wwf, 2020b; wwf philippines, 2022). overall, the theoretical framework for epr is built on the principles of producer responsibility, circular economy, economic incentives, and stakeholder collaboration. it provides a structured approach to addressing environmental challenges associated with product lifecycles while promoting sustainable production and consumption practices. 2.3 the benefits and challenges of epr implementation the deployment of epr programs brings a range of advantages and, concomitantly, confers certain disadvantages. the manifestation of these advantages and disadvantages is contingent upon the precise program configuration, industrial sector, and regulatory framework. herein, a synopsis of the advantages and drawbacks associated with the operationalization of epr initiatives is provided. 2.3.1 benefits of epr implementation the epr program is an innovative procedure for product management that provides several benefits. in this overview, the main advantages of epr, such as waste reduction, resource conservation, pollution avoidance, economic growth, environmentally friendly design, transparency, and a greater public understanding… are described. these advantages highlight the critical role that epr plays in establishing a more sustainable and environmentally conscious future. epr programs have made significant contributions to waste collection and recycling efforts. under this scheme, collection and recycling rates of products can be increased due to the financial support for proper waste management (julian ahlers, 2021). epr provides a financial incentive for companies to build more efficient recycling systems by putting the responsibility for end-of-life product management on them (campbell‐johnston et al., 2021). for example, between 1997 and 2000, container and packaging trash recycling in japan rose by 27% (1.25 to 1.59 million tonnes) (oecd, 2014b). moreover, the percentage of waste that is recycled in the eu climbed from 47% (eu15) to 65% (eu27) between 1998 and 2012 (europen). epr programs emerge as influential drivers of economic benefits for both producers and governments. according to atasu and subramanian (2012), carrying out technical innovation within epr schemes helps producers minimize product costs and boost economic benefits in terms of ecological design, regenerative raw materials, and recycling. for example, the epr program in japan led tea companies to stop using colored pet bottles and to start producing thinner ones, helping them reduce waste collection costs (hosoda, 2004). from the perspective of local authorities, epr can play a pivotal role in mitigating the financial burden of waste management (oecd, 2016b; walls, 2006; wwf, 2020b). through the strategic transfer of responsibility for end-of-life product management from government officials to producers, epr effectively curtails the volume of waste managed by local authorities, thereby alleviating the associated financial costs (campbell‐johnston et al., 2021). in addition, one of the most significant benefits of the epr program is its unwavering encouragement of sustainable product design. tojo (2004) argues that mandatory epr programs have positive effects on the environmental design strategies of enterprises. epr is an opportunity for manufacturers to imbue items with the values of durability, recyclability, and resource efficiency (davies, 2023). yuqi peng (2020) and chang et al. (2019) also show that implementing epr programs motivates producers to develop eco-innovation. this emphasis on eco-friendly design fits in perfectly with global efforts to reduce negative environmental repercussions. epr programs aim to reduce waste generation by encouraging responsible product disposal, recycling, and reuse (wang, 2012). opoku (2004) proposed that epr promotes waste prevention and reduction during the manufacturing phase by connecting all phases of the product's life cycle and supporting actions for product improvement. it significantly reduces the quantity of waste that ends up on dumping grounds and burning facilities (stephanie newman, 2015). epr incentivizes manufacturers to create goods with incredible lifespans and lower ecological impact, aligning with sustainability aims. tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 epr helps conserve to reduce resource consumption by promoting the recovery and recycling of materials (wwf, 2020a). it minimizes the demand for virgin resources while also conserving natural resources (i. a. ajania, 2019). the methodical recovery and reuse of materials adhere to the fundamentals of a circular economy, in which resources are efficiently conserved and reused, decreasing the strain on ecosystems and supporting sustainable resource management. these advantages are supported by empirical research and scientific evidence, elucidating the favorable repercussions of epr programs on environmental, economic, and societal domains. 2.3.2 challenges of epr implementation epr initiatives have been introduced across the globe to address the environmental consequences of product end-oflife. however, in addition to their benefits, epr programs have several limitations and obstacles. the implementation of epr programs requires significant financial investments on the part of both governments and manufacturers (oecd, 2021). governments must budget for program development, database collection, regulatory compliance, and administrative tasks. meanwhile, manufacturers are dealing with increased compliance costs, which include trash collection, recycling facilities, and reporting obligations. these interconnected financial repercussions can put pressure on the government and small and medium-sized enterprises. as a result, determining the exact expenses of program implementation and balancing the involvement of both government and business becomes critical to optimizing the efficiency of epr projects. epr programs can overburden smes, which usually lack the necessary administrative and financial resources to handle the complexities of compliance (yasuhiko hotta, 2009). this circumstance can lead to decreased competitiveness and, in the worst-case scenario, business closures. smes may need assistance in completing reporting requirements, complying with recycling guidelines, or reacting to changes in packaging and product design. addressing the compliance costs for smes is critical to maintaining a fair playing field and encouraging broad participation in epr initiatives. epr regulations vary in complexity and scope across jurisdictions, posing significant obstacles to enterprises operating in numerous regions (kolk et al., 2001). regulatory differences in types of products, recycling goals, and reporting techniques create confusion and increase compliance costs. to address this challenge, manufacturers need to spend time understanding and responding to the demands of each jurisdiction in which they operate. striking for epr regulation harmonization at the regional, national, or global levels is a promising answer for reducing complexity and streamlining compliance for geographically diversified organizations. despite the intention of epr programs to hold manufacturers responsible for end-of-life goods management, the potential of cost-shifting to consumers arises (gottberg et al., 2006). manufacturers may respond to increased compliance costs by raising product pricing, essentially shifting the financial responsibility back to end consumers. striking a careful balance between responsibility for producers and customer affordability becomes a critical factor in epr program design. effective regulatory monitoring and methods to avoid cost pass-through to customers are critical to achieving epr goals without placing an undue financial burden on the public. one other possible challenge of epr programs is the creation of free riders who benefit from the process without fully contributing or accurately disclosing their duties. these free riders can jeopardize the program's finances by avoiding their fair share of the expenditures connected with managing end-of-life products (kalimo et al., 2015). appropriate auditing and enforcement systems are essential for preventing free rider behavior and ensuring that the burden of duty is divided evenly among all participating enterprises. unintended consequences of epr programs may happen (gokce esenduran, 2002; işıl alev, 2019), including the relocation of waste disposal to places where epr standards do not apply, the creation of illegal and informal recycling activities, or the transformation of the product design... both businesses and consumers can look for solutions to avoid the financial consequences of epr that may cause damage to the environment if not adequately controlled. furthermore, whereas collection and recycling goals appear to be equivalent epr adoption levers to raise total material recycled, they have opposite effects on influencing producer decisions regarding design. to illustrate, a tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 calibrated numerical study of the photovoltaic panel industry demonstrates that more strict epr standards can result in a pvp technology choice that has less recyclability and more excellent durability, resulting in higher greenhouse gas emissions (huang et al., 2019). through extensive program design and continuing evaluation, regulators and policymakers must anticipate and avoid these unforeseen impacts. some industries and manufacturers may be resistant to epr programs because they see them as a financial burden, time-consuming for the organizations, and an obstacle to their existing business methods (campbell‐johnston et al., 2021). it is essential to engage all stakeholders, including producers, the government, and environmental groups, in developing and implementing epr initiatives to overcome this resistance. demonstrating the tangible benefits of epr, such as reduced environmental impact and improved resource efficiency, is vital to convincing these entities of its value. collaborating closely with industry leaders to create rules that balance ecological effectiveness and financial viability is also crucial. this collaborative approach ensures that epr is tailored to fit different industries' unique needs and circumstances, making it more acceptable and sustainable in the long run. environmental managers in the government and other public authorities grapple with many challenges because they take charge of regulations, governance, and enforcement of the epr program, manage waste management operators, connect producers, consumers, waste management operators, etc... (oecd, 2014a; wwf). it is more challenging for some who still need to familiarize themselves with the epr concept in some countries. they spearhead the implementation of epr programs, so high attention and support for them are necessary. these restrictions highlight the significance of carefully developing and monitoring epr programs to maximize benefits while minimizing unanticipated negative impacts. when well-designed and efficiently implemented, the benefits of epr frequently outweigh the negatives. addressing these possible downsides through deliberate program design, the involvement of stakeholders, and robust enforcement mechanisms can assist epr programs in gaining tremendous success and sustainability. 3. overview about the epr scheme in vietnam 3.1 environmental policies and regulations related to epr scheme in vietnam in vietnam, the law on environmental protection in 2005 stipulates take-back responsibility for producers for some types of discarded products (article 67, account 1), which has been considered the first vietnamese legislation that defined the implementation of the epr scheme. this is clarified in decision no. 50/2013/qd-ttg dated september 8, 2013 of the prime minister (then replaced by decision no. 16/2015/qd-ttg dated may 22, 2015)(the national assembly, 2005; the prime minister, 2013). after that, based on decision no. 16/2015/qd-ttg, the vietnamese ministry of natural resources and environment issued circular no. 34/2017/tt-btnmt dated october 4, 2017, on the recall and treatment of discarded products in detail. however, this circular only stipulates in detail clause 13, article 5, and clause 1, article 9 of decision no. 16/2015/qd-ttg; other relevant instructions, especially the recovery rate, recycling, or disposal by the manufacturing enterprise, are not specifically regulated (monre, 2017). in 2020, law on environmental protection no. 72/2020/qh14 was approved by the national assembly on november 17, 2020 (effective from january 1, 2022), stipulating in more detail to promote epr in vietnam in articles 54 and 55. according to article 54, products of producers and importers with recycling value must be collected for post-use recycling at the mandatory recycling rates. moreover, article 55 provides that "organizations and individuals manufacturing and/or importing packages including hazardous materials, which are not recyclable or impede the collection and treatment, must contribute finance to assist with daily-life waste treatment operations" (the national assembly, 2020). these provisions are guided in detail in chapter vi of decree no. 08/2022/nd-cp. specifically, articles 77 to 82 of this decree regulate the waste recycling responsibilities of manufacturers and importers of products and packaging, including objects, implementation roadmap, recycle rate, mandatory recycling regulations, implementation methods, registration of plans and reporting of recycling results, financial contributions to the vietnam environmental protection fund. articles 83 to 85 of this decree provide detailed regulations on waste collection and treatment responsibilities of producers and importers, including objects and levels of financial contributions, implementation procedures, and waste treatment activities support (the government of vietnam, tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 2022a). registering plans recycling results reports and financial contributions declaration to the vietnam environmental protection fund are specified in article 78 and article 79 of circular no. 02/2022/tt-btnmt (monre, 2017). compliance with the epr scheme is stipulated in decree no. 45/2022/nd-cp of the government, detailing penalties for administrative violations administration in the field of environmental protection (the government of vietnam, 2022b). figure 1 process of epr regulations in vietnam note. this figure is adapted from epr implementation in viet nam, by nguyen (2022a). adapted with permission in addition, there are some other documents related to the epr program in vietnam including decision no.1316/qdttg dated july 22, 2021 of the prime minister on strengthening management of plastic wastes in vietnam; directive no. 33/ct-ttg dated august 20, 2020 on strengthening of management, reuse, recycling, disposal and reduction of plastic waste; decision no. 491/qd-ttg issued may 07, 2018 related to approve adjustments to national strategy for general management of solid waste to 2025 with vision towards 2050; joint circular no. 05/2016/ttlt-bnnptntbtnmt on guiding the collection, transportation, and treatment of after-use pesticide packages; decision no.687/qd-ttg on june 7, 2022 of the prime minister approving the circular economy development scheme and setting a number of ambitious targets for the period ahead; decision no. 1746/qđ-ttg dated december 4th, 2019 of the prime minister on promulgating the national action plan on marine plastic debris management by 2030; circular no. 44/2011/tt-btnmt dated december 26, 2011 of minister of natural resources and environment on defining the national technical regulations on environment. (duc quang nguyen, 2016; huynh trung hai, 2017; kim thi thuy ngoc, 2023; legislation) 3.2 epr scheme in vietnam 3.2.1 previous epr program as described above regarding the process of epr regulations, the epr system used in vietnam from 2005 to 2020 can be stated to be based on a voluntary method. without enforcement, this epr model could not promote the desired effect and could not create a sustainable financial mechanism for the recovery and disposal of products and packaging after use; it has no impact on the process of using raw materials and product design. according to the laws at that time, a business could be considered to have discharged its responsibility for recovering discarded products when it set up locations for product recovery and disclosed requirements for recovery. several surveys stated that the number of recovery places for discarded products set up by producers was small, while the rules notified for the retrieval appear to be highly rigorous. for example, panasonic vietnam has designed two sites for recovering its products in hanoi and ho chi minh city. this company receives only authentic items or undamaged goods without broken or tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 missing parts. it requires consumers to personally transport their products to the recovery points and does not offer any promotional benefits for exchanging products. moreover, the country's recovery process is relatively challenging, exemplified by toyota vietnam, which employs a 10-stage recovery process. as a result, despite over 15 years of implementing legislation on the duty for recovering discarded, producers and importers in vietnam have yet to recover any product. (nguyen, 2022b) 3.2.2 ongoing epr program to transition from a voluntary to a mandatory epr framework, the law on environmental protection in 2020 in vietnam established some principles and methods for implementation. firstly, the obligatory recycling rate and criteria were established. secondly, methods for producers to fulfill their recycling duties based on the principles of the market were regulated. thirdly, implementing the epr scheme through consensus among many stakeholders, including the government, businesses, and environmental and social parties, is controlled. fourth, the estimation of payment rates for gathering and disposing of household wastes based on volume to increase at-source sorting of household wastes (the primary source of used items and package generation) was issued. fifth, regulations for promoting the construction of infrastructure needed for solid waste collection and disposal, improving the recycling industry, providing support and incentives for environmental protection actions, and encouraging circular economy development were implemented and developed (nguyen, 2022b). since the enactment of the environmental protection law of 2020, starting in 2021, the ministry of natural resources and environment in vietnam has been actively conducting various workshops and training sessions. these educational events are designed to familiarize producers and importers with the new regulations, ensuring they understand and are prepared to implement them. the environmental protection law in vietnam in 2020 requires epr in two circumstances, including (1) products and packages that can and must be collected for recycling and (2) non-recyclable, dangerous products and packaging that must be collected for treatment (the national assembly, 2020). mandatory frameworks in the vietnamese epr program are shown in detail below. a) waste recycling obligations concerning the recycling obligations imposed on manufacturers and importers, article 77 of decree no. 08/2022/nđcp outlines the specific categories subject to regulation, encompassing packaging, batteries, accumulators, lubricants, tires, electrical and electronic products, and vehicles. effective january 1, 2024, recycling responsibilities apply to packaging (depending on the scale), batteries, lubricants, and tires. the implementation for electrical and electronic products is slated for 2025, while vehicles fall under this regime from 2027 onwards. the scope of packaging extends to six distinct groups: food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, animal feeds and veterinary drugs, detergents, preparations for household, agricultural, and medical use, and cement. furthermore, specific exemptions are stipulated in some instances, relieving manufacturers and importers from recycling duties. each type of packaging or product designated for recycling will be subject to mandatory recycling rates, contingent upon considerations such as product or packaging life cycle, disposal rate, collection rate, national recycling objectives, adherence to environmentally friendly standards, and socioeconomic factors. a triennial assessment will be conducted to evaluate and adjust recycling requirements as needed to ensure the efficacy of these recycling efforts. producers of items or packaging covered by product recycling responsibilities and packaging recycling obligations (called "recycling obligations") will be able to choose among the following options: 1. recycling their products or packaging on their own. 2. using a recycling service to do the recycling. 3. appointing a qualified third-party organization to handle recycling. 4. combining the three techniques listed above or contributing to the vietnam environmental protection fund with the norm of a fee (fs) issued by the prime minister. tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 manufacturers and importers who do not perform or perform incorrectly or incompletely their recycling obligations according to the provisions of the law will be handled for each specific violation. all producers and importers who are under recycling obligations will have an annual requirement to register and report their recycling activities or declare their contribution to the vietnam environmental protection fund. in cases where producers or importers entrust a third party to manage recycling on their behalf, it is the responsibility of the third party to carry out the registration and report on the recycling activities. the financial contribution, which serves as an alternative to direct recycling, will be determined based on several factors. these factors include the specific recycling rate applicable to the product or packaging, the volume of products and packaging produced or imported, and the per-unit recycling cost. this per-unit cost encompasses various expenses, including sorting, collection, transportation, and recycling processes, as well as management and administrative costs (nguyen, 2022b; phuong, 2021). figure 2 epr operational scheme for recycling responsibility in vietnam b) waste treatment obligations regarding waste treatment responsibility, manufacturers and importers are required to adhere to the regulations outlined in article 83 and appendix xxiii of decree 08/2022/nd-cp (the government of vietnam, 2022a). these regulations pertain to specific products, including pesticides (with packaging), single-use batteries, chewing gum, cigarettes, and items containing synthetic plastic components, such as balloons, children's toys, disposable plastic goods, utensils, furniture, construction materials, and small plastic bags... effective january 1, 2022, these manufacturers and importers must make financial contributions to the vietnam environmental protection fund, aimed at supporting waste collection and treatment efforts. to fulfill this responsibility, producers and importers must engage in a self-declaration process and submit the relevant financial contribution declaration forms as per the guidelines issued by the vietnam ministry of natural resources and environment. this submission should be made to the vietnam environmental protection fund within the stipulated timeframe. the calculation of the financial contributions is based on the production volume in the market and the number of products and packaging imported in the previous year. notably, the party responsible, whether it is the manufacturer, importer, or an authorized representative, bears the duty of ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the information provided in the declaration (nguyen, 2022b). tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 figure 3 epr operational scheme for treatment responsibility in vietnam 3.3 key challenges in epr implantation and research gaps in this sector in vietnam the significance of the epr scheme is crucial in the context of environmentally friendly waste management and environmental protection. for a rapidly developing country like vietnam, the endeavor to actualize the efficacious implementation of epr is concerned with a distinctive array of challenges and opportunities. the ensuing sections are dedicated to an in-depth examination of the principal challenges encountered during epr implementation in vietnam, thereby highlighting the existing research gaps in this domain. through the systematic resolution of these challenges and the bridging of research gaps, a pathway towards the establishment of more streamlined and sustainable epr practices that harmonize with vietnam's environmental objectives and socio-economic circumstances can be forged. 3.3.1 recycling infrastructure development vietnam's waste management and recycling system reflects the linear economy's dominance and systemic failure, with only 10-15% of municipal solid waste being reused or recycled. recycling often occurs in low-tech "craft villages", leading to pollution (lai van manh, 2021). nguyen khanh bui (2020) notes that most recycling facilities are small in scale, outdated, and need more management and control from environmental protection authorities. (s t pham phu, 2018) states that while hoi an city has a high potential for improving recycling, the recycling system is simple with rudimentary facilities and low effectiveness. overall, vietnam's recycling infrastructure needs improvement in terms of technology, management, and policy support. therefore, the establishment of robust waste management and recycling infrastructure stands as a formidable challenge in the implementation of the epr frameworks within the vietnamese context. the existence of adequate infrastructure that includes waste collection, segregation, and recycling assumes is vital for the seamless functioning of epr programs (gui, 2020). in the absence of a well-developed waste management system, the effective execution of epr becomes a problematic endeavor. realizing this underscores the need for substantial investments directed toward the construction of recycling facilities, the development of transportation networks, and the establishment of waste processing facilities. furthermore, the adaptation of these systems to accommodate the frequently diverse and rapidly evolving product landscape poses a multifaceted challenge. vietnam's recycling infrastructure is still in its early stages of development. current research on the country's recycling capabilities is limited and tends to concentrate on specific areas such as electronic waste, plastics, and construction debris. lockrey et al. (2016) discuss the inefficiencies in handling construction and demolition waste in vietnam, emphasizing the lack of proper classification, delegation, and regulation of waste streams by private companies. similarly, hoang et al. (2021) state that the absence of a formal recycling industry exacerbates the inadequacy of construction and demolition waste management in hanoi. studies regarding plastic recycling and ewaste in vietnam reveal that these activities are predominantly conducted in informal settings, particularly in smallscale craft communities. due to a lack of modern recycling technology and organization, the typical processes pose tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 health risks to individuals as well as an increased risk of environmental pollution (salhofer et al., 2021; tran chung duc & petrus, 2016). consequently, comprehensive studies and assessments are very necessary to find out the most suitable locations for recycling facilities and create recycling processes that are adapted to vietnam's specific features. 3.3.2 informal sector integration in developing countries, the informal sector often shoulders a substantial portion of waste management tasks, a trend to which vietnam is no exception (johannes et al., 2021). according to tong et al. (2021), vietnam's waste management system heavily relies on the informal sector, which handles the bulk of recycling efforts. their study emphasizes that this sector not only contributes to income diversification for the impoverished but also actively participates in waste recycling, advocating for its integration into the overall waste management process. t. h. nguyen et al. (2021) provide data on the activities of informal waste workers and aggregators in several vietnamese cities, demonstrating their presence and spatial allocation. rémi de bercegol (2017) discusses the co-existence, opposition, and potential integration of the informal recycling sector with municipal waste services in fast-growing asian cities, including hanoi in vietnam. moreover, junk buyers in hanoi play a significant role in recycling, accounting for 8.8% of recycling by weight or 26.0% by volume and specifically recycling 25.5% of containers and packaging waste (kawai et al., 2012). these findings underscore the significance of the informal sector in waste recycling in vietnam and the need for recognition and integration into waste management policies. introducing epr programs may engender disruptions to these informal systems, potentially resulting in job displacement and the emergence of social tensions (oecd, 2016a). as vietnam has only recently begun mandating epr policies, there is an urgent need for studies that explore the seamless integration of the informal waste management sector into the formalized epr framework in vietnam. to date, no research has been found on this specific issue. such investigations could include identifying opportunities for integration and assessing the socioeconomic impacts of such integration. this endeavor promotes environmentally friendly waste management practices in vietnam, which constitutes a holistic and multifaceted approach to the difficult problems with epr implementation. 3.3.3 stakeholder engagement the absence of essential stakeholders is one of the common challenges in the implementation of the epr scheme in developing countries (johannes et al., 2021; park et al., 2018). therefore, in the context of vietnam, this difficulty is likely to surface. to effectively engage stakeholders, evidence-based approaches are essential, and these approaches can be facilitated through the provision of empirical data obtained from scientific research. such data serves as the cornerstone for informed dialogue among stakeholders. this evidence-based dialogue, in turn, fosters a conducive environment for collaboration, ultimately leading to the development of more effective and widely accepted epr schemes. there are few studies related to the roles of stakeholders in waste management, particularly in the epr scheme in vietnam. le et al. (2018) highlight the importance of stakeholder involvement in sustainable waste management and identify local authorities as the primary stakeholders responsible for managing municipal solid waste in agriculture in hanoi. nguyen duc quang (2016) and nguyen duc quang et al. (2017) found that the function of intermediate stakeholders, the facilities for e-waste treatment, and monetary distribution flows under the lack of legislation are the primary elements that contributed to the failure of the epr system's implementation in vietnam. nguyen (2023) synthesizes the experience of some countries in organizing and managing registration agencies for packaging manufacturers and importers, clarifies the roles of relevant parties, and offers potential recommendations for vietnam in applying the epr scheme. therefore, a research direction of notable relevance involves analyzing the influence of stakeholder engagement tactics within certain industries to mitigate resistance to epr adoption in vietnam. this study intends to investigate the complex relationship between stakeholder engagement strategies and successful resistance mitigation throughout the implementation of epr efforts in vietnam. the goal of the study is to shed light on practical strategies that can raise the acceptance and efficiency of epr programs within the vietnamese context. tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 3.3.4 free-riding and orphan products the asian developing countries' epr scheme is facing challenges, one of the primary ones being the identification of producers. this difficulty is pronounced because many producers in these regions, especially in developing nations, operate as small, unregistered businesses. these entities, often referred to as epr "free riders" (kojima et al., 2009), evade the formal regulatory frameworks established to manage and reduce environmental impact. their status as "free riders" allows them to avoid contributing to the environmental costs associated with the life cycles of their products, a responsibility central to the epr principle. this avoidance not only undermines the environmental objectives of these schemes but also creates an imbalance in the market, putting compliant businesses at a disadvantage. forcing unregistered small-scale traders or small industries to participate in the epr system presents a formidable challenge, especially when they represent a substantial portion of the market. notably, the challenges of free-riding and managing orphan products often emerge prominently in the initial stages of implementing epr schemes (oecd, 2014b). therefore, devising pertinent strategies to address these intricacies within the context of vietnam is not merely important but, in fact, imperative. the endeavor to combat free-riding and manage orphan products within epr systems represents a challenge necessitating a comprehensive approach. numerous studies have explored and proposed different strategies to mitigate the issues of orphan products and free riding within epr systems on a global scale. according to frithjof laubinger (2021); and mark hilton (2001, 2019), fee modulation schemes must be carefully designed to eliminate free-riding issues. mark hilton (2019) states that a lack of awareness, and the insufficient and complex enforcement of the epr rules can lead to free riding and orphan products, so awareness campaigns are needed. peer pressure and the disclosure of free riders can serve to discourage free riding and the final owner pays after the point of consumption, providing a finance option for orphan items (mark hilton, 2001). monitoring is a critical way of guaranteeing compliance with an epr program and ensuring that free-riding is minimized (oecd, 2001).in addition, because multi-seller platforms contribute significantly to free riding, jones (2020) suggests that online platforms should be held responsible if they cannot demonstrate that an organization that sells an item on their site makes an “ecocontribution”. given that vietnam is in the transition stage towards a mandatory epr program, it is crucial to start research to identify strategies for reducing free-riding and dealing with orphan products, which will improve the effectiveness of the epr system. the main goal of this research is to develop and seek strategies to reduce free-riding and deal with orphan products within the epr system, thereby improving the program's environmental and economic outcomes. vietnam could benefit a lot from the experiences of both developed and developing countries to choose an appropriate strategy that will help the epr framework be successfully established. 3.4 suggestions for promoting the epr scheme in vietnam advancing the epr scheme in vietnam requires a strategic and well-planned approach. below are some primary recommendations with well-defined objectives, effective and practical solutions, clear organizational responsibilities, and robust measurement methods for promoting epr in vietnam effectively. 3.4.1 recycling infrastructure there are four primary solutions for improving recycling infrastructure. 1. investments in improving recycling facilities are needed, encompassing the modernization of existing infrastructure and the maintenance of equipment to ensure optimal operation. responsible organizations, including the government and waste management agencies, play a crucial role in implementing and overseeing these initiatives. methods for measuring implementation include monitoring metrics such as recycling rates, waste diversion, and cost savings and comparing these data to the past. additionally, conducting a waste audit provides insights into waste generation and processing efficiency. furthermore, evaluating the financial impact of recycling infrastructure investments involves assessing the return on investment, cost savings, and revenue generation. it is equally important to measure the impact on job creation, the local environment, and economic growth resulting from these investments. tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 2. encourage public-private partnerships need to be encouraged in recycling activities in order to share costs and mitigate risks associated with recycling infrastructure projects. the government, private companies, and non-profit organizations all play critical roles in this effort. metrics such as increased recycling rates, waste diversion, cost savings, revenue generation, and the number of participants can be used to assess implementation success. furthermore, reviewing partnership agreements will ensure that all parties involved are fulfilling their roles, responsibilities, and goals. following that, conducting financial audits tracks the allocation of resources, funding, and expenditures within the partnership. moreover, gathering feedback from the community and relevant stakeholders serves to assess their satisfaction with the partnership. 3. incentives for private sector participation, which can be achieved through tax benefits, subsidies, performancebased contracts, and regulatory support, should be provided. the government is the accountable organization in this case. ways to evaluate the effectiveness of implementation include comparing metrics such as the number of private sector participants, the amount of investment attracted, job creation, and increased recycling rates to past data. additionally, gathering feedback from participating private sector organizations, government agencies, and other stakeholders is crucial to assessing their satisfaction with the incentive programs and identifying areas for enhancement. subsequently, it is essential to evaluate the quality and quantity of the incentives. 4. new technologies in recycling systems, such as iot (internet of things) sensors, automated sorting systems, data analytics software, mobile apps, artificial intelligence (ai), and geographic information systems (gis), should be integrated. the government, private companies, and waste management agencies are all accountable organizations. methods for evaluating implementation success include comparing data related to technology integration objectives such as increased recycling rates, reduced operational costs, improved resource recovery, and reduced environmental impact. concurrently, equipment performance must be monitored to ensure alignment with integration goals. additionally, evaluating the environmental benefits of technology integration, such as reductions in carbon emissions, energy savings, and resource conservation, is crucial. finally, assessing the financial impact of technology integration involves comparing technology implementation costs with the resulting savings or revenue generated. 3.4.2 informal sector six proposed solutions aimed to address the challenges in the informal sector are presented. 1. it is necessary to raise awareness and education in the informal sector about the epr program and its benefits and impart skills and knowledge in waste sorting, handling, and safety. relevant organizations, such as local governments and non-profit organizations, play an essential role in carrying out these activities. some methods for measuring implementation effectiveness include conducting surveys or quizzes to assess the knowledge and understanding of informal sector workers before and after educational campaigns. as a result, comparing the results allows for the measurement of awareness improvements. simultaneously, tracking attendance and participation rates in workshops, seminars, training sessions, and informational events organized for the informal sector provides valuable insights. additionally, measuring quantifiable improvements in the informal sector's behavior and practices, such as increased adoption of recycling and proper waste disposal, adherence to regulations, and changes in collection and sorting methods, ensures a comprehensive evaluation of the educational programs. 2. explicit legal provisions and regulations that recognize and formalize the role of the informal sector within the epr framework, potentially incorporating licensing and registration procedures, should be established. the government will implement these measures. methods for assessing achievement include assessing the extent to which informal sector workers and organizations are formalized and integrated into the epr system. the new regulations include determining the number of unregistered, licensed, or recognized informal workers. simultaneously, tracking and comparing informal sector workers' participation rates in epr activities before and after the regulations' implementation is critical. additionally, gathering feedback from the informal sector and other stakeholders assesses their satisfaction with the regulations. as a result, conducting a financial analysis for both producers and informal sector workers aids in evaluating the economic impact of formalizing the informal sector within the epr framework. furthermore, evaluating recycling rates, waste diversion, and environmental effects of including the informal sector in the epr scheme. tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 3. it is necessary to establish appropriate collection points where informal sector workers can quickly bring recyclables and receive compensation from producers. waste management agencies, producers, and importers are responsible for implementing these solutions. measurement methods for operation include conducting routine audits and inspections of the designated collection points to ensure they are set up and maintained in accordance with the plan and provide an effective and safe workspace for informal sector workers. simultaneously, tracking the number of informal sector workers, the frequency of visits, and the volume of recyclable waste brought in provides valuable data. monitoring the compensation process also ensures that workers in the informal sector are fairly compensated for their contributions. in addition, gathering feedback from informal sector workers about their experiences with the collection points, including their satisfaction, suggestions for improvements, and any issues they encounter, provides insights. furthermore, monitoring the allocation of resources, including funds and infrastructure, to establish and maintain collection points ensures their efficient use. 4. financial incentives and mechanisms to ensure that informal sector workers receive fair compensation for their collection and recycling efforts should be developed. the government and waste management agencies are responsible for implementing these suggestions into action. methods for monitoring the achievement of goals include maintaining and keeping track of the amounts, frequency, and consistency of payments made to informal sector workers as part of the financial incentive program. simultaneously, conducting regular audits and inspections ensures that producers and recycling companies comply with their obligations to provide fair compensation to informal sector workers. additionally, implementing measures to ensure transparency in the compensation process involves making payment records publicly accessible and establishing mechanisms for workers to verify the accuracy of their compensation. to further enhance transparency, collecting data through surveys and interviews gauges the satisfaction of informal sector workers with the financial incentive system, assessing whether they consider the compensation to be fair. furthermore, comparing the compensation offered to informal sector workers with industry or regional standards evaluates its competitiveness and fairness within the local context. 5. collaboration among government agencies, producers, and informal sector businesses, as well as encouraging partnerships and dialogue, should be encouraged in order to create a cohesive approach to epr implementation. the responsible organizations for implementing these solutions are the government and waste management agencies. measuring the level of engagement and participation of informal sector businesses in epr programs, which includes attendance at meetings, workshops, and collaborative events, is one way of determining implementation success. concurrently, conducting surveys and interviews with stakeholders gauges their perceptions of the collaborative efforts. this multifaceted approach enables for a comprehensive assessment of the involvement of informal sector businesses in epr programs. 6. mechanisms to monitor compliance and enforce regulations are in place, ensuring that the informal sector's rights and contributions are protected. the government and waste management agencies are the organizations responsible for implementing these solutions into reality. the strategies for measuring how well implementation goals are met include conducting regular compliance audits to ensure that producers, recycling companies, and other stakeholders follow the laws designed to protect the rights and contributions of the informal sector. furthermore, assessing the number of workers who have obtained legal status or permits under the regulations involves assessing the degree to which informal sector workers and organizations are formally recognized and integrated into the epr system. in addition, obtaining opinions from workers in the informal sector and other interested parties helps determine their satisfaction with protecting their rights and applying the law. 3.4.3 stakeholders the following are six major approaches for boosting stakeholder engagement. 1. all relevant stakeholders, both internal and external, should be identified, and their interests, needs, and concerns about the epr system should be understood. these ideas must be implemented by the government and local governments. creating and updating a stakeholder map that identifies all relevant stakeholders is one way to assess implementation success. concurrently, conducting surveys, interviews, or focus group discussions with stakeholders aids in understanding and assessing their concerns and needs regarding the epr system. tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 2. a plan for effective and regular communication should be established and followed, providing stakeholders with regular updates on the status of epr implementation, its benefits, and each stakeholder's contribution to its success. local governments must implement the suggestions. methods for observing implementation outcomes include gathering stakeholder opinions to determine the impact of communication activities and comprehending their information needs. simultaneously, determining whether participants feel involved is critical. furthermore, conducting surveys and analyzing perception data assists in determining how well stakeholders understand the epr system, its progress, and the value it provides, as well as whether they are aware of their role in its success. 3. stakeholders should be involved in the planning and decision-making processes by forming cross-functional teams comprised of representatives from various stakeholder groups to gather input and ensure that all perspectives are considered. the responsible organizations for implementing these solutions are the government and local authorities. maintaining records of stakeholder participation in planning and decision-making processes, such as meetings, workshops, and advisory committees, is one method used to evaluate the effectiveness of implementation. moreover, it is also critical to track the frequency and diversity of stakeholder engagement. obtaining feedback from stakeholders also aids in assessing their experiences and satisfaction with their involvement in planning and decisionmaking, as well as determining whether their input is valued and acted upon. furthermore, determining the extent to which stakeholder input influenced decision-making and planning is critical for a thorough evaluation. 4. stakeholders should have access to training and educational resources to help them understand the features and benefits of the epr system, which should be tailored to the specific needs of each group, such as clinicians, administrative staff, or patients. local governments will implement the ideas. maintaining records of stakeholder participation in training programs and educational initiatives is an option for determining the effectiveness of implementation. simultaneously, tracking the number of participants, their roles, and the frequency of their engagement is critical. furthermore, feedback from stakeholders who have received training should be collected to help determine the effectiveness and relevance of the educational resources, and whether they feel more informed and prepared to engage with the epr system. furthermore, conducting assessments or surveys assesses stakeholders' knowledge gained after participating in training programs, comparing their understanding before and after the training. furthermore, evaluating the quality and understandability of educational materials ensures that the epr system's features and benefits are effectively communicated. lastly, evaluating whether or not stakeholder behavior and practices have changed because of the training, with a focus on actions aligning with epr goals, such as improved recycling practices, completes the comprehensive measurement approach. 5. mechanisms for stakeholders should be established to provide feedback, ask questions, and resolve conflicts among themselves. user-friendly channels such as online portals or suggestion boxes are recommended to facilitate this. the responsible organizations for implementing these solutions are the government and local authorities. methods for measuring the implementation include maintaining records of feedback and questions submitted through established mechanisms and tracking the frequency, source, and nature of inquiries and feedback. simultaneously, the response time to stakeholder feedback and questions should be measured, evaluating whether responses are timely and adequately address concerns or queries. additionally, conducting surveys or collecting feedback can gauge stakeholder satisfaction with the mechanisms, assessing accessibility and effectiveness. furthermore, analyzing the content of feedback and questions helps identify common themes, concerns, and issues raised by stakeholders, informing decision-making and process improvement. the evaluation extends to the efficiency of communication channels used for feedback and questions, such as online forms or hotlines, ensuring accessibility. moreover, gauging the perceived transparency of the organization's response to feedback and questions is vital for stakeholders to feel valued. lastly, the ability of feedback mechanisms to handle conflicts or disputes effectively is evaluated, measuring the success rate of conflict resolution. 6. milestones and accomplishments should be recognized and celebrated throughout the epr implementation process to keep stakeholders motivated and engaged. local governments are the bodies in charge of putting these solutions into action. measurement strategies for implementation include gathering feedback from numerous partnerships to assess their satisfaction with the recognition of milestones and achievements. the purpose of this evaluation is to determine whether the recognition has had a positive impact on stakeholder motivation and engagement. tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 simultaneously, trends in stakeholder participation and engagement in epr-related activities are examined, comparing the periods before and after the implementation of milestone recognition initiatives. furthermore, an evaluation is carried out to determine whether the recognition of achievements has increased stakeholder commitment, enthusiasm, and contributions to the epr system. 3.4.4 epr compliance for managing epr compliance, there are seven necessary solutions. 1. a detailed plan for epr compliance monitoring should be developed, defining the aspects to be monitored, the frequency, and assigning responsibilities. the government is responsible for these. implementation assessment methods include developing a comprehensive plan, followed by a review and evaluation of the plan's completeness and clarity. this ensures that the plan includes all necessary components and complies with regulatory requirements. 2. systems for collecting information on epr compliance, such as product quantities, collection and recycling rates, and financial contributions from producers, should be developed. it is the responsibility of the government. a systematic approach is required for measuring implementation strategies. first, the effectiveness of the data collection system is determined. as a result, an assessment of precision and dependability ensures the accuracy and consistency of the gathered data. an examination of reporting methods follows to determine clarity and transparency, with data made available to stakeholders. moreover, feedback is used to refine data processes, ensuring adaptability and efficiency in response to evolving demands. 3. regular independent audits should be implemented to uphold data accuracy provided by producers, ensuring transparency, and preventing misreporting. the relevant organizations, particularly the government and municipal governments, play an important role in conducting this process. the frequency and scope of these audits must be assessed, to ensure adherence to legal standards and a comprehensive examination of the information submitted by producers to assess the implementation. additionally, evaluating the quality and content of audit reports is pivotal, ensuring a thorough examination of data accuracy. the effectiveness of corrective actions taken by producers in response to audit findings should be assessed, ensuring identified discrepancies are rectified. moreover, the measurement includes evaluating whether independent audits have contributed to an ongoing improvement in the accuracy of data provided by producers. 4. penalties for non-compliance and simultaneously considering incentives for compliance should be defined. the accountable organization, in this case, is the government. for the purpose of evaluating implementation, it is crucial to verify that penalties are consistently and impartially enforced, ensuring that non-compliant parties face the consequences as specified in the regulations. additionally, the assessment includes an evaluation of whether the defined penalties align with the applicable legal and regulatory framework and are proportionate to the severity of non-compliance. subsequently, the measurement involves assessing whether the existence of defined penalties has acted as a deterrent for non-compliant behavior among producers and other stakeholders. furthermore, the impact of defined penalties on compliance rates, recycling rates, waste reduction, and program success is assessed, determining whether non-compliant parties have improved their practices over time. 5. consumers and the public should be encouraged to report non-compliant products or practices, and a system for receiving and investigating consumer complaints should be established. the responsible units are the government and consumers. in order to assess the operation, the number of complaints, their type, and how they were handled must be registered and tracked. simultaneously, an evaluation is conducted on the accessibility, user-friendliness, and responsiveness of the reporting mechanisms, such as online platforms, hotlines, or complaint forms. the measurement also involves assessing the response time to consumer and public reports, ensuring timely responses, and adequately addressing reported issues. furthermore, the assessment encompasses the public awareness of the reporting mechanisms and the ease with which consumers can find information on reporting non-compliance. conclusively, data analysis collected from consumer and public reports is conducted to identify patterns, joint issues, and trends related to non-compliance. tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 6. transparency and accessibility of information regarding epr compliance, audits, and penalties to the public should be ensured, as transparency fosters trust and encourages compliance. the government and local authorities are the responsible organizations. methods to check applications include evaluating the accessibility of information related to epr compliance, audits, and penalties. ensure that this information is readily available to the public through websites, publications, or other channels. simultaneously, assess the perceived transparency of the information provided to the public. determine whether the public believes epr compliance, audits, and penalties are reported openly and comprehensibly. additionally, examine the clarity and transparency of compliance reports, ensuring they are easy to understand and provide comprehensive information on producer compliance with epr regulations. furthermore, evaluate the transparency and comprehensibility of audit reports, ensuring that they communicate audit findings and compliance assessments clearly and informally. conclusively, verify that data related to epr compliance, audits, and penalties are provided in user-friendly formats and can be easily accessed and analyzed by interested stakeholders. 7. training and resources to the enforcement authority and relevant stakeholders should be provided to improve their capacity for monitoring and enforcing epr compliance. the government is in charge. a systematic approach is given to measure implementation. it involves maintaining records of training sessions conducted, including details such as the number of participants, topics covered, and training dates. simultaneously, participant feedback collection is emphasized to assess the effectiveness of the training programs, gauging whether the participants found the training informative and relevant to their roles. additionally, the evaluation extends to measuring the improvement in the capacity and skills of the enforcement authority and stakeholders involved in monitoring and enforcing epr compliance. this includes assessing their ability to perform tasks related to compliance oversight. furthermore, the measurement includes assessing the impact of the training on the enforcement authority's ability to impose penalties, sanctions, or corrective actions on non-compliant producers and stakeholders. conclusively, the evaluation encompasses the improvement in data collection, reporting, and documentation capabilities of both the enforcement authority and stakeholders, ensuring a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of the training initiatives. 4. discussion the adoption of epr in vietnam has a high potential for promoting sustainable production and consumption, environmental conservation, and economic growth. in addition to introducing the epr framework, this research recognizes the opportunities and obstacles involved with its implementation around the world in general and in vietnam in particular. furthermore, the review paper identifies and emphasizes the significance of certain research directions and practical solutions that should be pursued soon. it is possible to successfully apply epr in vietnam by bridging research gaps and implementing these recommendations. this literature review on the implementation of epr in vietnam is critical for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and scholars. policymakers can use the findings to develop and implement effective epr policies. industry stakeholders, armed with knowledge about vietnamese epr regulations and obstacles, can design strategic engagement plans. furthermore, this literature review provides comprehensive suggestions for promoting the epr initiative and ways for measuring these implementations. it enables authorities to identify each organization's responsibility, avoid overlapping between stakeholders, and understand strategies to assess these implementations appropriately. researchers can use the review to define future paths by filling research gaps and investigating other areas of epr deployment. finally, it promotes international collaboration by providing a basis for exchanging experiences and working on research initiatives, thus increasing the overall effectiveness of environmental stewardship in vietnam. while the research carried out on implementing epr in vietnam is informative, it does have several shortcomings that lead to fields for future investigation. a lack of empirical data limits this study, so future research should involve more comprehensive data collection through interviews, surveys, or case studies to provide a more detailed and accurate understanding of waste management and epr practices in vietnam. in addition, this paper needs to go into detail about the long-term impact of epr implementation on environmental, economic, and social effects in vietnam to assess the success and sustainability of epr policies. furthermore, this study does not compare the epr program with alternative policies or combinations of policies; therefore, tackling these limitations through future research tran / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 efforts would provide more nuanced knowledge of the problems and opportunities associated with implementing epr in the vietnamese context. 5. conclusion in conclusion, this comprehensive literature review has provided the overall picture of the epr framework implementation for solving environmental challenges in vietnam. through the exploration of vietnam's unique regulations and plans, it has become evident that the efforts of the vietnamese government on environmental protection can be recognized. the existence of free-riders and orphan products, the popularity of the informal sector workers, the specific challenges associated with waste management infrastructure, and stakeholders’ participation demand suitable solutions. by understanding these challenges and advocating for further research to develop context-specific solutions, vietnam can harness the full potential of epr as a powerful instrument to mitigate environmental challenges, enhance resource efficiency, and advance its sustainability objectives. as vietnam continues its commitment to addressing pressing environmental impacts, epr emerges not merely as a theoretical concept, but also as a practical solution. thoughtfully adapting and integrating the above recommendations into the nation's policy framework, promoting environmental responsibility, and advancing a more sustainable future for vietnam and its citizens will be achieved. acknowledgments not applicable. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval: not applicable. conflict of interest: the authors declare that there 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hospital; food services; contributing factors; reduction strategies 1. introduction the alarming rate of global food wastage raised significant concerns and has social, financial, and environmental implications on a global scale. approximately one-third of the food produced yearly is discarded (carino et al., 2021; cook et al., 2022a, 2022b; diana et al., 2022; fao, 2014; malefors et al., 2019; porter & collins, 2021; razalli et al., 2021; schiavone et al., 2019; skaf et al., 2021) across the diverse stages of the food value chain, spanning from agricultural production to ultimate consumption (beretta & hellweg, 2019). food waste signifies the inefficient http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i1.1055&domain=press.ierek.com parlina/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 utilization of resources, encompassing land, water, labor, and energy in food production. approximately more than 60% of the available freshwater resources are utilized for irrigating crops, whereas the annual worldwide production of wasted food consumes approximately 306 km3 of water (paiva et al., 2022). moreover, food waste disposal in landfills produces methane and carbon dioxide, both harmful greenhouse gases contributing to global warming (cook, collins, et al., 2022a). it is responsible for almost one-tenth of the overall carbon emissions, exacerbating food shortages, generating society strife, and incurring a yearly expense of approximately one trillion usd to the global economy (antasouras et al., 2023; cook, collins, et al., 2022a, 2022b; razalli et al., 2021). therefore, these circumstances emphasize the need for a global effort to reduce food waste. in 2015, the united nations established the sustainable development goals (sdgs), intending to attain objectives related to urban sustainability, sustainable production and consumption, and addressing climate change across other areas (carino et al., 2021; un, 2015). the objective is to curtail worldwide food wastage at the retail and consumer stages by half per capita by 2030 while mitigating food discards across various stages of the food production and supply networks (antasouras et al., 2023; cook, collins, et al., 2022b; malefors et al., 2019). healthcare facilities hold significant influence within the food chain due to their substantial procurement capabilities, consumption of resources, and waste production (carino et al., 2021). approximately half of the waste generated in hospitals is attributed to food waste (antasouras et al., 2023; eriksson et al., 2020; razalli et al., 2021). moreover, inadequate waste handling practices can substantially impact the environment, primarily due to the carbon emissions that arise from the disposal of healthcare waste, including food waste (cook, collins, et al., 2022a). the issue of food waste within hospital food services is multifaceted and intricate, with numerous contributing factors. in contrast, attempts to reduce food waste from hospitals had significant challenges. the obstacles faced cover all aspects of hospital services by prioritizing sustainability. they must achieve environmental objectives, including reducing carbon emissions and minimizing food waste while working within a limited budget, meeting dietary requirements, and ensuring that patients are content with the food provided (carino et al., 2020; eriksson et al., 2020). hospital food waste, concerning clinical matters, has emerged as a significant challenge in implementing waste reduction programs (norshariza et al., 2019). there is a correlation between high levels of food wastage and decreased consumption of energy and protein, which in turn contributes to malnutrition-related issues within hospital settings (antasouras et al., 2023; gomes et al., 2020; norshariza et al., 2019). the issue of malnutrition in hospitals is widely acknowledged within the clinical community. it has been extensively established to have negative consequences such as higher rates of death, morbidity, prolonged hospital stays, and increased healthcare expenses (neaves et al., 2022). furthermore, inadequate nutritional intake and aggravation of malnutrition are connected to rising hospital expenses due to readmission and resource usage (trinca et al., 2022). hence, it is imperative to understand the factors contributing to waste generation and implement measures to enhance the quality of food services inside hospital settings, with the dual objective of mitigating malnutrition and minimizing food wastage. this paper will examine the existing studies of hospital food waste and identify the gap within the resources available. it will focus on the factors that cause food waste in hospitals and what efforts can be made to reduce this waste generation. thus, this review will address the following two research questions. 1. what are the primary factors that contribute significantly to food waste generation in hospitals? 2. what are the various strategies for food waste reduction in healthcare settings? the authors employ an unsystematic narrative review to conduct the study. a narrative overview is a paper synthesizing information and resources from diverse sources, such as peer-reviewed journal articles and government and international reports, to comprehend a particular topic's progression. the identification of published articles and reports was conducted by searching many databases, including griffith library, scopus, web of science, and pubmed, along with an additional search using google scholar. the specified search terms included "food waste" and "hospital", "plate waste" and "hospital", "food waste" and "quantifying", and "food waste", "hospital", and "determine factor". this review did not restrict the study design or timeframe, although it prioritized publications or articles published during the past five years. following an extensive search in the databases, a comprehensive total of 53 papers and two reports were examined and incorporated into this study. parlina/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 2. methodology the waste quantification is necessary to comprehend the depiction of food waste inside medical settings. waste measurement has significance in establishing a fundamental reference point for comprehending the present circumstances, simulating the consequences of diverse waste reduction approaches, and overseeing advancements made in this domain (collins & porter, 2023). efforts to mitigate food waste generation align with the intent to enhance patient nutritional intake. therefore, including data on food waste can offer valuable insights into assessing dietary sufficiency among those receiving medical care. hospital food waste comprises preparation, serving/ tray, and plate waste. preparation waste refers to the food waste made while preparing and cooking meals. tray waste refers to the uneaten food that has been prepared and provided but remains unserved. plate waste refers to the food served to patients but returned uneaten (antasouras et al., 2023). measuring food waste in healthcare facilities is a complex process requiring precision. variations in disposal methods impact measurement, as waste may go undetected during audits if disposed of within hospital wards. additionally, there is a possibility of misinterpreting data when visitors provide food for patients, which may replace their hospital meals (cook, collins, et al., 2022a). the quantification of food waste in various studies has been conducted by weighing food waste, visually estimating the remaining food, photography, and using questionnaires with a list of questions related to food consumption. recent research efforts have focused on developing novel methodologies that integrate many approaches, individually or collectively with digital technologies, to attain more precise outcomes. 2.1. food weighing method the weighing approach entails gathering all food remnants and documenting the aggregate quantity of a representative subset (antasouras et al., 2023). the quantification outcomes were recorded through a manual paper-based method or electronic spreadsheet software (malefors et al., 2019), commonly filled out by nursing personnel (heighingtonwansbrough & gemming, 2022). particular kitchens employed specialized web applications for food-waste quantification provided by various software companies, while others utilized a dedicated, intelligent scale to document the quantification process (malefors et al., 2019). the disadvantage of this method is that it can be resource-intensive and time-consuming, potentially causing disruptions or delays in regular food service operations (antasouras et al., 2023; heighington-wansbrough & gemming, 2022; manimaran et al., 2023). in addition, this approach may result in imprecise data input and patient recollection, as well as challenges in determining serving quantities (ofei et al., 2019), as the establishment of a standardized format for food records is lacking. these records are often created at the discretion of each hospital or ward, resulting in significant divergence in the magnitude of information disseminated (heighington-wansbrough & gemming, 2022). despite having certain drawbacks, the employment of the weighing method appears to be a more advisable approach in studies conducted on hospitalized industries, as it has the potential to yield more accurate outcomes (cook, collins, et al., 2022a; paiva et al., 2022). furthermore, it is worth noting that researchers often seek to determine the energy and protein content of discarded food, a task that necessitates the identification of individual food components (antasouras et al., 2023). food weighing technique is widely regarded as the benchmark for evaluating the precision and reliability of alternative measuring techniques (budiningsari et al., 2016; heighington-wansbrough & gemming, 2022; ofei et al., 2019). 2.2. visual estimation the visual estimation technique employs a rating scale to assess the approximate proportion of unconsumed food, typically rated as 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% (antasouras et al., 2023; cook, collins et al., 2022a). this approach involves the utilization of a guide or tool to aid assessors in evaluating the volume of food or liquid ingested (heighington-wansbrough & gemming, 2022). besides percentages, the most comprehensive measurements for food consumption are the seven-point scale and the comstock 6-point scale. following these scales in terms of comprehensiveness are the five-point scale, a four-point scale, and a three-point scale (manimaran et al., 2023). parlina/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 visual estimate exhibits a notable level of dependability and necessitates reduced labor, time, and spatial requirements (giboreau et al., 2019). however, in general, it has been observed that the technique tends to either underestimate or overestimate the proportion of leftover food on a plate compared to the weighing method (antasouras et al., 2023; heighington-wansbrough & gemming, 2022; ofei et al., 2019). this measurement frequently relies on subjective monitoring of patient food intake, such as estimating food intake through plate diagrams and employing diverse job roles as evaluators (heighington-wansbrough & gemming, 2022; papathanail et al., 2021; rinninella et al., 2023). it is also affected by missing data, such as conflicting obligations of nursing personnel that result in hurried recordkeeping, unintentional mistakes, and administrative oversights, such as skipped meals and evaluators' failure to grasp the significance of monitoring (heighington-wansbrough & gemming, 2022; rinninella et al., 2023). furthermore, previous research also highlights the importance of providing sufficient training to the nurses, coupled with raising awareness regarding their critical role in the effective implementation of this approach (amano & nakamura, 2018; giboreau et al., 2019; kawasaki et al., 2019). the latest optimization technique could pertain to digital photography employed for documenting food waste, thereby mitigating issues and facilitating accurate assessments of portion sizes at a later stage. visual estimation appears to be a more suitable method in situations where the sample population consumes food of identical type and size, such as in school studies (antasouras et al., 2023; williams & walton, 2011), cafeteria environments or other public dining locations (williamson et al., 2003). 2.3. digital imaging method this approach employs techniques akin to the direct visual estimating method. however, instead of relying on human observers in the eating set, the process involves capturing the meals and plate waste through a digital video camera (ofei et al., 2019; williamson et al., 2003). trained observers examine pictures on a computer screen. portion sizes are estimated using photos of items in a controlled laboratory setting without time constraints (parent et al., 2012; williamson et al., 2003). the advantage of this method includes the swift collection of data within the eating context, the ease it provides for both participants and researchers, and the comparatively relaxed assessment of meals evaluated through images, as opposed to in the real-time eating situation (parent et al., 2012; williamson et al., 2003). additionally, the findings indicate that training is unnecessary, as the results demonstrate no statistically significant disparities in food waste estimates between trained or untrained raters (parent et al., 2012). in the context of future study inquiries, digital photographs can be kept and utilized to validate estimations about food waste (parent et al., 2012). one of this method's disadvantages is that determining portion size based on a picture might be laborious and impede the regular monitoring of food consumption within a healthcare environment (ofei et al., 2019). scholars and practitioners have recognized the challenges associated with accurately determining portion sizes, which is the primary factor contributing to inaccuracies in assessing nutritional intake (ofei et al., 2019). another limitation pertains to the expenses of acquiring high-quality cameras to enhance the clarity of images and differentiate food items (parent et al., 2012). 2.4. questionnaire the questionnaire is another approach employed to compute food waste production. in terms of this, patients were asked to indicate the percentage of their consumed meals. the inquiry pertained to the consumption of the initial plate, subsequent plate, accompanying side dish, and fruit, with responses recorded on a 5-point likert scale ranging from "nothing/almost nothing" to "all/almost all" (mahmoud & mahmoud, 2023; schiavone et al., 2019). the phrase 'almost nothing' denotes that patients merely sampled the food and subsequently declined it (schiavone et al., 2019). this method's latest development is adding the food intake visual scale (fivs). this comprises visual representations of four distinct plates of food, each depicting varying amounts of consumption: "about all," "half", "a quarter", or "nothing" (saueressig et al., 2023). following the completion of their meal, the patients were given instructions to discern the image on the tool that most accurately depicted their food consumption (saueressig et al., 2023). the strengths of this technique include using a practical, easily implemented, and cost-effective tool (saueressig et al., 2023). the shortcoming pertains to its exclusive assessment of the quantity ingested without considering the quality parlina/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 of the meal. alternative methodologies are necessary to facilitate a more comprehensive assessment to ascertain diminished consumption and evaluate the intake caliber (saueressig et al., 2023). 2.5. other developing techniques additional techniques employed for waste generation estimation involve enhancing pre-existing methodologies through integrating specialized instruments, hence facilitating the acquisition of more precise and reliable data. for example, budiningsari et al. (2016) devised the pictorial dietary assessment tool (pdat) to estimate patient food consumption concerning the food weighing approach. the advantage of this method is its ability to offer a convenient means of estimating energy and protein consumption, reducing the time required to complete the activities and tasks that can be accomplished by the personnel with little training (budiningsari et al., 2016). a potential drawback of this study was the necessity for additional research to thoroughly investigate the validity of the pdat across all meal times (budiningsari et al., 2016). another example was developed by ofei et al. (2019). they established the dietary intake monitoring system (dims) that incorporates images, a weighing device, an infrared thermometer, radio-frequency identification technology (rfid), and wifi connectivity to facilitate real-time data capture. the design was to automatically record both the total weights and photographs of food before and after eating. one benefit of dims over previous visual dietary evaluation methods is the ability to determine portion size using an assortment of periodic weighted images (ofei et al., 2019). a drawback of this method is that it quantifies the overall weight of the meal instead of the individual weights of specific food items. hence, using visual methodology in conjunction with the dims total weight for estimating the portion size of individual food items may yield imprecise estimations of serving sizes while still yielding a projected aggregate weight that matches the dims total weight (ofei et al., 2019). 3. contributing factors numerous factors have been linked to the elevated levels of plate waste observed in hospital settings (cook, collins, et al., 2022b; norshariza et al., 2019; williams & walton, 2011). hospital food waste can be attributed to both internal and external factors. internal factors pertain to the performance of food service within hospitals, and external factors related to patients (cook, goodwin et al., 2022; porter & collins, 2021; razalli et al., 2021). the primary factors contributing to plate waste in hospitals are the quality of food and service. various published studies have demonstrated a correlation between patients' satisfaction and the sensory attributes of food, including its visual attractiveness, taste, texture, and temperature (razalli et al., 2021). 3.1. quality and quantity of the food food quality and quantity were also noted as contributors to food waste. food quality relates to the food's taste, appearance, texture, and temperature, whereas quantity is related to the portion of the food. multiple studies have demonstrated that the quality and number of meals influence food waste. sumarto and saragih (2020) investigated the correlation between the taste and appearance of food as it pertained to food waste at the jasa kartini hospital in indonesia. according to the results, there are substantial correlations among these variables. other researchers also found similar correlations. porter and collins (2021) reported that several factors negatively impacted the food quality, including the use of the cook-chill model's, "double cooking" method, the unnecessary addition of parsley as a garnish, the use of unripe fruit, and the unappealing preparation of boiled meat and vegetables. they also highlighted that the excessive portion of the patient's meal increased the food waste. furthermore, razalli et al. (2021) found that modifying food texture lowers food waste in hospitals in malaysia. modifying food texture (tmd) facilitates chewing and swallowing the food, enhancing the patient's ability to consume the prescribed diet. (razalli et al., 2021). therefore, tmd can be an option for elderly patients or patients with certain health conditions to fulfill nutrition, which in turn can reduce food waste. food temperatures are also essential to reduce plate waste, as confirmed by dynesen et al. (2021). their study mentioned that the ability to select a preferred meal, whether hot or cold, decreases plate waste. the quality and quantity of meals can influence patients' appetite. it is imperative to implement alterations or enhancements in this domain to mitigate food wastage and enhance the nutritional intake of patients. parlina/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 3.2. patients’ satisfaction assessing patient satisfaction is a valuable metric for evaluating the quality of meal provision within hospital environments (teka et al., 2022) and is frequently linked to plate waste. patient satisfaction is complex and encompasses multiple dimensions, making it challenging to quantify due to the diverse range of factors that influence it (schiavone et al., 2020). the quality of food service and food served is crucial in determining patient satisfaction (razalli et al., 2021; schiavone et al., 2020; teka et al., 2022). research has demonstrated that patient satisfaction with food service is contingent upon the identity of the individual responsible for its delivery (hartwell & edwards, 2003). the meal quality ratings are more significant when dietary employees are responsible for the delivery (hartwell & edwards, 2003). in contrast, patients may negatively perceive the food given in hospitals due to inadequate staff behaviors, perhaps reinforcing unfavorable perceptions and leading to decreased food intake and satisfaction (trinca et al., 2022). in addition, the delivery by nursing staff is associated with higher scores in terms of care and concern (hartwell & edwards, 2003). the adverse effects on patient satisfaction and food intake can arise from meal duration and scheduling deemed unsuitable, the limited capacity to select food close to mealtimes, and disruptions during meals, such as medical staff rounds (mahmoud & mahmoud, 2023). moreover, a study by rapo et al. (2021) showed that patients who had more extended hospital stays and those who reported consuming less food than normal expressed higher dissatisfaction with the food service. specifically, these patients were unsatisfied with the food's overall quality and the meals' taste and flavors. another research finding by navarro et al. (2019) suggests that patients who were allocated orange napkins demonstrated a noteworthy improvement in their contentment with the hospital's food provision. jonsson et al. (2021) analyzed the viewpoints of elderly patients regarding dining experiences within hospital settings. the patients expressed their worries over the insufficient support during meal periods, challenging relationships with other patients in the shared dining area, and instances where the food offered failed to meet their satisfaction. patient satisfaction measurement usually uses a questionnaire, where one of the consensus tools is the acute care hospital foodservice patient satisfaction questionnaire (achfpsq). this tool can serve as a foundation for recognizing the necessity for enhancing quality and strategizing and assessing interventions (capra et al., 2005). the questionnaire comprises socio-demographic information, expectations, food and service attributes, and food waste rates (schiavone et al., 2020). 3.3. the patient's characteristics and clinical condition patient characteristics such as gender and age correlate with the quantity of hospital food waste. the research conducted by schiavone et al. (2019) indicated that women tended to waste food more than males while being hospitalized. the findings of this study were consistent with those reported by norshariza et al. (2019) and gomes et al. (2020), which showed that female patients exhibited higher levels of food waste production. the investigation of gender-based disparities in food waste is deemed significant due to variations in nutritional needs between males and females. kong et al. (2020) confirmed that male participants in their research exhibited significantly greater average calorie and protein consumption than their female counterparts. regarding patients' age, norshariza et al. (2019) found that older people exhibited the highest levels of food wastage in comparison to younger individuals. contrarily, gomes, et al. (2020) revealed that pediatric wards' food waste was significantly higher than other types of wards. higher food waste generation in older patients is closely related to health conditions. problems with eating and swallowing have had a substantial impact on food wastage, resulting from a drop in oral intake (norshariza et al., 2019). furthermore, the dining experience within a hospital environment is frequently marked by the impact of illness (jonsson et al., 2021; norshariza et al., 2019). the provision of meals to patients may exhibit variability contingent upon the necessity of a specialized dietary regimen under their medical condition. according to a malaysian study, cancer patients have a significant prevalence of plate waste (razalli et al., 2021). in addition, some gastrointestinal diseases such as dysphagia, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, lethargic behavior, dental issues, and abdominal distension impact plate waste (razalli et al., 2021; williams & walton, 2011). the inability to eat and digest food due to digestive issues and post-surgical recovery could result in decreased appetite and excessive food waste. as a parlina/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 result of a decreased appetite and menu weariness, a prolonged duration of stay led to more plate waste (diana et al., 2022; williams & walton, 2011). the significance of patient interest in food or appetite was emphasized as a crucial element linked to food consumption and, consequently, food wastage while hospitalized (eriksson et al., 2020). for example, the study's participants in melbourne, australia, reported experiencing a feeling of guilt as a result of their initial intentions to order a meal but subsequently lacking the desire to consume it upon its arrival. nausea and sickness hindered their capacity to ingest the delivered food (porter & collins, 2021). moreover, patients with certain health conditions need feeding assistance to facilitate their nutritional intake. the research found that the elevated proportion of food waste present in the introductory course of the soft diet can be rationalized by the patients' heightened state of debilitation, necessitating assistance with feeding (gomes et al., 2020). in addition to its association with health-related factors, the patient's appetite may also be subject to various external influences, such as food taste, meal arrangement, meal times, and food items procured by the patient's relatives. 3.4. meal time and outside food plate waste is also associated with meal delivery timetables and external food sources. the study in italia illustrates that mealtimes held significant value for patients from the southern region (schiavone et al., 2020), with many of them opting to bring food from their homes to the hospital through their visiting relatives (diana et al., 2022; schiavone et al., 2019, 2020). several studies have yielded varying outcomes concerning the quantity of food waste produced during each meal. mahmoud and mahmoud (2023) reported that most patients, namely over one-third, consume their entire breakfast, more than one-quarter take barely half of their lunch, and approximately one-third consume their entire dinner. additionally, most patients surveyed reported bringing their meals from home or an external catering service and provided reasons for discarding the food (mahmoud & mahmoud, 2023). likewise, it has been observed by norshariza et al. (2019) that dinner exhibits a higher proportion of food waste in comparison to lunch. the provision of home-cooked meals by guardians outside of working hours and the lack of a well-defined policy regulating the delivery of home or retail food delivery by patient guardians or retailers might lead to increased food waste during dinner time (norshariza et al., 2019). furthermore, numerous studies have indicated a lower occurrence of plate waste during breakfast than other primary meals, although it is essential to note that this observation is not universally consistent (williams & walton, 2011). similarly, research by razalli et al. (2021) and anari et al. (2023) revealed that the proportion of plate waste was comparatively more significant during lunch. this phenomenon may be attributed to patients experiencing satiety after consuming a morning meal (razalli et al., 2021). in contrast, some studies in indonesia discovered that morning plate waste is somewhat higher than lunch (diana et al., 2022). 3.5. hospital environment the ambient factors within a hospital setting might influence patients' appetites. providing clean and comfortable rooms devoid of any unpleasant odors and staff-related disturbances can enhance patients' dining experience. according to a study conducted in the netherlands, which examined the associations between plate waste and various patient and environmental factors, it was determined that other than appetite, the movement of individuals entering and exiting rooms for patients was the most substantial indicator of heightened plate waste (trinca et al., 2022; williams & walton, 2011). diana et al. (2022) also mentioned a significant correlation between environmental factors and hospital services, specifically inpatient classes, and the amount of plate waste generated within certain hospitals in indonesia. food wastage was higher among patients occupying inpatient rooms classified as class 2 and 3, compared to those in class 1 and vip rooms. 4. waste minimization strategy upon understanding the waste generation and the underlying factors contributing to it, hospital administration can develop a suitable strategy for reducing food waste. the food waste hierarchy can serve as a guiding framework for waste management practices, where preventing food waste from occurring in the first place is the most effective strategy (collins & porter, 2023; lewandowski et al., 2023). some of the approaches include improvement in the food delivery system, design of the menu, room service model, improvement in food quality and meal presentation, parlina/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 employment of clinical nutrition, the implementation of recycling, composting, food donation, and improving management or alternative processing methods, such as anaerobic digestion. 4.1. improving the food delivery system the food delivery system is a significant aspect that impacts patients' dietary intake. a centralized delivery system guarantees that each patient receives a fully assembled order with a predetermined portion size and quality control measures from a central location (kong et al., 2020). on the other hand, a decentralized delivery service system only dispatches large quantities of hot or cold prepared foods to ward kitchens all over the hospital (kong et al., 2020). a measure that has been the subject of numerous research is transitioning from a centrally plated meal system to a bulk meal distribution system (dias-ferreira et al., 2015). the utilization of bulk service offers the benefit of tailoring the size of portions to meet the specific demands of patients (williams & walton, 2011). furthermore, research has demonstrated that implementing a bulk food delivery system, wherein a diverse range of food options is transported to patients and served from mobile carts based on individual preferences and appetites, is more efficient in minimizing food waste compared to conventional plated meal delivery systems (schiavone et al., 2019). in addition, research conducted by norshariza et al. (2019) confirmed that centralized systems exhibit more significant proportions of food waste than bulk systems. bulk systems can maintain the temperature of recently prepared foods, ensuring the meals remain warm and stimulating patients' appetites (norshariza et al., 2019). some critiques of this system are related to the amount of remaining food in the trolley, which somewhat undermines the benefits of minimizing plate waste (dias-ferreira et al., 2015). this is because the distribution of meals is carried out by ward assistants, increasing the likelihood of mistakes (kong et al., 2020). therefore, it is imperative to exercise caution when determining the quantity of food to be cooked to prevent waste transmission along the food supply chain (dias-ferreira et al., 2015). 4.2. menu design another measure that appears to be effective in reducing plate waste is enhancing patients' autonomy in selecting their meals by providing selective menus. implementing a program to enhance patients' meal options by providing tailored menus appears to hold significant potential, particularly in mitigating food wastage (antasouras et al., 2023; paiva et al., 2022; rinninella et al., 2023). the food selection allows patients to exert a certain degree of influence over their healthcare experience, albeit limited, such as having the option to choose their dessert. this may enhance their satisfaction levels and views on food quality (trinca et al., 2022). a further pilot study was conducted to investigate if a chosen menu might raise food intake and reduce plate waste by hospitalized children with orthopedic conditions. the study revealed that transitioning from nonselective to particular menu styles reduced the amount of vegetable plate waste compared to other food groups. also, fewer vegetables were returned on specific menus than on selective menus (antasouras et al., 2023). in addition, a study conducted in denmark investigated the efficacy of the menu modification strategy. it revealed that implementing the free choice menu enabled patients to select from a diverse range of hot and cold food options throughout the day and facilitated the adoption of improved cooking techniques (manimaran et al., 2023). one approach to enhancing the ease of menu choosing involves the development of electronic technologies. implementing a bedside menu ordering system is an alternative to the conventional meal delivery method (schiavone et al., 2019). the automated interactive menu selection system is a potential ordering system that could enhance patient satisfaction with food service and yield cost savings for hospitals that rely on printed menus (ottrey & porter, 2016). multiple pieces of research indicate that electronic bedside meal ordering systems yield positive results regarding food intake, plate waste reduction, and overall satisfaction compared to traditional paper menus. barrington et al. (2018) reported that patients who utilized the bedside menu ordering system (bmos) method exhibited a higher frequency of meal ordering and consumption in comparison to those who employed the paper menu (pm) method. moreover, mackenzie-shalders et al. (2020) revealed the same result regarding using electronic bedside meal ordering systems (ebmos) to reduce plate waste. the electronic system may pose difficulty in terms of management for elderly patients, but it is comparable to a conventional paper menu in terms of facilitating food selection (rinninella et al., 2023). collins and porter (2023) parlina/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 contested that using paper menus in all three hospitals delays the process, as manual activities such as printing, disseminating, and retrieving menus and manually verifying and summing up orders necessitate scheduling. an electronic system exhibits agility in its ability to promptly adapt to patient admissions, discharges, and dietary requirements changes, potentially reducing missed meals and minimizing excess food waste (lewandowski et al., 2023; mackenzie-shalders et al., 2020). furthermore, this system enables patients to place their orders more conveniently at their designated mealtimes, enhancing their ability to choose a meal that aligns with their preferences (dynesen et al., 2021; lewandowski et al., 2023; mackenzie-shalders et al., 2020). adopting digital technology is crucial for healthcare facilities because it can eliminate laborious manual tasks (collins & porter, 2023; rinninella et al., 2023; yona et al., 2020). 4.3. room service model incorporating the ordering and delivery system appears to positively impact patient contentment, heightened consumption of nutrients, and decreased disposal of uneaten food. this intervention seems to enhance patients' food consumption by promoting satisfaction, potentially by expanding their food options, addressing issues with meal scheduling, and improving the quality of food presentation in terms of temperature and aesthetics (antasouras et al., 2023). analogous to the bedside menu ordering system, a room service enables patients to select and request individual food items, receiving their order within 45 minutes (manimaran et al., 2023; schiavone et al., 2020). this model entails the provision of meals to patients upon request, following an à la carte menu format (eriksson et al., 2020). multiple research findings indicated that implementing a room service model decreases plate waste. the crosssectional study conducted in canada found that the room service implementation resulted in a notable rise in customer satisfaction, decreased food costs during breakfast and lunch, and reduced waste across all meals. notably, there was a rise in the consumption of energy, protein, carbohydrates, and fats during the lunch period (rinninella et al., 2023). additionally, dynesen et al. (2021) found that participants consumed more of the food provided than the trolley model, particularly during the afternoon meal. the room service implementation resulted in a significant reduction in food waste, decreasing it from 29% to 12% compared to a conventional food service model (schiavone et al., 2019). in addition, neaves et al. (2022) reported that consistent with prior research, the implementation of room service resulted in a notable decrease in plate waste, as seen by a substantial reduction in the average plate waste from 40% to 15%. the provision of room service presents a broader array of menu options and the ability to select high-energy and highprotein meals as desired, resulting in enhanced nutritional consumption (rinninella et al., 2023). moreover, this approach effectively handles several concerns by using strategies such as enhancing staff-patient interactions and granting patients autonomy in meal selection, in contrast to the conventional food service approach (manimaran et al., 2023; mccray et al., 2018). although implementing bedside ordering and room service models may incur high costs, it is essential to consider the potential cost savings achieved through enhanced intake, reduced food waste, and decreased hospital-associated expenses (trinca et al., 2022). the decrease in excessive meal orders for patients who could not select their preferred meals or had their dietary needs altered after submitting their initial menu choices significantly reduced waste, consequently leading to cost savings (mccray et al., 2018). it recommended that all hospitals, including those publicly funded, conduct an evaluation within their respective contexts to determine the potential benefits of implementing room service in reducing food waste and enhancing patient and hospital outcomes (collins & porter, 2023; rinninella et al., 2023; yona et al., 2020). 4.4. improving food quality and meal presentation food quality includes improving the patient's meals, such as taste, texture, flexible portion size, and temperature. implementing strategies aimed at reducing food waste in hospitals, such as enhancing food quality and adjusting serving sizes to meet the specific needs of patients, can lead to several positive results (anari et al., 2023). one method to enhance food flavor is the development of nutritional intelligence. the nutritional intelligence initiative, grounded in the culinary approach advocated by the nr-fpt, effectively mitigated food waste and enhanced customer pleasure without incurring additional service expenses (piciocchi et al., 2022). another approach to improve the palatability of low-sodium food is altering the selection of salt or flavoring agents. a specific variety of salt that has been parlina/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 formulated is known as monomagnesium di-l-glutamate. the efficacy of this particular salt or flavoring has been demonstrated through successful testing, indicating its potential as a viable long-term strategy for consumption among patients with limited sodium intake (sumarto & saragih, 2020). the enhancement of food texture can be achieved by using an adjusted diet to alter its texture. the term "texture-modified diet" (tmd) refers to foods that have been altered to have a softer texture (razalli et al., 2021). these modifications ensure that the foods are easier to chew and consume for patients given this specific dietary regimen. food texture can be modified through physical or chemical alterations (razalli et al., 2021). multiple studies have demonstrated that implementing adjustable portion sizes has consistently decreased plate waste (antasouras et al., 2023; williams & walton, 2011). augmenting the frequency of meals while reducing the portion size could be a feasible approach to alleviate the possibility of excess food being discarded and associated with public health issues in hospital settings. this approach could reduce the likelihood of excessive portion sizes and subsequent food waste (antasouras et al., 2023). another potential strategy that could be more feasible is allowing patients to select from two different portion sizes (dias-ferreira et al., 2015; schiavone et al., 2019) that would enable patients to select their preferred quantity of food for a single meal (schiavone et al., 2019). in addition, prior research conducted in a geriatric rehabilitation facility has indicated that when meal portions are substantial, older adults frequently experience feelings of being overwhelmed or dissatisfied, resulting in a subsequent decrease in their appetite (dias-ferreira et al., 2015). while the implementation of flexible portion sizes seemed to decrease plate waste, it is essential to note that improvements in nutrient intakes were not observed unless this intervention was accompanied by additional measures aimed at enhancing the nutrient density of the food (williams & walton, 2011). it may be essential to adequately incorporate small healthy snacks between meals to fulfill patients' energy requirements (antasouras et al., 2023). hence, the kitchen staff must implement effective management strategies to ensure the consumption of these snacks. failure to do so may result in the accumulation of food waste within the healthcare institution (antasouras et al., 2023). enhancing the food processing system is also an option to improve food quality. the cook-freeze technique resembles the cook-chill approach, except the cooked meals are promptly frozen instead of frozen in a blast freezer (manimaran et al., 2023). furthermore, to enhance the versatility of the menu, it is possible to freeze food items in large quantities or single portions (manimaran et al., 2023). hot meals can be transported to hospital wards via a trolley, allowing patients to choose their preferred meal options on-site (manimaran et al., 2023). another approach is the steamplicity catering system, which uses chilled foods that are either raw, semi-cooked, or fully cooked and plated in a central production unit (rinninella et al., 2023). the findings from this method's implementation indicated that patients preferred the steamplicity system in various aspects, including overall satisfaction and specific factors such as food choice, ordering process, delivery, and food quality (dias-ferreira et al., 2015). this system offers several benefits: expedited preparation and service durations, a versatile menu selection with adaptable serving schedules, and prompt delivery of freshly cooked food within a limited preparation space (collins & porter, 2023; rinninella et al., 2023). although these interventions may effectively decrease waste generated during trayline operations, they concurrently increase packaging waste (collins & porter, 2023). hence, it is imperative to establish recycling mechanisms and implement effective plate waste monitoring systems to prevent the substitution of one waste issue with another (collins & porter, 2023). another strategy to increase the patient's appetite is to improve the method of serving food. enhancing the presentation of meals impacted the patient's visual perception and sensory experience, significantly decreasing food wastage. furthermore, research has demonstrated a positive impact on the consumption of nutrients and decreases the likelihood of patients being readmitted to the hospital (manimaran et al., 2023; navarro et al., 2019). training food service officers to present food properly and appetizing patients can also be input for hospital management. rinninela et al. (2023) investigate the relationship between the ease of opening food packages and the patient's appetite. the findings indicate that elderly patients may encounter challenges when accessing certain pre-packaged items, including cheese portions, biscuit portions, water bottles, fruit cups, and milk bottles, within hospital and community environments. in a prior investigation, researchers collaborated with hospital food service professionals to reorganize parlina/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 the presentation of meals to enhance visual attractiveness, deviating from the customary plating and serving methods employed for patients (navarro et al., 2019). based on the information provided, it can be observed that the diet service implemented a strategy to enhance the assortment of fish and gourmet preparations offered during meals, increasing the number from two to seven types. this modification yielded a notable drop in plate waste (paiva et al., 2022). 4.5. employment of food dietitians many healthcare facilities strive to implement a standard measure involving assisting specialist staff to patients in opening food packaging and promoting their food consumption (antasouras et al., 2023). the quality of meals heavily depends on food accessibility, which is influenced by various factors, including the availability of help due to staffing, competing demands, and food service procedures such as the opening of packaging (trinca et al., 2022). multiple studies have indicated that the nursing staff encountered challenges in nourishing no more than two to three patients per meal. additionally, they encountered significant challenges in enhancing their support in administering patient nutrition, primarily stemming from their limited knowledge and training in this area (antasouras et al., 2023). healthcare practitioners, including dietitians, may play a crucial role in enhancing the palatability of meals and ensuring adherence to patient nutritional intake. food service dietitians fulfill a vital role in the production line by ensuring the delivery of proportionate and sufficient dietary requirements and in meal preparation and distribution (kong et al., 2020). moreover, they possess a favorable position to impact environmental modifications throughout the food system, particularly within hospital food services (collins & porter, 2023). rinninela et al. (2023) reported that patients who undergo an effective and personalized nutritional intervention, along with nutritional counseling, exhibit a rise in the consumption of oral nutritional supplements (ons). additionally, yona et al. (2020) found that patients admitted to these medical facilities can anticipate receiving meals customized to their medical condition and nutritional schedule, leading to decreased plate waste. this reduction was achieved by more effectively adjusting portion sizes to meet patients' specific needs and ages, considering factors such as medical conditions and age groups. 4.6. improving dining environment another strategy for enhancing a patient's appetite involves altering the immediate surroundings to facilitate a more enjoyable dining experience, such as introducing communal dining areas to accommodate mobile patients (antasouras et al., 2023). the success of this technique may be attributed to the heightened social engagement at meal times, which could potentially elucidate the significance of offering patient meals in dining room settings, when feasible, as opposed to bedside delivery (williams & walton, 2011). additionally, they are assisted in opening food packages and actively urged to consume them (williams & walton, 2011). it is advisable to adopt the concept of hospitality to address fulfilling patients' requirements and preferences regarding the meals provided (jonsson et al., 2021). a study examined the impact of specific educational techniques on food intake and food waste. the result depicted a notable reduction in daily food (rinninella et al., 2023). furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of effective communication among all stakeholders, including food service providers, dietitians, and medical personnel (rinninella et al., 2023). incorporating perspectives and insights from key stakeholders has contributed to advancing knowledge about various facets of hospital meal preparation that impact patients' inclination to consume and partake in food (manimaran et al., 2023). an additional cost-effective strategy for enhancing dietary consumption and satisfaction with food service involves implementing music during mealtime. this practice has been linked to higher calorie intake among those residing in extended care facilities. additionally, this approach increased energy intake during mealtime for those residing in nursing homes and experiencing dementia (navarro et al., 2019). moreover, to increase patient dining experience, implementing protected meal hours can help prevent interruptions from ward rounds or patient procedures, potentially mitigating environmental issues associated with food wastage (antasouras et al., 2023; williams & walton, 2011). 4.7. other approaches aside from avoiding food waste, alternative methods such as recycling, reusing it, food donation, or diverting it from landfills by utilizing it to feed animals are viable approaches that can aid in achieving the objective of reducing food parlina/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 waste. reusing food is considered the most promising approach within the food recovery hierarchy when addressing food waste in cases where avoidance is not feasible (cook, goodwin, et al., 2022). food items have the potential to be retained within the hospital setting and repurposed through their redistribution to patients (cook, goodwin, et al., 2022; lewandowski et al., 2023) and managed following established inventory control protocols, such as the first-in, first-out principle (lewandowski et al., 2023). the second approach entails the provision of food items for personnel utilization that help financial recovery (cook, goodwin, et al., 2022; lewandowski et al., 2023). food items can also be repurposed through donations to food rescue charities, which redistributes them to individuals needing food assistance. the allocation of packaged foods to food banks, emergency shelters, food pantries, and soup kitchens would be optimal resource utilization (lewandowski et al., 2023). regulations and legislation pose significant obstacles that must be addressed to facilitate the feasibility and acceptance of food reuse practices within a medical setting (cook, goodwin, et al., 2022). managing food waste from hospitals presents a distinct and noteworthy problem concerning contamination potential (carino et al., 2020; cook, goodwin et al., 2022; porter & collins, 2021). composting has been identified as an effective technique for reducing food waste in hospitals. it diverted roughly 5,200 pounds of organic food waste from landfill disposal (plevris et al., 2022). it also has the potential to stimulate other activities to address food waste, generating economic and educational advantages (plevris et al., 2022). one implementation of composting includes hospital and community garden composting (plevris et al., 2022; porter & collins, 2021). plevris et al. (2022) showed a positive outcome in the project where the consistent increase in composting weight seen from the initiation of the intervention until one and a half years later was also implemented and embraced by the food service sector. applying anaerobic digestion can be the last alternative based on a food hierarchy (collins & porter, 2023; cook, goodwin, et al., 2022). utilization of food waste for industrial applications, specifically anaerobic digestion, may pose logistical and financial challenges when implementing this technology (cook, goodwin, et al., 2022). educating the hospital community also contributes to food waste reduction. one potential strategy for enhancing food waste reduction initiatives in the public sector could involve implementing mandatory measurement and documentation of food waste quantities, accompanied by a standardized methodology for subsequent actions (eriksson et al., 2020). it is recommended that a periodic assessment of food waste be undertaken in every hospital to identify the particular dishes that are crucial for enhancing meal quality and minimizing plate waste (paiva et al., 2022). furthermore, implementing the zero-waste project has resulted in an enhanced level of consciousness among hospital personnel regarding plate waste. in 2013, an initiative was launched in turkey to diminish bread waste. this effort aimed to enhance public consciousness regarding food waste, mitigate losses across the supply chain, and promote the use of whole wheat bread (yuksel & önal, 2021). 5. conclusion this paper aims to analyze the existing research on hospital food waste and ascertain the gaps in the available resources, focusing on the determinants contributing to food waste generation in healthcare facilities and the potential measures to mitigate this issue. the outcome of this literature review highlighted food quality and service as the dominant contributing factors to food waste generation. it can include food quality and quantity, patient satisfaction, meal times and food from outside, and the hospital's environment. other factors are patient characteristics and clinical condition. it also indicates that implementing strategies such as improving the food delivery system, design of the menu, implementing room service model, improving food quality and the presentation of the meal, recruiting food dietitians, improving the dining environment as well as promoting reuse, recycling, composting, and anaerobic digestion can be effective in minimizing food waste. this literature review highlights constraints that require cautious deliberation when interpreting the results. the analytical technique is restricted to search engines and does not employ in-depth analysis. the lack of detailed differentiation of intervention or sample approach in each study further constrains the small number of articles. food waste generation is a phenomenon specific to a particular context, and the results of one study may vary from another. moreover, the main factors contributing to waste generation and the reduction strategy are anticipated to differ in various scenarios. more comprehensive analytical methods with more specific study designs, time frames, and locations are needed for future studies. parlina/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 acknowledgements not applicable. funding declaration this research received no specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper. references amano, n., & nakamura, t. 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(2021). a study of plate waste in a food service. progress in nutrition, 23(1), article 1. https://doi.org/10.23751/pn.v23i1.11007 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 08 january 2025, accepted:05 may 2025, published online: 30 june 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i2.1167 strengthening emergency response: exploring on-site water treatment technologies for floods rahul kumar1, anil kumar dikshit2 1phd student, environmental science and engineering department, indian institute of technology bombay, mumbai, maharashtra, india 2professor, environmental science and engineering department, indian institute of technology bombay, mumbai, maharashtra, india abstract in times of crisis, access to safe and clean water is critical for disaster response teams and affected communities. water is essential for survival, particularly in the aftermath of disasters like floods. ensuring sufficient quantities of potable water is a critical challenge in emergencies. this article explores on-site water treatment technologies, emphasising their role in enhancing emergency response. point-of-use household-level techniques such as straining, sedimentation, filtration, boiling, and chlorine disinfection may be effective and sufficient for a family. however, portable or on-site water purification systems offer a more versatile alternative to cater to larger communities, as they can be customised with various treatment processes to address specific contaminants, making them suitable for camp or community-level responses. additionally, emerging trends like advanced filtration and scalable on-site treatment units offer improved efficiency during crises. a laboratory prototype of an on-site water treatment system was demonstrated, showing the ability to meet emergency water quality standards. the prototype produced water with ph levels between 6.5 and 8.5, turbidity below 5 ntu, and residual chlorine up to 0.5 mg/l, meeting sphere standards for emergency water supply. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords disaster response; point-of-use techniques; on-site water purification; water quality; sphere standard 1. introduction floods are among the most common and destructive natural disasters worldwide, causing widespread destruction to infrastructure, communities, and ecosystems. the impacts of floods are loss of life, displacement of people, and property damage (grayman, 2011). another critical impact of floods is the contamination and damage to water supply infrastructure. floodwaters can infiltrate the local water sources and contaminate them with harmful pollutants, like sewage, chemicals, and debris, rendering them unsafe for human consumption (paho, 2002). the contamination of water sources and supply lines creates public health risks, as the supply of clean water is essential for the survival of the affected people, as it is needed for drinking, sanitation, and hygiene in emergencies where disease outbreaks can occur (clarke et al., 2004; kumar & dikshit, 2024). http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i2.1167&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ kumar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 over the past few decades, the frequency and intensity of floods have increased significantly, mainly due to climate change and anthropogenic activities. due to its diverse geography and climatic conditions, india has been highly vulnerable to these events. between 2000 and 2023, 194 flood events occurred, averaging 8 annually. these floods affected over 350 million people in those 24 years, resulting in the loss of approximately 34,000 lives, and the total cost of property damage exceeded 77 million usd (cred, 2025). to deal with such events and relieve the affected population, we need robust and flexible water treatment solutions to provide access to safe water during and after the disaster events. conventional water treatment technologies/methods may become obsolete during emergencies due to damage to water treatment infrastructure and scarcity of resources. on-site or portable water treatment technologies/systems provide a key alternative. they can help in rapid and efficient water purification in the affected areas, thus providing critical support in crises. 1.1. literature review water is a critical resource for survival during disasters, with a minimum amount required to ensure health and hygiene. however, the specific water needs in an emergency can vary based on several factors. climate plays a key role, with hotter regions requiring more water than colder areas. the physical condition of the affected population is also essential, as injured or unhealthy individuals typically need more water than those in good health. urban communities generally have higher water demands compared to rural ones. additionally, social and cultural practices can influence water consumption. finally, water requirements fluctuate throughout different stages of an emergency, with varying needs as the situation evolves (kumar & dikshit, 2025; reed & reed, 2013). the sphere standards provide essential guidelines for water supply during emergencies to ensure the health and wellbeing of affected populations. according to these standards, each individual should have access to at least 15 litres of water per day for drinking, cooking, and basic hygiene needs. water must be safe for consumption, free from significant contamination by pathogens or chemicals, with no more than ten faecal coliform bacteria per 100 ml. the turbidity of water must be <5 ntu, ph between 6.5-8.5, and should have free residual chlorine up to 0.5 mg/l. water collection points should be within 500 meters of households, and queuing time should be at most 30 minutes. additionally, the collection process should take at most three minutes per person. the standards emphasise equitable distribution, ensuring that vulnerable groups, such as children, the differently abled, and the elderly, have equal access. moreover, systems must be in place to ensure continuous access to water throughout the emergency and recovery phases (sphere, 2018). 1.1.1. water treatment approaches for flood relief two approaches can be carried out for the treatment of water in an emergency like floods: • point of use household water treatment: this approach can be used by people at the household level and does not require expertise. these methods can meet the basic water requirements. • semi-centralized water treatment and supply: this approach may be required to supply water to a population displaced due to the disaster. these systems can be used on a camp level and cater to the needs of many people. 1.1.2. point of use household water treatment during a flood emergency, simple techniques can be used by the people at the point of use for immediate requirements at the household level. these methods are sustainable as short-term options for survival until the water supply is revived. the water source for these methods can be any available source unless contaminated by chemical spills or industrial waste. these methods remove microorganisms and visible solid substances. these methods have been suggested in guidelines and manuals by the world health organization (who) and other organisations for emergency handling (kayage, 2005). straining involves pouring muddy water through a clean cloth to remove suspended solids and large microorganisms. still, it must be combined with other methods for drinking safety. sedimentation allows solids to settle naturally or with added chemicals, improving water clarity. filtration, using sand, ceramic, or charcoal filters, removes fine particles, odour, and taste, though it is less common in emergencies. disinfection by chlorine is a low-cost, effective way to kill pathogens using chlorine bleach or tablets after filtration. alternatively, heat kumar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 treatment, such as boiling, is a traditional method that kills microbes but does not remove solids, leaving the water potentially turbid. each technique offers a practical step toward making water safe for consumption (ifrc, 2008). 1.1.3. semi-centralized water treatment and supply on-site or mobile water treatment systems and technologies can be deployed at camps and localities for the treatment and supply of water. the advantage of these units is that they can be transported to the required location and used to treat and provide the necessary amount of water for a community. the disadvantage is that it requires trained personnel to operate and handle the equipment, and the system may also be expensive and not readily available. garsadi et al. (2009) describe the development and operational success of the micro hydraulic mobile water treatment plant (mhmwtp) created by the institute of technology bandung (itb) in indonesia. the plant can treat 400,000-500,000 litres per day (lpd) and is noted for its simple design, low energy, and chemical consumption. it has been patented and certified by the indonesian government and is used in emergency relief operations by local authorities, public works departments, and the indonesian army. the system has been deployed in several disasters, including the 2004 banda aceh tsunami, the 2006 yogyakarta earthquake, and floods in jakarta and bandung. additionally, 50 small-scale systems were developed for remote areas of sumatra and java. capable of treating water with turbidity up to 10,000 ntu, the mhmwtp has proven to be a vital tool for providing clean water in disaster relief and remote regions. park et al. (2015) developed a mobile water treatment system by integrating various treatment processes to optimise performance. the researchers proposed four different combinations of treatment stages: pre-treatment with coagulation and flocculation; primary treatment using pore control filtration (pcf), microfiltration (mf), and reverse osmosis (ro); and post-treatment with activated carbon (ac) and ultraviolet (uv) disinfection. the system was designed to achieve a minimum processing capacity of 300,000 litres per day, with process combinations tailored to the quality of the incoming water and the desired quality of the treated water. the study evaluated the energy consumption and removal efficiency of each process combination. the authors suggest that modularised water treatment systems, which allow for flexible selection of treatment processes based on water source characteristics, will become increasingly important. these systems are suitable for both regular services and emergencies. clarke et al. (2004) describe a physico-chemical water treatment system with low power and mechanical requirements, incorporating a pump, pipe flocculator, and upflow clarifier. the system proved reliable and effective for treating raw water with high turbidity, consistently producing effluent with turbidity levels as low as 1-2 ntu. upflow clarifiers are particularly effective in emergency water treatment, reducing high turbidity levels to below 5 ntu at a rate of 10 m³/h. the system tested in haiti demonstrated substantial improvements in water quality over an extended period, maintaining a high production rate and low cost (dorea, 2009; dorea et al., 2009; dorea & clarke, 2006). this article explores various on-site water treatment technologies designed for floods, and the significance of strengthening emergency response capabilities is discussed. the researchers' approach was situation-specific, resulting in innovation and strategies according to the requirement. however, point-of-use water treatment systems produce small amounts of clean water that may suffice the needs of very few people at a time. the emergency water treatment systems have been designed to provide clean drinking water, whereas drinking water may only be around 30% of the water required for daily needs during an emergency. most systems are membrane-based, which may not be suitable for use without pre-processing the contaminated water during floods. the cost of the systems may be high depending on the manufacturing quality. thus, there is a need to develop a system that can be smaller, lighter, easily movable and cost-effective. the goal is to design a simple, cost-effective system that is easy to construct and deploy while meeting emergency water quality and quantity requirements. the scope of the article is limited to showcasing a laboratory prototype of an on-site water treatment system in development and evaluating its functionality in batch operation. kumar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 2. materials and methods 2.1. research methodology a methodology used to achieve the objectives of the research is outlined as follows: identify the research problem and objectives: the need for on-site water treatment for emergencies like floods was established. the scope of the study was defined, and specific challenges related to emergency water treatment were studied, which led to the formulation of research objectives. review of literature: literature was reviewed to gather information about various criteria and factors affecting water requirements, and emergency water quality standards were reviewed to identify the requirements for our system. next, the existing on-site water treatment solutions developed by various researchers were studied to understand the approach used by other researchers. various technologies and unit processes used in emergency response were studied to identify current solutions' gaps (e.g., size, portability, cost). fabrication and operation of the laboratory prototype: a laboratory prototype was developed, and experiments were conducted to evaluate the system's performance in meeting the required water quality for emergencies. data collection and analysis: the water quality and operational parameters data gathered during prototype testing were analysed to evaluate the system’s performance. conclusion: the key findings from the testing and evaluation of the laboratory prototype were summarised. 2.2. fabrication of the laboratory prototype a laboratory prototype of an on-site water treatment system was designed and fabricated from locally available materials as per the schematics shown in figure 1. the system was designed for a maximum flow rate of 0.2 m3/h (200 l/hr). the prototype consisted of a 300 l tank as a source of raw water supply. a mini submersible pump was used to pump the water into the system. a rotameter was used to measure the input flow rate. a lay-flat hose pipe of 10 m length and 0.09 m diameter was used as a tube flocculation unit. a dosing pump was used to pump coagulants at the tube flocculator's inlet. a 20 l pet jar was used as an upflow clarifier. a coarse media filter containing coarse silex and a fine media filter containing fine silex were made from a 20 l pet jar. after the media filter, a 10-inch micro-mesh cartridge filter of 120 µm, made of stainless steel, was used. an output collection tank was used to collect the treated water, and a dosing pump was used to dose sodium hypochlorite for disinfection. figure 1: schematic diagram of laboratory prototype. source: author. kumar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 2.3. operation of the laboratory prototype of an on-site water treatment system to evaluate the effectiveness of the laboratory prototype, raw water was prepared by mixing soil collected from a local nursery. the soil was brownish red, having a ph of 7.8, a specific gravity of 2.47, and a moisture content of about 10%. a 500 gm of soil was weighed and then mixed with 300 litres of tap water in a large tank, and thorough mixing was provided with a stirrer to create a uniform sample for testing. the initial turbidity was measured to note the initial characteristics of the raw water. for subsequent trials, the raw water was diluted as required. the system was tested in three trials, with three raw water samples having different turbidities. the above-described system was operated at an input raw water flow rate of up to 200 l/hr in batch studies. our preliminary studies found that polyaluminium chloride (pac) was the best coagulant compared to alum, ferric chloride, and strychnous potatoram. pac was used as the coagulant at a dosing rate of 30 mg/l, which was found to be optimum in our earlier studies (kumar & dikshit, 2022). chlorination was done by dosing sodium hypochlorite at a dosing rate of 2 mg/l. the pumps were operated manually, and after each trial run, each unit was manually cleaned, backwashed, and reassembled for subsequent trials. based on a review of various literature, the typical raw water that can be expected during floods can have a ph range of 7 to 10, turbidity exceeding 500 ntu, total solids (ts) greater than 5000 mg/l, and total dissolved solids (tds) above 2000 mg/l (dorea & clarke, 2006; garsadi et al., 2009). thus, the raw water was prepared to simulate the above raw water characteristics. the target output quality for the laboratory prototype was set as per the sphere standards discussed earlier. the main aim of the laboratory prototype was to produce output with turbidity < 5 ntu, ph between 6.5-8.5, and residual chlorine up to 0.5 mg/l to meet the water quality standards for emergency use (sphere, 2018). input raw water and output treated water quality parameters were measured using standard analytical methods to assess the prototype's performance (apha, 2017). the system was tested for multiple trial runs to ensure consistency and reliability in the results and to test the system under varying conditions. 3. results and discussion the study was conducted using the laboratory prototype of the on-site water treatment system, as described earlier, operating in batch mode to evaluate its performance. the water quality parameters observed during the tests are presented in table 1. in trials 1 and 2, the prototype successfully reduced the turbidity of the water to meet the target of 5 ntu. this indicates that the system can achieve the desired water quality under certain conditions. however, in trial 3, although the prototype reduced the turbidity of the raw water from an initial level of 910 ntu down to 10 ntu, it could not meet the required standard of 5 ntu. this suggests system efficiency can vary depending on the initial water quality or operating conditions. regarding ph, the output water in all three trials was within the acceptable range. moreover, the prototype significantly reduced dissolved, total, and suspended solids. at an input flow rate of 200 l/h, the system achieved a turbidity reduction of approximately 97-99%, which is a notable improvement, indicating that the filtration and sedimentation processes in the system were highly effective at removing particulate matter from the water. kumar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 table 1: water quality parameters for laboratory prototype batch study parameter trial 1 trail 2 trail 3 input output input output input output turbidity (ntu) 240 5.4 510 4.22 910 10.1 ph 7.9 7.24 7.66 6.91 7.6 7.01 conductivity (ms/cm) 0.12 0.13 0.14 0.13 0.13 0.12 temperature (°c) 27.5 26.4 29.5 27.2 27.6 27.7 dissolved solids (mg/l) 70 70 80 80 70 70 total solids (mg/l) 446 78 694 80 1320 150 suspended solids (mg/l) 376 8 614 0 1250 80 alkalinity (mg/l) 20 16 20 16 20 16 total hardness (mg/l) 40 40 44 40 40 40 residual chlorine (mg/l) 0 0.4 0 0.4 0 0.3 figure 2: variation of water quality parameters. source: author. the change in ph ranged between 7-10%, and ph was within the acceptable limits, and total solids (ts) removal was found to be between 82-89%, indicating that the system effectively reduces the overall solid content in the water. additionally, the total suspended solids (tss) removal ranged from 93-100%, demonstrating the system's ability (figure 2). the system's impact on other water quality parameters, such as alkalinity and hardness, was minimal. this suggests that while the system efficiently removes physical contaminants, it may need further optimisation to treat the raw water having any other chemical contamination. notably, the system also consistently met the residual chlorine requirement of up to 0.5 mg/l, thus indicating that the treated water was disinfected as per requirement and free of harmful pathogens. the laboratory prototype demonstrated in the work met the water quality standards for emergencies as stated by the sphere standards. 4. conclusion the laboratory prototype in the above study successfully met the sphere standards in most cases. the ph range of 6.5-8.5 was achieved during all the trials. the final turbidity of 5 ntu was achieved during trials 1 and 2. a residual chlorine level of up to 0.5 mg/l was achieved during all the trials. however, based on these trials, we understand that 8 .4 9 7 .8 8 2 .5 9 7 .9 9 .8 9 9 .2 8 8 .5 1 0 0 .0 7 .8 9 8 .9 8 8 .6 9 3 .6 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0 ph turbidity total solids suspended solids c h an g e (% ) trial 1 trial 2 trial 3 kumar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 additional modifications and design changes are required to improve its overall performance and efficiency, particularly in dealing with high turbidity raw water. the variability in results under different conditions indicates the need for further research and development. to further validate the prototype’s effectiveness, subsequent trials with the modified design and different combinations of raw water qualities will be needed. testing the system with varying levels of contamination and in various environmental conditions will help ascertain its robustness and adaptability to real-world on-field conditions. additionally, a scaled-up pilot version of the prototype is currently being considered. this larger version will be tested in field conditions to better understand how the system performs in emergencies, where reliable and efficient water treatment is critical for public health and safety. thus, we can conclude that an onsite water treatment system can effectively meet the urgent water needs of populations affected by floods or other emergencies. while it presents particular challenges, such systems can be tailored to adapt to varying conditions and ensure reliable access to safe water. acknowledgements the abstract of this paper was presented at the sustainable water management and resource adaptation: security and energy nexus (swmra) conference – 1st edition, which was held on the 12th 13th of november 2024. we acknowledge using grammarly v1.2  to identify improvements in the writing style and grammar. we acknowledge the use of chatgpt v3.5 to generate information for the background research and, at the drafting stage of the writing process, to create a structure for the paper. funding declaration: this research was funded by the ministry of education, government of india, and we sincerely express our gratitude for their support and contribution. ethics approval: not applicable conflict of interest: the author(s) declare that there is no competing interest. references apha. (2017). standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater (r. b. baird & l. bridgewater, eds.; 23rd ed.). american public health association, washington, dc, usa. clarke, b. a., crompton, j. l., & luff, r. (2004). a physico-chemical water treatment system for relief agencies. proceedings of the institution of civil engineers water management 157:4, 211–216. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1680/wama.2004.157.4.211 cred. (2025). em-dat : the international disaster database. https://www.emdat.be/ (accessed on 05.12.2024) dorea, c. c. (2009). coagulant-based emergency water treatment. desalination, 248(1–3), 83–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2008.05.041 dorea, c. c., & clarke, b. a. (2006). performance of a water clarifier in gonaives, haiti. waterlines, 24(3), 22-24. dorea, c. c., luff, r., bastable, a., & clarke, b. a. (2009). up-flow clarifier for emergency water treatment. water and environment journal, 23(4), 293–299. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-6593.2008.00142.x garsadi, r., salim, h. t., soekarno, i., doppenberg, a. f. j., & verberk, j. q. j. c. (2009). operational experience with a micro hydraulic mobile water treatment plant in indonesia after the “tsunami of 2004”. desalination, 248(1–3), 91–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2008.05.042 grayman, w. m. (2011). water-related disasters: a review and commentary. frontiers of earth science, 5(4), 371–377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-011-0205-y ifrc. (2008). household water treatment and safe storage in emergencies a field manual for red cross/red crescent personnel and volunteers. kayage, s. (2005). emergency treatment of drinking water at point-of-use. who technical notes for emergencies. kumar, r., & dikshit, a. k. (2022). performance evaluation of coagulants for water treatment in emergency. proceedings of the 2022 international conference and utility exhibition on energy, environment and climate change, icue 2022. https://doi.org/10.1109/icue55325.2022.10113533 kumar, r., & dikshit, a. k. (2024). water and disasters—a case study of india. in k. k. singh & c. s. prasad ojha (eds.), sustainable management of land, water and pollution of built-up area (pp. 157–164). springer nature switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-03156176-4_11 kumar, r., & dikshit, a. k. (2025). assessing the impact of floods and storms on water sources. in r. roshan dash, s. mohapatro, & m. behera (eds.), pollution control for clean environment—volume 1 (pp. 295–306). springer nature singapore. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-7842-3_27 kumar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 paho. (2002). emergencies and disasters in drinking water supply and sewerage systems : guidelines for effective response. park, y. k., an, j.-s., park, j., & oh, h. j. (2015). development of mobile water treatment package system for emergency water supply. international journal of structural and civil engineering research, 4(3), 296–300. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijscer.4.3.296-300 reed, b. j., & reed, r. (2013). how much water is needed in emergencies. technical notes on drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene in emergencies, july 4. sphere. (2018). the sphere handbook: humanitarian charter and minimum standards in humanitarian response (4th ed., vol. 1). sphere association, geneva, switzerland. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 25 september 2024, accepted: 18 november 2024, published online: 31 december 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i4.1124 an analysis of the effectiveness of climate policy instruments for biofuels and low carbon agriculture in brazil joel p. b. silva1 and sonia paulino2 1corresponding author: university of sao paulo, brazil 2university of sao paulo, brazil abstract the gaps between the desired reductions in greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions—those declared by signatories of the paris agreement—and the reductions actually obtained are the principal motivation behind this work. this study reviewed the recent literature on the topic in the form of narrative analysis, a non-systematic analysis. additionally, it analyzed documents, laws, and regulations, and collected quantitative data on institutional websites. this study provides an overview of the combinations of different instruments adopted, thereby contributing to an understanding of the advancements and obstacles influencing their effectiveness. the biofuels program mandates their blending with fossil fuels at distribution companies, combined with tradable carbon certificates and instruments of financial, fiscal, and technological incentives; this has demonstrated effectiveness in meeting mitigation targets, with indications that such arrangements facilitate the accomplishment of sector mitigation potentials. non-mandatory instruments in the low-carbon agriculture plan, with public funds to support cheap agricultural credit, have also met their overall targets. however, there is no evidence that such instruments can effectively pursue the sector’s greatest mitigation and development potential: the restoration of degraded soil and pastures, the targets of which only one-third were accomplished in a decade. following the biofuels program model, a mandate to gradually incorporate products with lower carbon emissions into the supply chains of meatpacking and dairy companies—key components of the livestock value chain—and also to leverage tradable carbon certificates, may not only enhance carbon reduction, but also promote economic and socio-environmental opportunities for small and medium-sized rural farmers. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords policy instruments; biofuels; low carbon agriculture; climate policy. 1. introduction with a clear upward trend in the global quantity of greenhouse gases (ghg) in the atmosphere (united nations environment program, unep, 2020), a group of 38 scientists headed by mark roelfsema has concluded that achieving the reduction targets for global emissions, from the climate agreement signed in paris in 2015, will not be possible if efforts do not stretch well beyond the political strategies adopted by the various countries until the present day. for roelfsema et al. (2020), ghg emissions would now be 5.3% higher if national policies and programs had not been adopted by the seven major emitting countries covered in the study, including brazil. however, the effectiveness of these policies leaves a disparity of 28 billion tons of co2eq, a quantity measurement that aggregates http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i4.1124&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ silva/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 carbon dioxide (co2) emissions with those of other greenhouse gases, which are equivalently capable to co2 of causing the phenomenon of global warming. a surplus to be reduced that corresponds to ten times brazilian annual emissions, or to five times u.s. annual emissions, highlighting the lack of effectiveness of the policies, policy instruments, and public and private strategies adopted to date. we have already far exceeded the boundaries of the atmospheric concentration of co2 and other gases considered safe by richardson et al. (2023), determined at 350 ppm, when considering the concentration of 280 ppm from the pre-industrial period. the current concentration of 417 ppm (unep, 2020) is dangerously close to the high-risk threshold, determined at 450 ppm by the scientists, public agents and private actors who gathered to meet in kyoto in 1997. originating from the shortfall between the desired reductions and those achieved, discussion has arisen about the effectiveness of climate policy instruments adopted by the various countries, in pursuit of the goals declared under the paris agreement. this discussion is far from a consensus among researchers working on the topic. drews et al. (2024), when analyzing six types of climate policies effectiveness, in questionnaires completed by 789 scientific researchers from differing fields, found that direct regulation is considered by respondents to be the most effective policy for mitigating emissions, followed closely by support for innovation, carbon taxation and information mechanisms. subsidies for the adoption of mitigation actions and cap-and-trade are considered less important, with carbon taxation being preferred over cap-and-trade, notably between researchers from the european bloc and those from the u.s., despite the success of the european emissions trading system. economists are the least enthusiastic about direct regulation, and the most sympathetic to the idea of carbon taxes. interestingly, sociologists are the most averse to information politics. most economists overestimate carbon pricing, and most other scientists underestimate it. among those who added their comments to the questionnaire, the majority highlighted the importance of considering the context of each country in any analysis. direct regulation, pricing or taxation of emissions, fiscal and tax mechanisms, incentives for the adoption of technologies, awareness and information, and efficiency in the generation and use of energy, among other instruments, are not utilized in isolation: they often form arrangements among themselves. analyzing the effectiveness of these arrangements also appears to be on the frontier of scientific research about national and sectoral climate governance (imf, 2023; drews et al., 2024). from this debate the following question emerges: which arrangements between different climate policy instruments, at different levels of application, have been effective in achieving ghg emissions reduction targets in brazil? based on a non-systematic review of the recent literature on this topic, in the form of narrative analysis, the objective of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of climate policy instruments in meeting the targets for reducing ghg emissions established in the national biofuels policy, the renovabio program, and in the national low carbon agriculture plan, the abc plan. 2. method siddaway et al. (2019), and galvão and ricarte (2020) recommend such a narrative analysis, a non-systematic review of the literature, to derive robust conclusions on major questions and principles, serving as an exploratory exercise in assessing the extent to which the existing literature supports a proposal or new ideas. therefore, a literature review was conducted on articles published from 2015, the year in which the paris agreement was proposed, and onwards, on the web of science, science direct and scopus databases, with the following search terms: policy instruments; climate governance; biofuels; low carbon agriculture; climate policy; and brazil. additionally, national laws and regulations on the brazilian biofuels policy (renovabio) and the low carbon agriculture plan (abc plan) were analyzed. the legal framework and quantitative data of the two programs were also reviewed, found in the institutional databases of the national agency of petroleum, natural gas and biofuels (anp, 2022), the ministry of agriculture, livestock and food supply (mapa, 2023) and the ministry of mines and energy (mme, 2023). the effectiveness analysis of different arrangements between policies and climate policy instruments is undertaken by contrasting the instruments adopted in biofuels and low-carbon agriculture programs with their effectiveness in achieving reduction targets. goals and deletions declared in the databases of public institutions that implement, silva/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 monitor and evaluate the programs are used. ebadian et al. (2020) also seek to combine the literature review and secondary data obtained from official websites, when dealing with policy instruments and market mechanisms to promote biofuels. they have also indirectly sought the effectiveness of mandatory and voluntary instruments to promote the production and consumption of biofuels. this research undertakes a similar activity, only more directly, by seeking emission and suppression data from brazilian federal government websites that regulate the biofuel and agriculture sectors, given the ease of interpreting legislative language and the accessibility of both emission and suppression inventory data in local databases. using a similar methodological approach, combining a non-systematic literature review with data obtained directly from governmental or reputable non-governmental agencies, silva et al. (2018), costa jr. et al. (2019), arango et al. (2020), carrer et al. (2020), goes et al. (2020), and wills et al. (2022) conducted their studies. 3. results of the approximately 1200 climate laws enacted around the world, eskander and fankhauser (2020) demonstrate the significant participation of brazil in the formation of this regulatory framework (figure 1). this country is among those that have enacted the highest number of climate laws thus far. up to march 2024, 27 laws, decrees, ordinances, norms or resolutions have been identified, enacted since 1994 in brazil to regulate climate change. this includes any framework of laws or instruments that implies the adoption of programs and actions on both a mandatory and a voluntary basis, or even arrangements between the two categories and other instruments. incentives for the adoption of technologies, awareness and information programs, efficiency in the generation and use of energy, pricing or taxation of emissions, and fiscal or tax mechanisms are some of these. figure 1 – number of adopted laws related to climate change by country, source: eskander and fankhauser (2020). 3.1 the brazilian biofuels program the national biofuels policy (renovabio), established by the law no. 13,576 of 2017, based on blending mandates, imposes the inclusion of biofuels within the national fossil fuel distribution chain. it involves technological innovation, attraction of investments, the independent ensuring of socio-environmental responsibility in the production chain, increases in productivity, and increases in energy generation through the use of biomasses. however, it is falling short of attaining its full potential, being capable of maturing further in order to safely achieve its objectives (grangeia et al., 2022). glyniadakis and balestieri (2023), discussing scenarios for the electrification and technological distribution of light vehicles in brazil, found that the contribution of the biofuels program must not be underestimated, under any analysis, to decarbonize the fleet of light vehicles within the country. they concluded that the most favorable scenario is the incorporation of electric vehicles, along with the increased use of ethanol in light internal combustion vehicles. this fuel is considered by the authors as being the most sustainable source, and the role of the biofuels program as the most critical. they deduce, however, that without going beyond renovabio’s current targets, the national targets of reducing emissions by 23% up to 2030 and by 58% up to 2050 are difficult to achieve, as the sector’s emissions may grow by as much as 134%, between 2020 and 2050, even with ethanol consumption surpassing that of gasoline. deductions are based on the tendency for the fleet of light combustion silva/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 vehicles to increase, even with the possible integration of 10% per year of electric vehicles, and the tendency for the average distance traveled by each light vehicle in circulation to increase, which may exceed around 12,000 km/year in 2020, to around 22,000 km/year in 2050. however, there is no evidence that the goals of renovabio cannot be expanded, as the current ones are being achieved, as highlighted in table 1. the combination of a blending mandate, and a regulated instrument for the carbon market seems decisive for this effectiveness in the brazilian context, an agriculturally capable country that has been investing in the production of biofuels since 1975, in response to the 1973 global oil crisis. table 1 highlights the period from 2020 to 2025 and the years 2030 and 2033, with targets given in millions of decarbonization credits (cbio). each cbio is equivalent to one ton of co2 avoided. table 1 – ghg emissions reduction targets between 2020 and 2025, in 2030 and in review until 2033, sources: anp, 2022 and mme, 2023. 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2030 2033 target in millions of cbio per year 14.53 24.86 34.17 42.35 50.81 58.91 90.67 review of goals (cnpe, resolution no. 6 of 2023) 37.47 38.78 42.56 64.08 90.67 cbio issued in millions per year 18.50 30.88 31.23 tolerance intervals: upper limit and lower limit 42.67 25.67 50.85 33.85 59.31 42.31 67.41 50.41 99.17 82.17 the review by resolution number 6 of the national energy policy council (cnpe), of 2023, postponed to 2033 the target of 90.67 million regulated cbio, which was originally scheduled for 2030. the targets established for 2020 and 2021 were fulfilled, considering the review for 2020, promoting the commercialization of reduced emissions. despite the non-complete fulfillment in 2022, there is no evidence that they cannot be met in the following years, just as there is no evidence that the program’s goals cannot be expanded to more ambitious values. bill 528/2020 is being processed in the federal senate, which increases the current 27.5% ethanol admixture in gasoline to a 35% maximum. the project also establishes a gradual increase in the mandatory blending of biodiesel into fossil diesel, reaching 20% by 2030, and with the possibility of reaching 25% by 2031. in addition to the mandatory blending instrument, the program adopts auxiliary incentive instruments, such as lower consumption taxes, tax incentives for producers and distributors, an exemption from a part of federal taxes for the sale of biodiesel, lines of credit for the development of the sugar and alcohol sector, construction of biodiesel refineries and financing for multimodal transport development. the country has added two cellulosic ethanol plants, also known as second-generation plants, to its industrial park and is carrying out tests on the co-processing of vegetable oils in two refineries, already with 10% of the refined volume (ebadian et al., 2020). 3.2 low carbon agriculture plan the federal government’s low carbon agriculture plan (abc plan) includes the recovery of 15 million hectares of degraded pastures, and the integration of crop-livestock-forest (ilpf) systems in 5 million hectares by 2030, among other technological measures (table 2). according to the ministry of agriculture and livestock and food supply (mapa), between 2010 and 2020, resources were raised via rural credit to recover 26.8 million hectares of degraded pastures – almost double the target. however, attempts to exceed the target for fundraising per hectare fell far short of the emissions mitigation target for technology, of which only 35% of the desired result was achieved (mapa, 2023). the implementation for abc plan included the collaboration of 116 experts from 31 institutions. representatives from the government, civil society, the private sector and research institutes (mapa, 2023). the legislation and instruments that regulate the program guide the adoption of actions to reduce between 1168 and 1259 million tons of co2eq per year, from the sector’s total emissions, estimated at 3236 million tons of co2eq for 2020. the plan is based on a non-mandatory instrument, encouraging rural producers to use a set of technologies and productivity processes, silva/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 reducing losses and suppressing emissions with environmental gains, adopting technologies previously established in brazilian agriculture and livestock farming (table 2). the plan is combined with credit instruments at lower interest rates than usual, notably for small and medium-sized rural producers. table 2 – technologies adopted in the abc plan and their performance in the period from 2010 to 2020, source: mapa, 2023. technologies area involved (million hectares) emission suppression million tons of co2eq goal result rang e goal result range recovery of degraded pastures 15 26.8 179% 104 36.01 35% crop-livestock-forest integration 4 10.76 269% 18 to 22 40.78 185% direct planting system 8 14.59 182% 16 to 20 26.7 133% biological nitrogen fixation 5.5 11.78 214% 10 21.56 216% planted forests 3 1.88 63% 8.82 animal waste treatment 4.4 38.34 million m3 871% 6.9 59.81 867% abc plan total 35.5 million ha 54.03 millions ha 152% 133 to 163 193.67 million tons of co 2eq 119% the abc plan also seeks to increase rural producers’ income, improve rural property infrastructure and environmental compliance of production. from 2010 to 2020 it attained 54.03 million hectares throughout brazilian national territory, half of which were declared to be for pasture recovery. the general plan reduced 193.67 million tons of ghg, given in mgco2eq, which was almost 20% above the general target (mapa, 2023). however, in relation to the mitigation of ghg emissions from livestock farming, the main type of emission from the agricultural sector, when illegal deforestation is excluded, it fell short of achieving its targets, according to official data shown in table 2, as the main reduction potential in the sector is the recovery of degraded pastures. 4. discussion the advocacy for the effectiveness of mandatory instruments, whether command-and-control or market-based, is far from unanimous. according to jänicke (2017), governments should play a crucial role not in establishing standards, limits, or enforcement measures, but rather in setting ambitious climate policies and assuming responsibility for outcomes. national governments, the author argues, can incentivize subnational and municipal governments, promote action through the dissemination of successful practices and technologies, stimulate competition, and build expert networks, all while directing policies and incentives toward economic and non-economic benefits achievable through initiatives. however, according to wagner and ylä-anttila (2018), peel et al. (2019), mishra and sing (2019), ebadian et al. (2020), eskander and fankhauser (2020), schroeder and kobayashi (2021), mcdonald and mccormack (2021), and pirard et al. (2023), state regulatory and control action should be broadly considered. mandatory regulatory frameworks, which imply the compulsory adoption of programs and actions at both subnational and local levels as well as in key economic sectors, can be more effective than voluntary market-based instruments. pirard et al. (2023) suggest that decentralized and hybrid climate governance—combining public instruments with voluntary private initiatives—should be solely provisional, preceding robust government policies. according to this author, climate policies are likely to fail unless strict laws and regulations are enforced across institutional levels and among various stakeholders. silva/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 in this context, by enacting law 13,576 in 2017, which establishes the national biofuels policy, the brazilian government has demonstrated its commitment to achieving annual ghg emission reduction targets through mandatory regulations for the fuel production chain (anp, 2022). seven years after the law’s enactment and with only six years remaining until the 2030 deadline, there is no indication that biofuel integration targets in brazil’s energy chain will not be met. the mandatory regulatory framework may be critical in achieving national targets by requiring fuel distribution companies to participate, setting clear goals, and enforcing compliance through sanctions for non-fulfillment. the success of the biofuels program is a key factor in any analysis aimed at decarbonizing brazil’s vehicle fleet. the most favorable scenario involves expanding the use of electric vehicles, alongside increased use of ethanol in light internal combustion vehicles. the fuel is regarded as the most sustainable source, with the renovabio program considered pivotal (glyniadakis and balestieri, 2023). in their discussion on vehicle fleet electrification and the adoption of energy efficiency improvement instruments, moreira et al. (2022), and gauto et al. (2023) also emphasize the importance of the biofuels program alongside electrification efforts. they advocate for policies that promote production incentives. energy security and rural economic development have been drivers of mandates for the blending of biofuels and fossil fuels. brazil, canada, japan, the netherlands, south korea, sweden and the united states have each adopted them. for ebadian et al. (2020), wherever the mandates do not increase, production remains constant. in new zealand and south africa, where no mandatory blending has been adopted, the biofuels market has not been consolidated. japan, with no mandate for biodiesel blending, and south korea with no mandate for alcohol, have not seen the market consolidate for each of these biofuels. nonetheless, the authors emphasize, mandates were not sufficient in other countries, limited by a lack of raw materials, competing costs, absence of refineries, risks to food security, or obstacles to changes in land use. conversely, regarding the emissions reduction plan for agriculture, article 6 of decree no. 7,390 of 2010 mandates that voluntary actions be adopted to meet the national commitment described in article 12 of law no. 12,187/2009. this commitment aims to reduce emissions by 1,168 to 1,259 million tons of co2eq out of a projected total of 3,236 million tons of co2eq emissions for the sector in 2020. the plan relies on financial incentives to encourage the adoption of established technologies and processes in the sector, previously outlined in table 2. while the primary goal is to reduce ghg emissions, the plan also seeks to increase farmers’ incomes and improve the environmental sustainability of production. over ten years, it has covered 54.03 million hectares across the country, reducing ghg emissions by 193.67 million tons, measured in mgco2eq (mapa, 2023). for carauta et al. (2021) the abc plan holds the main line of credit to finance the sector’s decarbonization; however, it still falls well short of reaching its potential due to the low channeling of this credit for core activities, in the recovery of degraded pastures. the majority of family or medium-sized properties—around 70% of brazilian rural properties (embrapa rondônia, 2023)—lack resources for medium and long-term investments in pasture division, and in genetic improvement of the herd, and as a consequence of pasture division, face an increase in the number of drinking fountains and mineral salt troughs. the abc plan permits the use of financial resources for these activities indirectly linked to pasture recovery (silva et al. 2018). this situation imposes difficulties on the sector’s most significant opportunity to reduce emissions, as livestock farming shows the highest emissions, and the greatest opportunities for suppression or removal are in the retention of carbon in the soil in quality-managed pastures, as half of brazilian pastures suffer from some degree of degradation (damian et al., 2021). at lower levels, but not negligibly so, are emissions from the management of waste from animals raised in confinement, notably from part of dairy farming in the brazilian context. in the atlantic forest biome, non-irrigated pastures managed at medium and high stocking fixed more carbon than their cattle production emitted. in this context and under specific soil and rainfall conditions, they presented negative net co2eq emissions, a phenomenon credited to greater root development and better maintenance of the soil biota. the type of soil management, the average capacity per hectare, and the rainfall regime were decisive for a positive balance, possibly because emissions due to changes in land use no longer occur significantly in this brazilian biome (oliveira et al, 2020). silva/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 5. conclusion the biofuels program, supported by a mandatory blending instrument, combined mainly with tradable carbon certificates, but also with tax incentive instruments and technology use, show effectiveness in achieving the announced ghg emissions reduction targets. however, the non-mandatory incentive policy of the low carbon agriculture plan (abc plan), combined with credit instruments at lower interest rates than usual, was not effective in achieving its goals of recovering degraded pastures, the sector’s main reduction potential. there is no evidence that renovabio’s progressive goals will not continue to be achieved over the next few years and cannot yet be expanded. there is a bill under discussion to increase blending mandates. the same, however, does not occur for the targets and potential of recovering degraded pastures, despite the volume of credit capture available, as the traditional rural credit mechanism in use allows the use of resources in the property’s infrastructure, such as the division of pastures, or the installation of salt troughs and drinking fountains, due to the division of pastures and genetic improvement of the herd. expanding biofuel blending mandates and including the aviation and maritime transportation sectors are represent opportunities to render the transportation sector’s ghg reduction targets more ambitious. for agriculture, in addition to the need to put a stop to illegal deforestation and to rethink the amount of deforestation permitted by law, one of the paths might be the adoption of mandates for slaughterhouses and dairies to incorporate, within their supplies, meat and milk coming from properties with lower ghg emissions, whether or not ordered through tradable carbon certificates, as is the case with biofuels. mandates for slaughterhouses and dairy products, and valuing the reduction of emissions from livestock farming, in addition to climate gains, can be development instruments for small to medium-sized livestock farmers, and even for large 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https://www.gov.br/mme/pt-br/assuntos/secretarias/petroleo-gas-natural-e-biocombustiveis/renovabio-1/balanco-renovabio https://www.gov.br/mme/pt-br/assuntos/secretarias/petroleo-gas-natural-e-biocombustiveis/renovabio-1/balanco-renovabio https://doi.org/10.1017/s1751731120001822 https://ssrn.com/abstract=3439212 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107867 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adh2458 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15414-6 https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-822373-4.00006-9 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102803 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102803 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2018.01.003 silva/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 unep united nations environment programme, 2020. record global carbon dioxide concentrations despite covid-19 crisis. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/record-global-carbon-dioxide-concentrations-despite-covid-19-crisis. acessed march 2024. wagner, p., ylä-anttila, t., 2018. who got their way? advocacy coalitions and the irish climate change law. environmental politics 27:5, pp. 872-891. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2018.1458406. wills, w., la rovere, e. l., grottera, c., naspolini, g. f., le treut, g., ghersi, f., lefèvre, j., dubeux, c. b. s., 2022. economic and social effectiveness of carbon pricing schemes to meet brazilian ndc targets. climate policy 22:1, pp. 48-63. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2021.1981212. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/record-global-carbon-dioxide-concentrations-despite-covid-19-crisis https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2018.1458406 https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2021.1981212 http://press.ierek.com issn (print: 2537-0849, online: 2537-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 received: 14 october 2023, accepted: 21 november 2023, published online: 31 december 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i2.1047 aemila scauri aurelia: a territory through a road andrea piaggio1 1professional archaeologist, specialization school of bologna graduate, italy abstract can a road, with its branches, be considered sustainable and be so important for a territory that it has always influenced its evolution and that of its inhabitants over the centuries? the main purpose of the research is to clarify how a road, via aemilia scauri aurelia, can become a symbol of culture and social identity of a territory, the tigullio, through the centuries and millennia, investigating the visible material remains of the roman and of medieval times. the tigullio land is a part of liguria in the so-called levante ligure, east of genoa; enclosed between the sea and the mountains, this strip of land overlooks the golfo del tigullio which is part of the ligurian sea. its landscape is predominantly mountainous, a feature that has always influenced the inhabitants, settlements, and roads. a complex study due to the paucity of archaeological finds, destroyed or buried under centuries of reconstruction, and the almost total absence of quotations from ancient scholars. other problems are related to the lack of memories of the inhabitants of the area as they are mostly unaware of their historical past. few ancient structures to understand how a road can be defined as important and sustainable for the people who have inhabited the area over the centuries, it is necessary to retrace the ancient route, identifying the few signs of the past that are still visible. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). keywords aurelia route; aemilia scauri; tigullio; liguria; ligurian roman period; ligurian middleage 1. introduction can a road, with its branches, be considered so sustainable and so important for a territory to influence its evolution and that of its inhabitants over the centuries? the main purpose of the research is to clarify how a road, via aemilia scauriaurelia, can become a symbol of culture and social identity of a territory, the tigullio, through the centuries and millennia, investigating the visible material remains of the romans and of medieval times. a complex study due to the paucity of archaeological finds, destroyed or buried under centuries of reconstructions, and the almost total absence of quotations from ancient scholars but not for this reason impossible to define, at least in some main features. other problems are related to the lack of memories of the inhabitants of the area as they are mostly unaware of their historical past and tourist use, given the lack of adequate dissemination systems. digging deeper you can discover that the testimonies of the past are still to be investigated, hidden by centuries of reconstruction and oblivion. tigullio is a territory that is part of liguria, in italy, in the so-called levante ligure, east of genoa (see figure 1); enclosed between the sea and the mountains, this strip of land overlooks the gulf of the same name, part of the ligurian sea, and is predominantly mountainous, a feature that has always influenced the life of the inhabitants, the settlements https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i2.1047&domain=press.ierek.com piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 and the road system. geographically speaking, this territory is bordered to the northwest by the promontory of portofino and to the southeast by punta manara, in the municipality of sestri levante; conventionally those territories are also included because for historical, cultural, and social reasons have had relations and exchanges with the tigullino district and therefore moneglia, the fontanabuona valley, the sturla valley, the graveglia valley and the petronio valley. starting from the east we find the bays of moneglia and riva and the two of sestri levante, overlooked by the petronio valley; a small promontory and a long, narrow coastal strip separates this municipality from the entella plain, overlooked by lavagna and chiavari. the river, which also crosses the municipalities of san salvatore di cogorno, leivi, and carasco, originates from the confluence of three streams: the graveglia and the sturla, which wind along the homonymous valleys, and the lavagna, through the fontanabuona valley. to the west of the plain, there is another barrier of mountains, which separates the fontanabuona valley from the sea and is overlooked by the small town of zoagli. the northern corner of the gulf is occupied by the city of rapallo and, towards the southwest, on the slopes of mount portofino, santa margherita ligure is located first and, subsequently, portofino, on the tip of the homonymous promontory. the imaginary line that separates the tigullio from the municipalities of the genoese area passes from the ruta di camogli, the pass of the portofino mountain, to the small cove of san fruttuoso (gotta, 1990. bottari, 1996). like the rest of the region, tigullio remains rather isolated today. in the past, it was traded by ship, with cabotage routes calling at the gulfs and harbors of the area already in ancient times. furthermore, its complex geography must be considered, with the mountains overlooking the sea and the few rivers and torrential valleys that are often marshy. the "fortune" of tigullio lies in the fact that the coast, or at least the central area that revolves around the entella river valley, is connected to the internal valleys, which lead towards the apennine passes or wind parallel to the coastline. the two main current communication routes that cross the territory and the region from east to west are the motorway, active since the second world war, and the ss1 aurelia; the stretch of this second road that runs through the tigullio is between the bracco pass, to the east, and the ruta di camogli, to the west; various secondary roads branch off along the route, both towards the sea, such as the one that leads to moneglia or santa margherita and portofino, and towards the mountain, such as the routes that follow the valley of the entella or petronio rivers. the via aurelia, in its current appearance, was traced between the 18th and 19th centuries. and connected to the wider road axis of the route imperiale paris-rome (see figure 2). the latter, rectified and adapted, has always been the only way through the territory; always used since the middle ages, it appears to be the direct descendant of the ancient roman road axis, from the late republican augustan era, which crossed liguria from luni to genoa, to reach the border with france. figure 1: map of tigullio (credits from https://www.teleradiopace.tv/) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 1.1. brief history of the road network in tigullio land routes twisted along the coast and inland in pre-roman times when the first "castellari" began to arise; they were fortified high-altitude centers that often continued to be used in subsequent periods. most of these sites have disappeared today; the only one investigated is the castellaro detto di uscio (maggi, 2015, 147 – 160). located at 721 m on monte borgo, on the border between the municipalities of rapallo, uscio, and avegno, a crossing point of two ridges, and which was discontinuously frequented between the neolithic (5500 bc approximately) and the roman age. nowadays we can only assume the existence of other "castellari" from ancient residual toponyms, such as the castellaro localities in rapallo and zoagli, or still on mount castello between sestri levante and riva trigoso; others disappeared, such as the one that was supposed to be in chiavari (maggi, 1990, 354). there are also evident traces of mineral and stone extraction in the area, such as two extensive copper mines in the hinterland of sestri levante, in libiola and in monte loreto that had been used from the 4th millennium b.c. to the 20th century (campana, 1998, 138 – 141. lavaggi, 2000. benente, 2003, 254 – 255. maggi, 2015, 133 – 139. benente, 2020, 43 – 46), and various quarry and mines areas around the entella valley and graveglia valley, where slate had been extracted (gotta, 1990, 15 – 16. palacios, 2005, 115).1 all these sites were to be connected by a system of tracks, leading along ridges and river valleys to the sea (mannoni, 2007, 9). there is little information on the 9th-8th century period, the passage between the recent bronze age and the iron age, but it is clear that liguria and tigullio must have been affected by the passage of people, goods and ideas from the greeks, phoenicians, and above all etruscans, who moved in search of new markets, through sea and land routes. in 1958, in chiavari, during the excavations of the foundations of a building in today's corso millo, a vast ligurian necropolis was discovered (see figure 3): it extended into the marshy ground on the banks of the rupinaro stream. nino lamboglia was called to excavate and he dated the burial ground to a period between the eighth and seventh centuries. b.c. the various burials, in slate lithic boxes, were arranged on the sand dunes that extended to the foothills of the hills; however, the settlement annexed to the necropolis has never been found, probably being located along figure 3: necropolis of chiavari, reconstruction (photo taken by the author) figure 2: overview table of the parcel plan of the municipality of chiavari. department of the apennines. municipal district of chiavari. canton of chiavari. 30 mais 1809. m.r naylies. piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 the highly urbanized slopes of the hills behind. iron and copper artifacts were found inside various burials, the raw metal came from the ancient mines mentioned above. other artifacts came from various cultures, including those of golasecca, halstatt, greek, etruscan, and phoenician, which testify the plurality of contacts and the vitality of the site, which must have had a landing place in the roadstead at the mouth of the stream (lamboglia, 1960, 91 – 220; 1976, 89 – 90. bernardini, 1985, 179 – 187. giannattasio, 2007, 64 – 77. benente, 2014. maggi, 2015, 179 – 183). this testifies not only to the presence of commercial routes along the coast but also towards the apennine passes and northern italy. it is not known with certainty when the first contact with the roman world began, but it is probable that supplies were landed in the area to counter hannibal during the ii punic war, while it is certain that in 179 bc. the entire ligurian coast was now under the control of rome. in this period the authors begin to speak of the tigullii, one of the five peoples of maritime liguria, who inhabited the territory that takes its name from them, tigullia.2 during the roman colonization, the relationship between routes and landscape was determined by the will to transform and control the territory; the layouts were reused and joined up with the more ancient routes of the ligurians to penetrate the valleys, and also "roman cities are preferably built in open valleys and at the mouth of the main communication routes with the interior" (lamboglia, 1946. mannoni, 2007, 40). in a region characterized by a succession of hills, mountain peaks, and small plains, the route usually follows the line that separates the coastal plains and the hills behind, in a coveted position due to the availability of water, from the few areas suitable for agriculture and proximity to natural landings, but often must follow the peaks of the hills or the most difficult slopes; from the line start the roads which, overlapping the ancient layouts of the ligurians, reach the internal areas and the passes. in 109 bc. the censor m. aemilius scaurus3 decides to continue the ancient route via aurelia (bonora, 2000, 18 – 27)4 and connect the colony of lunae to that of genua by tracing a new road, which takes its name: the via aemilia scauri, name replaced in a short time by the more famous via aurelia. this communication route crosses the entire territory from east to west, from the bracco pass to the camogli route, with various branches towards the sea and the mountains, and will be the basis of the road system of the following centuries and millennia (bonora, 2000, 34). a valid testimony of this route is obtained thanks to the quotations that bring us back to the maps of the roman era, such as the tabula peutingeriana (see figure 4) and the itinerarium antonini augusti et hierosolymitanum, and some authors such as pliny the elder. starting from the east it is located in alpe pennino, which has been identified as the passo del bracco, proceeding westward there are ad monilia, the current moneglia, and segesta, today's sestri levante; subsequently tegulata, never identified, and ad solaria, which could be identified in zoagli. finally portus delphinis, or portofino.5 these quotes provide us with a fairly rough run of the road. unlike other parts of the peninsula, in liguria the discontinuity due to the fall of the western roman empire is less felt, since after the reconquest of italy by the byzantines in 538 and until 643 the region was firmly in the hands of the eastern empire, being part of the provincia maritima italorum. the road network was maintained by byzantine administrators until the lombard conquest of king rotari (bonora, 2000, 40). during the lombard period and the subsequent carolinian period, several monasteries were founded at strategic points along the road routes, such as san nicolao on the bracco pass or the abbey of sant'andrea di borzone in the hinterland (bonora, 2000, 44). these foundations contribute to the resumption of movement and trade, which is joined by the resurgence of communities located along the coast and in the hinterland. the roads are reinforced, but it will be only with the republic of genoa in the xii century. that the road system will be strengthened, re-establishing a unitary route throughout the region (bonora, 2000, 48). (see figure 5) figure 4: tabula peutingeriana (credits from https://www.tabula-peutingeriana.de/) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 2. the coastal road the eastern route (see figure 7. a.a.v.v., 1999, 89. a.a.v.v., 2000, 160) enters the territory of tigullio in alpe poenina, a toponym that could refer to the highest pass in the area, which can be traced back to today's passo del bracco (today located at 615 m above sea level); the only sign of a medieval layout passes about a kilometer further north, at an even higher point, at 792 m, where the hospital complex of san nicolao di petra colice (see figure 6) remains as evidence of the ancient attendance (gambaro, 2001, 75 – 83. benente, 2008. benente, campana, 2008). the settlement is close to monte pietra di vasca, which may have been part of the ancient petra corice, mentioned in written sources starting from the eighth century. the site is therefore central to the ancient road network, which can be reconstructed based on historical cartography. the archaeological excavations conducted by leopoldo cimaschi between 1956 and 1959, the interventions carried out by the superintendence for the archaeological heritage of liguria, and the excavation campaigns conducted by the international institute of ligurian studies between 2001 and 2008 brought to light a complex consisting of a church, some annexed rooms, a cemetery area, and a large hospital building. the visible part dates back to the xii – xiii century. until the 16th century, when it was abandoned. below the medieval levels, more ancient chronological horizons have been found, with materials from the campania area, dating back to the iii – i century. bc: these finds, as well as a coin of the ii century. b.c. and black-glazed ceramic, confirm the hypothesis that this area was already used in pre-roman times, perhaps as a mansio (mannoni, 2007, 207). in addition, the underlying layers preserve post holes from the copper age (iv – iii millennium bc). the image of a strategic place emerges with buildings used for worship and hospitality. due to the regular and constant construction technique, some sections of the path have been attributed, to a road from the roman era. figure 5: the road network system of aemilia scauri (map created by the author with qgis software) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 the track, witnessed (what has witnessed? the track? if it is, then this whole sentence should be engraved after "the track") from the mule track which today is commonly called "muntâ di povei" (mannoni, 2007, 206), deviates from the current aurelia, continuing along the ridge to intercept, at the height of today's hamlet of lemeglio,6 the road that led ad monilia, the current moneglia. the parish of this town, dedicated to the holy cross, already existed since 1033 and in 1143 it became a parish church, a sign of the importance and antiquity of the place. the road then continues towards casarza ligure, deviating from today's route and an indication of this older route could be found in the remains of the early 11th-century church. of san colombano in noano, arriving at the locality of san lazzaro, where there is evidence of a medieval hospital with a lazaret (mannoni, 2007, 206). traces of the road are lost up to sestri levante (see figure 8). figure 6: san nicolao di petra colice (photo taken by the author) figure 7: the road of bracco (map created by the author with qgis software) figure 8: the road system through sestri levante (map created by the author with qgis software) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 in the ancient segesta tigullorum, the road itinerary probably continued along a route that is still recognizable thanks to the current toponyms of via "antica romana orientale" and "antica romana occidentale" which follow the route even if they have moved slightly over the centuries (a.a.v.v., 1999, 88 – 89). the gromolo torrent, halfway between the two roads, is overcome thanks to the so-called "roman bridge", a 16th-century structure with an arch, which could have been built on a previous one. in the area of today's n. mandela park, traces of roman occupation of the 2nd and 3rd century ad have been found.7 another hypothesis is that the road passed further north, next to the ancient parish church of santo stefano del ponte, which according to some scholars dates back to the paleochristian period, although the first attestations are found only in the 11th century. it is not known where the ancient roman city stood, but it is probable that it could have been reached via a detour. the oldest building in sestri levante is located on the peninsula and is the church of san nicolò, built in the 12th century, around which the medieval village developed (mannoni, 2007, 179 – 180). beyond the gromolo torrent, next to the church of the madonnina del grappa, there is part of an ancient paved route, closed between two low walls, which leads to a small bridge, also called "roman" (see figure 9); from some investigations, it has been established that some beats underlying the paving stones date back to the 17th – 19th century. and there is no certainty of pre-existing buildings (campana 2015, pp. 210 – 212). the road continues up the high coast of the rocche di sant'anna (see figure 10), dividing itself into two different routes: a direct one and a more tortuous one, through the fico valley (bottari, 1996, 85 – 86. mannoni, 2007, 207). the first is paved in some sections8 and dates back to the middle ages (according to a legend it was built in the fifth century by a french knight, who also built the little church as a votive offering to sant'anna, to protect it from a fall), while the second crosses the different streams with small bridges from the renaissance period. both lead to the small monastery of sant'anna whose building started in the xiii century at the behest of the fieschi, of lavagna. this building is located on the top of a pass, a strategic point that separates the coast of cavi from the plain of sestri levante. the certainty of the roman origin of the road will never be found, but it is probable that an older road system continued to be used in the middle ages. the road continues along the coast and descends towards today's cavi borgo, where the hospital of san lorenzo di besanzo was mentioned in the 12th century. following the upstream you come to another bridge, also called the "roman bridge", a "donkey's back", presumably medieval and continuing west. at the height of the modern cemetery, there must have been a stretch that joined today's via romana, which is linked up to the panoramic road above, which is none other than the ancient route of the aurelia. figure 11: basilica of santo stefano (photo taken by the author) figure 9: the “roman bridge” (photo taken by the author) figure 10: rocche of sant’anna (photo taken by the author) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 in roman times, the whole coast up to the beginning of the alluvial plain of entella was high and rocky without beaches and the road had to pass along the hills overlooking the sea.9 via tigula and the subsequent via tedisio are the only possible roads that can be hypothesized as ancient. arriving in lavagna, the road continues straight towards the entella river (see figure 12); nothing is known of the ancient history of this town, even if the greatest clue comes from its name which in roman times had to be translated as lavania.10 the aurelia passed next to the ancient basilica of santo stefano (see figure 11). the oldest bibliographic data on it dates back to 1637 and is from the chiavarese historian and annalist agostino busco, who recounts that the church was built in the 5th or 6th century. a.d. in the eighth century. it became a parish church and in 1060 a collegiate church, the first among those outside the walls of genoa. the oldest parts are the apse and the presbytery, but nothing is known of the plan of the ancient building or, in general, of pre-existing structures, since the building stands on the first extension of the hills towards the sea, the hypothesis is that there could be some place of maritime signaling, given that at least as regards the roman era and the high middle ages the sea almost reached the area (viarengo, 2008, 350). from the analysis of ancient and modern maps, as well as from satellite images, it is clear that lavagna has expanded towards the sea and the hills starting from the first nucleus of clearly medieval buildings built along the road.11 figure 12: the road system through lavagna and chiavari (map created by the author with qgis software) the route turns sharply north and, skirting the western slopes of the hills arrives at the ponte della maddalena (see figure 13. raffo, 1992. bottari, 1996, 86 – 89. mannoni, 2007, 209), the only bridge crossing over the entella river until the end of the 18th century; the distance between the basilica of santo stefano and the bridge is approximately one roman mile (1.48 km). just in front of the bridge, there is the sanctuary of nostra signora del ponte, dating back to the 13th century. and built by pope innocent iv (sinibaldo fieschi) to replace a chapel, known as the madonna sul ponte, which was located in the center of the bridge itself. the structure of the latter (corallo, 1982, 26. cagnana, 2006, 322 – 323. mannoni, 2007, 169, 210 – 212). extended across the riverbed with almost thirty arches, for a length of 250 m; the current appearance is the work of successive rearrangements and modifications starting from the thirteenth century and today only about fifteen arches remain visible, of which only five cross the river. in the middle ages, this structure was known as a pons maris. as is well known, the entella river (bottari, 1996, 86 – 89. a.a.v.v., 1999, 72 – 73)12 was navigable in the middle ages up to san salvatore di cogorno and for this reason the arches have a span of 9 m and a height of 7 m, to allow the passage of boats. the building was strongly desired by the fieschi family and started in 1210 by ugone;13 archaeological investigations in the early 2000s however found that only the 4th pylon from lavagna dates back to the 13th century. even if some authors have hypothesized the presence of an older bridge than the medieval one, there is no certainty of a previous crossing, which could have been a simple ford (bottari 1996, 89 – 93).14 piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 having now reached chiavari (see figure 12. a.a.v.v., 1999, 71 – 72),15 before speaking of the ancient route, we must briefly address the problem of the evolution of the coast. at the time of attendance at the necropolis, between the eighth and seventh centuries. bc, large sand dunes extended in front of the slopes of the hills, while the mouths of the entella, further upstream, and those of the rupinaro torrent formed large lagoons, which could be used as a shelter in cabotage routes. during the roman era, the situation changed, even if the nature of the ancient landscape is still controversial: above all it is not clear whether there was a flat coast in front of the rocky slopes between the two rivers. in the middle ages, the situation changed again and the coast reformed thanks to the contribution of river sediments, while the city also expanded towards the sea (del soldato, 1987, 54 – 56). crossing the ponte della maddalena you arrive at the homonymous medieval church, which today can be seen, in its lower part, incorporated into a more modern building, dating back to the construction of the bridge. furthermore, a hospital and a public well were built, a sign of the importance of this road axis. the antiquity of the area is also testified by the disappeared church of san siro, built in the 5th century, and that of san michele built between the 6th and 7th centuries (casini, 1980, 31. lamponi, 1987, 99 – 101). in the middle ages, the via aurelia continued along the current via piacenza and the subsequent via entella (viarengo, 2021, 65)16 and probably also in roman times the road system followed this direction, but it has never been established. clavari was born and raised along this road axis, which continues straight up to corso millo; the first area of the city is the borgolungo, today via ravaschieri (see figure 14), which expands starting from the xii century, even if carlo garibaldi, in 1853, says that already in the ix century. the extension of the village was considerable. via entella has always been nicknamed capoborgo and here there are buildings dating back to the 13th century: the convent of the clarisse with the church of san bernardino (benente, 2006, 321 – 322), which overlapped, incorporating and destroying the ancient hospice of ca' dé (house of god), the hospital of san cristoforo, which was destroyed, and the convent complex with the church and oratory of figure 13: ponte della maddalena (photo taken by the author) figure 14: via ravaschieri (photo taken by the author) figure 15: church of san giacomo di rupinaro (photo taken by the author) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 san francesco (see figure 16; it is important to note that the distance between these complexes and the ponte della maddalena is approximately one roman mile, 1.48 km. casini, 1980, 47 – 50). in short, a small neighborhood outside the 13th-century walls (casini, 1980, 35 – 55. ragazzi, 1982, 24. garbarino, 2022, 25 – 35, 105 – 111). the oldest area, which is still found along the primitive road (giomi, 2008, 346 – 348. fravega, 2012, 192 – 196),17 is evidenced by buildings such as the palace of the "portici neri", which was built in the early middle ages and underwent alterations until the eighteenth century, the disappeared church of san marco della morte (viarengo, 2021, 54) in piazza verdi, from the end of the 12th century, and the church of san giovanni battista whose construction started in 1181, as reported by an inscription inside the building (viarengo, 2021, 51. garbarino, 2022, 81 – 85). the western district of chiavari, known as rupinaro, developed along the eastern bank of the stream of the same name. in this area there is the oldest church in the city dedicated to san giacomo "dell'arena" (see figure 15), since the sea arrived here in the 18th century; according to the nineteenth-century historian carlo garibaldi, the building, with the attached hospital, dates back to 876, a period in which the whole area must have already been covered up with sand (casini, 1980, 33). the toponym rupinaro derives from ruin, but there are at least two theories regarding its origin: for the first, it would derive from ruina rovinale, due to the floods of the stream; for the second, from the ruins of an ancient high medieval village built around the church and destroyed at an unspecified moment around the 11th century (ragazzi, 1982, 24. viarengo, 2021, 33 – 34. garbarino, 2022, 35, 32). this village, according to the hypothesis of lamboglia and garbarino, would have been born from the ancient roman chiavari, which stood around here, as evidenced by the findings of the necropolis of corso millo (agricultural preparations, such as walls, and a stretch of road); fascinating but unsubstantiated theory (garbarino, 2022, 12). leaving the rupinaro district, the road continues westward, but the route becomes incomplete again in the first section and it is uncertain whether the route continued straight towards the hills, crossing the rupinaro torrent with a ford or an ancient bridge (probably of medieval origin ) or deviated first towards the north, passing next to the ancient necropolis, at least in roman times. in support of this second hypothesis, toponymy helps us: the place of bacezza, which indicates the district above the area in question, according to the historian tiscornia (1936) derives from "bacina", basin or lagoon; therefore it is probable that the sea almost reached the foot of the hills (occelli, 2015, 22). continuing along this probable route, you cross the rupinaro valley, arriving at san pier di canne. the parish is very old and is mentioned in a document of 980, concerning the appearance of the miraculous picture of bacezza (see below), with the name of san pier di clavari, a title of paleo-christian origin (lamponi, 1987, 142. occelli, 2015, 24). the ancient road system was more internal than the current one and is evidenced by a small crëusa (mule track), which descends via lertora (campana, n., decree of cultural interest 2016).18 furthermore, again tiscornia (1936), recounts that in 1718, following excavations for the construction of the new bell tower of the church of san pietro, at a depth of a few meters, hardware and wood were found, "the last relics of ancient ships" (occelli, 2015, 22.). it can be deduced that in roman times there could have been a bridge or a ford along the rupinaro stream in this area. whatever the layout, on the opposite bank of the rupinaro and at the height of the church of san giacomo there is only one road that can be nominated for the role of ancient via aurelia, the current via descalzi. in its first part, this appears with a narrow and steep mule track, and then it joins via romana antica (a clear toponym). in its last stretch, the ancient medieval (and perhaps roman) road deviated from the current road and cut through the grazie hill parallel to the coast, to then rejoin the modern aurelia (see map. occelli, 2015, 50). towards the sea, there is the modern district of saline, an area where salt has been produced since the recent and final bronze age, according to the studies of some finds from the necropolis (del soldato, 2021). in this stretch of the route, just beyond the ancient detour, there is the sanctuary of the madonna dell'ulivo di bacezza (gennaro, 2004), where a church was built in 936 following a miraculous event (casini, 1980, 33 – 34),19 mentioned in a document drawn up in genoa in 980, which attests the presence of an agricultural village. the interesting fact is that this sanctuary is 1 roman mile (1.481 km) away from the hospitia of san francesco (see figure 16) and the clarisse, as is the next sanctuary from this one, of nostra signora delle grazie, and so on those of rovereto: all places in which is attested the development of small villages, neighborhoods, churches, and hospitals. piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 a sequence too singular to appear random and it must be remembered that at every mile the romans placed a stone with the distances inscribed. the current via aurelia is identical in layout to the ancient one, up to the sanctuary of the madonna delle grazie, where the current road passes through a tunnel, while the ancient one ran just below the sanctuary. this place of worship has a romanesque layout, with no trace of older elements, and was rebuilt in the fifteenth century (ragazzi, 1982, 117 – 122. a.a.v.v., 1999, 81). continuing, the route undergoes a new variation, since in ancient times it crossed the villages of sant'andrea di rovereto (fraction of chiavari) and san pietro di rovereto (fraction of zoagli), both toponyms of early christian origin which suggest wild places. the church of sant'andrea dates back to 1143, while the church of san pietro could date back to the 10th century,20 even though the only certain mention is from 1197. more interesting than the building itself is the find found inside: an inscribed roman cinerary urn (sbarbaro, 2014, 18). angelo della cella (memorie di chiaveri, 13 – 14), between the 17th and 18th centuries, recounts that during excavations to expand the church the urn carved in luni marble was found and it was reused as a stoup. the urn, decorated with ram heads, festoons, and fruit, bears the following inscription, datable between the 3rd and 4th centuries. a.d.: c sextio spec / tato tesserario / coh i pr p v c titius / marcellinus be / trib coh eiusdem / b m (cil 05, 07740. casini, 1980, 24 – 27. mennella, g., supplementa italica, 03, 1987, p. 232; 22, 2004, p. 183.).21 thanks to this inscription we have the certainty that already in antiquity there was a necropolis and perhaps a small village.22 figure 17: the road system through zoagli and rapallo (map created by the author with qgis software) figure 16: oratory of san francesco (photo taken by the author) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 continuing along the route (see figure 17), you come to a crossroads, which leads to the ancient via romana levante and which leads to the small town of zoagli (ad solaria in the tabula peutingeriana), which became a fief of the fieschi in 1158. the road continues as via antica romana and after crossing the napoleonic via aurelia, it joins the steep via scauro, which goes up the ridge of loc. castellaro (rather significant toponyms), which was inhabited at least from the iron age, but probably also in earlier times (martino, 2021, 213 – 214).23 on the top of the ridge, there is a paved section of the ancient road (unknown author to check. mannoni, 2007, 212.) and the ancient church of san pantaleo (see figure 18. sbarbaro, 2014, 71 – 72. rotta, 2019, 217), built in the 12th century. by comacini masters on a previous building (evidenced by a brick portico with pointed arches), with an adjacent hospital which has now disappeared. it is also interesting to note the dedication to pantaleo, absent in the area, a purely byzantine saint, who could hand down an older story (mannoni, 2007, 210).24 a little beyond this church there is also the one dedicated to sant'ambrogio, which a document attests for the first time in 984, although it probably dates back to the period in which the lombard bishops fled the lombard invasion and took refuge in liguria (568 – 645. sbarbaro, 2014). next to the church, there must have been an ancient watchtower, reinforced in 950 by the viscounts of lavagna, which must be identified as the castrum rapallinum mentioned in a deed of 1187 as perched on a hill overseeing the traffic of the roman road (sbarbaro, 2014, 54 – 55); it can thus be deduced that the ancient road passed just below the hill. furthermore, between the two buildings is the small cove of marina di bardi, an interesting toponym of lombard origin.25 the road rejoins the modern aurelia and continues towards the next city, rapallo (see figure 17. a.a.v.v., 1999, 80 – 81), which, like chiavari, was also born around the main road axis. the ancient road passed next to the fifteenthcentury chapel of san rocco and then cut towards the sea: in 1985 via avenaggi a stretch of the cobbled road came to light, with stones connected in dense succession and bonded with mortar, according to the ancient technique of “rissêu”.26 the simple technique does not allow the street fragment to be attributed to a roman era, but neither does it exclude the possibility that it is the remaking of a previous support (mennella, 1990, 287 – 288). the fact that emerges is that the road had to pass through this area. the medieval mule track that crosses the hills and leads to valfontanabuona also starts from this area. continuing along the road you arrive at rio san francesco. here, in 1210, we have the attestation of a hospital novo de rapallo dedicated to san cristoforo, perhaps older, and managed by women; arturo ferretto, a historian of the early twentieth century, recalls that the hospitaller bore the name of pontius, a title that refers to the custody of a bridge, now destroyed (mannoni 2007, 164). the seaside village of rapallo expanded to the sides of the ancient roman road system, but the exact location of the ancient city is not known: the first settlement dates back to 700 bc. following the discovery, in 1911, of an ancient tomb in the current district of sant'anna (further upstream along the boate valley) during an excavation to extract clay to supply the nearby kilns. although the excavations were followed and studied by various historians of the time such as arturo ferretto and arturo issel, the modern expansion of the city has not allowed the exact location to be established; moreover, the materials found, of presumed etruscan or greek origin, were subsequently lost following a flood in 1915 (letter from the honorary inspector of monuments and objects of antiquity and art regarding the finds, 1915. circolo amici sant’anna, 2006, 10. rotta, 2019, 85. vanali, 2022, 211.). a little downstream from the aforementioned locality, a small relief has the typical morphology of a perched pre-roman settlement, and the locality is called "castellaro". although no archaeological investigations involving the area under examination have been figure 18: church of san pantaleo (photo taken by the author) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 carried out, it is nonetheless of particular interest both from a toponymic point of view and from a morphological point of view: the site is suitable for hosting a perched settlement nucleus of pre-roman. in the city center, two churches compete for the role of the oldest religious building in the city. according to the main historical sources of the city, the church of santo stefano (see figure 19. barni, 1983, 33. bacigalupo, 1999. rotta, 2019, 205 – 206.), today the "dei neri" oratory,27 was the first christian religious building to be built in the rapallo area, but the date of its foundation is not known: the current structure can be referred to the end of the xii century. and attributable to the magistri antelami (benente, 2023, 20 – 25), active in liguria from the 11th century. the first document, datable to 1143 1145, informs us that in the division of the tithes of the olives santo stefano is second only to the parish church.28 the latter is recognized to be the church of saints gervasio and protasio (benatti, 1994. rotta, 2019, 58 – 62, 207 – 208), which, being dedicated to two milanese saints, is linked to the arrival of fugitive lombard ecclesiastics.29 however, the primitive church would be that of santo stefano, a protomartyr saint, whose cult was widespread in the late ancient period. next to the basilica of the milanese saints, medieval sources (12th 13th century) recall the existence of a religious building dedicated to santa maria, with a portico in front of the strata, of which there are no material traces (rotta, 2019, 207). at this point the ancient and medieval road divided into two branches which both reached the pass on the portofino promontory: one pointed inland, the other towards the coast. the first follows the right bank of the boate torrent and crosses the sant'anna district, where, following the flood of 1915, sections of arches and presumed roman buildings were seen emerging from the river (letter from the honorary inspector of monuments and objects of antiquity and art regarding the finds, 1915). the road continues north and arrives at the confluence of the san pietro and santa maria streams, which form the boate, where it crosses the first across the ancient and destroyed paglia bridge (rotta, 2019, 235). to the east it continues along the course of the san pietro stream and arrives in the small village with the figure 19: church of santo stefano (photo taken by the author) figure 20: cenobio di san tommaso (photo taken by the author) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 same name where there is a bridge with two arches (rotta, 2019, 235), rebuilt in the modern age, but of clear medieval origin; then it continues towards the serra and giasea passes. the main road network continues along the valley of the rio santa maria and arrives at the "ponte nuovo" (rotta, 2019, 235), humpbacked and dating back to the middle ages, on which three branches converge which lead respectively to the monastery of valle christi, the cenobio di san tommaso (see figure 20) and the leper hospital of bana. on the left bank we find the monastery, founded before 1161 by the benedictine nuns of san tommaso in genoa and abandoned in 1597; today the stone walls with some columns still stand (bacigalupo, 1999. rotta, 2019, 213 – 214). just beyond the "ponte nuovo" is the thirteenth-century monastery of valle christi (schiaffino, 1999. baratta, 2005, 178 – 181. rotta, 2019, 215 – 216): the abbey, built in french gothic style and composed of a single nave, first belonged to the cistercian nuns and then to the clarisse of sant'agostino. in 1568, with a papal bull from pius v, the monastery was deconsecrated, abandoned by the nuns, and used for residential and agricultural purposes. today the bell tower, the apse, the transept, and the convent buildings are still standing. the last building in the area is the leper colony of bana (bottari, 1996, 83 – 85. vallini, 1998 – 1999. a.a.v.v., 1999, 79 – 80. mannoni, 2007, 209 – 216. rotta, 2019, 229), from the 15th century. and dedicated to san lazzaro. more interesting, however, is the still visible stretch of road. this is made up of small pebbles arranged in an orderly manner, to create an accurate pavement from the roman era, with medieval remakes. furthermore, the toponymy is interesting: the term bana, attested from 1222, would refer to the lombard haribann (the place where the army is summoned) or to the germanic ban (road). the road that starts from the santa maria torrent has demonstrated its antiquity thanks to some excavations in 2016, which have identified, below the modern road system, some stretches of ancient renovations (campana, 2022, 210 – 211). the route continues towards the top of the mountain and recalls its antiquity in the toponym that distinguishes it: via romana. returning to rapallo, the other previously mentioned branch continues along the coast. after passing today's course of the boate torrent, one arrives at the so-called "hannibal's bridge" (see figure 21. barni, 1983. mannoni, 1996, 29 – 32; 2007, 165, 212. rotta, 2019, 237 – 238), humpbacked, very high, which despite the name appears to be from the 11th century,30 probably built by the magistri antelami (benente, 2023, 20 – 25) and not passable by carts. the road may have been commissioned by the genoese government around the 12th century. to streamline the coastal road system, it continues along the coast until it crosses the ancient town of san michele di pagana, where the "millennial" church that gave the town its name is located (acordon, 2005. rotta 2019, 211 – 212). the toponym dates back to the high middle ages, to the byzantine and longobard domination: these populations saw in san michele a protector of the people; moreover, the second toponym, "pagana", was read as an adjective identifying the lombards, as arians, therefore heretics. in today's building, you can no longer see the original traces and, despite the baroque and neoclassical renovations, it dates back to 1133, a date found on a plaque inside the single nave, which proves the renovation of the church. the road continues towards the top of the portofino promontory, passing next to the romanesque church of san lorenzo della costa, and joins up with the via romana which starts from the locality of bana and arrives at the ruta pass. figure 21: "hannibal's bridge” (photo taken by the author) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 capite montis, today's pass of ruta (toponym for "road". a.a.v.v., 1999, 78 – 79), has always represented the natural border between different geographical areas and influences, between tigullio and the genoese area. on the top of the pass is the millenary church of san michele arcangelo di ruta (see figure 22. bottari, 1996, 79 – 82. parodi 1996. rotta 2019, 209 – 210), today dedicated to the sacred heart of jesus, but originally to the patron saint of the byzantines and lombards. the first document in which the church is mentioned, sancto micheli de rugo, dates back to 1192, but the foundation could be much older, given the strategic position on the pass and along the ancient roman road; a funerary epigraph dated to 490 ad was also found next to the building and it was dedicated to blessed john. the complex must have also comprised a hospice, the hospital de rua, attested from 1191, of which no trace remains; today remains the romanesque stone building, with two naves, from the 11th century, the work of antelamic workers. 3. the streets of the valleys 3.1. val petronio and val gromolo in casarza ligure there is a crossroad that leads towards the inside of the petronio valley (see figure 23 and 25. figone, 1998).31 the continuous attendance of this during the centuries is essentially linked to the valley, which constitutes a natural route from the coast to the hinterland, practicable both at the bottom of the valley and on the hillside; following this direction we can arrive, going past missano, up to the velva crossroads: from here it is possible to reach the bracco pass to the south, and san pietro vara to the east,. from san pietro vara we can choose the direction: towards the coast or varese ligure. varese ligure is an important intersection because we can reach passo cento croci and enter emilia romagna, passo del gottero to go to emilia or tuscany, and passo del bocco to go north, in the direction of bobbio. it was probably the importance of this communication route that motivated the early interference of the powerful abbey of bobbio along the petronio valley, documented since the eighth century. in this context, missano constituted for the monks a sort of gateway to control the territory and traffic, with the building of the church of santa maria assunta and the important abbey of connio (both from the 10th – 12th century bc). after passing the eighteenth-century town of casarza (the medieval village is not known where it was located) you can enter the territory of castiglione chiavarese. today the road climbs steeply, following several bends, but during the middle ages, the main road proceeded along the petronio stream, while the secondary one proceeded halfway up the hill. there is immediately a crossroads that leads to the ancient quarries of monte loreto (of which we have spoken previously), next to which stands the small village of masso, with the ancient church of san michele (vincolo figure 22: san michele arcangelo di ruta (photo taken by the author) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 sabap-ge.), mentioned in a diploma of charlemagne in 774, when the sovereign donated the territories of the valley to the abbey of bobbio. from castiglione the road forked and one of the stretches followed the long stream where three bridges of clear medieval origin can still be seen:32 the first is humpbacked and with a double arch and leads to masso as seen in figure 24); the second has three arches and leads to san nicolao; the third is once again a single humpbacked arch and also leads towards the bracco pass (mannoni, 2007, 182).33 at this point, the road disappears completely, except for a last stretch below the village of velva, where a bridge with two arches is visible.34 nowadays the road halfway up the slope is difficult to find, but it must have touched the various localities where religious buildings and surveillance towers had been attested since at least the 11th – 12th century, such as the tower and the church of san pietro in san pietro di frascati, or the church of sant'antonino martire in castiglione. continuing, we arrive at the three oldest villages in the valley: conio, missano, and velva. the small village of connio, ancient conio, is the testimony which has remained unchanged over the centuries, of a rural village, of which we have news from the early medieval period, as the site of a bobbiese monastic cell (difficult to date, but always around the x xii century), and which during the middle ages and in the modern age assumed the function of a fundamental stop along the commercial road that connected sestri levante with varese and the po valley lands.35 this township controlled the transit of the area. the ruins of the religious building, invisible from the road due to the vegetation, consist of walls and the bell tower. missano36 (see figure 25) was the gateway to the center of the valley for the monks of bobbio, important both for the control of the territory and of traffic and where the church of santa maria assunta was built (10th – 12th century. mannoni, 2001, 58 – 61. benente 2008. mammola, 2017, 114 – 115). a first mention of the village of missano can be found in the papal bull "officii nostri" of alexander figure 23: the road system of val petronio (map created by the author with qgis software) figure 24: bridge to masso (photo taken by the author) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 iii of 16 march 1162, where it is indicated as a possession of the benedictine abbey of san fruttuoso di "capodimonte". veleura is the ancient and medieval velva (see figure 25. associazione culturale veleura), the last village before the pass; various hypotheses have been made on the origin of this name: the most reliable seems to be the one that connects the medieval toponym veleura with a word of phocaean origin, elea, which became veleia and then velva, with the meaning of "source" and would fit perfectly into the place full of springs. this toponym was used until the late middle ages. even if we do not have direct attestations, from what can be read in the carolingian diploma of 774 it can be assumed that velva constituted a settlement of a certain importance already starting from the vi-vii century, therefore following the lombard rule. the historic center of velva represents one of the best-preserved testimonies of a medieval rural village in the ligurian hinterland:37 located in the frieze of the provincial road but not crossed by it, it has maintained the whole internal road network exclusively for pedestrians and made up of stepped alleys with a cobbled bottom, which winds through arcades, squares and rest areas, offering the visitor a picture of what was the use of public spaces in relation to the life of a traditional community. as far as the gromolo valley is concerned, the situation is more complex: the access was occupied, on the right bank of the stream, by two settlements perched along the slopes of mount castello: the fort of carmelo and the village of san bernardo.38 according to local historians, the road had stretched inland already in roman and pre-roman times through the area of fossalupara (luparia?) to reach the copper mines of libiola.39 in the valley, there are two small villages with the same name: the older libiola, along the ridge below the mines, and santa vittoria di libiola,40 on the valley floor; their toponym is strongly connected to the extraction of copper (lavaggi, 2000, 30).41 in the area of libiola, located under the current chapel of san pietro,42 passes an ancient path linking the sea and the high roads of the ligurian mountains which crosses the rio cattan via a bridge that has always been called "roman". the path crossed the gromolo stream in the area called “balicca” (where traces of a medieval settlement can be found to defend the passage), went up to the vault of the villages of loto (lotus), and continued to cascine (cassine), costa rossa (terra rubra) and joined the road that went through the fortresses of sant'anna. this route could have been linked to the sea to bring the mineral extracted from the mines and could date back to pre-roman times. on the contrary, the road that went up the gromolo stream passed through the current moggia pass and continued towards the graveglia valley. it is not a consular road but an ancient ridge path, certainly also used to transport minerals from the libiola mines towards the valley. a clue about the roman nature of the ancient bridge could be given by the fact that roman bridges had a round arch, like that of libiola. regardless of this, it is certain that the path is at least from roman times, if not even pre-roman. as proof of the antiquity of the libiola area and of the fact that its large territory has been inhabited for millennia, near the upper part of the gromolo stream there is a mountain that the locals have always called castellaro. certainly, the perched and somewhat hidden position and the presence of water sources nearby must have made it an ideal defensive settlement for the populations of the ancient ligurians. figure 25: val petronio with missano and velva in the background (photo taken by the author) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 18 3.2. the entella valley the roads that went up along the entella valley crossed both banks of the river (see figure 26), but on the chiavari side the layout becomes cumbersome and it is probable that the modern road overlaps the ancient one. the few data derive from some sporadic discoveries of roman materials upstream of the church of santa margherita di caperana and from the toponym of this area which could refer to an ancient etruscan form, cape, with the meaning of vase, basin, or valley (occelli, 2015, 23). the blackboard side is more legible: after the sanctuary of n.s. del ponte the route continues towards the mountains and the modern road follows almost the entire route. arriving in san salvatore, the medieval heart of the fieschi dominion, the napoleonic land registry of the beginning of the 19th century and the local historical memory can be of some help, since the road indicated as chemin du s. sauveur follows the route of the so-called roman road (arobba, 2021, 223). in the middle of the small town of san salvatore, on the top of a low hill that governs the valley, there is the central nucleus of 13th-century buildings. of the fieschi family, with the basilica of san salvatore and the noble palace (ragazzi, 1982, 26. i luoghi del cuore fai). the basilica is the only building made entirely of slate in the world (palacios, 2005).43 the road continues behind the buildings as a path. at the crossroads via podestà, between 2017 and 2018, materials from the imperial age and walls and pottery from late antiquity were found, indications of a roman occupation and a possible still unknown settlement (arobba, 2021, 223). the route continues winding along the slopes of the mountains (unlike the modern one, built in the napoleonic age, which runs along the river bed), passing under the 12th-century church. of the saints giustina and cipriano di panesi, and then arrives at the entrance to the val graveglia. at this level of the river, the roads on both banks appear to run parallel; along the right bank you cross the medieval village of rivarola,44 surmounted by the hill of the same name: here in the 12th century was built a castle (benente, 2001; 2006 b) with the contribution of genoa which wanted to enter the tigulline trade routes. the archaeological investigations of 1996 also identified along the slopes of the hill, below the castle, a site from the roman imperial age, a clear sign that control of this passage was already important in this era (benente, 2019). figure 26: the road system of entella valley (map created by the author with qgis software) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 19 the plan of the road is partly lost, but there might have been a single road axis on the left bank. above this side of the river, in loc. paggi, in the tenth century the fieschi was built. a castle, destroyed in 1133. after the great bend of the river you arrive at the plain of carasco, a toponym probably referred to the waterway (fiore, 2007, 16 – 17).45 from some documents dating back to 888, with king berengario i, and to 972, with emperor otto i, the possessions of the abbey of bobbio proved to be in the territory of carasco. here the "old church" of san marziano (see figure 27),46 saint of tortona, was founded, probably between 943 and 963.47 after several changes of ownership, first to san michele della chiusa, between the 11th and 12th centuries, and then to the fieschi basilica, in 1254, the church was destroyed in 1664 by a flood. the remains of the apse and some pavements are visible inside the nineteenthcentury home of the parish priest (benente, 2021, 111 – 113). continuing along the road, which has now become a single one we arrive at the church of san pietro di sturla, a strategic point and perhaps the site of a medieval settlement,48 located at the confluence of the lavagna and sturla streams, which form the entella, and their respective valleys: val fontanabuona and sturla. 3.3. val graveglia along the opposite bank of the entella, in the area of rivarola, where the ancient church of sant'eufemiano is located, there is the confluence with the graveglia stream. in 2016 archaeological excavations testified a use of the site starting from the end of the 10th century. a.d., with a burial necropolis and the construction of the first church in the 11th century, which was modified and enlarged in the following centuries (campana, 2021a, 111 -117). here begins the graveglia valley (see figure 28),49 characterized by the presence of rich stone and mineral mines. figure 27: excavation of san marziano (photo taken by the author) figure 28: the road system of val graveglia (map created by the author with qgis software) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 20 in the middle ages, the road had always proceeded in the valley floor, while the villages, perched on the slopes, were protected by towers and castles such as in prati di ne50 and zerli.51 below this village, there is a crossroads, but the ancient road might have proceeded towards nascio (see figure 29), where the remains of a castle destroyed by genoa in 1033 are found. nearby is the hamlet of cassagna where once stood a place of worship dedicated to san michele and of uncertain dating in the locality of "la crocetta". further on we arrive in statale, where between 1994 and 1996 archaeological excavations investigated one of the so-called "tile stations" of the roman era,52 characterized by the large presence of fragments of winged tiles. this locality was populated between the 2nd and 3rd centuries. a.d. (large rustic building) and between the 4th and 6th centuries (seasonal occupation and stripping of the building. benente 2014, 161 – 169). still in statale, the church of san bartolomeo dates back to the 11th century. continuing along the road we arrive at the biscia pass. the other road that passed through nascio proceeds towards reppia, a medieval hamlet in the valley, where there are still houses from this era and where there is a church with a very ancient dedication to sant'apollinare, saint of ravenna, whose existence is confirmed in the possessions of the abbey of bobbio in 972. continuing along the road we rejoin the one coming from the state road and arrive at the biscia pass, the gateway to the val di vara, and the passes that lead to parma. 3.4. valle sturla continuing from carasco along the sturla stream, the route is quite simple to follow, as it has always followed the valley floor (see figure 30). after the first hamlet of terrarossa, a toponym of probable roman origin,53 we arrive at mezzanego, a municipality made up of various hamlets and of very ancient origin. the original name of the municipality could be vicus mezzanicum, referring to the fact that the territory was located between two roads, one below the coast and one at the bottom of the valley, and is connected to the small town of semovigo, or summus vicus. figure 30: the road system of valle sturla (map created by the author with qgis software) figure 29: church of nascio (photo taken by the author) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 21 numerous finds from the roman and late ancient periods have come to light since the 1970s, both along the valley and in the hamlet of semovigo. the most important discovery is undoubtedly that of the so-called "tile station" of the porciletto,54 which is located halfway up the hillside between the main valley and the one that leads to semovigo. in this location were found artifacts from a period starting from the sixth century. bc, includes the first imperial era and reaches the late antiquity; in roman times the production of bricks is attested.55 from semovigo we can reach the bocco pass, which has always been one of the most important passes of the tigullio because it leads to emilia. going back to the main valley, there is borgonovo. dating to a later period, here starts the main road which leads to the bocco pass, along the mogliana valley. the route continues along the valley floor and enters the municipality of borzonasca,56 which has always been an important crossroads, in which there was a customhouse in the middle ages (a.a.v.v. 1999, 75), located between the older road that leads to the bocco pass and towards parma and the one that leads to the forcella pass and leads into the aveto valley, the highest area of eastern liguria, where there is the important route for bobbio, seat of the abbey of san colombano. this second road has always been fundamental for trade and bobbio's influence on the area, even though numerous passes were probably used along the ridge in ancient times. the valley that deviates towards the bocco pass is archaeologically more interesting today, since the road that climbs it along the southern ridges leads to the ancient abbey of sant'andrea di borzone (see figure 31. brusco, 1968. a.a.v.v., 1999, 73 – 74. a.a.v.v., 2001; 2003. alessio, 2011 – 2012), also a dependency of bobbio. at the time of the "gothic war", in the first half of the 6th century, the byzantines erected a defensive bulwark which was the seat of a military detachment.57 when and by whom, on the ruins of the byzantine fortress, the church with annexed monastery with the title of sant'andrea was built continues to be a cause of uncertainty and historical discussion. two documents, although historically controversial, would attest to the presence of a nucleus in borzone in the early middle ages: the first dates back to 774, the year in which charlemagne, delimiting the jurisdiction of the monastery of bobbio, mentions borzone, and the second dates back to 972 when the emperor otto i reconfirmed the jurisdiction of bobbio expressly citing "the monastery and the villa of borzono". a certain document that mentions this monastery is instead a bull dated 11 april 1120 by pope callistus ii (11191124) which confirms its possession by the abbey of san pietro in ciel d'oro in pavia. the circumstances whereby the name of the monastery of borzone does not appear in the ancient bobbiesi documents and the papal bull mentions borzone together with other dependencies received by the pavia abbey would suggest a backdating of its erection by a few centuries, that is the first half of the eighth century, by king liutprand. dating back to 1145 is an agreement stipulated between the fieschis and the consuls of genoa in which explicit reference is made to the "curia borzoni", with which the powerful family, based in the current san salvatore, sought to reinvigorate the complex. figure 31: abbey of sant’andrea di borzone (photo taken by the author) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 22 in 1184 the monastery passed to the benedictines from the patrimony of the church of genoa, which had come into possession of it in an unspecified time, and between the 12th and 13th centuries, it was completely rearranged. then the route had to continue along the ridge towards the pass, but today it has completely disappeared; the one that can be traveled even today is very ancient and can be retraced to a pre-protohistoric route, as evidenced by the imposing "megalithic face of christ".58 continuing, we arrive at the ruined church of san martino di licciorno, from the 11th century, and going on along the ridge we can return to the bocco pass. 3.5. val fontanabuona the road starts from carasco and runs along the lavagna stream, through the village of san colombano certenoli, ancient bembelia, where according to the legend the monks of bobbio, accompanied by san colombano, built a church.59 at this level of the valley you meet the road which from san pier di canne crosses the town of leivi;60 on the highest pass are the remains of the tetraconca church called "oneto abbey" (see figure 33. garbarino 2022, 18), typical of byzantine architecture (perhaps 6th 7th century) and rebuilt several times.61 here there was also a hospital, the remains of which can be seen around the main building. this road has always been attested as the "salt road" towards northern italy and it crosses the fontanabuona valley (see figure 32). in the locality of calvari, on the left bank of the lavagna stream, there is the locality of castellaro, a toponym referring to the ancient pre-roman ligurian settlements. continuing in this direction we arrive at orero, an ancient village built on the "salt road" for piacenza, controlled by bobbio. at this point we can walk across cicagna, the most important village of the valley, formerly known as plecania,62 whose history coincides with the formation of the baptismal churches built in the 12th century. the parish church no longer exists, but in the center of the village, guarding the valley, there would be a perfect place for an ancient castellaro. continuing along the valley we arrive in the ancient moconesi.63 the road crosses the stream in terrarossa thanks to a medieval bridge. crossing the small village of neirone (spinetta, 2004), the road forks: on one side it passes through the village of roccatagliata (a.a.v.v., 1999, 76. cagnana, 2015, 23 – 35), site of a fliscan castle, and leads towards piacenza crossing the portello pass; the other road leads through the territory of lumarzo,64 where there must have been a roman settlement, never found, leading to the scoffera pass and from here to genoa or piacenza. figure 32: the road system of val fontanabuona (map created by the author with qgis software) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 23 4. conclusion ligurian roads have very ancient origins. the dominion of rome in the territory marks the construction of the first road network to connect the urbe to genoa and the coast to the hinterland. this road system was new, but not innovative, as it was superimposed on the very ancient network of paths that crossed the whole territory in preand proto-historic times. traces of these interventions are still recognizable today in some city toponyms, for example, ad solaria and ad monilia, in the memory that is kept in the naming of some streets, such as the various antiche romane or aemilia scauri, or the still visible remains, such as the so-called “tile stations” of statale and porciletto. after the fall of the western part of the roman empire and the brief period of the ostrogothic kingdom, the area passed under byzantine rule, which ensured the continuity of road maintenance. during the sixth and seventh centuries, the first monasteries and hospitals began to be established in various strategic points, such as san nicolao di petra colice or the church of san michele of ruta. an emblematic building of this period is the abbey of sant'andrea di borzone, which was constructed as a guard post between the regio maritima and the lands of northern italy conquered by the lombards. the arrival of these people marked a clear break with the past and the roads began to be maintained no longer by a state power but by the various city and monastic communities. the case of chiavari is emblematic because both to the east and to the west, along the foothills, various hospitals were set up and villages arose in the surroundings: just think about the rupinaro district (whose year of birth is still today reason for debate) or the others that arose around the monasteries of san francesco or bacezza. in all the towns of tigullio, there is a historic center whose certain period of aggregation, in the absence of previous remains, is precisely the high middle ages. in the thirteenth century. the situation began to change, as the area was divided into two zones of influence: to the east of the entella river (see figure 34) the fieschi, to the west the republic of genoa; both the powerful families of san salvatore and the republic began to rearrange and strengthen the road system, the tracks were rebuilt and expanded to allow a greater traffic. castles were built at various strategic points, such as in rivarola, and villages were fortified, such as rapallo and chiavari, the easternmost bulwark of genoa against the advance of the fieschi. figure 33: oneto abbey (photo taken by the author) figure 34: entella river (photo taken by the author) piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 24 however, more capillary control also means unification and the most evident case is the construction of the first bridge over the entella river, that of the maddalena, which united the two areas of the tigullio. leaving aside the various renovations, the situation did not change until the modern age: most of the roads continued to be used, but some routes fell into disuse, such as the road along the petronio stream or the road that led to passo del bocco passing next to the borzone abbey. the real turning point came with the construction, between the 18th and 19th centuries, of the modern via aurelia, which was part of the wider road axis of the route imperiale parisrome; this followed a straighter path, piercing the hills and passing through the new alluvial plains that did not exist before, such as the one formed at the mouth of the entella river, between chiavari and lavagna. the road was born as a sort of filiation of the ancient roman and medieval via aurelia and from this moment on it became the backbone of the territorial road system; still today it is heavily trafficked and used in parallel with the most modern motorway. following the analysis of the main communication routes of the tigullio past, it emerges that most of them are still used today: in some cases, today's route still follows the path of thousands of years ago. this is mainly due to two reasons: the first is that buildings and villages arose along the existing routes which have not undergone radical transformations over the millennia and have survived the historical changes; the second is that the particular conformation of the ligurian territory, mainly mountainous, does not allow many alternatives. in the past, this could be considered a sort of "forced" sustainability, while today its merits can be guessed. the oldest road system, which represents a large part of the ligurian layouts, has a minimal impact on the landscape since it is the road that adapts to the territory and not the latter which was radically modified, to be bent to the needs of the population. the turning point comes from the napoleonic era, when heavier interventions began to be implemented, which upset the existing balance (for example, the new tunnels under the rocche di sant'anna, between lavagna and sestri levante or those of zoagli), even though the necessity cannot be denied. the opening of the motorway, which took place in the 1950s, allowed faster travel but also changed the appearance of the territory. one question remains open, that concerning the distance of 1 roman mile among some medieval buildings: starting from the basilica of santo stefano there is the hospital next to the maddalena bridge, the monasteries of the poor clares and san francesco, nostra signora dell'ulivo in bacezza, the madonna delle grazie and rovereto. it is difficult to imagine that such a particular distance is the result of chance, but in the current state of studies, there is no way to have an explanation, since the romans would have placed only a milestone at such a distance. appendix 1 as will be seen later, the historical etymology tigullii also derives from the use of slate for architectural purposes. pliny in the naturalis historia (book xxxvi, paragraph 167) speaks of a clear stone that is cut with a saw; in the historia of livy (book xli, chap. 19) and in the italia antiqua of cluverio (book v, chap. 10) appears the name of a local tribe, the lapicini, whose etymology has been correlated to lapis. in this period localities called claparia also began to appear, where slabs of slate (clapae) were extracted or worked. claudius ptolemy placed tigullia between portus delphini and segesta tigulliorum. pomponio mela with the term tigullia indicates a settlement, but not the place where it is located, nor in what era its construction took place. 2 the etymology of the term tigullii according to nino lamboglia could derive from a pre-roman base similar to and parallel to that of the latin tegmen (cover) or tegula; this hypothesis could support the theory that only the tigullii, among all the ligurians, covered their roofs with stone tiles, presumably slate, which is abundant in the area. 3 the first stretch up to vado ligure was built as a continuation of the via aurelia, which from rome reached pisa and then luni; the second stretch up to arles, in france, was traced by augustus between 13 and 12 bc, taking the name of via iulia augusta; however, it was already known in its entirety as via aurelia in the imperial era. 4 road built in 241 bc. by the censor g. aurelio cotta or in 200 bc. from his son, the consul g. aurelio cotta, up to caere and subsequently lengthened several times up to lunae. 5 the other cities are never mentioned, but there are various hypotheses on the etymology of the names: lavagna, from lavania or slate; chiavari from claparia (slate slab); rapallo the most controversial could derive from rea palus (unhealthy marsh), rapulum (turnip) or rapatum (reed bed). 6 this fraction of moneglia is mentioned in the tabula alimentaria, found in 1747 in the piacenza area with which the emperor trajan, who died in 117 ad, linked various estates, towns and villages for the benefit of the orphans of velleia, including lemmelius. 7 various amphoracei, including a baetic dressel 2 form, african sealed tableware and bricks. 8 the paving stones are made up of flakes of local schist and in the most impervious areas the rock has been cut upstream, almost certainly over the centuries the paving stones of the roadway have continued to be replaced. 9 at least until the 18th century, as shown by vinzoni's cartography, only this road existed, which led from lavagna to the east. 10 clear reference to the probable extraction of slate or blackboard already in roman times. 11 as will be better seen later on for chiavari. 12 "intra siestri e chieveri s'adima piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 25 13 una fiumana bella, e del suo nome lo titol del mio sangue fa sua cima" (dante, divina commedia. purgatorio xix). much discussed passage of the comedy in which pope adrian v (1205 1276) speaks of the river that gave its name to his family, the fieschi di lavagna, and this provides proof that at least in this era the river was known as lavagna and not like entella, a name of uncertain identification. the first attestation of the name entella for the river is found in claudius ptolemy, who in geography iii 1, 3 mentions the ἐντέλλα ποταμοῦ ἐκβολαί («mouths of the river entella»), placing them east of genoa. 3 as evidenced by an inscription placed on the external wall of the maddalena church. 4 among these lopes pegna and riparbelli. 5 regarding the toponymy cf. above. 6 this was modernized in 1208 by the consuls of genoa. 7 some excavations carried out along via ravaschieri and via raggio have testified that the ancient medieval street level was at a lower level of almost 2 m. 8 during some excavations, a wall from the 1st – 2nd century was found next to the ancient church. a.d. 9 a weaver from rovereto (fraction of chiavari) on his way to the seaside town found a small picture depicting the virgin mary with the child jesus on an olive tree. again according to local stories, the farmers of the area, already in the previous nights, also saw a glow at the level of the olive grove. it was therefore decided to build a chapel, in which to keep and venerate the presumed miraculous image. the icon is pain ted on a table-mounted canvas, in dark colors on a gold field, which represents the madonna with a brown face, with the child on her left arm, in an affectionate and maternal attitude. the style could be said to be greek, like that of the madonna del ponte, both due to the greek custom of placing the child on the left, and because in the early days in liguria it was the greeks who painted, on a gold background. 20 according to a notarial document, citing the landed properties of the genoese churches in the tigullio area, a primitive place of worship, sancti petri, is mentioned in 984, which could actually indicate the genoese church of san pietro. 2 c(aio) sextio spectato tesserario coh(ortis) i pr(aetoriae) p(iae) v(indicis). c(aius) titius marcellinus be(neficiarius) trib(uni) coh(ortis) eiusdem b(ene) m(erenti). to caius sextius excellent enrollee of the 1st praetorian cohort (of the legion) pia vincitrice (or vindice) cazio tizio marcellinus tribune beneficiary of the same cohort". the inscription can refer to two different legions: to legio vi hispana pia vinctrix , active between 68 and 197 or more probably to legio iii augusta pia vindex, active between 43/40 bc. at the end of the iv – beginning of the v century. a.d., which in 193 received the nickname of "faithful avenger" from the emperor septimius severus. 22 the modern road, which passes under the village of san pietro, crosses two tunnels, which according to popular tradition date back to the roman period. 23 the excavations of 2016 established the presence of settlements from the iron age thanks to the presence of numerous finds. 24 fai, i luoghi del cuore. https://fondoambiente.it/luoghi/chiesa-di-san-pantaleo-zoagli?ldc 25 it could derive from the name bardus, pardus widespread in the early middle ages, or from a nickname generated by the longobard origin of the progenitor. 26 pebble in genoese. 27 in 1634 the mortis et orationis confraternity, known as “dei neri” due to the color of the capes, was established there. 28 another official document that confirms its presence is a deed of sale dated july 1155 where a certain benedetta sold half of a house located "ab ea parte quae est versu sanctum stephanum". 29 a problem regarding the consecration of this church is given by a plaque, datable to the 17th century, which recalls the even t, which however indicates a date subsequent to the actual construction: 11 or 12 october 1118. in this period pope gelasius ii, on his way to france, consecrated the cathedral of san lorenzo in genoa on 10 october (certain and documented fact), or the day before. a rather strange fact in itself, both due to the distance between the two cities (about 30 km), and due to the fact that the pope, arriving from tuscany, would have had to go back. in addition, the plaque was positioned five centuries later, so it can be thought that the consecration of the church was intended to be attributed to a pope, who probably passed through rapallo at that time or, as has been suggested more recently, it was intended to adjust the date of consecration in order not to bypass genoa. 30 legend has it that during the second punic war hannibal passed through it with elephants, on his way to rome. the oldest document in which the building is mentioned is a notarial deed dated 7 april 1049: a certain rainaldo signs a donation of some land adjacent to the bridge in favor of the genoese church of santa maria di castello. 31 toponym of probable roman origin. 32 the bridges were rebuilt following the flood of 1852, which damaged or destroyed them. 33 unfortunately there is no other bibliography concerning these bridges. 34 only the pylons are original from the modern era. 35 to date, the village no longer exists and only the ruins of the abbey church can be recognized. they represent a building ere cted in 1663, mentioned in a document dated march 24, 1664, on the initiative of a local notable, carlo castiglione, who, with the archbishop's authorization, had the right of appointment of the abbot. 36 roman predial to be referred to the latin noble family messius. 37 the typology of the buildings in "exposed stone" allows us to read the evolution of the structure of the settlement starting from the most ancient nucleus, certainly from the early middle ages, characterized by masonry in squared and chiselled ashlars, on which they were then grafted successive phases of expansion, reflecting the different demographic and historical situations. 38 in san bernardo the homonymous church was previously dedicated to san quirico and could date back to between the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century. there is no bibliography regarding these places. 39 vd. cap. 1. 40 the origins of the settlement could date back to the 11th century. with the building of the church by the benedictine monks o f piacenza. 41 the toponym libiola would seem to derive from the greek λέβης (latin lebes) a basin or boiler in copper or bronze, which was used to heat and store water. the name of this container, lebes, is also attested in liguria in some medieval notarial documents. 42 the original church of san pietro, the first parish in the valley, could date back to the 7th century. some finds from this era are kept in the museum of the parish of santa vittoria. https://fondoambiente.it/luoghi/chiesa-di-san-pantaleo-zoagli?ldc piaggio/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 26 43 slate is a particular stone whose properties have been known by man over the millennia and thanks to its elasticity, resistance to bending, reduced porosity, it does not freeze and does not deform even when subjected to heat (exceptional fire resistance given the very low expansion coefficient) makes it a unique building material in the world. the slate trade has always been of great importance for the tigullio area. until the twentieth century, along the slopes of mount san giacomo (behind lavagna and san salvatore) and still today in val fontanabuona, there were large quarries of this material, which was already used in pre-roman times (see the necropolis of chiavari), and especially since the middle ages (a first document of sale of slate abbadini dates back to 1176). the slate roads descended from the slopes of mount san giacomo and along the course of the lavagna torrent in val fontanabuona, to then reach the sea along the entella. 44 toponym to refer to the proximity to the river bank. 45 the toponym calasco is found for the first time in the breviarium de terra sancti columbani, drawn up at the end of the 10th century. in bobbio: “filii silveradi de calasco tenent p(ra)tu(m) i in tasiola et in aliis locis, un(de) debent dare fictu(m)”. the transition from the original calasco to the carasco form, which corresponds to the local karasu or kaàsku, is completely linear: in the ligurian dialects the intervocalic l is transformed into r and disappears in genoese. the meaning is not entirely clear, but there are two hypotheses: it derives from the latin calare, to descend, as an adjective substantiated in -asco; derives from the portmanteau of "car" (head) and "asco" (stream), in reference to the geographical position of the territory on which it developed. 46 for further information on the history of the church see fiore, 2007. 47 when a certain giseprando was bishop of tortona and abbot of bobbio. 48 settlement not yet studied. 49 latin toponym: from the popular grava area; from an original *grauliā, possessions of *gravilios. 50 it is the municipality of val graveglia and its toponym could derive from the latin nemus to signify the probable presence of natural and wild woods. 51 where is a medieval castle. 52 the other investigated is in porciletto, in the sturla valley, which will be discussed later. 53 terra rubra. 54 very common toponym in liguria in the modern age. 55 all of this information can be found at benente 2014, 171 – 182. 56 a somewhat obscure toponym that would seem to refer to the stream (-asca) and to the abbey of borzone (vedi infra). 57 the scholar c. brusco also proposes an older tower, from the 4th – 5th century. a.d. 58 the engraving is considered one of the largest rock sculptures in italy and europe and could date back to the paleolithic. a local legend states that once a year the monks of the nearby abbey went in front of the sculpture to venerate it, considering it a miraculous face of christ. 59 there is a record about it in the bobbio abbey, dating back to the 10th century. 60 among the various hypotheses on the origins of leivi, the most accredited is the one that makes the name derive from that of an ancient ligurian tribe, the laevi, founders of pavia, which from ticino, in pre-roman times, would have extended its influence up to tyrrhenian. the settlement, perhaps for commercial purposes, of a "bridgehead" a short distance from the sea can in fact be reliably attributed to the members of this tribe. 61 the small church is located in a locality known as "nel pagano", a rather ancient toponym. 62 plecania and again chicaglia to then end up in cicagna. there are two hypotheses to find the etymology of the name: the first would like the name of plecania to be a corruption of plebs amnis (the parish church of the river par excellence, which is still called agna in dialect today); the other, less probable, has it that plecania derives from plebania, since in ancient times, being cicagna the only parish of the whole fontanabuona, it was called by the fontanini la plebania, almost the parish par excellence, from which plecania derived. 63 the toponym, with the meaning "house of moco" or "dei mochi", refers to the possessions of a romanised ligurian family; the name is attested for example in the bronze tablet of polcevera, dating back to 117 bc, where a moco meticanio is mentioned, representative of the genuati in the dispute with the langatii object of the sentence. 64 the toponym lumarzo derives from the latin locus martius, i.e. "grove field of mars": this has led us to think that in the current municipal area there was a temple, with an adjoining grove, consecrated to the roman god of war. acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented at the cultural sustainable tourism (cst) conference – 5th edition which was held on the 21st-23rd of june 2023. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval: not applicable. conflict of interest: the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references a.a.v.v. 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(2021), strade di chiavari. vie, piazze e vicoli nella storia della città, ed. internòs, chiavari. https://www.archeominosapiens.it/saline-antiche-chiavari/ untitled http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 04 january 2025, accepted: 30 april 2025, published online: 30 june 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i2.1165 evaluation of glucose-infused ceramic separators in microbial fuel cells hodaka shimohata1, trang nakamoto2, kozo taguchi3 1postgraduate student, department of electrical and electronic engineering, ritsumeikan university, japan 2assistant professor, department of electrical and electronic engineering, ritsumeikan university, japan 3professor, department of electrical and electronic engineering, ritsumeikan university, japan abstract recently, global energy demand has been increasing. most of the energy is produced from fossil fuels. since fossil fuels are finite and produce greenhouse gases during energy creation, alternatives are needed. microbial fuel cells (mfcs) are a promising source of renewable energy. these cells utilize ceramic separators, and enhancing the performance of these separators is crucial for increasing the power output of mfcs. in this experiment, ceramic separators were fabricated with varying volumes of glucose. during the firing process, the glucose dissolves, resulting in separators with porous properties. the performance of mfcs with these glucose-infused separators was evaluated. the results showed that ceramic separators mixed with glucose had significantly more small holes in their surface compared to those without glucose. this increased porosity enhances proton transport, thereby improving the performance of the separator. consequently, mfcs using these separators demonstrated higher power output, with the cathode performing better as the glucose content in the separator increased. this indicates that glucose-infused ceramic separators are effective in improving mfc performance. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords mfc; ceramic separators; glucose; bokuju; proton 1. introduction currently, there is a growing global demand for energy, with most of it being produced from fossil fuels. however, fossil fuels have significant drawbacks, such as greenhouse gas emissions and resource scarcity, making their continued use problematic. therefore, alternative energy production methods are urgently needed. (muhammad et al., 2021) this is why renewable energy has garnered so much attention in recent years. renewable energy harnesses power from sources that are constantly available in nature, such as sunlight, wind, and geothermal energy, which can be used indefinitely without depletion. one promising renewable energy source is the microbial fuel cell (mfc), which genera tes power through the activity of microorganisms and is gaining attention as a new sustainable energy solution. (kurniawan et al., 2022; rojas-flores et al., 2022) microorganisms that release electrons when decomposing organic matter, known as electron -producing bacteria, are abundant in nature. microbial fuel cells (mfcs) harness the electrons released by these bacteria. (boas et al., 2022) the principle of mfcs is as follows: when electron-producing bacteria break down organic matter, they produce http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i2.1165&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ taguchi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 electrons and protons. the electrons are captured at the anode electrode of the mfc and move through an external circuit to the cathode electrode. meanwhile, the protons travel through the electrolyte to the cathode electrode. at the cathode, the reaction between electrons, protons, and oxygen produces water. this is the fundamental mechanism by which mfcs operate. (soichiro et al., 2023) separators are often used in microbial fuel cells (mfcs) to ensure stable power generation. among these, ceramic separators made from natural sources are gaining attention. however, mfcs using ceramic separators typically have low output, necessitating further improvements for practical electricity generation. this has led to various studies on enhancing ceramic separators. (anina, 2022, gowthami et al., 2023) one such separator is created by mixing starch with clay, the primary material used in ceramic separators. during the firing process, the starch burns off, resulting in a more porous structure that improves proton exchange. this enhanced porosity is crucial for increasing the efficiency and output of mfcs utilizing ceramic separators. (siti et al., 2020) glucose is an inexpensive and readily available substance. when mixed with clay and fired, the glucose dissolves, resulting in a ceramic separator with a porous structure. in this experiment, ceramic separators were created by combining glucose with clay, and their performance in microbial fuel cells (mfcs) was evaluated. the results demonstrated that the inclusion of glucose improved the separator's performance, enhancing the overall efficiency of the mfcs. 2. materials and methods 2.1. preparation of ceramic separators clay (purchased from art publishing educational inc., tokyo, japan) was used in the ceramic separator for this experiment. d-glucose (sigma-aldrich japan g.k., tokyo, japan) was also used as a fine powder in a mortar. glucose was mixed with 30 g of clay to form sheets measuring 20 x 20 x 2 mm. the glucose was added in varying volume ratios of 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% (as shown in table 1). the sheets were then baked at 900°c for 3 h. table 1: separator preparation (source: the authors) materials 0% 10% 20% 30% clay 30g 30g 30g 30g glucose 0g 1.68g 3.77g 6.46g figure 1 shows photos of the 0% and 30% separators after fabrication. it can be seen that the 0% separator has a smooth surface, whereas the 30% separator has an uneven surface. this indicates the effect of glucose on the separator structure. figure 1: photos of the fabricated ceramic separator: (a) 0% and (b) 30%. (source: by authors) taguchi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 2.2. preparation of mfc electrodes carbon felt (10 x 10 x 5 mm) was used as the anode electrode. the anode electrode was placed in paddy soil (shiga, japan) for 2 days prior to installation in the mfc to facilitate biofilm adhesion. urethane (20 x 20 x 9 mm) (u.e.s. inc., osaka, japan) and sumi ink (kuretake co., ltd., nara, japan) were used as cathode electrodes. bokuju is a traditional ink used in japan and can be obtained at an affordable price. bokuju was used in this case as a binder to connect the cathode electrode to the ceramic separator. 2.3. preparation of lb medium lb medium was used as an electrolyte in this experiment. to prepare it, 5 g of tryptone, 2.5 g of yeast extract, and 5 g of sodium chloride were dissolved in 500 ml of purified water. then, 2.5 ml of a solution containing 0.5 g of sodium hydroxide, mixed with 50 ml of purified water, was added to adjust the ph of the lb medium. for the electrolyte used in mfc power generation, 100 ml of lb medium was prepared by mixing 500 ml of tap water with 1 ml of soil water collected from paddy fields. figure 2: the photo image of a float mfc with a separator. (source: by authors) 2.4. operation of the mfc figure 2 shows a floating mfc with a separator attached. the ceramic separator was connected to the float using an adhesive. the cathode electrode is also created on this separator and fixed by drying the binder, bokuju. mfcs were operated in a float type, as shown in figure 3, with the ceramic separator placed in close contact with the cathode electrode. the distance between the electrodes was 35 mm, the external resistance was connected to 47 kω, and the external temperature was stabilized at 28°c ± 1°c. tap water was added daily to the mfc electrolyte to maintain a stable water level. taguchi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 figure 3: diagram of float-type mfc.(source: by authors) 3. experimental results 3.1. surface observation of the separator after the ceramic separators were prepared, their surfaces were examined using a scanning electron microscope (sem, s-4300, hitachi, ltd., japan). figure 4 shows those created containing (a) 0% and (b) 30% glucose. the 30% surface is more porous than the 0% surface. the use of separators with higher porosity improves the power generation in mfc as more protons are transported. therefore, this ceramic separator has the potential to be an effective separator for mfcs. figure 4: ceramic separator surface (a) 0% and (b) 30%.(source: by authors) 3.2. performance of each electrode ag/agcl reference electrodes were used to evaluate the performance of the anodes and cathodes in each mfc. these reference electrodes were made by soaking the surface of an ag wire with agcl ink and allowing it to dry. the voltage of each electrode relative to the ag/agcl reference electrode was measured using a digital multimeter. figure 5(a) shows the anode potential, with all anode electrodes stabilizing at approximately 500 mv. this indicates stable power generation by the microorganism at the anode electrode. figure 5(b) displays the cathode potential, where the cathode electrodes in mfcs with 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% glucose stabilized at -10, 10, 15, and 25 mv, respectively. this indicates that the function of the cathode in mfcs improves with the addition of more gluco se to the ceramic separator. taguchi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 figure 5: voltage of each electrode relative to the ag/agcl reference electrode: (a) anode and (b) cathode. 3.3. power generation performance of each mfc figure 6 shows the power and current densities on day 5 for the 0% and 30% mfc. the external resistor connected to the mfc, 47 kω, was removed, and a variable resistor was connected in its place. the variable resistor varied from 47 kω to 12 kω, and the voltage was measured. the power density and current density were calculated from the resistance and voltage values. the maximum power density of the 0% mfc was 9.95 µw/㎠cm², whereas the 30% mfc was 13.27 µw/cm², representing an approximately 33% increase in power output . it can be said that ceramic separators made by mixing glucose are effective in increasing the power output of mfcs. figure 6: power density and current density of mfc.(source: by authors) 3.4. observation of electrode surfaces after running the 30% mfc, the anode electrode was removed from the float-type mfc and placed in alcohol for one day to kill any microorganisms on the electrode. the electrodes were then placed in ethanol for 30 minutes to dehydrate them and subsequently dried. a gold coating was applied to the dried electrode surface by sputtering to enhance its conductivity. the electrode surface was then observed using sem. as shown in figure 7, a significant amount of biofilm was formed on the electrode surface, confirm ing that power generation is due to microbial activity. taguchi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 7: electrode surface after mfc operation. (source: by authors) 4. conclusion to enhance the functionality of ceramic separators used in microbial fuel cells (mfcs), we evaluated the performance of ceramic separators prepared by mixing glucose. the surfaces of these glucose-infused ceramic separators were more porous compared to those without glucose. the evaluation of the cathode electrode potential with respect to the ag/agcl reference electrode, as well as the power density and current density in mfcs, demonstrated that the inclusion of glucose improved mfc performance. however, creating separators with even higher percentages of glucose could increase porosity but might also provide a habitat for microorganisms, potentially negatively impacting cathode function. therefore, future studies aim to determine the optimal percentage of glucose for these ceramic separators. acknowledgment not applicable. funding this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not -for-profit sector/ individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare there is no conflict. references boas, j., oliveira, v., simões, m., pinto, a. (2022). review on microbial fuel cells applications, developments and costs. journal of environmental management, 307, 114525. muhammad imran din, amna ghulam nabi, zaib hussain, rida khalid, mahroosh iqbal, muhammad arshad, adnan mujahid, tajamal hussain. (2021). microbial fuel cells—a preferred technology to prevail energy crisis. international journal of energy research. volume 45. 81179712. kurniawan ta, othman mhd, liang x, ayub m, goh hh, kusworo td, mohyuddin a, chew kw. (2022). microbial fuel cells (mfc): a potential game-changer in renewable energy development. sustainability. 14(24), 16847. soichiro hirose, dang trang nguyen, kozo taguchi. (2023). development of low-cost block-shape anodes for practical soil microbial fuel cells. energy reports. volume 9. anina james. 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(2020). low-cost novel clay earthenware as separator in microbial electrochemical technology for power output improvement. bioprocess biosyst eng 43, 1369–1379. s. rojas-flores, m. de la cruz-noriega, r. nazario-naveda, santiago m. benites, d. delfín-narciso, w. rojas-villacorta, and cecilia v. romero. (2022). bioelectricity through microbial fuel cells using avocado waste" . energy reports. volume 8. 376-382. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 28 november 2024, accepted: 22 december 2024, published online: 27 march 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i1.1155 the motivation of generation z to adopt sustainable fashion practices, including the purchase of secondhand items sawsan m. elsharkawi1, jie sun2 1fashion management and marketing postgraduate student, de montfort university dubai, uae 2fashion management and marketing program leader, de montfort university dubai, uae abstract generation z (gen-z) consumers are becoming increasingly aware of climate change and are adjusting their fashion consumption habits towards more sustainable practices, such as thrifting, renting, and swapping. although these practices are less common in egypt, recent trends indicate a growing acceptance among egyptian gen-z consumers. this study aims to address the limited research on fashion collaborative consumption in the egyptian market by exploring factors influencing the adoption of secondhand and rental fashion through in-depth interviews with 20 participants. findings show that traditional practices like borrowing clothes are prevalent for cultural and economic reasons rather than sustainability alone. despite interest driven by economic challenges and social media, barriers like inconvenience, high costs, and limited options hinder broader adoption. to facilitate growth, enhanced shopping experiences, improved accessibility, and shifts in social attitudes are necessary, alongside support from the government and brands. this research offers valuable insights for tailoring business strategies to different consumer segments to promote sustainable fashion practices. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords consumer behavior; sustainable fashion practices; fashion collaborative consumption; secondhand; thrifting; rental 1. introduction the fashion industry is the second most environmentally damaging sector globally, contributing to significant social issues like forced labor and gender inequality, as well as severe environmental impacts, including high co2 emissions and excessive water use (undp, 2023). the industry's model promotes overproduction and rapid consumption, leading to massive waste, with consumers discarding an average of 36 kg of clothing per person each year (falk, 2023). without adopting sustainable practices, resource shortages could become critical by 2050, with the demand for materials potentially rising by 63% (mccosker, 2023). collaborative consumption, which includes practices like sharing and renting products, has the potential to reduce waste and environmental harm by extending the lifecycle of products (virgens et al., 2022). in egypt, traditional practices like passing down clothing are common, but acceptance of secondhand and rental options has been low until recently (enterprise, 2022). the rise of wekalet el balah, egypt's largest secondhand market, reflects increasing interest, particularly among generation z (gen-z) consumers, who show a strong inclination toward sustainable fashion (selim, 2020; tabikha, 2023). http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i1.1155&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ elsharkawi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 according to a mckinsey survey, 80% of gen-z, born between 1997 and 2012, are particularly influential and considering sustainable fashion, with 64% of this generation having a positive experience in thrifting and renting preowned items, showing enthusiasm for this market due to sustainability and financial factors (liang and xu, 2017). subsequently, the secondhand market is projected to surpass fast fashion, reaching $350 billion by 2029 (statista, 2024). currently, the secondhand apparel market in egypt constitutes 4.1% of the total market share and is projected to expand to 7.6% by 2027 (statista, 2024). this growth is largely fueled by this substantial youth demographic, comprising approximately 56 million individuals (khalil et al., 2021). this trend indicates significant opportunities for businesses and investors interested in this sector and has never been academically addressed in egypt. therefore, this study aims to fill the gap, contributing to the previous literature on fashion collaborative consumption by exploring the factors that encourage and discourage egyptian gen-z consumers from adopting fashion collaborative consumption through the consumption of secondhand products as a sustainable practice. research objectives: a. to understand consumers’ level of knowledge and awareness of sustainability and the importance of sustainable practices regarding their evaluation of the fashion industry in terms of ethical and sustainable practices b. to analyze consumers’ fashion consumption behaviors c. to discuss the concept of fashion collaborative consumption and explore consumers’ likelihood to adopt it d. to classify consumers into different segments to provide recommendations and strategies for different consumption behaviors of each segment to help businesses that run on collaborative consumption models gain a better insight into the market 2. materials and methods 2.1. sustainable fashion sustainable fashion promotes a shift away from the resource-heavy, exploitative practices of traditional fashion toward an industry that reduces environmental impact and ensures fair treatment of workers. it encourages mindful, responsible consumption and production, focusing on creating eco-friendly, ethical clothing that prioritizes long-term well-being for people and the planet, as opposed to the harmful effects of fast fashion. some of the sustainable fashion practices are listed below. a. slow fashion: promotes the creation of high-quality, timeless garments that are designed to last longer, encouraging consumers to buy less and wear their clothes more. b. zero waste: seeks to minimize fabric waste during the design and production process by using every inch of fabric, often through innovative pattern making. c. low impact: uses natural, biodegradable, or recycled fibers and uses less water, energy, and chemicals, or replaces synthetic dyes with natural ones to have less environmental impacts d. circular economy: focuses on designing products with their entire lifecycle in mind, aiming to keep materials in use for as long as possible through reuse, repair, recycling, and upcycling. e. collaborative consumption: encourages shared use of clothing, such as renting, swapping, or buying secondhand, rather than owning new items. 2.2. fashion collaborative consumption collaborative consumption, defined by felson and spaeth (1978), is a sustainable system where consumers share goods and services, fostering a circular economy that promotes product reuse and minimizes environmental impact (papamichael et al., 2024). recognized by time magazine in 2011 as a transformative idea (gopalakrishnan & matthews, 2018), collaborative consumption is culturally significant in egypt among family and close friends, elsharkawi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 especially in fashion, where practices like sharing, donating, and swapping offer alternatives to fast fashion and extend product’s lifecycle. secondhand fashion provides an eco-friendly and affordable alternative to fast fashion, enabling consumers to engage with style without financial strain or environmental harm (yang et al., 2024; machado et al., 2019). fashion rental services further promote this by emphasizing use over ownership (jain et al., 2021). as ecological awareness rises, thrift shops and online secondhand platforms have gained popularity, particularly among gen-z, with social media playing a key role in promoting sustainable practices (boyer et al. 2024). research indicates that influential figures, like emma watson, can raise awareness about sustainable fashion, although their impact on actual purchasing behavior may be limited due to the negative face stigma related to hygiene and socioeconomic status (ronda, 2023; jain et al., 2021; liu et al., 2024; mckeown & shearer, 2019). 2.2.1. drivers and barriers arrigo (2021) conducted a systematic literature review that identified several key factors influencing consumers' willingness to engage in fashion collaborative consumption. these include economic, psychological, cultural, and social dimensions. economic factors focus on business viability, while psychological aspects examine how attitudes, norms, and perceptions affect adoption. cultural factors consider values and past experiences with collaborative consumption, and social factors look at demographic influences. the review highlights that the main opportunities for participation stem from utilitarian benefits (cost-effectiveness and product performance), hedonistic pleasures (joy of discovery and social interactions), psychological needs (uniqueness and self-expression), and environmental awareness (guilt-free shopping). consumers typically favor business-to-consumer models for their trustworthiness, with some preferring online shopping for convenience and others enjoying in-store experiences. successful adoption requires establishing circularity and sustainability, and key factors influencing purchasing behavior include the tpb constructs such as attitudes, norms, perceived behavior, and intentions, as well as past experiences and cultural values. barriers to adoption include hygiene concerns, entrenched consumption habits, materialistic values, product quality issues, accessibility challenges, and social stigma. 2.2.2. mediating factors mediating factors for adopting fashion collaborative consumption include mindfulness, psychological needs, personality traits, and demographics. mindfulness, as described by sheth et al. (2011), fosters awareness of consumption's effects, promoting sustainable practices (mohammad et al., 2020). while it encourages engagement with secondhand fashion through self-conscious emotions like pride and guilt (zahid et al., 2022), a gap exists when psychological needs conflict with mindful intentions (ronda, 2023; khalil et al., 2021; tabikha, 2023). personality traits, such as emotional attachment and the desire for uniqueness, influence preferences for sharing or shopping secondhand (mcneill & venter, 2019; lang & armstrong, 2017). demographic factors also play a role; for instance, higher education correlates with greater awareness of sustainable practices (papamichael et al., 2024). while gen-z shows interest in online resale and rental platforms, trust issues can hinder adoption, particularly among gen-x, born between 1960-1980, who prefer in-store shopping. overall, these factors shape consumers' engagement with collaborative consumption in the fashion industry. 2.3. theoretical background conducted by ajzen (1991), tpb is a social-psychological theoretical framework that studies human behavior through attitude, norms, and perceived behavior. the theory suggests that these constructs influence intention, which if experienced frequently results in the actual behavior. to summarize, the adoption of fashion collaborative consumption modes is influenced by various psychological and social factors including attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavior, and intention suggesting that choosing to apply this theory to this research will achieve the most insightful findings (leifhold, 2018) (lang & armstrong, 2017) (koay et at., 2022) (boyer et al. 2024) (lee & chow, 2020). attitude: when consumers have a positive evaluation of fashion collaborative consumption modes (more perceived values than risks), they are more likely to adopt the system. elsharkawi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 subjective norms: when consumers feel that their significant others accept, value, and adapt to fashion collaborative consumption modes, they are more likely to adopt the system. perceived behavior: when consumers feel that fashion collaborative consumption is a convenient and easy practice, they are more likely to adopt it. intention: when consumers have positive attitudes towards fashion collaborative consumption, find it socially acceptable among their significant others, and find it easy to adopt, their adoption intention will increase, which will result in the actual adoption of the system. figure 1: theory of planned behavior (ajzen, 1991) 2.4. methodology this study, which focuses on the increasing acceptance of the secondhand fashion market among egyptian gen-z consumers, historically influenced by negative perceptions, will adopt the interpretivism philosophy. this approach is effective for understanding consumer behavior within cultural contexts, enabling the exploration of deeper meanings and motivations behind the acceptance of secondhand fashion in egypt. while existing literature covers the secondhand fashion market and its adoption behaviors (arrigo, 2021), it remains relatively unfamiliar to egyptian consumers. recognizing the diverse social and cultural experiences that shape perceptions, this study aims to develop new insights specific to egyptian society through thematic analysis of primary data, utilizing an inductive approach. this flexible method facilitates in-depth exploration of participants’ perspectives. the research employed a qualitative approach with a narrative inquiry strategy, conducting semi-structured interviews with 20 participants to gather detailed narratives about their acceptance of secondhand fashion. gender was not considered as a mediating factor in this research thus 3 male participants were included. given the study's time constraints and exploratory nature, it used a cross-sectional design with a non-probability yet purposeful sample of 20 participants, recruited from the researcher's circle of family and friends, were selected for their awareness of sustainability and fashion secondhand markets. this simple convenient sampling technique was chosen because it best fits the research’s scope and participants were easily accessible and readily available to the researcher. for this research, which aims to generate new insights from individual experiences (interpretivism philosophy and narrative inquiry) and build a conceptual framework from coded themes (inductive theory approach), thematic analysis was chosen. this method involves fragmenting, reducing, and coding data to identify patterns. while narrative inquiry typically uses narrative analysis to maintain data integrity, this study focused on thematic analysis to identify themes. interviews were manually transcribed and translated from arabic before analysis, despite the availability of transcription software. ethical considerations in qualitative research are vital for maintaining integrity and respecting participants. the researcher obtained ethics approval, thoroughly briefed participants on the research’s nature, objectives, and potential impacts, and ensured participants of their right to withdraw at any time without consequence. participant elsharkawi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 confidentiality and respectful treatment are essential, including valuing their time and ensuring their safety and wellbeing. during data analysis, the researcher avoided manipulation or selective reporting, ensured accuracy and transparency, and addressed potential biases. these practices uphold the research's accuracy, credibility, and validity. 3. results 3.1. sample description twenty egyptian participants (17 females and 3 males) belonging to gen-z, aged between 20-27 years, and belonging to the upper-middle class holding a bachelor’s (ba) degree were included in this research (table 1, appendix a). the participants’ monthly income ranged between 5-30k egyptian pounds (le). amongst all participants, 7 were not open to the concept and had no experience in secondhand shopping or rentals. to ensure the participants’ privacy, only their initials were presented in this research after their approval. 3.2. findings participants express a strong urgency for sustainable practices to combat climate change, shaped largely by social media exposure from 2015 to 2017. they are aware of the negative impacts and greenwashing in the fashion industry, committing to boycotting brands that engage in deceptive practices. while they enjoy fashion trends, they also practice reuse and recycling to alleviate guilt over overconsumption, favoring donation, resale, and repurposing for disposal. emotional attachment complicates their willingness to discard items, emphasizing their desire to keep them useful. in egypt, traditional practices like passing down clothes reflect cultural and economic factors rather than a deep commitment to sustainability. although interest in secondhand and rental fashion is growing due to economic pressures and social media influence, actual adoption remains limited due to barriers such as inconvenience, high costs, and quality concerns. this conceptual framework (figure 2) uses the tpb to explore how consumers' attitude (overall evaluation of the perceived benefits and risks), perceived behavior (action’s ease and convenience), and subjective norms (significant others’ perception) influence their adoption intentions of thrifting and renting through connecting the emergent themes. participants' attitude is reflected in their evaluation of the key benefits of the secondhand and rental markets such as financial, psychological, hedonic, and sustainability benefits while their perceived risk includes poor product attributes and platform’s lack of trust. there is a lack of positive perceived behaviour towards thrifting and renting fashion goods and the concept remains unsupported within the demographics of research. this is a resulting factor of the perceived hassle and inconvenience in accessing thrifting and renting services. social norms are reflected in the impact of changing social perceptions, social media trends, and significant others’ acceptance of thrifting and renting fashion goods. elsharkawi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 2: conceptual framework(source: by authors) 4. discussion the research findings reveal that various factors influence and hinder participants' decisions to engage in fashion collaborative consumption that aligns with many of the previously reviewed literature. economic challenges drive participants to thrift as a cost-effective alternative, motivated by financial pressures and the search for unique items (xu et al., 2014; gopalakrishnan & matthews, 2018). the flexibility of fashion rental platforms appeals to those wanting variety without long-term commitments. social media influencers play a crucial role in normalizing secondhand shopping, reducing stigma and enhancing acceptance, particularly among gen-z consumers influenced by peers (mcneill & venter, 2019; ronda, 2023). additionally, mindfulness and a desire for sustainability foster secondhand fashion adoption (khalil et al., 2021; zahid et al., 2022), though challenges like the attitude-behavior gap and skepticism about sustainability claims can impede progress (ronda, 2023; herold & prokop, 2023). psychological needs for self-expression through fashion are also significant, but materialism and globalization may detract from authentic sustainable practices (lang & armstrong, 2017; talaat, 2020). demographic factors, such as age and education, further shape perceptions, with older individuals often rejecting secondhand options due to social status concerns (jain et al., 2023) and education increasing awareness without significantly enhancing adoption rates (papamichael et al., 2024). overall, while interest in sustainable fashion is growing among young egyptians, various psychological, social, and demographic factors continue to influence engagement in collaborative consumption practices. 5. conclusions this research expands the tpb by linking its constructs to emerging themes from participants’ attitudes and behaviors regarding thrifting and rental fashion in egypt. key factors influencing their intentions include the effects of globalization and social media, perceived market benefits, accessibility, and social norms. while participants engage in sustainable habits like reusing and donating, interest in secondhand and rental fashion is growing, albeit hindered elsharkawi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 by costs, availability, and social stigma. enhanced shopping experiences and changing perceptions are integrating thrifting into mainstream fashion, supported by the need for government and brand initiatives. subsequently, the study identified four consumer segments and suggested business strategies accordingly: budget conscious shoppers, who prioritize affordability but face cost and location barriers; fashion enthusiasts and do it yourself creatives, who value unique items and customization; sustainability advocates, who are motivated by environmental concerns and demand transparency; and society-driven trend followers, who are influenced by media but contend with societal perceptions. tailored strategies for each segment can enhance market appeal and promote the adoption of fashion thrifting and rentals in egypt. budget-conscious shoppers: setting up local pop-up thrift shops or rental kiosks in high-traffic areas, such as shopping malls or markets, can make thrifting more accessible and reduce the need for travel. brands could offer tiered pricing with discounts for long-term rentals or bundles and implement loyalty programs for frequent shoppers. additionally, providing low-cost or free delivery and pickup services would further ease access for budget-conscious customers. fashion enthusiasts and diy creatives: exclusive curated collections of unique, high-quality items can appeal to fashion enthusiasts. brands can allow customers to personalize or modify rental items, aligning with a diy ethos. collaborations with emerging designers or influencers to create limited-edition pieces, alongside workshops on integrating thrifted and rented fashion into personal wardrobes, would engage this group. sustainability advocates: transparent communication of sustainable practices, such as detailing the lifecycle and sourcing of rental items, can build trust with sustainability-conscious consumers. brands can highlight eco-friendly packaging, sustainable cleaning methods, and third-party certifications, and collaborate with environmental ngos to strengthen credibility. educating consumers about the environmental benefits of renting and thrifting would further promote sustainability. society-driven and trend followers: collaborations with influencers and celebrities can boost the popularity of rental and thrift services. brands should regularly update their inventory to reflect current trends and showcase positive reviews and user-generated content, promoting trendy fashion. hosting fashion challenges and contests where customers display their thrifted or rented outfits would generate excitement and normalize renting and thrifting as a fashionable choice. this study offers valuable insights specific to the potential immense egyptian market, extending the literature on consumer behavior and suggesting strategies to facilitate greater adoption of fashion thrifting and renting; however, it is not exempt from limitations. firstly, conducted over 2.5 months with a small sample, it may not accurately represent the target population; future studies could benefit from larger, longitudinal samples to assess how themes evolve over time amid economic changes and globalization. moreover, the implementation of a cross-cultural study would enhance the findings’ quality, validity, and novelty. secondly, while this qualitative study focused on understanding the acceptance of fashion thrifting and renting, it did not aim to quantify results; future research could include online surveys to standardize findings and assist businesses in understanding consumer behavior better. furthermore, the use of simple convenience sampling may introduce bias and affect the accuracy and validity of the findings. as participants were selected based on their easy accessibility rather than through a random or stratified selection process. acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented at the business management, entrepreneurship, and sustainable circular economy (ble) conference, which was held on the 4th6th of november 2024. funding declaration not applicable. elsharkawi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the author(s) declare that there is no competing interest. references jokar, 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(2022). exploring mindful consumption, ego involvement, and social norms influencing second-hand clothing purchase. current psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02657-9 doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02657-9 appendix a table 1: participants’ demographics initials gender age education occupation income secondhand /rental experience ad m 21 medicine student unemployed 5k yes ea f 24 ba in business 2 years in education marketing 20k yes fa f 25 ba in fashion design 3 years in fashion branding 25k yes fk f 27 ba in applied arts 6 years in furniture design 30k no la f 23 ba in fashion design fashion design intern 15k no lm f 23 ba in fashion design 5 years in fashion design 30k yes ma f 24 ba in applied arts fashion design intern 15k yes mm f 26 ba in mass communication 4 years as a fashion content creator 25k yes nb f 27 ba in fashion design 6 years as a fashion content creator 30k yes ne f 27 ba in applied arts 4 years in furniture design 30k no nk f 24 ba in business unemployed 10k no ns f 21 applied arts student unemployed 5k yes rs f 23 ba in business unemployed 10k no se f 24 ba in applied arts unemployed 10k yes sh f 27 ba in applied arts 3 years in fashion design 25k yes ss m 25 ba in construction management 2 years in civil construction 20k no sm f 25 ba in applied arts 4 years in graphic design 30k yes tm f 20 business student 2 years in fitness coaching 10k yes ye m 21 political science student unemployed 5k yes zn f 24 ba in political science 2 years in governmental research 25k no https://doi.org/10.1080/17543266.2022.2150447 https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12139 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmrv.2024.04.001 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02657-9 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 29 september 2024, accepted: 19 january 2025, published online: 27 march 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i1.1126 visible light-responsive photocatalyst synthesized by incorporating cqds into sio2@tio2 hiroki shimamura1, trang nakamoto2, kozo taguchi3 1master's student, ritsumeikan university, kusatsu, japan 2assistant professor, electrical and electronic engineering, ritsumeikan university of kusatsu, japan 3professor, electrical and electronic engineering, ritsumeikan university of kusatsu, japan abstract in recent years, water pollution caused by population growth has become one of the most health-threatening problems. to solve this problem, photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants using solar energy is expected. among various photocatalysts, tio2 has been widely used and studied because of its non-toxicity, low cost, and high chemical stability. however, tio2 has a wide band gap of 3.2 ev, so only ultraviolet light is available. since ultraviolet rays account for only about 3~5% of sunlight, research on the effective use of visible light, which accounts for about 45% of sunlight, has been active in recent years. known major approaches include heterojunction coupling, doping, and dye sensitization. among them, composites of carbon nanomaterials and tio2 have been shown to improve optical absorption in visible light. in recent years, carbon quantum dots (cqds) have attracted attention as a new carbon nanomaterial because of their unique properties. cqds are non-toxic, inexpensive, and easy to tune. therefore, it has been applied as a composite material for tio2 and has been reported to have an optical absorption edge of 419 nm and a band gap of 2.96 ev. in this study, sio2@tio2/cqd heterojunction structures were fabricated, and their photocatalytic activity was evaluated using methylene blue. by adjusting the particle size of sio2@tio2, the optical wavelength to be reflected can be selected. among them, sio2@tio2 which can reflect optical wavelengths around 400 nm was adjusted to form a structure that allows more efficient optical utilization of tio2/cqds.sio2@tio2/cqd is a mixture of tio2 and cqds coated on the surface of a sio2 porous structure prepared by the stover method. this simple preparation method resulted in high surface area, efficient light utilization due to the heterostructure, and efficient charge mobility. as a result, the degradation performance against organic pollutants was shown to be improved. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords mesoporous sio2@tio2; photocatalytic; methylene blue; cqd; photocatalyst 1. introduction in recent years, water pollution caused by population growth has become one of the most health-threatening problems. (1) among these, contamination by organic dyes is a serious problem. organic dyes are a major pollutant of wastewater discharged in large quantities from the textile industry and other sources. these organic dyes cause significant damage to the land and the environment, and these residual dyes are toxic to humans and animals because http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i1.1126&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ shimamura/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 they are not decomposed by microorganisms. (2) among these, contamination by organic dyes is a serious problem. organic dyes are a major pollutant of wastewater discharged in large quantities from the textile industry and other sources. this organic dye is very damaging to the land and environment, and the residual dye is toxic to humans and animals because it is not decomposed by microorganisms. physical and chemical treatment methods are gaining attention to solve these problems. however, conventional physical and chemical treatment methods have problems such as secondary contamination and long treatment cycles. among these, the removal of organic dyes by photocatalysis is attracting attention. (3,4) photocatalysts have been widely used and studied because of their non-toxicity, low cost, and high chemical stability. the disadvantage of tio2, a commonly used photocatalyst, is its wide band gap of 3.2 ev, which means that only uv light is available. (3,5) uv light is only about 5% of sunlight. for this reason, much research has been done over the past few decades to increase the number of usable wavelength bands. among these methods, carbon and nitrogen loading, doping, and shape-changing are known as promising methods. as a carbon source, carbon quantum dots (cqds) have recently attracted attention as a new carbon nanomaterial because of their unique properties. muhammad shafique et al. showed that the combination of tio2 and cqds broadens the optical absorption edge and allows degradation under visible light. (6) in addition, sio2@tio2 has been studied in various fields of particle shape change. one of the reasons why sio2@tio2 is attracting attention is that the wavelength band that can be reflected is tuned by the particle size. to reflect visible light (about 380~780nm), a particle size of about 200nm~400nm is appropriate. (7) therefore, this study evaluated sio2@tio2 supported by cqd for more efficient removal of organic contaminants. previous studies of tio2/cqds have shown that visible light responsivity is improved by loading cqds onto tio2. to utilize visible light more efficiently, tio2 was changed to sio2@tio2. the sio2@tio2 used was adjusted to a particle size of 200 nm to 350 nm for efficient reflection and utilization of visible light. the results showed that the photocatalytic activity of sio2@tio2/cqds was enhanced, suggesting that sio2@tio2/cqds can remove organic pollutants that cause water pollution more efficiently compared to sio2@tio2. 2. methods 2.1. cqd fabrication put 0.720 g of urea (fujifilm wako) in 20 ml of purified water and stir for 1 hour. let this solution be solution a. to this solution a, add 0.768 g of citric acid (fujifilm wako) and stir for 1 hour. this solution is designated as solution b. solution b was transferred to a teflon solution, and hydrothermal synthesis was performed at 200° for 6 hours. impurities were then removed by filtration. the solution was stored in a refrigerator. 2.2. sio2@tio2/cqd a two-step procedure was performed: 2.2.1. sio2 here is a detailed explanation of how to make sio2 shown in figure 1. the detailed preparation of sio2 is shown in the upper part of figure. 1 was carried out by adding 1.2 ml octadecyltrimethoxysilane (tokyo kasei kogyo) and 4 ml teos (fujifilm wako) to 80 ml ethanol and stirring for 10 minutes. next, 12 ml of ammonia was slowly added dropwise and stirred for 24 hours to form sio2. the white precipitate was then washed several times with ethanol and dried. 2.2.2. sio2@t io2/cqd this section details the preparation of the sio2@t io2/cqd shown in figure 1. in the detailed preparation of sio2@tio2/cqd shown in the lower part of figure 1, 800 µl of tbot (fujifilm wako) and sio2 produced in step 1 were added to 80 ml of ethanol. the mixed solution was completely dispersed by ultrasound. in previous studies, 1.6 ml of purified water was slowly added dropwise. however, in this study, purified shimamura/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 water was replaced by cqd solution and 1 ml, 1.6 ml and 3.2 ml of cqd solution were slowly dropped into the mixed solution and stirred for 6 hours. the yellow precipitate was then washed several times with ethanol and dried. the dried powder was annealed at 900° for 2 hours. figure 1: how to create an stc(source:by authors) translated with deepl.com (free version). for sio2@tio2, the cqd solution was changed to purified water, and the same procedure was performed. table 1: particle name 2.3. photocatalytic evaluation methods the photocatalytic activity was evaluated using model pollutants. methylene blue (mb) (fujifilm wako) was used as the model contaminant. a 100 w led floodlight was also used as the light source. uv-cut film (azwan 2-915401 < 400 nm) was attached to the light source and used as a visible light source. the space from the light source to the decomposed material was fixed at 30 cm. 50 mg of the powder was mixed with 20 ml of mb solution, and the porcelain was stirred. the mixed solution was stirred for 1 hour in the dark to obtain sorption equilibrium. then, they were irradiated with light. the mixed solution was sampled once every 30 minutes and centrifuged to remove the photocatalyst. called name solution amount of cqd st 0ml stc(1) 1ml stc(2) 1.6ml stc(3) 3.2ml shimamura/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 3. experimental results 3.1. xrd comparing figures 2(a) and 2(b) shows that they are similar. this is thought to be due to the low amount of cqds held, which is why cqds are not detected. analysis of the diffraction peaks from figures 1(a) and 1(b) shows that both are tio2 in the anatase phase and that sio2 is also retained. these results indicate that incorporating cqd into the st fabrication process does not change the crystal structure of the product. figure 2: (a) the xrd data of st and (b) the xrd data of stc. (source:by authors) 3.2. sem figure (a) is an sem image of st. the sem data in (a) shows that this is a mesoporous st and spherical. the particle size is also found to be in the range of 250 nm to 400 nm. figure (b) shows the sem data of stc. the sem data in (b) shows that it is also spherical. the size is also observed to be similar, ranging from 250 nm to 400 nm. however, when comparing (a) and (b), the surface of (b) is more uneven than that of (a), and it is thought that a higher surface area is acquired. this high surface area is believed to facilitate dye adsorption. in addition, the irregularity of the surface may cause incident light to enter the tio2 surface from different angles, scattering light in various directions. figure 3: (a) is the sem data of st. (b) is sem data of stc(source:by authors) 3.3. light absorption rate figure 4 shows the optical absorption coefficient. this shows that stc absorbs lighter than st. also, the difference in optical absorption between st and stc increases from about 380 nm. these are thought to be influenced by cqd. the incorporation of cqd in the fabrication process improves the photo response in the ultraviolet region by increasing the surface area, and the visible light response is thought to be enhanced by the heterojunction of cqd and st. it is also thought that making the surface uneven may lengthen the light path and allow more efficient use of light. shimamura/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 figure 4: light absorption rate(source:by authors) 3.4. evaluation of photocatalytic activity figure 5 (a) shows a methylene blue adsorption experiment. this shows that the adsorption force varies with the amount of cqd. stc(2) is about 70% adsorbed. compared to the conventional st, the adsorption volume has been improved by approximately 60%. this is the same result confirmed in figure 3. this indicates that particles with enhanced surface area can be produced by incorporating cqds into st. it is generally believed that the larger the surface area, the more active sites and the higher the photocatalytic activity. (8) figure (b) shows a decomposition experiment. this degradation experiment was performed under visible light. since tio2 generally acts only at wavelengths in the ultraviolet region, the decomposition rate of st is 0%. in comparison, stc(1), stc(2), and stc(3) all show progressive degradation. this indicates that the synthesis of st and cqd could create visible light-responsive photocatalysts. stc(2) is degraded by about 50%. this indicates that, as in the adsorption experiment, the photocatalytic activity varies significantly with the amount of cqd. this is thought to be due to the fact that the larger the surface area, the more active sites and the higher the photocatalytic activity, as well as the effect of heterojunction. figure 5: (a) adsorption experiment. (b) the degradation of organic matter(source:by authors) 4. discussion and conclusions stc showed high adsorption to mb solution and high degradation under visible light. this would be attributed to the establishment of a hetero-bonded structure with the support of cqd and st. (6) this has been shown to be useful in removing organic contaminants. in the degradation of organic matter from residual dyes, stc is expected to be a particle that combines the advantages of both the physical treatment method, which is a good adsorbent for the fast processing of organic matter, and the chemical treatment method, which is a high degradation power that prevents secondary damage. however, in terms of adsorption power, it is lower than that of smoked charcoal, etc. therefore, it is essential to study photocatalysts with higher adsorption power. 5. recommendation this study has shown that the addition of cqd to the so2@tio2 preparation process improves the surface area, which is a drawback of sio2@tio2, and amplifies the available wavelength range, which is a drawback of tio2. on shimamura/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 this basis, future research should study and optimise the light reflectance and absorptance of sio2@tio2/cqds so far. this needs to be investigated for further applications, as sio2@tio2 has so far been used as a scattering layer in solar cells. acknowledgment the abstract of this paper was presented at the future smart cities (fsc) conference – 7th edition which was held on the 14th 16th of october 2024. funding this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector/ individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare there is no conflict. references tonni agustiono kurniawan , zhu mengting , dun fu , swee keong yeap , mohd hafiz dzarfan othman , ram avtar , tong ouyang.(2020). functionalizing tio2 with graphene oxide for enhancing photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (mb) in contaminated wastewater. journal of environmental management 270, 11087, pp1-2, kazuhiro takanabe. (2017). photocatalytic water splitting: quantitative approaches toward photocatalyst by design. acs catalysis 7, issue (1), pp8006-8022. tan mao, junyan zha, ying hu, qian chen, jiaming zhang, xueke luo. (2024) research progress of tio2 modification and photodegradation of organic pollutants. inorganics 2024, 12(7), 178,pp1-2. dongming xu,haomiao yu, yang qin ,yang di ,hongbing jia ,fengsheng li,,jie liu. (2024)hollow tio2–sio2 nanospheres for photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes. acs applied nano materialsvolume 7, issue 3,pp2414-2416. bablu basumatary , rajmoni basumatary , anjalu ramchiary , dimpul konwar(2022). evaluation of ag@tio2/wo3 heterojunction photocatalyst for enhanced photocatalytic activity towards methylene blue degradation. chemosphere 286,131848, pp1-8. muhammad shafique , muhammad shabir mahr , muhammad yaseen , haq nawaz bhatti ,(2022). cqd/tio2 nanocomposite photocatalyst for efficient visible light-driven purification of wastewater containing methyl orange dye. materials chemistry and physics 278,1255, pp1-13. trang nakamoto, kakeru higuchi, kozo taguchi.(2023). investigation of rutile and anatase mesoporous sio2@tio2 particles in the scattering layer of dye-sensitized solar cells. ieej transactions on electrical and electronic engineering 19(2), pp 285-287. dong suk kim, seung-yeop kwak. (2007). the hydrothermal synthesis of mesoporous tio2 with high crystallinity, thermal stability, large surface area, and enhanced photocatalytic activity. applied catalysis a: general 323, pp110–118. https://www.sciencedirect.com/author/14021316000/haq-nawaz-bhatti https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/authored-by/nakamoto/trang https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/authored-by/higuchi/kakeru https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/authored-by/taguchi/kozo https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19314981 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 review article received: 4 april 2024, accepted: 27 june 2024, published online: 1 july 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i2.1071 comparative assessment of insulation materials for improving indoor air quality in building retrofit vishnupriya valeriparambil narayanan1, arman hashemi2, heba elsharkawy3, darryl newport4, lucienne g. basaly5 1research assistant, school of architecture computing and engineering, university of east london, united kingdom 2senior lecturer, school of architecture computing and engineering, university of east london, united kingdom 3associate professor, kingston school of arts, kingston university, united kingdom 4professor, energy and sustainable development, university of suffolk, united kingdom 5assistant professor, architecture and urban planning department, suez canal university, egypt abstract this paper evaluates the impacts of different insulation materials on indoor air quality (iaq) and occupant health with a focus on the volatile organic compound (voc) emissions. the main aim is to identify options that minimize exposure rates while improving iaq and energy in retrofitted buildings. a comprehensive literature review was conducted synthesizing scholarly articles, guidelines from international organizations, and information on pollutants, iaq standards, and retrofit strategies. the findings show high emission rates for some insulation materials that could negatively affect health. hemp insulation in contrast was identified as a promising solution exhibiting low voc emissions compared to other insulation materials. as sustainable construction practices advance, hemp insulation emerges as a viable retrofit strategy for social housing by synergistically addressing performance gaps related to energy conservation, air quality, and thermal comfort. the synthesis of evidence from this paper suggests that, from environmental and public health perspectives, certain insulation materials are preferable for improving iaq and reducing the risk of exposure to indoor air pollutants in retrofitted buildings. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords indoor air quality; vocs; insulation materials; health and wellbeing; retrofit 1. introduction the rapid urbanization of the last century has led to a significant increase in social housing populations in cities worldwide. poor housing conditions in social housing units are typically associated with increased indoor pollution exposure and consequently detrimental health impacts. studying indoor environmental quality (ieq) in these settings is crucial since people living in social housing are typically more sensitive because of their age and/or financial position (diaz lozano patino and siegel, 2018). this is in part to assess whether these residents are disproportionately exposed to environmental elements that could worsen pre-existing health consequences or cause new ones. social housing units may experience deteriorating general housing conditions because of factors including http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i2.1071&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 building age and poor upkeep (diaz lozano patino and siegel, 2018). studies suggest that people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds are exposed to higher concentrations of indoor air pollutants in their homes. variations in these pollutant exposures are caused by the interaction of physical structures, indoor and outdoor sources, and patterns of household activities (adamkiewicz, 2013). the circumstances of the indoor environment have a significant impact on human welfare because most individuals spend 90% of their time indoors, mostly at home or at work (leech et al., 2012). according to the world health organisation (who), 3.8 million deaths worldwide are attributed to indoor air pollutants (iaps) (who, 2020). iaps can be produced by residents' activities including cooking, smoking, and cleaning as well as from furniture and building materials. particulate matters (pms), aerosol, biological pollutants, volatile organic compounds (vocs), carbon monoxide (co), and others are among the harmful pollutants found inside buildings (kumar, 2013). studies on air quality regulation have started to focus more on indoor settings over the past ten years, reflecting lifestyle changes that are associated with higher levels of urbanization (tran and park, 2020). research has shown that poor iaq can lead to building-associated illnesses, which can have a detrimental impact on human health (hromadka et al., 2017), (koivisto et al., 2019). iaps, stemming from both indoor and outdoor sources, pose significant threats to public health. recognizing the urgency of addressing this challenge, the scientific community has advocated for optimized retrofit interventions to curtail the adverse effects of indoor pollutants while improving energy efficiency in buildings. to this end, this study focuses on a crucial aspect of retrofitting wall insulation. walls, as integral components of a building's envelope, play a pivotal role in regulating thermal comfort, iaq, and energy performance in buildings. the research aims to unravel effective measures that not only enhance energy efficiency but also contribute to creating healthier living spaces. various thermal insulation materials categorized into organic (carbon-containing) and inorganic (mineral-based, lacking carbon-hydrogen bonds) are studied. each category can be further divided into natural and synthetic insulations, depending on the origin of the raw materials and the processing techniques used. through a comprehensive review and comparative analysis, the objective is to identify insulation materials that minimize voc emissions while promoting improved iaq and energy performance in retrofitted buildings. 2. research methodology this study utilizes a comprehensive literature review approach to examine insulation materials from the perspective of iaq, energy efficiency, and occupant health. the methodology involves a systematic literature search across multiple scholarly databases like pubmed, scopus, google scholar, and sciencedirect. keywords related to "indoor air quality", "volatile organic compounds", "insulation materials", and "building retrofits" were used to retrieve relevant peer-reviewed articles, reports from international organizations like who and epa, standards documents, and other credible sources. the review synthesizes information from this extensive literature on indoor pollutants, iaq guidelines, retrofit strategies, insulation material properties, and quantification of voc emissions from different insulations. the primary focus is on three main categories of insulation materials (figure 1): mineral wool insulation, synthetic insulations (including expanded polystyrene (eps) foam, extruded polystyrene (xps) foam, rigid urethane foam (pir), and phenolic foam (pf)), and hemp insulation. these groups correspond to the primary raw material sources: mineral, petroleum, and bio-based, respectively. narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 figure 1: insulation materials selected for the comparative analysis in the literature. the review focuses on synthesizing findings on the following key aspects: main pollutants affecting iaq and their health impacts. existing iaq guidelines and standards. voc emissions from common insulation materials. properties and performance considerations of various insulation materials. the following table (table 1) summarises some of the key references and sources analyzed and synthesized in the literature review, including guidelines from who and epa, journal articles examining voc emissions from insulation and building materials, and other relevant studies on iaq factors. the literature review pulls insights from these sources to provide a comprehensive overview of the topic. table 1: key references reviewed reference summary usepa (2023) volatile organic compound's impact on indoor air quality comprehensive overview from the us epa on how vocs emitted from household products, building materials, furniture, etc. can accumulate indoors and degrade air quality, leading to health effects like eye/respiratory irritation, headaches, and elevated cancer risk. who (2021) global air quality guidelines updated who guidelines providing the latest targets for maximum annual and short-term exposure levels for key indoor/outdoor pollutants based on extensive reviews of health studies. wi et al. (2021) hazard evaluation of the indoor environment an experimental study measuring voc and formaldehyde emissions over 90 days from 5 different insulation materials (xps, eps, pir, phenolic foams) installed in a 20m2 test chamber simulating unfavorable indoor conditions. quantified emission rates and concentration profiles over time. yang et al. (2020) vocs in swiss energy-efficient homes field study in switzerland measuring voc levels in 169 newly constructed energy-efficient dwellings retrofitted with improved insulation and airtightness. found elevated terpenes, hexaldehyde, formaldehyde, toluene, and butane likely from insulation, wood products, and human activities. narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 yan et al. (2019) emissions from new furniture measured concentrations of key vocs emitted from new footstool and bedside table furniture products at different loading rates over time using an environmental chamber. cibse tm40 (2020) indoor air quality guide uk guide comparing various standards and best practice recommendations for ensuring adequate indoor air quality in buildings through pollutant monitoring and mitigation strategies. 3. literature review 3.1. key indoor air pollutants it has been established that a wide range of indoor air contaminants negatively affect both human health and iaq (osha, 2020). particulate matter (pm2.5, pm10), nitrogen oxides (nox), volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (vocs), sulphur dioxide (so2), ozone (o3), carbon monoxide (co), radon, hazardous metals, and microbes are the principal indoor air pollutants. table 2 enumerates some prevalent contaminants. table 2: common air pollutants and their health impacts (tran and park, 2020) pollutant sources health impacts pm outdoor environment, cooking, combustion activities (burning of candles, use of fireplaces, heaters, stoves, fireplaces and chimneys, cigarette smoking), cleaning activities pre-mature death in people with heart or lung disease, non-fatal heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, aggravated asthma, decreased lung function, increased respiratory symptoms vocs paints, stains, varnishes, solvents, pesticides, adhesives, wood preservatives, waxes, polishes, cleansers, lubricants, sealants, dyes, air fresheners, fuels, plastics, copy machines, printers, tobacco products, perfumes, dry-cleaned clothing, building materials and furnishings eye, nose, and throat irritation headaches, loss of coordination and nausea damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system some organics can cause cancer no2 gas-fuelled cooking and heating appliances enhanced asthmatic reactions respiratory damage leading to respiratory symptoms o3 outdoor sources, photocopying, air purifying, disinfecting devices dna damage, lung damage, asthma, decreased respiratory functions so2 cooking stoves; fireplaces; outdoor air impairment of respiratory function asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (copd), and cardiovascular diseases cox cooking stoves; tobacco smoking; fireplaces; generators and other gasolinepowered equipment; outdoor air fatigue, chest pain, impaired vision, reduced brain function 3.2. iaq guidelines and standards even at low air pollutant concentrations, prolonged exposure to indoor anthropogenic activities can degrade iaq and pose serious health hazards to people. the scientific community and pertinent organizations have tried to create and implement iaq standards and recommendations to address these iaq issues (tran and park, 2020). the international community finally succeeded in establishing iaq standards and guidelines based on an integrated building strategy after much effort (avgelis and maggos, 2016). the aim is to eliminate, or at least reduce, potential dangers to human narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 populations because the who and usepa(united states environmental protection agency) state that the purpose of iaq guidelines is to provide a vital database as a reference for the prevention of detrimental consequences of iap and preservation of public health (who, 2000). the who's air quality guidelines (aqg) for a few prevalent contaminants are presented in table 3 (who, 2021). the who and usepa standards often specify the maximum concentration for duration (e.g., one hour, twenty-four hours, or a year). table 3: who global air quality guidelines 2021 (who, 2021) pollutants long-term aqg level (annual) (µg/m3) short-term aqg level (24 hour) (µg/m3) pm 10 15 45 2.5 5 15 o3 60 100 (8 hour) no2 10 25 so2 40 co 4 co2 1800 iaq is affected by the concentration of total volatile organic compounds (tvocs), which are made up of many individual chemical species that come from indoor sources like furniture and building materials. different international guidelines rely on qualitative ratings of air quality to determine permissible tvoc levels. for instance, the north american leed (leadership in energy and environmental design) and reset (regenerative, ecological, social & economical targets) guidelines specify that tvoc concentrations should not exceed 500 μg/m3 to protect health. on the other hand, more stringent standards enforced by the german federal environmental agency and chartered institution of building services engineers (cibse) tm40 2020 guide – indoor air quality comparisons recommend that total vocs be kept below 300 μg/m3 to promote better iaq and reduce exposure. by continuously measuring and reducing indoor tvoc concentrations in comparison to these reference values, indoor environments can effectively reduce the potential health risks associated with indoor air pollutants. table 4 shows the exposure limits of tvoc set by cibse, leed, reset, and iaq levels by the german federal environmental agency. table 4: tvoc concentrations according to various guidelines tvoc concentration (µg/m3) standards for indoor air quality sources <300 recommended value cibse tm40 2020 guide – indoor air quality comparisons (cibse tm40, 2020) <500 tvoc limit leed green building rating system (leed, 2023) <500 acceptable range reset standard for indoor air quality (reset, 2018) <300 target value iaq levels by the german federal environmental agency (german federal environmental agencies, 2007) the index used by the usepa for reporting air quality is called the air quality index (aqi) (airnow, 2023). the amount of air pollution and the corresponding health concerns increase with a higher aqi value. for instance, good air quality is indicated by an aqi value of 50 or less, whereas hazardous air quality is indicated by an aqi value of 300 or higher (airnow, 2023). an aqi value of 100 for any given pollutant typically denotes a level of ambient air concentration that meets the national ambient air quality standard for public health protection for a given period. air quality becomes unhealthy when aqi values are above 100, initially for sensitive individuals and later for everyone as the numbers rise (airnow, 2023). according to most research, pm2.5 levels of 12 μg/m3 or below are thought to be healthy and pose little to no danger of exposure. when the amount rises to 35 μg/m3 or more in 24 hours, the air is deemed hazardous and might aggravate respiratory conditions like asthma in those who already have them. narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 extended exposure to concentrations higher than 50 μg/m3 can cause major health problems and early death (indoor air hygiene institute, 2023). the air quality standards set by epa for pm10 and pm2.5 are shown in table 5 (airnow, 2023). table 5: aqi for pm10 and pm2.5 (who, 2021) aqi categories us aqi us-epa range (24 hr) pm10 (ug/m3) pm2.5 (ug/m3) good 0-50 0-54 0-12.0 moderate 51-100 55-154 12.1-35.4 unhealthy for sensitive individuals 101-150 155-254 35.5-55.4 unhealthy 151-200 255-354 55.5-150.4 very unhealthy 201-300 355-424 150.5-250.4 hazardous 301-500 425-604 250.5-500.4 the who has imposed a tougher eight-hour limit than both osha and niosh, at 100 μg/m³ (0.1 mg/m³) for o3. the epa's aqi breakpoints provide an additional lens through which to view ozone. although we are using these breakpoints for ambient ozone, we can also use them to calculate safe indoor ozone levels (kaiterra, 2021). ozone exposure is divided by the epa into two-time intervals: one hour and eight hours. the following table 6 lists different ozone concentrations along with how safe they are to be exposed to for eight hours. table 6: aqi for ozone (kaiterra, 2021) aqi categories us aqi ozone level (ppm) good 0-50 0.000-0.054 moderate 51-100 0.055-0.070 unhealthy for sensitive individuals 101-150 0.071-0.085 unhealthy 151-200 0.086-0.105 very unhealthy 201-300 0.106-0.200 as per the current who air quality recommendation, an indoor nitrogen dioxide guideline of 200 μg/m3 for one hour is advised (who, 2020). asthmatics show slight reductions in lung function at roughly twice this level. at this stage, sensitive individuals may already exhibit slight alterations in their airway's reactivity to a range of stimuli. there is no evidence to support an indoor guideline that differs from the ambient guideline from studies on the indoor environment (who, 2020). as per the current who air quality recommendation, a yearly average indoor nitrogen dioxide guideline of 40 μg/m3 is advised (who, 2020). table 7 shows the us epa range for no2 and their aqi categories. table 7: aqi for no2 (who, 2020) aqi categories us aqi us-epa range for no2 (ppb) (1 hour) good 0-50 0-53 moderate 51-100 54-100 unhealthy for sensitive individuals 101-150 101-360 unhealthy 151-200 361-649 very unhealthy 201-300 650-1249 hazardous 301-500 1250-2049 narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 higher or longer exposure levels have the potential to cause death via airway constriction, but exposures of 50 to 100 ppm may be tolerated for more than 30 to 60 minutes. because sulfur dioxide is heavier than air, it can cause asphyxiation if it is present in enclosed, poorly ventilated, or low-lying places. the who has not identified so2 as a pollutant for which specific iaq guidelines are required, the who guidelines are for general air quality (who, 2021). there are no established co standards for indoor air (usepa, 2023). any home with a fossil fuel appliance will contain carbon monoxide (co), also known as "the silent killer," a colorless, odorless gas. even though most poisonings happen in the winter, co can exist year-round (mcafee, 2021). the following details in table 8 describe some symptoms that could manifest after one hour of co exposure: table 8: exposure ranges and health effects of co (mcafee, 2021) co exposure ranges (ppm) health effects 0-9 typical airborne co levels; no health danger. 10-29 long-term exposure issues: persistent issues include headaches and nausea. 30-35 flu-like symptoms start to appear, notably in young people and the elderly. 36-99 all symptoms are flu-like, including headaches, nausea, lethargy, and exhaustion. 100+ extreme symptoms, including disorientation and severe headaches; eventually, brain damage, coma, and/or death, particularly at 300–400+ ppm. 3.3. volatile organic compounds (vocs) exposure in building materials hazardous vocs, like butanol, formaldehyde, and acetone, are present in a lot of household items and can pollute indoor air. it is crucial to understand voc concentration and units of measurement to protect public health. for instance, common harmful substances include: formaldehyde: found in pressed wood products and formaldehyde-based resins (such as plywood and fibreboard), which are used to make flooring, paneling, furniture, and other items. acetaldehyde: found in laminates, cork, foam mattresses, linoleum, and other items; used in the manufacture of polyester resins and basic dyes. phenol: found in a variety of products, including vinyl flooring and wall coverings. btex substances: found in many petroleum products, btex comprises benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene. glycol ethers: found in many cleaning supplies, coatings, and solvents. methylene chloride, often used in adhesives. within the confines of human indoor environments, furniture assumes a substantial role. furthermore, one must comprehend both the emissions of building materials and furniture to assess the true amounts of vocs indoors. wood-based panel, adhesive, and surface coating materials are the primary components of furniture, and these materials can release a variety of vocs, such as aldehydes, terpenes, aromatic hydrocarbons, esters, ketones, hydrocarbons, and so on (he, zhang, & wei, 2012). the focus of furniture research is on vocs and the amounts of these emissions (kang and liu, 2017). ho et al. (2011) and song et al. (2015) identified 39 target vocs from five widely accessible furniture brands. the findings demonstrated that the voc contents differed significantly amongst the products. more than 400 different types of vocs were found in the new dorms that (pei et al., 2016) evaluated for long-term indoor gas pollution. the dormitories had recently been furnished. according to (chang et al., 2017), panel furniture was the primary source of tvoc and formaldehyde indoors. moreover, it has frequently been determined that the benzene series comprises most furniture components (song et al., 2015). ultimately, the amount narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 of vocs released by furniture is mostly determined by the constituent materials used in its manufacture, its kind and age, the production method, and how it is stored, transported, and utilized indoors (yan et al., 2019). in a study conducted by (yan et al., 2019) two different types of furniture (a footstool and a bedside table) had their voc emissions measured in an environmental chamber at three different loading rates. the most common substances found in the footstool and bedside table were, respectively, n-undecane and styrene. voc concentrations rose swiftly, peaked in about 1-2 hours, and then declined as emission rates reduced. in a study by (ho et al., 2011), five furniture samples a desk chair, bedside table, dining table, sofa, and cabinet were used to quantify the voc emission rates from common furniture used in homes and businesses during a period of up to 14 days following the two weeks following the furniture's creation. the findings indicated that the predominant components of emissions were toluene and α-pinene, with most vocs showing comparable declining tendencies with time. if measured in terms of vocs, the relative ordering of emission rates for each of the five types of furniture remained relatively constant over time: dining table > sofa > desk chair > bedside table > cabinet. vocs can be harmful to both human and animal health. unfortunately, typical household materials such as some paints, air fresheners, and cleaning supplies release them. when paint is applied, vocs are gradually released over several weeks or months. at least 48 hours following painting, a space may be deemed "high risk" for volatile organic compounds. precautionary steps ought to be followed for a full 72 hours including staying away from the room and not sleeping in it (ghobakhloo et al.,2023). the duration of voc emission following painting is contingent upon several elements, such as the type of paint used, the space in which it is applied, ventilation, the existence of an air purifier, temperature, humidity, and numerous others. paint-related vocs do eventually evaporate when the paint dries on the wall, but this process can take some time, with the majority dissipating during the first six months of application (ghobakhloo et al.,2023). 3.4. volatile organic compounds emitted by insulation materials many common insulation products are used in the construction of off-gas volatile organic compounds (vocs) into indoor air, degrading air quality and posing health hazards. vocs are gases containing elements like carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen emitted from solids and liquids. insulation materials made from plastics, polymers, and some synthetic fibers release vocs such as formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, xylenes, and styrene during and after installation (adamová et al.,2020). exposure to these chemicals can lead to eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, breathing difficulties, nausea, kidney and liver damage, and cancer risks. as buildings aim to cut energy use through increased insulation, understanding these unintended emissions consequences is vital. controlled lab analysis has allowed the quantification of voc emission rates from various insulation materials over time. in a study conducted by (wi et al., 2021) on a 20 m2 test bed, five different types of insulation materials were developed, and the pollutants' concentrations were tracked over time. five different types of building insulation were chosen to serve as the test groups: two types of pf insulation, one type of xps, one type of eps, and one type of pir. through the simulation of unfavorable climatic circumstances, this study attempted to analyze rather clear changes in iaq. the molit's health-friendly housing guidelines state that indoor building finishing materials, like flooring and wallpaper, have tvoc emissions of no more than 0.10 mg/m2 and hcho emissions of no more than 0.015 mg/m2 (wi et al., 2021). the moe has issued the iaq management legislation enforcement regulations, which include emission restrictions for building materials. specifically, the tvoc emission limit for flooring materials and wallpapers is 4.0 mg/m2, while the hcho emission limit is 0.02 mg/m2. the korea air cleaning association (kaca) has devised a collective certification system for healthy building materials. the best rating for tvocs and hcho is less than 0.10 mg/m2 and 0.008 mg/m2, respectively (wi et al., 2021). table 9 displays the tvoc emission data from (wi et al., 2021) utilizing the 20 l small chamber. based on the insulation, the largest tvoc emissions were for pf2 at 0.1727 mg/m2 -h, and for eps at 0.1216 mg/m2 -h. the emissions from pf-2 and eps were less than those required by the emission regulations of building materials for flooring and wallpaper in iaq management (moe). they did, however, surpass the healthy building certification requirements (kaca) and the health-friendly housing construction standards (molit) (wi et al., 2021). table 10 shows the properties of mineral and bio-based thermal insulations. among them, hemp insulation is the one with no known pollution and has no known detrimental effects narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 on health. hemp insulation materials (hims) have gained attention for their environmental benefits (martínez et al., 2022). a study explored the feasibility of large-scale hemp cultivation in canada and the suitability of hims for residential buildings (liu et al., 2023). it is argued that full substitution using 5% hemp fiber insulation (hf) and 95% hempcrete (hc) can mitigate 101% of greenhouse gas emissions caused by existing mainstream insulation materials (mims), contributing to a 7.38% reduction in emissions and aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050 (liu et al., 2023). additionally, hemp-based materials offer lower embodied carbon compared to fossil fuel-based alternatives (martínez et al., 2022). case studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of hemp insulation in real-world applications such as historic building retrofits (johansson et al., 2018; international hemp building association, n.d.). table 9: voc emissions from insulation materials and associated health hazards (wi et al., 2021) insulation material vocs emitted emission levels (mg/m2-h) tvoc (mg/m2-h) tvoc emission duration (0-90 days) extruded polystyrene (xps) foam (34.7 kg/m3) toluene 0.0036 0.021 persist at lower levels for months after installation ethylbenzene 0.0013 xylene 0.0006 styrene 0.0098 expanded polystyrene (eps) foam (35.7 kg/m3) toluene 0.0104 0.1216 reaches its maximum on the 14th day and gradually decreases and achieves a safe level only after 90 days ethylbenzene 0.0163 xylene 0.0047 styrene 0.0687 rigid urethane foam (pir) (36.8 kg/m3) formaldehyde 0.0013 0.0068 persist at lower levels with slight variations on the 14th and 28th day for months after installation phenolic foam pf-1 (38.2 kg/m3) formaldehyde 0.0039 0.0241 persist at lower levels for months after installation toluene 0.0024 phenolic foam pf-2 (33.7 kg/m3) toluene 0.0016 0.1727 gradual increase in emission until the 14th day and then decreases and persists above safe level throughout 90 days. table 10: thermal insulation properties (latif, 2020) type of insulation constituents and manufacturing pollution health impacts mineral wool insulation naturally occurring rocks like basalt or diabase are essential components of rock wool insulation. blast furnace slugs or iron ore are used to make slag wool insulating materials. there will probably be emissions during the curing process if formaldehyde has been used as a binder. the insulation can release any leftover formaldehyde following the curing procedure. mineral wool insulation is categorized by the international agency for research on cancer (iarc) as "b, possibly carcinogenic to humans." the insulating fibers of mineral wool also irritate the skin and eyes. upper respiratory tract infections can also be brought on by mineral wool insulation exposure. hemp insulation bast fibers make up most of the hemp insulation— typically more than 60%— and are both renewable and no known pollution hemp insulation has no known detrimental effects on health. the high moisture buffer capacity of the insulations allows narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 biodegradable. it is possible to combine hemp fibers with other fibers, like cotton, wood, etc. for the stabilization of internal relative humidity, which can improve the quality of the surrounding air. sheep wool insulation between 75 and 90 percent of pre-consumer sheep wool waste from other sectors is used to make sheep wool insulation. sometimes virgin wool is used straight away. as binding agents recycled adhesive binder (about 5%), synthetic binder, or natural latex milk are utilized. boric salts, urea derivatives, or borax (sodium salt) are added to the fabric to increase fire resistance and prevent moth infestation. if the insulation burns, sulfur compounds may be liberated from the keratin, giving sheep’s wool a foul smell. sheep wool's hygroscopic qualities allow it to buffer moisture and maintain a constant relative humidity within. sheep wool's high moisture and gas adsorption ability allows it to also adsorb volatile organic compounds (vocs) like formaldehyde. sheep wool dust can irritate eyes and respiratory tracts if inhaled. 3.5. air tightness, infiltration, and energy performance gap air leakage, defined as the normal unintended movement of air into and out of buildings, is an important contributor to building energy loads that is often overlooked (chan and joh, 2013). the leakage rate is measured in air changes per hour (ac/h), which quantifies the rate of replacement of internal air with external air. temperature differences between indoor and outdoor environments, as well as wind pressures on the building envelope, can increase air leakage rates considerably. a simulation analysis of a wide range of residential and commercial building types by chan et al. (2013) demonstrated the major impact that air leakage can have on energy consumption. by reducing leakage through cost-effective measures such as applying sealants, installing weatherstripping around windows/doors, adding storm windows, or replacing worn-out components, the study found heating and cooling energy use could be lowered by 5-40% (chan et al.,2013). the large range represents differences in building construction and leakiness levels. it is commonly observed that retrofitted buildings do not achieve the estimated energy savings that were computed to guide the design phase or to get energy performance certification (sunikka-blank and galvin, 2012) (van den brom et al., 2017). the "energy performance gap" refers to the discrepancy between the projected (or simulated) and measured (or actual) post-retrofit energy performance of buildings. most studies assess the energy performance in terms of the building's annual energy demand for heating and/or cooling (de wilde, 2014). there are signs that dwellings refurbished using the aforementioned weatherisation procedures tend to deteriorate ieq and contribute to ill health (bone et al., 2010) (richardson and eick, 2006), as well as may lead to energy performance gap resulting in missed governmental targets, increased energy bills, and longer investment pay-back timelines (anastasios and itard, 2018) (majcen, 2016). according to the european commission's policy report from 2016, a lack of information and statistics on ieq in energy-efficient homes may jeopardize inhabitants' health and comfort (kephalopoulos et al., 2016). controlling airtightness, together with thermal insulation of the building envelope and its windows, has been identified as a critical method for achieving energy savings in buildings. this is because space heating accounts for more than half of all carbon emissions in the residential sector. as a result, buildings that allow air seeping and/or heat loss are likely to spend more on heating (pan, 2010). weatherization and restoration programs that are heavily focused on lowering permeability and boosting thermal insulation to save energy can introduce some dangerous factors to the inhabitants' health (ortiz et al., 2020). internal and surface condensation, moisture surplus or dampness, pollutant buildup owing to limited ventilation, radon concerns, and overheating may come from adding internal thermal insulation and increasing building airtightness (ortiz et al., 2020). these ieq problems also become more narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 severe when the mechanical ventilation systems are not correctly planned, installed, maintained, or operated (ortiz et al., 2020). when sealing the home for energy savings, the indoor chemistry of the residence can have a severe impact on the health of the occupants (weschler, 2011). indoor contaminants can become more frequent in an airtight home, in addition to undesired emissions from the insulation components used (marlow et al., 2012). in france, for example, a comparison of the iaq of energy-efficient houses to conventional structures revealed greater concentrations of terpenes and hex aldehyde, probably due to wood or wood-based goods and human activities (derbez et al., 2018). thermal retrofit of dwellings and the absence of appropriate ventilation systems are associated with elevated levels of formaldehyde, toluene, and butane indoors (yang et al., 2020). 4. discussion in the realm of energy-efficient retrofit strategies, thermal comfort, and iaq, insulation plays a pivotal role. the extensive literature review on iaps, air quality guidelines, and voc emissions from insulation materials underscores the critical importance of holistic approaches to building design, construction, and renovation. the multifaceted nature of the indoor environment, encompassing factors such as air pollutants and insulation choices necessitates a nuanced understanding for creating sustainable and healthy living spaces. the diversity of iaps, ranging from pms to different gases, vocs, microbiological organisms, etc. signifies the complexity of maintaining optimal iaq. both outdoor and indoor sources contribute to a spectrum of contaminants, emphasizing the need for comprehensive mitigation strategies. iaq standards and guidelines, as established by reputable organizations like who and usepa, play a pivotal role in shaping building practices. adherence to these standards is crucial for safeguarding public health and preventing the detrimental consequences of indoor air pollution (iap). one of the critical considerations in retrofit strategies is the impact of insulation materials on iaq. the literature highlights that many common insulation products emit high levels of vocs that can adversely affect health. in contrast, hemp insulation demonstrates negligible voc emissions, compared to other materials like extruded polystyrene (xps) foam, expanded polystyrene (eps) foam, rigid urethane foam (pir), and phenolic foam (pf2). moreover, compared to insulation materials based on minerals or petrochemicals, hemp insulation may require less energy during manufacture and result in reduced emissions. this aligns with the broader goal of creating energyefficient buildings while minimizing the environmental impact. insulation materials must not only be environmentally friendly but also effective in enhancing thermal comfort. the results of this study provide significant insights into the role of various insulation materials in enhancing building performance while supporting sustainable development. the findings demonstrate that hemp-based insulation materials not only offer comparable thermal, mechanical, and acoustic properties to conventional materials but also present distinct advantages in terms of sustainability and environmental impact. the significance of these findings lies in their potential to promote the adoption of bio-based insulation materials, contributing to the reduction of the construction sector's carbon footprint. by highlighting the efficiency and benefits of hemp insulation, this study advocates for a shift towards more sustainable building practices. this aligns with global sustainability goals, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting the use of renewable resources. the use of hemp insulation can significantly reduce reliance on petroleum-based materials, thus mitigating their environmental impact. however, several barriers exist that could hinder the widespread adoption of hemp insulation. these include higher initial costs, lack of awareness among stakeholders, and limited availability of materials. addressing these barriers requires concerted efforts from policymakers, industry stakeholders, and researchers to promote sustainable materials through incentives, education, and research investments. future research should therefore focus on developing costeffective production methods for hemp insulation and exploring its long-term performance in diverse climatic conditions. additionally, studies should investigate the lifecycle analysis of hemp insulation to provide a comprehensive understanding of its environmental impact from production to disposal. furthermore, using sustainable materials can enhance iaq, contributing to better health outcomes for building occupants. hemp insulation, and similar insulation materials, could therefore be a viable alternative to traditional insulation materials to simultaneously improve energy performance while mitigating risks of poor iaq in buildings. by narayanan/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 addressing the barriers to its adoption and highlighting its benefits, this research contributes to the broader discourse on sustainable development in the construction industry. future work should aim to further validate these findings and explore innovative solutions to promote the use of sustainable insulation materials. 5. conclusion the comparative analysis of insulation materials reveals a spectrum of considerations. traditional materials such as xps and eps, while effective in thermal insulation, are associated with environmental concerns and potential voc emissions. retrofitting, a key strategy for enhancing energy efficiency and addressing iaq issues in existing buildings, involves the integration of advanced technologies and methodologies. it is a dynamic field that requires careful consideration of multiple variables. the concept of the "performance gap" in retrofitting indicates challenges in achieving projected energy savings. to have a more comprehensive approach to building retrofit, the “unintended” effects of poor retrofit strategies on iaq should be added to the performance gap subject. the complex interactions between retrofit measures, occupant behavior, and long-term building performance underscore the need for ongoing research and refinement of strategies. as sustainable building practices gain prominence, there is a concurrent need for standards and certifications that reflect the broader goals of environmental conservation and occupant health. in conclusion, the synthesis of findings from this study points towards a future where building practices seamlessly integrate environmental sustainability and occupant health considerations. further research is required to assess the combined effects of building design, construction methods/materials, occupant behavior, and outdoor air quality on iaq and their effects on occupant health and comfort. acknowledgment this document is an output from a research project, healthy energy efficient dwellings (heed), funded by the uk research and innovation (ukri), medical research council (mrc) [grant number: mr/y503186/1]. also, the authors would like to thank the newham council, hyde housing association, and iopt limited for supporting the project and providing access to the properties. the abstract of this paper was presented at the environmental design, material science, and engineering technologies (edmset) conference – 1st edition which was held on the 22nd-24th of april 2024. funding declaration this research was funded by the uk research and innovation (ukri), medical research council (mrc) [grant number: mr/y503186/1]. ethics approval the authors have received ethics approval from the ethics committee of the university of east london, for the interviews and surveys that were conducted by the authors. conflict of interest the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references adamkiewicz, g. z. 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(2020). volatile organic compounds in 169 energy-efficient dwellings in switzerland. indoor air, 30(3), 481–491. https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12667 https://upcommons.upc.edu/handle/2117/386418 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2016.08.033 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0144374 https://doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2012.690952 https://doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2017.1312897 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117223 https://doi.org/10.1080/10807039.2018.1476126 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 17 july 2023, accepted: 26 september 2023, published online: 30 september 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i4.975 rethinking for the land: challenges & landscape planning & design opportunities for the flood-affected land of shahzadpur, sirajganj tasnuva tabassum labonno1, sharmin afrooz1, sadia tabassum surovi1, israt jahan1 1bachelor of architecture, chittagong university of engineering & technology (cuet), chattogram, bangladesh abstract several researchers have explored how landscape planning and design can effectively mitigate floods and leverage flood benefits in flooded land. however, these landscape planning opportunities are rarely used and rarely discussed in research areas. generally, the people who live in flood-prone areas are economically dependent on this land. hence, they come back repeatedly after every flood for their livelihood. for instance, bangladesh, which suffers from floods due to its geographical location and topographical characteristics, has yet to learn about the opportunities available for landscape planning & design. in this research, shahzadpur upazila situated near the jamuna river is considered a case, is the most vulnerable and flood-prone area in sirajganj. every year around 20000 people are suffering more or less in shahzadpur. many of them are obliged to do temporary migration and start from nothing all over again. government management response commonly involves riverbank erosion treatment and non-government organization (ngo) funding only for installing tube wells and toilets. moreover, the importance of bringing back resiliency in those lands is diverting backward due to a lack of knowledge and attention. due to many challenges, the research focuses on only landscape planning & design before architecture. this paper presents a strategic framework that will discuss the challenges that need to be overcome and the opportunities to address each. the following three landscape planning strategies are discussed to reduce flood damage: raising the land, creating wetlands, and using agriculture as a buffer. along with this, a mixed-method approach will shortlist the opportunities according to the villager’s needs in terms of implementation. the approaches will introduce the possibilities coming with floods and bring back resilience to the land again. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords landscape design, landscape planning, flood, resiliency, and wetland design.. 1. introduction a flood is a natural disaster that occurs when water covers dry land. it's caused by heavy rainfall, melting snow, levee failure, or storms. the excess water accumulates in ponds, lakes, or abysses, causing them to overflow and drown surrounding areas. floods can cause extensive damage to structures, roads, islands, and power lines. floodwater can also pollute water sources and lead to waterborne diseases. crops can be destroyed, transportation disrupted, populations displaced, and lives lost. according to the report on the mortal cost of rainfall-related disasters from 1995 – 2015, about 2.3 billion people were affected by flooding encyclopedically between 1995 and 2015 (wahlstrom & guhasapir, 2015). on the other hand, floods can have positive impacts on land fertilization and agriculture. despite the periodic flooding, people tend to settle on floodplains because of the economic and environmental benefits they provide, such as food, new growth, and irrigation. flood-prone areas can coexist with floods by creating a sensitive http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i4.975&domain=press.ierek.com labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 landscape design that mitigates damage and fully activates the area, but flood factors must be analyzed before adopting effective measures. among all the multiple, complex, and interrelated two factors that induce and influence flooding are source factors and human factors. source factors include weather, hydrology, and pathway factors including river, land, and topography (schanze, 2006). however, the weather factors are the main factors that mostly affect floods with heavy or sustained precipitation, snowmelts, and other extreme hazards. in bangladesh, there are 230 rivers including 57 transnational transboundary rivers. that is why it is called the land of rivers. ganges (padma), brahmaputra (jamuna), and meghna are the largest fluvial systems in the world. except for some northeastern and southeastern corridors, the topography of the country is primarily flat. there is a change in elevation from 3 to 90 meters above mean sea level (msl) on the land (buet '88 club, 2010). still, bangladesh is prone to floods due to its location, weather conditions, and topography. the country frequently experiences floods, with around 30 to 35 percent of its land surface being flooded each year during the wet monsoon season (milliman et al., 1989). these regular floods are seen as beneficial for bangladesh as they provide essential moisture and fertility to the soil through the deposition of alluvial silt (unep, 2001). agriculture contributes 35% to the gdp and employs 63% of the labor force. however, it faces challenges due to high food demands, agricultural land issues, and population lifestyle. effective landscape planning and design can mitigate flood damage and maximize potential. limitations in flood predictability must be acknowledged. evaluating flood-exposed elements is crucial. this study proposes resilient landscape interventions and analyzes a specific village, haat pachil. the goal is to promote harmonious coexistence with floods. 1.1 the background floods have a tremendous impact on both our environment and society. the havoc they wreak on cities includes the destruction of drainage systems, resulting in the unfortunate spillover of raw sewage into our precious water bodies. however, amidst this gloom, there is a glimmer of positivity. floods, in their peculiar way, contribute to the environment by spreading nutrient-rich sediment onto the topsoil, enriching it, and nurturing its fertility (wikipedia, 2009). the resilient district of sirajganj in bangladesh is an area notorious for its perpetual struggle with floods. while the entire district isn't equally vulnerable, certain upazilas hold a more precarious position due to their geographical location. these include chauhali, kazipur, sirajganj sadar, belkuchi, ullahpara, and shahjadpur, where the impact of floods is felt the strongest. sirajganj, year after year, braces itself for the onslaught of flooding. among the notable episodes in its history are the severe floods of 1949, 1956, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1968, 1974, 1979, 1987, 1988, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2007, and 2008, etched into the collective memory (ndp, 2007). fig 2. map of shahzadpur upazila of bangladesh indicating shahzadpur, sirajganj location, source: banglapedia fig 1. flood map of bangladesh with red marked area labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 the focus of the study is a village called hat pachil, situated in the kajuri union of shahzadpur upazila, sirajganj. this union has a population of 54,765 (as per the 2001 census) and is located between 24°6' and 24°12' north latitudes and 89°40' and 89°44' east longitudes. hat pachil is one of the twenty villages in the union which is located on the banks of the jamuna river and is currently facing the dual challenges of flooding and river erosion. unlike the neighboring villages, hat pachil is not protected by the constructed dam. hence, the selected site experiences both flooding and river erosion, while the other villages only deal with flooding. there has been a newly constructed dam built in 2020 to safeguard the land from erosion and flooding. the dam's elevated height has been determined based on the analysis of flood data from the past 100 years. the village in the case study is vulnerable to natural disasters, putting its residents at risk. the images show the village's location in relation to the dam and the housing patterns within both areas. fig 3. the village of hat pachil is located near the jamuna river, close to the kaijuri badh dam which is mentioned. most of the land in these two villages is cultivable and privately owned. the landowners either lived here for most of their lives or migrated here and bought lands to start anew. the main occupation is farming, with other jobs including weaving, fishing, labor, rickshaw pulling, and small business. however, the land is at risk due to natural hazards and fig 4. dwelling pattern outside of the dam in the case study village hat pachil, kaijuri union fig 5. dwelling pattern inside the dam in the same kaijuri union labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 a lack of backup plans, leaving people and land unprepared to adapt to the environment. the residents here must either relocate or purchase the higher ground. the rainy period of the year lasts for 8.5 months, from march 1 to november 17, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches (source: weatherspark.com). the month with the most rain in sirājganj is july, with an average rainfall of 8.1 inches. there are two crop-growing seasons in floodprone sirajganj district, kharif (may-october) and rabi (november-april). during the kharif season, rice and maize are the predominant crops cultivated in the region. conversely, during the rabi season, potatoes and wheat are the main crops grown in the area. (md. nazmul haque, kaniz fatema and md. ashikur rahman joy, 2022). fig 6. the land use and the flooding zone of sirajganj district, source (crop suitability analysis by adopting geospatial algorithm: a case study of sirajganj district (flood-prone area) in bangladesh, 2022) even though there is an increasing chance of losing the land gradually in upcoming years to the river, they constantly choose to come back to the place every year. insights into their decision-making process to choose the land raised two of the important criteria that are unavoidable and need to be discussed. therefore, this research aims to introduce only landscape design solutions that meet villagers' main criteria as part of their decision-making process before abandoning their land. the main research question of this study is ‘what are the main reasons for deciding to return the land, and what can be done to support the process?’ the two aspects are economic and social criteria which contribute to the decision-making process. 1.2. economic criteria most villagers farm their land, but erosion by the river has caused some to lose their land. those who have lost their land work as tenants in the same community or other fields. during the rainy season, they can work as fishermen, boatmen, or laborers in the main town. relocating costs their savings, and the same amount of farming land is given to every household in relocation projects, which is very minimal compared to what they had before. thus, they lose their financial security and identity in the new place. temporary migration costs them money, time, and strength, instead of saving for a standard of living. another important economic consideration is there is a special occupational community in the case study village haat pachil who are traditional taat weavers. this is a family business and an important profession in shahzadpur upazila. the weaver house generally has a small workshop beside their home where they make local clothes and sell them in all markets locally and in other cities. local people work in their workshops. thus, they contribute to the local and national economy. they are slightly economically improved by the others who are laborers and farmers, and labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 fishermen. but in the rainy season, the workshop needs to be closed for the raised water flooding their yard. for them leaving the land means leaving their identity behind. for those who can manage to buy some land on the closer higher ground their only purpose is to hold on to their family business and not lose economic stability. 1.3. social criteria the social factors of village life are intertwined with both occupational and relational values among neighbors. many residents have lived in the same village for generations, surrounded by close friends and relatives. moving to a new place would mean leaving behind not only a familiar neighborhood but also strong emotional and psychological connections to the land and its people, beyond just economic reasons. community participation is a major thing in these neighborhoods. the people with no earnings can work in other fields and their workshop or at their home as a helping hand. starting a new life in a different location can feel like being born anew. so, it is noticeable that when they are moving to another place together as a neighborhood because they are psychologically and financially dependent on each other. the vulnerability among them is only understandable by those who have suffered from disasters. 1.4. aim and objective living with floods is an inescapable reality of life as they are a natural phenomenon that cannot be completely eradicated. the occurrence of floods leads to the erosion of riverbanks and adjacent land, putting flood-prone areas at risk of eventual land loss. however, despite this, landowners persistently return to their land if it remains for economic and social reasons. this cycle of flooding and gradual land loss forces them into temporary migration, negatively impacting their economic and social well-being. the main objective of the study is to identify the challenges regarding their economic and social consideration and address affordable opportunities, particularly landscape design solutions. it is crucial to keep in mind that the people in the selected village are low-income individuals who are farmers, fishermen, laborers, and weavers who are constantly dealing with disasters. addressing other flood management may not be their top priority as it requires a considerable number of financial resources. nonetheless, properly understanding their land would help them manage the timing of land loss due to natural processes. effective flood management requires identifying flood-prone areas, implementing early warning systems, and minimizing potential damage through proactive measures. however, this requires funding and involvement from authority figures and politicians. on the other hand, landscape design and planning interventions can be done on their land. to successfully attain the objective, it is imperative to take the following steps: recognize the economic and societal obstacles the villagers face and find first-hand solutions they can implement immediately. finding accurate landscape designs that are both environmentally sustainable and financially feasible for the hat pachil village after analyzing other local and international case studies. 2. methodology and materials the study employed a comparative case study research methodology. using multiple data collection methods in case study research allows for comparison between cases and a more comprehensive understanding of the issue (campbell, 2010; yin, 2014). hence, this research utilized a comparative case study approach to suggest landscape design opportunities in the village named hat pachil, shahzadpur, sirajganj. to compare how the practices can be implemented, one national and one international case study is analyzed which offers different types of solutions to address the flood problem. furthermore, both these case studies are chosen to analyze the first-hand landscape solution they offered to bring resilience. the primary data collection methods were document analysis, semi-structured interviews with the villagers focusing on their priority based on their economic and social considerations, and site observations. face-to-face interviews with the villagers who are suffering from natural disasters provided valuable insights into the decision-making process labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 factors. site observations complemented the other two data collection methods and enriched the gathered qualitative data. the interview analysis and the document record identified the challenges and gave the landscape intervention idea. 3. findings 3.1 case studies description cluster village the first case study is a resettlement of dam dwellers in four villages in bangladesh through the development of cluster villages where the whole village was built on raised land. the ground level of this cluster village is 3 feet or 900 mm above the highest flood level. the implementing authority was practical action, an international development group that collaborates with people living in poverty. the village area was 500 decimals (1 decimal is equal to 1/100 of an acre or approximately 40.46 m²). the population was 342 (in a population of 1710) displaced vulnerable dam dwellers have been re-homed in 4 cluster villages with livelihood support. the targeted community was the vulnerable poorest people living beside the dam in the area, such as the landless, displaced, widows, the old, and beggars. they were selected by the community through a well-being ranking methodology. the cluster village is made collaboratively; people excavate soil and sand from one area to build an earth platform. this is done in the dry season, from december to april. the hole where the soil/sand is excavated creates a reservoir that is used by the community for various livelihood initiatives such as fish farming, duck rearing, floating gardens, etc. the cluster housing site is free from the risk of flooding and erosion. land developed by dumping earth considering the highest flood level of the previous 40 years and future factor of safety. 5 decimal lands consider each family for their housing, vegetable cultivation, cow, sheep rearing, fish culture, future extension, plantation, and other purposes. figure 7: a completed cluster village with a center pond for community fish culture. figure 8: husband and wife standing in front of their new house. facilities were placed around several small courtyards in the cluster called sub-cluster. locally available materials and resources involving the local community and other stakeholders. the living space of the dwellers was designed considering their family size and future population and it was done after learning and doing methods. they are considering sub-clusters under the cluster village to create more interaction among the settlers. labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 seattle high point project, west of seattle this project began in 2003 and was completed in 2009. the primary aim is to control runoff and rainwater by establishing porous surfaces and swales. according to records, the system has successfully prevented local flooding since its completion. the seattle high point project combined medium and small-scale management methods. the runoff is reduced and filtered, then runs into the retention pond. high point accounts for ten percent of runoff into longfellow creek. the use of porous pavement on streets and sidewalks retains some runoff and absorbs rainwater into the ground. the swales along the streets and sidewalks are usually six feet wide and one foot deep with grass and gravel which can also help retain water and absorb it into the earth. finally, the gradual slopes direct the remaining runoff toward the retention pond. the retention pond controls the water entry and exit. the water in the retention pond will be filtered and then released into the creek. in other words, it will reduce water emission impact on the creek habitat. the high point project utilizes vegetation and other materials as natural filtration to reduce rainwater runoff. figure 09: drainage diagram.seattle high point community figure 10: swales in seattle high point. figure 11: high point site plan, seattle housing authority 3.2. case studies analyzed and observed location and immediate flood-resilient approaches have been important in two developments. the projects focused on different income groups and areas but both solved local flood issues through landscape solutions. in bangladesh, low-income groups implemented economical and feasible solutions like creating mounds, central ponds, and farming land as buffers. in seattle, a retention pond, creek, and gradual slope were designed, which is easy to maintain and can be used for other requirements. the two chosen case study shows how small-scale management can affect a housing area and people. based on the relationship with natural processes, flood control interventions can be classified into three main types, as outlined by ngai et al. (2017): resistance to natural processes, management of natural processes, and working with natural processes. natural process interventions focus on stabilizing or reinforcing natural processes. they include measures such as assisted recovery and restoring the functioning of natural processes. labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 in some cases, the emphasis is on allowing natural processes to proceed without interference. in low-lying areas with inadequate flood discharge capacity, extending flood storage and detention areas along rivers has proven to be a feasible, cost-effective, and efficient flood control measure. in this study, the interventions primarily focus on managing and working with natural forces. take necessary landscape planning on existing agricultural lands, manage the flood water, store sediment, and use the water thoroughly throughout the year. the next step is to work with the existing built system by raising the land but with proper precaution and buffer, creating necessary land layers, and creating a wetland, and green buffer. by strengthening the land people can live on the land longer and hold on to their socio-economic status. 3.3. site analysis: the study focuses on the village named haat pachil in the kaijuri union of shahjadpur upazila, which is currently experiencing the destructive impact of natural disasters. the union is located between 24o 6’ and 24o 12’ north latitudes and between 89o 40’ and 89o 44’ east longitudes. the village is now 60 acres and around 3200 people live here with approximately 300 households. the annual precipitation rate in the area is approximately 1300 mm. fig 12. site location and site surroundings fig 13. site situation during dry, rainy, and flood season 45% of the land is agricultural land but only revenue is 3% out of that. out of the 50 surveyed households in haat pachil village, 90% have only one earning member, with an average household income of 12000 bdt in 2021. most households consist of 4-5 members, while a significant portion lives in thatched or tin-shaded houses. of the people who are on the land side 20% of people have made their house plinths higher with brick floors. labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 fig 14. hat pachil village site mapping drew in autocad addressing the land use in a different color many families, particularly those with low incomes, have faced multiple temporary migrations due to flooding and river erosion. the riverside household is forced to leave the house during a disaster and these lower-income families settle in temporary squatters established on government land acquired for embankment construction. higher-income households typically buy land away from the riverbank for resettlement. fig 15. migration tendency of the riverside households fig 16 occupation ratio between the professional change and gender due to frequent temporary migrations, most of the population has shifted to working as laborers in others' agricultural fields. this occupational shift is driven by continuous land loss and poverty. the locals primarily rely on individual efforts and community participation for adaptation. landowners in the agricultural sector often rent land from others for cultivation. approximately 25% of the respondents have experienced a shift in their profession, but 12% have not incurred any loss of income during their migration. although the construction of embankments around 2010 provided a sense of security for higher-income households, financial constraints have hindered their completion. it is important to note that embankments alone cannot effectively protect riverbanks unless additional landscape measures are labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 implemented. most affected families have not received assistance from ngos or organizations and primarily rely on individual adaptation strategies. the impact of migration on the livelihoods of lower-income individuals is substantial. some landowners have transitioned to alternative sources of income without experiencing a decline in earnings. erosion-affected families have faced significant losses in agricultural land, and limited efforts have been made to provide financial support or implement protective measures due to budgetary limitations. 3.4 the questionnaire survey: the villagers participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. although the participants had different occupation and income groups, their response was proportionately positioned with similar challenges, principles, and decisionmaking criteria for their developments. risk and economic loss are concerning. the villagers know the criticality the land can face during disasters, and they will lose their land over the years. despite all the concerns they were asked what they wanted as a sufferer. they stated that they did not rely on government funding and non-government funding because the process is lengthy and time-consuming. they want some feasible decision that will hold their land as long as possible so that they can have enough time to save money for their future in different locations. few of them stated that they want to live on the land as long as there is one inch of their land available. choosing the right practice the decision-making process is highly influenced by the practice offered to them. few of them who are economically stable comparatively are willing to spend money to have a resilient practice in their land. but the people who are very low income and have no fixed income source want something where they can work as labor. they preferred something that would have immediate action and would have work in both seasons. so choosing their existing land practice would be the most promising and feasible practice to be resilient. in the work-and-learn process, villagers will participate in designing their own landscape against flood. existing practice increases profitability in order to introduce a new problem, villagers chose their existing practice. they are familiar with the learning and after implementation, the practices are used in other ways which are also low maintenance and no extra effort to learn, and cost-efficient. villagers agree to participate in the implementation process of the existing practice in a better way to increase productivity and profitability. 4. detail landscape design recommendation: programs: 1. raising the land 2. creating wetlands 3. using agriculture as a buffer 4.1 raising the land: due to the growing population, living space is scarce. most households have 5-6 members and there is an economic disparity between them. families with better financial conditions live on higher ground and have more courtyard space and space for their livestock. some families share a courtyard, and those living by the riverside have scattered houses with no planning. labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 fig 17. existing mound situation fig 18. proposed elevated mound and retention pond in between each island labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 fig 19. the gradual design of the proposed elevated island with a wetland and central pond fig 20. the existing site r.l level and proposed island r.l level compared to the river. 4.2 creating wetlands: the land currently has scattered water bodies that are not utilized effectively. in the new landscape design, these ponds and water bodies will be connected and integrated into a cohesive system. during the dry season, some of these areas can be used for agriculture purposes, while during the rainy season, they can serve as floating gardens and water storage areas. the addition of layers of land will help regulate surface runoff and maintain water levels. people can benefit from these wetlands by engaging in activities such as fishing and using the wetlands as water pathways for boats. fig 21. the proposed wetland connecting all the existing waterbody labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 fig 22. the proposed wetland with a floating garden in the rainy season fig 23. the proposed wetland with agricultural practice during the dry season fig 24. the proposed wetland is a water path, fishing pond 4.3 using agriculture as a buffer: the plan is to use agricultural land as a buffer and riverside land will have multiple layers of green barriers with a water creek between them. this aims to slow down the flow of surface runoff water. the green buffer protects the soil and regulates the movement of water. layers in agricultural land will impede surface water, retaining it in wetlands or water creeks for year-round use. floodwater is stored in flooded adjustment fields, with green barriers slowing down water runoff, while the water creek between them functions as a wetland. fig 25. the agricultural buffer surrounding the living land and natural creek barriers along the bank of the river strengthen the soil and create biodiversity. labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 fig 26. creating a green barrier beside the wetland & designing a flooded adjacent field will store surface water and take the flood benefit. fig 27. the small and narrow water creek design will drain the surface run water, making them slow and storing water for farming the land. fig 28. the riverside land should have two layers of green barrier with an agricultural buffer to reduce land loss and to trap the water at different levels labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 5. discussion economic considerations contributing to decision making the design proposed idea is mainly based on the economic consideration of the people who participated in the decision-making. the proposed landscape solution is decided through a constructive questionnaire, face-to-face surveys, and site visits. the main purpose of the study is to introduce a cost-effective landscape solution for lowincome vulnerable people. the macro-level flood management requires funding, authority approval, manpower, and supervision for a certain period. however, working with the natural processes allows the community to engage in decision making how to solve the problem. the main concern was that people were constantly losing their monthly and yearly savings to move to a newer place. but with the new landscape approaches require community participation. it is a work-and-learn process. the necessity of the land to change and the necessity to protect the land is only acquired when the community participates with their knowledge. through community participation, they will save labor costs. the three landscape designs are only chosen because they are already in practice. but with effective measurement and purposes, the land can fight better against flood and erosion. choosing previous practices effectively will require awareness and community participation but no extra investment and no training cost. social considerations contributing to decision making cost-effective and feasible landscape practices will buy time for their land against flooding. the main social concern is to start afresh at a new place with a new identity. an average expected crop will be returned with better land. that will create more opportunities for jobs, for building infrastructure which will strengthen the community. to ensure a sustainable cost-effective resilient community there is a need to shift the focus from the economic focus of developments towards the rejuvenation of their landscape practices. the villagers here have an extra emotional connection but they have minimal effort to increase the land benefits. they were dependent on the resources but took minimal steps to achieve them at the next level. they were looking for available funding which is only for some tubewell construction or toilet construction. the authority did not think through how landscape practices in a better way can minimize surface run water. choosing the right practices will allow the villagers to have their economic and social benefits. 6. limitations this study has a few following limitations: -the proposed landscape design is to create an adaptive environment that can effectively cope with flooding, rather than directly addressing the hazards posed by elevated water levels. some implementations need funding from the local authority or non-governmental organization landscape intervention in a rural context costs more time as it is eco-friendly and cost-effective. this study only focuses on landscape design and planning before any architectural design solutions. only focused on a particular area, so applicability on other land areas might need minor changes 7. conclusion: bangladesh faces increasing flood threats. this paper presents the concept of “landscape resilience” to mitigate risks and damages. the strategy includes adapting and integrating existing processes to effectively respond to different flooding events. given the importance of agriculture to national growth, urgent measures must be taken to protect land and people’s livelihoods. the paper aims to address flood-related problems from a landscape planning and design perspective, and present landscape interventions as solutions. a design model was developed for an existing village to demonstrate how interventions can be effectively implemented with minimal impact on low-income people’s land. the study also examined existing settlement approaches to develop an acceptable design. the site location was considered in the design process, and modifications may be necessary for different locations. labonno/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented in resilient and responsible architecture and urbanism (rrau) – 5th edition which was held on the 20th of april 2023. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval: not applicable. conflict of interest: the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references wahlstrom, m., & guha-sapir, d. 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(2009) government of bangladesh. khatun1, r. khatun1, n. muhammad2*, m.y. uddin2 and m.a.i. talukder3. ect of flooding on human life and environment in sirajganj district of bangladesh, journal of science and technology 13(june 2015): 93-97 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327100423 mst. airen aktara, kanij shohanib , md. nazmul hasan c and md. kamrul hasand*. flood vulnerability assessment by flood vulnerability index (fvi) method: a study on sirajganj sadar upazila doi: https://doi.org/10.18485/ijdrm.2021.3.1.1 md. nazmul haque, kaniz fatema and md. ashikur rahman joy. crop suitability analysis by adopting geo-spatial algorithm:a case study of sirajganj district (flood-prone area) in bangladeshcrop suitability analysis by adopting geo-spatial algorithm:a case study of sirajganj district(flood-prone area) in bangladesh, agjsr 40,4 https://www.emerald.com/insight/1985-9899.htm nilima islam luba1, sharfuddin ahmed1, md. esraz-ul-zannat2. identification of vulnerable areas and communities based on the jamuna riverside erosion: a study of kaijuri union, shahjadpur upazilla, sirajganj district. proceedings, international conference on disaster risk mitigation, dhaka, bangladesh, september 23 24, 2017 yan huang1*, eckart lange2, yichao ma3, living with floods and reconnecting to the water – landscape planning and design for delta plains, journal of environmental engineering and landscape management https://doi.org/10.3846/jeelm.2022.16352 campbell, s. (2010). comparative case study. in a.j. mills, g. durepos, & e. wiebe (eds.). encyclopaedia of case study research (pp. 174 175). thousand oaks: sage. https://www.unisdr.org/2015/docs/climatechange/cop21_weatherdisastersreport_2015_final.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4598-1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-with-natural-processes-to-reduce-flood-risk https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-with-natural-processes-to-reduce-flood-risk https://doi.org/10.15302/j-laf-1-020030 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327100423 https://doi.org/10.18485/ijdrm.2021.3.1.1 https://www.emerald.com/insight/1985-9899.htm https://doi.org/10.3846/jeelm.2022.16352 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 received: 14 october 2023, accepted: 21 november 2023, published online: 31 december 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i2.1037 investigating the transient thermal aeraulic conditions of the ‘sabat’ space in traditional mediterranean cities: the case of algiers’ casbah sabah ali-smail1, moussadek djenane2, noureddine zemmouri3 1ph.d. student, lacomofa laboratory, architecture department, mohamed khider university of biskra, algeria 2research and teaching associate, lacomofa laboratory, architecture department. mohamed khider university of biskra, algeria 3assistant professor, lacomofa laboratory, architecture department, mohamed khider university of biskra, algeria abstract cities are already experiencing the effect of climate change on their seasonal conditions, especially in the mediterranean region where significant temperature increases are being observed. walkability is an essential factor influenced by the global warming impacts and could significantly reshape the course of its magnitude. the current study is a part of a large research investigating the influence of transient thermal aeraulic conditions of ‘sabat’ space, a traditional urban in-between space, on pedestrians’ walking experience in mediterranean cities. the aim is to investigate the potential of sabat in supporting a positive walking experience. the novel ‘thermal walk’ method was carried out to capture the dynamic pedestrian sensations, simultaneously, with mobile micrometeorological within two preselected walking routes in algiers’ casbah. this paper reports the mobile meteorological measurement of the ‘casbah walk’ with the aim of exploring the potential of sabat in generating transient thermal aeraulic conditions. the measurement campaigns were carried out for five days in late december (2022). the campaigns involved a total of 16 assessment points of covered (sabat) and non-covered stops using a set of portable weather station testo 480. results revealed the potential of sabat in generating transient thermal aeraulic conditions within the street, and the significance of air temperature and shade in channeling wind inside sabats. air temperature, mean radiant temperature and relative humidity significantly differ between sabats and non-covered spaces. the wind speed recorded the largest variation. important spatial transitions may result in abrupt thermal aeraulic transients. although current results are limited to warm winter conditions, findings contribute to a better understanding of the use of shade and wind patterns in mitigating prolonged heat exposure and highlight the potential of sabat space, a traditional sustainable device, in creating restorative conditions for walking activity. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review is under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords walkability; transient conditions; in-between; recovery; thermal walk; casbah; resilience 1. introduction cities are already experiencing the effect of climate change, especially in the mediterranean region where significant temperature increase is being observed. large cities are expected to witness a temperature increase of 1.5°c by mid 21st century (revi et al., 2014). this trend is further exacerbated in urban areas due to the effect of urban heat island (uhi) and is expected to reach up 5°c temperature increase based on unchanged current greenhouse emissions (revi et al., 2014). http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i2.1037&domain=press.ierek.com ali-smail/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 temperature rise is affecting both the microclimate and the people, resulting in more frequent hot days, heat waves, and prolonged warm conditions. consequently, outdoor activities and pedestrian’s well-being are threatened. prolonged exposure to excessive solar radiation heat and absence of shading breaks impair the walking experience and pedestrian’s health, leading to serious heat-related risks, i.e., thermal exhaustion and cardiovascular diseases (o’malley et al., 2014). beside the climate, walking activity is strongly related to durations of exposure to solar radiation and the required energy to absorb it, which could add a thermal load supplementary to the energy consumed during the walking process. investigating climate adaptive solutions is becoming mandatory to guarantee present and future healthy environments. improving resilience has been widely cited as a primary goal to tackle challenges related to urban heat increase, encouraging both mitigation and adaptation strategies in cities. resilience stands for the ability to absorb a major shock with the capacity of effective recovery and normal continuity (leichenko, 2011). in the urban context, the challenge of urban planners is to develop resilient strategies capable of facing the ongoing threats of climate change. in more recent applications in urban sustainability, resilience is understood to require flexibility, learning, and change (tyler & moench, 2012). in this perspective, the term resilient is used to highlight the need to design urban spaces able to adapt to a wider range of urban heat in order to absorb, tolerate, and recover from discomfort conditions. under such increasingly hot conditions, many studies are developing climate-responsive strategies under the heatresilient framework (he et al., 2021). heat mitigation strategies are focused on heating reduction and enhancing cooling sources through urban greenery, water bodies, and shading structures. while heat mitigation is important, the need for more adapted solutions has become crucial to face current and upcoming temperature rises. on the other hand, heat adaptation strategies involve taking advanced measures considering the interplay between individuals and their environmental adaptability. after accessing the urban heat patterns, individuals may prefer to change their outdoor activity or reschedule the time to avoid extreme hours (he et al., 2021). outdoor adaptive devices could be also used to screen solar radiation during extreme periods and allow its exposure in ordinary conditions (tomasi et al., 2022). furthermore, the use of adaptable devices or spatial configurations can enhance environmental flexibility, ensuring a diverse range of climate-responsive solutions that vary regularly, whether on a daily or seasonal basis. environmental diversity in urban areas also plays an important role in providing adaptive possibilities to enable tolerance and recovery from thermal stress (nikolopoulou & steemers, 2003). moreover, environmental diversity helps us rethink the process of urban design as adaptive and dynamic, featuring interplays between individuals and their environments. although this may not reduce the totality of heat exposure, it is the most effective approach to enhance pedestrians’ comfort by adopting behavioral and configurational transients that would enhance the resilience and adaptability of urban areas. such increase in adaptive capacity can offer opportunities to experience alliesthesia (de dear, 2011; cabanac, 1971) and psychological adaptation (nikolopoulou & steemers, 2003) which enable the “training” of the capacity to recover. (schweiker, 2020). the current study is a part of a large research investigating the influence of transient thermal aeraulic conditions of in-between (i.e., transitional or semi-outdoor) spaces on pedestrians’ walking experience in mediterranean cities. the present work refers to environmental diversity to investigate climate-adaptive strategies to promote walkability, an essential factor influenced by the global warming impacts and could significantly reshape the course of its magnitude. the “sabat” space (discussed below) in this study will be considered as an adaptive device capable of generating environmental diversity. specifically, its transient thermal aeraulic conditions within the street are investigated, in the context of algiers casbah (algeria). thermal walks were carried out to capture the change in pedestrians’ thermal sensation, simultaneously, with mobile micrometeorological monitoring within two preselected walking routes in algiers’ casbah. 2. literature review 2.1 transient conditions environmental diversity is associated with the notion of passage from one space to another. it is the variation of environmental stimuli generated by the creation of one or several transition zones between the inside and the outside (potvin, 1996). the experience of walking is related to diversity as it is a dynamic movement with transient or constant rhythm in urban areas. recent research has sparked an interest in the significance of investigating pedestrians’ dynamic thermal sensation in response to transient environmental conditions (lau et al., 2019; liu et al., 2021; chun & tamura, 2005; qi et al., 2021, dzyuban et al., 2022; peng et al., 2022). these studies suggested that diversity, within a certain range of variation, is desirable to exercise adaptive capacities. ali-smail/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 while several studies have been conducted to investigate the transient conditions of transitional spaces for long-term occupancy (sinou and steamers, 2004; pitt et al., 2013), there is still a scientific gap in understanding the impact of these spaces for short-term exposure, the case of the walking activity. 2.2 the “sabat” space, what is it? 2.2.1 semi-outdoor space semi-outdoor (or semi-enclosed) space is defined as an “in-between” transitional space that, in the absence of mechanical devices, mediates between indoor and outdoor conditions such as arcades, covered balconies, porches, and galleries (chun (& tamura, 2005, gamero-salinas et al., 2022). thus, creating microclimate thermal conditions in front of buildings (sinou et al., 2004). the significant distinction of this in-between space from the outdoor space is that the latter is exposed to outdoor climate whereas the former is sheltered. according to its spatial attributes, the semi-outdoor space may create transient conditions and generate environmental diversity (sinou & steemers, 2004b). in the literature, semi-outdoor spaces are classified according to their degree of enclosure (sinou et al., 2004) and attachment to the building (sinou et al., 2004; chun & tamura, 2005; pereira et al., 2019), into 3 main types: type 1 contained with the building with one opening (porch, entry atrium); type 2 attached to the building with two or three openings (arcade, covered passage, portico); and type 3 which is not attached to the building with four openings (undercroft, outdoor room, pergolas, pavilion) (fig.1). 2.2.2 definition of sabat the present research will focus on type 2, the covered passage, which is also called “sabat” in north african cities, and “archo” in italian cities. the “sabat” space is a type of semi-outdoor space well spread in the mediterranean region. architecturally, is a lift-up building design within the street resulting in a covered passage elevated by the structural walls of the street’s opposite buildings. the difference between an arcade (fig.1. a) and a sabat (fig.1. b) is that the latter has only two opposite openings. originally, the sabat is an arabic term that refers to a device that allows the creation of additional space attached to a building and bridging the public right-of-way, creating a covered passage (hakim, 2008). this type of space is well spread across the mediterranean traditional cities in north africa, southern italy, and eastern mediterranean towns (fig.2). it is suggested that sabat originated from the need to extend houses when there is no free space on the ground floor in north african traditional towns. the requirement to sustain structures and avoid seismic damage in southern italy may also be one of the reasons to use the sabat and arches as support systems. despite the existing literature on the environmental performance of semi-outdoor spaces in generating microclimates for both indoor and outdoor environments (sinou and steamers, 2004; chun & tamura, 2004; pitt et al., 2013) to the best of the author's knowledge no investigations exist that approach the potential use of sabat space and its significance in creating environmental diversity. figure 1. three main types of semi-outdoor spaces. the shaded part in grey represents the semi-outdoor space, (a) represents the arcade while (b) represents the sabat. ali-smail/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 3. methodology 3.1 study area the study has been carried out in casbah, the historical city of algiers and a unesco (united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization) world heritage site since 1992. casbah is located in north algeria (36°47′00″n, 3° 03′37″e) at 107m, in proximity to the mediterranean sea. casbah is characterized by dense urban fabric, staired streets, the absence of motorized vehicles, and the high presence of sabat spaces, particularly in its upper part. according to köppen–geiger, algiers has a mediterranean warm temperate climate (csa) with humid-hot summers and mild winters (kottek et al., 2006). the prevailing winds come from the north-est in summer and from the northwest in winter. the assessment points were selected to cover a variety of sabat spaces, depending on their typology, orientation, and spatial attributes within two different walking routes. accessibility and quality of sabats and streets, i.e., absence of obstacles, condition, and security, were also considered. moreover, assessment points were selected to capture the variations before and after each sabat. the two selected walking routes are located in the neighborhood area in the upper part of casbah. both walking routes have the same starting point and end differently. route 01 has a total of 350-meter walking distance with 191 stair steps. it starts at “brahim fateh” and ends at the boulevard “de la victoire”, passing by “frere bachara” and “boualam bouchlaghem” pathways. it constitutes 9 street segments, 7 sabat spaces, and 12 assessment points. route 02 has a total of 300-meter walking distance and 186 stair steps. it starts at the secondary pathway “brahim fateh” and ends at the boulevard “de la victoire”, passing by the “frere bachagha” and “rabah riyah” main pathways. it consists of 6 street segments, 4 sabat spaces, and 10 assessment points (fig.1). 3.2 mobile thermal aeraulic measurement this study is based on thermal walks methodology, recently used by scholars for the aim of investigating the dynamic experience of pedestrians walking through streets with transient conditions (vasilikou & nikolopoulou, 2013; liu et al., 2021; dzyuban et al., 2022). the measurement campaigns were carried out for five days in late december (2022), under a clear sky and warm winter conditions, in 2022 and simultaneously with the questionnaire survey. the campaigns involved a total of 16 assessment points of sabat (covered) and non-covered stops using a set of portable weather station testo 480. the data was gathered from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. with an interval of 1h30 and 7-minute ‘stopping time’ (qi et al., 2021; peng et al., 2022). air temperature (ta), relative humidity (rh), solar radiation (tg), and wind speed (ws) were the main collected data during the survey due to their relevance to outdoor pedestrian comfort. data analysis was based on the mean value of the last 3-minute assessment (data was recorded each minute for 7 minutes). wind speed is reported as the highest recorded value during the assessment time. a set of portable weather stations was tailored by the author for the mobile measurements. it consists of the digital multifunction testo 480 with a vane probe (ø 16 mm) with a telescope (960mm) to measure wind speed (ws), humidity and temperature probe (ø 12 mm) for air temperature (ta) and humidity (rh), and a black globe probe (ø 150mm) with 0.95 emissivity, tc type k, to measure globe temperature (tg). the testo 480, the vane probe, and the humidity and temperature probe were fixed on a camera tripod at a height of 1.40 m. the wind speed probe figure 2: examples of sabat in algeria (algiers casbah) and italy (ostuni and bari vecchia). credit: photos taken by the author (2022). photos demonstrate the extended room on the first flour of the housings, resulting in a covered passage. the spatial characteristics and materials used however differ between cities. ali-smail/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 was extended to reach 1.70 m height to simulate the average height of a walking person. the globe probe was fixed in a second camera tripod and was kept 1 meter distant from the first tripod to avoid potential radiation from the instruments. 3.3 pedestrian thermal sensation since casbah is known for its staired street character due to the inadequate topography, walking upward the staired streets was the selected direction for the current study to investigate the least satisfied conditions for the walking activity (fig.1). a total of 20 adult participants aged between 20 and 45 years old (6 males and 14 females) agreed to participate through an online call of research participants. each walk consisted of 1 3 participants with a total of 13 walks. participants were gifted with casbah sticker magnets pack at the end of the walk. upon meeting participants, they were introduced to the questionnaire and were advised to provide individual, quick, and conscious responses at each survey point. participants rested for 10 minutes upon starting the thermal walk. at each survey point, participants recorded their thermal sensation vote (tsv) for the environment according to the ashrae seven-point scale with cold (− 3), cool (− 2), slightly cool (− 1), neutral (0), slightly warm (+ 1), warm (+ 2), and hot (+ 3) . 3.4. data analysis collected data was processed and analyzed using ibm spss version 29.0.0.0. the statistical tests were selected to confirm the following hypothesis: thermal aeraulic conditions differ between, sabats and non-covered stops creating transient thermal aeraulic conditions (1); tsv differs between sabats and non-covered stops (2). descriptive statistics were used to describe the variation in thermal aeraulic conditions between routes and between sabats and non-covered stops (1). since the data exhibited non-normal trends (normality distribution histograms), a non-parametric kruskal wallis test was conducted to detect the variance in the thermal aeraulic conditions among sabats and non-covered stops within among total assessed points on one hand (2); and the variance in tsv on the other hand (2). 4. results and discussion the result section reports the mobile meteorological measurement of the casbah thermal walks with the aim of exploring the potential of sabat in generating transient thermal aeraulic conditions. kruskal wallis test revealed significant insights (fig.3) among the total 16 assessment points (8 sabats and 8 non-covered spaces). the significance level was set to .05. 4.1 the influence of sabat space in creating transient thermal aeraulic conditions both (ta) and (tg) were significantly higher in non-covered stops (ta: h (1) = 6.353, p = .012; tg: h (1) = 6.914, p = .009) (fig.3.a). ta reached its peak values at sabat 7 (24.7°c) in route 1, and at stop 10 (23.9°c) in route 2, while sabat 4 recorded the lowest ta (18.5°c) and tg (18.9°c). tg was also higher at sabat 7 (25.2°c) in route 1, and at figure 3: two selected walking route and the 16 assessment stops on the left. graphical section of the two walking routes that shows the significant presence of staired streets and position of sabats. ali-smail/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 stop 10 (23.7°) in route 2 (fig.2). lower ta and tg inside sabats can be explained by the shade provided by its surface coverage. the shaded area reduced the amount of direct solar radiation exposure and allowed for lower air temperature. in addition to shade, the position of sabat within narrow streets with reduced sky view factor resulted in reducing direct solar radiation exposure. in contrast, sabat 7 was the warmest among sabats due to its n-w orientation and its location between a narrow street and a wide main street (n-w). the marginal exposure to n-w low and direct exposure between 1 pm to 4 pm allowed for more heat absorption. the vertical enclosure of sabat resulted in slower heat release through convection which resulted in warmer air temperature (sinou & steemers, 2004), suggesting that sabats exposed to direct solar exposure tend to trap temperature during warm winter conditions. figure 3.a. shows that among total assessment points, there was no significant difference in ws (h (1) = 1.34317, p = .246). however, ws exhibited a large distribution downward at the bottom of the boxplot while the median was shifted to the upper part of the boxplot, indicating a large variation in wind speed among sabat spaces. wind speed reached a maximum value of (1.1m/s) at sabat (1) and sabat (7) and a minimum value of 0 m/s at sabat 6 (fig.2). moreover, descriptive statistics in figure 2 showed an increase in wind speed at each sabat followed by a decrease in non-covered, with the exception of sabats oriented wnw-ese (sabat 4, 5, and 6) where ws tended to decrease and reached its lowest value at sabat 6. after eliminating sabats (4), (5), and (6) from the analysis, ws significantly varied between sabat and non-covered stops (h (1) = 6.617, p = .010). (fig.3.b). such results reveal the potential of sabat space to generate wind acceleration despite the compact urban layout of casbah. the wind channeling inside sabat could be explained by an aeraulic (mechanical) behavior and a thermal. 4.1.1 aeraulic behavior following the prevailing winds, the acceleration inside the sabat could be explained by the “channeling effect” inside its lift-up design within the narrow streets. one reason is the mechanical nature of the wind flow which passes directly through the lift-up area (du et al., 2017). when wind moves through narrow passages between buildings, it tends to accelerate due to the channeling effect (stathopoulos et al., 1992) and its magnitude is related to building size and configuration, distance, and orientation. in the case of lift-up buildings, such as sabat or a passageway, wind passes at high speed through the openings (lawson & penwarden, 1975). however, sabat 4, 5, and 6 exhibited the lowest wind speed despite following the same orientation of the prevailing winds. this could be explained by the short distance between the 3 sabats and the low height of the void underneath (2 meters). such results go along with chew et al., (2019) findings, where 10 simulations were conducted of lift-up buildings of different void heights while maintaining the same width between buildings of 15 canyons. authors suggested that a 2m void height is insufficient to channel wind speed, void height of 4 m is sufficient for maintaining high pedestrian-level wind speeds along the street, while there was no significant difference for further increase of 4-6 m. these findings suggest that for dense and low sabats, wind flow may be slowed down by the downwash effect from the windward face of downstream sabat in comparison to the first one. although a single low sabat may allow wind acceleration, the wind flow may lose its stream-wise momentum at the nearest opening of the sabat. ali-smail/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 4.1.2 thermal behavior thermal heating plays an important role in controlling wind flow within urban areas. (kim & baik, 2001). shaded sabat is significantly cooler than the surrounding air temperature which may cause the air to create a low localpressure zone in comparison to the surrounding environment. in accordance with (xie et al., 2007) study, when receiving direct solar radiation in a non-covered street, the air in proximity to the ground surface was hotter than in the center of the shaded sabat space. because of the air temperature difference, the hot air moves along the street eventually leading to wind acceleration when reaching the sabat. this suggests that shaded cool sabats, in close proximity to more elevated environmental temperatures, contribute to channeling the wind flow inside the sabat. 5. conclusion in this study, the potential of sabat spaces in generating transient thermal aeraulic conditions within the streets was investigated using mobile meteorological measurement during 5 warm winter days in december 2022. the results show that there is a significant variation in thermal aeraulic conditions between sabats and non-covered streets. air temperature and relative humidity significantly differ between sabats and non-covered spaces. the wind speed recorded the largest variation. the difference in variations could be related to the spatial attributes (i.e., height) of the sabat space, position, orientation, and the conditions of its surrounding environment. important spatial transitions may result in abrupt thermal aeraulic transients. furthermore, results reveal the significance of sabat thermal-aeraulic behavior in creating a wind channeling effect inside sabats. although current findings are limited to warm winter conditions, they contribute to a better understanding of the use of shade and wind patterns in mitigating prolonged figure 4: variation of the meteorological measurement recorded during 5 days in december 2022. measurement stops and position of sabats are also denoted. ali-smail/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 heat exposure and highlight the potential benefits of using sabat spaces in urban design, as an adaptable device, to improve thermal comfort and wind flow. further research is needed to address the effectiveness in different contexts and seasonal conditions. acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented at the urban planning & architectural design for sustainable development (upadsd) conference – 8th edition which was held on the 24th-26th of october 2023. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval: not applicable. conflict of interest: the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references cabanac, m. 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(2013). thermal walks: identifying pedestrian thermal comfort variations in the urban continuum of historic city centers. in proceeding of plea2013-29th conference, sustainable architecture for a renewable future, munich, germany. 10-12. xie, x., liu, c. h., & leung, d. y. (2007). impact of building facades and ground heating on wind flow and pollutant transport in street canyons. atmospheric environment, 41(39), 9030-9049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.08.027 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 4 august 2024, accepted: 4 november 2024, published online: 31 december 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i4.1107 stone town built heritage identity as a stimulus to sustainable urban growth within zanzibar city ali haji khamis1, saija hollmén2, anna koskinen3, ledia nimri4 1urban and environmental planner at the department of urban and rural planning zanzibar and a phd researcher at aalto and rmit universities. 2professor of practice in humanitarian architecture at aalto university. 3architect and researcher at tampere technical university. 4urban planner at united nations human settlement in jordan. abstract stone town, located in unguja island, zanzibar, is one of east africa's oldest towns, showcasing swahili urbanism and culture influenced by arab, european, indian, and african heritage. its unique architecture reflects a rich cultural diversity shaped by historical trade and economic activities. despite its appeal to residents and visitors, the rapid urbanization of zanzibar city poses a threat to stone town's historical identity. this study explores the crucial role of stone town's heritage in promoting sustainable urban growth and how local perceptions of heritage values influence future development. through qualitative methods such as interviews and participatory workshops, this research illustrated how conserving stone town's heritage can shape zanzibar's urban future. the findings reveal that stone town holds significance beyond its architecture, deeply intertwining with residents' way of life and their desire to see similar patterns in the new parts of the city. this study is part of an ongoing phd research project focused on proposing comprehensive planning frameworks to integrate heritage conservation into urban policy, ensuring the city's cultural, social, economic, and environmental sustainability. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords swahili urbanism; stone town built heritage identity; urban growth; perception on cultural identity, zanzibar city 1. introduction stone town, located on the east african coastline, is one of the region's oldest towns, distinguished by its unique spatial patterns and town development (battle & steel, 2001). historical influences have played a unique role in shaping zanzibar city, especially stone town, influencing its growth patterns and cultural characteristics. the architectural heritage values in stone town exemplify the swahili urbanization, highlighting the cultural identity of its residents (rashid & shateh, 2012; sheriff, 1995). the town's tangible and intangible cultural richness has garnered significant recognition both locally and internationally. since 2000, it has been designated as a unesco world heritage site (unesco world heritage convention, 2000). yet, with the escalating threats of rapid urbanization, particularly the neglect of cultural values in planning practices, stone town risks losing its cultural legacy. the decline of cultural http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i4.1107&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ khamis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 values is also evident in other heritage towns in tanzania, like pangani, which shares similar cultural origins (chami & mjema, 2024). the obstacles faced by heritage sites are diverse and differ across regions. sustaining the status of these sites has proven to be challenging in many parts of the world, owing to a variety of factors such as political decisions, investment pressures, and the impacts of climate change (unesco, 2024; unesco world heritage convention, 2007). however, it remains crucial to prioritize preserving cultural heritage sites, including built heritage, as they are not just historical artefacts but also essential drivers of socioeconomic and spatial development (tweed & sutherland, 2007). the significant contributions of conserving the authenticity of heritage sites are evident in various aspects that support human lives (al-sakkaf et al., 2020). since the 1990s, zanzibar city has undergone significant unplanned urban expansion, particularly in the new city center adjacent to the historic stone town and its surrounding areas. the 2022 population and housing census reported that zanzibar's urban growth rate has reached 48% (tanzania, 2022). however, over 80% of this growth has occurred informally, as previous studies have indicated (kukkonen et al., 2018; scholz, 2006). the primary reason for this rapid growth is the increase in population, which has reached 1.8 million at a density of 768 persons/km², making zanzibar the most densely populated region in africa (tanzania, 2022). furthermore, the three municipalities that constitute zanzibar city—urban, west 'a', and west 'b'—are home to approximately 819,944 residents, with around 13,715 individuals living in stone town (review, 2023; tanzania, 2022; the united republic of tanzania, 2022). continued population growth has led to increased demand for basic social amenities, stress on the built cultural heritage, and environmental degradation (ali & sulaiman, 2006; myers et al., 2020). the deputy director of zanzibar city, who oversees urban planning, stated that "..., stone town's built heritage exemplifies a sustainable model of urban growth, characterized by its carefully planned patterns and construction techniques. however, in the past two decades, rapid unplanned urbanization has rapidly eroded stone town's cultural identity, driven by increasing social and economic demands. for instance, the rising focus on tourism investments has led to modifications of historic buildings to accommodate modern hotel needs, which significantly undermines the authenticity of stone town's architectural identity" (deputy city director, interview, 11th march, 2024). the lack of synergy between planning regulations and conservation efforts has led to the deterioration of historically significant buildings like the house of wonders (also known as beit eljaib) and the people's palace, once the sultan of zanzibar's residence in the 19th century. these structures among others are now in serious disrepair. scholars have affirmed that declining state of historical buildings, such as the house of wonders, has raised significant concerns for both residents and visitors (chami & lyaya, 2015; longair et al., 2023). inefficiencies in spatial planning and conservation practices have worsened violations of heritage regulations, leading to a decline in the authenticity of the built environment. effective spatial planning in stone town could establish important benchmarks for the city’s overall growth and promote inclusivity, yet it is often overlooked. in contrast, new developments in the contemporary area of zanzibar city have occurred in an ad hoc and unstructured manner, primarily driven by population growth as well as political and business demands (haji et al., 2006; myers, 2023). this has led to a fragmentation of the social fabric among residents, particularly following the introduction of gated neighborhoods. against this backdrop, the main objective of this study is to highlight the significance spatial values of stone town's built identity, which has often been overlooked in planning policies and practices. the study answers two main questions that are: i. what is the pivotal role that the built heritage of stone town can play in fostering sustainable swahili urban growth? and ii. how do the community's perceptions and values of the heritage site impact the city's future growth? the possible answers to the research questions may highlight the community's priorities and define the key concerns that should be considered when creating sustainable development strategies for zanzibar city, ensuring they are effective, impactful, and inclusive. although the revolutionary government of zanzibar has developed plans like the 2015 zanplan to promote sustainable growth and counter unregulated development, challenges remain (dourp, 2015). still, there is room for improvement in prioritizing the promotion of cultural identity to encourage more compact and inclusive sustainable growth patterns. as previous researchers have argued, cultural identity is vital in enhancing the sustainability of city growth (abdurahiman et al., 2024; juma & turner, 2019; tweed & sutherland, 2007). therefore, zanzibar city's spatial dichotomy, encompassing stone town and the other side (known as ng'ambo in swahili language) where the city's expansion and contemporary developments occur, requires a comprehensive understanding of the spatial relationships and influences these parts have on each other (folkers & muhammad, 2016). the land use planning in stone town has been designed to ensure that residents have convenient access to all essential amenities (dourp, 2015). thus, embracing the compact design seen in stone town, characterized by a high level of mixed uses, can promote khamis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 equitable access to essential services and enhance the city’s resilience amidst ongoing urban developments (juma, 2020). this form of growth is essential for zanzibar city to achieve sustainable urbanization by enhancing compact urban patterns, ensuring the resilience of built structures, and fostering the protection of cultural identity. consequently, this research has provided a clear understanding of the connections between planning practices and heritage conservation, emphasizing the need to recognize built cultural identity in the planning process. 1.1. stone town as sustainable urban growth model enhancing the protection of stone town's built cultural identity against the impacts of rapid urbanization is crucial for the sustainability of zanzibar city. the limited capacity of the planning department and city management authorities to address the challenges of rapid urbanization has heightened the demand for essential services. if these trends continue, the growing needs could exacerbate social inequality, cultural decay, and environmental degradation in the city. for instance, significant demands, like the tourism industry modernizing old buildings to meet current standards, have slowly eroded the authenticity of stone town's historical cultural heritage. furthermore, like other heritage sites, stone town has encountered numerous challenges stemming from inadequate management, environmental degradation, and political influences (chami & mjema, 2024; falk & hagsten, 2024; unesco world heritage convention, 2007). an evident illustration of these influences is the escalating impacts of climate change, such as floods and seawater intrusion in various parts of zanzibar city. seawater intrusion has emerged as a significant concern in recent years, leading to a severe shortage of clean and safe water. despite the daily requirement of approximately 125,043,660 liters of water for zanzibar city alone, the available water from sources amounts to only about 52,297,139 liters, creating a substantial deficit (tanzania, 2022). consequently, many residents have resorted to drilling wells to alleviate the impacts of water scarcity. however, as noted by cobbinah et al. (2015), their actions have resulted in the salinization of many wells due to the spread of seawater intrusion and excessive pumping that minimizes the chances of aquifer recharge. as a result, the salinity issue has extended to affect various parts of the city, including stone town. also, as releveled in the study by khamis et al. (2022) that increase in sea level rise for 36 years is nearly 1 meter as depicted in figure 1 which has resulted to salt water intrutions in many part of the island including the stone town. these challenges place an increased burden on the government to ensure adequate service provisions. figure 1: the trend of sea level rise for the last 36 years (source: khamis et al., 2022, reproduced with permission). this study, therefore, as previously mentioned in the objective, champions the need to value the significant contribution of stone town's built heritage identity to various aspects of city growth. forexample the town's historic buildings' architectural designs and spatial layout provide valuable lessons on relying on environmental systems to regulate environmental conditions. implementing eco-friendly techniques is crucial in addressing tropical climate issues, particularly the impacts of climate change (lanchester, 1923). also, it was confirmed that the built environment of stone town was purposefully designed to harness natural environmental processes, including temperature regulation khamis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 and ventilation within the buildings see (battle & steel, 2001). additionally, building designs adhered to a height hierarchy, with most structures being no more than two stories high, enabling the natural aeration system to function effectively despite the compact growth form (siravo, 1996). as a result, the design of stone town ensured an energyefficient of the buildings. the energy-efficient characteristic highlights diverse skills and technological advancements from the 19th century, which are pertinent to the city's development, especially considering the contemporary concerns regarding energy availability and increasing energy demand (sviluppo & society, 2020). furthermore, the sewage system introduced in the 19th century served dual purposes as a waste control system and as a mitigation measure to manage flooding within stone town (khamis et al., 2022). collectively, these studies demonstrate how the knowledge gained from the spatial plan and building designs of stone town can aid in the establishment of a robust nature-based system to promote sustainable urban growth. recognizing the contribution of local identity is essential in shaping planning visions for sustainable urban growth. similarly, understanding the communities' perceptions can be equally valuable in shaping zanzibar city's future development. sharing local knowledge and techniques can provide a foundation for implementing the plans that have been proposed for future development of zanzibar. for instance, in the context of island planning practices, muhammad (2015) emphasizes the importance of formulating spatial plans based on the principles outlined in the national spatial development strategy (nsds). as depicted in figure 2 of the zanzibar nsds pillars, this strategy prioritizes four fundamental dimensions: people-centric development, investment, growth, and environmental sustainability. aligning planning practices with this strategy aims to enhance sensitivity to sustainable urban growth by embracing local identity. by pursuing this form of growth, the ownership of the proposed plans can be enhanced, facilitating their implementation. understanding the local identity is pivotal in contributing to effective urban growth. therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a foundation for an ongoing phd research project that focuses on the role of planning in conserving the built cultural heritage of stone town in the face of rapid urbanization. the study aims to bridge the gap between the planning process and built heritage conservation initiatives by proposing effective planning frameworks. by highlighting these connections in planning frameworks, it is hoped that the implementation of the zanzibar urban policy and the zanzibar building codes will be improved. additionally, the incorporation of local cultural identity in growth and the enhancement of local capacity to withstand and resist the impact of rapid urbanization and climate change are important goals of this research. figure 2: the zanzibar national spatial development strategy pillars, source (dourp, 2015) reproduced with permission. khamis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 2. materials and methodology stone town, which represents swahili culture, is crucial for driving urban growth in zanzibar city. recognizing the importance of this historic town, it was necessary to understand the community's perceptions of the values existing to build identity in their lives as residents. as emphasized by sumartojo and pink (2018). understanding the research context is key to gathering genuine data and valuable insights. therefore, this study utilized expert interviews and a participatory planning approach to explore how stone town's built heritage identity could support zanzibar city's urban development. in this study, the researcher used semi-structured interviews and participatory workshops. the semistructured interview questions were especially advantageous in the following ways: first, using semi-structured interviews allowed the researcher to gain valuable information from the participants as they focused and provided more information on the issues concerning this research. hence, it helped to prevent the participants from providing unnecessary information despite their in-depth explanations. second, the researcher engaged the participants to fully express their perceptions without seeming provocative or linked with political views. therefore, all the participants comfortably contributed by sharing their knowledge and experiences, knowing that their contributions would be presented anonymously. all the participants filled in the consent form, in which they agreed to the researcher's use of the collected data solely for this research, which was obtained at the beginning of each workshop. the researcher selected a specific group of residents to participate in participatory planning workshops based on various characteristics such as age (18 and above), gender, knowledge or experience of stone town, and political affiliations. the workshops were divided into three sessions, each with 15 participants, totaling 45 individuals. to illustrate, the first 15 participants were residents of stone town and the new city center, the next 15 were individuals with rich experience in stone town, and the final 15 had strong political affiliations. these participants were selected from the community through the ward or shehia leaders (shehia is a swahili word that refers to the grassroots administration level). the workshops were co-designed with participants from aalto university's wit programme who conducted a study titled "stone town in the eye of the beholder" and conducted in collaboration with pamoja youth initiatives, a local ngo, to build trust and ensure objectivity in learning from the participants. during the participatory planning workshops, the participants were divided into small groups of five and given a simple map of stone town (see figure 3). the facilitators supported each group to identify important places, memories, and aspirations that are closely linked to this old town.this exercise aimed to help the researchers understand their perceptions of the built heritage identity. through this intensive exercise, the participants also shared their experiences within the groups and concluded by suggesting the best approaches to replicate these values in other areas within the city and the island as a whole. the workshops were documented through video and voice recordings, as well as photography. the diverse group of participants allowed the researcher to capture different perceptions of the built heritage identity and its roles in the urban development of zanzibar city. their knowledge and aspirations had a profound influence on highlighting the values of the old town and its potential for future growth. these inputs from the selected sample form the basis of the ongoing research aimed at suggesting planning frameworks to enhancing the conservation of heritage values and identity. in case of experts interviews, this research actively engaged various stakeholders, including government experts and non-governmental participants, in the interview sessions. the interviews included urban planners from the department of urban and rural planning of zanzibar (dourp), the deputy city director responsible for urban planning, and conservation officers from the stone town conservation and development authority (sctda). additionally, environmental experts from the zanzibar environmental management authority (zema), an arts instructor from nyumba ya sanaa zanzibar (zanzibar house of art institute), and development control officers from the development control unit were also part of the process. involving non-governmental actors, the interview sessions included the chief of the africa unit at unesco (unit: clt/whc/afr), conservation engineers from the stone town conservation society, architect from hifadhi zanzibar, archaeologists, artists, and local tourism operators from the colour of zanzibar. these diverse participants have made significant contributions to understanding the core values of stone town's culturally built identity, providing invaluable insights for zanzibar city's sustainable urban growth. in conclusion, the participatory workshops and interviews were aligned with the research questions to that help the researcher understand the importance of continuously protecting the built identity of stone town. this involved exploring perceptions of how preserving the city's heritage values could contribute to social, cultural, spatial, and economic sustainability in zanzibar city. gaining these insights is crucial for developing effective strategies for khamis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 achieving sustainable urbanization. previous studies have highlighted the importance of embracing the local identity of communities in promoting sustainable urbanization (tweed & sutherland, 2007; unesco, 2016). hence, through participatory planning workshops actively encouraged by the department of urban and rural planning zanzibar since its establishment in 2009, the researcher has been able to exchange knowledge with the participants. figure 3: the group discussion among the participants identifies their most important places and experiences linked to the stone town-built heritage identity. (source author march 2024). 3. results the results from the analysis of the collected data are presented in two main categories. the first category examines the spatial layout and functions of stone town that could be replicated in other parts of zanzibar city to enhance sustainable growth and efficient land use. the second category focuses on the community's perceptions, emphasizing the significant role of cultural identity in urban development. the paper concludes that zanzibar city's sustainable future is closely tied to its built cultural elements, emphasizing the importance of these two categories. 3.1. the stone town spatial pattern’s roles to zanzibar city growth stone town, initially a small fishing village, has evolved into a bustling urban center, setting a positive example for sustainable urbanization in the newly developing areas on the other side of zanzibar city.the architectural design of the buildings in stone town promotes social and economic development, as well as provides essential services for the residents. in addition, the report by sviluppo and society (2020) affirmed that the stone town architectural style, urban planning patterns, and layout have given stone town a renewed compact character (see figure 4 for stone town planning layout from 1958). this compact growth is crucial for enhancing resilient and sustainable urban settings, making stone town one of the most effectively planned town within zanzibar city. furthermore, many buildings in stone town have unique stories and have adopted sevearal uses. for instance, the old fort, built in 1710 by the arabs from the remnants of the portuguese chapel, is a grade 1 building with a rich history and versatile characteristics. the fort was expanded in the 19th century, allowing the accommodation of various functions, including serving as a prison and housing the sultan's baluchi bodyguards. additionally, the area outside the fort once housed the main market before the construction of the darajani markets (zanzibar walks, 2018). khamis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 4: the 1958 stone town planning layout was obtained from the national archive in zanzibar in 2024. stone town was carefully planned with infrastructure and services to effectively support its residents. for example, the railway line that served from 1905 to 1928 connected stone town to the vicinity area (siravo, 1996). although this train was later removed, currently the government has been revising the possibility to reintroduce the train services following the extensive city growth caused by the population increase. with this regard, it is apparent that zanzibar city future development initiatives are intricately linked to past initiatives. stone town has a special character, with buildings grouped closely together, connected by open spaces and narrow streets see figure 5, and beautiful sea views. this layout creates a wonderful experience for both residents and visitors. these buildings serve as tangible evidence of the mixeduse character within stone town, accommodating various activities and social needs. the town's narrow streets, influenced by a blend of designs rooted in diverse cultures, such as oman's, contribute to its unique scenery and promote tranquillity in mobility and accessibility (oers, 2013). socialization is facilitated by using baraza in these streets, ("baraza" is a swahili word that represents communal gathering places) where communities gather to converse, enjoy coffee, and exchange ideas (steyn, 2001). the city's structure is adaptable, fostering interaction and inclusivity, which remains a significant achievement today. khamis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 5: the night view of hamamni street within stone town (source: author, march 2024) 3.2. the perceptions of communities on the stone town built cultural identity the built heritage of stone town is not just about its historic buildings and architectural beauty; it embodies the core values and distinctive identity of the local community. the intangible cultural aspects, such as communal interactions, dining, dancing, and worship, harmoniously blend with the built heritage values. consequently, this enduring cultural legacy has transformed stone town into a place for family connections, education, work, leisure, and sustainable growth in harmony with nature, to name a few. as taylor and lennon (2012), remarked that one of our profound needs is a sense of identity and belonging, with their study emphasizing human attachment to the landscape and how we derive our identity from it. also as commented by jackson (1994, p. 151), "most of us, i suspect, without giving much thought to the matter, would say that a sense of place, a sense of being at home in a town or city, grows as we become accustomed to it and learn to know its peculiarities. it is my belief that a sense of place is something that we ourselves create in the course of time. it is the result of habit or custom". the following sections—family life, social and spiritual life, economic activities, urban planning patterns, nature, and contributing to local identity—are based on opinions and insights from residents. these were collected during participatory planning workshops and interviews in this second category. 3.2.1. stone town history intertwined with family and homestead stone town has become home to many local families, thriving culturally and economically. due to the proximity of essential services, a substantial number of people have chosen to reside in this town to take advantage of the opportunities it offers. the presence of local communities, with family as a fundamental social unit, plays a pivotal role in shaping individuals and their involvement in the collective life of the community (sviluppo & society, 2020). families often establish long-term roots in the same home, weaving a rich tapestry of personal and collective history. a profound sense of belonging is deeply ingrained in these multi-generational households, which are revered not only as physical historical spaces but also as guardians of the family's heritage. they foster the evolution and prosperity of their support system. elders impart wisdom and traditions to younger generations. this support system extends beyond the immediate family to encompass the wider community, where neighbours and friends also contribute to a network of support and solidarity. at its core, the home serves as the foundation of this interconnected system, offering individuals and families the resilience and strength required to navigate life's complexities. as highlighted in the participatory workshop: “stone town holds great significance for me, as it evokes memories of my childhood and family. growing up in a building where numerous families resided has shaped me into a considerate individual, teaching me the values of kindness and harmonious coexistence with others" (workshop participant, 2024). additionally, the interview with deputy city director dealing with urban planning revealed: "the old-built heritage khamis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 part of stone town once served as a thriving hub for robust social connection, with unique architectural designs that induced joy and comfort for residents and visitors. these places were fragranced with unique aromas such as oud and cloves scent. this is where you get this saying: the town with clove scents (mji wenye marashi ya karafuu in swahili language). therefore, i believe it is important to continue considering these cultural elements in the expanded part of the city, as they hold significant meaning that represents the social and cultural identities of the communities" (interview 11, 3, 2024). therefore, this study strongly emphasizes that future urban planning initiatives in zanzibar city must not only embrace the diverse form of growth but also consider social-cultural values. as keeton and provoost (2019) rightly pointed out, no new urban growth should be isolated, indicating the need for linking crucial aspects such as culture to the overall growth, hence representing the cultural identity. similarly, a 2016 report by unesco highlighted that embracing traditional cultural practices, such as vernacular architecture, is essential for maintaining community wellbeing and achieving sustainable, resilient urban environments (unesco, 2016). 3.2.2. stone town as spiritual and religious place spirituality and religious life are considered sources of relief, support, and gratitude, bringing a certain level of peace to the lives of the people of zanzibar. religion is practiced everywhere: at homes, mosques, churches, and madrasas. religious spaces serve not only as centers of worship but also as places for learning and social encounters (koskinen & nimri, 2024). in stone town, there are around 51 mosques safeguarded under the islamic waqf system (khalfan & ogura, 2012). these mosques are distributed in nearly every ward in stone town (akasheh & izady, 1996). the mosques, as essential institutions, have many purposes that are not only limited to prayers but also play a role in encouraging individuals to engage with praying and religious teachings. apart from the mosques, there are two main churches and two indian temples in stone town (hitchcock, 2002). as a testament to the cultural differences and fusion of the community, the people of stone town have displayed maturity in religious tolerance. residents have been respecting each other's religious affiliations while interacting with harmony, making the town a conducive living environment for residents and visitors alike. during the co-design participatory session, it was revealed that the presence of mosques, churches, and other religious foundations has meaningful significance for social growth and urbanism in zanzibar. "i have prayed in this mosque for many years, finding peace and connection with each visit. the presence of many mosques in stone town has made me appreciate it more. i have learned to respect others' faith, as this is a knowledge taught in islamic teaching, which i acquired during the time i attended madrasa" (workshop participant, 2024). furthermore, an interview with the conservation engineer from the zanzibar stone town heritage society (zsths) affirmed: "the community in stone town has been shaped with a great deal of tolerance for each other's religious affiliations. i believe that the allocation of land uses, architectural design, and social integration has blended perfectly to form a culture that is rare to see elsewhere in the world. zanzibar is blessed to have this town, and many lessons could be learned and replicated for the future growth of the city" (interview 25.03.20234). stone town's urban layout and architecture have significantly fostered an inclusive, lively, and sustainable swahili culture and urbanization. these principles can inform the development projects for the new zanzibar city. as noted by juma (2020), a shift in the planning strategies in zanzibar could emphasize the effective integration of cultural aspects that embody the local identity 3.2.3. stone town as centre for economic activities stone town continues to provide a wide range of economic opportunities for the locals. traditional trades such as fishing, arts and crafts, and commerce coexist with modern service jobs. as one of the oldest port towns in the east african region, stone town has a rich history of fostering a favorable environment for economic activities (kelly, 2017). the concentration of economic activities, particularly those related to tourism, has highlighted the need for a more secure environment to support the thriving sector (mahmoud, 2019). although economic activities in stone town have led to some challenges, the government aimed to address this by proposing the nodes development strategy outlined in the new city master plan called the zanplan (dourp, 2015). the 2015 proposed nodes development strategy, depicted in the figure 6, have identified potential space to promote equal distribution of services through spatial expansion and attract more economic investment. however, the realization of this growth vision is still pending. stone town remains the central thriving business region of zanzibar city. khamis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 figure 6: the 2015 proposed nodes development strategy that cater to compact growth as manifested in stone town (dourp, 2015) reproduced with permission. during the co-design workshop sessions, one of the participants expressed her thoughts about stone town, saying, "i believe stone town is an important place that supports many people's economic needs. as an artist, i started my crafting activities in 1996 located at the old fort. along with my three partners, we have grown in these activities and have witnessed many changes over time. i am so reluctant to move to a different location because, for now, stone town continues to provide a conducive business environment despite some existing challenges" (workshop participant, 2024). moreover, the director for conservation at stone town conservation and development authority highlighted in an interview that, "the growth patterns, architectural styles, designs, materials, and techniques employed in stone town provide crucial aspects to consider for the city's new spatial plan. it is essential to develop actionable planning recommendations for the sustainable conservation of the city’s built heritage identity, especially considering the pressure from rapid growth and tourism affecting stone town" (interview 22.03.20234). it is clear that the new city centre in zanzibar city would benefit from inclusive urban development and ensure equal economic opportunities for all residents. achieving this form of growth will enhance the improvement of social-cultural wellbeing and result to attain sustainable urbanization. 3.2.4. stone town urban planning patterns and fabrics stone town's urban planning patterns and diverse architectural styles cater to multifaceted functions and support the residents' needs. the town's pattern of spatial growth is not just historically significant but also provides inspiration for the sustainable development of zanzibar city. according to al shawabkeh et al. (2023), cultural elements have the potential to stimulate future sustainable growth. in the context of stone town, the architectural and planning values are of significant aesthetic importance and hold valuable knowledge for researchers and experts (juma, 2018). for instance, the narrow alleys of stone town are not just pathways of transportation but also the lifelines of social activity (siravo, 1996). replicating these growth patterns have the potential to contribute to inclusivity and vibrancy in other parts of the city as well (folkers & muhammad, 2016).during the co-design approach, a participant raised: "the slender alleyways of stone town hold great significance for the local community, as these spaces provide communal platforms where locals convene to sit on benches, socialize, cook, and enjoy meals together" (interviews with local tour guide, 17.3.2024). furthermore, a comment from the deputy city director highlighted: "a stone town planned and built patterns have succeeded in integrating the functions intended. within zanzibar city stone town stands as a manifestation of smart urban growth and urbanism" (interview 11, 3, 2024). as a result, this study asserts that the cultural identity of stone town, as evidenced in its architectural design and urban development patterns, serves as the foundation for the sustainable urban growth of zanzibar city. the urban development initiatives in zanzibar city could be enhanced by prioritizing diversity and aligning with cultural values.this approach to growth will enhance a sense of inclusion, vibrancy, and lead to resilient urban development. khamis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 3.2.5. appreciation of stone town's natural beauty zanzibar's islands are home to a truly captivating, breathtaking natural environment. the islands feature stunning beaches, lush forests, and significant cultural landmarks, making zanzibar a unique destination with intricate ecosystems (zema, 2021). the island's exceptional environment is linked to the cultural elements in places like stone town. as a notable historical site, stone town beautifully embodies the island's rich heritage by seamlessly blending historical values with intangible elements reflected in the residents' way of life. the local community's deep connections to and profound appreciation for stone town's natural surroundings are undeniable. zanzibar's natural heritage not only plays a crucial role in the residents' lives and heritage but also presents a range of economic, recreational, cultural, and educational opportunities (barrsäter, 2013). this connection is essential for cultural traditions and is the foundation of local identity. as one participant mentioned about forodhani park located in stone town. "forodhani park holds a special place in my heart as it used to be a frequent destination for my family and me to bond and create cherished memories. the park's tranquil environment allowed us to partake in various activities such as playing, swimming, snorkeling, and enjoying meals outdoors, leaving behind a lingering sense of joy. in few words i would say forodhani park symbolizes the potential for community integration" (workshop participant, 2024). another participant said, "the unique building structures and open spaces have always fascinated me to the point that i stayed young in stone town. the existence of a public park, such as the jamhuri garden, reminds me of my schooling time. i often had discussions related to my studies with my colleagues there. i wish to see such urban characteristics replicated in other places, as they help many people engage, relax, and conduct their activities" (workshop participant, 2024). careful urban planning that includes developed areas and open public spaces is crucial for creating vibrant and resilient city landscapes, especially in addressing the impacts of climate change in zanzibar city. 3.2.6. the stone town cultural heritage and local identity the historical buildings in stone town serve as a tangible connection to the past, grounding residents in their roots and the defining events that have shaped their present. therefore, this study argues that conserving heritage involves more than just protecting architectural features; it also requires recognizing the stories these buildings hold. understanding their cultural significance as living parts of the community is equally important. the rich cultural values underscore the need to establish linkages between the urban growth patterns of the old town and the proposed new city center to ensure sustainable growth and the protection of cultural heritage (juma, 2018, 2020; juma & turner, 2019). the shift in planning focus from the integrated nature seen in stone town to the creation of exclusive gated neighbourhoods in the newly planned areas of the city has led to various issues, including the erosion of the cultural identity within zanzibar city (haji et al., 2006). furthermore, urban planning trends in zanzibar city have yet to realize the sustainability of cultural and growth patterns due to ongoing pressures and influences from political, elite, and business groups (myers, 2023). these groups have consistently altered well-conceived plans aimed at transforming the city's haphazard growth, often to the detriment of its original identities. with these prevailing power dynamics and the emphasis on smart growth as a symbol of cultural identity, zanzibar city is becoming increasingly divided into unequal social groups based on economic disparities. these income discrepancies are visible spatially, raising concerns about potential future social unrest in the city. according to the deputy zanzibar city director responsible for urban planning, "the patterns of stone town symbolize a smart form of growth that is needed in other parts of zanzibar city. while stone town is the oldest in this region, its growth patterns and cultural identity represent the totality of an urban setting where social aspects, economic elements, and ecological sensitivity perfectly coexist" (interview 11, 3, 2024). the unesco chief for the african desk expressed, "as the head of the unit responsible for tangible and natural heritage values in the african region, i believe that stone town is a crucial site as it reflects the local identities of the islanders. the architectural designs provide insights into the origins of swahili culture and the formation of the social fabric. additionally, stone town encompasses more local symbols and identities than many other world heritage sites. for instance, the prevalence of carved doors in stone town, which have also been adopted in other areas of zanzibar city, serves as unique cultural entities that tell distinct stories about their origins and the individuals who crafted them. therefore, it is imperative to preserve these elements, and enhancing stone town's status as a world heritage site could contribute to that legacy" (interview with unesco chief, african desk, 4th april 2024). consequently, it becomes evident that the projected sustainable urban growth in zanzibar is intertwined with cultural values. emphasizing the presence of cultural identity will not only enrich khamis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 the sense of joy and belonging but will also lead to the long-term realization of a functional city in terms of economic and social integration, as evidenced in stone town. 4. discussions stone town's cultural heritage identity is a precious asset that unites the community in zanzibar city, symbolizing architectural beauty and community integration. it is argued that the built cultural heritages are vital elements that bind the communities (tweed & sutherland, 2007). cultural values, especially those related to the built environment, have been widely recognized to foster community interconnectedness and serve as potent stimuli for socio-economic development. consequently, the stone town townscape features pedestrian streets connecting the seafronts to the bustling bazaar, leading to narrow residential streets with diverse forms of housing. the residential houses in stone town reflect their owners' cultural diversity, influenced by african, arab, indian, and european traditions. therefore, stone town's built heritage comprises a blend of cultural elements that shape its unique urban architectural environment (steyn, 2001). as noted by the conservation engineer from the stone town heritage society during an interview, "the architectural styles and construction techniques in stone town were specifically designed to suit the tropical climate. these buildings have a natural breathing system through their thick walls, large windows, and doors. additionally,nearly all structures were designed with courtyards serving multiple purposes. i believe that if these construction methods were adopted in the new areas where the city has rapidly expanded, they could enhance resilience to climate change impacts and address other issues" (interview with conservation engineer, march 28, 2024). moreover, the diverse architectural styles and planning patterns seen in stone town reflect the necessity for functional, supportive designs that cater to the town's needs. these architectural and planning values hold aesthetic importance and contain valuable knowledge for researchers and experts to draw upon. for instance, the urban planning techniques and vision implemented during those periods have persisted in providing the services sought by many residents. therefore, the compact and inclusive urban planning patterns make stone town a vibrant laboratory for research in planning, architecture, and culture. however, rapid urbanization, evolving demands, and increasing extreme weather events underscore the urgency to reconsider conservation and growth strategies (khamis et al., 2022). zanzibar city requires a transformation in planning, emphasizing the amplification of cultural elements and the adoption of sustainable growth principles. in conclusion, this analysis underscores the importance of learning from the urban planning patterns in stone town. these insights could be used to develop new areas within zanzibar city. the uniqueness of urban patterns and buildings in stone town highlights the advanced nature of concentrated urban development. as stated by the conservation director of the stone town conservation and development authority (stcda), "the urban planning and building patterns in stone town are well-designed and implemented, making it possible to improve the land uses if needed. this level of planning maturity implemented in the 19th century still significantly contributes to the city today, despite the growing challenges. it is therefore important to replicate some of these planning techniques and building fabrics in new places across the city, as their efficiency has proven successful, as seen here in stone town" (interview with stcda director, march 28, 2024). as the population increases, there is a growing need for more deliberate urban planning that focuses on the efficient use of land and resources, including cultural values (dourp, 2015). zanzibar city, home to an estimated 819,944 individuals across three municipalities, including approximately 13,715 in stone town, experiences high population growth due to a birth rate of about 3.7 and immigration, contributing to a total population of around 1.8 million across the zanzibar islands (review, 2023; tanzania, 2022; the united republic of tanzania, 2022). hence, the zanzibar city authority could enhance urban environments by integrating cultural elements into planning and construction, similar to what we see in stone town. this approach would help in recreating the vibrancy, safety, accessibility, and security of the newly planned areas to the level achieved in stone town. 5. conclusion the promotion of sustainable urban growth in zanzibar city needs to heavily rely on cultural identity. stone town in zanzibar city features unique cultural aspects that support social and economic activities, facilitate community connections, and provide access to essential services and amenities. alem gebregiorgis et al. (2022) highlighted the importance of urban planning initiatives in addressing challenges such as rapid transformation and the impacts of climate change. their research suggests that leveraging cultural and traditional practices can contribute to the safety and future khamis/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 of african cities. integrating cultural patterns that define the swahili culture could significantly benefit zanzibar city in terms of social and economic aspects. therefore, it is crucial to recognize the ability to stimulate sustainable urban development in zanzibar city by accommodating cultural identity. understanding the local communities' perception of swahili culture can incorporate cultural values into practices that could help zanzibar city address various social, economic, and environmental challenges (folkers & muhammad, 2016; juma, 2018). this study analyzed the local community's perceptions to understand their aspirations for cultural values in urban growth within zanzibar city. the findings reveal that the community's aspiration for cultural identity in zanzibar city goes beyond the existence of the built heritage structure. for instance, residents of stone town, a historical part of the city and unesco heritage site, expressed their preference for living in this old town. the sense of belonging, interaction, and access to basic amenities are crucial elements many wish could be replicated in other parts of the city, particularly in newly planned and developed neighbourhoods. creating a sustainable urban environment in zanzibar city with a focus on balancing diversity with local cultural identities and values is essential. striking this balance will represent the local identity and promote economic growth, environmental protection, and inclusive development, aligning with broader country development plans such as vision 2050 (zanzibar planning commission, 2020) and the national spatial development strategy (muhammad, 2015). given the limited land resources in the zanzibar islands, there is a need for efficient spatial planning and land allocation. with this in mind, i argue that the future urban development in zanzibar city could be closely linked to the built identity seen in stone town. it is evident that many of the planning initiatives proposed by the department of urban and rural planning have resonated along the same compact growth principles as those in stone town. however, enhancing cultural identity integration into urban planning policies is crucial for zanzibar to achieve sustainable urban growth. acknowledgment the abstract of this paper was presented at the cities’ identity through architecture & arts (citaa) conference—8th edition, which was held on the 17th 19th of september 2024. i would like to express my gratitude to my supervisors, professor saija hollmén and professor john fien, for their dedicated supervision and guidance throughout this research. this paper would not have been possible without their exceptional support. special thanks to the aalto wit programme 2023 participants anna koskinen and lidia nimri for their contribution to designing the workshops. i also want to thank pamoja youth initiatives ngos for their valuable contribution in conducting workshops that provided genuine insights from the participants. additionally, i am grateful to the local community members, governments, and private sector experts for their wholehearted engagement and for sharing their knowledge and skills related to the subject of this paper. their contribution has greatly benefited this study. funding declaration. this project has received funding from the european union’s horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the marie skłodowska-curie grant agreement no 101034328. ethics approval since this paper is part of the ongoing phd under the redi program involving rmit university and aalto university, all the data collected were based on the requirement of ethical approval as approved by the human research ethics boards of rmit university, satisfying the requirements described in the national statement on ethical conduct in human research (nhmrc, 2023). additionally, the research permit with reference no: 2ool7 loolt 244239888087 was obtained from the second vice president's office of zanzibar to meet the necessary requirements to conduct research in zanzibar. conflict of interest the authors declare there is no conflict. references abdurahiman, s., et al. 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(2021). zanzibar state of environement. retrived from https://www.zema.go.tz/ https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203128190-8 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203128190-8 https://www.ocgs.go.tz/ https://doi.org/https:/doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2007.05.008 https://doi.org/10.58337/fwjj2927 https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/173/ https://whc.unesco.org/en/soc/1005/ https://www.planningznz.go.tz/dashboard/uploads/32935.pdf https://www.zanzibarwalks.com/ https://www.zema.go.tz/ http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 7 october 2024, accepted: 10 november 2024, published online: 31 december 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i4.1132 integrating health and well-being into urban design: microclimate, walkability, and walking behaviour in buraydah city, saudi arabia fahad alharbi1, 2, shibu raman3, simon lannon4 1phd research student at the welsh school of architecture, cardiff university, uk 2lecturer, department of architecture, college of architecture and planning, qassim university, qassim, 52571, saudi arabia 3senior lecturer in architecture and urbanism, director of international at the welsh school of architecture, cardiff university, uk 4senior research fellow at the welsh school of architecture, cardiff university, uk abstract amid global concerns about physical inactivity and its relationship to health, this study aims to understand the relationships between walking behaviour, neighbourhood walkability, and outdoor thermal comfort. a detailed investigation of three high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods in buraydah city, saudi arabia, forms the basis of this study. the fieldwork included a questionnaire to survey thermal sensations and preferences, walking activities, and perceptions of walkability. site-specific climatic data were collected for each participant from this hotarid climatic zone during the hot summer of 2023. data collected were collated in a gis platform and tabulated for statistical correlation analysis. findings reveal significant relationships between 1) high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods and 2) perceived (land-use mix and intensity, street connectivity, and retail density) walkability and pedestrian behaviour, specifically regarding 1) frequency and duration of walking and 2) pedestrians estimated physiological equivalent temperature (pet). by optimising microclimatic conditions through strategies such as shading, green spaces, and improved neighbourhood characteristics—like increased street connectivity and compact, mixed-use development—cities can enhance outdoor thermal comfort and promote walking. the study highlights a positive association between high walkability, thermal comfort, and increased walking, offering guidance for urban planners to create healthier, more active communities, especially in extreme climates. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords outdoor thermal comfort; urban density; urban microclimate; walkability; walking behaviour 1. introduction walking, as a form of physical activity, provides substantial health benefits, such as reducing the risk of noncommunicable diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes and combating obesity (adlakha & sallis, 2020; x. li et al., 2021). walking also plays a critical role in sustainable urban development by reducing the impacts of urbanisation, including air pollution and urban heat islands (tainio et al., 2021). however, despite these advantages, http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i4.1132&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ alharbi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 nearly 30% of adults globally do not meet the world health organization's (who) recommended 30 minutes of moderate physical activity daily (who, 2019). this issue is particularly pronounced in countries like saudi arabia and kuwait, where inactivity rates exceed 50% (guthold et al., 2018). consequently, promoting walking through supportive urban environments has become a priority in public health, urban planning, and design (barton, 2005). the built environment is crucial for integrating walking into daily routines (zuniga-teran et al., 2017). the extent to which a neighbourhood-built environment supports walking—known as walkability (southworth, 2005)—is determined by characteristics like residential density, street connectivity, and land-use mix. enhancing these through urban policy and design is a proven strategy to promote walking (frank et al. 2019). over the past two decades, walkability has garnered significant attention due to its potential to improve health, environmental sustainability, and quality of life (barker, 2012; gadais et al., 2018). recognising the importance of walkability has led to integrating these principles into urban planning and design practices worldwide (berghauser pont et al., 2019). to better understand walkability, key built environment characteristics have been identified as critical to supporting pedestrian activity. these characteristics include population density, diversity of destinations, and pedestrian-friendly design—often collectively known as the "3 ds" (cervero & kockelman, 1997). in practice, a fourth factor, "distance," also plays a crucial role (townshend, 2022). researchers have expanded on these categories by subdividing them into macro-scale and micro-scale characteristics (sallis et al., 2011; ledraa, 2015). macro-scale characteristics include (i.e. residential density, land-use mix and intensity, street connectivity, and retail density) (leslie et al., 2007; sallis et al., 2016; zandieh et al., 2019). in contrast, micro-scale characteristics, such as safety, pedestrian infrastructure, and aesthetics, affect specific route features within a neighbourhood. despite these reclassifications, the core argument remains consistent. this distinction between macro-scale and micro-scale characteristics is critical for understanding how the built environment influences different aspects of walking. macro-scale characteristics have a long-term impact and are often resistant to change after urban development (shafieiyoun & zamani, 2021), shaping neighbourhood design and influencing micro-scale characteristics, thus affecting pedestrians' decisions to walk for various purposes, such as commuting and recreation. this reflects jane gehl’s public space and public life theory (fonseca et al., 2021; saelens & handy, 2008), which classifies activities into necessary (i.e. commute walking), social and optional (i.e. recreation walking). different types of walking are linked to various built environment characteristics: both commuting and recreational walking are related to macro-scale characteristics (hirsch et al., 2014; saghapour et al., 2019), while micro-scale characteristics are found to influence only recreational walking (fonseca et al., 2021; saelens & handy, 2008). these connections underscore the importance of macro-scale characteristics in shaping walking behaviours and activities within neighbourhoods. research has shown that populations in neighbourhoods with high walkability report nearly twice the total weekly walking compared to those in low-walkable neighbourhoods (e.g. kärmeniemi et al., 2018). these findings suggest that variations in neighbourhood macro-scale characteristics are associated with differences in walking behaviour. high-walkable neighbourhoods, by offering proximity to destinations and activities (gao et al., 2020), are likely to encourage more walking (wang et al., 2016). however, the role of microclimate—particularly its effect on outdoor thermal comfort—has received less attention in walkability studies despite its significant influence, especially in hotarid climates. this oversight raises important questions: do residents in low-walkable neighbourhoods face greater challenges in terms of thermal comfort compared to those in high-walkable areas? how do different levels of walkability impact thermal comfort? what urban planning and design strategies can simultaneously enhance walkability and thermal comfort in hot-arid environments? addressing these questions is crucial for urban planners to identify and mitigate the factors contributing to walkability deficiencies in less walkable neighbourhoods. microclimate characteristics significantly affect walking activities and comfort. environmental characteristics such as air temperature, mean radiant temperature, wind, and humidity influence outdoor thermal comfort. in regions like buraydah, extreme temperatures can impact the feasibility and desirability of walking (chen et al., 2023; cleugh & grimmond, 2012). air temperature and mean radiant temperature directly affect thermal sensation, while wind and humidity modify these sensations by influencing the body's heat exchange processes (azegami et al., 2023; j. li et al., 2018; sangkertadi & syafriny, 2016; yin et al., 2019). personal characteristics (i.e. clothing levels and metabolic alharbi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 rate) also determine an individual's tolerance to varying thermal conditions (colom et al., 2019; mitra & faulkner, 2012). studies on the relationship between microclimate and walking have yielded mixed results, depending on climate: in cold regions, walking activity increases in summer, while in hot regions, it often declines (hino et al., 2021; shaaban et al., 2018). understanding thermal comfort in relation to walkability is thus crucial for encouraging walking across diverse climates. this study applies specific criteria to identify walkable and thermally comfortable neighbourhoods in buraydah city, saudi arabia, to address these questions. objective characteristics such as urban growth patterns, population density, and land surface temperature (lst) will be used as proxies for walkability and thermal comfort. urban growth patterns influence the quality of walking routes (mouada et al., 2019), and well-planned urban growth enhances connectivity, making walking more convenient (won & jung, 2023). population density often correlates with accessibility to amenities, enhancing walking opportunities (gao et al., 2020). lst, influenced by factors like green spaces and building materials, affects thermal comfort and is further impacted by the urban heat island effect (won & jung, 2023). these characteristics contribute to spatial heterogeneity, impacting walkability and thermal comfort. macro-scale neighbourhood characteristics can be assessed objectively or subjectively. objectively measured characteristics may not always align with individual perceptions of the environment. behaviour change theories suggest that perceived built environment characteristics may correlate more strongly with health behaviours than objective measurements (sallis et al., 2015). subjectively measured characteristics reflect personal evaluations of the built environment, shaping the lived experience and influencing whether people perceive their neighbourhoods as walkable (arellana et al., 2020). for instance, a diverse land-use mix, street connectivity, and retail density could enhance walking by providing varied destinations within walking distance and making walking more efficient and appealing (hakimian & lak, 2016). many studies on outdoor thermal comfort have developed universal indices to characterise comfort in both hot and cold climates. the primary indices include pet (physiologically equivalent temperature), pmv (predicted mean vote), utci (universal thermal climate index), and set* (standard effective temperature), all suitable for calculating heat and cold stress (binarti et al., 2020). pmv classifies thermal sensation, while pet, utci, and set* evaluate thermal comfort in degrees celsius. pet, initially developed for western and central europe, has a "neutral" scale of 24–26°c for hot climates, confirmed by 95% of studies (matzarakis & amelung, 2008). in cold climates, 89% of studies identified a neutral range of 15–20°c. research in tropical climates, such as taiwan and egypt, reports higher pet values than those observed in europe (lin, 2009; mahmoud, 2011), indicating that local urban climatic characteristics influence thermal perception and outdoor environment use. since neighbourhoods are integral to daily life and outdoor activities and vary with climatic conditions, associating thermal comfort with walkability could improve the creation of environments that support walking year-round (peca amaral gomes et al., 2021). a pedestrian-friendly built environment can be achieved by implementing urban standards and continuously assessing walking conditions (alawadi et al., 2021). previous research has linked outdoor comfort to various built environment characteristics (e.g. jia & wang, 2021; labdaoui et al., 2021). despite advancements in measuring walkability, several practical issues related to pedestrian comfort remain unresolved, including 1) the absence of thermal comfort measurements at the neighbourhood scale and 2) the assessment of walkability considering thermal comfort. therefore, building on prior research, this study aims to investigate the relationship between walkability, outdoor thermal comfort, and walking behaviour in buraydah city, saudi arabia, focusing on walking frequency, duration, and pet values. incorporating thermal comfort into walkability assessments at the neighbourhood macro-scale is essential for creating walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods. this study adopts a holistic approach by considering both measurable environmental characteristics and subjective experiences, using pet to evaluate thermal comfort—which is crucial for fostering year-round, sustainable walking behaviour. 2. methodology this empirical study, conducted in september 2023, focuses on buraydah, a mid-sized saudi arabian city with over 700,000 residents (saudi general authority for statistics, 2023), characterised by a hot-arid climate (bwh) according to the köppen climate classification (peel et al., 2007). it investigates the relationship between walking behaviour, alharbi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 neighbourhood walkability, and outdoor thermal comfort. data collection involved surveys, microclimatic measurements, and geographic information systems (gis) analysis across three high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods. the study aimed to understand how these characteristics collectively influence walking behaviours under buraydah city's unique climatic conditions. 2.1 selection of high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods neighbourhood selection was based on objective built environment characteristics, including urban growth patterns, population density, and land surface temperature, chosen for their collective contribution to spatial heterogeneity, which influences both walkability and outdoor thermal comfort. urban growth patterns were mapped to understand area development intensity, population density data was provided by buraydah authorities, and land surface temperature was assessed using satellite imagery and morning time (7 am) pictures. these characteristics were crucial for selecting representative neighbourhoods with diverse environmental and urban diversity in buraydah city. accordingly, three neighbourhoods were selected to represent high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods: 1. al-khabib (high), 2. al-fayziyyah (medium), and 3. al-nahda (low) (figure 1). table 1 details the characteristics of the selected neighbourhoods, emphasising the spatial and environmental diversity affecting walkability and outdoor thermal comfort. figure 1: maps showing the urban growth (a), population density (b), and the urban surface temperature (c) of buraydah city with the three zones (core, inner, and outer) and the selected neighbourhoods. table 1: the selected neighbourhoods' detailed characteristics. neighbourhood urban growth patterns lst building type land area (hectare) total population population density (p/ha) 1. al-khabib core zone (1950s) 21-22 °c 3-4 floor buildings 114.71 21,790 190 (high) 2. al-fayziyyah inner zone (1990s) 22-23 °c 2-3 floor buildings 312.06 23,856 76 (medium) 3. al-nahda outer zone (2010s) 22-23 °c 2-floor, villas 556.24 26,912 48 (low) 2.2 participant recruitment participants were recruited using convenience sampling, employing street intercepts for their practicality and costeffectiveness. this method enabled rapid data collection by engaging pedestrians in easily reachable locations. an online questionnaire was also employed to reduce selection bias and include individuals less likely to be reached in public, such as females in privacy-conscious environments like saudi arabia. this combined approach helped ensure a more diverse and representative sample. a total of 318 valid questionnaires were collected from the three selected neighbourhoods, including 209 from face-to-face interviews and 109 from online responses. the study targeted adults aged 18-65 residing in the selected neighbourhoods to achieve a broad and inclusive sample. alharbi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 while convenience sampling can introduce selection bias, we used a mixed approach to help mitigate potential underrepresentation, especially among groups with privacy concerns. however, we recognise that this sampling method poses limitations for generalising the findings. we recommend that future studies adopt randomised sampling techniques where feasible to improve sample representativeness further and minimise potential biases. 2.3 measuring walking frequency and duration walking frequency and duration were measured using a validated self-report questionnaire, specifically the international physical activity questionnaire short form (ipaq-sf), which has been extensively tested for reliability in similar environmental studies (frehlich et al., 2018). self-reported data provided a key advantage by capturing the purpose behind walking activities, whether for commuting or recreation—an aspect that is challenging to collect through objective measures alone. such information is crucial for understanding the broader motivations and context of pedestrian behaviour, which play a role in interpreting patterns of urban walkability and thermal comfort perception. while future studies may benefit from incorporating wearable devices to complement self-reported data and enhance accuracy, it is important to note that these devices may also introduce sampling bias, as seen in prior research. the cost and potential inconvenience associated with wearable devices can reduce participation from certain demographic groups, potentially affecting sample representativeness. therefore, a balanced approach, combining self-report methods with wearable data, could provide comprehensive insights while addressing the limitations of each method individually. 2.4 measuring perceived neighbourhood walkability built environment characteristics to assess perceived neighbourhood walkability characteristics, the study used a questionnaire based on the neighborhood environment walkability survey (news) by (saelens et al. 2003) and improved by (hakimian & lak, 2016). this survey evaluates characteristics like residential density, land-use mix, and street connectivity. participants rated these characteristics on a 5-point likert scale from 'strongly disagree' to 'strongly agree,' with a neutral midpoint. previous studies confirmed the survey's reliability and validity, making it suitable for this study. a total of 318 participants completed the survey, providing data on perceived residential density, land-use mix, street connectivity, land-use intensity, and retail density. the average scores for each characteristic were calculated. higher scores reflected more positive perceptions. 2.5 measuring outdoor thermal comfort outdoor thermal comfort was evaluated using site-specific climatic data, including air temperature, globe temperature, humidity, and wind speed, measured at pedestrian height (~170 cm) using handheld weather stations (kestrel 5500 meters). personal characteristics, such as clothing levels and metabolic rate, were estimated during participant interviews. the study employed the physiologically equivalent temperature (pet) index to assess thermal comfort, calculated using rayman pro software with inputs including air temperature, wind velocity, relative humidity, and mean radiant temperature (tmrt). tmrt is critical in determining thermal comfort, accounting for radiant heat exchange between the human body and the environment. tmrt was estimated using equation 1 (ashrae 2017): 𝑇𝑚𝑟𝑡 = ((𝑇𝑔 + 273.15)4 + ((1.1 × 108 𝑣0.6)/(𝜀𝐷0.4)) × (𝑇𝑔 − 𝑇𝑎)) 1 4 − 273.15 (1) where: tg is the globe temperature (°c), ta is the air temperature (°c), v is the wind velocity (m/s), d is the globe diameter (mm), and ε is the globe emissivity. these values were recorded on each questionnaire form and later entered into rayman pro software to calculate pet. this detailed thermal assessment helped us understand the impact of environmental conditions on pedestrian comfort and walking behaviour. alharbi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 2.6 data analysis: utilising arcgis pro, excel, and spss the analysis used microsoft excel and spss to explore the relationships between built environment characteristics, perceived walkability, thermal comfort, and walking behaviours in buraydah city. excel facilitated data management and basic statistical calculations, while arcgis pro mapped high-to-low-walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods based on (population density, urban growth patterns, and land surface temperature) along with the spatial distribution of pet using natural breaks, categorising data into five comfort levels. statistical analysis in spss included an independent sample t-test to compare walking levels across high-to-lowwalkable and comfortable neighbourhoods. linear and multiple regression analyses examined relationships between perceived neighbourhood characteristics, daily walking, and pet values. the analysis differentiated between neighbourhoods of high-to-low-walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods, with a significance level of p < 0.05 used throughout to ensure the robustness of the findings. 3. results 3.1 sample characteristics table 2 summarises the sample characteristics (age, gender, and ethnicity) across the selected neighbourhoods. the data reveals a predominantly male sample (80.5%) across all neighbourhoods. al-khabib has the highest male representation (99.0%), while al-nahda has the lowest (63.8%). the age distribution skews towards younger adults, with the 18-29 and 30-39 age groups being the most prominent overall. notably, al-nahda boasts the highest concentration of younger adults (46.5%). ethnicity and nationality showcase diversity, with significant representation from saudi nationals, arab non-saudis, and south asians. al-nahda has a higher percentage of saudi participants (76.4%), followed by al-fayziyyah (66.3%). conversely, al-khabib has a larger proportion of non-saudi arabs (65.7%) and south asians (21.6%). table 2: participants’ sociodemographic characteristics in the three neighbourhoods and the total sample. personal characteristics neighbourhood type total sample al-khabib high-walkable al-fayziyyah medium-walkable al-nahda low-walkable number of participants | (%) 102 (32%) 89 (28%) 127 (40%) 318 gender (%) male 99.0 83.1 63.8 80.5 female 1.0 16.9 36.2 19.5 age group (%) 18-29 24.5 25.8 46.5 33.6 30-39 34.3 31.5 21.3 28.3 40-49 31.4 22.5 20.5 24.5 50-65 9.8 16.9 11.0 12.3 > 65 0.0 3.4 0.8 1.3 ethnicity/ nationality (%) saudi 8.8 66.3 76.4 51.9 arab non-saudi 65.7 24.7 15.0 34.0 south asian 21.6 9.0 8.7 12.9 other 3.9 0.0 0.0 1.3 3.2 variations in participants′ walking frequencies and durations the analysis reveals significant differences in walking frequencies and durations across the three neighbourhoods. in terms of walking frequencies, in al-khabib, a high-walkable and comfortable neighbourhood, nearly 90% of residents walk 6-7 days per week, whereas, in al-nahda, a low-walkable but comfortable neighbourhood, only 45% of residents alharbi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 walk this often, with half of the population walking minimally (0-5 days per week). al-fayziyyah, characterised as a medium-walkable and comfortable neighbourhood, shows intermediate walking frequencies, suggesting that features such as proximity to destinations and shading in denser areas play a role in encouraging more frequent walking even during hot weather (figure 2, left). regarding walking durations, more than 60% of residents in al-khabib report long walks (over 41 minutes), while in al-fayziyyah and al-nahda, most residents report shorter walks (0-20 minutes), with approximately 60% and 40%, respectively (figure 2, right). although some residents in al-khabib take shorter walks, and some in al-nahda walk longer distances to reach amenities, the data suggests that the availability of closer destinations and shaded streets in high-walkable neighbourhoods like al-khabib potentially promotes longer walking trips. these findings highlight how different neighbourhood characteristics influence the frequency and duration of walking, emphasising the importance of urban planning elements such as connectivity and shade in encouraging walking as a regular daily activity. figure 2: long-term walking frequencies and durations in the high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods. 3.3 variations and spatial distribution of participants′ estimated outdoor thermal comfort pet. the estimated physiological equivalent temperature (pet) varies significantly across the neighbourhoods of alkhabib, al-fayziyyah, and al-nahda, as indicated by the box plot in (figure 3). al-nahda consistently records the highest pet values across all metrics, including minimum, maximum, mean, median, and standard deviation. conversely, al-khabib generally exhibits the lowest pet values among the three neighbourhoods. al-fayziyyah falls between the other two neighbourhoods. the standard deviation reveals the degree of variability within each neighbourhood, with al-nahda showing the highest variability in pet. these findings suggest that residents of alnahda may experience more extreme thermal conditions than those in al-khabib and al-fayziyyah, highlighting the importance of understanding and addressing local climate conditions for residents' outdoor thermal comfort. figure 3: the estimated pet for the three high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 low (0-2 days) medium (3-5 days) high (6-7 days) short (0-20 mins) neither short nor long (21-40 mins) long (over 41 mins) p er ce n t walking frequencies & walking durations al-khabib (high-walkable) al-fayziyyah (medium-walkable) al-nahda (low-walkable) es ti m at e d p et ( °c ) al-khabib (high-walkable) al-fayziyyah (medium-walkable) al-nahda (low-walkable) alharbi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 4 depicts the spatial distribution of 209 face-to-face participants across three neighbourhoods—al-khabib, al-fayziyyah, and al-nahda—based on their estimated pet. each participant is represented by a coloured dot corresponding to five pet ranges: 24-34°c (dark green), 34-43°c (light green), 43-49°c (yellow), 49-55°c (orange), and 55-64°c (red). in al-khabib, most participants fall within the cooler pet ranges of 24-34°c and 34-43°c, indicated by dark and light green dots. this suggests a relatively comfortable thermal environment, with fewer participants experiencing higher pet values (43-64°c), as represented by yellow, orange, and red dots. thus, thermal stress is lower in this neighbourhood. al-fayziyyah exhibits a more balanced distribution across all five pet categories, indicating a diverse thermal environment in which participants experience a range of thermal conditions, from comfortable to high-stress levels. in contrast, al-nahda shows a concentration of higher pet values, particularly in the 43-64°c range, marked by yellow, orange, and red dots. this indicates that al-nahda experiences higher pet values, suggesting a less comfortable thermal environment. these findings highlight the heat stress risks for pedestrians and emphasise the importance of urban planning and design in improving outdoor thermal comfort in hot-arid climates. figure 4: spatial distribution pattern of face-to-face participants based on their pet among the three neighbourhoods (al-khabib, al-fayziyyah, and al-nahda), highlighting high, medium, and low-walkable-and-comfortable) respectively. 3.4 comparison of thermal sensation votes tsv vs estimated physiological equivalent temperature pet. from 209 thermal comfort questionnaire responses, the correlation between pet and thermal sensation votes (tsv) was low (r² = 0.0483), suggesting pet alone does not strongly predict thermal sensation due to various influencing characteristics. to address this, pet values were categorised into 15 data bins of approximately 3°c each, with a mean thermal sensation vote (mtsv) assigned to each bin. this method showed a stronger relationship (r² = 0.7995) between mtsv and pet: mtsv = (-0.0347×pet) + 4.78. figure 5 illustrates this linear regression, indicating an upper thermal comfort limit of approximately 49.9°c, with most responses (99%) within the 32.4°c to 64°c range. this identified upper limit appears high compared to other outdoor comfort studies in various climates. figure 5: mean thermal sensation votes (mtsv) vs pet outdoors of the total face-to-face questionnaire samples. y = -0.0347x + 4.78 r² = 0.7995 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 m ea n t sv pet (°c) neighbourhood boundary cold cool slightly cool neutral warm hot very hot alharbi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 this discrepancy likely stems from two factors. first, hot-dry conditions like buraydah’s allow higher heat loss through sweat evaporation, increasing tolerance to heat. second, residents of harsh climates, including low-income outdoor workers, may exhibit psychological adaptation to thermal stress (alznafer, 2014). most participants who rated conditions as “comfortable” were surveyed in shaded areas during cooler hours (mornings/evenings), with a smaller subset in the afternoon who had adapted to outdoor work conditions. some participants also reported coming from sun-exposed areas, affecting their thermal votes, especially for “neutral” and “warm” categories. two minimum pet values (23.7°c, 29.5°c) were observed, with most values ranging from 32.4°c to 64°c, reflecting high summer daytime temperatures. these results suggest that while pet offers valuable insights, future studies could benefit from additional indices that consider individual adaptation and varying exposure conditions in extreme climates. 3.5 variations in participants’ perceived neighbourhood built environment characteristics. table 3 summarises how residents in the three buraydah city neighbourhoods al-khabib, al-fayziyyah, and alnahda perceive the walkability of their neighbourhoods. scores range from (1) ‘strongly disagree,’ least walkable, to (5) ‘strongly agree,’ most walkable. al-khabib emerges as the neighbourhood with the most favourable perception of walkability, boasting an overall score of 4.5. this suggests that residents feel their area offers a good mix of residential density, land uses, street connectivity, and retail options, all of which contribute to a walkable environment. al-fayziyyah follows closely behind with a score of 3.9, while al-nahda rounds out the table at 3.7. table 3: description of perceived walkability characteristics of the questionnaire. perceived walkabilityrelated characteristics neighbourhood (m (sd))a total sample al-khabib n= 102 al-fayziyyah n= 89 al-nahda n= 127 residential density 3.8 (1.52) 3.8 (1.28) 3.8 (1.19) 3.8 (1.33) land-use mix 4.8 (0.79) 4.3 (0.98) 3.9 (1.22) 4.3 (1.09) street connectivity 4.7 (0.92) 3.9 (1.21) 3.7 (1.27) 4.1 (1.22) land-use intensity 4.7 (0.79) 3.7 (1.08) 3.4 (1.34) 3.9 (1.24) retail density 4.6 (0.91) 3.6 (1.22) 3.7 (1.18) 4.0 (1.20) walkability’s total scores 4.5 (1.08) 3.9 (1.21) 3.7 (1.32) 3.9 (1.36) note: five characteristics of perceived walkability are related to macro-scale neighbourhood-built environments. aresponse score: (1) strongly disagree and (5) strongly agree; m = mean of total scores; sd = standard deviation of total scores; n = number of participants. 3.6 statistical relationships between high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods & perceived neighbourhood walkability and walking & estimated pet. to calculate each participant's total weekly walking duration, the weekly walking frequency (days) was multiplied by the estimated daily walking time (minutes). midpoint values were assigned to each time interval (e.g. up to 10 minutes = 5 minutes; 11-20 minutes = 15 minutes; etc.). for durations over 60 minutes, 90 minutes was used as an upper bound. the sample size was reduced from 318 to 283 participants, as some did not walk frequently or at all. participants were distributed across the neighbourhoods: al-khabib (99), al-fayziyyah (74), and al-nahda (110). 3.6.1 high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods and participants’ walking & estimated pet table 4 presents the average daily walking time in minutes for the selected neighbourhoods. residents of al-khabib walk the most, averaging 58.4 minutes daily, followed by al-fayziyyah (36.7 minutes) and al-nahda (30.8 minutes). the average daily walking time across all neighbourhoods is 41.3 minutes, with a high standard deviation indicating significant participant variability. alharbi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 a positive correlation exists between highand low-walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods and daily walking time. residents in high-walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods walk 13.58 minutes more daily than those in lowwalkable and comfortable neighbourhoods (b = 13.580, t = 6.142, p < 0.001). however, with an r-squared of 0.107, this factor explains only 10.7% of the variation in daily walking, suggesting other characteristics may significantly influence walking. table 4: difference between walking in high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods. neighbourhood total daily walking m (mins) sd coefficients al-khabib high-walkable (n=99) 58.4 32.4 b (13.6); se (4.6); beta (.327); t (6.1); and p (<.001) al-fayziyyah medium-walkable (n=74) 36.7 33.9 al-nahda low-walkable (n=110) 30.8 33.3 total sample (n=283) 41.3 35.2 note. m = mean; sd = standard deviation; b = unstandardised coefficient; se = standard error; beta = standardised coefficient. the values in bold type are significant. in terms of pet, table 5 illustrates the average pet values by high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods. a regression model was used to examine the association between pet and all the selected neighbourhoods as the independent variables. the analysis, based on data from face-to-face participants only, included a sample size of 209 individuals: al-khabib (n=96), al-fayziyyah (n=58), and al-nahda (n=55). the analysis revealed a negative relationship between high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods and pet. the negative coefficient for the neighbourhood variable indicates that pet decreases as neighbourhood walkability increases. this relationship is statistically significant (p < 0.001), suggesting a low probability that the observed relationship is due to chance. table 5: difference between pet in high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods. neighbourhood estimated physiological equivalent temperature – pet (°c) m sd coefficients al-khabib high-walkable (n=96) 43.8 5.7 b (-3.67); se (.536); beta (-.433); t (-6.902); and p (<.001) al-fayziyyah medium-walkable (n=58) 45 6.5 al-nahda low-walkable (n=55) 51.6 7.2 total sample (n=209) 46.2 7.1 note. m = mean; sd = standard deviation; b = unstandardised coefficient; se = standard error; beta = standardised coefficient. the values in bold type are significant. the lower pet in high-walkable-and-comfortable neighbourhoods may be due to denser urban forms, where buildings provide shade, reducing sunlight and air temperatures, making these areas more comfortable than lowdensity neighbourhoods. however, the model's explanatory power is low, with an r-squared value of 0.187, indicating that high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods account for only a small portion of the variation in pet across neighbourhoods. other characteristics likely contribute significantly to pet variations. 3.6.2 perceived neighbourhood walkability and participants’ walking & estimated pet table 6 indicates a significant positive relationship between perceived walkability (land-use mix, street connectivity, land-use intensity, and retail density) and total daily walking and a significant negative relationship with estimated pet. this suggests that people who perceive their neighbourhood to be more walkable walk more and are exposed to lower levels of pet, which was found to be strongly related to their thermal sensations in this study (section 4.3). however, perceived residential density did not show a significant correlation with either walking or pet. the findings suggest that neighbourhoods with diverse land uses, better street connectivity, higher density, and more retail are perceived as more walkable. this perception is linked to increased walking and lower pet values. alharbi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 table 6: relationships between perceived walkability characteristics and total daily walking & estimated pet (°c) perceived walkabilityrelated characteristics total daily walking estimated pet (°c) b std. error p (sig.) b std. error p (sig.) residential density -.774 6.015 .604 .395 .349 .259 land-use mix 10.795 1.720 <.001 -1,385 .582 .018 street connectivity 5.330 1.589 <.001 -.981 .407 .017 land-use intensity 5.792 1.557 <.001 -1.092 .401 .007 retail density 5.176 1.620 <.002 -.959 .401 .018 overall perceived walkability 9.466 2.217 <.001 -1.372 .596 .022 note. b = unstandardised coefficient; se. error = standard error; sig = p-value. the values in bold type are significant. different patterns emerged when comparing high-walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods with low-walkable and less comfortable ones. in al-khabib, land-use mix, land-use intensity, retail density, and overall perceived walkability were associated with higher daily walking. in contrast, in al-fayziyyah and al-nahda, only perceived land-use mix positively correlated with daily walking (table 7). moreover, when examined separately, no significant relationships were found between perceived walkability and pet across these neighbourhoods. table 7: relationships between perceived walkability characteristics and total daily walking for each neighbourhood. perceived walkability-related characteristics total daily walking al-khabib al-fayziyyah al-nahda b; (se); p b; (se); p b; (se); sig residential density .088; (2.14); p .967 -3.183; (2.80); p .259 .087; (2.48); p .972 land-use mix 15.10; (3.82); p .001 9.817; (3.54); p .007 5.18; (2.39); p .033 street connectivity 5.601; (3.46); p .108 3.833; (2.97); p .200 -.019; (2.23); p .994 land-use intensity 12.77; (3.91); p .001 1.004; (3.35); p .765 -.598; (2.21); p .788 retail density 9.655; (3.42); p .006 2.002; (2.95); p .498 -1.84; (2.50); p .462 overall perceived walkability 12.845; (4.53); p .006 4.677; (4.66); p .318 1.02; (3.31); p .758 note. b = unstandardised coefficient; se. error = standard error; sig = p-value. the values in bold type are significant. 4. discussion this study investigated how spatial variations in high-to-low walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods— considering urban growth patterns, population density, and land surface temperature—affect perceived walkability, walking behaviour, and outdoor thermal comfort (pet) in buraydah city, saudi arabia. consistent with previous research (jia & wang, 2021; mouada et al., 2019; tan et al., 2018; h. wang & yang, 2019), this study found that participants from high-walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods walked more and had lower pet levels than those from low-walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods. these findings emphasise the importance of walkable environments in promoting physical activity. additionally, the lower pet levels observed in high-walkable neighbourhoods suggest that urban characteristics such as shaded streets and proximity to various amenities can enhance outdoor thermal comfort and make outdoor walking more feasible, especially in hot climates. the positive association between perceived neighbourhood characteristics—including land-use mix, street connectivity, land-use intensity, and retail density—and total daily walking aligns with the broader literature on walkability. these characteristics are crucial in shaping the perception of neighbourhood quality, which subsequently influences walking behaviour (sallis et al., 2016). interestingly, perceived walkability was also inversely related to estimated pet, suggesting that well-designed, high-density environments can contribute to outdoor thermal comfort by offering shaded areas, reducing exposure to extreme heat and providing cold spots at a close distance (e.g. shops), allowing for more relief from the extreme heat. this relationship was more pronounced in high-walkable alharbi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 neighbourhoods, where higher density and mix of uses contribute to higher walking levels and improved thermal conditions. these findings are in agreement with the work of (mouada et al., 2019; won & jung, 2023), who reported similar associations between neighbourhood characteristics, walking behaviour, and thermal comfort. however, when individual neighbourhoods were analysed separately, significant relationships between perceived neighbourhood characteristics and pet were not observed. this suggests that while overall walkability may enhance outdoor thermal comfort, the effect of individual neighbourhood characteristics on thermal conditions may vary across different local contexts. the lack of significant findings could also imply that subjective perceptions of thermal comfort are influenced by a complex interplay of factors, including microclimate elements, personal comfort preferences, and social norms, which may not directly correlate with physical neighbourhood characteristics. this highlights the need for urban planners to consider objective and subjective characteristics when designing interventions to promote walkability and outdoor thermal comfort. the study’s findings also support the idea that perceptions of the built environment influence walking behaviour. high-walkable and comfortable neighbourhoods positively influenced individuals' perceptions of their neighbourhoods, potentially shaping their walking habits and comfort levels. according to bandura's social cognitive theory (1986) (sallis et al., 2015), the built environment shapes behaviour through both perceptions and sensations, making the perceived quality of the neighbourhood as crucial as its objective characteristics. the results of this study demonstrate that neighbourhood characteristics such as land-use mix, retail density, and street connectivity are crucial determinants of walkability and outdoor thermal comfort. urban planners and policymakers should consider these characteristics in future urban development projects, particularly in hot-arid climates like buraydah city. enhancing shaded areas, creating mixed-use neighbourhoods, and designing connected streets can potentially increase physical activity levels while improving thermal comfort. the study presents valuable insights for future urban planning and policy. creating walkable neighbourhoods in regions with extreme climates involves balancing thermal comfort and accessibility. enhancing shade through tree planting or infrastructure and encouraging mixed-use development can promote comfort and walkability. although this study offers important findings, there are opportunities for further research. longitudinal studies could help reveal how walkability and thermal comfort improvements impact walking behaviour over time. additionally, incorporating objective measures of walking activity and detailed microclimatic assessments could provide a more comprehensive understanding, reducing potential biases from self-reported data. the study’s findings, while relevant to cities in hot-arid climates like buraydah, should be interpreted with caution when applied to different climatic regions or urban morphologies. the environmental and urban characteristics specific to buraydah city influenced pedestrian behaviour and thermal comfort, particularly regarding high summer temperatures and limited green infrastructure. we suggest that future research could extend these findings to cities with varying climates and urban forms to assess the broader applicability of the study conclusions. this approach could provide a more holistic understanding of walkability and thermal comfort across diverse urban environments. 5. conclusions this study provides valuable insights into the relationships between neighbourhood walkability, thermal comfort, and pedestrian behaviour in buraydah city, saudi arabia. it enhances understanding of the built environment's objective and perceived characteristics that encourage walking. as one of the first studies in a hot-arid region examining adults' daily walking in relation to outdoor thermal comfort using pet, it underscores the significant impact of neighbourhood design and microclimate characteristics on walking behaviour and thermal comfort levels. the findings demonstrate that residents of high-walkable neighbourhoods walk more frequently and experience greater thermal comfort than those in low-walkable neighbourhoods, highlighting the benefits of walkable urban environments. enhancing characteristics such as residential density, land-use intensity, and retail density in lowwalkable neighbourhoods is recommended to encourage more walking and improve comfort. effective microclimate management—such as creating shaded streets through compact developments—plays a crucial role in mitigating urban heat effects, thereby supporting more walkable and livable communities in hot climates. these findings are alharbi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 crucial for urban planners and policymakers to create more sustainable and livable environments, especially in hotarid climates like buraydah city. the study highlights the need for tailored urban planning and design. low-walkable neighbourhoods could benefit from mixed-use developments, while high-walkable neighbourhoods might be enhanced by adding more green spaces. urban design principles prioritising walkability and thermal comfort can promote healthier lifestyles. future research should examine the impact of neighbourhood characteristics, socioeconomic factors, and seasonal variations on walking behaviour using longitudinal studies and advanced tools like gis and remote sensing. acknowledgment. the abstract of this paper was presented at the urban planning & architectural design for sustainable development (upadsd) conference – 9th edition, which was held on the 22nd – 24th of october 2024. funding declaration. this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector/ individuals. ethics approval. this study received a favourable ethical opinion from the welsh school of architecture’s research ethics committee, with srec reference number 23033, on 26 july 2023. conflict of interest. the author(s) declare(s) that there is no competing interest. references adlakha, d. & sallis, j. f. 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(2017). designing healthy communities: testing the walkability model. frontiers of architectural research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2016.11.005 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 08 january 2025, accepted: 27 april 2025, published online: 30 june 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd. v10i2.1168 performance of biogenic silica photocatalytic ceramic foams and cu-tio2 nps in the degradation of emerging pollutants under natural solar radiation yhosmary franco1, jimmy castillo2, juan c. pereira3 1phd candidate, technological chemistry, experimental faculty of sciences and technology, university of carabobo, valencia, venezuela 2 full professor, school of chemistry, faculty of sciences, central university of venezuela, caracas, venezuela 3 full professor, department of chemistry, experimental faculty of sciences and technology, university of carabobo, venezuela abstract emerging contaminants in the drinking water supply are a growing concern due to their presence in various sources and incomplete degradation occurring in conventional treatment plants. this underscores the need to implement alternative and specialized processes for their removal. photocatalysis, an advanced oxidation process that uses radiation as the sole energy source, is emerging as a promising solution. in this study, the performance of novel photocatalytic materials was evaluated: ceramic foams synthesized from biomass, specifically biogenic silica obtained from rice husk, and copper-decorated titanium dioxide nanoparticles (cu-tio2 nps). these foams were synthesized using the direct foaming method with co2, an efficient and sustainable approach. their performance was evaluated in the degradation of acetaminophen (acp), an emerging contaminant of pharmaceutical origin, achieving a removal of 91.0% with a loading of 1.5 g/l, a time of 83 minutes and using natural solar radiation. the results obtained demonstrate that these ceramic foams have the potential to overcome current limitations and represent a significant advance towards the implementation of photocatalysis on an industrial and global scale. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords photocatalysis; ceramic foam; biogenic silica; titanium dioxide; emerging contaminants. 1. introduction pharmaceuticals and personal care products (ppcps) are emerging contaminants present in water resources. acp is an example of such contaminants and is found in prescription medications. globally, about 1.4×105 tons/year of acps are consumed, indicating their potential impact on the environment (gupta et al., 2023). pharmaceutical contaminants can cause adverse health effects, such as aquatic toxicity and the development of resistance in pathogens. these compounds reach water bodies through various sources, such as direct disposal of surplus drugs, excretion by humans and animals, and inadequate treatment of manufacturing effluents (yang et al., 2008). emerging contaminants are persistent due to their resistance to conventional wastewater treatments and are increasingly present in the environment. to significantly reduce the presence of pharmaceutical compounds in http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i2.1168&domain=press.ierek.com franco/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 discharged effluents, additional treatments need to be implemented. advanced oxidation processes (aop) have proven to be effective for this purpose. aop can be carried out as a tertiary treatment following biological (secondary) treatment, or as a pretreatment stage to improve the biodegradability of trace organic contaminants (gonzalez et al., 2016). heterogeneous photocatalysis, an aop, is based on the excitation of a solid, usually a wide energy gap semiconductor such as tio2, by irradiation whose energy is equal to or greater than its energy gap. this excitation causes the transition of an electron from the valence band (vb) to the conduction band (cb), generating photogenerated electron-hole pairs (e-/h+) (reaction 1). the holes (h+) can react with water molecules (h2o) or hydroxyl groups (oh) adsorbed on the surface, producing hydroxyl radicals (ho•) (reactions 2 and 3), which have a high oxidative potential (approx. 1.7 mv) and are highly reactive with organic matter, resulting toxic to microorganisms (reactions 10) (fujishima & honda, 1972). furthermore, oxygen present in the air can function as a receptor for photogenerated electrons (e-) by reacting with them to form superoxide radical anions (•o2-), which in turn react with water to produce hydroxyl radicals (reactions 4 and 5). these reactions trigger a series of processes that contribute to the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants (reactions 6 – 9) (espiga, 2018). tio2 + hv → tio2 (ecb + h+ vb) (1) h+ vb + h2o → h+ + •oh (2) h+ vb + -oh → •oh (3) ecb + o2 → •o2 (4) •o2 + h2o → ho2• + •oh (5) ho2• + h2o → h2o2 + •oh (6) ecb + h2o2 → •oh + ho(7) h2o2 + hv → 2ho• (8) h2o2 + •o2 → •oh + ho+ o2 (9) r / microorganism + •oh → degradation products (10) tio2 has characteristics such as being non-toxic, corrosion-resistant, biocompatible, low-cost, and with a high density of active sites (nevárez et al., 2017). despite its advantages, the use of tio2 as a photocatalyst has faced limitations due to its wide energy gap, which restricts its activation capacity under visible radiation. however, interest in using sunlight to activate photocatalysts has been increasing, due to its multiple advantages, such as its abundance, natural availability, and low cost (rodríguez & barrera, 2020). in this sense, research has been conducted to reduce the energy gap of tio2, to take full advantage of 43% of the solar irradiation spectrum. among the main modifications are the implantation of metal ions, doping with metals and non-metals, among others. it has been observed that doping of tio2 with copper tends to increase the photocatalytic activity of the material under visible radiation, reducing the recombination of charge carriers (kaur et al., 2021). photocatalysis has proven effective in removing organic micropollutants at the laboratory level, but its industrial application has been limited. photocatalysts in the form of nps dispersed in water or sludge have the drawback of requiring expensive removal processes to avoid leaching into water streams. on the other hand, immobilized catalysts have been developed to address this problem, although they have a smaller photocatalytic active surface area, which affects their efficiency. however, photocatalytic foams have the potential to overcome these limitations and move towards the industrial scalability of photocatalysis (warren et al., 2023). photocatalytic ceramic foams offer enormous potential in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and most importantly, scalability. materials with two different levels of porosity, microporous and macroporous, can efficiently convert irradiation into oxidative species that promote the degradation of micropollutants (ochuma et al., 2007). the purpose of this research was to analyze the performance of photocatalytic ceramic foams, synthesized from biogenic silica obtained from rice husks and pure tio2 nps, as well as cu-tio2 nps, in the degradation of acp using natural solar radiation. franco/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 2. materials and methods the research design used in this study corresponds to an experimental approach, in which experiments are conducted with rigorous control of the variables. these include concentration, ph, photocatalyst loading and reaction conditions. this approach allows the effect of independent variables on dependent variables to be analyzed, using random assignment of treatments to ensure the validity of the results. 2.1. chemicals commercial reagent-grade products were used without the need for added purification. among the products used were tio2 anatase 99.5% from sensient, sodium chloride (nacl) 100.1% (mw= 58.44 g/mol) from fisher chemical, sodium hydroxide (naoh) 96% (mw= 40.0 g/l) from erba, copper (ii) sulfate pentahydrate (cuso4·5h2o) 99% (mw= 249.68 g/mol) from emsure, rice husks from venezuelan crops (rh), phosphoric acid (h3po4) 85% (mw= 97.994 g/mol) from fisher chemical, potassium hydroxide (koh) 85% (mw= 56.11 g/mol) from fisher chemical, carbon dioxide (co2), monosodium phosphate (nah2po4·h2o) 99% (mw= 137.99 g/mol) from fisher chemical, and paracetamol (c8h9no2) lote: bp-03/11/08 from g. amphray laboratories. 2.2. synthesis of ceramic foams to synthesize ceramic foams, the following steps were followed: first, tio2 nps were obtained by mechanical grinding of commercial tio2 with nacl as an inorganic dispersant, using a leegol electric pg-lg-002 ball mill. then, the wet impregnation method was used with 1% by weight of cuso4·5h2o as a doping precursor, dissolving the cuso4·5h2o in distilled water and mixing it with the tio2 nps. the mixture was stirred at 50 °c for 2 hours (faithful sh-2 hot plate), and the ph was adjusted to 8 with 1 m naoh. subsequently, it was dried at 90 °c for 24 hours, calcined at 450 °c for 2 hours and finally washed and dried again at 90 °c in a raypa oven. biogenic silica was obtained from rice husk ash (rha) following the protocol of castillo et al. (2022). this silica was dissolved in koh and mixed with the tio2 nps, subjecting it to ultrasound for 15 minutes with an elmasonic e30h equipment. the mixture was bubbled with co2 and dried at 80 °c for 24 hours. in this way, two types of ceramic foam were produced: ec0 (with tio2 nps) and ec1 (with cu-tio2 nps). 2.3. characterization in the present study, tests were conducted to characterize the properties of the synthesized tio2 nps, as well as those of the ceramic foams. for this purpose, the x-ray diffraction (xrd) technique was used to determine both the crystalline structure and the size of the tio2 crystals. the analysis was performed using a d2 phaser xrd bruker equipment, belonging to the institute of advanced studies foundation (idea). this equipment operated at 30 kv and 10 ma, using cu kα radiation. the sensor was scanned in a 2θ angle range of 10° to 70°, with a step size of 0.02° and a time per step of 1 second. in addition, a wavelength of 1.541840 å and an incidence window of 0.2 mm were used. these experimental conditions allowed precise data to be obtained for the structural and morphological characterization of the analyzed samples. from the broadening of the peak corresponding to the anatase phase (101), the average size of the crystals of both the tio2 and cu-tio2 nps was estimated, applying the scherrer equation (equation 1) (moongraksathum et al., 2018): 𝐿 = 0,9𝜆 𝛽𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 (1) in the formula given, l is the average crystallite size, λ is the x-ray wavelength (0.154184 nm), β refers to the full width at half maximum (fwhm) in radians, and θ is the diffraction angle. on the other hand, the ceramic foams were analyzed by xrd using a lanscientific fringe class 65410034 equipment, belonging to the school of geology and mines of the faculty of engineering of the central university of venezuela (ucv). this analysis was conducted under a configuration of 30 kv and 16 ma, using cu kα radiation with a wavelength of 1.54060 å. additionally, morphological characterization and elemental analysis were conducted by scanning electron microscopy (sem) and x-ray dispersive spectroscopy (eds). for this, a jeol jsm-6390 franco/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 equipment was used, equipped with an oxford instruments model 7582 x-ray detector, belonging to the simón bolívar university (usb). 2.4. evaluation of photocatalytic activity the photocatalysis experiments were conducted under natural solar radiation during sunny days in the months of august, september, and october of the year 2024. the initial total radiation recorded was 924 w/m², measured with a digital radiometer. these tests were conducted at the school of chemistry of the faculty of sciences of the ucv, located at the geographic coordinates 10.487348333689186, -66.8958709428127. the experimental system (figure 1) consisted of a cylindrical borosilicate reactor operated in batch mode, with a volume of 200 ml of acp solution and a ceramic foam loading of 1.5 g/l. the reactor operated under constant magnetic stirring and with continuous oxygen injection from a continuous air flow of 8.33×10⁻⁶ m³/s, equivalent to 105 ml/min of oxygen, using a pennplax airtech 2k0 aquarium air pump. samples were taken at specific time intervals: 17, 33, 50, and 83 minutes. control tests were also performed, including photolysis (without photocatalytic material) and adsorption under dark conditions. for in situ monitoring, the raman spectroscopy technique was used using the eddu raman to-ers-532 system, manufactured by thunder optics and belonging to the nanotechnology and spectroscopy laboratory of the ucv. this equipment is equipped with an avaspec-mini spectrometer from the avantes brand, which incorporates a 2048pixel cmos detector and a spectral resolution of 0.09 nm. in addition, the system includes a 532 nm laser with a line width of 0.1 nm, an optical fiber, and a compact raman probe with a range for raman shifts up to 175 cm⁻¹. it also has a 20x na 40 microscope objective with a working distance of 11.8 mm, a fixed slit of 50 µm and avasoft 8 software for data acquisition and management. the laser operated with a power of 2.8 mw and a spectral acquisition time of 2 seconds. the data obtained were processed and visualized using spectragryph software version 1.2. figure 1: photocatalytic reaction system with natural solar radiation. (source: drawing by sandra triana) 3. results and discussion 3.1. characterization of ceramic foams the crystalline structure of the nanophotocatalysts (tio2 nps and cu-tio2 nps) prepared in this investigation was evaluated by the xrd technique. figure 2 depicts the xrd patterns of the undecorated and 1% cu-decorated tio2 nps samples, which show several well-defined diffraction peaks. the peaks observed at 2θ = 25.10°, 36.56°, 37.40°, franco/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 38.16°, 47.48°, 53.22°, 54.38°, 61.90° and 67.88° correspond to the anatase tio2 crystal plains (101), (103), (004), (112), (200), (105), (211), (204) and (116), respectively, coinciding with card number 00-900-8216. the xrd patterns show no evidence of the presence of copper oxides, suggesting that the cu atoms are in a uniformly dispersed state. in addition to the characteristic tio2 peaks, the absence of impurity peaks demonstrates that no aggregated phases are generated during the cu-tio2 nps synthesis method used in this investigation. despite using different synthesis methods, these results are consistent with previous research by dorraj et al. (2017), j. c. lin et al. (2018), preda et al. (2022) and raheem et al. (2023). calculations performed from equation 1 indicate that the crystallite sizes are 21.44 nm for tio2 nps and 20.36 nm for cu-tio2 nps. the radiation decrease in particle size might be the result of the interaction between copper and tio2. these results are consistent with previous studies reported by turkten et al. (2019), manga et al. (2019), preda et al. (2022) y leong et al. (2022). figure 2: xrd patterns of tio2 nps samples (blue), cu-tio2 nps (orange) and anatase reference (green). (source: made by the authors) the results are significant since tio2 nps function as photocatalysts in the ceramic foams developed in this study. these nps have been found to be in their anatase phase, which is considered the most active in radiation-accelerated catalysis processes (aguilar et al., 2022). likewise, the nano-scale particle size of the photocatalytic materials has a crucial impact on the optical behavior of the mixture, as well as on the distribution of radiation within the reactor and the efficiency of the photocatalytic process (cassano & alfano, 2000). an analysis using the xrd technique was performed to determine the structure of the synthesized ceramic foams. the x-ray diffractogram of the ec0 ceramic foams is presented in figure 3. the xrd results showed a broad peak centered at 2θ between 20° and 30°, without the presence of sharp peaks, showing the amorphous nature of the biogenic silica obtained from rice husk ash. no crystalline silica phases were seen in the xrd patterns, suggesting that the sio2 in the ash is amorphous. in addition, diffraction peaks related to the anatase crystalline phase of tio2 were found, as mentioned above. these results are consistent with previous studies conducted by fernández et al. (2019), porrang et al. (2021), hoerudin et al. (2022), shrestha et al. (2023) y pereira et al. (2023). franco/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 3: xrd pattern of the photocatalytic ceramic foam ec0. (source: made by the authors) the photocatalytic ceramic foam ec0 was characterized using the sem technique, the results of which are presented in figure 4. a rough morphology was observed, composed of a structure of agglomerates of hemispherical particles with an average size of 0.22 µm. the image reveals that the surfaces have dark pigmentation, which corresponds to porous cavities. these pores have an irregular shape and a size that varies between 0.1 µm and 0.4 µm. figure 4: sem micrograph of the ec0 photocatalytic ceramic foam. (source: made by the authors) to better understand the interaction between the biogenic silica matrix and the tio2 nps, a sem-eds analysis was conducted. when seeing the eds spectrum of samples ec0 (figure 5a) and ec1 (figure 5b), a composition rich in si and ti atoms is evident. in both spectra, the high oxygen content (57% and 48%, respectively) is consistent with the presence of the sio2 and tio2 network. in addition, the presence of k atoms, originating from the solvent used in the synthesis, is seen, and in the case of the ec1 foam made up of sio2/cu-tio2 nps, the presence of copper was detected, as expected (see table 1). franco/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 5: sem-eds analysis of ec0 (a) and ec1 (b). (source: made by the authors) table 1: eds analysis of photocatalytic ceramic foams. sample element %weight %atomic ec0 o 57.78 77.13 si 9.89 7.65 k 0.91 0.50 ti 32.42 14.71 ec1 o 48.19 68.45 si 20.2 16.68 k 2.21 1.29 ti 27.54 13.06 cu 1.44 0.52 3.2. photocatalytic activity during the in situ monitoring of the photocatalytic reaction, the raman spectroscopy technique was employed, which has been widely used in drug quantification studies (borio et al., 2012). raman spectroscopy is a technique that allows the measurement of the vibration modes of a sample, which provides detailed information about its chemical composition. the resulting spectrum shows a distribution of peaks corresponding to the specific molecular vibrations a b franco/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 of the analyzed sample. these peaks can be used to identify and quantify chemical substances, such as drugs, based on their frequency and intensity (shende et al., 2014). in pharmaceutical manufacturing and finished product testing, figuring out drug content through high-performance liquid chromatography (hplc) testing is a time-consuming and potentially destructive process. in contrast, raman spectroscopy has appeared as a widely used technique for the quantification of active pharmaceutical ingredients (apis) and excipients in drugs, as well as for the identification and quantification of crystal polymorphism. this technique is rapid, convenient, noninvasive, and nondestructive, allowing for the minimization of sample preparation and providing highly specific information on the chemical composition of dense and highly turbid samples. furthermore, being a solvent-free technique, raman spectroscopy is positioned as an attractive and promising tool in the framework of green chemistry (de bleye et al., 2013; mojica et al., 2018; zhao et al., 2022). acp is composed of an aromatic ring, a carbonyl group (c=o), an alcohol group and nitrogen (figure 6). in the specific case of acp, its raman spectrum (figure 7a) is dominated by characteristic peaks such as the amide i (c=o) at 1625 cm-1, the amide ii (c-n stretching, n-h bending) at 1575 cm-1, the c–h bond at 1225 cm-1, and the phenyl ring at 800 cm-1. the peaks at 1175 cm-1, 1275 cm-1, and 1325 cm-1 were separately derived from the c-n-c symmetric stretching vibration, the benzene –oh stretching vibration, and the ch3 symmetric variant, respectively. two of these peaks (1225 and 1625 cm-1) are only observed for acp and can be used as marker peaks to identify and quantify any sample containing acp (mojica et al., 2018; zhao et al., 2022). figure 6: chemical structure of acp. (source: srabovic et al. ,2017) in this research, the conventional method of measuring raman peak intensities (area) was used to quantify acp. the peak at 1600 was chosen to conduct the quantitative analysis of acp, which corresponds to c=o stretching with the contribution of ring stretching (c=c) (figure 7b). a calibration curve was performed with acp solutions in a concentration range from 2 ppm to 14 ppm (figure 7c), starting from the principle that the amount of active ingredient has a direct effect on the generated signal. the most reported validation criteria are the coefficient of determination (r²) of the calibration curve, which in this study was 0.9849, and the concentration range, to evaluate the relationship between concentration and raman signal in quantitative detections. in the linear calibration range, the concentration is estimated by linear regression (cailletaud et al., 2018). franco/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 figure 7: raman spectrum of acp (a), zoom to raman peak at 1600 cm-1 at different acp concentrations (b) and calibration curve of acp (c). (source: made by the authors) by applying this method, the acp solutions treated photocatalytically with ec0 and ec1 were analyzed under natural solar irradiation, using raman spectroscopy as a characterization technique. figure 8 presents the graph illustrating the acp degradation efficiency as a function of time. initially, an adsorption process was identified in the foams that reached an average of 29%, which represents a key stage within the photocatalytic mechanism (ugarteburi, 2018). regarding the efficiency of photocatalytic degradation, the results indicate that the use of 1.5 g/l of the ec1 allowed a 91.0% degradation of the acp to be achieved in a period of 83 minutes. in comparison, under the same load and time conditions, the maximum efficiency obtained with ec0 was 68.3%. figure 8 acp degradation efficiency in systems with ec0, ec1 and adsorption as a function of time, with a concentration of [acp] = 10 ppm, ph = 8, [ec0] = [ec1] = 1.5 g/l and irradiance of 924 w/m2. (source: made by the authors) on the other hand, figure 9 shows the raman spectra corresponding to the amide i peak recorded during the in-situ monitoring of the photocatalytic reaction of acp for the systems with ec0 and ec1. in these spectra, a progressive decrease in the area under the curve is observed as the reaction time progresses. particularly, in the case of ec1, the 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 0.00 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00 100.00 [a c p ]/ [a c p ] 0 time (min) ec0 ec1 adsorption b franco/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 peak associated with amide i disappears completely after 33 minutes of reaction, evidencing its greater efficiency in the degradation of the compound. figure 9 photocatalytic degradation of acp using ceramic foams with a loading of 1.5 g/l, monitored by raman spectroscopy: ec0 (a) and ec1 (b). (source: made by the authors) the results obtained indicate that the combination of the sio2/cu-tio2 nps foam system, called ec1, presents a higher efficiency in the degradation of acp compared to the control and ec0 experiments. this superiority in efficiency is attributed to the fact that, in the heterogeneous photocatalysis process, the catalyst is activated by highenergy photons. during these reactions, an electron from the valence band is promoted to the conduction band, generating a photohole in the semiconductor due to an external source of energy, in this case, natural solar radiation. the tio2 semiconductor, modified with cu2+ metal ions, plays a key role in preventing charge recombination, which optimizes the photocatalytic process. in addition, copper shifts the absorption spectrum towards lower energy regions, expanding the amount of usable radiation in the uv-visible range and contributing significantly to the overall performance of the process (aguilar et al., 2022; adamu et al., 2023). 4. conclusions innovative photocatalytic ceramic foams have been developed using biogenic silica extracted from rice husks and tio2 nps, both in their pure form and decorated with copper (ec0 and ec1, respectively). xrd characterization confirmed that tio2 is in its anatase phase, while analysis of the photocatalytic ceramic foams revealed the amorphous nature of the biogenic silica. on the other hand, the sem-eds study showed a rough morphology composed of a network of hemispherical particle agglomerates and confirmed the presence of copper in the ec1 ceramic foams. the improvement in the photocatalytic activity of ec1 is attributed to a lower charge recombination rate and a longer lifetime of the photogenerated charges. this is because copper can induce doping states near the top of the valence band, which enhances the absorption in the visible spectrum through the cu 3d-ti 3d optical transition. in terms of performance, 91.0% degradation of acp was achieved in a time of 83 min using a loading of 1.5 g/l of photocatalytic ceramic foam (ec1) under natural solar irradiation with an intensity of 924 w/m². this finding represents a significant advance in the photodegradation of emerging contaminants and provides valuable insights into the potential use of photocatalytic materials in the remediation of contaminated waters. acknowledgements the abstract of this paper was presented at the sustainable water management and resource adaptation: security and energy nexus (swmra) conference – 1st edition, which was held on the 12th – 13th of november 2024. the authors would like to express their gratitude to the national fund for science, technology, and innovation (fonacit) for the funding provided to conduct this research, which is part of project no. 202300063. they also appreciate the valuable support provided by dr. paulino betancourt, from the center for catalysis, petroleum and petrochemistry of the school of chemistry of the faculty of sciences of the central university of venezuela. franco/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 funding declaration this research was funded by the national fund for science, technology, and innovation (fonacit). ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references adamu, a., isaacs, m., boodhoo, k., & abegão, f. r. 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(2022). application of transmission raman spectroscopy in combination with partial least-squares (pls) for the fast quantification of paracetamol. molecules, 27(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27051707 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 review article received: 25 september 2024, accepted: 30 october 2024, published online: 30 june 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i2.1123 potential adoption of smart living and universal design for aging population wellbeing in malaysian housing development: a systematic literature review syafiq johari1, muzani mustapa2. fara diva mustapa3 1phd candidate, department of quantity surveying, faculty of built environment and surveying, universiti teknologi malaysia, malaysia 2senior lecturer, department of quantity surveying, faculty of built environment and surveying, universiti teknologi malaysia, malaysia 3senior lecturer, department of quantity surveying, faculty of built environment and surveying, universiti teknologi malaysia, malaysia abstract the rapid growth of the ageing population triggers the demand for innovative solutions to support independent living for seniors, given the changes in physical health, cognitive function, and mobility. smart living and universal design principles are trusted to play crucial roles in improving the quality of life, especially for the elderly and disabled individuals. hence, this paper aims to present a theoretical background on the potential adoption of smart living and universal design in housing development in response to cater to the ageing population’s well-being. a systematic literature review utilizing bibliometric analysis through the visualization of similarity viewer software is conducted to synthesise existing research on smart living and universal design housing features catering to the ageing population. findings highlighted the potential for extensive smart living and universal design adoption in housing, with several challenges derived from the lack of standard regulations. despite the drawbacks, the incorporation of extensive smart living and universal design is noteworthy for its efficacy in extending the life expectancy of the ageing population, particularly the elderly residing in their residences. this study provides practical implications for policymakers, designers, and practitioners to implement smart living and universal design in malaysian housing development to foster the well-being of the ageing population in malaysia. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords ageing population; housing development; systematic literature review; smart living; universal design; malaysia 1. introduction the significant growth of the ageing population is a phenomenon happening globally, where the population of the elderly is increasing year by year. malaysia is similarly experiencing the same situation as other countries, with the ageing population trend projected to increase. by 2030, it is estimated that 15% of the population will be 60 years old or older (md nor & ghazali, 2021). therefore, the increase in the number of elderly individuals has substantial effects http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i2.1123&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ johari/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 on the demand for care, financial resources, and facilities aimed at enhancing their well-being and quality of life (nur syakiran et. al., 2017; md nor & ghazali, 2021). hence, there is a growing demand for smart living housing options that combine housing with health and social services to help older adults maintain their independence (guzman, 2019). smart living is a housing concept that caters to the residents’ well-being with universal design-ready features. the rising demand for elderly-friendly housing is driven by the growing ageing population and the need for improved comfort, security, and healthcare services. developing ageing-in-place infrastructures is essential to meet the market requirements for elderly housing units. (subotic, 2022; miao et al., 2022). another concept that is well known to be applied to assist ageing people is the universal design concept house, a dwelling specifically tailored to meet the needs of elderly individuals, ensuring accessibility, safety, and comfort. however, there is little focus on the application of universal design features that facilitate ageing in place, simultaneously improving the quality of life for the elderly (mnea & zairul, 2023). smart living and universal design principles are trusted to play crucial roles in enhancing the quality of life, especially for the elderly and disabled individuals. over the years, the need to address the ageing population and the disabled sparked the smart living concept, which has been growing and evolving to fulfil the demand and technological revolution in various industries, including the construction industry (liao, cui, & kim, 2023). however, despite the increasing need for ageing population housing features to support ageing in place, the housing market's response has been inadequate, with a small fraction of homes being considered suitable for seniors with mobility difficulties (charlotte, sidhi, & teh, 2021). as the population continues to age, there is a pressing need for the housing market to adapt and provide more suitable options for older individuals (harrington et al., 2023). this research aims to investigate the feasibility of implementing smart living through universal design housing elements to enhance the well-being of the ageing population in malaysian housing developments through a systematic literature review. the review utilizes the bibliometric analysis and is conducted using visualization of similarities (vos) viewer software to determine the existing practice, research gap, and the possibility of adopting universal design housing features to prepare for ageing populations in malaysia. 2. systematic literature review the growth of academic knowledge is very significant as thousands of new articles, reports, and other materials are published day by day (to & yu, 2020). the rapid rise in the number of journals has resulted in a proliferation of lowquality research, making it challenging for researchers to get high-quality material (demir, 2018; linnenluecke et al., 2020). it can also result in overlapping similarities, susceptibility to bias, poor application of evidence synthesis methods, challenges in critical writing, limited use in certain fields like social sciences, misinterpretation, and underdevelopment despite their significance. these limitations can hinder the effectiveness and reliability of literature reviews, impacting the quality of research output (kraus et al., 2022; neal et al., 2020). a systematic literature review (slr) can address these limitations as it offers numerous benefits in scientific research by providing a rigorous and transparent approach to summarizing the current state of knowledge on a specific topic (pérez, 2024). it is also used to identify, analyze, and summarize relevant research findings on specific research questions or topics as well as gather comprehensive insights from a wide range of academic and scientific documents, enabling researchers to synthesize existing knowledge effectively (dini et al., 2024; albérico et al., 2024). additionally, slr can be presented from several perspectives to highlight gaps, theories, bibliometrics, the volume of research, and the practicality of the research’s outcome (dhiman et.al.,2023). the quality of systematic literature reviews significantly influences the validity of research findings within a specific domain. by employing rigorous methods and evaluation criteria, the systematic literature review can ensure the reliability and credibility of synthesized data, ultimately enhancing the trustworthiness of research outcomes (rakha et. al., 2023; okesola et. al., 2022). thus, the systematic literature review is basically a thorough study of designated databases such as scopus and web of science, as well as other additional literature that is not accessible in these databases, that will go through a systematic process for analyzing and producing relevant findings (linnenluecke et al., 2020). johari/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 writing a comprehensive slr requires appropriate procedures to establish a sound outcome. initially, the need for identification and developing criteria for conducting a review is required to properly plan a comprehensive slr. this is followed by the identification and assessment of studies. next, data needs to be extracted and synthesized before finally presenting the review (dhiman et.al.,2023). 2.1. bibliometric analysis with visualisation of similarities (vos) viewer as previously highlighted, bibliometric reviews focus on presenting the data using dedicated software. the systematic literature review is conducted through bibliometric analysis, which facilitates a structured mapping of the research landscape in a specific field. this method allows for an in-depth exploration of existing knowledge, highlighting relationships between significant publications, key authors, institutions, and prevailing themes. by revealing these connections, bibliometric analysis supports the identification of research trends and gaps, providing a comprehensive understanding of the study area. (gumpenberger et. al., 2012; vogel, 2013). using the scopus database for bibliometric analysis enables researchers to pinpoint key research domains and assess the breadth and interconnections among these fields. this approach provides a comprehensive overview of how different areas intersect and evolve within the scholarly landscape (zainudin et. al, 2022). one significant application of bibliometric methods lies in their role as a powerful tool for evaluating research impact. by examining publication patterns, citation counts, and collaborative networks, bibliometric analysis provides valuable insights into the influence and quality of research outputs, helping to assess contributions within a specific field. (campbell et. al., 2010) where this research uses bibliometric analysis with visualisation of similarities (vos) viewer. vosviewer was selected for this study due to its user-friendly interface, aligning well with exploratory research that may involve examining numerous data relationships, including those that may not yield conclusive results. as openaccess software, it is freely accessible, making it a practical option for researchers with limited funding. importantly, vosviewer’s technical capabilities are robust, and comparative studies with multi-dimensional scaling techniques indicate that it may offer distinct advantages, particularly in visualizing complex bibliometric data. (van eck et. al, 2010). indeed, eck et al. have suggested that “the vos approach yields improved results mainly in the case of medium and large datasets”. it is emphasized, therefore, that “it is one of the best options for performing a science mapping analysis” (moral-muñoz et al., 2019). mapping out the keywords of the theoretical framework provides a better outline of the current research trend on an aging population and universal design housing. in this paper, the slr was conducted using the 4 steps: planning for slr, identification and assessment studies, extracting and synthesizing data and finally the presentation of the review findings. the following section highlights the outcome of the slr on the universal design of housing for the ageing population in malaysia. 2.2. application of smart living and universal design for the aging population addressing the increasing need for ageing population housing as discussed in the sub-topic introduction, where smart living and universal design principles are trusted to play crucial roles in enhancing the quality of life, especially for the elderly and disabled individuals, this paper aims to establish the possibility of application of smart living and universal design for aging population. it is conducted utilizing bibliometric analysis with keywords “smart living” and “aging population”. in the preliminary stage of the literature review, the primary focus was on housing and technology, and then the two keywords “smart living” and “aging population” were highly mentioned. these topics emerged frequently across various sources, reflecting the growing academic interest in how technology-driven solutions can support the needs of an ageing society. initially, a broad search was conducted, resulting in the identification of 31 papers that appeared to address these topics. however, upon closer examination and using advanced filtering techniques on keywords in scopus, it became clear that not all of these papers were directly relevant to both 'smart living' and 'ageing population.' some papers might have touched on related concepts but lacked a strong connection to the core themes, which led to only 13 papers being found to be directly aligned with the keywords. these 13 papers reflected a more accurate and focused representation of the intersection between smart living solutions and the needs of the ageing population, and they are mostly johari/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 connected with ambient assisted living, smart city, artificial intelligence, quality of life, and others, as depicted in figure 1 below. the analysis is generated from 13 scopus-indexed papers. figure 1: bibliometric analysis with keywords smart living and aging population (source: bibliometric analysis through vosviewer software by authors) another bibliometric analysis with keywords “universal design” and “aging population” was conducted as per figure 2 below to establish the possibility of the application of universal design for the ageing population, and they were mostly associated with accessibility, ageing consumers, flexibility, inclusive design and others. this was done to demonstrate the key parameters of salient features to be incorporated in elderly and disabled-friendly housing design. figure 2: bibliometric analysis with keywords universal design and aging population (source: bibliometric analysis through vosviewer software by authors) the results of the bibliometric analysis will aid in the detailed descriptive analysis of the bibliographic elements. to simplify the presentation of the systematic literature review findings, this paper focuses on bibliographic elements related to research methodologies, including the research approach, technique, and analysis method, as shown in table 1. this approach is crucial for helping researchers analyze and adopt the most appropriate methodologies suited johari/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 to the nature and context of their research. by highlighting the most sought research methodology, it will indicate which research methodology works best for the research topic. table 1: previous research of smart living for aging population and universal design for aging population (source: bibliometric analysis through vosviewer software by authors) research author approach technique analysis building smart living environments for ageing societies: decision support for cross-border e-services between estonia and finland weck et. al., 2022 qualitative case study content analysis and dematel smart home modification design strategies for aging in place: a systematic review ma et al., 2022 qualitative systematic literature review content analysis smart homes for older people: positive aging in a digital world lê et al., 2012 qualitative literature review content analysis smart-home technologies to assist older people to live well at home morris et al., 2013 qualitative literature review content analysis smart homes and quality of life for the elderly: a systematic review pal et al., 2017 qualitative literature review content analysis how smart homes are used to support older people: an integrative review tujama et al., 2019 qualitative literature review content analysis malaysian smart retirement cities: perspectives of retirees noordin et al., 2023 qualitative semi-structured interview content analysis the role of smart homes in providing care for older adults: a systematic literature review from 2010 to 2023 vrančić et al., 2024 qualitative literature review content analysis housing for the ageing population demirkan, 2007 qualitative literature review content analysis universal design in housing quinn & demirbilek, 2003 qualitative literature review content analysis universal design and all-agefriendly planning maher & singh, 2021 qualitative case study case study analysis johari/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 inclusive design: an approach to adapt homes for the elderly fallah et al., 2021 qualitative literature review content analysis universal design and accessibility: towards sustainable built environment in malaysia abdul rahim et al., 2014 qualitative observation and access audit content analysis smart home technologies to facilitate aging-in-place: professionals' perception oladinrin et al., 2023 quantitative survey questionnaire ira and sla a study of universal design in the everyday life of elderly adults mustaquim, 2015 quantitative survey questionnaire descriptive statistical analysis exploring the market requirements for smart and traditional aging housing units: a mixed methods approach li et al., 2022 mixed method semi-structured interview and case study content analysis and case study analysis the elderly-friendly housing design features preferences by generations in malaysia ismail et al., 2020 mixed method semi-structured interview and survey questionnaire descriptive statistical analysis and content analysis 2.2.1. integration of smart living and universal design for the aging population based on the initial bibliometric analysis using the keywords smart living and aging population and universal design and aging population, respectively, the bibliometric analyses were then integrated together, as depicted in the following figure 3. this expansion aims to illustrate that while there are some connections between these keywords, they are limited and not directly interconnected, indicating a knowledge gap in this research area. this gap suggests that further exploration is needed because relevant research findings are scarce or nonexistent (miles, 2017). the limited research is evidenced by the fact that only one academic paper includes all three keywords of smart living, universal design, and aging population which indicates there is a knowledge gap where according to miles (2017) and müller-bloch & kranz (2014) knowledge gap is the absent of knowledge in the actual field to theories and literature from related research domains. therefore, the findings highlight the potential for further exploration into the integration of smart living features and universal design in malaysian housing to accommodate the ageing population. as research in this area remains limited, there is a significant opportunity to address the gap and develop innovative housing solutions tailored to the needs of older adults. johari/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 3: bibliometric analysis with integration keywords “smart living and aging population” and “universal design and aging population” (source: bibliometric analysis through vosviewer software by authors) 3. conclusion the systematic literature review, supported by vos analysis, highlights a distinct gap in the integration of smart living and universal design in the context of housing for the ageing population. while there has been considerable research focusing separately on smart living and universal design, these studies tend to treat the two concepts in isolation, without exploring their combined potential to enhance housing solutions for older adults. our review indicates that research on smart living has seen substantial growth, with many studies focusing on the incorporation of new technologies aimed at improving comfort, security, and healthcare services for the ageing population. similarly, universal design has been recognized for its role in making housing more accessible and agefriendly. however, despite the proven benefits of both approaches, little research has been done to integrate smart living technologies with universal design principles specifically for the ageing population living in malaysia. this paper emphasizes the potential for combining these two concepts, as the integration of smart living and universal design could offer comprehensive solutions to address the unique needs of the ageing population. the findings of this review reveal a clear research gap, highlighting the need for further studies that explore how these concepts can be synergistically applied in housing development for older adults. addressing this gap would provide a solid framework for future research and contribute significantly to the development of housing that better supports the well-being of malaysia’s ageing population. acknowledgment the abstract of this paper was presented at the geographic perspectives on climate change mitigation in urban and rural environments (gcue) conference – 1st edition, which was held on the 25th 27th of june 2024. the authors wish to thank those who helped in facilitating and assisting this research. this research is also part of the fundamental research grant scheme (frgs) r.j130000.7852.5f622, funded by malaysia’s ministry of education. funding this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector/ individuals. johari/ environmental science and sustainable 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(2022). transaction cost economics for housing development: systematic literature review. international journal of innovation and industrial revolution, 4(12), 16–23. https://doi.org/10.35631/ijirev.412002 https://doi.org/10.4172/2329-8847.1000101 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2015.09.249 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01295-x https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01295-x https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v8isi15.5103 https://doi.org/10.17576/geo-2017-1303-08 https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.124879.1 https://doi.org/10.3390/su15086542 https://doi.org/10.1109/ism.2017.83 https://doi.org/10.3390/w16030436 https://doi.org/10.1109/ies59143.2023.10242497 https://doi.org/10.1109/acit54803.2022.9913158 https://doi.org/10.35241/emeraldopenres.13437.1 https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21378 https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074012470867 https://doi.org/10.3390/smartcities7040062 https://doi.org/10.35631/ijirev.412002 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 27 may 2024, accepted: 30 june 2024, published online: 1 july 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i2.1085 the role of organisational culture and structure in data-driven green policy and decision-making laetitia l. van der merwe1, calayde davey2 1 lecturer, built environment and information technology department, faculty of engineering, university of pretoria, south africa 2 senior lecturer of architecture, university of pretoria, south africa abstract the study explores how organizational structure and culture in the south african property sector influence decisionmaking on environmental, social, and governance (esg) challenges and green policy development. it hypothesized that traditional hierarchical structures and non-participative cultures hinder digitalization, impairing data collection essential for informed esg decisions. in contrast, participative cultures and modern or matrix structures facilitate data-driven insights, expediting esg and green policy advancements. qualitative methods, including unstructured in-depth interviews with key decision-makers across various sectors (listed companies, commercial developers, financiers, real estate agencies), alongside interviews with digital application developers, provided perspectives on organizational impacts. a systematic literature review supplemented the data. thematic content analysis of the data revealed traditional structures and cultures complicate decisionmaking, impede digital transformation, and delay esg and green policy implementation. conversely, participative cultures and modern structures streamline data-driven decision-making processes, promoting esg and green policy progress. the findings highlight opportunities for traditional organizations to enhance structures and cultures, removing barriers to digitalization and accelerating esg and green policy initiatives. this study underscores the critical role of organization dynamics in fostering sustainability within the built environment, emphasizing digital transformation's importance in driving positive environmental and social outcomes. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords organisational structure; organisational culture; digitalisation; data-driven decision-making; organisational decision-making 1. introduction this study commenced amidst the transition from the fourth to the fifth industrial revolution, characterized by industry 4.0/5.0 and society 5.0, marked by significant digital advancements and enhanced social connectivity. digital technologies have been central in driving rapid global change. while the progression to industry/society 5.0 and enterprise 2.0 accelerated the adoption of big data, data-driven decisions, and artificial intelligence (ai), it also introduced substantial uncertainty and disruption. despite these digital technology advancements, the property and construction industry has been slow to embrace digitalization, lagging behind other sectors as noted by the mckinsey global institute industry digitisation index (agarwa et al., 2016). http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i2.1085&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ van der merwe/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 while technological advancements have profoundly impacted sectors like clean energy and financial services, the built environment has not made comparable progress in environmental and social governance (esg) and green policy. for instance, initiatives such as net positive buildings and the use of renewable construction materials to promote circularity remain underdeveloped, particularly given the construction sector's significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions (united nations environment programme report, 2023:1). amid abundant opportunities available in digital technology, this disparity prompts inquiries into why esg and green policy implementation did not advance more swiftly. this study hypothesized that organizational structure and culture play critical roles in facilitating access to essential data for informed decision-making and the advancement of green policy. notably, recent research underscores "the lack of access to effective data and analytics" as a primary barrier confronting property industry organizations (jll global research, 2022:26), highlighting the urgency of addressing these challenges. the study commenced with an investigation of secondary data after primary data was collected. secondary data was sourced through a systematic literature review, drawing from reputable databases such as scopus, sciencedirect, and the merensky library (university of pretoria). selected sources included accredited journal articles, conference proceedings, books, as well as relevant industry reports and media sources. criteria for selection encompassed contextual relevance, based on sound scientific theory, alignment with the research problem and questions, and publication date to ensure coverage of both historical perspectives and current trends. a concise overview of the literature findings is provided in 1.1 to 1.3 below. 1.1. organisational hierarchy, structure, and culture traditional hierarchical organizational structures, characterized by formal chains of command and top-down decisionmaking, may hinder the adoption of digital initiatives aimed at data-driven decisions such as building information modelling (bim) and building management systems (bmss) to name but two examples in the built environment. in contrast, modern decentralized structures, such as matrix or holacracy models, empower employees and facilitate faster decision-making processes especially when it comes to digital data collection and data-driven decisions (safont, 2020). as industries move towards industry 4.0/5.0, traditional hierarchical models face challenges in managing vast amounts of data and responding to rapid changes. the property sector is witnessing a shift towards modern organizational structures, driven by a changing mindset and the adoption of structures similar to matrix and flat organizations (indeed, 2022). the holacracy model further decentralizes power and aligns with humanistic and organizational democracy culture, empowering employees to achieve self-actualization and meaningful work (lee & edmondson, 2017; laloux, 2014). decision-making in such models follows a bottom-up approach, emphasizing consensus among employees in teams (safont, 2020). the current focus on governance, responsibility, decarbonization, and resilience in the property sector underscores the importance of integrated technology platforms or ecosystems to manage collective intelligence and drive transformative changes (puybaraud, 2022). during times of complexity and uncertainty, such as the present context of the built environment, inter and transdisciplinary teams are better suited for decision-making and problem-solving than traditional hierarchical structures with non-participative cultures (suarez & montes, 2020). 1.2. organisational structure, culture, cognitive barriers, and inertia recent studies underscore the key importance of organizational hierarchy and culture in navigating digital transformation amid rapid technological and environmental changes (volberda et al., 2021). they emphasize that successful digital initiatives necessitate a culture with a mindset open to change, alongside structural adaptations that enable effective digital routines. transitioning from a mindset encumbered by cognitive barriers to a ‘learning’ mindset is deemed essential for transforming business models (volberda et al., 2021). c-suite executives, often rooted in established cognitive frameworks, may overlook emerging possibilities, including esg alternatives. departing from a bounded rationality perspective based on the seminal work of simon (1982), tripsas and gavetti (2000) discuss how these cognitive frameworks shape organizational culture as well as van der merwe/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 managerial decisions, and influence problem-solving approaches. they explain how mental models are shaped by past experiences rather than focusing on contemporary or future perspectives, potentially hindering decision-making. during periods of rapid change, organizational founders or senior executives may struggle to adapt their mental models, resulting in organizational inertia defined as “the organization’s ability to make internal changes in the face of significant external changes. when inertia gradually occurs in the organization’s actions, the organization automatically reacts based on past experiences and strongly resists against changing” (moradi et al., 2021:172). the polaroid case illustrates how cultures, entrenched in fixed cognitive frameworks, hindered adaptation to technological shifts despite employee awareness (tripsas & gavetti, 2000). polaroid's traditional hierarchical organizational structure and autocratic leadership perpetuated a cognitive barrier resistant to agile adaptation. although polaroid had invested substantially in digital photographic technology research and developed a superior prototype digital camera by 1992, it faced considerable competition when it finally launched its megapixel digital camera in 1996. volberda et al. (2021) advocate for an organizational culture with a holistic approach to digitalization, addressing cognitive barriers, establishing new digital routines, and fostering adaptable organizational structures. they caution against ineffective information systems causing strategy paralysis, emphasizing the need for robust digitalization strategies. research from harvard business highlights the role of organizational culture and routines as cognitive barriers that resist change during volatile periods (suarez & montes, 2020). they recommend decision-making teams over a culture of top-down decisions to enhance agility in reshaping task execution, identifying it as a defining capability of resilient organizations. involving employees in decision-making teams facilitates quicker decision-making and innovative problem-solving in unfamiliar contexts. 1.3. behavioural economics, decision theory, and cognitive barriers the study explored organizational structures and cultures from the theoretical framework of behavioural economics and decision theory, specifically cumulative prospect theory informed by psychology. it juxtaposed traditional hierarchical organizations with non-participative cultures against modern or matrix structures with participative cultures in decision-making processes, necessary for making data-driven decisions to accelerate green policy and its implementation. decision theory explains how decision-makers navigate uncertainty and complexity, which is particularly pertinent for organizations in the property industry, as underscored by starr et al. (2021:165) who stressed the importance of adaptability, innovation, and agility in response to rapid change. 2. materials and methods after a systematic literature review of the secondary data investigation outlined above, primary data were collected to examine how organizational structure and culture influence decision-making in the south african property sector concerning digitalization, data-driven insights, and green policy. ethical clearance was obtained from the university of pretoria’s ethical committee. primary data were collected through conducting unstructured in-depth interviews with the decision-makers of five prominent south african property sector organizations and the digital product/technology developers or sellers who sold these products to the property sector organizations. these organizations were purposefully selected based on their previous decisions regarding digitalization, financial commitments to these initiatives, successful implementation, and their representation within the industry. despite the limited sample size, these organizations control a significant, if not majority, share of the local property market. organizations comprised the following (displayed in the table below under data set 1): − two of the top five real estate investment trusts (reits) − the largest commercial property developer − the largest commercial property financiers − the leading real estate agency van der merwe/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 the study focused on south african decision-makers but considered that these organizations operate internationally or have a presence in other african countries. the digital technologies/products these organizations invested in, represented diverse initiatives across property types, customer interfaces, and investment scales. these five digital technology applications served as case studies (table below under data set 2). some of the property sector organizations invested in more than one of the case study digital products. lastly, the developers or providers of these digital technologies/products, who sold these products to the property sector organizations were also interviewed as displayed in the table below (data set 3). table 1: three sets of primary, as well as literature and theory (secondary data), were collected and analyzed data set 1 data set 2 data set 3 secondary data: literature and theory property sector organisations digital products these organizations invested in developers/sellers of digital products primary data case studies primary data reit 1 construction & project management ecosystem (a) property management ecosystem (b) automated valuation system (c) automated access control, parking management, payment & security system (d) precinct management application (e) (a) reit 2 (b) commercial property developer (c) commercial property financier (d) real estate agency (e) thematic content analysis was employed to analyze the data, utilizing both a manual codebook system and software (nvivo). the reliability, validity, and trustworthiness of the findings were enhanced through triangulation among the three data sets, followed by validation through comparison with existing literature and theory. 3. results while traditional hierarchical structures are declining in the south african property sector, modern or matrix models with interdepartmental teams are gaining traction, promoting inclusivity and collaboration. however, the persistent use of the term ‘manager’ indicates ongoing structural transitions. both software developers/providers and property sector organizations identified hierarchical structures as contributing to decision-making delays, which echoes existing research. the findings highlight the intertwined nature of structure and culture, with hierarchical structures typically fostering non-participative cultures, while matrix/modern organizations encourage collaboration. importantly, organizational size does not dictate culture; some large entities embrace participative cultures, while some smaller ones remain non-participative. hierarchical structures, coupled with non-participative cultures, impede both data-driven decision-making and the implementation of green policies by prolonging processes compared to participative cultures and flatter structures. the following main themes emerged from the data regarding traditional hierarchical structures with non-participative cultures: − executive resistance to change: decision-makers in hierarchical organizations often encounter cognitive barriers, resisting change and clinging to past successes and traditional methods. their reluctance to adopt digitalization stemmed from a belief that established practices were sufficient, despite evidence of successful data-driven decisions in other industries. proposals for digital initiatives were met with disapproval, perpetuating organizational inertia. this mindset hindered progress and delayed digitalization efforts, thereby impairing data-driven decisions regarding green policies and esg initiatives. van der merwe/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 − cumbersome processes: bureaucratic processes in hierarchical organizations contributed to delays in digitalization. decision-making was convoluted and slow, involving multiple layers of approval and committee discussions. employees encountered obstacles when proposing ideas, resulting in lost momentum and frustration. the rigid structure impeded innovation and hindered the adoption of data-driven decisionmaking and adaptation of green policies. − lack of employee engagement: non-participative cultures in hierarchical organizations generally undervalue employee input and stifled innovation. employees expressing enthusiasm for digitalization and esg initiatives were often disregarded, leading to feelings of disengagement and disillusionment. reluctance to involve employees in decision-making perpetuated cognitive barriers and a culture of apathy, further delaying progress toward digital transformation and hampering the gathering of sufficient data for data-driven decisions regarding green policies and esg initiatives. − senior management changes: a significant finding was that organizational transformation followed changes in senior management, catalyzing digitalization efforts in all but one property sector organization included in this study. new leadership prioritized digital initiatives and embraced a more collaborative approach to decision-making. these organizations experienced greater success in implementing digital solutions, highlighting the significant influence of leadership on organizational culture and innovation. the only organization that did not undergo digital and environmental transformation due to changes in c-suite executives had already prioritized these initiatives a few years before the study commenced and had made significant progress in green policy implementation. although this organization previously had a firm hierarchical structure, it underwent structural and cultural changes that enabled a progressive approach to datadriven decision-making regarding esg and green policies. in contrast, less hierarchical organizations with participative cultures facilitated an expedited the digitalization process: − flexible mindset of decision-makers: leaders in these organizations exhibited a more adaptable mindset, open to change and innovation. they recognized the importance of digital transformation and actively sought input from employees. decision-making became a collaborative process, driven by a shared vision and a commitment to embracing new technologies and environmental as well as social responsibilities. − emphasis on employee well-being: organisations prioritizing employee well-being recognized the value of a motivated and engaged workforce. decision-makers treated employees with respect and encouraged their participation in digital initiatives. this fostered a sense of ownership and commitment among employees, driving innovation and accelerating the implementation of green policies through data-driven decisionmaking. overall, the contrast between hierarchical organizations with non-participative cultures and less hierarchical organizations with participative cultures accentuates the vital role of leadership and organizational culture, including overcoming cognitive barriers, that hinder transformation efforts. 4. discussion and conclusions the study aimed to investigate the impact of organizational structure and culture on digitalization decisions in south africa's property industry and their implications for esg and green policy data-driven decision-making. employing a qualitative research design, data were gathered through a systematic literature review, in-depth interviews, and case studies involving key decision-makers from south african property sector organizations and digital technology providers. thematic content analysis was utilized to analyze the data, which was subsequently triangulated across three datasets and validated against existing literature and theory to ensure reliability. the findings confirmed that traditional hierarchical structures with non-participative cultures often caused delays in digitalization, thereby hindering the collection of sufficient data for esg and green policy data-driven decisions. key factors contributing to these delays included resistance to change among executive-level decision-makers, cumbersome approval processes, and undervaluation of employee input. van der merwe/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 a significant observation was that digitalization initiatives in most of these organizations commenced only after founder members or certain c-suite executives were replaced, initiating organizational transformations towards group-focused decision-making. limitations of the study include the relatively small sample size, despite the broad representation of organizations in the south african property sector. additionally, the qualitative approach did not aim to quantify the extent of organizational transformation in the industry but to provide evidence of how hierarchical structures with non-participative cultures impede data-driven decision-making regarding esg and green policy adaptation and implementation. future studies could focus on rigorous quantitative measurement through surveys or questionnaires to ascertain the industry's transformation extent and the related impact on data-driven decision-making concerning green policies. the study recommends transitioning to modern or matrix structures with participative cultures to expedite digitalization efforts, underscoring the critical role of organizational structure and culture in facilitating or impeding digitalization and data-driven decision-making, particularly concerning esg and green policy initiatives. acknowledgment the abstract of this paper was presented at the geographic perspectives on climate change mitigation in urban and rural environments (gcue) conference – 1st edition which was held on the 25th-27th of june 2024. funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval the authors have received ethics approval from the ethics committee of the university of pretoria for the interviews and surveys that were conducted by the author. reference number: ebit/155/2022. conflict of interest the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references agarwa, r., chandrasekaran, s., & sridhar, m. 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(2023). building materials and the climate: constructing a new future. https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/43293 volberda, h., khanagha, k., baden-fuller, c., mihalache, o., & birkinshaw, j. (2021). strategizing in a digital world: overcoming cognitive barriers, reconfiguring routines and introducing new organizational forms. long range planning, 54(5), 102110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2021.102110 https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/43293 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2021.102110 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 105 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i1.870 development of a user-centered design framework for palliative and hospice care patients for a better quality of life experience shahira assem abdel-razek 1 1 department of architectural engineering, faculty of engineering, delta university for science and technology, mansoura 11152, egypt abstract goal three of the sustainable development goals emphasizes the concept of “leaving no one behind”; a model for inclusivity and coherence. amongst those that are often “left behind” are patients at the end stage of their life due to a terminal illness or a medical diagnosis. these are often left to die without thought to the quality of life that they receive before their demise, and many experience this stage at home due to fear of expenses, or in a best-case scenario at a hospital to help alleviate or manage pain. in many places worldwide, this is where palliative and hospice care come in and focus on the end-of-life care provided to patients who fit the criteria. the number of architecture and design related studies in this field are not numerous, and those that are there do not focus on the patient as a user with rights, but merely as a patient that is there. the concept of a user-centered design is forgotten in midst of all the pain and suffering of all concerned, namely, the patient, his beloved, and his caregivers. however, focusing on this nexus at the core of the design project may help promote this painful and stressful time in life and induce serenity and acceptance in a time that is often dark and ominous. this research aims to develop a design framework for places that deal with end-of-life care and how to provide a better quality of end-of-life experience for terminally ill patients. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords end-of-life care; user centred design; palliative and hospice; leave no one behind; tailored spaces; quality-of-life; 1. introduction the right to quality of life is a focus across many disciplines today, that happens to adhere to both the world health organization (who) recommendations as well as the sustainable development goals (sdgs); for amongst the focus on beneficiaries addressed by goal 3 of the sdgs: “leave no one behind”, are those in need of palliative care(pettus, 2017). the who estimates that less than 14% of all people who deserve palliative care actually receive it (palliative care, 2020), and aims to ensure that individuals have the ability and provisions to live comfortably and happily in existing circumstances(world health organization, 2016). palliative and end of life care do not only fall under the objectives of the sdgs and the capacity of the who, but also as a human right argued by brennan in 2007, the right to health and the right to life bereft of suffering(brennan, 2007). currently, there are almost 2,100 palliative care centers around the world, with more than a third stationed in the united states alone(global directory of palliative care institutions and organizations, n.d.), the who states that each year, almost 40 million individuals around the world become in need of some form of end of life care, with http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i1.870&domain=press.ierek.com author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 106 more than 70% of that number in low to middle income countries, thus leading to insufficient access to this type of care (who & whpca, 2020). the roots of palliative care stems from the modern hospice movement that focused on the sum of the effect of the different distress stressors; emotional, spiritual, social and physical, on the pain perceived by an individual or what is called “total pain”. the continuous care and support provided to patients in need of palliative care helps decrease frequent unwanted and mostly unbeneficial visits to the hospital and its related cost plus with the help of psychological care provided helps patients and loved ones accept the concept of dying.(zadeh et al., 2018) the existing literature amplifies both the psychological and social dimensions(blakey & abramowitz, 2017; gerlach et al., 2021; hearn & higginson, 1998; price et al., 2006), while not always being able to commit to the physical aspect. the physical component may consist of the right to health, the right to appropriate and comfortable housing, and ultimately housing alternatives, and the right to leisure and recreation, amongst other parameters that may not always be present or may not be up to the expected standard. the problem intensifies in individuals with life ending disease and terminal state illness, as well as old age frailty, and more often than not impacts the quality of life they are subjected to. at the end of life (eol) stage, quality of life of both patients and caregivers is heavily impacted as patients with terminal illnesses’ health deteriorates and they suffer from stressors due to their physical state, these may include insomnia, or general sleep disturbance, anger, fear, fatigue, anorexia, nausea and depression, amongst other factors. the impact of the physical environment on these stressors may help diminish their impact as well as provide beneficiaries of palliative care a comfortable and aesthetic pleasing eol experience. 1.1. disparities between hospice and palliative care the end-of-life (eol) care is an approach that helps alleviate potential suffering and trauma related to terminal disease. it was essentially advocated to help patients have a better quality of life during their last days as well as help families and caregivers cope with the prospect of dying and death of a loved one (mularski et al., 2007). eol care refers to two types of dealing with a terminally ill patient with a life expectancy of up to six months: palliative and hospice care, with hospice being the root for palliative. the main difference between the two types of care is the administration of medicine to cure the present ailment or disease, palliative care tends to take into consideration curing the patient as well as easing his suffering, as much as is possible given the side effects of the medicine used and the interaction between the limitation of specific types of interventions, while hospice care focuses on the patient leading a better quality of life regardless of the idea of curing the patient; having the patient lead a comfortable endof-life experience through pain killers. knowing the needs of each type is a tool to aid architects and designers in providing better solutions to facilitate and ease this stress inducing practice, not only for the patients, but also for both nurses and caregivers. the role of the hospice team is to provide a pleasant end of life experience through relieving pain and stress through focusing on enhancing the social, psychological, and physiological aspects of the patient’s life. it helps celebrate life and provides the needs and measures needed for each specific individual to be able to do so. on the other hand, the main focus of palliative care is the alleviation of pain and suffering through administering appropriate medication while ensuing comfort and support. hospice care, delves on providing help and care, (and even bereavement therapy upto one year post mortem), to patients and their families during the last period of the patient’s life, while palliative care does not deal with the aftermath of the process of dying. (figure 1) both types of care may be administered at a hospital, in an assisted living facility or a nursing home or even at the patient’s residence. the place of care depends on several factors such as projected life expectancy, cost of care, presence of a caregiver, location, and proximity to place to the responsible physician and his team, and willingness of the patient or his first of kin. author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 107 figure 1: main differences between hospice and palliative care also, in opposition to hospice care and its numbered team, palliative care is administered through a palliative care therapy unit, consisting of physicians, therapists, physical therapists, and nurses, as the main professions, alongside them, creative therapists (music and art), psychologists, psychiatrists and spiritual healers are also involved, not to mention legal and financial advisors and occupational consultants. the literature does not provide that designers and architects should be incorporated unto this unit nor the important role that they play amongst retailing the experience of quality of life to the end-of-life phase, although there is growing focus on the architecture of death and dying. this research discusses the additional areas of design that may help make the end-of-life experience better as well as develop a user centred design experience tailored to each individual patient in opposition to a one size fits all approach to ensure a better quality of life experience. the study aims to develop a design framework to provide a better endof-life experience for terminally ill patients, it also examines structuring a detailed interview questionnaire for both patients and caregivers to give a better personal aspect to this dire time and provide quality time for all concerned to enhance their quality of life. 2. methodology to better understand the number and amount of relevant publications published with the keywords architectural design, user-centred, palliative and hospice care, the vosviewer platform was used. vosviewer is a map and infographic builder that correlates data from several academic search engine sites such as dimensions, web of science and scopus. the format used to import the data into the vosviewer is a .csv extension. the vosviewer accepts metrics from four specific engines, namely, scopus, web of science, dimensions and pubmed. the two engines used in this research are dimensions and scopus due to them being freely available for researchers. the dimensions.ai search engine searches existing academic articles for more than 13 major publishers including springer nature, plos, wiley, iop, frontiers, emerald publishers, and many others, was used to research the correlation between several keywords and their incidence. the keywords used initially was hospice design, which yielded 156 publications. the main categories of research were then filtered as is shown in (figure 1), and 8 of the 11 categories were chosen, yielding 127 publications, as shown in figure 2. hospice care mitigates symptom management focusing on relief of pain interprofessional care with the help of initial caregivers (either family or hired) palliative care focuses on spiritual, psychosocial, and cultural needs of patients and families does not exlude curative treatment involves a holistically designed interdisciplinary plan author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 108 figure 2: results from the dimensions.ai application showing the number of search items that resulted from the keywords while in scopus database, the term “palliative care design” came up with 123 entries, and “hospice care design” came up with 28, (figure 3 and 4 respectively). figure 3: results of the search query “palliative care design” on the scopus database figure 4: results of the search query “hospice care design” on the scopus database the data was then exported from both dimensions.ai and scopus database, downloaded and imported into vosviewer and a vosviewer bibliometric map was designed.. the keywords are then mapped and a filtration of unnecessary or ineffective words are screened manually, (words like chapter, book, article, proceedings, authors names, countries and other irrelevant data to the point of research) and removed. the resulting bibliometric data shows the incidence and correlation between certain keywords and the links occurring from their use. the program computes the words into clusters and a visual map result, as is seen in (figure 5). author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 109 figure 5: visualization map resulting from the words selected showing incidences and links between keywords it is evident that the repetitive and keywords in association with hospice is non design related and that the keywords are patients, caregivers, family and care, while those associated with design are few and with little to no links or connectors (figure 6) figure 6: map visualization showing weak links and incidence between keywords such as design process, healing environment and design in relation to hospice a desktop literature review was then carried out to determine the design standards available for these types of institutions and to build upon the findings the criteria to be added in the development of the framework, taking into consideration the elements of personalization that may be added to devise a conceptual design for areas that may aid in achieving a better quality of life for terminally ill patients through a formulation of an interview questionnaire tailored for each individual. author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 110 3. literature review while related literature focuses on medical care and medication(bain & weschules, 2007)(gawande, 2014; goldenheim et al., 2014; kohara et al., 2005; russell et al., 2017), and to some extent their psychological care as well(el-jawahri et al., 2011; ferrante & villani, 2021; gola et al., 2016), little emphasis is placed on their surrounding environment (both built and natural) and their immediate wishes to live their last days. and while both hospice care centres and palliative units often focus on the physical comfort of the patient, it does so without tailoring a definitive setting to each individual, a point which affects their perception of care during their last days(ferrante & villani, 2021). architectural design focus on both types of care is not evident and only few researchers have ventured into this domain, as evident in the methodology section. architectural and environmental design are inevitable in the provision of an overall integrated and holistic experience to ensure patient satisfaction and vitality. to better understand the qualitative research done in relation to architecture and either hospice or palliative care, academic search engines were utilized to research the number of publications across the years. the overall result showed that these design guidelines were missing and that was the sole driver of this current research. initially hospice and palliative care were designed to ease the suffering of terminally ill cancer patients, today with the adoption of goal 3 of the sustainable development goals leave no one behind to palliative care, it has become broader to encompass other life-threatening debilitating illnesses, such as organ failure, dementia, extreme frailty due to old age, severe tuberculosis, hiv and anyone who’s level of suffering is affecting his quality of life. palliative care also differs according to the age of the patient, children are dealt with in a different manner than youth or geriatric patients and the expectations of family is different according to the age group. evidence based empirical research shows that palliative care does indeed improve quality of life of the patient as well as the ed of life experience(el-jawahri et al., 2011; kane et al., 1984) research also showed that both patients and familial caregivers showed a higher satisfaction to the efforts administered through palliative care in opposition to usual hospital stays, however, the extent or mode of measurement of this satisfaction was not qualitative with no proper mode of measurement identified. (dy et al., 2008; higginson et al., 2003) another point worth mentioning in regards to satisfaction is that studies done in regards to palliative care cannot be taken as is; context, place, location and patient specifics are important factors that may affect heavily satisfaction outcome and the overall experience(higginson & evans, 2010; mularski et al., 2007) amongst the parameters measured for satisfaction in the palliative care experience, the aspect of architecture and design is often overlooked, although it plays a vital role and deals with the overall quality of life and may help in enhancing the eol quality experience. in one study, amongst 37 factors integrated into a questionnaire to measure satisfaction of patients and caregivers, none of the factors embedded in the questionnaire were related to the built environment or the physical surroundings of the patient. (partinico et al., 2014), this may be due to the fact that at the eol stage, aesthetics and architecture may not be important to some. however, architecture and aesthetics is embedded in the daily perception of individuals to any setting and studies have shown the psychological effect that spatial design has on users. 3.1. barriers to end-of-life care religious, financial, and psychological aspects all contribute to lack of implementation of end-of-life care. most religious beliefs view the time of death as a sacred and unknown instance that cannot be predetermined and as such may not believe the time life expectancy stated by the physician. another point of consequence is a psychological one, where caregivers and immediate family would resist treating the patient as terminal as to not foretell his demise (or jinx), believing that it is ominous to think of a loved one as dead. the third aspect to refusing end of life care is often financial, the cost of care for a person, for up to six months in an assisted living facility is often a cost consuming one and many may not be able to afford it, not to mention the psychological synapsis associated with guilt of putting that person up to be cared by somebody else. author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 111 4. results & discussion the idea of investing in an architecturally designed hospice may be a strange notion, not understandable to all, for the mere fact that most people who are on the throes of palliative or end of life care, won’t have design and interior design on their mind and may not even realize its importance. hospices, much like hospitals, come with a very high price tag, on their own without the added component of having them specifically designed and tailored to the individual case or setting. however, the psychological benefits that may arise from embedding design strategies into the eol care setting may be the light at the end of the tunnel needed for families, patients, and caregivers. 4.1. history of palliative and hospice care design the idea behind hospice care, started by dame cicely saunders, in the late forties of the last century was a breakthrough in medical care. saunders took it upon herself to divulge into the care of dying patients and to later open the first dying care home, which she named hospice; originating from hospitality. in 1969, dr. elisabeth kubler-ross wrote the book “on death and dying”, a 500-interview log of dying patients aiming to set in stone the notion of patient involvement in his end of stage care(newman, 2004). the beginning of hospice care design standards came about after a study was done by the joint commission on accreditation of healthcare organizations (jcaho) to assess the number of hospital programs that had a hospice unit, a dedicated nursing unit, or a detailed design compliment for terminally ill patients. based on this empirical research, together with the construction of standalone hospices, certain design elements were embedded within the overall design of these structures; spaces that were uncommon before in the hospital setting came forward, multiusage spaces were introduced to serve several purposes in the same area to allow ease of use and accessibility. interior materials and finishings resembled homelike atmospheres and included residential and domestic elements. new ideas such as places for grieving, spiritual areas, places of respite, therapeutic, restorative and healing gardens were also introduced. places for family accommodations, spatial requirements for therapy and counselling were also made available and encompassed several types and stages (verderber & refuerzo, 2019) in essence, designing for grievance and hospice is designing with compassion, it needs to bear in mind the time of distress that accompanies families, loved ones and caregivers. the idea of a one model fits all approach is not one that will work in terminally ill patients, with each having their own life expectations, experiences and mechanisms for coping, and while the hospice team and unit interview patients and their next of kin extensively to reach an optimum plan of care, it is most likely focused on the medication plan that helps relieve pain, an important factor which is directly related with the relieve of stress. studies have shown that the higher the amount of pain, the worse the stress levels of both patients and caregivers(abdallah & geha, 2017; feuerstein, 2007). however, pain and stress relieve are not the only sides of coping with a terminally ill situation nor will they ensure a better quality of life. this research focuses on devising design outlines that will be tailored to each individual user as per their explicit needs and wants. a detailed interview questionnaire should be structured to help understand the specific needs of each patient, and ultimately aid the design team to focus on how to embed these needs into the design framework to be able to fulfil them duly. optimally this is carried out in the assisted living unit or a nursing home, however it may also be used in the patient’s residence (although it may incur additional costs and expenses). hospitals are not always the preferred place of stay between the four accommodation types due to many reasons, the first being the idea of being surrounded of disease and death as well as the financial toll on governments and insurance bodies as hospitals tend to have a higher need of individualized beds to make way for other patients especially in the case of terminally ill ones. most hospitals do not want to increase their mortality rate and have a terminally ill patient stay and die at their establishment, so even if the idea of costs and expenses are not the issue, the need to make way for other pressing patients with curable diseases is another point that is factored into the equation. author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 112 4.2. personalization of interior spaces most end-of-life care design standards revolve around the accommodation’s unit itself; (size, furniture, placement, floor area ratio, window placement and proximity of care). little to no emphasis is placed on the life of the individual at the centre of care. the main aspect of personalization comes from four main pillars physical, social, psychological, and physiological (table 1), each of these components can be dealt with through design to help maximize or diminish its positive or negative effects. table 1: aspects of personalization of spatial design based on user-centred design and tailored to each individual need pillar component design criteria design needs physical the physical surroundings of the patient including his lodging quarters, belongings and everyday activities and practices spatial design of the patients’ surroundings to help in overall support fixtures installations ambient temperature ambient lighting embedding an automated monitoring system for thermal comfort changing the overall scenery inside the space interaction with nature though the different senses digitization of well-being devices such as curtain movement, heater start, sound system levels accessibility social social interactions and connections and their incidence and frequency, whether with family members, friends, acquaintances or others close proximity design of needed social spaces allowing social interaction with peers for meaningful conversations that stay away from the subject of illness and death engaging with therapists and other professionals help ease negative feelings hired listeners access to different age groups and scopes of people psychological deals with the different additives that may impact the patients state of mind and overall mental well-being, this may be due to cultural, genetic, social or religious mandates that may in turn affect the patient’s responsiveness and state of mind design of stress relief areas to decrease the focus on pain, death, and stress these are embedded strategies in the types of activities that the patient may be able to undergo, given his physical and health state, these may include accessibility to places of hobbies, music, art and other leisure activities, they should be formulated and designed in accordance with each individual need and to the level of activity that he is able to undergo. religious areas (according to practice) to help regulate bouts of anxiety and psychological onsets therapeutic gardens and places of general rumination which include birds, flowers, water elements, trees, and other relaxing elements to engage the senses physiological the physiological state of the patient and the levels of medications needed to alleviate the pain, whether they affect any other organ and cause any side effects. they may even render the patient asleep the entire time thus not fulfilling the idea of quality-of-life measure parts of the detailed strategies may be brought to the patient in room to make for his lack of being able to experience these in their own settings scenic landscapes drawn, hologrammed, projected or glued to the interior of the room biophilic design interventions music played inside the room placement of art and other visually appealing items placement of flowers and other arrangements accessibility aids that can be tailored to individual need, weight, and height ease of use of close proximity equipment, like lighting, bell calls, thermal comfort monitors, regulators, and controllers. author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 113 each point in table 1 is converted to one or more questions in the interview questionnaire for a more specific usercentred experience. the questions are designed to understand the preferences and taste of the patient as well as his caregiver or next of kin (caretaker not from the nursing staff) as is seen in the sample questions in (table 2). should the patient not be able to undergo these questions, his caregiver is to ask on his behalf and a temporary location may be administered until the patients needs are met and he is satisfied. table 2: sample of interview questionnaire for personalization of personal space sample questions physical attributes what is your preferred method of lighting? (direct/indirect) what is your preferred colour of light? {warm (yellow)/cold (white)} is there a preferred colour of choice for the interiors colour of the walls? would you like access to additional landscape scenery inside your room, or is the garden view enough? would you like to have the sound of nature brought inside the room (birds chirping, rustle of leaves, sound of rain, sound of water) if so, would you like to be able to control it. would you like to have the smell of nature brought inside the room (orange orchids, flowers, fresh grass, smell of the fields) not all terminally ill patients are frail (eklund et al., 2013), some just want to be able to spend their last days in a pain free environment, with the people they love, in a setting they prefer. while homes and personal residences may be the ideal setting, they are often lacking in essential amenities, take their toll on the immediate family, not to mention may be out of reach of physicians and staff. designing end-of-life care facilities to resembles personal homes or the idea of “homeliness” is often mentioned in the research, making the place of care resemble a home as much as possible, and initially, hospice care units were housed in residences donated by their owners as a last resting place. the idea of homeliness is further enhanced through concealing machines and devices. this was harder to adopt earlier due to both the size of the machine and the need to attach it to the patient, however, nowadays with the evolvement of technology and artificial intelligence tools and sensors, both these problems may be dealt with. in the instance of the size of the machinery, the size has diminished considerably and may be masked in either a moving cupboard that resembles a commode, or through placing it in an integrated setting facing the wall, to be turned around only when needed. the other point that has to do with machinery is the constant sound of monitors and other vital signs checks, sensors through small wrist attachments, help send signals and data directly to the nursing units that monitor the patients’ vitals through a monitor and an electronic management system, that may give out an alarm if a specific number is not in accordance with the overall finding. this electronic management system is embedded within the overall computing system of the facility and helps regulate the workload of nurses as well. personalization of the interior space includes personalized thermal comfort, in contrast to a central hvac facility that may become an irritation rather than a convenience (abdel-razek et al., 2022). patients with terminal illness are usually immuno-compromised and may thus be more sensitive to temperature than others, this is also affected by their metabolic rate, medication and type of illness. that is why a tailored experience for each of user is more befitting. proximity of nursing stations and other caregivers is another aspect that has been given vast recognition, not only as a form of function, but also to design spaces, where the caregivers may acquire enough rest to recharge to be able to continue their vocation without its dire negative effects. evidence has shown that the side effects of dealing with a terminally ill loved one leads to stress, depression, mood swings, anxiety, panic attacks, high blood pressure and general misery(boucher & johnson, 2021; connellan et al., 2013; gawande, 2014; petersen et al., 2020; russell et al., 2017). that is where the design process comes in to provide relief to both caregivers and next of kin to be able to author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 114 meltdown; open air spaces, gardens, crying rooms, scenic landscape areas, music rooms, libraries, game rooms, activity areas, places for hobbies, general chatrooms, social areas, each according to their mode of stress reducing activity. nursing stations as proposed in figure 7, should be stationed in a place where they have close access to both patient rooms and social spaces, so as to decrease the amount of time spent back and forth between them. social cultural leisure zones should be divided into clusters to decrease walking time and provide continuous access to all. grievance areas should be placed in a farther away spot to restrain from becoming a place of bad omen to patients and caregivers alike, while places of worship should be coupled into the proximal space to promote spiritual accessibility. (figure 8) figure 7: conceptual design of design relation between patient rooms, social areas, and nursing units and accessibility to the outside figure 8: grievance areas should be secluded and kept at the back of the spiritual zone author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 115 studies have shown that while some terminally ill patients preferred shared accommodations, some felt that it breached their privacy and was not ideal for familial conversations and medical assistance (smith, 2014), the entry interview with patients and caregivers should ask about the preferred choice of accommodation type and work upon it without placing two medically incompatible patients in the same room (same diagnosis shared room is preferred). empirical research has also shown that many inhabitants of assisted homes preferred open space dining in opposite to single room dining and en-suite kitchen services. large windows with internal shading fixtures should be present in all patient rooms. according to one study done to understand what the most important design component of rooms in hospice care units, most patients emphasized the point of more light (eaton, 2008). dim rooms give a sense of foreboding that is often perceived as gloomy or depressing. the internal shades should be operable mechanically using handheld controllers provided to the patient to maximize benefit and facilitate use. another point of importance is the provision of a physical activity place,( not rigorous exercise), evidence-based research has shown that patients with accessibility to places for walking (morris & hardman, 1997; ouf et al., 2021; visvizi et al., 2021), meditation (goyal et al., 2014; innes et al., 2012; scott, 2022), yoga (maddux et al., 2018; shohani et al., 2018; woodyard, 2011), and mindfulness (bartlett et al., 2021; mohammed et al., 2018) are prone to lower stress levels, lower pain levels and overall general improvement, than ones not partaking in these types of activities. this entails that designers design easily accessible areas that fit these types of activities, both inside and outside to accommodate for weather changes. these spaces should be geriatric and child friendly and be fit for all levels of usage. 5. conclusion user-centred design is often forgotten in circumstances of extreme events, like dying. the end-of-life period, often a very stressful and exhausting one, especially to terminally ill patients and their beloved, is a time that should be invested in to provide solace and make memories, as well as help transition loved ones into the process of grief. embedding systems and designing detailed places aimed at improving the overall mood and psyche of the patientcaregiver nexus is crucial to ensure a better end of life experience and help diminish adverse reactions and outbursts. providing a better quality of life to end of life terminally ill patients is a right that is often overlooked or discarded due to the dire circumstances. often enough patients will want to live their last days in a serene place surrounded by friends and family with no pain or suffering, providing them with such is the least that designers and caregivers can do in this crucial and painful time. moreover, loved ones and friends and families need to make memories and celebrate their life, as well as accept the notion of grievance and loss through spending quality time. seeing a loved one in pain and suffering is a agitation inducing sight that many wish to not be subjected to. this research focuses on providing end stage terminally ill patients with a life expectancy a quality of life tailored to their specific need through an entry questionnaire designed to consider all aspects of their everyday life as welk as their hobbies, interests, and preferences to come up with a user-centred design tailored to each individual separately these measures can be taken on the physical, social, psychological, and physiological levels, each on its own or combined to give a better design experience. the proposed initial framework includes several introduced spaces to help ensure the patient is satisfied with his surroundings and has all his favorite pastimes available, it also features a personalization detailed questionnaire to help understand the patient’s wishes and needs the embedded strategies are subtle homelike environments that are tailored to each patient individually, and may be achieved through things like embedding light and colour-changing sensors in the patient’s personal space, including aesthetic placements of specific indoor environments, integrating the utilization of the different senses, all in an effort to help alleviate stress and reduce anxiety and overall pain, to provide a better quality of life during end-of-life care. 6. future research validation and implementation of the interview questionnaire for terminally ill patients as an evidence-based design approach author name / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 116 references abdallah, c. g., & geha, p. 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(2016). global report on urban health: equitable, healthier cities for sustainable development. http://www.who.int/about/licensing/copy-right_form/index.html zadeh, r. s., eshelman, p., setla, j., kennedy, l., hon, e., & basara, a. (2018). environmental design for end-of-life care: an integrative review on improving the quality of life and managing symptoms for patients in institutional settings. journal of pain and symptom management, 55(3), 1018–1034. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2017.09.011 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 3 october 2024, accepted: 22 february 2025, published online: 30 june 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i2.1129 missing teeth and sticky parts of urban plans: the case of patrick geddes’ tel aviv cem s. kayatekin1 1assistant professor, ie university, school of architecture and design, segovia, spain abstract this paper is focused on the rise, development, and current state of the built environment of tel aviv, specifically looking at (1) the historical context within which tel aviv’s origin story is situated; (2) the ideals initially espoused by patrick geddes in his master plan for the city, and how the built environment mutated as varying pressures began to push and pull at its seams in the decades that followed; (3) the parts of the initial master plan which maintained their tenacity within the built environment, in comparison to the parts which were absorbed by the weight of rapid urbanization; and (4) the unexpected micro-architectural typologies that have emerged within the built environment of tel aviv, anchored within the micro-scale urban morphological niches framed by geddes’ original master plan. the first two points, located within the discursive landscape of architectural and urban history, are addressed via a historical methodological approach. the latter two points are scrutinized via an analysis of the contemporary built environment of tel aviv, with the final point specifically utilizing an ideal-type analysis often deployed within psychological and sociological research. the findings presented across the paper are in close relationship with the growing body of literature attempting to partially steer the discursive landscape concerning tel aviv away from an obsessive focus on the city’s modernist architectural legacy and towards a deeper understanding and recognition of what has pejoratively been deemed the background fabric of the city. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords tel aviv; patrick geddes; master planning; built environment; architecture 1. introduction the dominant architectural protagonist found across the built environment of tel aviv is a low-rise multi-family housing typology, with clear setbacks on the side and rear, giving the built world room to breathe and space to take in the mediterranean sun. as early as the 1930s, this repetitive low-rise typology formed the bedrock of the city’s built environmental narrative (see figure 1). given that tel aviv itself was master-planned in the mid-1920s and this low-rise typology was observed ubiquitously across the urban fabric soon after, there is a commonplace discursive presumption that this building typology was part of the original framework for the city, as penned by patrick geddes (hoffman, 2009, pp.72-73). http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i2.1129&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 figure 1: postcard of herzl street, tel aviv (circa 1930). (source: eliahu brothers (jaffa / tel aviv), public domain) as a byproduct of this presumption, significant portions of the discursive landscape struggle to imagine the origin story of the city in the absence of this architectural character, giving rise to the myth of tel aviv as a dense city that suddenly “rose out of nothing” (hoffman, 2009, pp.72-73), or “a city that grew from the sands” (harris, 2008, p.89). a secondary byproduct is that contemporary analyses of tel aviv’s built world tend to focus on this low-rise typology at the expense of other typologies or architectural phenomena encountered within the cityscape. this paper attempts to cross-examine these discursive elements, specifically by: (1) framing evidence counter to the idea that tel aviv was a city that suddenly emerged as a multi-story built-environmental landscape out of a tabula rasa condition; (2) refuting the assertion that the low-rise architectural typology predominantly observed across tel aviv was part of patrick geddes’ initial master plan for the city; and (3) shedding light on another building typology which emerged within the parameters of geddes’ master plan that has heretofore been overlooked by the discursive landscape. with this cross-examination effort, the text aims to contribute to the growing discourse critically analyzing the myths, histories, and realities underpinning tel aviv (levine, 1999; mann, 2006; rubin, 2013; rotbard, 2015; azaryahu, 2020), while opening up the examination of the built environment of the city to more-liminal and -background building and spatial typologies (epstein-pliouchtch and fuchs, 2008; haque, 2008; aronis, 2009). 2. materials and methods this text disentangles three layers of fiction, inaccuracy, and oversight concerning the history, development, and contemporary state of the urban fabric of tel aviv. this is achieved by leaning on historical methodology as well as ideal-type analysis. while the former is commonly utilized within the analysis of the built world, the latter is fairly uncommon within built environmental studies, being a qualitative methodology used within psychological and sociological research (stapley et al., 2021; stapley et al., 2022). the historical methodology utilized leans upon secondary and primary resources to challenge two specific arguments—namely that: (1) tel aviv was a city that arose out of nothing, and (2) the multi-story apartment typology ubiquitously observed across the urban fabric of tel aviv, was a typology suggested by patrick geddes in his original master plan for the city. these points are addressed in sections 3.1 and 3.2, respectively. the ideal-type analysis utilized in section 3.3 anchored the remote field research conducted on the urban fabric of tel aviv between 2018-2019 and 2022-2023, analyzing a specific micro-architectural typology which was observed within the six-to-eight meter inter-building gaps originally designed into the master plan by geddes (kallus, 1997, pp. 297-299). for data collection, systematic random sampling was utilized to investigate the urban fabric, with every third street being omitted from the data mining process. given that most of the streets in tel aviv face north-south or east-west in a fairly gridded fashion, this type of systematic sampling was rather straightforward. through this data analysis, a total of 220 examples of this micro-architectural typology were observed. based on the systematic kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 omissions embedded into the sampling process, it is estimated that over 330 such examples would be observed across the urban fabric in its entirety. google earth pro was the main software utilized for data mining across the urban fabric. the historical imagery embedded into this software proved particularly useful in that it permitted the assessment of how specific areas of the streetscape changed over time. the images sourced via this platform are used in this paper as primary figures. this is done to maintain methodological transparency across the research as a whole and to support the gradual expansion of the range of methodologies and methodological outputs conventionally used in the analysis of the built environment, which, in the context of architectural research, has tended to be anchored around historical methodological conventions. after this dataset was established, the ideal-type-analysis methodology, as outlined by stapley et al. (2021; 2022), was utilized. this involved a seven-step process which included: dataset familiarisation (step 1), case reconstruction (step 2), construction of ideal types (step 3), optimal case identification (step 4), formation of ideal-type descriptors (step 5), checking credibility (step 6), and making comparisons (step 7) (stapley et al., 2022). this was not a linear process where steps 1 through 7 were achieved in a single stroke, but rather a back-and-forth process wherein checking of credibility (step 6), for instance, often led back to the refinement of ideal types initially constructed in step 3. five ideal types were established at the end of this process. 3. results the findings of this paper are broken down into the following three areas of focus: (1) the historic context within which patrick geddes’ master plan for tel aviv arose; (2) geddes’ initial ideals for the city, and how those initial intentions changed as differing societal demands and pressures imposed themselves upon the urban fabric; and (3) the rise of a micro-architectural infill typology, incubated within the side setbacks initially established by geddes’ master plan for the city. 3.1. the myth of bare sands and nothingness the enactment of the u.s. emergency immigration acts of 1921 and 1924 imposed severe restrictions on jewish immigration to the united states (alroey, 2006, p.273). as a byproduct of these restrictions, significant portions of global jewish immigration began to look to mandatory palestine as a preferred region of asylum (ibid.). tel aviv was one of the safe harbors for this vast global movement of people. having grown from a population of just over 2,000 in 1919 to one of nearly 40,000 by 1925, it was in the early 1920s that the tel-aviv city council called on patrick geddes to compile a report for the future northern expansion of the city (kallus, 1997, p.290). while previously composed mainly of agricultural pioneers, the new wave of immigration included large numbers of middle-class eastern european urbanites (kallus, 1997, p.295). these new arrivals, looking for secure investments for their liquid assets, began to direct portions of their funds into the burgeoning urban fabric of tel-aviv, causing urban investment to nearly triple between 1924 and 1925 (ibid.). the city of tel aviv was granted autonomy from the municipal council of jaffa in june of 1921 and gained the capacity to raise taxes, negotiate contracts, and pass bylaws (levine, 1998, p.41). the city was bound by jaffa to the south, the mediterranean sea to the west, and the village of sarona to the east (ibid., p.40). it looked north for potential development, noting the “virgin, undeveloped, or never before urbanized territory” that lay therein (welter, 2009, p.110). according to levine (1998, p.36), the lands to the north of tel aviv were often described as uninhabited. it was this initial “discursive disappearance” of the half-dozen arab villages to the east and north in the early 1920s that subsequently propelled their later actual disappearance (ibid.). welter (2009, p.110) echoes this discursive-erasure tendency in writing, “tel aviv's extension […] was to be built on sand dunes, orange groves, and vineyards, all slated to disappear”, with no mention of any existing villages. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 levine (1998, p.41) notes that the expansion of tel-aviv during the 1920s was propelled by three factors: (1) the political strategy to appropriate as much of the coastline as possible in order secure an economic future while also geographically dividing arab-controlled regions; (2) the rise in the population of tel aviv; and (3) the rise in speculative land prices in both tel aviv and jaffa that the aforementioned population boom fueled. kallus (1997, p.297) in turn notes that land acquisitions in the 1920s and 1930s in tel aviv were conducted by three entities: (1) profit-seeking private speculators; (2) the land department of the municipality of tel aviv; and (3) private individuals and families looking to gain a foothold in the burgeoning city. at this time, the original ottoman land laws, which formed the politico-legal fabric underpinning the region, were not fully understood by the british mandate (levine, 1998, p.38). the british codification of land conducted in the area in the early 1920s uprooted the previously established ottoman land law of 1858, which had classified the various and specific forms of private, joint, communal, and public land ownership prevalent in arabic settlements (atran, 1989, p.725; levine, 1998, p.379). a british government official, in the late 1930s, complained that these changes had not achieved as complete an impact as he would have hoped: "it appears evident that, in certain areas, the arabs regard this (masha'a) system of tenancy, destructive as it is of all development, as a safeguard against alienation. […] imagine an english village where every farmer each year is compelled to pass on his lands and buildings to a neighbor... and receive some other neighbor's farm in exchange, [you] will get some inkling of what obstacles to progress can exist to agricultural development in palestine” (atran, 1989, p.727). atran (1989) offers the following retort: “it never seemed to occur to the ‘experts’ that such a scenario was as bizarre as the forced attempt to convert palestinian fellahin into yeomen. yet, that is precisely what british policy aimed to do at every turn, it being ‘considered that the principles of the english law (with regard to agricultural holdings), with some simplification, are applicable to palestine’” (atran, 1989, p.727). under the british system of land codification of mandatory palestine, land previously (under the ottoman land law) classified as public, communal, or temporarily fallow, could be reclassified and subsequently acquired via municipal or private channels (levine, 1998, p.47). such acquisitions and expropriations weren’t one-sided activities. in the case of a road proposal that was set to disrupt a village to the north of tel aviv, for instance, contrasting local opinions regarding the unfolding event could be observed: “[…] while the villagers strongly opposed the road scheme, the owners of the targeted land supported it […] the wealthier landowners did not mind having the land expropriated because they knew they would receive adequate compensation, while the poorer residents of the village knew they would receive nothing. indeed, a number of jaffa notables (including two mayors) were involved in land sales, though for the most part not in the jaffa district, at the same time that they publicly criticized british support of jewish land purchases” (levine, 1998, pp.47-48). this story was not an isolated one: “awni abd al-hadi, now president of the nationalist istaqlal party, defended the tenants in the last stages of litigation against the jewish agency and the administration. previously, while serving on the arab executive, he had represented the tayan heirs and colluded in their scheme with the jewish national fund to have the wadi elhawareth put up for public auction so that the tenants could not exercise the preemptory right of first purchase that accompanied regular land sales. although the palestine land development company had agreed to a purchase price of lp 136,000, a fictitious mortgage was arranged. after default and foreclosure by the nablus court, the jewish national fund ‘bought’ the land at auction for lp 41,000 but actually paid the prearranged price to the tayan heirs. when, in 1933, the mufti's supporters advertised the affair in the arab press, awni's prestige suffered considerably” (atran, 1989, p.733). was the case of the expansion of tel aviv in the 1920s and 1930s predominantly a microcosm of a much larger ethnic struggle that was fought in the municipality via economic and institutional channels? was the case of tel aviv a somewhat anomalous economic class struggle, a case of gentrification, within which ethnicities happened to, by and large, fall on opposite sides? are both narratives accurate, and if so, are both of comparable weight? although the vocabulary of ethnic segregation seems to be able to recite a partially truthful perspective of the history of tel-aviv for this time period, it does seem to fall short. the explicit actions of private and public entities at the kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 time were focused on codifying and expropriating very specific somethings rather than merely developing the purported nothingness of virgin dunes. yet, while this was a type of expropriation that was drawn around ethnic lines, it was also one that fell within a rather strict capitalistic framework of land speculation, densification, and economic stratification—a repeating tel avivian story which echoes into the current day: “[in contrast to jerusalem] all that continues here [in tel aviv] is an eternal struggle over property, status, success, and benefits. this is a traditional competition; its teeth are blunt, and there is no blood or madness in its eyes. meanness is regular, banal meanness, devoid of the charm of radical meanness. […] there is no tangible hatred in the streets. today's tel aviv is the city of the old yishuv in the actual meaning of the concept” (nitzan-shiftan, 2007, p.100). the historical record is clear in its refutation of the idea of tel aviv as a city that arose out of nothing. however, the lingering matter that the discourse must continue to digest is whether economic or ethno-cultural narratives can lay claim to the dominant arc of tel aviv’s origin story. while it is beyond the capacity of this paper to make a definitive assertion on the matter, it is important to note that urban narratives tend to be complex and multilayered. in the context of tel aviv, what has been particularly counterproductive in the discursive landscape is the attempt to create an artificially monolithic and sterilized conception of the city’s contemporary roots. “as the ‘first hebrew city,’ tel aviv was endowed by writers, painters, photographers, and city planners with an image as new, clean, and modern—everything the crowded neighborhoods of jaffa were not—a city sprung from the sands. avraham soskin’s famous photograph of the land lottery, where a group of new ‘shareholders’ stands huddled together in the sands, is a carefully staged portrait. the angle and perspective of the photo set the horizon on the dunes. there is no sign of the city of jaffa to the immediate south, nor of the jewish neighborhoods of neve tsedek and neve shalom (founded in the 1880s), nor of the templar settlement of sharona or the extensive arab agriculture in the form of orchards just to the east. the city is formed ex nihilo—yesh me-ayin—despite the protest of the lone figure at the top of the photo who, as legend has it, yelled out ‘meshuga’im, eyn kahn mayim!’ (you’re crazy; there’s no water here!). (in a later reproduction of the photo, the figure has been erased, his dissenting presence removed, perhaps by the photographer; he no longer disturbs the unified ring of ‘pioneers.’) this image has become ubiquitous in histories of tel aviv” (mann, 2006, p.74). 3.2. ideals, pressures, and apartments that rise out of houses. prior to the master plan commission for tel aviv, patrick geddes was professionally active in the region quite extensively. he had conducted or submitted: a proposal for improvements to the wailing wall (1919); a planning report for jerusalem city (1919); a proposal for jerusalem hebrew university (1919); a proposal for a new synagogue at jerusalem (1920); a planning report for haifa city (1920); plans for a synagogue in tel aviv (1920); a general report for tiberias (1920); and reports for kfar saba and tel adas (1920); among others (kallus, 1997, p.299). geddes’ proposed plan for tel aviv had four main anchors. the first concerned plot size—geddes expanded the minimum allowable plot size from the 300-400 square meters previously maintained by the tel aviv city council to 560 square meters. according to kallus (1997, p.295), this enlarged standard was based on a recommendation given to geddes by the town planning committee, later validated by geddes himself as a climatically appropriate plot area. welter (2009, p.102) argues that geddes had come to this standard based on his understanding of “mass public opinion” that favored such a large lot size as suitable for future homes. the second anchor concerned ideal building typologies. geddes deemed that lots were to support “no more than two small houses with a common gable,” which were to maintain three-meter setbacks from the streets and sixto eightmeter gaps between neighboring structures (kallus 1997, 297-299). the footprint of each building was to cover no more than one-third of the total lot size (aronis, 2009, p.162). thirdly, geddes’ plan shaped a hierarchical grid of streets. there were four variations to be established: major streets running north-south; secondary streets running east-west; tree-lined boulevards; and a network of minor streets spread throughout the city (welter, 2009, p.102). last was the notion of urban nodes—specifically, a concentration of cultural institutions that was to be placed upon “the noblest site within its area […] [like the] acropolis of old” (ibid., pp.106-107). this was to be composed of kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 theaters, museums, opera, and educational institutions, placed in tight proximity, so that “mutual forgetfulness” could be prevented (ibid., p.107). the location of the habima theatre today forms what geddes proposed to be the city’s unifying cultural and intellectual feature, with the proposed economic center of tel aviv, dizengoff square, found in close proximity. geddes deemed that dizengoff square was to be composed of four-story structures with “shops and offices on the first two to three floors with apartments above,” intended to function as a business and shopping district linking new tel aviv back to jaffa (ibid., p.109). geddes’ overarching vision for the city was based around the ideal “of the garden village” (ibid., p.103). his understanding of nature as a socially, culturally, and intellectually restorative element coincided with his own upbringing in perth: “my home was on the hill-slope above perth, and its windows and tree-tops, and still more the walks over moor and through wood above, and from crofts and cliff-edges to southward, gave an ever-delightful variety of impressions, near enough for detail, yet broad enough for picture. clear as on a map, just at the tidal and navigable limit of its river lies the city, neatly bounded between two ancient parks […] roads, still of country type, converge upon the town from all sides, still keeping much of their country beauty, while for the daily passages along the noble bridge there opens a choice of views immediate and remote: here the clear swift river, with salmon nesting among the pebbles, and yonder birnam hill and the distant mountains, now snowy against gray skies, or blue upon the sunset-the scene of which ruskin has written so admirably, and to which ‘modern painters’ plainly owes so much” (geddes, 1909, pp.54-56). geddes observed a significant neglect of private and public access to nature in contemporary cities. his insistence on lower densities for tel aviv also appeared to stem from his lifelong relationship with high-density informal settlements and the oft-deteriorated and insalubrious conditions he observed within them (kallus, 1997, p.299). tenement buildings, he argued, were an inhumane form of human warehousing (ibid., p.299). the oddity is that the suburban condition outlined in his plan for tel aviv would have had a proclivity for hindering the lower rungs of the socioeconomic fabric from gaining comfortable footholds within the city. welter (2009, p.104) confirms that even in this time period, geddes would certainly have been informed by the findings of his urbanist peer, henry vaughan lanchester, that “low-density dwellings in huge gardens […] would disadvantage poor citizens.” the biographical details of geddes’ life seem to support this narrative. it is unlikely that geddes was simply overlooking the lower socioeconomic rungs of society with this rather suburban level of density designed for tel aviv. aside from having willfully moved himself and his family to an informal settlement of edinburgh during the early years of his marriage, to test his theories on “conservative [urban] surgery” (haworth, 2000), geddes was also in close contact with various informal settlements of india during his active professorship in mumbai (then bombay). one point of urban improvement he outlined while working in an informal settlement in mumbai was that residential door dimensions should be expanded to at least be able to allow “a pregnant woman carrying a pot of water on her head to walk through with ease” (kumar, 1987, p.50). this shows a detailed sociological understanding of the context within which he was working and a rather noteworthy level of professional restraint. he did not attempt to radically alter the conditions of the informal settlements he encountered to fit the middle-class anglo-saxon norms and values of the time. rather, his approach was contextually reactionary and often quite subtle. underpinning geddes’s leaning towards a low-density urban condition for tel aviv seems to be his belief that he was setting forth the framework for an urban-agricultural utopia, composed of communally owned kibbutzim, tying jewish diaspora “back to the land” (welter, 2009, p.106). geddes was framing the expansion of tel aviv not in the blindness of the urban exclusivity often ingrained within low-density urban design, but rather under the belief that he was setting in motion a societal construct which would be free of such socioeconomic stratification altogether. photographs taken before the 1920s capture this low-density built environment quite readily across tel aviv (see figure 2). kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 the socioeconomic trajectory of tel aviv was set to change quite drastically from the 1920s through the 1940s. this change would exert enough pressure on the urban dynamics of tel aviv so that the city would take shape in a manner far different from geddes’ original urban-agricultural framework. supporting a population of just over 2,000 in 1919, tel aviv experienced a population boom that would bring it from a city of 40,000 in 1925 to one of 80,000 by 1933 and to one of 160,000 by 1944. kallus (1997, p.296) asserts that this growth was largely due to the vast influx of jewish immigrants coming from europe and asia, coinciding with the third, fourth, and fifth aliyah, taking place in 1919-1923, 1924-1929, and 19291939, respectively. given the significant and rapid influx of population and investment that flowed into the urban fabric during this time, and the profitand density-based expectations that invariably followed such movements of finance and persons, a city with “low density, extensive public amenities, and vast open spaces, [proved to be] unrealistic” (kallus, 1997, p.297). it is in this context that rapid changes in the urban typologies of tel aviv during the late 1920s, 30s, and 40s were observed. it is difficult to pinpoint the exact timeframe at which higher-density typologies started to pervasively overshadow lower-density ones, but it is clear that even by 1925, “single-family homes were being replaced by two and three-story houses” (bar-gal, 1989, p.43). while the apartment-centric description of density framed by hoffman (2009) accurately describes the condition of tel aviv as observed from the 1930s up to the modern day (see figure 3), it was not at all the urban condition initially authored by patrick geddes. “the neighborhood had originally been planned as a quiet, affluent suburb of jaffa, with oneand two-story singlefamily homes surrounded by private gardens. this plan, and the landowners’ subsequent brief flirtation with patrick geddes’ garden city model, eventually gave way in the face of an increased demand for housing and commercial development.” (mann, 2006, p.97) in contemporary days, the uniquely tel-avivian multistory building typology can be observed ubiquitously across the urban fabric. this typology, and the “unprecedented diversity of variants” it supported, is often the discursive focus of the architectural heritage of tel aviv (hoffman, 2009, pp.72-73). the ubiquitous presence of this typology is self-evident. however, the discursive restructuring of the ideals and conditions set forth by geddes’ initial master plan to falsely accommodate this urban typology within the very seeds of tel aviv’s built world is not accurate. this effort seems to be another example of the geddesian master plan being subjected to fictional restructuring to accommodate contemporary ideological needs (rubin, 2013, p.114). aside from specific nodes in the urban fabric, such as dizengoff square, the multistory apartment typology of tel aviv cannot be traced back to geddes’ initial master plan for the city. it is a manifestation of a much lower-density urban-agricultural vision for the city mutating under the pressures of significant and rapid socioeconomic growth. figure 2: photograph depicting the western part of rothschild boulevard, tel aviv, circa 1911. note the lower density, broadly suburban nature inherent to the built environment of the city at the time. source: government press office (israel), circa 1911, public domain. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 3: rothschild boulevard, tel aviv, circa 1937-38. note the multistory building typologies repeated across the built environment, now of a much higher density when compared to two decades prior (as seen in figure 2). (source: zultan kluger (tel aviv), public domain) 3.3. geddes’ gaps and micro infills. in the initial master plan, patrick geddes called for the maintenance of sixto eight-meter gaps between adjacent buildings (kallus, 1997, p.299). while not much of the built environment of tel aviv can be traced back to the initial geddes plan for the city, these inter-building gaps can still be observed throughout much of the urban fabric (see figure 4). figure 4: intersection of ya’el street and shlomo hamelekh street, tel aviv (march 2015). source: google. a confluence of factors seems to reaffirm the functionality of this urban morphological trait. in climatic and environmental terms, these inter-building setbacks allow for the provision of daylighting and ventilation to the sides kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 of multi-story buildings. this coheres with the inter-building porosity oft prescribed for humid climates (lau et al., 2005, p.535) as is typified by tel aviv—supporting not only a macro-scale improvement to airflow across the urban fabric, but also better indoor environmental quality for the residential or commercial units nestled into the sides of these building typologies. this latter aspect is, on the one hand, beneficial for the tenants within said units, and on the other hand, quite a useful capitalistic parameter allowing for greater extraction of value from limited available real estate. most importantly, these setbacks do not limit the potential densification of the city, at least in as significant a manner as some of the other urban parameters called for within geddes’ initial master plan. one-to-two story height limitations and the overall restriction of urban development to single-family homes, although integral to geddes’ initial vision for tel aviv, did not operate in a comparably productive manner across this range of factors. these height limits not only imposed significant restrictions on the potential density that the city would be able to achieve, but they also did not support urban dynamics that were climatically or capitalistically favorable. the inter-building gaps, on the other hand, did not significantly hinder density potential, supported urban-scale climatic benefits, and supported unit-scale indoor environmental quality benefits (and real estate value production). one can extrapolate that it is due to this favorable performance across a range of built environmental dynamics that geddes’ gaps have maintained their urban morphological relevance, or stickiness, to the current day. the utilization of such setbacks within the design of urban form is not often extolled. alexander (1977, pp.531-534) for instance, citing a picture of a setback between two multistory buildings very much reminiscent of contemporary tel aviv, argues that “isolated buildings are symptoms of a disconnected sick society” and that one should “connect buildings up, wherever possible, to the existing buildings [around].” jacobs (1993) comparably asserts that gaps between adjacent buildings, appearing as missing teeth in the urban form, should be avoided in favor of a more continuous urban street front. figure 5: 53 king george st, tel aviv (november 2011). (source: google) there is, however, an overlooked wrinkle about these setbacks. they have emerged as incubation spaces for microarchitectural typologies in tel aviv. small-grained economic activities, housed by fine-grained architectural typologies, have gained unique footholds in the city via these inter-building gaps (see figure 5). based on an analysis of these inter-building gaps across the city, utilizing systematic randomized sampling, 220 instances of this micro-architectural typology were identified across tel aviv. accounting for the systematic omission embedded into the sampling process, it is extrapolated that approximately 330 instances of this typology should be present throughout the entirety of tel aviv’s cityscape. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 these micro-buildings were sorted into five categories using an ideal-type analysis methodological structure (stapley et al., 2021; stapley et al., 2022). while the typological classifications have been refined several times via the dynamics of this methodology, these categories should still be taken as an incipient framework attempting the initial classification of this micro-typological phenomenon. these include: • category 1 the minimal frame (figure 6) • category 2 the open shop (figure 7) • category 3 the closed shop (figure 8) • category 4 soft use above the closed shop (figure 9) • category 5 closed multi-story (figure 10) figures 6-8. figure 6 (left) shows 38 ben yehuda street (2011) with the micro-building on the rightmost inter-building gap representing the category 1 typology, the minimal frame. figure 7 (middle) shows 50 allenby street (2011) with the micro-building on the rightmost interbuilding gap representing the category 2 typology, the open shop. figure 8 (right) shows 244 dizengoff street (2019) with the micro-building on the rightmost inter-building gap representing the category 3 typology, the closed shop. (source: google) figures 9-10. figure 9 (left) shows 30 hei-be-iyar street (2012) with the micro-buildings in both inter-building gaps representing the category 4 typology, soft use above the closed shop. figure 10 (right) shows 1 tchernikhovski street (2011) with the micro-building on the leftmost inter-building gap representing the category 5 typology, closed multi-story. (source: google) these 5 categories have been established to distinguish different levels of investment within the micro-infill typology occupying the inter-building gap. the minimal frame contains the bare minimum of signage and threshold delineation. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 in the open shop, an enclosed shop is established; however, there is no strong separation between inside and out (e.g., no glass façade separating the street from the shop interior). within the closed shop, the separation between the shop interior and the street is formalized via a physical partition (e.g., a glass façade), with the shop often taking on a less informal aesthetic quality. in the next category, soft use above the closed shop, a further refinement of the shop is observed, most significantly with the roof element, which has now been solidified and bound with a parapet wall that allows for a secondary use to sit above (often linked to the adjacent residential unit occupying the piano nobile). within the final category, closed multi-story, a fully enclosed multi-story micro-architectural condition arises, with potential for different uses across floors. looking longitudinally at some individual instances of these micro-architectures, gradual built-environmental changes can be observed. in some instances, the shifts maintain the micro-typology’s categorization but indicate novel investment. for instance, in figures 11 and 12, the refinement of a closed shop (category 2) is observed on 244 dizengoff street between january 2012 and february 2019. in other instances, these changes shift the microtypology’s categorization altogether. for instance, in figures 13 and 14, a transition from an open shop (category 2) to a closed shop (category 3) is observed at 37 ben yehuda street between october 2011 and march 2015. figures 11-12: 244 dizengoff street in 2012 (left) and 2019 (right). within this time frame, while the micro-architecture remains a closed shop typology, an investment in and alteration of the building envelope is observed. (source: google) figures 13-14: 37 ben yehuda street in 2011 (left) and 2015 (right). within this time frame, the emergence of a formal façade, solidifying the threshold separating the shop interior from the street, is observed. (source: google) the unplanned overlap between these micro-scale urban morphological decisions and the emergent micro-scale urban economic activity presents an unexpected wrinkle within the story of tel aviv. given that these small-scale organic infill elements were not within the scope of geddes’ original vision for the city, and that they are effectively filling in, at the ground floor, one of the last remaining elements of said master plan for the city, would geddes’ overarching urbanistic worldview cohere or conflict with their currently-observed behavior? kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 welter (2009) understood geddes’ reading of the broader cityscape surrounding tel aviv at the time as follows: “[a] new-old relationship is embedded in geddes' evolutionary reading of the varying patterns of the land division that were observable in the neighborhoods around jaffa. this urban growth illustrated a ‘gradual (and almost subconscious) change from bad planning in the south, and to better planning toward northward.’ south did not refer to jaffa proper, it needs to be emphasized, but to the jewish neighborhoods of neve tzedek and neve shalom, ‘the continuance of the old menshieh quarter with its many small streets, crowded together, and as close as small plotting can admit.’ this footprint resulted in the waste and inefficiency of ‘mean and dusty thoroughfares’ while too little land allowed for dwellings oriented east to west. by comparison, old tel-aviv was better planned with ‘an orderly plan, with its homes, its town house and boulevard.’ geddes was especially impressed by the formality of herzl street, which led straight to the front of the gymnasium building that stood at the end of the street. […] thus, the urban fabric illustrated the evolution of modern urban design from its dense beginnings outside jaffa to later developments with patterns more generous and more responsive to geographical and climatic conditions” (welter, 2009, p.112). through this text, one gets the impression that geddes would favor the order of “modern urban design” over the complex layering of organic urban environments. the theoretical framework underpinning le corbusier’s ville radieuse comes to mind. if this was indeed geddes’ broader urban worldview, it is highly likely that the small-scale urban interventions infilling the inter-building gaps seen above would be viewed negatively. it is important to note, though, that welter (2009, p.112) is framing geddes’ reading of tel aviv and its surroundings in the context of geddes’ impression that the city was on a trajectory to becoming a low-density agricultural townscape. the urban conditions geddes is appreciating or depreciating in the above quote seem to be conditions or parameters that are wellor ill-suited for this specific urban-agricultural utopian vision for tel aviv. when contextualized within geddes’ broader body of work, however, it becomes quite problematic to conceive of the corbusian urbanist language noted above as being emblematic of geddes’ more fundamental understandings of the city. “[…] town planning is not something which can be done from above, on general principles laid down, which can be learned in one place and imitated in another—that way haussmanism lies. it is the development of a local life, a regional character, a civic spirit, a unique individuality […[ the problem before us […] is to survey our modern towns, our ancient cities anew, to decipher their origins and trace their growth, to preserve their surviving memorials and to continue all that is vital in their local life; and on this historic foundation […] go forward to plan out a bettering future with such individual and collective foresight as we may” (geddes, 1915, p.205). given this more fundamental theoretical contextualization, it is quite challenging to assert that geddes would have objected to the urban layering achieved via this juxtaposition of big and small architecture and big and small economic activity, particularly since these small-grained organic interventions quite clearly personify the local life referred to in the quote above. this type of juxtaposition is not absent from geddes’ initial plan for tel aviv. dizengoff square, for instance, was always framed as a dense, multi-functional, and ultimately highly meaningful node within the urban fabric, designed to sit in close proximity to what was initially envisioned by geddes as a lower-density settlement structure (welter, 2009, p.109). geddes’ understanding of the value of a hybrid and pluralistic urban fabric is rather unique for the time, when much of the early-20th-century architectural and urban discourse consisted of an obsessive compartmentalization and segregation of functions and building typologies. nearly a century later, the work of davis (2012) casts light on the importance of the city to support a similar fine-grained collision of uses and typologies, epitomized here by the shophouse: “the shop/house is ordinary, up until now neglected in architectural writing, and largely unrealized in recent practice. it is, however, in many places, the ultimate ‘fabric building,’ the background against which other buildings of the city can express their own uniqueness, and the anchor for a fine-grained neighborhood economic life. its ordinariness has its own story, straddling the boundaries between architecture and the contexts within which architecture exists” (davis, 2012, p.232). the manner in which the socioeconomic fabric of tel aviv has learned to metabolize the inter-building gaps in geddes’ plan is, of course, coincidental, occurring beyond the weight of geddes’ initial vision and intentions. it is nonetheless an intriguing outcome that even in the absence of the initial author’s control, these manifestations of local kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 life seem to fit quite succinctly with the broader urbanistic framework outlined in geddes’ writings, as well as those who have followed in his lineage. while much of the discursive landscape concerning the urban fabric of tel aviv has continued to focus on the architectural stock and legacy inherent to the white city construct, there is a vast diversity of urban phenomena occurring within the cityscape that is not being given due attention. these micro-infill typologies are an example of urban phenomena that have succumbed to such oversight. prior literature has attempted to open up the discourse to critical “background typologies” (haque, 2008, p.105) and “liminal spaces between the private sphere and public arena” (aronis, 2009, p.157) uniquely observed within tel aviv. this paper aims to add this micro-infill typology to that conversation. 4. discussion it is rather an unusual occurrence that despite a rather robust discursive landscape focused on the rise and evolution of the built environment of tel aviv, there are critical and repeated oversights concerning not only the historic context within which the master-planning of tel aviv took place, but also the specifics of that initial master plan authored by patrick geddes in the 1920s. patrick geddes’ plan for tel aviv was prepared in the middle of an urban tectonic shift, wherein the city was caught between its urban-agricultural utopian vision and the demographic and financial surge that would eclipse it. many of the parameters innate to geddes’ initial conception of the city were absorbed and transformed via these rapid demographic and economic changes. what was subsequently implemented was the substructure for a collectivist urban-agricultural city, upon which a dense urban condition was constructed. this construction did not take place upon a tabula rasa condition. rather, within the decades preceding the radical growth of the city starting in the mid-1920s, a gradual urban morphological transcription can be observed, wherein more rural settlement structures were incrementally written over via denser structures. the mechanisms for the transfer of land ownership underpinning this transformation fell partially along ethnic lines, but more broadly seemed to coincide with a more blunt capitalistic framework of land speculation, densification, and economic stratification. the low-rise multi-family housing typology observed ubiquitously across the urban fabric of tel aviv today was not a cornerstone of the original master plan for the city. patrick geddes' vision for tel aviv was of a lower-density urban-agricultural construct. much of this vision has been lost to the pressures of growth over time. one of the few remaining smaller-scale elements of geddes’ vision for tel aviv is the side setbacks between buildings. within these gaps, a rather intriguing micro-scale building typology has emerged over the years—a typology that this paper has attempted to flesh out to some degree. the issues pertaining to the origin story of the city and the origin story behind the low-rise housing typology dominantly observed across the tel avivian urban fabric are of primary concern to the historico-theoretical discourse concerning the built environment of tel aviv. this previously overlooked micro-scale building typology, supported by the micro-gaps initially embedded into the urban morphology by geddes, bears some significance in the consideration and design of urban form. such inter-building gaps are often deemed unideal conditions by seminal works within the relevant urban discourse (alexander, 1977; jacobs, 1993). yet, what is observed in tel aviv is that these micro-gaps appear to provide a significant number of incubation spaces for a micro-scale economy and a micro-scale of building typology to take root. during the development of this manuscript, a comparable urban morphological trait was also observed by the author within the urban fabric of ankara, turkey, with similar micro-scale building typologies inhabiting the microgaps found between buildings. more research is required, however, to establish a comparative analysis of the two observed instances of this urban morphological phenomenon. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 5. conclusion this text attempts to frame a three-fold cross-examination of some of the myths, misconceptions, and oversights embedded within the discursive landscape concerning the built environment of tel aviv. what is argued, is that: (1) tel aviv did not rise out of uninhabited sands and nothingness, but rather out of clearly documented something-ness; (2) the multistory architectural typology that has come to typify the built world of tel aviv was not part of geddes’ initial authorship, but rather a mutation of some of his initial ideas; and (3) the inter-building gap initially authored by geddes is not only one of the few elements remaining from the initial master plan, but it is also an urban morphological element which has intriguingly created the substructure for micro-architectural typologies and microscale economic activities to find unique footings within the tel avivian urban fabric. the findings of this paper are in close relationship with the growing body of literature attempting to partially steer the discursive landscape concerning the city of tel aviv away from an obsessive focus on the the low-rise multifamily housing typology that forms the dominant character of the city’s urban fabric—a discursive monopsony that is quite active within the literature concerning the white city (levine, 1999; mann, 2006; rubin, 2013; rotbard, 2015; azaryahu, 2020) and quite counterproductive for framing a deeper understanding and recognition of what has been pejoratively deemed the background fabric of the city (epstein-pliouchtch and fuchs, 2008; haque, 2008; aronis, 2009). acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented at the urban planning & architectural design for sustainable development (upadsd) conference – 9th edition, which was held on the 22nd 24th of october, 2024. funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector/ individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references alexander, c. 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(2009). the 1925 master plan for tel-aviv by patrick geddes. israel studies, 94-119. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 review article received: 12 december 2023, accepted: 21 march 2024, published online: 31 march 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i1.1054 environmental protection through sustainable land management rahim foroughi1, farhad daneshgar2 1retired professor, ph.d. university of sunderland, united kingdom 2adjunct professor, institute for knowledge and innovation south-east asia, bangkok university, thailand abstract sustainable land planning and successful land use change methods are essential as the world faces rising environmental challenges. this study examines the transformative potential of biomimicry and biophilia in addressing these challenges and the potential of bio-collaboration, bio-utilization, bio-inspiration, biophilic design, and biomimicry in creating a sustainable environment. the argument is that such integration can potentially create creative ways to lessen the effects of human activity on the environment by utilizing the knowledge of nature and combining biological system concepts. this study argues that by incorporating the above environmental factors into land planning practices, a holistic and sustainable approach can be achieved, fostering peaceful coexistence between human activities and the natural environment. this will also improve the resilience of urban and rural environments while offering practical solutions for a climate change-conscious world. as the main theoretical contribution, this study synthesizes a theoretical framework in the form of a conceptual structure for understanding, analyzing, and interpreting sustainability by adopting an ecosystem theoretical framework for achieving sustainable land management. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords biophilic design; biomimicry; sustainable design strategy; bio-collaboration; biodiversity; land use management; sustainable land management; environmental protection; global climate. 1. introduction in recent years, many studies have discussed environmental destruction to draw the attention of designers to key points in industrial design and urban structure design to use sustainable materials obtained from nature that are suitable for humans, animals, and biodiversity species. this study argues that such integration has the potential to integrate nature into the construction and use of sustainable and natural buildings. in the current study, we argue that to solve the problem of climate change band an integration of biophilia and biomimicry designs is an appropriate design directive. by proposing an integrated theoretical model as a design strategy, the present study explores causal relationships among various biophilic and biomimicry elements to demonstrate potential changes in land system change (lsc) and land use planning (lup). the proposed theoretical model demonstrates how the elements in ecosystems, that is, lsc, sustainable land management (slm), and biodiversity, can potentially be used in nature-inspired designs to achieve sustainability goals of land use. http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i1.1054&domain=press.ierek.com foroughi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 by adopting a semi-systematic literature review relevant extant literature was reviewed to explore elements of the proposed synthesized theoretical model. the proposed model is expected to provide a theoretical foundation for future research in land management and related disciplines and inform environmental policymakers and practitioners of sustainability. the goal of the developed model is to better understand and appreciate the potential benefits of an integrated solution for overcoming some of the existing environmental sustainability challenges. in particular, the study focuses on the positive influence of biomimicry and biophilia design on nature and organisms, human and animal health, work productivity, and living conditions. in biomimicry design natural materials and associated natural biological mechanisms are often sources of inspiration due to their unique properties and their ability to withstand impact and energy. the argument is that these natural biological mechanisms and structures should be used in a way to develop different technologies that do not harm nature and biodiversity and preserve the principles of earth and environmental sustainability (katiyar et al., 2021). the remaining parts of the paper are structured as follows: section 1 provides an introductory background of the study. section 2 is allocated to a discussion on the literature review and research design that highlights the major research process and a summary of findings synthesized from the reviews. in section 3 we introduced the proposed theoretical model of the study in two parts: part 1 is an ontological model demonstrating high-level assumptions and perspective adopted by the authors when developing the model, and part 2 is the model itself. the remaining parts of the paper are allocated to deeper discussions on various parts of the proposed model, as well as justifications for the inclusion of various concepts and relationships within the model. 2. literature review the main argument of the current study is that to achieve a partial solution to the climate change problem and to achieve sustainable land system management, four interconnected approaches of biophilia, biomimicry, biotechnology, and science (zhao et al., 2022) should be integrated with future designs. more specifically, the study attempts to develop a theoretical model that explains the interplay between biophilia and biomimicry that can positively affect land system change. knowledge production within the field of environmental planning and protection research is accelerating at a tremendous speed while at the same time, it remains fragmented and interdisciplinary. this makes it hard to keep up with state-of-the-art research. to partially overcome this challenge the current study adopts a systematic literature review method as its overarching research method (snyder, 2019), (tranfield d, denyer d &amp; smart p 2003). this method is suitable for topics conceptualized differently by various groups of researchers within diverse disciplines, yet reviewing every relevant article is not simply achievable or appropriate. based on this review method we reviewed how research within a selected field has progressed over time or how a topic has developed across research traditions for a better understanding of all potentially relevant research traditions that have implications for the studied topic and to synthesize the findings (wong et al.,2013). the interplay between biophilia (the innate human connection to nature) and biomimicry (design inspired by natural systems) can affect land system change positively, and this is done by promoting sustainable and regenerative practices. biophilia design on the other hand can enhance our appreciation for natural landscapes and can encourage conservation and restoration efforts. biomimicry enables designing land use systems that mimic nature's efficiency and resilience, and this in turn will lead to more sustainable and harmonious land management practices. together, they promote ecological balance and sustainable land use, mitigating environmental degradation and supporting healthier ecosystems. to develop the proposed theoretical model the current study adopts a semi-systematic review of the current literature as the main data collection method of the study. selected data are then analyzed through a thematic analysis process (smith & stirling, 2021) and interpreted by the authors based on their expertise and experiences. the goal of the review is to synthesize the above theoretical model from the current literature. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41427-021-00322-y#auth-nirmal_kumar-katiyar foroughi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 at the initial phase of the review, many codes were initially provided, and more codes were explored. these codes were classified into a set of major and relevant themes of the study as shown in table 1. the causal relationships among the themes are then identified and integrated to form the proposed theoretical model of the study. the semi-systematic review of the literature enabled the integration of various concepts and relationships from five interrelated areas including biodiversity, genetic diversity, functional diversity, sustainable land management, and bio-collaboration. as the last step of the research design, findings were analyzed and interpreted and the proposed model was constructed. table 1: literature mapping for the proposed epc model concept definition benefits scope relationship with this study biophilic design 1. biophilic design focuses on human adaptations to the natural world that over evolutionary time have advanced people’s health, fitness, and well-being; 2. biophilic design encourages an emotional attachment to particular settings and places; 3. biophilic design promotes positive interactions between people and nature that encourage an expanded sense of relationship and responsibility for the human and natural communities; and, 4. biophilic design encourages mutual reinforcing, interconnected, and integrated architectural solutions (paul downton et. al., 2017). various positive effects on microclimate, energy balance, also on social and physiological issues. promotes positive interactions between people and nature that encourage an expanded sense of relationship and responsibility for the human benyus, j.m. (1997) sunder m, v., & ganesh, l. s. (2021) (radha, 2022). 1-innovation 2-connect to nature 3-future design social change sustainable materials slm g.d. f.d. biomimicry 1. biophilic design focuses on human adaptations to the natural world that over evolutionary time have advanced people’s health, fitness, and well-being; 2. biophilic design encourages an emotional attachment to particular settings and places; 3. biophilic design promotes positive interactions between people and nature that encourage an expanded sense of relationship and responsibility for the human and natural communities; and, 4. biophilic design encourages mutual reinforcing, interconnected, and integrated architectural solutions (paul downton et. al., 2017). nature is one main source of inspiration. innovation inspired by nature. biomimicry is a new tool that can provide the panacea for all (sustainable) design challenges. benyus, j.m. (1997) (pathak, 2019). well-being innovation connect to nature and biophilia social change sustainable materials slm f.d. g.d. foroughi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 land system land systems represent the terrestrial component of the earth system and encompass all processes and activities related to the human use of land, including socioeconomic, technological, and organizational investments and arrangements, as well as the benefits gained from land and the unintended social and ecological system that addresses theory, concepts, models, and applications relevant to environmental and societal problems (rounsevell et al., 2012) and www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) 1-central to understanding relationships among people and their environment 2helps understand the dynamics of land cover and land use in the humanenvironment relationship. 3-land registration has led to better access to formal credit, higher investments in land, and higher output and income (deininger & feder, 2009). buchanan, m., miguez, f., & herzog, h. (2021) -biodiversity -connect to nature biophilia -biomimicry -slm -social change social diversity -environment change slm social change -resilience and adaptation -bio collaboration g.d (genetic diversity) it is the biological variation that occurs within species. it makes it possible for species to adapt when the environment changes. (carvalho et al., 2019). contributes to the achievement of individual sustainable development goals (goleman et al., 2019). -land system change connect to nature biophilia -biomimicry resilience and adaptation slm -connect to nature biodiversity -bio collaboration f.d (functional diversity) as a component of biodiversity, it covers the range of functional traits of microorganisms prevailing in an ecosystem. -is of high ecological importance; influences several aspects of ecosystem functioning e.g., ecosystem dynamics, stability, nutrient availability, etc. (goswami et al., 2017) -incorporated into conservation and restoration decisionmaking, especially for those efforts attempting to reconstruct or preserve healthy, functioning, ecosystems (cadotte, barscadden & mirotchnick, 2011). -land system change -connect to nature biophilia -biomimicry resilience and adaptation slm -connect to nature biodiversity -bio collaboration b.d (biodiversit y) refers to the variety of life on earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems, and can encompass the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural processes that sustain life (magurran et al., 2018). well-being provides food, fiber, and medicine, furnishing ecosystem services e.g., water and air purification nutrient cycling, and carbon uptake connect to nature biophilia biomimicry well-being slm environment change connect to nature f. d. g.d. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ foroughi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 contributing to technological innovations from biotechnology to robotics to material science (wong & kay, 2019); (kumar et al., 2022). resilience & adaptation slm biophilia biomimicry -bio collaboration biomaterials biotechnology slm (sustainabl e land manageme nt) offers solutions beyond technology, including aspects of social participation and policy dialogue. land degradation is a central challenge to sustainable development (chayaamor-heil & vitalis, 2021) increase food production without degrading soil and water resources. -improves agronomic practices e.g., organic fertilization, minimum soil disturbance, and incorporation of residues, terraces, water harvesting and conservation, and agroforestry (branca et al., 2013). biophilia biomimicry biodiversity connect to nature innovation bio collaboration -f. d. -g.d. resilience & adaptation biodiversity -biophilia -biomimicry -bio collaboration bio-materials biotechnology 3. proposed environmental protection model (epm) this research proposes a theoretical model of a collaborative biological process inspired by the structure, function, process, and mechanism of living organisms in nature, that is compatible with the environment and the goal of enhancing sustainability. the research perspective that guided the proposed theoretical model is the ecosystem thinking perspective that addresses the scale and diversity of complicated environmental challenges (likens & franklin, 2009) and is shown in figure 1. the adopted perspective explains the underlying ontological assumption of the researchers that asserts that the design and performance of any environmental ecosystem is only understood and improved by collaboration among various elements of the ecosystem. the above research perspective along with the results from a review of relevant literature guided the current study towards the development of the proposed theoretical model. the latter consists of a set of concepts and relationships (both causal and associative) among the concepts mentioned earlier and is shown in figure 2. in this model, biomimicry is regarded as a sustainability environmental design and this in turn is based on the generally accepted argument that sustainable targets can be achieved by applying a biomimetic classification system from a biological and ecological point of view (e.g., blok, 2023). the underlying ontological assumption of the study is shown in figure 1 and the proposed epm is shown in figure 2. figure 1 explicates the assumptions held by the authors for the development of the proposed epm. these assumptions are related to the land system change and current critical environmental challenges. this figure shows the foundational assumptions that envision a holistic approach where human activities coexist harmoniously with the environment based on symbiotic principles. foroughi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 1 emphasizes a long-term perspective, adaptability to change, and a synergy between scientific advancements and ecological principles. in figure 1 components of the proposed epm are shown at a lower level of detail. these components include land system changes, metamorphosis, biodiversity, nature, genetic diversity, global climate, and biotechnology. it highlights a proactive land management strategy that minimizes negative impacts on ecosystems caused by human activities. it also recognizes the interconnectedness of ecosystems and aims to preserve and restore natural habitats, ensuring the survival of diverse species and their genetic variability. in figure 1, metamorphosis represents the transformation of landscapes over time. the epm implies that these landscape changes must be based on adaptive planning while safeguarding ecosystem functions. biodiversity conservation is a key pillar of the proposed model for the protection of ecosystems through the establishment of nature reserves, corridors, and sustainable resource management. genetic diversity is acknowledged as fundamental to ecosystem resilience and is promoted through habitat preservation and restoration. the model also addresses the role of global climate systems and supports strategies to mitigate climate change impacts. this involves carbon sequestration, reforestation, and sustainable energy practices. biotechnology is integrated into the model as a tool for sustainable development. it emphasizes responsible biotech applications that enhance crop yields, disease resistance, and ecosystem health without compromising natural systems. figure 1: ecosystem thinking perspective showing underlying ontological assumptions of proposed epm figure 2 represents the theoretical foundation of the epm and is inspired by the ontological assumptions mentioned in figure 1. epm demonstrates details of causal relationships among various elements of figure 1. it follows the interactionist research paradigm (zhao, chen & zhang, 2022) by showing relationships between man and nature (biophilia) and innovation inspired by nature (biomimicry) working together to achieve the goal of global environmental protection and sustainability. more specifically, epm demonstrates the impact of climate change on biodiversity by highlighting factors that cause such impact. indiscriminate human use of land is the main driver of the loss of biodiversity which may occur in the form of food production processes where land is converted for agriculture and some animals and plant species may lose their habitat and face extinction, building dams regardless of their potential damage to ecosystems and environmental protection and other factors. foroughi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 2: proposed environmental protection model (epm) in the following sections, various elements of the proposed epm of figure 2 are explained along with evidence-based justifications for their inclusion in the epm. 4. synergy of biophilia, biomimicry and land system management the middle part of figure 2 demonstrates the above relationship that constitutes the core argument behind the epm. land system management is the practice of managing land in a way that sustains its ecological functions and benefits people. this can involve various practices, such as conservation, restoration, and sustainable agriculture. land system management can help to protect natural resources, reduce pollution, and mitigate climate change louis vitalis & natasha chayaamor-heil (2021). the three elements of biophilia, biomimicry, and land system management have gained significant attention in recent years for their transformative impact on the interactions between humans and the environment in managing land systems (world economic forum 2022; watchman, demers & potvin, 2021). biological designs are natural systems and structures that have evolved over millions of years to be incredibly efficient and effective. studying these designs will teach us how to create designs that are more sustainable and resilient (science daily, 2020). the current study argues that the above three approaches together can help create a more sustainable future. for example, we can use biological designs to develop new materials that are stronger, lighter, and more durable than traditional materials. we can use biophilic design to create buildings and cities that are more liveable and healthier for people. and we can use biomimicry to develop new technologies that can help us reduce human adverse impacts on the environment. foroughi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 recent studies (e.g., buchanan et al., 2021; dickinson et al., 2016) demonstrate that biophilia, biomimicry, and land system management, each coming from a different discipline, foster collaboration among ecologists, architects, urban planners, and agriculturists. the current study extends the above argument by claiming that one major strength of the current study is its inter-disciplinary nature that represents an inter-subjective community of researchers where researchers in the three fields leave their fundamental differences aside to solve the problem of sustainability; this in turn encourages adoption of pragmatic approaches to research, mixed-method research, and adoption of abductive reasoning in future studies, all in the direction of problem-solving rather than focussing on the differences among the above three designs. the integration of biophilia and biomimicry into land system management offers innovative strategies for sustainable agriculture, urban planning, and ecosystem restoration (berg, 2020; dickinson et al., 2016). researchers have explored how biophilic urban design can lead to more resilient and liveable cities (ness & hurlbert, 2015). similarly, biomimicry can inform land management practices such as using natural ecosystems as models for regenerative agriculture. despite the growing body of literature supporting biophilia and biomimicry, their integration into land system management remains limited (berg, 2020); and the current study attempts to partially fill this gap. the synergy of biophilia, biomimicry, and band system management are further explained in the following subsections. 4.1. bio-collaboration as enabler of integration and sustainability: throughout the epm model in figure 2, bio-collaboration is the enabling factor for enabling various activities expected from the epm to be realized. the central argument here is that while industrial biotechnology has the potential to promote sustainable development, it still operates within industrial and traditional paradigms, suppressing economic growth and patterns of societal interest. biomimicry introduces elements and materials from nature that are not based on what we can extract from them and their ecosystem, but their use is based on their biological and genetic relationships. in biophilic and biomimetic designs, biological collaboration with microorganisms and plants in nature is necessary at all levels to reintegrate biological systems with nature to achieve a sustainable performance for new technologies (hoyos, 2010). the current study recommends the use of natural materials instead of non-degradable biochemical materials, and this can be achieved by using biomimicry in designs and activities to replace degradable materials. grazuleviciut-vileniske, daugelaite & viliunas (2022) suggest the use of innovative biophilic and biomimicry technologies to maintain favorable conditions for human well-being and health. 4.2. sustainable land management system: sustainability extends beyond the actual structural components of buildings and the natural world. it entails comprehending and fostering the complex interactions among ecosystems, processes, and behaviors (kc & gautam, 2021). sustainable practices must support biodiversity, protect natural resources, and lessen climate change by realizing the interconnection of all elements. in the current study, achieving sustainability is the primary goal integrating aspects of biomimicry and biophilic designs. the four main facets of sustainability include environmental, political, social, and economic facets. the current study regards these principles as the criteria for evaluating the proposed epm for achieving sustainability. environment is the cornerstone of sustainability and consists of natural resources, ecosystems, and the delicate balance of life on our planet. humans can establish a peaceful coexistence with the environment by engaging with nature and built environments. buildings' ecological footprints are reduced while becoming more ecologically integrated using green architecture and sustainable design techniques including green areas, natural lighting, and renewable energy sources (jabareen, 2018). the political facets of sustainability include governance frameworks, guidelines, and laws that guarantee ethical decision-making and equitable resource allocation. ecologically responsible policies can encourage sustainable development by incorporating sustainability principles and the integration of biomimicry and biophilia designs into political structures. examples include encouraging the use of renewable energy sources, promoting eco-friendly building techniques, and enforcing environmental laws to protect natural areas (dehghani & panahi, 2019). in terms of social facets of sustainability, the latter cannot be attained without taking social considerations into account. the current study argues that the integration of biomimicry and biophilia designs will improve the general foroughi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 quality of life through socially sustainable architecture that creates buildings that offer a secure, healthy, and inclusive environment (smith & stirling, 2021). community gardens, public parks, and easily accessible infrastructure are characteristics that can be incorporated to enhance social contact, build a sense of belonging, and advance physical and mental health. the economic factor of sustainability acknowledges the need for long-term economic development, which also seeks to minimize adverse effects on the environment and society. the efficient use of integrated biomimicry and biophilia into design and resources will create new green jobs and stimulate local economies by incorporating sustainability into the economic system. green building techniques, for instance, boost property value while simultaneously consuming less energy, which positively impacts the economy (sharifi & yamagata, 2016). 4.3. land system change and global climate change: biomimetic methods can increase productivity while reducing harmful environmental effects. designing agroforestry systems after the structure of forests is a good example of increasing soil fertility, preserving water, and boosting biodiversity (piquer-rodríguez et al., ssrn 4063496). an example would be termite mounds' self-cooling systems that were used by builders to create energy-efficient structures that do not require as much air conditioning (mazza, 2018). or, the creation of more streamlined wind turbines by investigating the aerodynamics of bird wings to maximize energy production (yuan et al., 2017). biomimetic methods can also restore the ecosystem. for instance, restoring water filtration and flood control capabilities in harmed ecosystems can be facilitated by imitating the hydrological patterns of wetlands (mitsch & gosselink, 2015). biophilia design on the other hand is also a major factor for enhancing environmental conservation by encouraging greater respect and comprehension of the natural world. according to saatchi, oh & oh (2023) biophilic experiences such as outdoor immersion learning and nature-based education, strengthen people's emotional connections to the environment. this emotional connection in turn can encourage people to support campaigns to safeguard ecosystems and biodiversity and promote conservation efforts. another related positive impact is on human health and wellbeing. being in nature has been connected to several health advantages such as lower stress levels, enhanced mental health, and increased physical activity (frumkin, 2001). as a result, healthier and more sustainable communities can be built by prioritizing biophilic design in urban planning such as including green areas and natural features (frumkin, 2001). 4.4. biodiversity climate change and industrial and human waste play an important role in reducing biodiversity. these pollutions affect the climate of marine ecosystems, in the lack of freshwater around the world. this causes the loss of species, the increase of unknown diseases, the mass death of plants and animals, and as a result, the first extinctions caused by climate. climate change has not only harmed biodiversity, plants, animals, water, and soil, but in the oceans, the increase in temperature also threatens the irreversible destruction of marine ecosystems. functional diversity: the importance of functional diversity and ecosystem functioning has been emphasized by many researchers. this functional type is a part of biodiversity that covers a range of functions of microorganisms in an ecosystem. functional diversity is defined as a measure of the functional traits of an organism that influences one or more aspects of ecosystem functions (goswami et al, 2017). this functional diversity is of high ecological importance, which can affect several aspects of ecosystem functioning for a sustainable ecosystem. furthermore, functional diversity plays an important role in the productivity of biomimicry. functional diversity has a major effect on the productivity of ecosystem sustainability sustainable land system management and global climate change; and this effect could influence ecosystem dynamics, stability, productivity, nutrient balance, and other aspects of ecosystem functioning. 5. conclusion sustainable land planning and successful land use change methods are essential as the world faces rising environmental challenges. this study provides a theoretical foundation for integrating various environmental design elements for environmental sustainability. more specifically, the study highlighted the transformative potential of foroughi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 biomimicry and biophilia in addressing the above sustainability challenges and the potential of bio-collaboration, bioutilization, bio-inspiration, biophilic design, and biomimicry in creating a sustainable environment. as the main theoretical contribution of this study, a semi-systematic critical review of the literature was conducted that resulted in the development of an integrated model called epm (environmental protection model) supplemented by the associated ontological model that portrays world views adopted by the authors for the development of the epm. the epm incorporated various design methods into land planning practices to achieve a holistic and sustainable approach for fostering peaceful coexistence between human activities and the natural environment and improving the resilience of urban and rural environments while offering practical solutions for a climate change-conscious world. various components of the epm that is, that is, concepts and relationships, were analyzed and their inclusion in the model was justified. for future studies, the authors plan to: (i) epm through the collection and analysis of various empirical evidence and relevant studies to enhance the rigor of the proposed theoretical framework, and (ii) apply the model in various reallife scenarios. acknowledgment the authors of this article acknowledge the assistantship services of miss atefa youhangi, msc environmental science researcher throughout the study. funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references benyus, j.m. 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"seashell-inspired concrete is stronger and more durable." science daily, https://cee.engin.umich.edu/2018/05/30/bendableconcrete-with-a-design-inspired-by-seashells-can-make-us-infrastructure-safer-and-more-durable/ sharifi, a., & yamagata, y. (2016). principles and criteria for assessing urban energy resilience: a literature review. renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 60, 1654-1677. smith, a., & stirling, a. (2021). the politics of social-ecological transformations: grappling with contradictions and deepening our understandings. sustainability science, 16(3), 869-880. snyder, h. (2019). literature review as a research methodology: an overview and guidelines. journal of business research, 104, 333-339. tranfield d, denyer d &amp; smart p (2003). towards a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge using systematic review. british journal of management, 14, 207–222. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.00375 sunder m, v., & ganesh, l. s. 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(2017). bionic building energy efficiency and bionic green archit ecture: a review. renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 74, 771-787. zhao k, chen z & zhang l (2022), proceedings of the indian national science academy, volume 88, pages160–171. https://cee.engin.umich.edu/2018/05/30/bendable-concrete-with-a-design-inspired-by-seashells-can-make-us-infrastructure-safer-and-more-durable/ https://cee.engin.umich.edu/2018/05/30/bendable-concrete-with-a-design-inspired-by-seashells-can-make-us-infrastructure-safer-and-more-durable/ https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.00375 https://link.springer.com/journal/43538 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 28 january 2024, accepted: 27 march 2024, published online: 31 december 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i4.1062 urban water and management in sustainable cities tugce bekar1 1independent research author, istanbul, turkey abstract the most important basic need in today's cities is water. population growth in cities, climate change, and decreasing access to water resources make the issue of sustainable city and water relationship more important. in addition to the industry being the sector that consumes the most water, water use is also high in domestic use, agriculture, commercial, and tourism areas. settlements at risk of water scarcity must take precautions to avoid becoming a waterless settlement in the future. to protect the delicate balance of nature, sustainability in urban areas should be ensured. environmental pollution should be analyzed and suggestions should be presented for the solution to this pollution. based on the concepts of sustainable city and urban water cycle, it also mentions how the city and water are and should be in a relationship. it contains concepts that will better express the relations of basic concepts with each other and complement the context. sustainable use of water also contributes to the protection of natural ecosystems and biodiversity. water resources management for sustainable cities plays an important role in achieving the goal of creating an environmentally friendly, healthy, and safe living space. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords sustainable city, water balance, water management, water resources. 1. introduction today, the rapidly developing and changing structure of cities emphasizes the fact that water is one of the basic needs. considering that water is the main source of life, sustainable management of water is critical for the future of cities. as the world's population grows rapidly, cities are using water resources more intensively than ever before. water plays an important role not only in sustaining human life but also in the activities of various sectors such as industry, commerce, agriculture, and tourism. global climate changes, increasing population, and difficulties in accessing water resources have caused the relationship between sustainable cities and water to become more critical than ever before. if the current situation of the urban water cycle continues, urbanites and nature will be more exposed to disasters brought about by the climate crisis. therefore, the current situation between the city and water should be examined and measures should be taken, if it is insufficient, it should be improved. sustainability is a concept that is of increasing importance today. factors such as urbanization and population growth require more effective management of water resources. thanks to this research, findings will be obtained on how the relationship between sustainable cities and water can be improved against the climate crisis. in this study, the relationship between sustainable cities and water; if the current situation of the urban water cycle continues, http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i4.1062&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 how it will affect the citizens in the future, and what can be done to minimize the negative impact of the global climate crisis for water management in sustainable cities will be examined within the framework of the questions. 2. purpose and scope of the study the aim of this study is to examine the existing relationship between cities and water resources and to develop improvement measures by identifying deficiencies, if any. examining the relationship between sustainable cities and water resources can provide findings on how to remedy the climate crisis more effectively. in this study, the relationship of sustainable cities with water resources will be discussed, and how it may affect urban residents in the future if the current urban water cycle continues. in addition, steps to be taken to minimize the negative effects of the global climate crisis on water management in sustainable cities will also be discussed. in this context, the study was designed to understand the relationship of cities with water resources and to determine their improvement potential in terms of sustainability. 3. method of the study within the scope of the study, the concept definitions and current situation analyses made about these issues were investigated through written and numerical sources. concepts that will complement the context will be examined and suggestions will be made in line with the findings on water management in sustainable cities. 4. water use and problems in cities cities are, in a sense, living beings because they have variable populations and areas and are constantly growing and developing. they have a huge impact on the environment due to the areas and amounts of energy they consume, the natural environments they pollute, and the populations they host. this effect has gained more importance in the current period. these effects can be on a global scale, as well as on a regional or urban scale. impacts on a global scale; while energy and raw material use and environmental pollution can be given as examples, regional-scale effects; water basins, natural resources, land use plans, pollution in rural areas, and impacts from development can be given as examples. on the urban scale, effects such as air, water, and noise pollution for the living spaces of the cities, opening up of agricultural areas, water basins, and green and forest areas to settlement can be mentioned (united nations development program, 2007: 69). the number of urban populations worldwide increased from 746 million in 1950 to 3.9 billion in 2014. by 2045, this figure is expected to reach 6 billion, and 66% of the world's population will live in cities. accordingly, it is estimated that the populations of cities, especially in developing countries where the urbanization rate is low, will more than double and the population in countries will accumulate in certain regions (pektezel, 2015). for this reason, original urbanization plans should be made, especially reducing land and energy consumption, the importance of pedestrian-centered, human-oriented urbanization planning for healthy urbanization, the importance of local public transportation, especially rail transportation, protecting green areas and open spaces, reducing resource consumption and taking into account the area. rather than typical similar cities, a long-term, comprehensive plan is required. 4.1. natural and urban water cycle urban areas represent the environment, which includes all the structures necessary for people to work and live. the built environment of a city consists of structures that serve various purposes, roads that provide transportation, open spaces, and green areas. with the opening of natural basin areas and stream beds to urbanization, the destruction of natural vegetation, and the formation of impermeable surfaces (pavements, parking lots, asphalt roads, etc.), the water, which cannot complete its cycle, passes into surface flow in urban areas (poleto and tassi, 2012) (figure 1). in areas with dense urbanization, the flow level and volume of water flowing on impermeable surfaces continue to increase, while the water cannot seep into the soil and quickly passes into the hill flow (lau and mah, 2018). water flowing in urbanized areas can have negative impacts such as floods, drought, poor water quality, and groundwater. the flowing water is polluted with soil wastes, chemical wastes, fuel wastes, etc., and carries heavy metals to the basins, causing pollution of water resources (university of arkansas community design center, 2010). bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 figure 1: comparison of the natural water cycle and the water cycle in urban areas (rutgers, 2016) the increase in urbanization causes the flow channels of the natural waterways occupied by buildings to change over time, the mass of water passing into the surface flow to increase, and the infiltration surfaces of the soil to decrease. this situation becomes vulnerable to floods and floods due to infrastructure systems in settlements where urban development continues and is not properly planned (erkal and topgül, 2020). 4.2. water resources and utilization 97.5% of the water presence is found in the oceans as salt water, and only the remaining 2.5% is fresh water. 68.7% of the fresh waters, which have a volume of approximately 35.2 million km3, are found as glaciers, 0.8% in the frozen soil layer, and 30.1% as groundwater. the remaining 0.4% is surface atmospheric waters. (unesco, 2006) in addition to the fact that the conversion of salt water into potable/drinking water is an expensive process, the uneven development of freshwater resources, population, and economic activities in the world are the main reasons for the increasing competitive pressure on water (gunaydın, 2009). table 1: water resources and withdrawal, 2000 (km3 / year) source: unesco un water, water in a changing world, londra, 2009, s.99. region renewable water resources total water shoot renewable resources water draft in % africa 3936 217 5.5 asia 11594 2378 20.5 latin amerika 13477 252 1.9 caribbean 93 13 14.0 north america 6253 525 8.4 oceania 1703 26 1.5 europe 6603 418 6.3 world 43659 3829 8.8 as can be seen, there are great inequalities in the distribution of renewable water resources across the continent. latin america, which has the most renewable water resources, has the lowest ratio of total water withdrawal to renewable water resources, slightly more than africa, which has one-third of its water resources. the asian continent, which has a similar value to latin america in terms of renewable water resources, consumes almost 10 times more water than latin america. on the other hand, north america and europe stand out for their similar relationship with water resources, total water withdrawal, and renewable resources. this disparity in water availability between continents is reflected in every country. demographic developments often lead to a deepening of inequality. bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 table 2: amount of usable water per capita in the world source: dpt, su havzaları kullanımı ve yonetimi oik raporu, dpt yayın no: 2555, oik: 571, ankara, 2001, s. 28. (dpt, water basins use and management report, dpt publication no: 2555, oik: 571, ankara, 2001, p. 28.) country / continent annual average (m3) syria 1200 lebanon 1300 turkey 1430 iraq 2020 asia 3000 western europe 5000 africa 7000 south america 23000 world 7600 as you can see in the table above, the average amount of water per capita in the world is 7,600 cubic meters, while this average triples in south american countries and drops six times in the middle east. countries with an annual usable water consumption per capita above 8,000 to 10,000 m3 are classified as water-rich countries, countries with a risk of water scarcity below 2,000 m3, and countries with less than 2,000 m3 are classified as countries with water scarcity. when you think about it, the value of water becomes even clearer. 1,000 m3 is classified as water-rich and is considered a water scarcity. it is generally accepted that a person should consume at least 25 liters of water per day to meet their biological needs and survive. however, considering the water to be used for purposes such as drinking, cooking, washing, and laundry, which are required for a modern person to live in a healthy way, the average urban water consumption standard per person per day is considered to be 150 liters. while the amount of daily water consumption per capita is 266 liters in industrialized countries; it is around 184 liters in latin america, 158 liters in arab countries, 143 liters in asia, 111 liters in turkey, and 67 liters in africa. while this amount reaches 350 liters in north america and japan, it drops to 10-20 liters in sub-saharan africa. (gunaydın, 2009) in addition to population growth, climate change, socio-economic factors, technological developments, developments in water policy, and new legal and financial management approaches increase the pressure on unevenly distributed water resources around the world. sectoral water use systems create more competition for water resources. the table below shows water consumption by sector and by continent. table 3: sectoral water use in the world (kilometer3 / year) source: unesco, water in a changing world, londra, 2009, s.99. region draft agriculture industry urban quantity percent quantity percent quantity percent africa 186 86 9 4 22 10 asia 1,936 81 270 11 172 7 latin amerika 178 71 26 10 47 19 caribbean 9 69 1 8 3 23 north america 203 39 252 48 70 13 oceania 18 73 3 12 5 19 europe 132 32 223 53 63 15 world 2,663 70 784 20 382 10 as can be seen, 70% of the total water consumption on a world scale is used in agricultural irrigation. although this rate is 30% in developed (high-income) countries; it rises to over 80% in underdeveloped (low and middle-income) countries. in the industrial use of water, central countries have a share of 50% and peripheral countries have a share of 10% (gunaydın, 2009). 4.3. the extent of water shortage in the world at the beginning of the 20th century, a large number and species of life, including 6 billion people, are facing a serious water crisis, despite recent steps being taken in the right way (unwwdp: 2012; 4). while 800 million people living in our world lack safe drinking water, 2.5 billion people live without adequate sanitation. the negative bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 effects on water resources are increasing and becoming continuous (usiad, 2009: 6). the world's population is constantly increasing. with the effect of industrialization, unplanned urbanization, and drought caused by global climate change, the supply of potable water resources is decreasing, while the demand is increasing (2007 annual report, 2008: 7). according to the projections of the world bank and the un, it is estimated that 2.5 billion people will face water scarcity in 2025 (world water forums, 2009: 11). the pressure on water resources is a problem that affects the whole world. just as infectious diseases can become a global threat, water scarcity can cause water wars and ultimately disrupt world peace. recent research has shown that global water problems are: a) 1.6 billion people do not have access to water due to economic negativities. b) in a study conducted by the un development programme (undp), it was stated that people living in the shade of slums spend 5-10 times more money to benefit from municipal water. c) 3,000 children die annually due to polluted water (firidin, 2015). map 1: world water scarcity analysis source: the united nations world water development report 3; 2009: 128 economic water scarcity (map 1) refers to technological competence that can hinder water delivery, unequal wealth distribution, and politicians' policies that negatively affect water accessibility (unwdr; 2019: 167). when the map is examined, it can be seen that economic water scarcity is encountered in countries that do not have a good income situation in the world. for example; it can be considered that political stability has not been fully achieved, such as western china and east india, some countries in central america, and almost all central african countries. it can be said that there is a physical shortage of water in the desert-covered and extremely arid regions of the world. for example; the gobi, karakum, and takla markan deserts in the harsh continental regions of central asia, the arabian desert and the great sahara in north africa and the arabian peninsula, the kalahari desert in south africa, and the deserts of nevada and arizona in south africa. america and australia. it can be used in turkey, which is called the great sand desert. our country, along with our neighbors to the east and south, is one of the countries that is physically threatened by water scarcity. 4.4. causes of water shortage in general, water resources are more likely to be under pressure from man-made disasters than natural disasters. global environmental pollution has made the need to protect water resources increasingly apparent. water pollution is the condition in which water becomes harmful to humans and other living things due to the effect of pollutants. bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 this situation can occur not only as a result of human activity but also as a result of biological activity and natural causes. there are many reasons for the water scarcity we are experiencing. we can list these reasons as follows: a) natural factors: water resources are not evenly spread around the world, water is scarce and some parts of the world are arid. b) demographic factors: the rapidly increasing population and the resulting negativities in terms of the quality and quantity of water. c) social and economic factors: the problem of access to water for the poor, social and cultural characteristics. there are several problems in the protection and effective use of water resources. some of these problems are linked to damage to the environment. these negative effects can be grouped under three headings (çolakoğlu, 2008: 52): a) water shortage caused by population growth: the world population is increasing rapidly. the average population growth per year is around 90-100 million. considering that the water resources and amount are constant, there may be problems with the amount of water sufficient for the increasing population. b) water pollution caused by agriculture, industry, and urbanization: water pollution is the pollution of surface and underground water resources. factors that cause this; can be listed as the mixing of pesticides used in agriculture with water, the mixing of industrial wastes with water, and the mixing of urban wastes with water. in addition, hospital waste poses a significant danger. when hospital wastes are mixed with domestic wastes without a separate process, urban wastes can be more harmful (keleş et al., 2005: 124). c) negative effects of global warming on water: global warming negatively affects the whole world. one of the factors that negatively affect the water cycle and water quality is extreme temperature and extreme cold. climatic events such as droughts and floods caused by global warming affect the quality of water. table 4: pressures on the freshwater ecosystem source: the united nations world water development report: 2012; 14. human activities potential impact risk function growth of population and consumption recovery of cultivated areas through the withdrawal of water from wetlands and, as a result, an increase in water consumption functions of almost the entire ecosystem, including settlements, production, and regulation functions infrastructure development (dams, waterways, edge embankments, variants, etc.) loss of occupancy leads to changes in the amount and increase of river flow, water temperature, nutritional value, and sediment transfer, and thus delta formation prevents fish migrations. quantity and quality of water, habitats, floodplain production, fisheries, river delta economies land transformation it is important to note that the key components of the aquatic environment are pure remains outside; loss of function, integrity, habitats, and biodiversity, change in building flow, inhibition of natural regeneration, intermittent water source propagation natural flood control, habitat for fisheries and waterfowl, regeneration, water reserve, water quality and quantity bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 overconsumption and waste depletion of life resources, ecosystem function, and biodiversity (depletion of groundwater, collapse of fisheries) food production, water reserves, water quality and quantity extermination of exotic species it causes a loss in the amount of biodiversity of native species food production, wildlife habitats, and regeneration emission of pollutants into soil, air, or water contamination of water sources alters the ecology and chemistry of wetlands, lakes, and rivers; greenhouse gas emissions affect the amount and pattern of precipitation water resources, habitats, water quality, food production, and climate change can also affect hydropower, irrigation capacity, transportation, and flood control overconsumption and waste depletion of life resources, ecosystem function, and biodiversity (depletion of groundwater, collapse of fisheries) food production, water reserves, water quality and quantity extermination of exotic species it causes a loss in the amount of biodiversity of native species food production, wildlife habitats, and regeneration pollutants in soil, air, or water spread contamination of water sources alters the ecology and chemistry of wetlands, lakes, and rivers; greenhouse gas emissions affect the amount and pattern of precipitation water resources, habitats, water quality, food production, and climate change can also affect hydropower, irrigation capacity, transportation, and flood control when we examine the table above, we see that many factors, from excessive population growth to the introduction of pollutants into water, have a direct or indirect negative impact on the quality and existence of water resources. the lives of species that depend on water resources for their survival and gradually depend on water are also at risk. this situation violates the right of living things to exist. at the same time, problems in river flows and lake structure can cause serious damage to local and national economies. in addition to environmental problems, there are also many human factors that increase the negative pressure on water resources. this can also be seen as people's lack of interest in environmental problems. in this context, people are ignorant about the causes and solutions of these problems, there are no financial resources necessary to combat environmental problems, and as a result, government institutions and information confusion emerge. in this environment, it is accepted that national efforts to protect water resources are insufficient, and international efforts are needed. because environmental problems affect according to the principle of integrity. as a result, any damage to the ecological order causes direct or indirect negative effects on water resources. all living things that depend on water resources will be affected equally. 4.5. urban and water-related problems since the river beds in urban centers are narrowed and turned into canals and some of them are covered, the natural flow systems of the waters are disrupted. asphalting of roads in cities, extending them in certain directions, and dividing them with residential areas reduce the time between the time of precipitation and the time of transition of precipitation to surface runoff and cause floods (marcus and detwyler. 1972: 99). rapid and unplanned urbanization increases surface runoff coefficients in urban areas, resulting in more runoff and shorter-term flooding at the same rainfall intensity. in addition, the destruction of vegetation in and around cities, improper agricultural practices, and the removal of sand from riverbeds cause significant changes in river morphology and prepare soils for flooding. urban asphalt and construction. rain and snow drain meltwater as soon as possible without stagnation. urban development changes the natural direction of surface drainage by increasing the amount of water flowing into rivers. in particular, the increase in urban settlements and impermeable soils in the basin gives the direction of the natural flow and the characteristics of the amount of water entering the surface runoff that can lead to flood and flood disasters. here, too, the long bridge built over the river acts as a dam, closing the river bed, providing its drainage, preventing the flow of water, and swelling backward, causing flooding. flooding and inundation events are not only caused by meteorological factors. especially the settlements in the river basins develop over time and change the land cover and land structure of the region. improper land use increases flooding and inundation. floods not only lead to deaths but also damage many man-made structures such bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 as farmland, villages, roads, bridges, etc. areas that are flooded due to floods and floods temporarily become lakes or swamps. for example, on may 15-16, 2014, 4 people lost their lives, 600 houses were flooded, more than 6 thousand people were evacuated from their homes and 300 thousand houses were left without electricity for a while in the flood that occurred in the city of maglay due to heavy rainfall in bosnia and herzegovina. river floods occur mostly in southeast asia, especially in china and india. due to excessive rainfall and geomorphological factors in turkey, floods and floods occur in many cities, especially in balı-kesir, antalya, izmir, rize, muğla, edirne, and kars. sea swells and giant waves due to storms and earthquakes are also a threat to coastal cities. in 1228, 100 thousand people lost their lives due to the sea swell that occurred in friesland in the netherlands, and in 1642, the embankments collapsed in the sea swell that occurred in china and 300 thousand people died (özey, 2009). the tsunami that occurred in southeast asia on december 26, 2004, affected fourteen countries, especially indonesia, and more than 230 thousand people lost their lives. (pektezel, 2015) 5. the relationship between water and sustainable cities 5.1. sustainable city concept a sustainable city is a concept that aims to maintain the development of urban areas in a way that does not threaten human and environmental health. the sustainable city approach aims to balance economic growth, environmental protection, and social welfare. this approach emphasizes that cities should be planned and managed by taking into account not only the needs of today's generations but also the needs of future generations. at the same time, it aims to continue the development of urban areas without disturbing the ecological balance. water, on the other hand, is vital not only for human life but for all ecosystems. however, water resources are limited and these resources should be used in a balanced and effective manner by the principle of sustainability. water management of sustainable cities, on the other hand, requires not only the efficient use of water but also balancing environmental, economic, and social factors. in this context, one of the most important concepts of sustainable water management is to ensure that water is used in a balanced way. to achieve this goal, concepts such as green spaces, blue corridors (waterways), and permeable areas play a key role in the sustainable management of water. water management of sustainable cities includes not only environmental but also economic dimensions. water conservation and efficient use reduce water costs and increase the capacity of water to meet future demands. at the same time, preventing contamination of water resources reduces treatment costs and lowers health expenditures. it directly affects the quality of life and environmental health in the future. bringing together elements such as water efficiency, technology, social participation, and climate change is essential for the success of the relationship between sustainable cities and water. urban planners are one of the key movers of sustainable water management. planners need to develop strategies to ensure the effective use of water resources, to meet future water needs, and to protect water resources. these strategies should include issues such as the development of green infrastructure, the promotion of efficient use of water, and the recycling of wastewater. in addition, it is important to integrate the water management dimension into urban planning processes. 5.2. the role of sustainable cities and future prospects sustainable cities must play a leading role in water management. these cities can set an example for other regions by promoting the efficient use of water. future prospects are even more important. with the increasing pressure on water resources, sustainable water management will become even more critical. technological innovations can help collect, store, and distribute water more effectively. 5.3. protection and sustainable use of water resources the use of water resources above their capacity leads to global warming and water pollution. it affects the quality, natural distribution, and quantity of water resources suitable for use in the world landscape. the protection and sustainable use of water resources is of global importance. the use of water resources in cities and the geographical distribution of water consumption vary depending on the level of regional development. bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 generally, while the daily water consumption per capita in developed countries is 266 liters, this value is 67 liters in africa. while the average water consumption in the world is 150 liters/day/person, this value is 111 liters/day/person in turkey (aliağaoğlu and uğur, 2010). however, water consumption in cities varies in residences, public institutions, industrial facilities, and touristic facilities. according to the results of a study conducted for the city of antalya, the current water consumption status was determined as 112 lt/day/person in residential areas, 28 lt/day/person in public institutions, and 225 lt/day/person in touristic facilities (aliağaoğlu and uğur, 2010). the geographical distribution of water consumption in cities; varies according to the quality of water, the presence and variety of water resources, the price of water, water usage habits, and cultural structure. unplanned use of water resources often leads to irreversible consequences. for example, excessive use of the streams that feed the lakes to irrigate agricultural lands reduces the water in the lakes and causes them to dry up (aral sea, lake chad, akşehir lake, etc.). water resource management projects improve the quantity and quality of water. an example of these projects is the closed konya basin in the central anatolia region of our country. konya basin is a closed area covering 17% of the country's territory. consisting of eight lakes and three reedbeds, the area is a designated natural heritage site, nature reserve, and private reserve. these wetlands within the basin were at serious risk due to improper land use and agricultural irrigation practices. with the "towards the rational use of the konya closed basin" project launched in 2003, more effective and sustainable use of the limited water resources in the basin has been ensured. (pektezel, 2015) 4 6. climate change and water management 6.1. water management water resources management covers groundwater and surface waters, soils, upper and lower basins within the boundaries of the basin, those who need water for various purposes, those who provide water, and the entire ecosystem that needs water. relevant management and institutional structures are also built within this framework. however, the level of development, and historical, cultural, and geographical conditions of a country also affect and differentiate its organization. 6.2. sectoral structure of water use unlike other living things, human beings use water not only for physiological needs but also in various ways for social, economic, and cultural, that is, in all areas of life. the history of human beings using water for other purposes dates back to ancient times. about 9,000 years ago, water was used to irrigate fields, while 2,000 years ago, water was used to run factories. today, water is used in a wide variety of areas, from electricity generation to heating and cooling to cleaning. today, the areas where water is used can be divided into three groups: agricultural, industrial, and urban. industrialization is a development that directly and indirectly increases water consumption. theoretically, food production in the world is enough for everyone, but sharing and distribution problems create great imbalances in food production and sharing. the average daily calorie consumption per person across the world's population is 2,700 calories, but 800 million people worldwide consume significantly fewer calories than this average. in other words, a significant part of the world's population cannot get the nutrients that a normal person needs. this number decreases in proportion to the increase in the world's population, but the amount remains approximately the same. in fact, the cause of these problems lies in the uneven distribution of water resources. because 40% of food production is obtained from irrigable lands (16%). the expansion of arable areas and the increase in yield is an event that directly depends on the amount of water. the fact that 2/3 of the products produced by irrigated agriculture are wheat and rice reveals the importance of water in nutrition. today, the production of china, south-southeast asian countries, and north african countries is largely dependent on water. 4/5 of the grain yield in china, more than 1/2 in india, and 1/5 in the usa are obtained from irrigated lands. (brown, 2006) bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 table 5: amount of water used in various places source: (wwf, 2006: 1) uses of water amount of water used water needed for a healthy person 100 liter for shower 40 liters for toilet 12 liter water spent on 1 cup of coffee and tea (from production to consumption) 140 and 35 liters 250 mlt beer, 200 mlt, for apple production 75,200,190 litres for the production of 1 kg of cotton 20,000 liters for the production of 1 kg of rice, wheat, corn 3,000, 1334, 900 liters for the production of 1 kg of steak 16,000 liters for a pair of leather shoes 8,000 liters water needed for daily breakfast 135 liters clean water flowing down the drain from the tap daily 17 liter water used for the manufacture of a car 450,000 liters water needed for a salad for one person 133 liters water spent for 18 golf courses per year in spain (as much as the water requirement of a city with a population of 15 thousand) 700,000 cubic meters since the 1960s, there has been an important development in agriculture that has increased production and is called the "green revolution". the amount of water used in this production increase has also increased to that extent and production has become directly dependent on water use. for example, the water that should be used for one ton of wheat is 1000 tons (neubert, 2001). the amount of water that should be used for some products in the agricultural sector is shown in table 5. the amount of water consumed varies according to the economic structure of the countries, place, and time. in regions with dry climates, the water requirement is higher than in rainy regions. there are also differences between developing and industrialized countries. for example, although water has a usage rate of 69-70% in the agricultural sector in general, the share of the agricultural sector reaches 80% in china, india, pakistan, and north african countries where intensive irrigation is carried out. although the world average of the amount of water used in industry is 23%, there are significant differences between countries. while this rate goes up to 60-80% in industrialized countries, it decreases to 10-30% in developing countries. in the industrial sector, there is an intensive use of water in sectors such as electricity, oil production, metal, and chemical industries. although the average of water used in homes is 8% worldwide, it varies according to the country and place of residence, just like in the industry. in terms of the amount of water used in households, there are differences between rural settlements and cities, and between developing countries and industrialized countries. the emergence of megacities has been a development that has increased water shortage (klaphake and scheumann, 2001). there are also large differences between countries in terms of water consumption per capita. water consumption per capita per day is as low as 700 liters in the us, 130 liters in germany, and 30 liters in water-stressed parts of africa. in terms of water consumption among the continents, asia stands out, as can be seen in table 3. undoubtedly, the most important reason for this is that the population living on this continent is higher than the population on other continents of the world (spiller, 2003). table 6: distribution of water consumption across continents (1900 – 1990) source: (mcneill, 2005: 139) rivers in the world distribution % freshwater around the world consumption rate % 1900 1950 1990 asia 32 71 63 60 europe 7 12 13 13 north america 18 10 17 18 africa 10 5 5 6 south america 26 2 2 4 australia 5 1 1 bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 in parallel with the social and economic developments in the world, more water is needed in households, industry, and agriculture. water is also the source of energy production and is of great importance for the construction and development of industry. as a result, surface water management efforts have accelerated. as a result, issues of water sharing and access are increasingly at the forefront of global politics. countries such as china, turkey, and egypt are looking for ways to increase existing water resources and generate electricity through various dam projects. to achieve this goal, large-scale dam projects were implemented to control the water in the country's rivers. efforts in this direction have created other problems. large-scale investments in water can lead to differences and conflicts between countries in terms of water use. these large-scale projects have significant economic, social, environmental, and cultural costs. indeed, many artifacts that are important for human history will be lost, and settlements and agricultural lands will be flooded. the expected benefits from the construction of dams should be carefully calculated due to the damage it causes to flora and fauna. climate change further affects water resources. it is an important factor influencing the future use of water resources. rising temperatures cause water resources to evaporate faster, while heavy rainfall can increase the risk of flooding. rising temperatures increase the risk of drought, while heavy rainfall can also increase the danger of flooding. therefore, the water management strategies of sustainable cities should also take into account climate change scenarios. smart water management can help water resources adapt to changing conditions. 6.3. sustainable water management and social participation sustainable water management should be supported not only by technological solutions but also by community participation. society's sensitivity to water resources and adopting water-saving habits can make sustainable water use more effective. in this context, educational campaigns, seminars, and projects involving the community in water management are important. 6.4. water pollution and solutions the most important water-related problems in cities are the pollution problems of sea, lake, river, and groundwater. water resources are polluted in cities where population growth, unplanned urbanization, lack of infrastructure, and unplanned industrialization are side by side and intertwined. for this reason, in some cities today, watershores are not preferred for settlement due to pollution. streams, lakes, and sea shores, whose waters are extremely polluted and smelly, constitute a disadvantage in terms of settlement. the main source of water pollution in urban centers is the sewage systems of cities. the amount of organic matter in urban waste is too high, causing bad odors. the use of water for cooling purposes in industrial centers, and nuclear and thermal power plants and its discharge back as hot water increases the biological and chemical reactions in the water and reduces the amount of dissolved oxygen. as a result, waste hot water prepares the environment for the development of harmful algae in streams and lakes and accelerates lake eutrophication (phosphate pollution). in new and rapidly developing cities, garbage piles also pollute the waters. in small and medium-sized cities of backward and developing countries, garbage is collected and dumped on vacant lands. solid and flowing garbage accumulated in wild landfills mixes with the surrounding streams, drinking water, and groundwater and pollutes these waters. (pektezel, 2015). 6.5. urban and groundwater pollution in areas with high urban pressure, excessive amounts of water are withdrawn from groundwater. the content of the water of groundwater, from which more water is withdrawn than the amount of feeding, decreases and deepens. especially in coastal areas, when too much water is withdrawn from groundwater, fresh and saltwater mix with each other. asphalt and construction work in urban areas prevent rain and snow meltwater from seeping into the ground. as a result, the amount of water in the groundwater table in urban areas is decreasing. in many historical fountains in the city center, water is no longer flowing due to the decrease in the water level. 6.6. urban and river pollution today, many rivers passing through cities are so polluted that they cannot be used even in agriculture and industry. the wastes of industrial establishments established in river basins, liquid wastes of river vehicles, pesticides, solid and liquid wastes of houses, and wastes of mines pollute the rivers. the industrial establishments that pollute the rivers the most; are weaving, leather processing, meat combines, and laundry facilities. these streams are covered bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 in order to remove the stench of the streams passing through the city centers and with high pollution levels. again, in order to gain land in urban centers, river beds are narrowed and turned into canals. these human pressures on river systems cause the deterioration of the existing ecological integrity in the river basin. (pektezel, 2015) water pollution is a serious threat to the water relationship of sustainable cities. factors such as industrial waste, household waste, and pesticides can contaminate water supplies. therefore, environmentally friendly technologies should be used in wastewater treatment systems and water treatment. in addition, effective control mechanisms are necessary to identify and prevent sources of pollution. 7. conclusions based on the findings obtained from the research, conclusions have been drawn. solutions proposals have been detailed under headings and items. 7.1. findings this study deals with water use in cities and the problems that arise due to this use. with the acceleration of the urbanization process, the pressure on water resources is increasing, and effective management and sustainable use of water resources are gaining importance. our findings lead us to the following main conclusions: • urbanization and impacts on water resources: the continuous growth and development of cities put increasing pressure on water resources. in particular, land use and infrastructure development negatively affect the quality and quantity of water resources by affecting the natural water cycle. the demand for water resources is increasing around the world and water consumption is at high levels, especially in urban areas. • water use and water resources: the majority of water resources are found in the oceans as salt water and freshwater resources are limited. population growth, climate change, and economic factors increase the pressure on water resources. in particular, sectors such as agriculture, industry, and urbanization play an important role in water consumption. the unequal distribution of water resources deepens the problem of water scarcity around the world and leads to economic, social, and environmental impacts • water scarcity and the size of the problems: water scarcity is a serious problem worldwide. millions of people lack safe drinking water and inequalities in access to water resources. the economic, social, and environmental impacts of water scarcity are increasing. • urbanization and water-related problems: the urbanization process shows an increasing trend around the world. the urban population increased from 746 million in 1950 to 3.9 billion in 2014 and is expected to reach 6 billion in 2045. the acceleration of urbanization complicates the effective use and management of water resources. in particular, unplanned urbanization and infrastructure deficiencies lead to problems such as floods. in addition, the deterioration of natural flow systems in cities causes pollution of water resources and flooding. the natural flow of the water cycle in cities is greatly disrupted. increased runoff increases the risk of flooding and flooding. • water management and sectoral water use: water management strategies need to be developed for effective management and sustainable use of water resources. in different sectors such as agriculture, industry, and urban use, it is important to use water in a balanced and equitable way. as a result, global cooperation and solution-oriented policies need to be implemented for the sustainable use and management of water resources. water use and water-related problems in cities should be handled with a multidisciplinary approach and long-term solutions should be studied. this is vital in order to leave a livable environment for future generations. 7.2. results urbanization has led to an increase in pressures on water resources and the water cycle in cities, resulting in issues such as floods, overflows, and water scarcity. to address these challenges, it is crucial to prioritize sustainable water resource management in urban planning. this includes investing in water-saving technologies and renewable bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 resources, implementing effective measures to prevent water pollution, and promoting environmental awareness and education. additionally, policy and legal arrangements should be established to ensure equal access to water resources and fair utilization. to ensure the long-term sustainability of cities, it is necessary to reduce water pressures and implement efficient management strategies. the participation and cooperation of stakeholders are crucial in achieving these goals. • with the effect of the urbanization process, the pressures on water resources and the water cycle in cities are increasing. this makes problems such as flooding, flooding, and water scarcity even more common in urban areas. • sustainable management and use of water resources should be at the center of urban planning processes. investments in water conservation and renewable water resources should be increased. • effective measures should be taken to address the problem of water pollution in urban areas and environmental awareness and education activities should be carried out to protect water resources. • policies and legal arrangements should be made at national and international levels in order to eliminate inequalities in access to water resources and to distribute water use fairly. • for the future sustainability of cities, it is necessary to reduce the pressures on water resources and develop water management strategies. stakeholder participation and collaboration are important in this process. 8. strategies for sustainable city and water management proposal the concepts that play an important role in the creation of sustainable cities and water management strategies are sustainability, efficiency, and ecology. sustainability, efficiency, and ecology are fundamental concepts in understanding and managing the water relationship of sustainable cities. at the same time, when set out within the framework of these concepts, it can be ensured that the water balance in the city is maintained and the effects of the climate crisis, which are getting tougher day by day, are reduced to tolerable levels. these concepts determine how the relationship between the city and water should be. 8.1. sustainability sustainability aims at the long-term use and protection of water resources. this approach aims to leave a transferable and livable environment for future generations by ensuring the efficient use of water. while sustainable water management requires the balanced use of water resources, it aims to protect the quality of water, increase the resilience of water resources against climate change, and ensure the sustainability of green areas. in addition, reducing pollutants and treating water with environmentally friendly methods are also part of the sustainability principle. 8.1.1. sustainable cities and environmental impacts sustainable cities should also consider environmental impacts in terms of water resources management. pollution is an important factor affecting the quality of water. therefore, solutions should be developed in areas such as wastewater treatment systems and industrial waste management. however, natural and artificial infrastructures that regulate the flow of water must also be taken into account to maintain the quality of the water. 8.1.2. sustainable cities and social impacts sustainable water management must also include societal impacts. equitable and equitable distribution of water in water-stressed regions is critical to ensuring social stability. additionally, community initiatives such as water conservation and awareness campaigns can help promote sustainable water use. 8.2. efficiency efficiency aims at the best use of water. efficient use of water in sustainable cities prevents water from being wasted, while at the same time optimizing the use of water for different purposes. less consumption of water resources is critical for water to meet future demands. bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 water efficiency is an approach that allows water to be used more effectively. this approach includes technological innovations for the efficient use of water. smart irrigation systems prevent waste of water while ensuring that water is used according to needs. in addition, technologies such as wastewater treatment and recycling contribute to the sustainable use of water resources. technologies that save water in sustainable cities support the efficient use of water. smart irrigation systems save water by directing water to areas where it is needed. at the same time, technologies such as low-flow faucets, water-saving shower heads, and devices that regulate water flow help in reducing water consumption. various arrangements can be made in infrastructure systems to ensure water savings in sustainable cities. infrastructures such as water tanks where rainwater is collected, and irrigation systems for the use of water in agricultural areas enable more effective use of water. technology and innovation play an important role in the water management of sustainable cities. smart meters are used to monitor and manage the consumption of water, while water purification technologies help make water reusable. in addition, with data analytics and sensor technologies, water leaks can be detected and water losses can be reduced. by integrating new technologies, urban planners can make water management more efficient. 8.3. ecology the concept of ecology emphasizes the environmental impacts of water and its interaction with ecosystems. sustainable management of water resources contributes to the conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity. for example, the reintroduction of polluted water into the water cycle causes profound effects on aquatic ecosystems, agricultural crops, and habitats. for this reason, it is important to use water by considering the ecological balance in order to protect the natural balance. creating green infrastructures is of great importance for the protection and sustainability of water resources in sustainable cities. solutions such as green roofs, water-permeable surfaces, and natural wetlands support the collection of rainwater and the stabilization of groundwater levels. at the same time, these green spaces improve the aesthetic appearance of the city and increase biodiversity. urban planners support the sustainable use of water resources by providing leadership in the planning and implementation of green infrastructure. 9. auxiliary concepts the water relationship of sustainable cities is shaped around the basic concepts of sustainability, efficiency, and ecology. when it comes down to sub-diffractions, it also includes concepts such as recycling, sociology, and clean environment. recycling refers to the disposal of water and waste that affects water through recycling systems and filters. sociology involves increasing public awareness so that society's relationship with the environment is more harmless. a conscious and sensitive society contributes to the formation of sustainable cities. a clean environment, on the other hand, aims to ensure that all uses in the city do not cause environmental pollution. a clean environment refers to an environment where pollution is minimized or absent. 9.1. sustainable water management sustainable water management strategies aim to meet future water demands while also protecting natural water resources. based on the concepts, various strategies can be developed for the successful management of the water relationship of sustainable cities. these strategies aim both to ensure the efficient use of water and to protect water resources. these strategies may include: 9.1.1. urban green and blue items green areas are reserved for the protection and development of natural ecosystems in the city. these areas both help to keep water in the soil and contribute to a healthier environment. at the same time, green spaces offer city residents places where they can breathe, relax, and be in touch with nature. blue corridors, on the other hand, aim to protect and effectively use waterways. thanks to these corridors, the natural flow of water is ensured, water pollution is prevented and the sustainability of water resources is supported. blue corridors also help reduce the risk bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 of water flooding. by rehabilitating the river beds passing through the residential areas, both types of pollution should be prevented and the risk of flooding should be prevented. however, while rehabilitating the stream beds in urban centers, their water-carrying capacity should not be reduced by narrowing them. 9.1.2. green buildings, collection and utilization of rainwater green buildings are buildings designed to save energy and water. these buildings may have systems where rainwater is collected and water is recycled. likewise, green infrastructures feed underground water resources by allowing water to seep under the ground. rainwater collection and reuse are examples of efficient use of water. collecting rainwater and using it for urban, agricultural, or industrial use contributes to less consumption of water resources. 9.1.3. dissemination of water permeability and prevention of waterborne risks increasing water permeability in cities allows water to seep underground. thanks to these areas, rainwater penetrates the soil, feeds groundwater resources, and contributes to the natural cycle of water. permeable areas also prevent erosion and allow water to mix with the soil without contamination. while planning the social and economic development of cities, hydrographic environmental components should always be protected. infrastructure, such as dam embankments or water collection tanks, can help reduce waterborne risks and threats. special protection measures should be taken and implemented for streams, lakes, dams, and groundwater from which drinking and utility water is supplied. 9.2. reduction of environmental pollution and water recycling systems maintaining the quality of water in sustainable cities is also of great importance. elements such as industrial waste, household waste, and pesticides can cause water pollution. therefore, strict inspections and proper treatment systems are necessary to reduce environmental pollution. seas, lakes, rivers, and groundwater in urban centers and their immediate surroundings should be protected and improved and pollution should be prevented. by recycling water in infrastructure systems, the service life of water can be extended. wastewater treatment plants should be installed in sewers in urban centers and checked regularly. after the wastewater is treated, it should be reused for irrigation purposes. 9.3. adaptation to climate change seasonal stream beds and flood crevices passing through urban centers should not be filled and closed but should be protected in a way that can work as drainage channels. in urban planning, the natural conditions of surface flow must be taken into account. sustainable water management strategies aim to minimize the effects of climate change on water resources. 9.4. increasing community awareness the importance of the concept of sociology emerges at this point. society's awareness of environmental awareness and water use should be increased. public awareness of water can be increased through educational campaigns, seminars, and awareness-raising projects. 10. assessment the relationship between sustainable cities and water is important for future generations to maintain a healthy life in a livable environment and has become a global priority. it is also a critical issue that affects the quality of life and environmental health in the future. the fact that water is a limited resource and the rapid growth of cities causes this relationship to become even more complicated. however, the principle of sustainability serves as a guide to overcome these challenges. effective use of water resources, environmental protection, social participation, and technological innovations are the basic components of the water relationship of sustainable cities. water management of cities should not only be limited to the efficient use of water, but should also include multidimensional elements such as ecological balance, social awareness, and environmental protection. for this purpose, concepts such as green areas and blue corridors guide the sustainable management of water, while basic bekar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 concepts such as sustainability, efficiency, and ecology emphasize the meaning and necessity of this relationship. the relationship between sustainable cities and water is an important issue that affects the quality of life and the sustainability of the environment not only for today but also for future generations. therefore, effective and fair management of water resources is the cornerstone of the creation of sustainable cities. in order to meet the increasing water, need in the future, excess surface water can be stored in underground water tables aquifers. this method has little danger of evaporation and contamination and is inexpensive and natural. in addition, it is thought that this method can be used to solve water problems in terms of preventing the mixing of salt and fresh water in coastal areas, controlling floods, and evaluating wastewater treated in urban centers. for this, excess surface water can be given to wells or surface water can be transferred to groundwater tables by spreading water over a wide area in permeable areas. considering the information obtained during the studies, it has been revealed that the pressure of human factors affecting the urban water cycle on water resources can be reduced by their agricultural and sectoral use. breaking the continuity of negative effects on water resources will be the most important step. if the necessary investments are made around "sustainable water management" strategies with the right stakeholders, we can avoid the worstcase scenario. at this point, there are multiple elements that we can prevent and that we have at our disposal. first of all, raising the awareness of the citizens; will be the beginning of recycling and savings that can be made on a micro scale. in addition, all segments of society should be informed about the necessary training for water conservation. awareness-raising and other sustainable urban activities should be encouraged by competent authorities such as states and non-governmental organizations. it is necessary to examine every production made on the path to be followed, to limit water consumption, and to support it with sustainable solutions and renewable energies. acknowledgment: the abstract of this paper was presented at the urban planning and architectural design for sustainable development (upadsd) conference—8th edition, which was held on the 24th 26th of october 2023. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or 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https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000225741 https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3894442?v=pdf https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3894442?v=pdf https://www.unwater.org/publications/un-world-water-development-report-2009 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 received: 6 november 2023, accepted: 15 november 2023, published online: 31 december 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i2.1043 application of a biomimetic approach in the design exploration of the indonesian red cross memorial covid 19 volunteer monument, tangerang regency emanuel agung wicaksono1, derryl justine setiawan2 1lecturer, department of architecture school of design universitas pelita harapan, indonesia 2student, department of architecture school of design universitas pelita harapan, indonesia abstract coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) has been declared a global pandemic by the world health organization (who) and a national disaster by the indonesian government since march 2020. the high speed of the virus' spread has caused an enormous multidimensional crisis in terms of health, social, and economic aspects all over the world, including indonesia. as of may 8, 2023, covid-19 has infected 6,787,354 people, with 161,459 of them having died. among the many victims, there are also many volunteers who have fallen while serving the community in dealing with the pandemic. to commemorate the fallen volunteers, the indonesian red cross of tangerang regency plans to immortalize them through a monument in the solear area, tangerang regency, banten. this monument is intended as a place to remember the fallen volunteers for their families, colleagues, and the public. the architecture student association (gamatara) of uph had the opportunity to contribute their design ideas in the framework of community service. the approach used in developing the design of this monument is biomimetic. biomimetic architecture is defined as the science and art of designing buildings by imitating aspects of nature as examples, models, references, and guidelines for solving problems in architecture. in the design of this monument, biomimetics is applied to make nature an inspiration for form. this approach is used as the actualization of the symbol that the way to prevent pandemics like this in the future is through harmonization with nature. this approach can be seen as the application of metaphor, prioritizing conceptual and visual synergy. the bamboo shoot shape was chosen as an appropriate metaphor that depicts resilience and the emergence of new hope. the design exploration is directed towards combining the form and the resulting spatial experience to create a sense of place and a meditative reflection space that supports activities. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review is under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords biomimetic, architecture, monument, sense of place, covid-19, landmark 1. introduction coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) has been declared a global pandemic and a national disaster by the indonesian government and the world health organization (who) since march 2020. the high rate of the virus' spread has caused an enormous multidimensional crisis in terms of health, social, and economic aspects all over the world, including indonesia. as of may 8, 2023, covid-19 has infected 6,787,354 people, with 161,459 of them having died. among the many victims, many volunteers have tragically died to serve the community in dealing with the pandemic. to commemorate the fallen volunteers, the indonesian red cross of tangerang regency plans to immortalize them through a monument in the solear, tangerang regency, banten. this monument is intended as a place to remember the fallen volunteers for their families, colleagues, and the public. then the architecture community service of uph http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i2.1043&domain=press.ierek.com wicaksono/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 which involved the professor and the involved team of gamatara (architectural student association), had the opportunity to contribute their design ideas in the framework of community service. this study aims to further learn and explore the biomimetic approach that can be a basic architectural concept in developing the design of the covid-19 volunteer memorial monument. the specific research questions to be answered are as follows. what kind of biomimetic approach is suitable to produce a monument design that can create a sense of place? what parameters are needed in the design of the monument using the biomimetic approach? how is the biomimetic approach implemented in the form of architectural monuments? how is the arrangement of form and space in this monument so that it is in line with the biomimetic concept? 2. theoretical background the components of the “sense of place” are closely related to form (kevin, l., 1981). place is not just space; space will become a place if it is marked with meaning in it. hence, meaning is a value that is rooted in the local culture (trancik, r., 1991). this can bring certain memories and feelings towards something that is visible in an area and has a strong influence on the identification of city identity. according to lynch, in marking an environment, the visual strength factor (imageability/apparency) becomes very dominant. the stronger the visual factor, the stronger the element is remembered/understood by the observer and makes it easier to orient. landmarks are one of the physical elements that strengthen the sense of place. (kevin, l., 1981). according to the oxford dictionary, a monument is a statue, building, or other structure erected to commemorate a famous or notable person or event (stevenson, a. (ed.).,2010). monuments are closely related to landmarks because monuments are generally supported by several elements that can give prominent characteristics through their architectural art. (redstone, l. g., & redstone, r. r., 1981). monuments also have a social function, namely as a means of mirroring society that reflects socio-cultural values, as well as a means of transforming certain values that are considered important for the development of the spiritual aspects of its citizens and the embodiment of the continuity of the past, present, and future. (sidharta, i., & budihardjo, e., 1989). based on appearance, monuments can be categorized into two: monuments with figurative main objects (personal, portrait statues, anamorphic, animal) and non-figurative objects (abstract, impersonal, formalist). (miles, m,1989) the biomimetic approach can be used to get a good appearance of monument form. biomimetics or biomimicry is a conceptual approach to architectural design that tries to imitate living things. etymologically, biomimetics comes from the greek words bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate. biomimetics, defined by janine m. benyus, is a new science that studies nature’s models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems. considering nature as a model, measure and mentor can help to design a better and sustainable future (benyus, j. m., 1997). biomimetics can be divided into levels, namely the organismal level, the interaction/behavior level, and the ecosystem level. (peters, t. 2011). biomimetic architecture was involved and applied in various ways such as form, function, process, and systems. (santhosh, a., & nair, s. r., 2016). in the era of postmodern architecture, biomimetic architectural approaches have been developed to generate innovation. architects can integrate biomimetic concepts into their design such as economy, optimization, resilience, functionality, and aesthetics. (yeler, g., 2015). in this study, the focus of biomimetics is biomorphism which emphasizes the form of natural mimesis (pawlyn, m., 2019). according to peter collins, biomorphism emphasizes the essence of biological analogy or more specifically the parallels between natural organisms with architectural aesthetics (supardjo, s., 2014). the concept of biomimetics by focusing on form is closer to the application of metaphors that are more concerned with conceptual and visual synergy. the application of the biomimicry concept to architecture can be through metaphors because the basic wicaksono/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 process of taking ideas is taken from forms from nature. antoniades describes metaphors into three categories, namely intangible metaphors, tangible metaphors, and combined metaphors (antoniades, a. c., 1992). beijing national stadium, designed by swiss architects herzog & de meuron, is a contemporary example of the use of biomimetics in architecture which was inspired by a bird’s nest for its beguiling, latticed surface (rogers, a., yoon, b., & malek, c., 2008). figure 1. beijing national stadium which was inspired by bird’s 3. methodology in the design of this monument, the approach used in developing design insights is as follows: an object typology approach by identifying a monument object typology functionally, geometrically, and culturally related to the sense of place. thematic approach, namely biomimetic architecture with a deep understanding of the meaning of the theme and its implementation strategy site and environment approach, namely analysis of site conditions and their environment which can be a determinant of the design concept. the design process is carried out with architectural design stages starting from the conceptual, being the design's experimentation through idea transformation both two-dimensional and three-dimensional, and evaluation which is repeated cyclically to obtain an optimum final design. primary data collection methods through direct observation of objects, field surveys, and documentation. meanwhile, secondary data was obtained from scientific sources in the form of literature studies and precedent studies. 4. design guidelines regarding the monumentality of landmarks, a building that becomes the focal point must be able to evoke the emotions of the observer in experiencing the townscape. this visual experience is created through the manipulation of the environment, providing gradually emerging views for curiosity. (gordon cullen,1961). kevin lynch stated that what needs to be considered in designing landmarks is the need for the following criteria (kevin, l., 1981).: gain form as the achievement of domination of the environment contrast form as the achievement of uniqueness so that it stands out. contextual or background of all buildings in the environment strategic location, easy to see and accessible. continuation of the sequence to achieve unity of meaning. special details or in the need for ornament and decoration. the guidelines mentioned above are the parameters set to realize the landmark design with a biomimetic approach in the form of monuments. the fulfillment of these parameters determines the success or failure of a design. these parameters are set to ensure the optimization of research in creating monuments that can produce an ideal sense of place. wicaksono/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 5. project design the location that is given for the monument to be constructed is in solear, tangerang. its location is 66 kilometers away from the capital of indonesia, jakarta. this monument is located within the pmi, indonesian red cross, volunteer park complex. meaning it is placed in the center of the complex, for pmi and the youth red cross volunteer education and training related to humanitarian activities. this complex has an area of about 1.8 hectares to cover, enough to complete the space with the required amenities. this monument was built with the aim of remembering volunteers and health workers who have died during the process of handling the covid 19 pandemic. the choice of the location for this monument to be at the pmi volunteer park is to provide inspiration and a humanitarian spirit for pmi volunteers who are currently studying there. figure 2. location map of pmi volunteer park, solear (wikipedia & personal documentation) figure 3. site existing condition in 2019 (personal documentation) the location has the following boundaries: north: al madani islamic boarding school south: plantations west: plantations east: residential areas wicaksono/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 figure 4. position of memorial covid-19 volunteer monument in pmi volunteer park complex the biomimetic concept for this monument is adapted from the metaphor of bamboo shoots. bamboo plants are one of the many plants found in indonesia that are rich in benefits ranging from building materials, furniture, and handicrafts to food ingredients. indonesia is estimated to have 11.5% of the world's bamboo species (rijaya, i., 2019). it is estimated that 88 species of bamboo are endemic to indonesia (hingmadi, d., 2012). bamboo has many benefits for the environment and humans, being also one of the fastest-growing plants. therefore, we can conclude that the use of bamboo can be said to be a sustainable material that has various advantages. in indonesian culture, bamboo has a deep philosophical meaning because of the nature of this plant which grows fast, is strong in its own ways, has a straight shape, very flexible, and easily adapts to its environment. in indonesia, bamboo is a symbol of the indonesian people's struggle for independence because it is one of the weapons used to fight colonialism. in the local context, tangerang regency is known as a center for woven bamboo hats to foreign countries. because this bamboo hat has become the identity of the people of tangerang regency, the bamboo hat is used as the logo of tangerang regency. figure 5. the tangerang district logo is taken from a woven bamboo hat craft wicaksono/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 6. bamboo shoots and people hugging each other form the basic form of the monument the shape of the bamboo shoots is transformed through a stylization process. stylization is a deformation or change in shape without leaving the characteristics of the original shape. stylization only imitates visual forms, so stylization is usually used as inspiration for shapes. the shape of a bamboo shoot was chosen as an appropriate metaphor that describes resilience and the emergence of new hope after the covid-19 pandemic. the shape of crossed bamboo shoots is a symbol of mutual protection between residents so that this pandemic does not happen again. the design is made multilayer/layered, which symbolizes the spirit of regeneration of the indonesian red cross’s volunteers who are always ready for humanity. figure 7. form transformation of the monument design exploration is directed at combining forms and the resulting spatial experience, to create a sense of place and an appreciation of space that supports meditative reflective activities. the curved shape of this monument creates a contrast with the surrounding buildings in the form of landed buildings with gable or shield roofs. the tower of the monument is made as tall as 14 meters to create a dominance in scale, compared to its surroundings. the location is placed in the middle of the pmi volunteer park so that it can be easily reached and visually accessed from various angles. the concept of serial vision is used to shape the image and drama of the area in a movement to produce sequential movement and emerging view, stimulating views through environmental contrasts. the outer shape of the monument is shown as a hill overgrown with grass to give an unexpected feeling when entering the inner space while at the same time creating a contrast between the outside of the monument and the inside of the monument. the existence of this grassy hill provides a visual continuity between the monument and the surrounding landscape in the form of plantations. this grassy hill is a symbol of the importance of harmonizing nature and the development of human civilization so that this pandemic does not appear again in the future. wicaksono/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 8. the grassy hill that hides the inner space of the monument to create the effect of surprise and build curiosity the circulation pattern on this monument is shaped like a mobius strip, better known as the infinity symbol. these shapes are used to construct visual experiences that provide a gradually emerging view of curiosity, continuity, and interest. figure 9. the circulation pattern of the monument in the form of a mobius strip the circulation pattern in this monument not only builds the atmosphere but also makes it feel like walking down a chronological time tunnel when the world is struggling to overcome the covid crisis starting from the year 2020 up to 2023. time chronological information is presented on the floor, while the wall is presented a graph of the development of the number of cases of infection. which is presented in the appearance of wall cracks in the monument. the wall cracks were chosen to build visitors' emotions through the metaphor that this pandemic is causing great damage, while at the same time showing how fragile humans are when nature is out of balance. figure 10. chronology and graphics related to the pandemic are represented by cracks in the wall the material’s textures are used to build narratives and emotions that visitors can feel, translating human experience into architectural composition. special details were carried out using the finishing material of mixed concrete to give a hard and rough texture to provide a spatial atmosphere that describes the difficulty and severity of the situation during the pandemic. the texture of this rough concrete finish also gives a dramatic effect when exposed to light. wicaksono/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 another material used is the use of corten steel, also known as weathering steel or steel which is created through a weathering process so that a protective layer from the weather can form on the outer layer of steel. in appearance, corten steel looks like steel that has rusted with the weather for years, this gives a gloomy atmosphere for the many victims due to the pandemic. lastly on the floor, using pebblestone concrete to create a rough texture to build the same emotion as the one created within the textured walls. figure 11. the materials that dominate the appearance of the monument: kamprot concrete, corten steel, and pebblestone concrete the use of a reflection pond is to create a calm and quiet atmosphere within the monument. the existence of a dandelion fountain which has a shape similar to the covid-19 virus and the fog it produces reminds us of how easy it is for the virus to spread through the air. the mist that is created from the dandelion fountain also builds a mystical and unclear atmosphere in this monument. in the middle of the reflective pool is a rectangular sunken where water from the pool enters into it to represent the loss of a loved one due to illness from exposure to this virus. figure 12. anatomy of monument figure 13. atmosphere of inner space in the monument wicaksono/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 at the end of the sequence, visitors are faced with a “wall of hope” poetry to build hope that rises before entering the tower. this tower is made higher than the surrounding buildings as a form of respect and appreciation for volunteers and health workers who have died. inside this monument, a shine of light effects will be displayed. the first light effect is the rain of light which is produced from sunlight that penetrates perforated metal in the form of woven bamboo. the second light effect is the projection of the names of volunteers who died during the pandemic. this series of light effects is expected to produce a surreal space and become the climax of this monumental space sequence. figure 14. atmosphere of inner space in the monument figure 14. the progress of the construction of the monument on the site wicaksono/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 6. design evaluation and conclusion based on the parameters set in the design guidelines, this project has successfully delivered a space that can accommodate and support the application of a biomimetic approach in the design exploration of the indonesian red cross memorial covid 19 volunteer monument, tangerang regency to build a sense of place. with the scale of the monument being quite high compared to the surrounding buildings, this monument is quite acceptable for domination of the environment. curved shapes with different colors and textures with the environment produce contrast and make it unique uniqueness so that it stands out. adaptation of form and appearance which originate from bamboo shoots that depart from local identity makes this monument contextual to local culture. the location of the monument which is in the center of the pmi volunteer park area provides easy circulation and visual accessibility. movement patterns that build spatial sequences through serial vision produce continuity and unity of meaning. the selection of details, colors, textures, and materials in this monument reinforces emotions and narratives related to the covid 19 pandemic through this research, it can be concluded that the biomimetic architectural concept approach has the opportunity to form a sense of place, especially related to landmark design. acknowledgments we would like to express our gratitude to each individual and organization who has contributed to the publishing of this journal. to the indonesian red cross for giving us the opportunity to conduct our research and exploration on the related project. we also acknowledge the architecture department at universitas pelita harapan for giving us the resources and support we required to complete this project. finally, we would like to express our gratitude to our family and friends for their love and support during the research process as we could not have finished our study without their encouragement and assistance. the abstract of this paper was presented at the sustainability in creative industries (sci) conference–2nd edition which was held on the 7th-9th of november 2023. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval: not applicable. conflict of interest: the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references kevin, l. (1981). a theory of good city form. a theory of good city form. trancik, r. (1991). finding lost space: theories of urban design. john wiley & sons. stevenson, a. (ed.). (2010). oxford dictionary of english. oxford university press, usa. redstone, l. g., & redstone, r. r. (1981). public art: new directions. (no title). wicaksono/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 sidharta, i., & budihardjo, e. (1989). konservasi lingkungan dan bangunan kuno bersejarah di surakarta. (no title). miles, m. art for public places (winchester: winchester school of art press, 1989); malcolm miles, ed. art and the city. benyus, j. m. (1997). biomimicry: innovation inspired by nature (p. 320). new york: morrow. peters, t. (2011). nature as measure: the biomimicry guild. architectural design, 81(6), 44-47. santhosh, a., & nair, s. r. (2016). nature’s gift: study on biologically inspired scenario for construction industry. iosr journal of mechanical and civil engineering, 13(3), 82-86. yeler, g. (2015). influences of the living world on architectural structures: an analytical insight. uludağ üniversitesi mühendislik fakültesi dergisi, 20(1), 23-38. pawlyn, m. (2019). biomimicry in architecture. routledge. supardjo, s. (2014). aplikasi arsitektur biomorfik dalam rancangan arsitektur. media matrasain, 11(1), 33-42. antoniades, a. c. (1992). poetics of architecture: theory of design. (no title). rogers, a., yoon, b., & malek, c. (2008). beijing olympic stadium 2008 as biomimicry of a bird’s nest. architectural structures, arch, 251(30), 04. cullen, g. (1995). the concise townscape. routledge. rijaya, i. (2019). jenis-jenis bambu (bambusoideae) di pulau bengkalis, provinsi riau, indonesia. floribunda, 6(2). hingmadi, d. (2012). keanekaragaman ciri morfologi jenis-jenis bambu (bambusa sp.) di kelurahan teunbaun kecamatan amarasi barat kabupaten kupang. universitas pgri ntt, kupang. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 91 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i1.869 a study on the strategies of park city construction of chengdu from the perspective of urban heat island mitigation lichen wang1, kangkang gu1,2,*, dong dong1,2 1school of architecture & planning of anhui jianzhu university 2anhui academy of territory spacial planning & ecology *corresponding author e-mail address:kangkanggu@163.com abstract in the process of urbanization, various urban problems have become increasingly prominent, and the heat island effect is one of them. the expansion of urban land, the increase in construction intensity and the increase in population make the urban heat island effect even worse. the construction of park cities improves the ecological environment of the city and is considered to have a positive effect on alleviating the heat island effect, but it is not clear whether it has such an effect or not. this article explores whether the construction of park city can help to improve the urban thermal environment effectively, and also, seek solutions for how to improve the construction of park cities so that the heat island effect can be better mitigated. landsat8 remote sensing images in 2014 and 2019 were used to estimate the fractional vegetation cover (fvc) and land surface temperature (lst) in the third ring road of chengdu. land use data were also introduced into the study to analyze lst changes in different surfaces and fvc.the results indicate that: (1) the area of the heat island zone in the third ring road of chengdu decreased by 0.91% from 2014 to 2019, and the area of the cold island zone increased by 17.89% ; (2) the urban blue-green space is conductive to mitigating the urban heat island effect, in which the water provides the best mitigation, while impervious surface and bare land may aggravate the urban heat island effect; (3) the fvc in the area of the third ring road in chengdu is on the rise as a whole, and there is a significant negative correlation between fvc and lst (p < 0.01). based on the above results, this paper shows that park city construction is beneficial to alleviate the urban heat island effect, and more attention should be paid to blue-green space layout and quality, along with urban ventilation and fvc control. our results provide useful input for green space planning and the construction of park city in the future. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords park city construction; heat island effect; mitigation; land cover; fractional vegetation cover; chengdu 1. introduction urban heat island (uhi) refers to the phenomenon that temperatures in the urban area of a city is significantly higher than those in the outer suburbs. with the development of the economy and society, under the influence of climate change and other factors, the uhi gets increasingly obvious, which not only causes extreme weather such as hot weather and heavy rain but also negatively affects the growth of flora and fauna in cities. medical studies show that high ambient temperature can easily lead to human irritability and mental disorders, and furthermore, it even increases the incidence of heart and respiratory diseases, thus resulting in an increase in mortality (peng, 2020). http://www.press.ierek.com/ about:blank https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i1.869&domain=press.ierek.com wang / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 92 in recent years, scholars have carried out a large number of studies on the uhi, by two major research methods of on-site measurement and estimation based on satellite data (ouyang et al, 2021; amindin et al, 2021). previous studies have focused on the following facets: the temporal and spatial characteristics, cause of formation, influencing factors, mitigation measures of uhi, the relationship between uhi and air pollution, and the impact of uhi on human health (tian et al, 2021; zhang et al, 2007; park et al, 2017; li et al, 2014; wang et al, 2021; laaidi et al, 2011). studies have found that meteorological characteristics (e.g. wind speed, humidity, etc.) (zong et al, 2021; alekseeva et al, 2019), urban spatial morphology (e.g. building density, floor area ratio, night light intensity, etc.) (sun, 2020; liu et al, 2020), and land use (singh et al, 2017) all have a certain degree of impact on the urban heat island intensity (uhii). the research on strategies of thermal environment improvement focuses on urban ventilation, green space and water and ground materials, rational planning of urban layout and ventilation corridors and optimization of blue-green space pattern, strategies to improve the quantity and quality of green space and so on (peng et al,2017; guo et al, 2015; yang et al, 2021). among them, green spaces are considered to be able to alleviate the uhii directly and effectively, whose effect is influenced by size, shape and layout (jonghoon et al,2017; li et al,2014). previous studies have shown that the cooling degree and range of green space are positively correlated with the area and negatively correlated with the shape index (yuan et al, 2017). in further studies, scholars used models (such as cfd model) to quantitatively evaluate the impact of urban spatial morphology, land use, and other factors on urban thermal environment and proposed corresponding planning strategies to provide guidance for urban construction (yuan et al, 2020; iizuka et al, 2020). in 2018, during a visit to tianfu new area of chengdu, general secretary xi jinping proposed the concept of "park city" for the first time. the proposal of "park city" not only reflects the development concept of "ecological civilization" and "human-centered", but also reflects the consideration of the development mode and the pathway of urbanization. in recent years, chengdu has made persistent efforts to advance the construction of park city. related theoretical studies mainly focus on the construction strategies, paths and ecological value of park cities, including constructing ecological network systems, promoting park layout optimization, shaping city style, innovating park management mode and so on (lin et al, 2020). however, the current studies have not yet covered the impact of park city construction on the urban thermal environment. although park city construction helps to increase the urban blue-green space and improve quality, it is still not clear whether the park city construction can effectively alleviate the uhi. therefore, it is crucial to discuss how to carry out urban construction in a way to mitigate the increasing urban heat island effect more efficiently. the purpose of this study is to determine the impact of park city construction on the urban thermal environment, and discuss how to optimize park city construction in order to alleviate the urban heat island effect in an even better fashion. accordingly, we choose the lantsat 8 satellite image and surface coverage data. through the spatial statistical analysis and correlation analysis, we try to explore the influence of the park city construction of chengdu on alleviating the uhi, reaching the research conclusion on the basis of the parks in chengdu city urban construction strategy, thus to provide further optimized guidance for the construction of park city. in addition, we also put forward the urban strategies of chengdu park city construction based on the research conclusions, which give further guidance for the construction of chengdu park city. 2. materials and methods 2.1. study area located in the western part of sichuan basin, the topography of chengdu blocks the air flow inside the city, which brings about a significant heat island effect in chengdu, under a subtropical monsoon humid climate. the terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast, and the west is dominated by deep hills and mountains, while the east is plain. the annual average temperature is about 16℃, and the uhi effect is significant. the annual frost-free period is 278 days, and the average annual precipitation is 900 ~ 1,300 mm, with low wind velocity and few sunny days. covering a total area of 14,335 km2, chengdu registered an urban built-up area of 949.6km2 in 2019, that is to say, its urbanization rate reached up to 74.41%. in recent years, chengdu has vigorously promoted the construction of wang / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 93 park city, and achieved certain results, including the newly added green space of 19 million square meters, the forest coverage of 39.9%, the green coverage of built-up area of 43.5%, and the per capita green area of parks of 14.9 m2. restricted by the cloudage of study data, the study area was delineated as the inner area within the third ring road in chengdu. arcgis software was used to obtain the scope of the study area, that is, 19,285.29hm2 as the total area. figure 1. satellite image of the study area 2.2. source of data the satellite data used in this study come from the geospatial data cloud platform of computer network information center of the chinese academy of sciences (http://www.gscloud.cn). in the study, we selected landsat8 satellite image data from august when the flora grows well. in view of the outbreak of covid-19 in december 2019, satellite data from august 13, 2014 and august 11, 2019 were further selected for the study. the image quality was good with no cloud over the study area, which meets the research needs. although the surface temperature retrieved by satellite remote sensing is only the surface temperature at the time of satellite transit in one day, however, the thermal field distribution characteristics of the surface of the study area are constant, so it can be used to study the distribution of the ground thermal field, and it can also cover the entire study area. the land cover data came from the earth big data science and engineering data sharing service system (http://data.casearth.cn/). the classified land cover data of 2015 and 2020 (with a spatial resolution of 30 meters) were selected to calculate the land cover of chengdu in 2014 and 2019 respectively. table 1. satellite data information imaging time satellite spatial resolution （m） cloudage sensor august 13, 2014 landsat8 30 3.74% oli_tirs august 11, 2019 landsat8 30 0.89% oli_tirs http://www.gscloud.cn/ http://data.casearth.cn/ about:blank wang / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 94 2.3. data pre-processing remote sensing has become an important way to observe uhi. remote sensing images can cover the whole study area, and the distribution characteristics of urban heat field are stable. therefore, remote sensing images can be used to study the spatial distribution of uhi in the study area. factors such as terrain, earth rotation, atmospheric refraction and others may have various influences on remote sensing imaging. in order to reflect lst as accurately as possible, envi5.3 software was used to conduct atmospheric correction and geometric correction on the thermal infrared image. finally, the satellite imagery and land cover classification data were collected by using the vector layer within chengdu's third ring road. surface temperature inversion methods mainly include atmospheric correction method, single window algorithm, single channel method and so on. in this study, atmospheric correction method was used to process landsat8 data and the lst was obtained by inversion. the main principle of atmospheric correction method is to evaluate the influence of atmospheric effect on surface thermal radiation based on atmospheric data, by removing the value of this part from the total thermal radiation to obtain the surface thermal radiation intensity and convert it into the corresponding lst (wu et al, 2016), which is used to characterize the changes of uhii. however, due to the different weather conditions at different imaging times, it is difficult to study the changes in the uhii from the inversion of the lst directly. normalized mean-standard deviation method (zhou, 2019) is adopted to classify uhii, that is, firstly standardize the lst, and then use the mean-standard deviation method to divide the study area into five zones: intense heat island zone (ihi), mild heat island zone (mhi), no significant zone(ns), mild cold island zone(mci) and intense cold island zone (ici). 2.4. analytical techniques 2.4.1. land cover and uhii the research superimposed the land cover data and lst data in the inner area within the third ring road of chengdu in 2014 and 2019, calculated the average lst of various types of land cover respectively, and made statistics on the types of land cover in different uhii grading zones. finally, we got the land cover data in each zone. the purpose of this analysis is to determine the influence of various land cover types on lst. considering that the lst obtained by satellite data inversion may be affected by weather conditions, in order to intuitively analyze the different effects of different urban land cover types on uhii, we choose to measure the impact of land use change on lst based on the average lst change value of different areas. therefore, this paper divides the study into different zones according to the different land cover types in the inner area within the third ring road of chengdu in 2014. arcgis software was used to calculate the average lst of each zone in 2014 and 2019 and obtain the lst change, which was used as the basis to measure the change of uhii. after that, we counted the land cover types of each zone in 2019 and further divided them into smaller zones. then, we calculated the average lst of each smaller zone in 2014 and 2019, subtracted the lst change obtained here from the average lst change mentioned above, and finally, conducted quantitative analysis of the changes of uhii in different land cover zones (a positive result means a rise in lst, which means an increase in uhii. a negative result means a drop in lst, which means a decrease in uhii). 2.4.2. calculation of fractional vegetation cover (fvc) in the study, we used the pre-processed data to calculate the normalized difference vegetation index (ndvi), and then converted the specific values outside the interval into the background value (0) to calculate the fvc: 𝐹𝑉𝐶 = (𝑁𝐷𝑉𝐼 − 𝑁𝐷𝑉𝐼𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙)/(𝑁𝐷𝑉𝐼𝑣𝑒𝑔 − 𝑁𝐷𝑉𝐼𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙) (1) in the formula, 𝑁𝐷𝑉𝐼𝑣𝑒𝑔is the ndvi of pure vegetation-covered pixel, and 𝑁𝐷𝑉𝐼𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑙 is the ndvi of bare soil-covered pixel. wang / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 95 in this study, fvc is divided into five grades, and the classification criteria are as follows: [0, 0.2] is low fvc, (0.2, 0.4] is medium-low fvc, (0.4, 0.6] is moderate fvc, (0.6, 0.8] is medium-high fvc and (0.8, 1]is high fvc (peng et al, 2017). the fvc of different uhii zones was analyzed by arcgis software. 3. results 3.1. spatial distribution characteristics of uhii the lst retrieved from landsat8 images can be obtained through data processing by arcgis. the average lst of the study area on august 13, 2014 was 35.89℃, and the temperature distribution ranged 26.39℃ to 47.86℃. on august 11, 2019, the average lst was 40.21℃, and the temperature distribution ranged 29.80℃ to 49.81℃. in this study, we divided the study area into five zones (fig. 2). the area and proportion of each zone are shown in table 2. figure 2. classification of uhii within the third ring road of chengdu in 2014 and 2019 table 2. classification of suhii suhii range 2014 2019 value change1 area （hm2 ） proportion （%） area （hm2 ） proportion （%） ihi ts≥(a+sd) 2,929.23 15.19 2,874.33 14.90 mhi (a+0.5*sd)≤ts＜(a+sd) 3,202.11 16.60 3,081.78 15.98 ns (a-0.5*sd)≤ts＜ (a+0.5*sd) 7,138.62 37.02 3,864.42 20.04 mci (a-sd)≤ts＜(a0.5*sd) 2,815.74 14.60 6,578.73 34.11 + ici ts＜(a-sd) 3,199.59 16.5 2,886.03 14.96 1 "+" represents an increase in area from 2014 to 2019; "-" represents a decrease in area from 2014 to 2019. based on the above analysis, it can be concluded that: in 2014, the area of ns zone within the third ring road of chengdu is relatively large, reaching 7,138.62hm2, accounting for 37.02% of the total area. the area of uhi is 6,131.34hm2, accounting for 31.79% of the study area, mainly distributed in the urban center and the southwest region, which is the area with relatively concentrated construction land with low afforestation degree. in 2019, the area of mci zone is relatively large, reaching 6,578.73hm2, accounting for 34.11% of the study area and increasing by 3,762.99hm2 compared with 2014. the area of uhi is 5,956.11hm2, accounting for 30.88% of the study area, mainly concentrated in the urban center, which has decreased compared with the area in 2014. wang / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 96 3.2. the effect of land cover on uhii 3.2.1. land cover in the study area according to the land cover data, there were 8 land cover types in the study area in 2014, namely cropland, forest, grassland, shrubland, wetland, water, impervious surface and bare land. the area occupied by different land cover types in order of arrangement was as follows: impervious surface > cropland > grassland > forest > water > bareland > wetland > shrubland. in 2019, there were 6 types of land cover in the study area, including cropland, forest, grassland, water, impervious surface and bare land. the area occupied by different land cover types in order of arrangement was as follows: impervious surface > cropland > water > grassland > forest > bareland. the specific composition is shown in table 3. as can be seen from the statistical data, in the process of park city construction, the impervious surface within the third ring road of chengdu increased by 923.63hm2, accounting for 4.80% of the study area, while the area of blue-green space decreased by 900.28hm2, accounting for 4.68% of the study area. table 3. statistics of land cover types in the study area land cover 2014 2019 value change1 area（hm2） proportion（%） area（hm2） proportion（%） cropland 1,629.37 8.46 1,026.24 5.33 forest 72.03 0.37 1.61 0.01 glassland 306.16 1.59 10.21 0.05 shrubland 0.86 0.00 0.00 0.00 wetland 3.58 0.02 0.00 0.00 water 70.60 0.37 144.26 0.75 + impervious surface 17,143.23 89.06 18,066.86 93.86 + bareland 23.40 0.12 0.05 0.00 total 19,249.23 100 19,249.23 100 1 "+" represents an increase in area from 2014 to 2019; "-" represents a decrease in area from 2014 to 2019. 3.2.2. uhii in different land cover areas in this paper, land cover data and lst data are superimposed, and the temperature of different land cover types is statistically analyzed by spatial analysis in arcgis software. the obtained results are shown in fig. 3. by comparison, the average lst of various land cover types in the study area in 2014 in order of arrangement was as follows: impervious surface > bare land > grassland > cropland > shrubland > forest > water > wetland, and the average lst in 2019 was as follows: bareland > impervious surface > grassland > water > forest > cropland. wang / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 97 figure 3. lst in different land cover areas in order to analyze the relationship between uhii and land cover intuitively, statistics are made on the classification of uhii in different land cover areas, and the proportion of the obtained area is calculated to draw the classification scale diagrams of uhii of different land cover types (fig. 4 and fig. 5). figure 4. scale diagram of uhii for different land cover types in 2014 wang / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 98 figure 5. scale diagram of uhii for different land cover types in 2019 from the analysis above, we found that the obvious urban cold island effect shows up in water, forest, wetland and cropland, and the lst is significantly lower than other land cover types. the lst of impervious surface and bare land in the study area was the highest, and the areas with ns zone and uhi zone accounted for a large proportion in these areas. the lst change of impervious surface, water and cropland varies more than 14℃, while the change of lst of wetland, shrub land and forest land is smaller. 3.2.3. changes of uhii in different land cover areas in this paper, the land use of the study area is divided into 8 zones according to the land cover situation within the third ring road of chengdu in 2014. we made statistics on the area and annual average lst of each zone and calculated the average lst change. the results are shown in table 4. then, we further divided each zone according to the land cover in 2019, calculated the change of lst, and compared it with the change of average lst to judge how the uhii is changing (fig 6). table 4. average lst and its variation in different land cover areas land cover (2014) area（hm2） average lst（℃） changes of lst（℃） 2014 2019 cropland 1,629.37 33.17 38.16 4.99 forest 72.03 32.23 37.09 4.86 glassland 306.16 33.28 38.90 5.62 shrubland 0.86 33.26 38.45 5.19 wetland 3.58 31.92 36.92 5.00 water 70.60 31.51 35.92 4.41 impervious surface 17,143.23 36.24 40.46 4.22 bareland 23.40 34.45 40.36 5.91 wang / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 99 figure 6. variation of uhii in different land cover zones from 2014 to 2019 the above analysis shows that the uhii decreases when the land cover type is changed to cropland, grassland and water, and the uhii decreases the most when the land cover type is changed to water. the uhii increases when the land cover type is changed to impervious surface or bareland. the results of quantitative analysis indicate that bluegreen space such as cropland, grassland and water is beneficial to reduce uhii, while impervious surface and bareland have negative effect on reducing uhii. 3.3. relationships between fvc and uhii 3.3.1. spatial distribution of fvc in the study area spatial distribution of fvc within the third ring road of chengdu in 2014 and 2019 is shown in fig. 7. according to the spatial statistical analysis of arcgis, the area of moderate fvc in the study area was the largest in 2014, up to 9,735.66hm2, accounting for 50.48% of the study area. the area of high fvc and medium high fvc is smaller, respectively accounting for 1.97% and 13.17% of the study area. the area of low fvc is the smallest, accounting for 0.47% of the study area. compared with the fvc in 2014, the area of low, medium low and moderate fvc zones in 2019 in the study area decreases to varying degrees, while the area of medium high and high zones increases. the area of medium high fvc increases the most, reaching 1,027.62hm2 (table 5). table 5. grade distribution of fvc within the third ring road of chengdu in 2014 and 2019 zone 2014 2019 area （hm2） proportion （%） area （hm2） proportion （%） low fvc zone 90.99 0.47 85.41 0.44 medium low fvc zone 6,538.05 33.90 5,582.25 28.95 moderate fvc zone 9,735.66 50.48 9,637.56 49.97 medium high fvc zone 2,540.16 13.17 3,567.78 18.50 high fvc zone 380.43 1.97 412.29 2.14 wang / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 100 figure 7. spatial distribution of fvc grades within the third ring road of chengdu in 2014 and 2019 as a whole picture, the vegetation in the area within third ring road of chengdu was in good condition. after promoting the construction of the park city, fvc has been significantly improved, and the layout of green space is more reasonable, indicating that the construction of the park city plays an important role in promoting the realization of urban environmentally friendly and the improvement of human settlement quality. from the perspective of spatial distribution, the area of the medium low fvc zone within the third ring road of chengdu decreased significantly from 2014 to 2019, especially in the urban center. the area of medium and high fvc expanded, spatially to the center of the city or to the west. the area of the western part and the ns zone around the water system decreased greatly, and most of them turned into the mci zone. compared with the analysis of the fvc changes above, it can be found that the fvc in this area increased significantly. in general, with the construction of park city such as urban afforestation, the area of heat island zone decreased while the area of cold island zone increased, indicating that the park city construction has a significant positive effect on the reduction of uhii in the study area. table 6. statistics of fvc in different heat island zone (hm2) zone 2014 low fv medium low moderate medium high high ihi 11.97 1,008.54 1,487.43 377.01 44.28 mhi 16.56 1,107.81 1,634.67 391.77 51.30 ns 33.66 2,420.64 3,576.33 952.74 155.25 mci 12.96 930.33 1,431.27 380.34 60.84 ici 15.84 1,070.73 1,605.96 438.30 68.76 zone 2019 low medium low moderate medium high high ihi 29.88 821.07 1,439.91 527.67 55.80 mhi 10.71 898.83 1,577.52 540.00 54.72 ns 14.40 1,128.15 1,935.54 702.63 83.70 mci 21.78 1,884.96 3,261.15 1,259.55 151.29 ici 8.64 849.24 1,423.44 537.93 66.78 wang / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 101 3.3.2. effect of fvc change on heat island effect by importing the fvc data in 2014 and 2019, and the lst data obtained by inversion into spss software for correlation analysis, we find that fvc and lst showed a significant negative correlation (p < 0.01), indicating that the higher the fvc, the lower the lst is. table 7 correlation analysis between fvc and lst surface temperature 2014 2019 spearman rho fvc correlation -0.420** -0.454** number of significant (double-tailed) 0.000 0.000 cases 214,704 214,704 ** significant at 99 % ( p < 0.01). in this study, spss is used to fit and analyze the data, coming into a regression equation of the relationship between fvc and lst, and the origin software is used to plot. arcgis software is used to calculate the average lst in areas with different fvc, and the results are shown in fig. 8 and fig. 9. figure 8. fitting analysis of fvc and lst figure 9. average lst in different fvc zones wang / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 102 in the fitting equation, y is lst (℃), x is fvc (range [0,1]). the significance of the equation p < 0.01. according to the fitting analysis, compared with the low fvc and the medium low fvc zones, the lst in the moderate fvc and high fvc zones is lower. it can be seen from the statistics of average lst in different fvc zones that the lst difference between low fvc and medium low fvc, medium high fvc and high fvc zone is large, while the temperature change range among medium low fvc, moderate fvc and high fvc zone is small. the maximum average lst difference among zones with different fvc was 0.38℃ in 2014, and 0.58℃ in 2019. the above analysis shows that, on the whole, the increase of fvc is beneficial to the reduction of uhii, although the actual cooling effect may be affected by other factors. 4. discussion existing studies have shown that blue-green space is conducive to the mitigation of the heat island effect. the park city construction aims to build an ecological civilization and create a good living environment, which is considered to have a positive effect on the improvement of urban thermal environment. in the study, we found that the heat island in chengdu is mostly concentrated in the areas with concentrated construction land and low afforestation rate, especially in the downtown area of the city. after the construction of the park city, the area of the heat island decreased and the area of mci increased. cropland, grassland, and water are beneficial to the mitigation of the heat island effect, while impervious surface and bare land may have the adverse effect. there was a noticeably negative correlation between fvc and lst. according to the analysis on the impact of land cover and fvc on the uhii, we propose the following strategies for park city construction of chengdu: increase the cooling effect of blue-green space renovate bareland control the expansion of impervious surface this study shows that the existence of blue-green space reduces lst, while the existence of impervious surface and bareland renders it higher. uhii increases when converted to impervious surface and bareland, while uhii decreases when converted to farmland, grassland and water. therefore, in the process of construction, attention should be paid to the protection of the ecological environment and to increase the area of urban blue-green space. furthermore, the expansion of impervious surface and the increase of construction intensity shall be controlled, and bare land shall be eliminated and rationally utilized. however, in the process of urban development and construction, the expansion of impervious surface is inevitable, which will inevitably compress the area of urban blue-green space. existing studies have shown that the layout of urban green space has a notable impact on the urban meteorological environment. the cooling effect of green space on the surrounding environment is limited to a certain spatial range, yet the overall cooling effect of the decentralized green space on the surrounding environment is better than that of the centralized large green space (luan et al, 2014; miao et al, 2013). it can be perceived that in the process of alleviating the urban heat island effect, it is also necessary to improve the quality of the blue-green space and adjust the spatial layout appropriately in addition to ensuring the urban blue-green space. during the construction, attention should be paid to increasing the amount of green space, making full use of the existing blue-green space, and optimizing the urban blue-green space network to enhance its cooling effect. in the downtown area of the city, the impervious surface is large but the land resources are limited, so it is not suitable to increase the large scale of urban green space. in the constructions, limited space can be used to increase the thermal comfort of a small area by appropriately adding spot-like green space or small bodies of water, which is conducive to breaking the heat island effect area and eliminating the scale effect and superposition effect of the heat island. at the same time, it can also convert the existing bare land into green space to improve the environmental quality. integrate construction with urban ventilation corridor planning wang / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 103 increasing air motion is one of the crucial ways to mitigate the uhii. in this study, we found that the lst of the medium low fvc zone in 2019 was slightly lower than that of the moderate fvc zone, which may be related to the presence of plants that hindered the flow of wind, resulting in agglomeration and increase of temperature. in the study of the impact of urban structure on the urban thermal environment, we can see that uhii is directly proportional to the urban building density, that is, the greater the density of urban building, the lower the air circulation efficiency, resulting in the severer heat island effect (peng et al, 2017). in the process of park city construction, the protection of wind sources should be strengthened and attention should be paid to creating open spaces to introduce cold air from the periphery of the city into the city. at the same time, the temperature difference between the cold and hot islands in the city should be fully utilized, and the spatial layout should be reasonably arranged to form local air circulation in the city and accelerate air motion. reasonable control of fvc although both vegetation coverage and surface temperature showed a noticeably negative correlation, for alleviating the heat island effect, higher vegetation coverage is not always better. the quantitative analysis also reveals that the presence of forest may increase lst. excessively high fvc will hinder air flow, cause heat accumulation and increase regional temperature, which is also one of the causes for the high temperature in chengdu in summer. existing studies have shown that, for different floras, the range of the effect of fvc on temperature is different (li et al, 2021). in the process of park city construction, plant species should be reasonably selected according to the needs, and fvc should be classified and controlled, to give full play to the cooling effect of different plants and alleviate the uhii. the results indicated that water have a good cooling effect, and its cooling effect may be even superior to that of green space. in actual construction, water can be added to the existing green space to make full use of its mitigation effect on the heat island effect, and to reduce the accumulation of vegetation in the green space, so as to accelerate the air flow in the urban green spaces. 5. conclusions this study contributes to the understanding of the contribution of park city construction to the enhancement of the urban environment, and also provides a new perspective for further optimizing park city construction. in this paper, we used landsat8 data and land use data to clarify the impact of park city construction on the urban heat island effect, and found out the direction for the further improvement of urban thermal environment. the results show that there is no doubt about the park city construction serving as the aid to the mitigation of the heat island effect, even though its effect is affected by land use and fvc. the existence of blue-green spaces is beneficial, while the impervious surface 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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103208 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107976 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107976 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107976 https://doi.org/10.14088/j.cnki.issn0439-8114.2021.20.009 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.106876 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.106876 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.106876 https://doi.org/10.13249/j.cnki.sgs.2017.10.018 https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.673786 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 6 october 2024, accepted: 25 november 2024, published online: 31 december 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i4.1130 land take: from fabric classification to identifying areas for sustainable urban regeneration ducci elisa1, santini luisa2 1research fellow at the department of energy, systems, territory, and construction engineering, university of pisa, italy 2associate professor of integrated laboratory of urban analysis and planning at department of energy, systems, territory, and construction engineering, university of pisa, italy abstract the recent nature restoration law by the european parliament includes an objective of achieving zero “net land take” by 2050. with the same aim, since 2024, the territorial governance law in tuscany has required municipalities to redefine the perimeter of urbanized territory as it is only within these areas that new buildings can be constructed. the law assigns a fundamental role to regeneration plans as chosen tools to plan marginal contexts where it is possible to reclaim areas for urban development without consuming new land. in addition, it prescribes that the delimitation of urbanized territory must start from the classification of urban fabric in relation to codified morphotypes of contemporary urbanizations. therefore, to define urban regeneration policies, it is possible to identify critical issues and quality objectives for each of them. the aim of this research is to implement a methodology for the definition of urban morphotypes while ensuring consideration of the fragility conditions of the territory related to environmental factors. in the municipality of san giuliano terme in the province of pisa, we have identified areas where urban regeneration for settlement development is closely linked to strategies to safeguard and restore green ecosystem services, protect against hydraulic risk, and counter heat islands. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords land take, sustainable urban regeneration, urban fabric, flood risk assessment, environmental impact 1. introduction this research analysed the phenomenon of land take in the municipality of san giuliano terme in the province of pisa. we started with an in-depth classification of the different urban fabrics to identify suitable areas for sustainable urban regeneration. san giuliano terme has taken part in the earth observation services for local public administrations (by the european spatial agency (esa)), which include five innovative capacity-building programs that are focused on environmental monitoring. as part of the iride project, this participation has enabled the acquisition of preliminary data that are essential for this analysis. san giuliano terme is located in the tuscany region, where the piano di indirizzo territoriale (pit, 2015) is an essential tool for integrated and sustainable territorial planning. the pit is a territorial address plan for the region that has been in effect since 2014 in accordance with regional law n.65/2014. details are available on the website http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i4.1130&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ luisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 of the tuscany region (downloadable through the portal at https://www.regione.toscana.it/-/piano-di-indirizzoterritoriale-con-valenza-di-piano-paesaggistico). one of the main objectives of the pit is the characterization of urban morphotypes; that is, the classification of urban fabrics into different morphological types. morphotypes are defined through analysis of the physical, functional, and landscape characteristics of urban areas. the methodology to characterize urban morphotypes outlined in the pit is based on the integrated analysis of data from various databases and photointerpretation (extraction of information from aerial and satellite images). the method allows us to identify the associations of morphotypes proposed by the pit through a rigorous interpretation of cartographic elaborations (data association, overlay of thematic maps, etc.). building upon the guidelines of the pit, further directions and indicators were developed in this research to enhance the accuracy of classifying various settlement types. this first phase of urban fabric classification was followed by a second phase, in which risk maps were constructed to help identify the most suitable areas for sustainable urban regeneration. risk maps related to extreme climate events, such as temperature increases and floods, were developed using data from the constellation of satellites called "sentinels" (downloadable through the portal at https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/), as well as data from the geoscopio portal of the tuscany region, databases of the municipality of san giuliano terme, and the authorities of the serchio and arno river basin. the geoscopio portal of the tuscany region is an online platform that provides access to a wide range of territorial and geographical data related to the regional territory. this platform is managed by the tuscany region and is part of the territorial and environmental information system sita (sistema informativo territoriale e ambientale). the aim of this system is to provide geographical and environmental information to support the planning, management, and sustainable development of the territory. the authorities of the serchio and arno river basins are italian public bodies that are responsible for planning and coordinating water resource management and soil conservation within the river basin. basin authorities ensure the sustainable use of water resources, the prevention of hydrogeological risks, and the protection of the river environment. in-depth classification of urban fabrics integrated with risk assessment allowed us to identify areas falling under a specific morphotypic classification that are not covered by the pit, where it is necessary to promote environmental resilience and sustainability. we simulated nature-based solutions (nbs) for sustainable regeneration in one of these areas. nbs are actions that incorporate natural features and processes to protect, conserve, restore, and manage natural or modified ecosystems to face socio-environmental challenges. the next phase of the research will involve the application of advanced software to evaluate the effectiveness of previously simulated scenarios concerning the application of nbs to improve responses to extreme climate events. in its current stage, the research has achieved the goal of implementing a model to identify areas of hydrological fragility in urban settings, where the challenges of land take and climate change can be faced through the implementation of sustainable urban regeneration strategies and interventions that use nbs. 2. materials and methods in the context of rapid urbanization, land take poses a significant environmental challenge concerning the increase of impermeable land cover. based on a critical review of the literature, this study proposes the implementation of a methodology to identify areas of hydrogeological fragility requiring urban regeneration strategies. practical recommendations are provided to improve stormwater management in the selected study area through the identification of nbs. these interventions are recognized to contribute to promoting environmental conservation and the creation of more resilient and liveable cities (raymond et al., 2017; nath et al., 2024; henderson, 2022). the procedure is divided into two distinct phases to achieve dual objectives: to implement the methodology to analyse urban fabrics based on the definitions provided in the pit and to accurately identify study areas characterized by hydrological and heat fragilities that are suitable for testing nbs. these solutions include the creation of urban green spaces, green roofs, permeable pavements, and stormwater management systems that reproduce natural processes (regione emilia-romagna, 2020). nbs can significantly contribute to reducing the urban heat island (uhi) effect, improving air and water quality, and increasing biodiversity in cities (international water management institute, 2023). luisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 the methodology used for the classification and identification in san giuliano terme was based on an in-depth critical analysis of the literature. this analysis provided theoretical foundations and practical tools necessary to define useful data and methodologies for identifying areas of vulnerability and developing strategies (including nbs) for the implementation of sustainable urban regeneration actions. the contributions that guided the methodological development include ‘ict, la resilienza e la pianificazione urbana’ (ict, resilience and urban planning) (marango, 2019); the paper, ‘nature-based solutions modeling and cost-benefit analysis to face climate change risks in an urban area: the case of turin (italy)’ (biasin et al., 2023); and the paper, ‘climate justice in the city: mapping heat-related risk for climate change mitigation of the urban and peri-urban area of padua (italy)’ (todeschi et al., 2022). marango's (2019) book is a significant contribution to the field of urban adaptation to climate change and describes a detailed methodological framework and advanced tools, such as the quantum geographic information system (qgis). qgis is free open-source software that allows users to create, edit, visualize, analyse, and publish geospatial information and is used for vulnerability assessment and adaptation action planning. todeschi et al. (2022) examine uhis and climate change in depth. through a multidisciplinary approach based on academic sources and scientific data, they explore methodologies and techniques related to uhis. the methodology uses software such as qgis and sentinel-3 satellite data to analyse heat anomalies. they identified uhis as a problem with significant impacts on public health with a focus on vulnerable groups such as the elderly. solutions such as increasing urban green spaces and updating building regulations are suggested. finally, biasin et al. (2023) highlight the effectiveness of nbs as strategies to face urban climate risks, such as flooding and the uhi effect. they describe a clear methodology based on the evaluation of nbs through a cost-benefit analysis, which was applied in a case study of the city of turin. phase i: the case of san giuliano terme: data and tools for the classification of urban fabrics an initial study of the urban fabrics envisioned by the pit was necessary to understand the form, spaces, materials, and quality of contemporary urbanisation. we developed a more specific methodology for their classification. the classification of the pit provides for the following urban fabrics: predominantly residential and mixed urban fabrics, which are divided into the following: fabric characterized by closed or semi-closed blocks (tr1); fabric with isolated residential lots (tr2); fabric with open blocks and predominantly residential blocks (tr3); fabric with open blocks and predominantly planned residential buildings (tr4); point-like fabric (tr5); fabric characterized by mixed types (tr6); and fabric with frayed edges (tr7). urban or suburban fabrics with predominantly residential and mixed function (peri-urban fringes and dispersed cities): linear fabric (tr8) and grid or scattered fabric (tr9). suburban fabrics with predominantly residential and mixed function: inhabited countryside (tr10), urbanized countryside (tr11), and small isolated suburban clusters (tr12). productive and specialist city fabrics: fabric characterized by linear productive proliferation (tps1), fabric with productive, commercial, and directional platforms (tps2), specialized islands (tps3), and fabric with residential and tourist-receptive platforms (tps4). starting from the guidelines for the classification of urban morphotypes defined by the pit, our research used additional indicators to improve the accuracy of the classification. it was essential to have standard indicators that could be integrated into the qgis software. this made it possible to adopt precise rules to identify specific morphotypes, such as those of edges, open blocks, or linear fabric, instead of relying solely on the observation and interpretation of visible features in satellite images. additionally, some characteristics of the settlement system related to the presence of services or historic urban fabrics led to the addition of classes that better represent the specificity of the case study. the criteria used and the data sources for each classified fabric in san giuliano terme are detailed in table 1. this table includes the specific indicators adopted, which ensure a comprehensive approach to urban morphotype classification that goes beyond mere visual analysis. by incorporating these refined indicators, our methodology achieves a higher level of precision in identifying and categorizing various urban fabrics, as well as reflecting the diverse and specific characteristics of the area's urban landscape. luisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 table 1 indicators for the classification of urban morphotypes morphotype classification variability source ts: historical fabric lot with historic buildings (before 1954) the geoscopio portal is a webgis tool with which the region's spatial data can be viewed, queried and downloaded. a user manual is available for its use. cs: public and standard facilities presence within the lot of areas for general public utilities tis (territorial information system) of the municipality of san giuliano terme. it: infrastructures and technical facilities of general interest presence of infrastructures and technical facilities of general interest in the lot. tis (territorial information system) of the municipality of san giuliano terme. pts1: fabric characterized by linear productive proliferation lots containing buildings with a covered area ≥ 1000 sqm authors' elaboration of the building data from the geoscopio portal using qgis software. tr2: fabric with isolated residential lots lots surrounded by more than 4 road intersections/nodes authors' processing using qgis software of the road network graph extracted from the geoscopio portal. tr3: fabric with open blocks and predominantly residential blocks lots surrounded by less than 4 road intersections/nodes authors' processing using qgis software of the road network graph extracted from the geoscopio portal. tr8: linear fabric presence within the lot of building footprint area falling within the 20-m road strip ≥ 50% authors' processing using qgis software as shown in figure 1, the following fabrics identified by the pit and classified using formulated indicators are found in the study area: historical fabric (ts), fabric with isolated residential lots (tr2), fabric with frayed edges (tr7), linear fabric (tr8), and fabric characterized by linear productive proliferation (tps1). we introduced two new typologies representing aspects that are not covered in the criteria identified in the pit but are specific to the proper definition of the morphotypes in the study area: public and standard facilities (cs) and infrastructures and technical facilities of general interest (it). figure 1 map of urban morphotype classification: case study in the area of pontasserchio, municipality of san giuliano terme (pi). (created by the authors). luisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 phase ii: identification of the study macro-area for sustainable urban drainage in san giuliano terme next, we conducted a study to identify areas with specific risks. table 2 shows the data used, the source, and a brief description of the processing required to construct the thematic layers. the overlapping of the layers made it possible to identify the fragility classes of the territory in relation to water flow and heat islands. table 2 data used and the corresponding sources input data year source brief description satellite data: b4, b5 and b10 bands of the landsat 8 satellite 2023 usgs earthexplorer is a data viewer for geospatial images with a simplified interface and access to a wide range of regional and global datasets available in the earth engine data catalogue. https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ using qgis software and opensource statistical analysis, landsat 8 thermal satellite images are processed to investigate the spatial configurations of land surface temperature. vegetation elements, urban space, ground movements, water stress index and island effects. 2023 earth observation services for local public administrations, which include five innovative capacity-building programs focused on environmental monitoring. european space agency (esa, 2024) and italian space agency (asi) the map, in raster format, is divided into a grid of pixels, where each pixel represents a specific portion of the examined territory measuring 5 meters x 5 meters. the data has been processed to estimate soil sealing. demographics 2011 2022 istat (italian national institute of statistics) and municipality of san giuliano terme population by census section land cover 2019 2022 2023 geoscopio portal of tuscany region italian institute for environmental protection and research (ispra, 2020) corine land cover (clc) is a paneuropean inventory of land cover based on satellite remote sensing aimed at providing consistent and comparable land cover data across europe data on land cover, land use and transition between categories. hydrogeological risk assessment 2021 pgra (piano di gestione rischio alluvioni), the flood risk management plan of the northern apennines river basin district authority. data on flood hazard, flash flood hazard, and river flood risk under italian legislative decree 49/2010 hydraulic hazard 2019 municipality of san giuliano terme hydraulic hazard probability that heavy rainfall, in combination with the specific conditions of an area, may cause landslides or flooding. these are classified into four categories: moderate (p1), moderate-high (p2), high (p3), very high (p4) built-up area 1897–1996 2023 geoscopio portal of tuscany region municipality of san giuliano terme comparison of historical series allows for understanding settlement, infrastructural, and landscape transformation dynamics. geomorphological map 2019 municipality of san giuliano terme geolithological characteristics of soils and classification luisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 some of these data required specific processing to construct information that can be effectively used. specifically, we processed satellite data from usgs earthexplorer and data derived from earth observation services for local public administrations. starting from the methodology indicated by todeschi et al. (2022), we reprocessed the satellite data from usgs earthexplorer. the following steps were performed using the b4, b5 and b10 bands of the landsat 8 satellite to estimate the ground surface temperature in san giuliano terme. clipping of the three satellite images (bands 4, 5, and 10) with the boundary of the municipality of san giuliano terme using the "raster extraction – clip raster by mask" function. determination of reflectance using the formulas defined by landsat guidelines in section 5.2 for bands 4 and 5, and in sections 5.1 and 5.3 for band 10 using the 'raster – raster calculator' function. calculation of the normalized difference vegetation index (ndvi) (yuan and bauer, 2007) estimation of the vegetation proportion (vp) (jeevalakshmi, reddy, and manikiam, 2017) estimation of land surface emissivity (anandababu, purushothaman, and suresh, 2018) estimation of land surface temperature (lst) (stathopoulou and cartalis, 2007) for the reprocessing satellite data derived from earth observation services for local public administrations, the following steps were carried out to estimate soil sealing: comparison of information from the imperviousness layer of iride project lot 2 with existing geological and hydrogeological maps and studies to verify their data assessment of a geological risk map that provides details on the safety and suitability of different areas for water infiltration we conducted the classification of soil permeability by following the guidelines of the usda soil survey manual. the permeability or hydraulic conductivity coefficient (k) was used to represent the soil's ability to infiltrate water. based on these criteria, soils were divided into six classes. table 3 soil classification into 6 categories described in the soil survey manual n. class ksat (µm/s) ksat (mm/h) 1 very low <0,01 < 0,036 2 low 0,01 – 0,1 0,036 – 0,36 3 moderately low 0,1 – 1 0,36 – 3,6 4 moderately high 1 – 10 3,6 36 5 high 10 – 100 36 – 360 6 very high > 100 > 360 the purpose of this classification is to identify the most suitable areas for the implementation of infiltration systems. in particular, only soils with permeability classes 4, 5, and 6 are recommended for the installation of such systems as they offer better water infiltration capacity. some vulnerable areas were identified by overlapping the thematic layers obtained through the methods described or were obtained directly from the source. these areas simultaneously present high risk of hydrogeological events, increased susceptibility to flash floods, high population density, high summer surface temperatures, and low soil permeability (figure 2). luisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 2 macro-area obtained from the analyses conducted showing representation of vulnerable areas (highlighted in red). (created by the authors). phase iii: suggestions for nature-based solutions (nbs) for urban water management the analysis of urban morphotypes combined with the study of vulnerability and exposure to risks has revealed the presence of lots within the urban boundary that are subject to significant risks. these areas require greater attention in the definition of sustainable urban planning strategies and urban regeneration policies. the areas identified as focus 01 and focus 02 in figure 3 present characteristics of vulnerability. the main critical issues include: • plant deficiency: the absence of plants and trees negatively affects air quality • elevated surface temperatures: there are many cemented surfaces, which have a low capacity to reflect heat. these contribute to the increase in local temperatures. • lack of green spaces: few green areas reduce opportunities for recreation and well-being. • stormwater retention: water retention can cause drainage problems and increase the risk of flooding. • impermeable parking areas: impermeable parking areas prevent the natural absorption of stormwater, exacerbating drainage problems. figure 3 placement of intervention areas within the context of the macro-area (highlighted in red). (created by the authors). the adoption of nbs can mitigate the identified risks and promote sustainable and resilient solutions (iwmi, 2023). for focus 01, we propose the following solutions (figures 4 and 5): • rain gardens. rain gardens are systems designed to manage surface stormwater by integrating elements such as surface vegetation, filter layers of soil and compost, and drainage systems. these gardens not only luisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 improve water quality through phytodepuration but also enhance long-term water-flow management. an example of rain gardens can be observed in the østerbro district of copenhagen, denmark. (https://livingarchitecturemonitor.com). this case study has demonstrated that the integration of rain gardens can both improve stormwater management and enhance the urban landscape by promoting biodiversity and improving quality of life for residents. • infiltration trenches. infiltration trenches are linear structures that promote the slow infiltration of stormwater into the soil, reduce peak flows, and improve water quality through natural filters. a case study of zollhallen plaza in freiburg, germany, has demonstrated how these structures can both efficiently manage stormwater and contribute to restoring and maintaining urban hydrogeological balance (https://landezine.com). • flood storage basin. a flood storage basin is temporary public space designed to collect and discharge stormwater during heavy rainfall. they contribute to sustainable water management and enhance urban biodiversity. an example is the eco-district parc du trapeze in boulogne-billancourt, france (https://www.ileseguin-rivesdeseine.fr). figure 4 modified state of focus 01 area with the integration of nbs (created by the authors). figure 5 flood storage basin section (created by the authors). https://livingarchitecturemonitor.com/ https://landezine.com/ https://www.ileseguin-rivesdeseine.fr/ luisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 the proposals for focus 02 include: • swales. swales are shallow canals with vegetated banks designed to collect and treat rainwater, which promote infiltration into the ground and reduce surface runoff. one example is the parc du trapeze econeighbourhood in boulogne-billancourt (france), where these structures have improved the aesthetic appearance and environmental quality of urban areas (https://www.ileseguin-rivesdeseine.fr). another example that confirms the role of swales in promoting environmental sustainability is the clicy-batignolles eco-neighbourhood in paris (https://archello.com). • permeable parking lots. permeable parking lots are designed to filter and drain rainwater and contribute to reducing soil sealing and improving urban climate comfort. an example is the eco-district of boulognebillancourt, where such parking lots have both optimized stormwater management and promoted a more sustainable and resilient urban environment (https://www.district-immo.com). the combined adoption of swales and permeable mineral parking lots represents a step towards reducing urban impermeability and promoting eco-friendly and sustainable building practices. these solutions not only improve stormwater management, but also contribute to the creation of more pleasant urban spaces that are resilient to the effects of climate change (emilia-romagna region,2020). 3. results the analyses conducted in phases 1, 2, and 3 allowed for the following outputs. at the end of phase 1, we obtained the following vector processing outputs: • historical building map • map of covered surfaces and building heights • map of buildings for infrastructure and general technical facilities • map of building footprint and lot area • coverage report: ratio of covered area to lot area • road network graph map with intersection nodes highlighted • map of the 20-meter strip from the road axis and identification of lots predominantly falling within the strip all these outputs have been used as indicators for the classification of urban morphotypes, which led to the creation of the urban morphotype classification map as result of phase 1. during the second phase, we conducted the following: • ndvi for vegetation and built-up areas (raster processing) • lst anomaly temperature compared to non-urban areas (raster processing) • green space map, hexagonal grid (vector processing) • heat island map, hexagonal grid (vector processing) • soil permeability map (vector processing) • population density per square kilometre within the municipality, hexagonal grid (vector processing) all of this processing has been used to create map of areas at risk with higher vulnerability as result of phase 2. finally, during phase 3, we conducted the following analyses to formulate nbs proposals for sustainable urban water management: • overlay map between areas of vulnerability and urban fabric to define the application area (vector processing); see figure 6 https://www.ileseguin-rivesdeseine.fr/ https://archello.com/ https://www.district-immo.com/ luisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 • graphic proposals for integrating nbs within the most critical and vulnerable areas (graphic processing) to select nbs for stormwater management and formulate a sustainable urban regeneration project, we rely on the specificities of the identified macro-areas. we were able to identify solutions such as rain gardens, infiltration trenches, flood storage basins, swales, and permeable car parks because the availability of surfaces and the geological characteristics of the area allowed us to do so. the combination of the draining subsoil and the presence of drainage channels in agricultural areas ensure adequate water management, reducing pressure on the existing disposal infrastructure. figure 6: overlay of a map of areas with high risk of hydrogeological events, increased susceptibility to flash floods, high summer surface temperatures, and low soil permeability (created by the authors). 4. discussion in the context of increasing necessity to address and prevent climate change, this research started from an in-depth analysis of san giuliano terme with the aim of identifying areas where the principles of urban regeneration can be applied and intervening with specific nbs. this classification identified vulnerable areas where regulations should mandate the implementation of nbs. the contributions could help to make urban areas more sustainable and resilient. the design hypothesis regarding the adoption of nbs in the two identified study areas should be considered as a simulation aimed at the future development of research. on a theoretical level, the solutions identified could significantly contribute to the definition of policies against climate change and foster a more harmonious urban development that is resilient to the impacts of climate change. as biasin et al. (2023) point out, however, it is necessary to address the issue from a practical point of view. in particular, three aspects should be carefully considered in the development of research aimed at implementing policies for land-use control and hydraulic-risk management through sustainable urban regeneration interventions using nbs: • there is a need to implement methodologies with demonstrated replicability in different urban contexts. • it is necessary to further quantify the benefits in economic, environmental, and hydrological terms. • it would also be appropriate to develop continuous monitoring methodologies that public administrations should use to ensure that risk assessments are constantly updated. 5. conclusion although still in progress, this research has achieved the goal of developing a methodology to identify areas that are most suitable for nbs. the process started with the definition of the urbanized territory and the morphology of urban fabrics (required by the pit of the tuscany region) and has led to the identification of the study area where nbs will be applied in this phase of the research. this was done by overlapping maps of areas at high risk of extreme hydrogeological events such as flash floods, areas with high population density, and areas subject to high summer luisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 surface temperatures and low soil permeability (see figure 6). the next phase will involve applying specific software to demonstrate the effectiveness of nbs, which have only been hypothesized at a theoretical level at the current stage of the research. additional development of the research will also involve identifying study areas in other urban or regional contexts to which the same methodology can be applied and the use of specific software to support the analyses. among the software to be employed are infoworks or infodrainage, which allows the simulation of sewer networks (usually piped) and natural watercourses with open sections and floodplain areas. this software will be used to model and analyse the behaviour of urban drainage networks and to evaluate the interactions between sewer systems and natural watercourses. another example is the storm water management model (swmm), which will be utilised to verify the effects of nbs on the urban hydrological system, which will help to assess how infrastructure modifications or stormwater management projects will impact runoff, infiltration, and other hydrological dynamics. additionally, i-tree, a software suite developed by the usda forest service, provides tools to analyse and evaluate the role and value of urban forests and trees in urban and rural settings. this software will be used to support the sustainable management of arboreal resources, which will offer assessments of the environmental and economic benefits of trees, such as carbon sequestration, air quality improvement, and reduction of rainwater runoff. by using these tools, we aim to deepen our understanding of the effects of urban interventions on drainage networks, natural watercourses, and urban greenery. the developed methodologies will be applied to a variety of contexts to improve the sustainable and integrated management of water and arboreal resources. acknowledgment: the abstract of this paper was presented at the urban planning & architectural design for sustainable development (upadsd) conference—9th edition, which was held on the 22nd – 24th of october 2024. arch. monica luperi, architect official at the municipality of san giuliano terme and manager in the urban planning office, as well as all the staff of the urban planning office of the municipality of san giuliano terme, for providing the data and for their technical and knowledge-based support. dr. carlo zannetti for his availability and for sharing with us the methodology employed in his research entitled "climate justice in the city: mapping heat-related risk for climate change mitigation of the urban and peri-urban area of padua (italy) ". the district basin authority for providing us with the digital data. funding declaration: this research was co-financed by the tuscany region using resources from the european social fund 2021–2027 (esf+), research grants, and the municipality of san giuliano terme. ethics approval: not applicable. conflict of interest: the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references anandababu d., purushothaman b.m., suresh babu s., (2018), estimation of land surface temperature using landsat 8 data, international journal of advance research, ideas and innovations in technology, vol. 4, issue 2. biasin, a. et al. (2023). nature-based solutions modeling and cost-benefit analysis to face climate change risks in an urban area: the case of turin (italy), in land. european space agency (esa) (2024). programma spaziale copernicus. https://www.esa.int/applications/observing_the_earth/copernicus/introducing_copernicus henderson, m. (2022). urban resilience. in brears, r.c. (ed.), the palgrave encyclopedia of urban and regional futures. cham: palgrave macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87745-3_86 iwmi (international water management institute) (2023). how nature-based solutions can build urban resilience. retrieved from iwmi. luisa/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 ispra (institute for environmental protection and research) (2020). report on flood hazard conditions in italy and associated risk indicators, n.353/2021.https://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/pubblicazioni/rapporti/rapporto-sulle-condizioni-di-pericolosita-da-alluvione-in-italia-eindicatori-di-rischio-associati jeevalakshmi. d., narayana r., manikiam b. (2017) land surface temperature retrieval from landsat data using emissivity estimation, international journal of applied engineering research issn 0973-4562 volume 12, number 20 (2017) pp. 9679-9687 marango, d. (2019). ict la resilienza e la pianificazione urbana. franco angeli. nath, h., acharya, p., gupta, a.k. (2024). nbs interventions as tool for urban climate resilience: a case study of peri-urban ecosystem in noida. in: gupta, a.k., gupta, a., acharya, p. (eds) disaster risk and management under climate change. disaster resilience and green growth. springer, singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4105-6_17 emilia-romagna region (2020). save soil for life project, freeing the soil – guidelines to enhance resilience to climate change in urban regeneration projects. https://territorio.regione.emilia-romagna.it/urbanistica/sosforlife tuscany region. territorial address plan (pit) (2015), general report of the landscape plan. https://www.regione.toscana.it/documents/10180/12604066/relazione+generale+del+piano+paesaggistico.pdf raymond, c. m., frantzeskaki, n., kabisch, n., berry, p., breil, m., nita, m. r., & calfapietra, c. (2017). a framework for assessing and implementing the co-benefits of nature-based solutions in urban areas, in environmental science & policy, 77, pp. 15-24. stathopoulou m., cartalis c., (2007) daytime urban heat islands from landsat etm+ and corine land cover data: an application to major cities in greece, solar energy, volume 81, issue 3 todeschi, v., pappalardo, s.e., zanetti, c., peroni, f., & marchi, m.d. (2022). climate justice in the city: mapping heat-related risk for climate change mitigation of the urban and peri-urban area of padua (italy), in isprs international journal of geo-information, 11(9), p. 490. yuan f., bauer m. (2007) comparison of impervious surface area and normalized difference vegetation index as indicators of surface urban heat island effects in landsat imagery, remote sensing of environment, vol 106, issue 3, pages 375-386, https://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/pubblicazioni/rapporti/rapporto-sulle-condizioni-di-pericolosita-da-alluvione-in-italia-e-indicatori-di-rischio-associati https://www.isprambiente.gov.it/it/pubblicazioni/rapporti/rapporto-sulle-condizioni-di-pericolosita-da-alluvione-in-italia-e-indicatori-di-rischio-associati https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4105-6_17 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 28 october 2024, accepted: 22 december 2024, published online: 31 december 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i4.1144 an assessment of sawmill wood waste availability for use in gasifiers in akure, ondo state, nigeria owoyemi, j. m.1, melodi, a. o.2, olukunle, o. j.3, oguntunde, p. g.4, titiladunayo, i. f.5, ayodeji, o. z.6, fuwape, j.a.7, oyeleye, i. o.8, akinwamide, t. o.9, and ogunniyi, o. j.10 1,7professor, department of forestry and wood technology, federal university of technology, akure, nigeria 2professor, department of electrical and electronics engineering, federal university of technology, akure, nigeria 3,4professor, department of agricultural and environmental engineering, federal university of technology, akure, nigeria 5professor, department of mechanical engineering, federal university of technology, akure, nigeria 6senior lecturer, department of mechanical engineering, federal university of technology, akure, nigeria 8,9,10student, department of forestry and wood technology, federal university of technology, akure, nigeria abstract this study adopts a descriptive research design and employs a mixed-methods approach, combining both primary and secondary data, to assess wood waste generation and management techniques in sawmills across ondo state, nigeria. the objective was to evaluate the availability of wood waste and its potential utilization as feedstock for mini-grid gasifiers to generate electricity from renewable sources. data were collected through surveys, observations, and analysis of sawmill operations. the findings revealed that wood waste comprised residues from the primary conversion of logs, with sawdust contributing the largest quantity. sawmills in akure south, with the highest log conversion capacity, contributed the largest volume of wood waste. on average, wood waste generation (wwg) was 44% per log, while lumber recovery (lr) was 56% per head rig, with variations linked to factors such as log shape, size, and conversion techniques, indicating inefficient log conversion in the state. additionally, wood waste management practices were inadequate, with lumber cut-offs, slabs, and bark sold at a low value and sawdust often disposed of cheaply for domestic use. this study confirms that wood waste can be efficiently utilized as feedstock in mini-grid gasifiers, providing a sustainable solution for electricity generation in akure, ondo state. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords gasifier technology; lumber recovery; renewable energy; sustainable forestry; waste management 1. introduction there is an increasing research interest in biomass as an important renewable and environmentally friendly fuel for generating electricity due to uncertainty in the energy market and the problems of greenhouse gas emissions (gratitude et al., 2019). utilizing wood waste as biomass to produce bioenergy has the potential to be a very beneficial solution that will guarantee a sustainable energy source while also lessening the environmental impact of the building sector (maier, 2022; xie et al., 2023). the renewed interest in the use of renewable sources of energy in nigeria was http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i4.1144&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ owoyemi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 stimulated by the deficit in power generation and the tremendous surge in its population from 88 million in 1990 to over 200 million in 2020 has resulted in more demand for energy (akintande et al., 2020). the electric load demand in the country is estimated to be 20,000 mw only, an average of 4,156.5 mw was generated in march 2020, and the association of nigerian electricity distributors (aned), the umbrella body of electricity distribution companies, (discos) has estimated that nigeria requires 30,000 megawatts of electricity generation to meet the current demand of electricity by consumers (izuora, 2022). the shortfall in power supply in the country has negatively affected the national economy and destabilised the domestic and industrial sectors as well as other key sectors such as telecommunication, health, transport, and education. most homes, universities, and companies generate their electricity, “thereby creating a diesel/ petrol driven economy”. the high cost of energy made some companies fold up while others are in the stage of financial comatose. although the power sector reform report proposed an increase in power generation from 5,000 mw in 2014 to 40,000 mw by 2020 oladipo et al. (2018), this goal seems unachievable due to different disruptions and maintenance problems with the hydro and thermal stations. most of the hydro-power plants are affected by seasonal fluctuations in water level, coupled with the challenges of obsolete equipment and disrupted operation at the thermal stations occasioned by irregular gas supply due to vandalism of gas pipelines. therefore, there must be decentralization of power generation by adapting mini-grids suitable for different locations. nigeria generated an estimated 1,000,000 cubic meters of wood waste annually between 2009 and 2010, according to studies by sambo (2009), ogunwusi (2014), and owoyemi et al. (2016). of this, sawdust accounted for approximately 1.8 million tons each year, translating to around 4,931.51 tons daily (sambo 2009; owoyemi et al., 2016; akhator et al., 2017). in 2014, owoyemi et al. (2016) estimated nigeria’s wood waste production at about 104,000 cubic meters per day. additionally, okedere et al. (2017) estimated annual sawdust production in southwestern nigeria alone at 526,650 metric tons. this research is an innovative method for assessing the availability of wood wastes for co-generating electric energy in ondo state and its environment. ondo state which is one of the major wood processing states in nigeria has large quantities of industrial wood wastes because of the high demand for wood products with rapid demographic growth. there were 223 sawmills in ondo state in 1983, constituting about 21% of the total number of sawmills in nigeria (alviar, 1983). the continuous increase in the number of sawmills in the state stabilised the position of ondo state as one of the largest lumber-producing states in nigeria. with the present trend of log exploitation exceeding the rate of afforestation and reforestation, there is an imminent wood shortage which can only be averted by improved wood conversion and utilization to ensure that optimum benefit is derived from every wood. maximizing the volume of lumber recovered from logs with a small quantity of waste will increase sawmills' profitability (rawat et al., 2023). the factors for measuring the conversion efficiency of a mill include lumber recovery factor (lrf), speed of manufacturing, and grade of recovery (alagbada et al., 2021). the lrf indicates the quantity of lumber per unit volume of log, it is defined as the ratio of actual board feet (bf) of lumber recovered per unit volume of log processed. lumber yield is strongly influenced by log form, log quality, and sawmill characteristics such as the types of machines. the grade of recovered wood is important in the assessment of efficiency in that there may be irregularities in lumber dimension due to improper or faulty sawing and this will affect the unit cost of lumber and its utilization. in ondo state, improper handling of wood waste poses a major environmental risk. wood waste management practices, which include the collection, disposal, recycling, and reuse of wood waste, are ineffective and inadequate, as evidenced by the obvious disposal of wood waste on streets, in water bodies, and open air. as a result, there will be a serious threat to the sustainability of nigerian timber forests, human health, and environmental balance. the substantial reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels in global energy production and consumption has proven to be a significant obstacle to achieving sustainable development goals (kanwal et al., 2022; jie et al., 2023; kocak et al., 2023). electricity production has been the largest source of emission reductions, with the shift in electricity generation from coal to gas and, in the past decade, to renewable energy (re) (caselli et al., 2021). hence, the utilization of wood waste is a means to improve the management of wood waste. therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the availability of wood waste across different sawmills in ondo state that could be used as feedstock in an electricity mini-grid power plant at the federal university of technology, akure. the findings from this assessment provided stakeholders and energy experts with information that further reveals the potential of academic owoyemi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 institutions producing re from the abundance of wood wastes to support national climate goals. the adoption of renewable energy by different institutions becomes essential for reducing their environmental footprint and aligning with sustainable development goals (sdgs) 7 (affordable and clean energy) and 13 (climate action). 2. materials and methods this study was conducted to assess the availability of wood wastes in ondo state to ascertain the sustainability of feedstock production for a gasifier plant designed at the federal university of technology akure for generating electricity. ondo state is situated in the south-western part of nigeria (5° 45′ n–8° 15′ n, 4° 45′ e– 6° 00′ e), (fig. 1). the state has 18 local government areas (lgas) with a population of about 3,441,024 according to the 2006 population census and a land area of about 14,606 km2 (npc, 2006; omonijo and matzarakis, 2011). the state has a tropical wet-and-dry climate with an annual rainfall range of 1,500 mm to 2,000 mm in the derived savannah and humid forest zones, respectively. ondo state is one of the major wood processing states in nigeria. this is a result of the availability of forest resources feeding its numerous sawmills and other wood processing industries. 2.1 data collection for the assessment of wood waste availability, primary data on the distribution of sawmills and wood industries in the state were collected from the 2023 records of the ministry of environment and forestry ondo state, nigeria. structured questionnaires were designed and administered to loggers, sawmills, and machine and plant operators in 23 mills across the four selected local government areas (table 1), to assess the level of waste generation, volume recovery from a typical log, production capacity, and waste management techniques. measurements were taken before and after the conversion of logs to determine volume recovery and wastes generated from a typical log. data extracted from the questionnaires include the location of mills, number of head rigs per mill, types of machines, method of saw doctoring, machine maintenance, and strength of manpower. information was collected from small, medium, and large-sized mills. still, for convenience in the statistical analysis of data, only fifteen small-sized mills were selected for this particular study on log conversion patterns, lr, time efficiency, idle working time, and saw geometry. measurements were taken on ten random logs per sawmill. the volume (v) of logs was determined by applying data of measured girth at both ends of the log as well as the length of the log to the smalian formula in equation 1: (1) where v, l, cb, and ct are the length of log (m), the cross-sectional area at the base, and the cross-sectional area at the top respectively. the volume of lumber pieces recovered from the log was measured and calculated as a percentage of lr from the conversion process. the wwg per log was the difference between the total volume of a log and the volume of recovered lumber. the data obtained were analyzed and presented using frequency and percentage with the aid of a statistical package for social science (spss) and charts were presented using microsoft excel, 2016. owoyemi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 figure 1 (a) map of nigeria indicating ondo state figure 1 (b) map of ondo state showing all the local government areas (lgas) figure 1 (c) locations of the 23 mills table 1: the gps location of sawmills visited in ondo state (field survey) s/n local government name of sawmills g.p.s location latitude longitude scale 1 akure south aflag 7.32807 5.10891 large amanda 7.28492 5.16786 large elegusi 7.25087 5.15698 small iseoluwa 7.25507 5.16356 medium adeniran 7.25349 5.1372 small okunbo 7.25422 5.16067 medium ayo sawmills 7.25078 5.16512 medium chiab 7.25286 5.13652 small babatunde oyo 7.29167 5.1614 medium ebube sawmills 7.25306 5.13683 medium holy sawmills 7.24652 5.15748 medium 2 akure north tunji 7.25272 5.3695 medium agro-forestry 7.25967 5.36396 large williams 7.25887 5.36506 small azeez sawmill 7.259 5.36481 small elemo sawmill 7.25772 5.3703 large divine grace 7.25814 5.36446 small 3 ondo west akinfayomi 7.0661966 4.8349194 small akinbolaji and sons 7.049188 4.8369736 medium anike 7.057565 4.8426903 small alex martins saw 7.0651521 4.8342368 small hwp wood industry 7.1424775 4.893368 large 4 ondo east orbit wood industry 7.1360524 4.890516 large owoyemi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 3. results 3.1 sawmill distribution in ondo state figure 2 reveals the distribution of sawmills in the ondo state lga obtained from primary data sources. it shows that 57 sawmills were found in akure south and owo respectively, 45 in okitipupa, 44 in idanre, 42 in akure north, 40 in odigbo, 23 in ose, 13 in akoko south west, 12 in akoko northwest, 10 sawmills each were established in akoko north east, ifedore, ondo west, and the least number of sawmill are in akoko south east with 4 sawmills. figure 1: distribution of sawmills in ondo states (sourced: record of the ministry of forestry, ondo state, nigeria) akure south lga has the highest number of sawmills (figure. 2). this finding shows the distribution of sawmills in akure south local government, ondo state, nigeria. 78% of sawmills are sighted on ondo road, 6.8% on ilesha road and oda road, 3.4% in ipinsa, and 1.7% are found in oke odu, irese, and adofure respectively. likewise, most sawmills in akure south are small and medium, while few are categorised as large-scale. also, the current status of the sawmills showed that in ondo road most of the sawmills are functioning, while 76.3% of the sawmills use the band saw machine (cd6) for the conversion of logs, 10.2% use circular saw and band saw machine, 6.8% of the sawmills use a circular saw and multiple edgers, and 5.1% uses multiple edgers. 3.2. demographic characteristics of sawmills in ondo state the results of demographic characteristics of sawmills assessed in ondo state show that 43.3% of sawmills in the four lgas are established in akure south, 33.3% in akure north, 13.3% in ondo west, while 10% are sighted in ondo east. table 2, revealed that 37.9% of the sawmills are classified as small and medium scale respectively, while most of the workers in the sawmills and wood industries range from 31 to 40 years. the majority of the workers claimed to have a formal education. the finding shows that 41.7% of the sawmill workers earn above #50,000 as monthly income, and 20.8% earn #41,000 #50,000. likewise, 32% have worked with the wood industries for 11-20 years and 21 30 years respectively. a large amount of these results was obtained from the managers of the wood industries. table 2: demographic characteristics of sawmills in ondo state (source: field survey) percent (%) local government area ondo west 13.3 ondo east 10 akure south 43.3 akure north 33.3 total 100 scale small 37.9 medium 37.9 large 24.1 total 100 age 21-30 11.5 31-40 42.3 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 f re q u en cy local government area owoyemi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 41-50 34.6 >60 11.5 total 100 educational background primary 17.9 secondary 53.6 tertiary 28.6 monthly income total 100 10,000 20,000 12.5 21,000 30,000 8.3 31,000 40,000 16.7 41,000-50,000 20.8 above 50,000 41.7 total 100 working experience <5 years 12 6-10 years 20 11-20 years 32 21 30 years 32 above 50 years 4 total 100 department in the wood industry loggers 6.7 maintenance 3.3 sawmill 13.3 machine operator 16.7 manager 33.3 director 13.3 supervisor 3.3 contractor 6.7 log supplier 3.3 total 100 3.3. assessment of sawmills and wood industries in ondo state determination of sawmill capacity of production the assessment of sawmills in the four lgas revealed that a large number of sawmills in ondo state operate on a small scale of production level. for primary log conversion, 41% of the sawmills have just a single band saw, 37% have two and only 11% have 3 or 4 bandsaws as shown in figure 3a. for secondary lumber conversion, 71% of the sawmills have only one circular saw, 17% have 2 circular saws and 12% have 3 circular saws as shown in figure 3b. figure 3 (a) keys: 1: mills with one band saw; 2: mills with two band saws; 3: mills with three band saws; 4: mills with two band saws. figure 3 (b): 1: mills with one circular saw; 2: mills with two circular saws; 3: mills with three circular saws (source: field survey). figure 3: (a): band saw figure 3: (b) circular saw a b owoyemi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 3.4. storage capacity the results of the log storage capacity of sawmills in ondo state are illustrated in figure 5, 67% of the sawmills log yards have a small size land area and can only store about 350 logs, 25% have a medium size, and 8% are a large size that can store more than 1000 logs as shown in figure 4a. likewise, 67% of sawmills received more than 5 trucks loaded with logs monthly as shown in figure 4b, while 63% of the sawmills processed above 20 logs in a day as shown in figure 4c, and 64 % of sawmills depend on individual and contractors for supplying of logs, 21 % obtained their logs from forest reserves, while 7% depends on both individual and reserves for the supplying of logs as shown in figure 4d. 3.5. assessment of wastes generated from sawmills the study revealed that wastes generated by these sawmills consist of sawdust, wood offcut, slabs, trimmings, and bark of logs of wood as shown in figure 5. wastes generated from these sawmills are of different (mixed) species. based on the classification, these sawmills regarded sawdust as the only waste generated and others such as slab, trimmings, and offcut as residues because of their potential to be reused. figure 4: (a) log yard storage capacity; (b) log received per month; and (c) number of processed logs into sawn timber (planks) per day; d) source of logs for the mill (source: field survey) 3.6. lumber recovery the average percentage of wood waste generated per sawmill was 44%, while the average lumber recovered was 56%. there are significant variations in lumber recovery between small-sized mills in ondo state. the low efficiency in lumber recovery (table 3) and high wood waste generated were attributed to poor maintenance of conversion machines and poor operator skills. 31% 17% 52% sawdust sawdust + slab + offcut + trimmings sawdust + slab + trimmings figure 5: mixed species types of wastes generated from sawmill activities (source: field survey) owoyemi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 table 3: type of machine, lumber recovery, % wood waste generated, and sawing pattern of selected sawmills in ondo state sawmill code type of machine % lr lumber recovered % wwg wood waste generated sawing patterns 1 cdc 49.00 51.00 keating 2 cdc 64.00 36.00 through & through 3 cdc 52.00 48.00 keating 4 cdc 63.50 37.50 through & through 5 cdc 59.00 41.00 keating 6 cdc 54.00 46.00 keating 7 cdc 49.00 51.00 keating 8 cdc 52.00 48.00 keating 9 cdc 46.50 53.50 through & through 10 cdc 58.00 42.00 through & through 11 cdc 55.00 45.00 keating 12 cdc 53.00 47.00 keating 13 cdc 56.50 43.50 keating 14 cdc 57.00 43.00 keating 15 cdc 59.00 41.00 keating note: cdc (cyclone dust collection) is the manufacturer’s name for the dimension sawing machine used in the mill with the device that collects dust and chips during operation. 3.7. distribution of the volume of lumber recovered the distribution of logs and lumber volume recovery per month in fourteen (14) lgas in ondo state, nigeria is illustrated in figure 6. the total volume of wood logs processed per month in akoko north east is 420.01 m3, akoko north west is 540.01 m3, akoko south east is 160.00 m3, akoko south west is 620.01m3, akure north is 2180.04 m3, akure south is 3160.06 m3 idanre is 1860.04 m3, ifedore is 420.01m3, odigbo is 2560.05 m3, okitipupa is 2320.05 m3, ondo east is 320.01m3, ondo west is 420.01 m3, ose is 1140.02 m3 and owo is 2820.06 m3. the results also revealed that akure south has the highest total lumber recovery of 1896 m3, while akoko south east has the least lumber recovery of 96.00 m3. likewise, akure south generated the highest volume of wood waste of 1264.03 m3 per month with an estimated volume of sawdust generated 632.01 m3, followed by owo with a total wood waste of 1128.02 m3 with an estimated sawdust of 564.01m3. odigbo had a total wood waste of 1024.02 m3 with estimated sawdust generated of 512.01 m3, okitipupa local government with a total wood waste of 928.02 m3 with an estimated 464.01m3 of sawdust generated, akure north with total wood wastes of 872.02 m3 had 436.01m3 of sawdust generated, idanre with total wood wastes of 744.02 m3 and 372.01m3 of sawdust, ose local government with total wood wastes 456.01 m3 and 228.01 m3 of sawdust, akoko southwest with total wood wastes of 248.01 m3 and 124.00 m3 of sawdust. akoko north west with 248.01 m3 volume of wood waste and 124.00 m3 of sawdust while akoko northeast local government generated 168.00 m3 of total wood waste and 84.00 m3 of sawdust. ondo west local government had total wood waste of 128.00 m3 and 64.00 m3 of sawdust while ondo east generated total wood waste of 64.00 m3 with an estimated sawdust of 32.00 m3. the illustration in figure 7 shows the distribution of the wood wastes generated in a month from the sawmills in the four lgas visited. akure south generated the highest volume of wood waste 256.01m3 with an estimated 128.00m3 of sawdust, and akure north generated total wood waste of 136.00m3 with an estimated 68.00m3 of sawdust. ondo west generated a total wood waste of 72.00m3 with an estimated sawdust of 36.00m3 while ondo east generated a total wood waste of 64.00m3 with an estimated volume of 32.00m3 sawdust. owoyemi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 figure 6: assessment of wood waste generated and volume recovery from sawmill activities in ondo state sawmills figure 7: wood wastes generated and lumber volume recovery from sawmill activities in ondo state sawmills 3.8. wastes management techniques the results presented in figure 8a show that 86% of these sawmills evacuate their wastes manually and 14% mechanically. in figure 8b, 71% of these sawmills dispose of their waste by burning, 17% reconvert or reuse the waste, 8% dump it on composting sites and 4% recycle their waste. 79% of these sawmills agreed that burning wastes as a means of disposal is not effective as shown in figure 9a. wood waste generated in sawmills cannot be eliminated but can be significantly reduced by improving management techniques. wood wastes are also used in the production of mosquito coils, preparation of chicken beds (plate 1), and culturing mushrooms. the report however showed that most of the sawmills give out their sawdust for free (fig. 10b) while other forms of waste such as wood off-cut, slabs, and trimmings are sold. the price of 2000kg (full dyna lorry load) wood slabs ranges from #6000 to #10,000 in ondo state. figure 8: (a) methods of wastes collection figure 8: (b) means of waste disposal owoyemi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 the monthly cost of waste disposal for 48 sawmills was #5,000-10,000. 40 sawmills spent #11,000-20,000, 8 spent above #20,000, and 4 sawmills spent less than #5,000 monthly. seasonal availability of wood wastes the results presented in figure 10 show the seasonal availability of wood wastes in ondo state. there is a reduction in the volume of wood waste available from june to september due to the supply of logs that reduced drastically during the rainy season. 3.9. promptness of supply of feedstock to gasifier plant the results of the study have proved the availability of wood wastes in ondo state at various degrees. however, worthy of mention is the promptness in the supply of the waste in the form needed by the gasifier when required. to plate 1: collection of wastes for chicken bed (field survey) 8% 13% 79% highly effective effective not effective a 25% 50% 25% sale gift land fill figure 9: (a) effectiveness of methods of waste disposal figure 9 (b): other uses of wood wastes figure 10: seasonal availability of wood wastes b owoyemi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 ensure a sustainable supply of this waste, ondo state has been classified into three major groups (figure 11) based on nearness to the gasifier plant: group a: close to gasifier plant sawmills in five lgas namely; akure south, akure north, owo, ose, ondo west, ifedore, ondo east, and idanre have been identified as points where materials could be sourced within the shortest possible time and supplied to the base. group b: distance away from the gasifier this group is further divided into two; b1. in the northern zone, all the sawmills in akoko south west, akoko north east, akoko south east, and akoko north west are in this category. it is suggested that a collection point be created at ikare akoko before transportation to akure. b2. the southern zone, all the sawmills in odigbo, and okitipupa are in this category. it is suggested that a collection centre be created at ore town before transportation to akure. keys: group a: lgas closer to the gasifier; group b1 and b2: lgas distance away from the gasifier; no mills are lgas in ondo state without a sawmill. 4. discussion literature review this literature review (table 4) highlights the critical role of renewable energy sources and sustainable practices in addressing global energy and environmental challenges. renewable power sources are increasingly recognized as viable solutions to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and mitigate their environmental impacts (b.p. economics, 2018; newell and raimi, 2020). however, the adoption of energy-efficiency measures is often impeded by high investment costs, a barrier consistently reported across decades of research (fleiter et al., 2012; hirshberg, 1976; faiers and neame, 2006). while sustainable practices such as energy efficiency improvements and waste reduction can lower production costs and enhance resource utilization (hannan et al., 2020; pimenov et al., 2022), the lack of consensus on strategies for implementing rers remains a significant challenge to achieving the united nations sustainable development goals (olabi et al., 2023; wang et al., 2022; he et al., 2022). figure 11: map showing the promptness of supply of feedstock to the gasifier plant owoyemi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 in nigeria, wood waste mismanagement represents a serious environmental threat, despite its abundance (sambo, 2009; ogunwusi, 2014; owoyemi et al., 2016; akhator et al., 2017; nwankwo et al., 2023). transforming wood waste into biomass for bioenergy presents an opportunity to address this issue while providing a sustainable energy source, particularly in the building sector. this solution is especially relevant in nigeria, where rapid population growth has led to increased energy demands (maier, 2022; akintande et al., 2020; xie et al., 2023; izuora, 2022). by integrating innovative energy strategies and resource optimization, institutions in nigeria can simultaneously tackle environmental challenges and enhance energy security. table 4: literature review findings literature renewable power generation sources are increasingly identified as viable solutions to reduce; the heavy reliance on fossil fuels b.p. economics, 2018; newell and raimi, 2020 sustainable practices such as energy efficiency improvements, waste reduction, and resource optimisation can lead to substantial reductions in the cost of production. ogunwusi, 2014; akhator et al., 2017; hannan et al., 2020; pimenov et al., 2022; tormade and chiekezie, 2024. the high investment cost is a key factor impeding the adoption of energy-efficiency measures. hirshberg, 1976; fleiter et al., 2012; faiers and neame, 2006 the rise in the use of renewable energy is pivotal to achieving the united nations sdgs, but effective strategies for their implementation remain contested. olabi et al., 2023; wang et al., 2022; he et al., 2022 wood waste mismanagement is a serious environmental threat owing to its availability in nigeria. sambo, 2009; ogunwusi 2014, owoyemi et al., 2016; akhator et al., 2017; nwankwo et al., 2023 the utilization of wood waste as biomass for bioenergy offers a sustainable energy solution, addressing both environmental concerns in the building sector and nigeria's rising energy demands driven by population growth. maier, 2022; akintande et al., 2020; xie et al., 2023; izuora, 2022 considering the distribution of sawmills in akure south lga with the potential of generating high quantities of wood waste in each region, the efficient utilization of this wood waste for energy generation will play a pivotal role in addressing the environmental and energy challenges posed by these regional disparities (bais-moleman et al., 2018). this finding of the sawmill production capacity indicates a notable lack of advanced and high-capacity machinery within the primary conversion stage of mills within the study area. this suggests that their production is on the small to medium production capacity. this is in line with the study of kehinde et al. (2010) that both smalland mediumscale dominated sawmills in ondo and osun states, nigeria. on average, less than 10% of these mills are capable of storing more than a thousand logs in their log yards for future production when the harvest of logs from the forest is difficult and the majority of the mills are capable of converting more than twenty logs per day as they depend on individuals and contractor for log supply. the study showed that the supply of logs reduced drastically during the rainy season. it also revealed that log haulage in the state was also affected by government policy, this is in agreement with the findings of (omole and imoh, 2011) that the sustainability of the forest estate is largely dependent on government policy. majorly, wastes generated from these sawmills are of different mixed species and regarded sawdust as the dominant waste which can be gotten with no cost while others such as slabs, trimmings, and offcuts as residues because of their potential to be reused are made available with a price. this corroborates with the findings of ogunbode et al., (2013) and akinbode and olujimi (2014). the findings from this study showed that in ondo state, improper handling of wood waste poses a major environmental risk as wood waste management practices, which include the collection, disposal, recycling, and reuse of wood waste, are ineffective and inadequate, as evidenced by the obvious disposal of wood waste on streets, in water bodies, and open air. this study corroborates the work of nwankwo et al., 2023 in niger state, nigeria improper wood waste management practices in the state also present major environmental risks. the lack of efficient systems for wood waste collection, recycling, and disposal threatens not only environmental balance but also the sustainability owoyemi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 of timber forests and public health. wood wastes are generated in the day-to-day wood processing activities in sawmills and furniture manufacturing industries (owoyemi et al., 2016; akhator et al., 2017; nwankwo et al., 2023). these processing activities range from conversion of logs, ripping, planning, turning and sanding. a very large volume of the log turns out to be wasted during primary conversion as lumber recovered is less than 60% with a significant difference between the types of mills as those with wear-out conversion machines operating on the small scale level tend to produce more waste during conversion. the low mean conversion efficiency of 56% recorded for the mills is in the same range as earlier reports (badejo, and giwa, 1985; fuwape 1986; oluoti 2014). peterson et al., 2015 described that the reduction of the magnitude of wood supply by mills depends largely on the volume and sizes of wood supplied to the mill, and other competing management objectives. these large amounts of wood waste generated during wood processing activities are mostly dumped on allocated sites to decay. this is not the case for developed countries, where all types of waste have designated dumpsites and storage facilities where they are sorted, treated and recycled or reused. for the effective utilization of wood waste in bioenergy generation in nigeria the waste management definition of ormondroyd et al. (2016) must be given full consideration stating that wood waste management is the collection, refurbishing, recycling, reuse and proper disposal of wood residues. studies have shown that wood waste recycling and reuse will help create a sustainable environment. however, numerous wood mills in nigeria have yet to adopt advanced processing of wood waste due to the high cost of the technology and the limited financial returns from processed wood waste (larinde et al., 2014). the study by rawat et al. (2023) revealed that maximizing the lumber recovery rate of cupressus lusitanica in ethiopia can increase sawmill profitability, reduce climate change impacts, and promote sustainable forestry and biodiversity conservation. an assessment of sawmills and wood industries in ondo state reveals that 84% are willing to collaborate with stakeholders who utilize wood waste, particularly sawdust, as raw materials or for waste management purposes. this willingness extends to offering these materials at minimal or no cost to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of waste management efforts. this is in line with the finding of nnaji and udokpoh (2022) that sawdust is the most common type of wood waste in the enugu timber market, with open dumping and burning being the most prevalent methods of disposal, causing negative environmental effects and health problems. the study of rominiyi et al. (2017) agreed that all readily recovered wood waste could be absorbed by the industry for energy supply. this led to greater attention being paid to the possibility of utilising wood wastes in energy generation which otherwise would be wasted. also, solving the problem of increasing costs, crisis and depletion of energy from conventional sources over the past few years has reawakened interest in the development of alternative sources of energy. mydlarz and wieruszewski (2022) further explained in their study that sawmills can use wood waste and by-products for energy, promoting a circular economy and economic efficiency, regardless of government decisions when considering the potential and possibilities of using wood waste and wood by-products generated at various stages of production in companies of the wood industry for energy purposes. the article demonstrates that, regardless of government policies on environmental protection, institutions have the autonomy to adopt pro-environmental practices as part of their operations. this study highlights the feasibility of its objective, emphasizing the abundant availability of wood waste in nigeria. it suggests that institutions such as the federal university of technology, akure, along with other academic establishments, can sustainably generate electric energy entirely from wood waste collected within akure and its surrounding areas. the supply of logs is limited because of changes in seasons as wood supply to the mills is reduced drastically during the rainy season. the study by okon (2018) states that sustainable wood harvesting in nigeria's tropical rainforest requires proper management methods, including the construction of landing sites and training for operators, to minimize damage and promote forest regeneration. therefore, to ensure that the gasifier runs non-stop, collection of wood waste for feedstock should be done regularly and more vigorously during the dry season and deposited to the three location points (i.e. akure, ikare, and ore) and move on schedule from the two outer locations to akure. regular stocking will ensure enough materials are in stock for use during the rainy season when sawmill activities are at the lowest ebb. the production and utilization of alternative energy sources are increasingly gaining attention. with traditional energy sources like gas, oil, and coal being non-renewable and finite, the need to explore sustainable alternatives has become more pressing. the abundant generation of wood waste in nigeria presents a significant opportunity for institutions like the federal university of technology, akure, to establish a reliable source of renewable energy. with proper owoyemi / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 collection, processing, and utilization of wood waste, including sawdust and offcuts from local sawmills, the institution can create a sustainable energy system that addresses both environmental and energy challenges. this approach not only reduces dependence on non-renewable energy sources but also mitigates the environmental hazards associated with improper wood waste disposal, such as pollution and deforestation, positioning the institution as a leader in renewable energy innovation. farjana et al. (2023) described that all wood wastes have great potential to produce energy while reducing climate change impact, with hardwood and softwood products showing the most beneficial aspects. carbon dioxide emissions from traditional energy sources are significantly higher than those from biofuels, making them a promising alternative energy source (farjana et al., 2023; opara, 2021; kim and song, 2014). 5. conclusions the generation of wood waste is inevitable but can be reduced through improved management techniques. this study revealed that a larger percentage of the sawmills in ondo state operate on a small scale and generate large quantities of waste daily. the seasonal variations in the volume of log conversion affected the volume of wood waste. the result showed that 40 to 44% of the total volume of a log converted in the mills ends up as wood waste. the high quantity of wood waste and low lumber recovery were functions of the shape of the log, the size of the log, and the conversion technique. the sawmills in akure south local government have the highest log conversion capacity and the largest quantity of wood waste. the high values of wood waste generated per sawmill and low values of lumber recovery implied that the log conversion technique in the state is generally poor. this wood waste generated is also not efficiently managed for optimum utilization. most of the mills regarded only sawdust as waste while other residues such as wood cut-off, slabs, and bark of logs of woods are sold out. the sawdust is disposed of at low costs for domestic uses, dumped in landfills, or burnt at mill sites. this study confirmed that the wood wastes can be used as feedstock in the mini-grid gasifier for generating electricity at the federal university of technology, akure. acknowledgements the authors acknowledge the tertiary education trust fund (tetfund-nrf), nigeria, for financial support. funding declaration this research was funded by the tertiary education trust fund (tetfund-nrf), nigeria. ethics approval the ethics committee of the federal university of technology akure (tetf/es?dr&dce/nrf2020/cc/36) granted ethics approval for this project, as the research was conducted according to the ethical principles and guidelines outlined by the institution. no upgraded ethical clearance of the specific project activity was envisaged or compelled. conflict of interest: the author(s) declare that there is no competing interest. references akhator, p., obanor, a., & ugege, a. 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(2009). the place of renewable energy in the nigeria energy sector. in workshop on renewable energy policies, october 2009, addis ababa, ethiopia. https://doi.org/10.34220/mmeitsic2021_266-269 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2014.11.016 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112660 https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021046 https://doi.org/10.3390/en16041847 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 7 april 2024, accepted: 21 may 2024, published online: 1 july 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i2.1073 evaluating thermal comfort and overheating risks in a social housing prototype as-built versus retrofit scenarios lucienne g. basaly1, arman hashemi2, heba elsharkawy3, darryl newport4, nancy mahmoud badawy5,6 1assistant professor, architecture and urban planning dept., suez canal university, egypt 2senior lecturer, school of architecture computing and engineering, university of east london, united kingdom 3associate professor in architecture, kingston school of arts, kingston university, united kingdom 4professor of energy and sustainable development, suffolk sustainability institute, university of suffolk, united kingdom 5associate professor, architecture and urban planning dept., port said university, egypt 6department of interior design, dar aluloom university, saudi arabia abstract climate change has highlighted the importance of thermal comfort and its health-related outcomes, particularly for the most vulnerable members of society living in social housing. due to their vulnerable living conditions, lowincome people are more exposed to negative outcomes of overheating and cold indoor temperatures in buildings. previous studies suggest that there is a significant risk of overheating in retrofitted buildings both for the current and future weather scenarios. the uk government has introduced new building regulations to assess and limit the risk of overheating in new buildings; however, there is still a need to assess and improve conditions for existing and retrofitted properties. this study aims to evaluate the effect of retrofit strategies on thermal comfort and the risk of overheating in social housing under current and future climatic conditions. a typical case study building was simulated in designbuilder to assess thermal comfort conditions for upgraded building fabric to part l of the uk building regulations and passive house standards. the summer results were analyzed according to cibse tm59 while the predicted mean vote index (pmv) was used for winter analysis. findings revealed that the south-facing bedrooms are most exposed to overheating. risk of overheating significantly increased for the future weather scenarios by up to 10 times while winter thermal comfort improved for the retrofitted scenarios. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords thermal comfort; climate change; social housing; overheating; retrofit 1. introduction it is widely accepted that climate change has exacerbated the risk of acute overheating in residential buildings. south and southeast of england are particularly exposed to increased temperatures due to global warming. under the current climate, there is a substantial risk of overheating in london, and if climate change adaptation measures are not http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i2.1073&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ basaly/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 incorporated into building regulations, design, and retrofit, occupants’ exposure to excessive interior temperatures is likely to significantly increase in the future (pathan et al., 2017) affecting their health and wellbeing. recent studies show that climate is undergoing noticeable changes primarily as a result of human activities, particularly due to greenhouse gas emissions, which have reached unprecedented levels in recent times; (ipcc, 2014). these have led to an increase in the duration, intensity, and frequency of heat waves worldwide (perkins et al., 2012). other studies suggest that outdoor temperatures may rise even greater than initially estimated (kala et al., 2016). according to the uk climate change projections 2009 (ukcp09), all uk regions are expected to become warmer, especially during the summer period (defra, 2009), increasing the risk of overheating across the uk (beizaee et al., 2013; lomas & porritt, 2017). under the medium emissions scenarios, the greatest rise in summer mean temperatures will be in southern england with up to a 4.2°c average increase by the end of the century (murphy et al., 2009). it is expected that by the middle of the century, the daytime temperatures in london will exceed 32°c for one-third of june to august (hall et al., 2009). there is a strong link between high temperatures and mortality rates. this was reflected in the 2003 and 2006 european heatwaves resulting in substantial damage and disruption to the economy, infrastructure, and transport, as well as a significant increase in the excess heat-related mortality rates especially amongst older people (fouillet et al., 2006; fouillet et al., 2008; kovats & hajat, 2008). in august 2003, over 30,000 excess deaths were recorded across western europe during an exceptional heatwave (kosatsky, 2005), with a total of 2091 cases in the uk, 616 cases of which were in london (johnson et al., 2005). moreover, in cities like london, the risk of overheating is further increased due to the urban heat island (uhi) effect (santamouris et al., 2015). in 2006, london had the highest rates of heat-related mortality during hot weather (hajat et al.,2007). according to estimates, the proportion of excessive heat-related mortality in outer london, inner london, and central london that can be attributed to the uhi effect during a warm summer in 2006 was approximately 38%, 47%, and 47%, respectively (milojevic et al., 2011). the situation is expected to deteriorate increasing the heat-related mortality rates three-fold by 2050 (phe, 2015). preventing heat-related mortality is therefore a major public concern in the uk and europe (menne & matthies, 2009; phe, 2015; who, 2004). the uk was the first country in the world to introduce a long-term, legally binding climate change mitigation framework. according to the climate change act 2008, uk emissions must decrease by at least 80% by 2050 when compared to 1990 levels (uk.government, 2008). meanwhile, incorporating energy efficiency regulations may lead to more airtight and highly insulated building envelopes that could lead to trapping heat increasing the risk of acute overheating. currently around 20% of existing homes in the uk experience overheating (beizaee et al., 2013; hulme et al., 2013a; zch, 2015b). defective retrofit (dengel & swainson, 2012; shrubsole et al., 2014) and, in particular, inappropriate energy efficiency measures that are not coupled with suitable passive cooling solutions (gupta et al., 2015; hub, 2016; santamouris & kolokotsa, 2013) could increase risk of overheating. frequent overheating may lead to increased use of mechanical cooling systems that in turn result in higher carbon emissions that will contribute further to climate change (hulme et al., 2013b). passive design solutions (e.g. the use of natural ventilation, thermal mass, solar shading, glazing type/area, and building orientation) are widely recognized as the most environmentally friendly techniques to mitigate the risk of overheating and improve occupants’ thermal comfort, and health, (gupta et al., 2015; hub, 2016; kolokotroniet al., 2010; lafuente & brotas, 2014; santamouris & kolokotsa, 2013; santamouris et al., 2007). investigations have demonstrated that dwelling style (baborska-narozny et al., 2016; firth et al., 2007; firth & wright, 2008; lomas & kane, 2013; mavrogianni et al., 2015; wright, young, & natarajan, 2005), construction age, and building fabric (beizaee et al., 2013; firth & wright, 2008; hulme et al., 2013a; mavrogianni et al., 2015) are important factors contributing to indoor overheating. it has been shown that homes built in the 1960s, 1970s, and after 1990 tend to be most at risk of overheating. there is evidence that highly energy-efficient homes, whether newly constructed or modified, may be susceptible to summer overheating, especially those designed to passivhaus standards (morgan et al., 2015; sameni et al., 2015; mitchell & natarajan, 2019). in order to minimize the negative effects on occupants' health and well-being, the uk government has been advised by the committee on climate change (ccc) adaptation sub-committee that "more action is needed" to limit overheating hazards of buildings (ccc 2014, 2017). although there have been concerns about the risk of overheating in uk terraced homes and basaly/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 apartments for some time (ministry of housing, communities & local government, 2012; alliance, 2014; zch, 2015b), the issue is still largely underreported in the literature (gupta & gregg, 2016). improving buildings’ energy performance will reduce energy bills and co2 emissions of domestic buildings (owen et al., 2014; decc, 2012); however, there is still a need to assess the effects of building fabric upgrades on the risk of overheating for the current and future climate scenario in order to develop future-proof retrofit strategies to not only improve energy performance but also avoid the ‘unintended’ effects of such strategies on indoor environments and health and wellbeing of building occupants. to this end, this study evaluates the effects of energy-efficient retrofit strategies (with a focus on building fabric upgrades) on the energy and thermal performances of an end-terraced house located in london. 2. methodology this study is undertaken in three phases, as shown in figure 1: the first phase identifies the current thermal performance of the base case scenario, using the designbuilder software. the second phase includes the creation of different modelling scenarios; for a) the built era (bre, 2019), b) approved document l for improved existing elements in existing dwellings (department for levelling up, 2023), and c) passivhaus standards (passivehouseinstitute, 2015; trust, 2023), as shown in table 1. relevant u-values, g-values, and airtightness rates are assigned to each scenario (table 1). the third phase assesses occupants’ thermal comfort for the future climate scenario using cibse weather files for 2050. 2.1. designbuilder software designbuilder is a software that provides accurate environmental performance, such as thermal comfort, energy consumption, and carbon emissions at annual, monthly, daily, hourly, and sub-hourly intervals. it integrates energyplus as a powerful simulation engine that provides advanced dynamic thermal simulation at sub-hourly timesteps (designbuilder, 2023b). cibce tm59 templates were adopted for predicting overheating risk. due to the large amount of simulated data, the results charts were exported using the designbuilder results viewer 4.0 application (designbuilder, 2023a). 2.2. the case study and modelling parameters a typical terraced house constructed during the 1930s-1949s (selected from lists of social houses identified by the research partners) was modeled to assess occupants’ thermal comfort. the case study is a two-story, end-terraced house with three exposed external surfaces, located in greenwich, london (figure 2) occupied by a low-income figure 1: methodology of analysis. basaly/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 family of three. the walls are solid brick: as built, and the windows are double-glazed installed in 2002 or later. due to the limited information about the building construction, typical 1940s building construction materials (raushan et al., 2022) and u-values (bre, 2019) were adopted (table 2). the adjacent house was considered as adiabatic for the purpose of simulations, as shown in figure 2. b. a) b) c) d) figure 2: (a) a picture of the case study house. (b) the 3d model of the case study house. (c) ground floor plan. (d) first floor plan (by the author). the design summer year (dsy) weather files were used as required for thermal comfort assessments. four scenarios were simulated; the base case which refers to (1) the built-era specifications, (2) as-built, which represents the actual available data, (3) part l recommendations, and (4) passivhaus standards as shown in table 1. the house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. for the ground floor, the living room is facing the north direction. it is important to highlight that it has a large window opening area with no shading. the kitchen is southfacing and has large openings with no shading. regarding the first floor, the main bedroom is south-facing with a small opening; the single bedroom is relatively small and has two exposed external surfaces (north and east directions) with a small opening facing south; and the double bedroom is north-facing, similar to the living room. the roof overhangs play a role in providing some shading for the top floor zones. table 1: the assigned u-values and airtightness for all four case study scenarios 3d model simulation scenarios u-values (w/ m2 k) airtightness (m³/h. m² @ 50 pa) roof wall floor window scenario 1: base case (typical 1930s/1949s house) 2.3 1.7 1.2 2.8 15 scenario 2: as-built 2.3 1.7 1.2 2 15 scenario 3: building regulation, approved document (part l) 0.16 0.3 0.25 1.4 10 basaly/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 scenario 4: passivhaus standard 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.78 (triple with argon) 0.6 the internal gains profiles (occupancy, equipment, and heat gain) and natural ventilation set points for opening/closing windows followed tm 59 (cibse, 2017). table 2 illustrates detailed information on opening types along with the percentage of openable areas. heating set points, temperatures, and clothing levels for winter simulations followed the cibse guidelines (cibse, 2017), (e.g. dwellings’ living rooms at 22–23 °c while bedrooms and kitchens at 17–19 °c). simulation results were conducted for the summer period (may-september) according to cibse tm59 criteria as follows: a) criterion a: for bedrooms, kitchens, and living room, number of exceedance should not be over 3% of the occupied hours; criterion b: for bedrooms only, the operating temperature between 10 pm and 7 am should not rise above 26 °c for more than 1% of the hours in a year (cibse 2015, cibse 2017). table 2: opening sizes and types. zones window type glazing area open (%) total window area (m2) living room (two windows divided into four parts each) two tops hung two parallel hung 38 2.352 kitchen (two windows divided into four parts each) two tops hung two parallel hung 38 2.328 main bedroom (one window divided into four parts) top hung parallel hung 39 1.164 single bed (one window divided into four parts) top hung parallel hung 39 1.164 double bedroom (two windows divided into four parts each) two tops hung two parallel hung 38 2.328 wc (one window) bottom hung 50 0.22 bathroom (one window divided into two parts) bottom hung 22 0.423 corridor_ ground level (one window) parallel hung 75 0.7 corridor_ first level (one window on the second floor divided into four parts) top hung parallel hung 39 1.164 for winter assessment, the simulations were conducted from october to march representing the cold/heated seasons in the uk. the predicted mean vote index (pmv) (fanger & toftum, 2002) was used following the thermal comfort limits (cibse, 2013), as included in table 3. all the reported results are for the occupied periods. table 3: thermal comfort indicators. ashrae comfort scale bedford comfort scale +3 hot much too hot +2 warm too warm +1 slightly warm comfortably warm 0 neutral comfortable -1 slightly cool comfortably cool -2 cool too cold -3 cold much too cold basaly/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 3. results 3.1. summer thermal comfort conditions an internal layer of insulation was considered in order to reach the assigned u-values for the case study scenarios, as shown in table 4. the external wall layers included solid brick, internal insulation, and plaster. table 2: the assigned insulation material type and thickness for all the case study scenarios. u-values (w/ m2 k) total wall thickness (m) insulation material insulation thickness (m) base case/as-built 1.7 0.2 n/a n/a part l 0.3 0.37 foam – urea-formaldehyde resin 0.151 passivhaus 0.15 0.552 foam – urea-formaldehyde resin 0.332 summer simulation results (table 5), showed that for the “base case”, only the living room and the kitchen passed the summer assessment for the current weather scenario. for the 2050 scenario, none of the zones passed the thermal comfort criteria. for the “as-built”, there was a slight improvement in the total number of discomfort hours for all the bedrooms compared to the base case scenario; however, the test didn’t pass criterion b. both the living room and kitchen passed the requirements for the current weather, whereas, for the future weather scenario, only the living room achieved the requirements. regarding “part l”, both the mainand single-bedroom failed while for the future weather scenario, all bedrooms failed and only the kitchen and living room passed the tests. for the “passivhaus”, all the zones passed the thermal comfort requirements for the current climate while for the future weather conditions, all bedrooms dramatically failed revealing the significant risk of overheating and possible negative health outcomes. when comparing the current and future weather scenarios, the risk of overheating is increasing by around 10 times for the base case and by nearly 7.5 times over the acceptable recommended cibse limits. table 3: summer simulation pass/fail test results for current and future climate scenarios (criterion a (%), criterion b (hr)). 3.2. winter thermal comfort conditions for the base case scenario, for the current climate, no major overheating was observed except for the main bedroom (figure 3) reaching its maximum on october 31 with a value of pmv +1.25. for the future weather scenario, it marginally failed the comfort range except during december and reached a maximum value of +1.39 on october 5. the major issue was identified as cold conditions in all other rooms except for the living room which remained within the threshold. zones/current base case as-built part l passivhaus main bedroom fail (52 h) fail (48 h) fail (37 h) pass (22 h) double bedroom fail (34 h) fail (33.5 h) pass (16 h) pass (10.5 h) single bedroom fail (62 h) fail (48.5 h) fail (33 h) pass (25 h) living room pass (0.29%) pass (0.26%) pass (0.18%) pass (0%) kitchen pass (1.53%) pass (1.09%) pass (0.42%) pass (0.31%) zones / 2050 base case as-built part l passivhaus main bedroom fail (414 h) fail (391.5 h) fail (307 h) fail (241.5 h) double bedroom fail (301 h) fail (284.5 h) fail (190 h) fail (156.5 h) single bedroom fail (374 h) fail (367.5 h) fail (260.5 h) fail (218.5 h) living room fail (3.01 %) pass (2.43%) pass (2%) pass (1.64%) kitchen fail (6.5%) fail (4.88%) pass (2.88%) pass (1.72%) basaly/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 3: base case scenario, hourly pmv results for the current and future climate scenarios. similar to the above, for the “as-built” scenario, the main bedroom experienced a warmer environment reaching a max. pmv values of +1.25 and +1.39 as the maximum pmv values for current and future climates respectively. concerning the double bedroom, values were in the comfort range with -0.97 as the minimum pmv recorded in the current climate in november (figure 4), whereas the situation improved slightly for the 2050 case. the single bedroom experienced a cooler environment reaching -1.20 as a minimum value, which was improved in 2050 reaching -1.04. overall, the comfort conditions were rather similar to the base case in all rooms for both current and future weather scenarios. figure 4: as-built scenario, hourly pmv results for the current and future climate scenarios. regarding, the part l scenario for the current climate, similar conditions were observed for the main bedroom experiencing overheating while other zones, except the living room, experienced cold conditions, particularly during december/march (figure 5). for the future scenario, the cold conditions were improved for all zones while the main bedroom experienced more overheating reaching a pmv value of +1.41 for 2050. basaly/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 5: part l scenario, hourly pmv results for the current and future climate scenarios. for the passivhaus scenario, all zones were in the comfortable range except for the main bedroom reporting pmv ratings of +1.30 and +1.41 for the current and the future weather scenarios, respectively (figure 6). similar to part l, the cold conditions significantly improved for all rooms while the main bedroom experienced consistent overheating; however, overall, the building fabric upgrades did not significantly increase the risk of overheating during winter. figure 6: passivhaus scenario, hourly pmv results for the current and the future climate scenario 4. conclusions this paper investigated the thermal comfort and risk of overheating in a social housing case study building. different scenarios were analyzed to assess and select the optimum option to avoid overheating in summer while improving thermal comfort by reducing cold conditions during winter. for the current weather conditions, both in the base case basaly/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 and the as-built scenarios, the living room and the kitchen were in the acceptable range for summer and winter assessments, while for the part l scenario, three zones (double room, living room, and kitchen) met the requirements. for the passivhaus scenario, all the zones were within the acceptable ranges except for the main bedroom which experienced some overheating during winter. generally, for the retrofitted options, the situation improved for all the zones apart from the main bedroom which experienced a warmer environment. for future weather conditions, bedrooms experience a risk of overheating during both summer and winter seasons. the situation significantly improved for the passivhaus compared to the other scenarios. yet, the results revealed that only the living room and kitchen met the requirements for both summer and winter assessments, while bedrooms were in the comfortable range for winter assessments (except for the south-facing main bedroom). in summary, south-facing bedrooms expose a high risk of overheating and should be considered with more cases for retrofitting. the passivhaus scenario passed the summer test for the current climate but failed for the 2050 scenario. this agrees with the previous findings highlighting bedrooms as the most exposed to overheating for future climate scenarios during summer (beasley et al., 2014,). it should be noted that even though the bedrooms failed the test, there were improvements in the total number of discomfort hours in comparison to other case study scenarios. building orientation, window opening areas, and insulation strategies combined could lead to overheating particularly during summer. therefore, further adjustments, such as shading and/or lower g-values, should be considered to reduce the heat gains through the windows for the south-oriented rooms. finally, more investigation is required to assess the effect of other factors including occupant behavior, natural and mechanical ventilation strategies, thermal mass, construction methods and materials, and other passive design strategies on thermal comfort in buildings. acknowledgment this document is an output from a research project, healthy energy efficient dwellings (heed), funded by the uk research and innovation (ukri), medical research council (mrc) [grant number: mr/y503186/1]. also, the authors would like to thank the newham council, hyde housing association, and iopt limited for supporting the project and providing access to the properties. the abstract of this paper was presented at the environmental design, material science, and engineering technologies (edmset) conference – 1st edition, which was held on the 22nd-24th of april 2024. funding declaration this research was funded by the uk research and innovation (ukri), medical research council (mrc) [grant number: mr/y503186/1]. ethics approval the authors have received ethics approval from the ethics committee of the university of east london, for the interviews and surveys that were conducted by the authors. conflict of interest the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references alliance, g. h. 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(2015b). overheating in homes, the big picture. full report. retrieved from https://kb.goodhomes.org.uk/report/overheating-in-homesthe-big-picture/ http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 9 october 2024, accepted: 23 march 2025, published online: 30 june 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i2.1133 hydrocity: an international collaborative urban lab between manchester and riga loris rossi1, eamonn canniffe2, matthew quayle3, catalina ionita4 1senior lecturer, manchester school of architecture, manchester metropolitan university, united kingdom 2principal lecturer, manchester school of architecture, manchester metropolitan university, united kingdom 3, 4tutor, manchester school of architecture, manchester metropolitan university, united kingdom abstract the contextual urbanism lab at manchester school of architecture explores and develops future urban design visions and engages in collaborative design work with other schools of architecture. in the 2023-24 academic year design work was undertaken in collaboration with students from the latvian riseba university of applied sciences, faculty of architecture and design (riseba fad) for the repurposing of kipsala island, located on the west bank of the river daugava in riga and for the “wirral waters” regeneration area in birkenhead (u.k). through these design projects and the international experience, the students gained a full understanding of the opportunities presented by their sites to develop proposals for the reinvention of new, distinctive, and sustainable waterside districts at the heart of historic european cities. having identified a site and personal manifesto, students were asked to test their ideas against their specific conditions. this detailed analysis led to comparative studies developed in both schools. the findings, contingent upon the different sizes and structures of the two schools, established a series of parameters to frame both the student and teacher research and raised questions on how the methods inherent in design synthesis highlighted a path towards either a professional or academic trajectory. the relevance of this study must be found in the international exchange between different architecture schools, which reflects on the opportunity to prepare master’s students for their future employment, in academia or in practice, using a collaborative urban lab as formative expertise. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords urban design; collaboration; pedagogical innovation; sustainability; regeneration 1. introduction the regeneration of the urban industrial waterfront has gathered pace in european and north american cities since the mid-20th century, with varying degrees of success, the notable origin being the concept of the festival marketplace established by benjamin thompson around faneuil hall in boston in the 1960s. (frieden & sagalyn, 1991) after this legacy, the question arises: how can the emerging generation of 21st-century urbanists refine and rethink approaches to waterfront regeneration that maximize the opportunities for future-facing, sustainable, distinctive, and environmentally robust place-making to strengthen the future resilience, purpose, function, and well-being of our cities? in 2023 -24 students from the manchester school of architecture (msa) and the riseba university of applied http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i2.1133&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ rossi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 sciences, faculty of architecture and design (riseba fad) embarked upon an initial year-long collaborative studio design process in which each student group developed master planning and design proposals for sites in the partner university’s city region to explore these goals. our collaborators at riseba for this academic year were professors rudolfs dainis smits, efe duyan, helena gutmane, and jonas buechel. riga’s hydrocity is one example of a wider project developed within the architecture and urbanism master studios. the studio runs in three semesters, divided into 5 urban labs, each dealing with a specific urbanism topic in barcelona, berlin, karystos, and manchester. as a specific case of investigation, the cooperation between riseba and msa has been developed with the contextual urbanism lab. therefore, in conjunction with the above, this paper wants to define urban labs’ pedagogical strategies as a foundation to retrace a roadmap to resilient cities worldwide. post-industrial inner urban waterside sites were selected in both latvia and the u.k., which embodied the challenges and opportunities for reinvention and repurposing through sustainable development that could be relevant to comparable sites in other cities and countries in the future. key questions and objectives were woven into and underpinned by the studio brief and process. • how can international student collaboration enhance future approaches to regeneration and urbanism? • what can students from differing cultures and backgrounds learn from one another to strengthen their understanding of creating new and repurposed sustainable communities? • how can the learning be shared and disseminated to enrich future sustainable development and regeneration approaches? • what can each school learn from the others? the paper follows the outline below. firstly, the commonalities and variances of the site are described. then, the pedagogical conditions in each school and the appropriation of remote learning and teaching strategies for new design and research methods are discussed in the literature review. having established their context, the methodological section follows where the specifics of the studio structure are outlined. a discussion of student participation and the impact on their work follows before the pedagogical results are placed in context. the paper closes with a discussion of the ongoing and future collaboration currently being undertaken in the second year of the collaborative studio. 1.1. sites commonalities and variances cities and sites in each country were selected that presented both commonalities and differences, partly to enable comparison of the processes and outputs of students’ work upon completion. the riga and birkenhead historic waterside districts share similarities in their former industrial use and exciting potential to be repurposed as resilient new places. each is positioned geographically toward the present edges of the northern european economic center and set within otherwise contrasting economic, political, social, and environmental contexts and constructs. similarly, while all cities are subject to continuous change and evolution, each study area is positioned on the regeneration delivery timeline at a different juncture. a. riga post-industrial sites along the river daugava (as seen in figure 1) present extensive tracts of both vacant and underdeveloped land within the heart of a european capital city of 630,000 people. the sites lie at the interface between a city centre unesco world heritage site and the low-density and shrinking 20th-century suburbs beyond that enclose riga within its striking green setting of lakes and forests. the river daugava is at the early stages in its journey to identify how its regeneration can best shape and contribute to the establishment of a new future vision, identity, and purpose for riga, a city experiencing depopulation following social and economic change associated with the establishment of post-soviet independence and e.u. membership in recent decades (riga 2030 sustainable development strategy of riga, municipality of riga 2014). however, recent exciting visions for the creation of new high-density, mixed-use, and environmentally progressive waterside urban districts presented through masterplans for riga port city and riga waterfront, developed by private sector design and developer teams in association with rossi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 riga city council, outline how potential change might look (riga port city, hosaya schaefer architects 2022), whilst rail baltica offers the promise of new 21st-century international rail connectivity to unlock progressive regeneration initiatives further. figure 1: riga map. a sketch drawing highlighting the city’s urban resources. (drawing by stud. mageswari arulnathan, 2023.24) b. birkenhead birkenhead is a town of 300,000 people in the northwest of the u.k. (as seen in figure 2) where vacant dockside sites that once represented the working heart of a wider planned victorian model town on the green wirral peninsula present 21st-century regeneration opportunities. dock areas were unlocked historically for port use by the advent of new victorian access tunnels beneath the river mersey, as an expansion of liverpool’s docks presents similar opportunities for creative reinvention and repurposing. dockside regeneration along the mersey already has a fortyyear legacy, most notably around the albert dock in liverpool, which was part of a unesco world heritage site until 2021. birkenhead docks lies at the heart of this wider and progressive vision developed and shared by both private and public sector initiatives for the creation of the ambitious wirral waters, an internationally significant mixed-use and high-density regeneration initiative by peel developments, coordinated with the complementary regeneration of surrounding neighborhoods in the local council’s birkenhead framework 2040 (birkenhead 2040 framework, consultation draft, wirral council, march 2021) and reflected in the wirral local plan 2012-2037 (submission draft, wirral council, may 2022). figure 2: birkenhead map. drawing by heritage framework plan. (wirral waters strategic regeneration framework vision statement. produced by peel holdings to support the outline planning application. june 2021, p.38) rossi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 2. literature review 2.1. distance as a form of knowledge the cooperative urban lab’s experience between msa and riseba raised an additional argument on the relevance of working at a distance, as we assert that distance is not a limit but a new form of knowledge (yaneva, 2023). after the covid pandemic in 2020, the world realized that space and time can be truly abstract conditions in which certain activities can be easily shared more efficiently. the genius loci theorized by norberg-schulz (1980) as a celebration of a place in a specific space and time can be reinterpreted by merging it with this contemporary concept of distance. as mentioned above, one of the lab’s main achievements is educating international students on investigating project sites by reinterpreting data and maps, using distance as a positive resource rather than a negative impact. it is well known that young architects can be asked to develop project ideas without site visits when facing projects in international architecture practice. thinking about the contextual urbanism lab as a laboratory of ideas means developing a specific multimodal pedagogical approach in which master students can advocate the sense of distance not anymore as a limit but as a new form of knowledge and exchange opportunity that sets out a roadmap to resilient cities worldwide. the above reflection identified within the architecture studio a clear pedagogy pathway in which the role of urban labs can be experienced as a laboratory of urbanism extended in different domains. students from different parts of the world engaged in a unique experience, followed by two opportunities. the first consists of a global approach to urban challenges, working in cooperation with a different cohort of academics and practitioners based on diverse architecture and urbanism skills. the second consists of presenting the students with an effective and diverse site experience around the world, addressing sustainable cities and community goals: making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. (united nations, 2015) the main objective consists of training international students in building awareness and disseminating worldwidespecific outputs concerning resilience, urbanism, and climate change, defined by consistently envisioning cities and urban crises in different parts of the world. as an example to raise in this discussion, in 2009, the european climate foundation based at den haag assigned to the international office amo a research study: roadmap 2050: a practical guide to a prosperous, low-carbon europe (oma/amo, 2015) reinier de graaf and laura baird led the entire research; the main vision consists in developing a new geography by drawing new maps introducing an eu-wide decarbonised power grid by 2050. the work developed by amo’s team shows a map of the main european energy resources as an alternative to the carbon emissions that have been extensively produced in europe until now. the starting point highlighted by the team is the role of the industrial revolution, which saw, on one side, great technological innovation but, on the other, a massive amount of fossil fuel use. the road map 2050 demonstrates how different nations sharing different energy resources can achieve mutual benefits. on more than one occasion, the amo/oma office pointed out how climate change and resilience can improve worldwide by accepting a coexistence of differences between different geographical areas (biraghi, 2024). the focus for developing a collaborative lab between msa and riga is the role post-industrial regeneration will have in the development of a low-carbon urban future across the continent and beyond. this pedagogy and methodology study reflects the importance of defining a master’s program as a worldwide inclusive studio. the impact of this research saw the opportunity to extend the training students’ capacity in a new era of sustainable urbanism, developed with specific expertise. the roadmap 2050 became a paradigm of a new approach to creating consistency and awareness among future students. how does the learning environment, such as the urban lab experience, share and disseminate information to enrich future sustainable development and innovate the regeneration approach? to answer the above question, we started developing a sense of working through a multimodal pedagogy in our students, disseminating among different students’ cultural experiences a diversified set of skills and regeneration approach from a diverse background. the staff shared the same approach; the program has a diversified court of academics with different experiences coming from four continents. they are mainly part-time from a practice environment and full-time from academia, sharing the experience of a sustainable approach delivered in the past year rossi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 in the form of a design approach and lectures. as a specific case, contextual urbanims, jointly with riseba, decided to work on retracing a sustainable approach to exploring river waterfront projects in birkenhead and riga (smith, 2021). the logic in which the urban lab has been shaped redraws the nature of the efficiency of sharing and acting in a sort of multimodal studio culture. multimodal pedagogies are based on the idea that meanings are made, disseminated and interpreted through many representational resources made and modes as sound, music, gesture, space, color, facial expression, body posture and movement (smith, 2021, p. 17). as a specific frame of investigation, our teaching environment is based on the same approach, engaging students by facing them with the meaning of a sustainable approach with multiple resources from the different cities and cultures where students belong. each student’s skills and background became a reference point in disseminating and sharing good studio culture and sustainable practices. the comparison between the multimodal pedagogy and the multiplicity of resources offered by the lab exposes the contextual urban lab to a series of opportunities in which students exchange, highlighting the opportunity of redrawing new sustainable approaches across different nations. in this frame of investigation, dissemination, future sustainability, and a new regeneration approach are integrative parts of a progressive collective learning environment (park, 2020). a new form of urbanism can be developed by recognizing the importance of the multiplicity of teaching resources within a cross-cultural collaboration urban lab. the future of sustainability is included in a new studio culture where geographical boundaries are no longer considered limited but rather as opportunities and learning resources. 3. methodology and analysis our combined urban lab explored the diverse opportunities and challenges for the riga and birkenhead sites through the studio collaboration under the theme of edge city (farley & roberts, 2012) and urban studies undertaken at the sequentially increasing focus of city, neighbourhood and site scales. the project spanned across a number of different parameters within the two schools. foremost among them was the relative disparity in size between the institutions, msa having ten times the number of enrolled students as riseba fad. secondly, about 30 postgraduate students participated in manchester, while approximately 40 students from riga, divided between postgraduates and undergraduates, participated. in manchester, there was a year-long project, while in riga, a research phase by master's students was used for peer-to-peer teaching of undergraduates, with a small number of master's students returning to the birkenhead sites for their master's thesis design projects. this method has already been replicated in the current academic year (2024-25), further establishing the collaborative relationship and developing new research fields connected to the project regarding contextual urbanism. students tested and developed well-established urban design and masterplanning methodologies in developing proposals for repurposed sustainable urban districts employed across both schools and their respective sites, and from initial ‘shared’ briefs. this research employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. subsequent variances in the design process and approach between the schools were then noted and reflected upon. the design methodology is rooted in an analysis of existing site conditions as overlain and measurable ‘layers’, the methodology informed by integrating ian mcharg’s physical principles of ecological determinism (mcharg, 1969) with the human and placemaking values and considerations set out in moudon’s ‘nine areas of concentration’ (moudon, 1992). the resulting methodology comprised four key considerations: • green and blue by exploring the edges, boundaries and interfaces between the city and its landscape setting, between urban districts and natural systems and waterways, between islands and the mainland, and between buildings and their public realm, sustainable, ecologically effective and distinctive green and blue networks can be developed within which built form is framed. (beatley, 2014; steiner et al., 2019). • movement by considering the edge and relationship between distinctive contained neighbourhoods and the movement networks that transcend boundaries and connect them, future-facing mobility systems and transit-oriented development can rossi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 enhance both urban function and the placemaking experiential qualities of arrival, departure and the visual journey between places (calthorpe, 1993). • built form meaningful solutions can be explored by examining and reflecting on societal and built heritage, the collective memory of a place, and the liminal space between past and present. the optimal mix of both new and repurposed building and land uses that embraces and propels new learning and innovation districts, that establish adaptable future forms of housing, and that seedbed fully integrated community infrastructure can also promote design excellence and celebrate the genius loci (katz and wagner, 2014). • archipelagic strategy exploring urban morphology through the lens of an archipelagic strategy, interrupted city patterns can be investigated as an urban palimpsest, reinterpreting multiple environmental complexities. the archipelagic strategy reflects the idea that urban differences can coexist, developing new networks and urban ecosystems (ungers et al., 2013; stephens, martínez-san miguel, 2024). figure 3: the class in manchester. online collaborative presentation between msa and riseba (@maaumsa via @fad_architecture_school, 8th february 2024) the methodology employed in the hydrocity project between msa and riseba was structured to facilitate comprehensive collaboration and creative exchange across different academic and cultural contexts. this section outlines how the collaboration was organised and executed to achieve the project’s goals of exploring sustainable urban regeneration at post-industrial waterfront sites in riga and birkenhead. the collaboration between msa and riseba was designed to integrate seamlessly, treating the two institutions as a unified entity for the project’s duration. this approach ensured that students and educators from both sides were actively engaged in a reciprocal learning process, sharing insights, methodologies, and cultural perspectives throughout the academic year. the primary activities included: figure 4: the class in riga. online collaborative presentation between msa and riseba, (@maaumsa via @fad_architecture_school, 8th february 2024) rossi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 • before site visits organising tutorials, lectures, and seminars regular sessions were conducted online and in person, alternating between riga and birkenhead. these sessions featured lectures by faculty members from each institution aimed at providing foundational knowledge and contextspecific to the sites under study. • site visits and interactive workshops integral to the methodology were site visits where students could be exposed to the physical context of their projects. these visits included guided tours, discussions with local stakeholders, and interactive workshops encouraging collaborative problem-solving and design exploration. • feedback and review process formal review sessions (as seen in figure 3) marked key points in the project’s development. these sessions enabled students to present their work-in-progress to peers and faculty from both institutions, receiving constructive feedback that supported their understanding and improved their final design proposals. • mixed group dynamics mixed groups were formed during tutorials and workshops (as seen in figure 4) to foster cross-cultural understanding and diverse perspectives. this intentional mixing of students from the two different contexts encouraged dialogue, challenged assumptions, and broadened the scope of creative solutions proposed. (qu et al., 2019). • urban lab consultant an urban lab consultant model introduced expert perspectives at key project stages, enabling students to incorporate specialised knowledge into their design processes. this approach provided an applied understanding of urbanism’s complex multi-actor dynamics (healey, 2006). the online collaboration between msa and riseba was designed to represent a pioneering approach to international education. this innovative format aimed to showcase a new way of learning and teaching that expands opportunities for cross-cultural engagement and exploration. the online format was employed as a deliberate strategy to enhance the educational experience, and it was designed to explore the benefits of digital tools and platforms, offering a flexible, accessible, and interactive learning environment. the ambition behind this approach was to transcend traditional educational boundaries and create a richer, more inclusive learning experience. throughout the academic year, the online sessions were carefully structured to maximise clarity and effectiveness in delivering content and encouraging student interaction. each online session began with a structured introduction outlining the agenda, objectives, and expected outcomes. this approach provided a clear framework for the session, helping students to understand the focus and purpose of the day’s activities. furthermore, interactive tools were utilised to facilitate active participation and ensure meaningful engagement with the content and fellow students. the collaborative sessions were delivered by faculty members and designed to be both informative and engaging, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. lectures were tailored to provide a contextual understanding of theoretical frameworks in relation to the specific challenges and opportunities presented by the urban regeneration projects in riga and birkenhead. this approach helped students relate theoretical concepts to real-world scenarios. in terms of feedback, sessions were conducted via video conferencing, allowing for detailed critique and discussion of the students’ work. 3.1. students’ collaboration and future approaches to urbanism several key themes and objectives guided the methodology throughout the collaboration. the focus on cultural exchange allowed students to examine how diverse cultural perspectives influence urban design and regeneration strategies, improving their own approaches with insights from international peers. the project emphasised sustainability and innovation, aiming to reimagine waterfront regeneration through practices that address 21st-century challenges like climate change and urban resilience (sharma et al., 2024). additionally, there was a strong emphasis on knowledge sharing and dissemination, with efforts to document and distribute collaborative learnings, including rossi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 research findings, design proposals, and critical reflections through academic publications, exhibitions, and public presentations. the benefits of studio working through the international student collaboration, three key opportunities were identified and explored through which future approaches to regeneration and urbanism could be enhanced. firstly, the importance of students working collaboratively in a shared studio environment became apparent, and the value of this in shaping students’ outlook for developing future-facing, international, holistic and shared understandings of how social, environmental and economic factors can shape future international approaches to progressive, sustainable development. it is recognised that studio teaching in urban design has undergone a resurgence in urban design and planning courses since the 1990s and can offer highly effective experiential learning processes as an effective means of embracing global sustainable development issues and approaches, as noted by paul jones (jones, 1980). both riga and birkenhead are urban centres experiencing significant social, economic and environmental change, and both seek to establish new ‘visions’ for their respective future repurposing. through direct studio collaboration with the latvian students, manchester students were able to develop insights into how public and private sector organisations in riga are identifying and defining future visions and themes for riga’s role and usp as a key city within europe. the riga-based students benefited similarly by developing shared insights, approaches, and knowledge-sharing around regeneration visions developed for birkenhead. these shared approaches and insights students attain through a blended sequence of in-person and virtual studio sessions provide effective tools and outlooks that students can apply to positively and creatively inform sustainable urban development initiatives in other cities globally. a second key opportunity arose through interaction and collaboration between international students from groups that vary in many ways, being from differing cultural backgrounds, professional disciplines, and groups with differing levels of urban design experience. though based in manchester for the term of their studies, msa students, for example, were predominantly from south asian and southeast asian backgrounds, whilst riseba students are mainly from latvia. whilst it is recognised that group work for urbanism, students can play an important role in mimicking the’ multi-actor or inter-disciplinary nature of future collaborative professional consultant teams (qu, chen, rooij, & de jong, 2019), the benefits of such collaboration are heightened when considered against the context of increasingly global collaboration and approaches required for the future in developing new solutions to sustainable urban and regional design challenges. a third key area of investigation that arose as a direct result of the international collaborative working methods employed through the studio was an exploration of the relative benefits, or otherwise, of developing standard design processes for students from both schools to share in common, as a community of practice (van dooren et al., 2014). the extent to which a shared studio brief, comprising a generic sequence of urbanism tasks and outputs deployed in the same way to student groups in both riga and manchester, would be beneficial and could potentially encourage the development of effective ‘shared’ design approaches and solutions within the subject area of urbanism that might otherwise be considered to be more instinctively creative and individualistically expressive, presented an interesting discourse. the interactive studio experience helped students to discuss, gain valuable insights and develop working design methods into how working as collaborative international teams on common cross-boundary planning and design briefs can simultaneously allow the incorporation of creative expression that celebrates the individual, their background and varied experiences within the group. understanding the balance between the parallel objectives of (a) working efficiently and effectively to allow the delivery of projects with shared briefs across international boundaries and teams whilst (b) encouraging and embedding individualistic creative expression that celebrates diverse cultural factors and sense of place, will be critical to the success of future global urbanism practice. students from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds can significantly augment each other’s understanding of creating sustainable communities, as seen in the collaboration between manchester school of architecture (msa) rossi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 and riseba university. initially, students in this initiative perceived clear cultural distinctions between their groups, yet as their teamwork progressed, a “blending effect” emerged, helping them shift focus from these differences toward their shared goals in sustainable design (yang, olesova, & richardson, 2010). through this collaboration, students integrated varying cultural approaches to urban development, gaining insights that helped them develop more resilient and adaptable solutions for both new and repurposed spaces. cultural influences played a foundational role in this collaboration. students from msa, primarily from south and southeast asia, often approached design discussions conservatively, while their european peers from riseba tended to be more direct and self-expressive. such differences are common in intercultural settings: while the asian students’ diplomatic style reflects a cultural emphasis on harmony, the european students’ directness may represent a cultural preference for straightforwardness (le baron, 2003). these dynamics emphasise the importance of culturally responsive teaching, where educators model effective communication techniques honouring diverse backgrounds (kim & bonk, 2002). providing clear communication guidelines, for example, can help students navigate potential conflicts and enhance group cohesion (murray & mcconachy, 2018). cross-cultural collaboration offers unique learnings in terms of community design needs and practices. in projects focused on urban regeneration in riga and birkenhead, students utilised both local knowledge and international perspectives, critically examining universal versus site-specific challenges. msa students, for instance, brought a perspective rooted in high-density urban contexts, while riseba students contributed insights on post-soviet urban spaces, resulting in enriched, multifaceted design solutions. this collaboration developed a global mindset among students, encouraging flexible and adaptable approaches to sustainable design. working on common design briefs, students experimented with “generic versus bespoke” strategies, balancing standardisation with cultural customisation, a dynamic emphasised in studies on international design processes (van dooren et al., 2014). students learned how shared solutions can simultaneously respect unique cultural contexts by navigating this balance. the collaborative studio environment proved instrumental, especially in urban design, where experiential learning plays a central role (jones, 1980). digital tools created a virtual studio, enabling active interaction and continuous feedback despite geographical distances. structuring these sessions to promote clarity and engagement offered students practical insights into collaborative planning and iterative design methods—skills essential for future professional practice. (quayle et al., 2025) finally, documenting and sharing the outcomes of these collaborations through research, presentations, and publications extended their impact beyond the immediate group, providing valuable resources for wider academic and professional communities. this approach demonstrates the power of knowledge-sharing to shape sustainable urban futures, ensuring that the lessons learned benefit a global audience. the methodology employed in the hydrocity project facilitated a dynamic and productive collaboration between msa and riseba as institutions. by integrating theoretical learning with practical application across international boundaries, students were able to explore complex urban issues and propose innovative solutions that contribute to the future sustainability and resilience of riga and birkenhead. 4. results one of the key factors that each school has learnt from each other is how relationships might be established between british and european architecture schools post-brexit. after a very productive period of over two decades of enthusiastic participation in various aspects of the erasmus programme, brexit has resulted in the curtailment of such collaboration. manchester school of architecture had many links with barcelona, berlin, kassel, lyon, marseilles, milan, palermo, paris and venice, for example. these relationships lasted over several years, either in the form of student exchanges or through participation in intensive programmes. they impacted the programmes in each participating university, leading to a sharing of contexts, knowledge and pedagogical methods. for the staff in manchester, this fulfilled an imperative to be internationally active as a means of enhancing the research environment, and for students, it broadened their experience of the teaching environment to an international scale. an erasmus intensive workshop, such as ‘archaeology’s places and contemporary uses’ between 2009 and 2012, as well as rossi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 producing research by design proposals for real-world problems, built up the networks of academics and the future work connections of students and young professionals in architecture and other disciplines. (vanore, 2010). such experiences’ fleeting and intangible impact should not be seen as having little worth. they are the fundamental architectural and urban education activity in a co-dependent world. in recognition of this global ambition, for example, the royal institute of british architects validates nearly as many architecture courses outside the united kingdom as it does within it. maintaining that international focus after brexit was mainly seen through the lens of the profession, but education played a significant role in creating that environment. (riba, 2017) while non-eu activities, including enrolment and exchange, have increased in recent years in manchester as internationally attractive courses have expanded (notably the ma in architecture and urbanism), activities with our nearest neighbours have declined. this new relationship between manchester and riga should be seen as part of relearning the relationship with a european partner, where each school is exposed to the different sizes and complexities of teaching in each institution, although physical contexts and working practices are not that different in ambition. the results of this research must be explored in pedagogy through the collaborative urban studio instrument. the impact on the participating students was education for their future careers as internationally resilient designers. the project work of both cohorts of students was disseminated through public exhibitions in riga (march 2024) and manchester (june 2024) and in academic and professional publications (duyan et al., 2024; quayle et al., 2025). consequently, this paper finds significance in its speculative approach to how an international collaborative urban lab has been a fruitful and active research pedagogy investigation that amplified architecture and urbanism students’ experience. 5. discussion one of the discussions that deserves attention must be raised in terms of project constraints; both schools had to deal with the difficulties of the scale to which the final outcomes must refer. the birkenhead projects produced by students in riga focused on the larger urban planning and landscape scale. in contrast, the outcomes of the manchester projects produced for riga sites raised a number of issues regarding the scalability of urban strategies and architectural scale. the continuity of this process of nesting scales requires different skills, which, on many occasions, highlighted some limitations of this study. consequently, one of the challenges was engaging students with interdisciplinary consultancy offered by external expertise. introducing a specific urban consultancy as external expertise made the urban project realistic regarding architectural decisions. some of the urban regeneration topics addressed by the students, like the river waterfront, the infrastructure and green systems, required interaction with experts. this level of communication guarantees a more specific adaptation of students’ research interests into an architecture design solution. from the perspective of the immediate future of this research, the tighter focus of the experimental sites for the following academic year encourages the students to read the distinct morphology of each place. in the academic year 2024-25, central riga and holt town in manchester were chosen in reaction to the previous sites so that less generalised solutions might be produced which draw on the particular heritage of each place, the hanseatic and nineteenth-century heritage of riga and the industrial context of manchester. the developing collaboration thus integrates into the histories of the sites by addressing the fragmented urban forms of post-soviet riga and postindustrial manchester. these developments in the pedagogical collaboration have been framed by further online critique sessions and field trips by students from the two cohorts. 6. conclusion as an educational experience confronted with remote locations both physically and culturally, this exchange of student experience provides the foundation for future collaborations at personal and institutional levels. students from different non-european backgrounds who were enrolled at one european institution collaborated successfully with those at another, providing a simulation of the globalised working practices in architecture and urbanism that technology facilitates. the direct culmination of these working strategies and honing the types of compatible contexts towards joint research projects is an ambition that this pedagogical experience helps establish for future academic years. it promotes the idea that contextual urbanism, in its variety and specificity, is of global concern and that it provides a stimulus towards the sustainable ideal of thinking globally but acting locally. the collaboration between rossi/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 msa and riga urban labs draws the first educational leadership with the ambition to build a new roadmap for architecture and urbanism students who are facing unprecedented architecture and urban challenges. acknowledgement the abstract of this paper was presented at the urban planning & architectural design for sustainable development (upadsd) conference – 9th edition, which was held on the 22nd 24th of october, 2024. funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval not applicable conflict of interest the author(s) declare that there is no competing interest. references beatley, t. 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(2010). impact of cultural differences on students' participation, communication, and learning in an online environment. journal of educational computing research, 43(2), 243-263. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 15 july 2024, accepted: 29 september 2024, published online: 30 september doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i3.1099 assessment of the climate change vulnerability of the cities in turkey eda ustaoglu1, rabia bovkır2, suleyman sisman3 1abdullah gul university, department of economics, kayseri, turkey 2hacettepe university, department of geomatics engineering, ankara, turkey 3gebze technical university, department of geomatics engineering, gebze, turkey abstract climate-related vulnerability indices are increasingly being utilized to enhance the creation of better disaster management strategies and to better understand and anticipate the effects of disasters related to climate change. this study evaluates the climate change vulnerability of the cities in turkey by focusing on their exposure, susceptibilities, and adaptive capacities to climate change. data from social, economic, and environmental sub-indicators were assessed and the most relevant indicators were aggregated to construct a composite climate change vulnerability index (ccvi). the ccvi includes six forms of capital leading to socio-economic and environmental sustainability i.e. social, public utility and transport, economics, land cover, meteorology, atmospheric conditions, and natural disaster capitals, and will be assessed by combining each of these forms of capital and its three dimensions (exposure, susceptibility, and adaptive capacity). stakeholder-driven structured methodology that discovers and ranks contextrelevant indicators and sets weights for aggregating indicator scores by using the best-worst method (bwm) and stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (swara) method are utilized. the indicators are aggregated through the application of the bwm and swara weights using a linear aggregation method. from bwm and swara, the highest weights were obtained for meteorological conditions and land cover which are more than 0.36 and 0.22, respectively. the lowest weights were assigned to social characteristics and economy both of which were smaller than 0.10. the findings indicated that the cities on the northern, western, and southern coasts as well as the cities in the southeast region are the most vulnerable to climate change. the construction of ccvi can be used as part of the decision-making process to minimize hazards and exposure to the risk of climate change for the cities of turkey. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords : climate change vulnerability; composite indicators; best-worst method (bwm); swara method; turkey 1. introduction climate change is ambiguous, having significant effects on human and ecological systems throughout the globe (pandey et al., 2015; abid et al., 2023). the intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc, 2014) has released its fifth assessment report, which highlights how climate change is affecting every part of the globe—from tropical to arctic regions, islands, and continents, as well as affluent and poor nations. along with its effects on local agroclimatic and ecological conditions, rainfall patterns, and other aspects of human well-being, climate change may also have significant consequences for livelihoods, health, and other facets of human welfare (connolly-boutin & smith, http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i3.1099&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ustaoglu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 2016; pagnani et al., 2021; sithole et al., 2023). particularly vulnerable to climate change is the country turkey through its geographic, climatic and socio-economic conditions, which make turkey extremely susceptible to the effects of climate change and other environmental threats, making resilience and adaptation becoming key priorities (bayram & ozturk, 2021; gumus et al., 2023). the degree to which a system is impacted by climate stressors connected to the environment, either negatively or positively, is known as its susceptibility. all aspects of climate change, such as mean climate characteristics, variability in the climate, and the frequency and intensity of extremes, are considered climate-related stressors. the term ‘adaptation’ describes changes made to ecological, social, or economic systems in reaction to real or predicted climate stressors and their consequences (un, 2024). to mitigate potential harm or take advantage of opportunities brought about by climate change, it refers to modifications in procedures, customs, and organizational structures (un, 2024). in addition to having a more fragile transportation system than other nations, turkey is dealing with problems related to food security, rising water stress, and unprecedented natural disasters like the post-2020 forest fire outbreaks and the massive earthquake that struck the south-eastern region of turkey in february 2023 (world bank, 2022; ozkula et al., 2023). climate conditions, population exposure (such as the percentage of the population affected by floods, forest fires, and destructive effects of the earthquake), and socioeconomic factors (such as the percentage of the economy that is based on agriculture, human and economic losses in the region that was affected by the earthquake) all contribute to this susceptibility (world bank, 2022). the unprecedented earthquakes that occurred in february 2023 caused damage to residential buildings, manufacturing facilities, bridges, transit systems, earth structures, harbors, and lifelines in densely populated areas. according to the world bank (2023), initial estimates of the direct infrastructure loss exceeded $34 billion and over 15 million of the population (about 17% of turkey’s population) was severely affected by the earthquake. planning adaptation measures and providing a justification for their adoption would be made possible by understanding the expected climate-related risks in specific regions and their interactions with current and future populations and varieties of assets (castells-quintana et al., 2018; singh & chudasama, 2021). understanding the geography of climate change susceptibility has several benefits, including improved disaster risk reduction, a decreased exposure of ecological and human resources, and the identification of people who are more susceptible to climate change. consequently, strategies for mitigating susceptibility and adapting to climate change have gained widespread attention from the public. however, turkey’s changing environment is not well monitored, and it is still unclear exactly what the future repercussions will be and where they will occur. furthermore, information about the degree and distribution of human susceptibility to climate change and its effects in the area is scarce. vulnerability indicators offer a potentially valuable way to track vulnerability over time and space, pinpoint the processes that lead to vulnerability, rank the strategies that reduce vulnerability, and assess how well these strategies work in various ecological and social contexts (adger et al., 2009). they make it possible to compare the systems under evaluation and make information about what has to be changed in an easy-to-understand manner more visually appealing. numerous authors have used this technique in different ways, either locally or nationally. birkmann et al. (2022), edmonds et al. (2020), formetta and feyen (2019), and abid et al. (2023) developed a set of critical indicators using a quantitative method to evaluate the vulnerabilities and adaptive capabilities of nations worldwide. on a regional level, busby et al. (2014) showed how climate change indicators can be used to identify communities that are most vulnerable to climate impacts in africa; fawcett et al. (2017) indicated how two longitudinal methodologies—cohort and trend studies—are employed in the evaluation of climate change susceptibility through an analysis of case studies from the arctic region; malik et al. (2012) assessed pakistan’s climate change vulnerability by combining evaluations of climatic risk, environmental and population sensitivity, and adaptive capacity; and gupta et al. (2020) developed a spatial social vulnerability index for evaluating the socio-environmental vulnerability in four altitude zones in the indian himalayas. buchir and detzel (2023) considered the governance factor besides exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity which constitute the vulnerability index to assess the climate vulnerability in mozambique. at the local level, notenbaert et al. (2013) examined how mozambican agro-pastoralists manage their sensitivity to climatic pressures and their coping mechanisms, as well as the reliability of several widely used indicators of vulnerability. mainali and pricope (2017) created maps of nepal’s climate change vulnerability by combining evaluations of climatic risk, and geo-physical and socio-economic factors sensitivity, and analysed how these different variables interact to shape climate vulnerability in nepal. kumar et al. (2016) is another local study that applied a method for assessing the susceptibility of cities to climate change by evaluating different indicators, ustaoglu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 demonstrating the vulnerability assessment approach, and presenting a spatial assessment of climate change sensitivity patterns. omerkhil et al. (2020) conducted questionnaires to assess vulnerability and adaptation strategies for smallholder farmers in the hills of yangi qala district in takhar province, afghanistan. a final example is phuong et al. (2023) which applied a livelihood vulnerability index to examine the vulnerability of minority communities in upland regions of thua thien hue province, central vietnam. the literature on climate change in turkey is multivariate including climate change policy applied in turkey between 1992-2015 (turhan et al., 2016); renewable energy used for climate change mitigation (keles & bilgen, 2012); impacts of climate change on precipitation climatology and variability (turkes et al., 2020), evaluation of climate change simulations over climate zones of turkey (onol & unal, 2014), climate change and its consequences in turkey (bayram & ozturk, 2021), and impacts of climate change on agricultural yield (chandio et al., 2020). despite there is increasing literature on climate change, particularly in recent periods (kelse & bilgen, 2012; onoş & unal, 2014; turhan et al., 2016; turkes et al., 2020; chandio et al., 2020; bayram & ozturk, 2021), to the knowledge of the authors, no study in turkey focuses on developing composite climate change vulnerability indices representing the climate vulnerability of the cities in turkey. this article represents the first attempt to rate turkey’s cities based on how vulnerable they are to climate change. this is accomplished by creating an index of climate change sensitivity that accounts for the natural exposure of these cities to climate change, in addition to their socioeconomic fragility and occupants’ ability to adapt. sectors generally identified with socio-economic and environmental sustainability i.e. social, public utility and transport, economics, land cover, meteorology, and atmospheric conditions, and natural disasters experience differences in vulnerability. data from the official sources obtained for turkey contain vulnerability indices across these six sectors over 81 regions (cities) were used to construct a composite climate change vulnerability index (ccvi) for each region. the ccvi was constructed through the application of weights that were developed from expert-based systems including the bwm (gomez-limon et al., 2020) and the swara method (hashemkhani zolfani et al., 2018). the former is a multi-criteria decision-making process in which pairwise comparisons are conducted when the best and the worst options are selected from a list of options. the latter method, on the other hand, was introduced in 2010 as a different paradigm in the multiple attributes decision-making field (hashemkhani zolfani et al., 2018). it was designed to be used in decision-making procedures where policy-making is given greater weight than in traditional decision-making processes (haghnazar kouchaksaraei et al., 2015). the swara is a newly proposed method; however, it has been used for solving many problems such as selection of green suppliers (yazdani et al., 2016), selection of hotel projects based on environmental sustainability (zolfani et al., 2018), evaluation of sustainable design of the household furnishing materials (zolfani and chatterjee, 2019), evaluation of investment alternatives of microgeneration energy technologies (dinçer et al., 2022), and assessment of medical waste treatment techniques (patel et al., 2023). swara's advantage is that it evaluates the accuracy of experts and weighs each criterion by taking into account the opinions of several experts. the most significant rank criterion is the first one, and the least significant rank criterion is the last one. the final rankings are decided by a panel of experts using the mean of their ratings. other weight assessment methods need extensive computations with low accuracy rates; in contrast, swara is intuitive and timeefficient. the multiple weighs of pairwise comparisons resulting from a high number of criteria or alternatives would make addressing multi-criteria decision making (mcdm) problems more complex and would also cause pairwise comparisons to become less consistent. rezaei (2015) who introduced the bwm noted that the unstructured method of performing pairwise comparisons is the cause of the constraint, and that the many workloads and expert complexity are not required. rezaei came up with a novel method—the bwm—to close this gap by conducting pairwise comparisons in an organized manner. since the bwm's appearance, it has drawn the interest of numerous academics, and numerous studies on the bwm have been published. some examples include: ahmadi et al. (2017), salimi and rezaei (2018), kheybari et al. (2019), wankhede and vinodh (2021), uyan and ertunç (2023), amjad et al. (2024). using this framework, we assess the findings from the composite indicators estimated in the study by contrasting two different weighting techniques that allow us to estimate weights external to the data. our composite indicator of ccvi is different from other studies as we considered these two novel methods of multi-criteria decision analysis in the construction of the composite indicators. also it represents the local conditions of the regions in turkey which makes it different from the other indices that included different sub-criteria in the construction of the climate vulnerability index. specifically, we want to examine the composite indicator values that come from different weighting strategies ustaoglu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 that are calculated at the regional level for turkey. we selected a wide variety of indicators that are relevant to describe relative socio-economic and environmental vulnerability to construct a ccvi informing vulnerability to climate change. however, different input construction methods exist to generate composite climate change vulnerability indices, resulting in different outcomes. literature providing guidance on the assessment of the methods used and composite indicator outcomes are still scarce. therefore, our study aims to quantify the differences between climate change vulnerability outputs from the two different approaches (bwm and swara methods). through constructing ccvi from these approaches, the developed composite indicators could assist in climate practitioners in evaluating and policy making regarding the climate change vulnerability in turkey. 2. study area, data and methods 2.1. study area turkey is the 36th largest country in the world with a considerable land area of 783,356 square kilometres. turkey is located at the crossroads of europe and asia, occupying a strategic position that has been historically referred to as the “bridge between east and west” (figure 1). the country benefits from a varied landscape, encompassing coastal plains, rugged mountains, and fertile valleys. around 44% of the country’s land is used for agriculture, with forests covering approximately 15% of the territory and only 1.8% of the land is occupied by urbanized areas (oecd, 2017; eucc, 2024). the diverse landscape in turkey not only enhances its natural aesthetics but also sustains a rich range of ecosystems and biodiversity. despite its natural beauty and cultural significance, turkey has faced escalating challenges in recent years due to climate change and natural disasters (undp, 2007). according to the turkish ministry of environment, urbanization and climate change (eucc), turkey has experienced a significant increase in its average temperature over the last century, surpassing the global average temperature rise of approximately 1.3°c. (eucc, 2021). turkey is particularly susceptible to a variety of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, droughts, and wildfires, due to its geographical positioning. because of the existence of multiple active fault lines, such as the north anatolian fault and the east anatolian fault, the country is highly vulnerable to seismic activity (undp, 2007). figure 1: the study area note: nuts: nomenclature of territorial units for statistics 2.2. data the assessment of vulnerability to climate change includes utilizing many indicators and criteria based on exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity components to estimate the potential impacts and consequences of climate change (žurovec et al., 2017). to assess the climate change vulnerability of the cities in turkey, a comprehensive dataset consisting of 55 indicators across 6 themes such as economy, land cover change, meteorological conditions, natural ustaoglu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 disasters, public utility, and transport and social characteristics were utilized, as outlined in table 1. the selection of indicators is based on a literature review (pandey and jha, 2012; el-zein and tonmoy, 2015; zanetti et al., 2016; balaganesh et al., 2020; edmonds et al., 2020; birkmann et al., 2022) and the availability of data in the turkish case was also influential. table 1: indicators and data sources used for the vulnerability analysis. themes definition of the indicators sub-indicators data source economy this theme includes economic indicators such as the gdp values in agriculture, industrial, services sectors, purchasing power per capita, as well as the changes in gdp per capita (2004-2021). agricultural gdps (₺) (+), industrial gdpr (₺) (-), services sector gdpr (₺) (-), change of gdp per capitar (₺) (-), purchasing power per capitar (₺) (-), average household sizee (person) (+) turkish statistical institute (tuik), esri business analyst land cover change this theme includes indicators representing the changes in agricultural land, artificial surfaces, forest and water bodies over the years (2000-2018). change of: agricultural lands (+), artificial surfaces (+), forestr (-), water bodys (-), wetlands (-) (% km2) corine land cover meteorological conditions this theme includes indicators for meteorological & atmospheric conditions like wind speed, temperature, vapour pressure, rainfall, precipitation, solar radiation (19702000), heating & cooling day-degree change (2010-2022). average values of wind speeds (m s-1) (+), precipitations (mm) (+), water vapor pressures (kpa) (+), solar radiations (kj m-2 day-1) (+), min. temperatures (°c) (+), max. temperatures (°c) (+), average temperatures (°c) (+), heating day degrees (+), cooling day degrees (+) (degree day) turkish meteorological service, national air quality monitoring, worldclim natural disasters this theme includes indicators such as the air pollution, number of floods, avalanches and landslides in the past years (1950-2019), areas affected by forest fires (2020) and the number of earthquakes. change of: pm2.5s (+), pm10s (+), no2s (+), o3s (+), noxs (+) (% change). number of: landslidess (+) floodss (+), avalanchess (+), forest firess (+), water erosionss (+), earthquakess (+) (number) disaster & emergency management authority (afad) public utility and transport this theme includes transport-related indicators such as total length of primary and secondary roads and railways, number of vehicles, energyrelated indicators such as energy use and renewable energy potential, and waste-related indicators such as total amount of solid and liquid waste. length of: rail networkr (-), primary roadr (-), secondary roadr (-) (km); change in number of road vehicless (%) (+), electric vehicle charging stationsr (number) (-), change of electricity consumption per capitae (%) (+), number of : geo-thermal energy plantsr (-), hydrothermal energy plantsr (-), wind turbinesr (-), biogas and solar energy plantsr (-) (number); change of municipal waste per capitar (%) (+) esri business analyst and arcgis hub, tuik, openstreetmap social characteristics this theme has socio-cultural related indicators such as total population and migration changes (2007-2022), changes in educational attainment (2008-2022), socio-economic development index, number of hospital beds & doctors. change in: populatione (-), population densitye (-), inmigratione (+), outmigratione (-), people having high degree educationr (-), illiterate peopler (%) (+); socio-economic development indexr (-) (index score), number of hospital beds/doctors (number)r (-) esri business analyst and arcgis hub, tuik note: s susceptibility; r resilience; e exposure; (+): positive relation with vulnerability; (-): negative relation with vulnerability 2.3. normalisation of variables the large and narrow range in the variance between the variables in multivariate statistical analysis necessitates normalizing the variables. thus, before they are aggregated, indicators must be converted into dimensionless numbers. the variables listed in table 1 were normalized using the min-max approach, which rescales the data ustaoglu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 linearly by placing a value of 0 at the worst and a value of 1 at the best. eq. (1) was utilized to represent a positive indicator, and eq. (2) was utilized to represent a negative indicator. 𝑧𝑖𝑗 = (𝑥𝑖𝑗−min(𝑥𝑖)) (max(𝑥𝑖)−min⁡(𝑥𝑖)) (1) 𝑧𝑖𝑗 = 1 − (𝑥𝑖𝑗−min(𝑥𝑖)) (max(𝑥𝑖)−min(𝑥𝑖)) (2) 2.4. the weighting of indicators with mcdm methods assessing climate change vulnerability in cities is a complex and crucial task that necessitates the application of comprehensive and robust approaches. multi-criteria decision analysis (mcda) approaches play a key role in this assessment since they allow for the creation of composite indicators and index computations (el-zein & tonmoy, 2015; žurovec et al., 2017; truong et al., 2023). the bwm and swara are two powerful mcda methods that offer a structured and quantitative way to calculate the weights of different indicators and combine information to create composite indicators and indexes. rezaei (2015) introduced the bwm, which offers a methodical way to assess the significance of different criteria by comparing them pairwise and pinpointing the most and the least crucial factors to establish reliable weightings. the method is praised for its simplicity, efficiency, and capacity to generate dependable weights with little cognitive load on respondents (bovkır et al., 2023). swara complements bwm by providing a detailed method for adjusting initial weights based on expert judgment. keršuliene et al. (2010) introduced the swara method, which enables experts to iteratively adjust weights by hierarchically evaluating criteria and considering differences in importance among successive indicators. this method is an mcda method and does not involve complex and time-consuming calculation processes. the bwm methodology involves multiple steps (rezaei, 2015): • an expert panel was assembled to provide a wide range of insights and perspectives. experts identified the most (the best; bi) and the least (the worst; wi) important indicators for each vulnerability dimension based on their potential impact on urban climate change vulnerability. • experts conducted pairwise comparisons between bi and all other indicators, as well as wi against all others, using a numerical scale (table 2) to indicate relative importance or unimportance. • weights were calculated by solving a linear programming problem aimed at minimizing the inconsistency of expert comparisons to ensure the reliability of the derived weights implementation. table 2: 1 to 9 scale for pairwise comparisons (source: saaty, 1980) intensity of importance definition 1 3 5 7 9 2,4,6,8 equal importance moderate importance strong importance very strong importance absolute importance intermediate values the outstanding characteristic of the swara method is that it can estimate the opinions of experts or interest groups regarding the importance of variables in the weight-determination process (mardani et al., 2017). in our study, six professionals in the fields of public policy, environmental science, geomatics engineering, and urban development and planning made up the panel of experts. they were asked to rank the importance of particular criteria based on the weights given in table 2. because each pair of criteria was represented as a single number in the pairwise comparison matrix, they assigned relative weights to the subject criteria based on their level of expertise. the resulting outcomes were then averaged to obtain a single value for each pair of criteria. the application methodology of the swara method is generally described in six steps (alrasheedi et al., 2023; jalilian et al., 2022). ustaoglu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 determination of the decision criteria (j) on the relevant problem. decision-makers rank the criteria from the best to the worst based on their own knowledge and experience. considering the created ranking, the criteria are scored comparatively, starting from the second-ranked criterion, between 0-1, consistent with multiples of 5%. in this way, sj values are calculated. the kj coefficient expressed in eq. (3) is calculated for each criterion. 𝑘𝑗 = {1, 𝑖𝑓⁡⁡𝑗 = 1⁡𝑠𝑗 + 1, 𝑖𝑓⁡⁡𝑗 > 1⁡ (3) the weight coefficient qj expressed in eq. (4) is calculated for each criterion. 𝑞𝑗 = {1, 𝑖𝑓⁡⁡𝑗 = 1⁡ 𝑞𝑗−1 𝑘𝑗 , 𝑖𝑓⁡⁡𝑗 > 1⁡ (4) the relative weights (wj) of the criteria are obtained using eq. 5. 𝑤𝑗 = 𝑞𝑗 ∑ 𝑞𝑘 𝑛 𝑘=1 (5) 2.5. development of climate change vulnerability index the composite vulnerability index was computed based on the 6 main indicators and their sub-indicators as summarised in table 1. the climate change vulnerability index (ccvi) was computed through a weighted linear summation of the indicators as shown in eq. (6) 𝐶𝐶𝑉𝐼 = ∑ 𝑊𝑗𝐼𝑗 𝑛 𝑗=1 (6) where ccvi is the climate change vulnerability index; n is the number of factors influencing climate change that are considered in the analysis; wj is the weight of criterion j which was calculated using the bwm and swara methods; ij is the jth indicator that was normalized based on eq.s (1) and (2). the value of the vulnerability score, ccvi, ranges between 0 and 1 where a value close to 0 represents lower climate change vulnerability while 1 indicates a higher vulnerability. the overall methodology in the development of ccvi is presented in figure 2. ustaoglu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 2: different stages of the construction of the composite indicator (ccvi) in our study 3. results 3.1. determining indicators weights the weights of the main criteria obtained from the bwm and swara methods are presented in table 3. from the table, it can be noted that meteorological conditions and land cover change are associated with the highest weights while social characteristics and economy are assigned the lowest weights. it is also important to mention that the bwm and swara were applied to the main criteria and all the sub-criteria were assigned with equal weights. therefore, we only present the results for the main criteria and skipped the presentation of the sub-criteria. as an example, the vulnerability indices calculated for meteorological conditions and land cover change are presented in figure 3. the vulnerability maps based on other criteria can be obtained from the authors. from figure 3, it can be seen that western, north-western, and southern cities are the most vulnerable to the changes in meteorological conditions whereas eastern and mid-cities are the least vulnerable ones. to the land cover change vulnerability, cities in the northwest and south are the most vulnerable ones and the cities in the mid-region are the least vulnerable ones. these highly vulnerable cities to land cover change are those that are accompanied by high population and urban land use growth. and the cities vulnerable to meteorological conditions are mainly the coastal cities which may be influenced by rising sea levels, extreme storms, and floods. 1 data quality analysis data selection/ model inputs subindicator building normalization of subindicators (55 subindicators) weighting of sub-indicators using 1) swara method 2) best-worst method aggregation of sub-indicators using weighted linear aggregation method development of composite indicators based on two alternative weighting methods ccvi (compos ite indicator visualisation & dissemination & communication ustaoglu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 table 3: the indicators weights calculated from bwm and swara techniques. main theme bwm weights swara weights social characteristics 0.076 0.084 public utility and transport 0.114 0.117 economy 0.045 0.052 land cover change 0.228 0.229 natural disasters 0.152 0.152 meteorological conditions 0.385 0.366 (a) note: very low: 0.21-0.27, low: 0.28-0.41, medium:0.42-0.50, high:0.51-0.58, very high: 0.59-0.72. (b) note: very low: 0.25-0.33, low: 0.34-0.45, medium:0.46-0.49, high:0.50-0.53, very high: 0.54-0.69. figure 3: vulnerability indices calculated for (a) meteorological conditions (b) land cover change ustaoglu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 3.2. producing climate change vulnerability indexes because the weights we obtained from bwm and swara were close to each other (table 3), the calculated composite vulnerability indicators were also similar. therefore, we jointly presented the results as given in figure 4. the dark colors in the figure present the cities that are the most vulnerable to climate change in terms of exposure, susceptibility, and adaptive capacity. these cities are mainly located in the northern, western, and southern coasts of turkey as well as the cities in the southeast region. this suggests two important observations that need to be highlighted: first, coastal areas and climate risk are interlinked, and the closest cities to the coast are also the most vulnerable to climate change. second, the highest temperature extremes are related to impacts of the climate change. the highest seasonal temperatures particularly in summer are observed in south-eastern cities which were found to be most vulnerable to climate change. forecasts of poor rainfall and extreme temperatures in the southeastern region suggest that a high percentage of population and livelihoods could be at risk. based on the continuation of this trend, food security could be affected due to a lower amount of arable land, draught, and low yields of agricultural production. these regions are also prone to wildfires, among which şanlıurfa and mardin are the most vulnerable cities with annual share of burned land averaging 6.6 and 5.4 percent, respectively between 2011 and 2021 (world bank, 2022). these cities are among those with large shares of poor population in turkey implying that the poor population had to cope with the devastating impacts of wildfire in the past 10 years. the coastal cities are vulnerable to climate change due to heavy rainfalls resulting in rising sea levels, floods, and windstorms. the estimations by kerblat et al. (2021) indicated that a 200-year flood along the mediterranean coast could push 100,000 people into poverty. there were 935 extreme events in 2019 with heavy rain/floods (36%), windstorms (27%), and hail (18%) that pose risks to people's lives and infrastructure (world bank, 2022). it was estimated by the world bank (2022: 33) that a 100-year flood would affect more than 3 percent of gdp (or $20 billion) and 3 million people. and it was shown that both rich and poor people are affected by floods, particularly in the coastal areas. figure 4: climate change vulnerability indices obtained from bwm and swara techniques. 4. discussion the vulnerability index can be utilized to evaluate the possible effects of a program, initiative, or policy by changing the value that is anticipated to change and adjusting the index through recalculation (nguyen et al., 2016). the new predicted proportion might be entered into the formula to determine the new vulnerability score, for instance, if the ustaoglu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 goal of the policy is to increase access to social security benefits. any policy intervention's true direct and indirect consequences, however, are hard to quantify and require an additional assessment procedure (pandey et al., 2017). as an alternative, the index can be applied to determine which components are most important in causing vulnerability when guiding policy. our results from weight calculation analysis indicated that the most significant factors contributing to climate change vulnerability are meteorological conditions and land cover change. therefore, policy applications should address these issues to increase the resilience and adaptability of societies and reduce their vulnerability. meteorological factors and land cover were also highlighted in the research by yoo et al. (2011) which focused on the development of climate vulnerability indices in the selected coastal city in korea; pandey and jha (2012) constructed a climate vulnerability index by considering multiple criteria to assess the vulnerability of communities in rural himalaya, india; krishnamurthy et al. (2014) which provided a methodological framework to evaluate the impacts of climate risk on food security at the national level in the globe; and balaganesh et al. (2020) which developed composite climate index to assess climate change-induced drought in india. other factors were also mentioned in the literature such as ecosystem services, food, human habitat, health, governance, electricity and waste, infrastructure, and water (edmonds et al., 2020; kling et al., 2021; al mamun et al., 2023; buchir & detzel, 2023; phuong et al., 2023). meteorological conditions and land cover change make the country highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and other environmental hazards and bring adaptation strategies and resilience to the forefront. compared to similar nations, turkey’s transportation infrastructure is more susceptible, and the country is dealing with problems related to food security, rising water stress, and unprecedented natural disasters like the 2021 forest fire season and earthquakes in february 2023 in the southeastern region. climate conditions, population exposure (such as the percentage of the population exposed to floods and forest fires), and socioeconomic factors (such as the percentage of agriculture in the economy) all contribute to this susceptibility. another important factor contributing to climate susceptibility is the energy sectorwhich includes power and different land use sectors (transport, industry, residential uses, etc.)-is the country’s largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. therefore, land use changes observed in the country such as conversion of agricultural land to urban uses or conversion of forests to agricultural uses all contribute to increasing energy use resulting in higher greenhouse gas emissions. the air pollutants such as methane and carbon contribute to climate change and are associated with serious health problems. for the decarbonization of the power sector, some strategies can be introduced such as promoting energy efficiency and electrification for zero carbon transport and buildings, industrial energy efficiency and technological innovation to mitigate emissions, emission reduction in waste and agricultural sectors, and optimizing the carbon sequestration potential of forests and agricultural landscapes. additionally, there are chances for more focused adaptation measures to control long-term climate change and natural risks. these steps can lessen the damage caused by natural disasters, but they can also delay the effects of climate change on agriculture, water availability, and human habitation. the index developed in this study can be adopted to different contexts and spatial scales by following the same methodology that is introduced in the paper. at the more detailed spatial levels, there can be different indicators representing more spatial details that can be included in the analysis to compute the ccvi. if the study is repeated in a different national context, indicators that are relevant for a specific nation may provide vulnerability indices that are different from the ones shown here. weights that are assigned to indicators and sub-indicators can be different at the national context as these will be specified by experts to highlight the importance of country specific factors. the index can be calculated at different time periods based on the availability of the indicator data to monitor the impact of government policies that aim to alleviate the impacts of climate change. this can be useful to compare vulnerability of cities at the benchmark year with the year when the policy is applied. the change in climate according to different climate scenarios have an influence on the ccvi in that the value of the index can be modified and the new vulnerability score can be re-computed. within this framework, climate models can serve as a valuable input for the construction of the vulnerability index. through the prediction of expected climate-related occurrences, together with the corresponding financial consequences and mortality under various scenarios, an understanding of how climate affects vulnerability can be gained. another important step in the development of a composite indicator is the sensitivity analysis. the main goal with sensitivity analysis is to measure the impact of input elements on the model result. sensitivity analysis methods allow the whole range of values for each input variable to be explored without ustaoglu/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 assuming anything about the structure of the model (e.g., additivity or linearity). sensitivity analysis can be specified to be performed as a future research focus. 5. conclusion the findings offered here provide a novel assessment of the turkish population's susceptibility to the physical, social, and environmental effects of climate change. the creation of a set of indicators specific to the turkish context and the mapping of the state of turkish cities’ vulnerabilities from a climatic standpoint are the study's two main accomplishments. the findings indicate that since socio-economic status, infrastructure transportation, and meteorological conditions were among the variables influencing the communities' existing susceptibility, particularly in the coastal cities and the cities in the south-eastern region of turkey, improving people's quality of life, health, and infrastructure and alleviating the impacts of meteorological conditions would be a key policy toward preparing the turkish population to deal with the effects of climate change. investing in urban infrastructure, such as health, physical infrastructure, communication networks, and disaster preparedness, is another crucial step towards enhancing adaptive capacity, since drought, forest fires, and flood events may become more regular in the regions that are associated with high vulnerability. an increase in the severity of climate events suggests a threat to the food security of the area, while there is also an increased risk of death for the local population which may be influenced by severe floods, windstorms, and forest fires. the employed methodology was designed to be straightforward to understand and apply for policy making, allowing decision-makers at the local and provincial levels to adopt it. the development of ccvi at the province level made it possible to target resources and policies based on geographical differences and assess vulnerability comprehensively. based on the availability of data, this approach can be used in the future in more local areas with the use of local indicators that show different socio-spatial features. acknowledgment the abstract of this paper was presented at the geographic perspectives on climate change mitigation in urban and rural environments (gcue) conference – 1st edition which was held on the 25th-27th of april 2024. funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors 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(2017). quantitative assessment of vulnerability to climate change in rural municipalities of bosnia and herzegovina. sustainability, 9(7), 1208. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 8 january 2024, accepted: 14 january 2024, published online: 31 march 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i1.1061 citizen participation program in iztapalapa precinct, with the implementation of cablebus line 2 maria d. ayala-gonzalez1, bertha n. cabrera-sanchez2 1master’s degree student, master’s degree program in sciences in architecture and urbanism, esia tecamachalco, the instituto politecnico nacional, state of mexico, mexico 2professor-researcher, esia tec, the instituto politecnico nacional, state of mexico, mexico abstract the growth of the world’s cities gives rise to new forms of urban mobility for their inhabitants. in mexico city, unchecked urban growth in the city’s central areas has created new needs for transportation systems. the solution to this demand was the implementation of two cable car (cablebus) lines in the city’s most densely populated precincts. the transportation mode called “cablebus” is a system of gondolas suspended in the air, which transports passengers over short distances from station to station. the rugged topography found in the gustavo a. madero and iztapalapa precincts, located in the north and east of the city, respectively, was the reason behind the decision to implement this mode of urban mobility. the aim of this article is to illustrate the process of active participation among residents, government agencies, and non-profit organizations in iztapalapa precinct that unfolded with the implementation of programs like iztapalapa mural, in relation to the community’s perception of the urban environment in the context of the implementation of the cablebus. by making changes in their environment, the community comes to identify with their cultural rights and builds positive expectations for the urban environment. thus, with the collaboration and support of local homeowners, their efforts led to the creation of 927 artistic murals, enlivening rooftops, perimeter walls, and façades. local residents express part of their cultural identity in the murals and share it with a wider public along the route of cablebus line 2. the perception among residents changes positively with regard to the safety of their living space and urban image. it opened new opportunities to improve and rescue public spaces that have been repurposed to achieve better interaction and communication in the community and create urban-architectural symbols that give the area a unique meaning and promote the integration of urban mobility by incorporating artistic expressions that reflect the local culture. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review is under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords citizen participation; citizen intervention; urban mobility; cablebus; urban landscape. 1. introduction citizen participation is a key component in the integral functioning of a city, and considering the perception and integration of the community in the functions of urban mobility is part of their identity. the economic commission for latin america (spanish acronym cepal) is an institution that marks the importance of processes of social construction in such citizen participation. globally, cities have strived to find solutions to problems of urban mobility. http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i1.1061&domain=press.ierek.com ayala-gonzalez/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 this article aims to show that community participation in urban projects in the city is key in the process of improving the urban environment. the implementation of the public transportation service cablebus line 2 spurred local residents to appropriate the public space and make it their own by means of a comprehensive urban improvement plan, centered on the implementation of safe walkways, improvements to public lighting, intervention in posts, and designs for multicolored mosaics covering walls, façades, and rooftops of homes. the use of color in the urban environment is visually attractive, changing the perception of the place for residents and visitors who use the public transportation system. the work presented is divided into four parts. first, we describe the location and historical-urban context of iztapalapa, mexico city; second, we examine the subject of programs implemented in the context of urban mobility with cablebus line 2; third, we discuss the importance of citizen participation in projects of urban mobility; and we conclude with comments on iztapalapa’s communal identity. the identity of its landscapes and the enhanced mobility the system offers has made residents feel identified with it, giving them an identity and increased visibility across the urban landscape, with urban art emerging at the same time as one of the primary forces shaping the local identity, with a concept so special that it defines a cultural identity that stands out in mexico city, as an important feature to idealize and enhance the urban profile of iztapalapa precinct. 2. problem statement the voices of the residents who populate the metropolis should be heard, to know their ideas and help meet immediate needs that concern a majority of the city’s inhabitants; such contributions can help to improve the urban landscape and build a sense of belonging in residents’ physical space, as it is constructed with their ideas, complementing their customs and day-to-day practices and reinforcing their sense of a shared identity. for the most part, residents of the higher altitude areas of mexico city and the metropolitan area have lived in closeknit neighborhoods or townships and adopted and adapted different customs and an identity that characterizes them, forming strong ties to their place of origin. 3. study aim the primary aim of this article is to acknowledge the importance of citizen participation programs in encouraging city dwellers to recreate an urban space in which they feel identified in the context of the implementation of the cablebus as a mode of urban mobility. in the case study presented, residents have formed a participative community that impacts their urban context through creative expression in murals covering walls, rooftops, and façades, which are visible in their broader setting from the cablebus’ gondolas. 4. literature review 4.1. historical-urban context of the implementation of overhead cable car type urban mobility in mexico city due to the accelerated growth of both mexico city and the greater metropolitan area in the adjoining state of mexico, systems of urban mobility have been created to meet residents’ needs for longer trips. the areas where this mode of transport has been implemented often lack running water and electricity and access is often complicated by their rugged topography and unsafe conditions. access to mass transport to connect these areas to the city’s public transport network was difficult; however, getting local residents involved in such projects is an integral part of their success. in mexico city and the metropolitan area of the state of mexico, to date, four overhead transportation system projects have been implemented and are operational. (as shown in table 1) ayala-gonzalez/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 table 1. overhead transport system, mexico city and state of mexico source: prepared by the authors based on (salinas cesáreo, 2016) (edomex, 2023) (méxico, 2023) this type of public transportation system is novel for city dwellers, given that the first use of cable cars in mexico was exclusively as a tourist attraction, used to provide visitors scenic views of colonial sites and natural marvels, as in the case of the cerro de la bufa mountain in zacatecas; the historic district of taxco, guerrero; the copper canyons in chihuahua; the historic district of the state capital of durango; and downtown puebla city. however, in 2016 mexico city implemented a cable car transport system to meet the needs of residents in the city’s higher altitude areas ciudad, addressing part of the shortage of urban mobility. today, the model of urban mobility by cable car in mexico city and the state of mexico has become part of the broader mass transit system, which residents have incorporated into their everyday life, and now forms part of the urban landscape. the incorporation of programs designed to improve the urban environment by implementing the cable car overhead transport system was a catalyst for complementary communal participation by the population at large. due to mexico city’s urban growth and the rugged terrain of some parts of the city, there were limitations on access for public transportation to reach higher altitude areas; however, cable car overhead transport systems have offered a solution for residents of such areas. below, in the section on urban mobility, we describe each of the lines that are currently in service and have benefited from community participation as an integral component in improving everyday life in the areas they serve. 4.1.2. urban mobility 4.1.2.1. line 1. mexicable red line, santa clara-la cañada the first line of the cable car public transport system in mexico was inaugurated on october 4, 2006, in the state of mexico, with the aim of connecting hard-to-reach areas between the state of mexico and mexico city and improving mobility for lower-income residents on the city’s periphery. according to the mexicable official website, one of its goals is to provide mobility for areas of high population density and limited access to public transportation like the municipalities of ecatepec and tlalnepantla, in the state of mexico. it was focused on reducing inhabitants’ trip times to improve and facilitate mobility in the area and provide safer conditions for users. (mexicable, 2023) participation and acceptance of the public transit system are constructed with local residents, through programs designed to improve the perception of people living in the areas where the cablebus overhead transportation system is implemented. (figure 1) demarcation line system start of operation number of stations length (km) no. of murals project to improve the urban environment state of mexico line 1. red line mexicable type cable car 04 october 2016 7 santa clara-la cañada 4.9 state of mexico line 2. green line mexicable type cable car 30 march 2023 6 indios verdeshank gonzález ii 8.4 52 la calle es tuya mexico city line 1 type cable car 11 july 2021 6 indios verdes cuautepec 9.2 mexico city line 2 type cable car 08 august 2021 7 santa martaconstitución de 1917 10.6 yes mexico city line 3 type cable car future 6 los pinos-vasco de quiroga 5.42 s/d s/d ayala-gonzalez/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 4.1.2.2. line 2. mexicable green line, indios verdes-hank gonzález ii this is the second cable car line implemented in the state of mexico with the aim of extending mexicable line 1 and connecting residents with mexico city. it was inaugurated recently, in march 2023, with murals incorporating urban elements that portray part of the identity of the area’s inhabitants. citizen participation and eagerness to embrace the project is manifest in the confidence shown in placing murals on façades, walls, and rooftops of private homes, residential buildings, and stations along the mexicable’s route. murals were commissioned with 30 urban artists of national and international renown like farid rueda, david ortiz, alec monopoly, guido van helten, and jonh pugh, who incorporate art and color to enhance the perception of the surroundings. the social project implemented by the government was la calle es tuya (the street is yours), conceived as an initiative to recover homes, neighborhoods, and public spaces in the areas served by the cable car’s 6 stations, comprising some 50 murals in total, with varied messages on themes including women’s issues, nature, the importance of reading, nature, wildlife, the identity of ecatepec’s people, hop, pre-hispanic culture, respect, and frida kahlo in ecatepec, all with the aim of fomenting art and culture among those who inhabit and visit the area. the murals in turn have become part of the backdrop to everyday life for the residents of these areas, and start to form part of their identity, and the views one sees from the gondolas offer an urban x-ray of day-to-day life in the area. local inhabitants participated in the creative process, helping to paint the murals. (mxcity, 2023) (fernández, 2016) line 1. cablebus indios verdes-cuautepec the first line of the cable car transport system in mexico city was inaugurated on july 11, 2021, spanning 9.2 kilometers from cuautepec to indios verdes. with three stations and three terminals, it aims to serve areas with high population density and limited access, absorbing the demand for accessible and rapid public transport and urban mobility for their inhabitants. (méxico, 2023) this cablebus line incorporated the program pintando tu fachada (painting your façade), applying color to the façades and walls of homes. along the line, we see colorful landscapes that enhance the urban image seen from the cablebus. the majority of the route runs along large avenues, to avoid invading the privacy of nearby homes. citizen participation was expressed in a total of 1341 homes and 14 housing projects. (alcaldía, 2021) in the year 2017, gustavo a. madero precinct had its first experience with a large-scale mural, where more than 20,000 homes were painted to form a mural, which, as reported in the daily milenio, promoted a sense of identity and belonging in the local community. also, a program called pongamos color (adding color) was implemented, as part of a broader effort to restore the social fabric. today, the lively, colorful mural is visible from the gondolas of cablebus line 1. (milenio, 2017) citizen participation is key to implementing interventions with the aim of beautifying and introducing art in the urban environment. below, we present information for cablebus line 2, which implemented social programs and improvements to thoroughfares used most heavily by local inhabitants, improving public safety in some areas. line 2. cablebus santa marta-constitución de 1917 several factors were considered to meet the demand for urban mobility in east mexico city, among them the topographical conditions of the area, urban growth, and the inhabitants, who are fundamental in achieving acceptance and appropriation of necessary development projects for the city. iztapalapa is one of mexico city’s most populous precincts, with 1,835,486 inhabitants, 51.63% women and 48.36% men; it is a precinct in need of urban mobility. in the year 2021, it inaugurated line 2, a cable car overhead public transport system with gondolas for 10 passengers, which transports some 108 thousand riders daily. ayala-gonzalez/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 iztapalapa has public transport systems like subway line 8, which connects with the station constitución de 1917; an electric light train system with service on line a, which connects to the pantitlán subway station; cablebus line 2; and an elevated trolley bus line connecting to santa marta station and subway line 8 at constitución de 1917. the inhabitants of east iztapalapa occupy land at 2300 to 2400 meters above sea level, a factor that complicates rapid access to the public transit system and led the city government to pursue the implementation of a public overhead transport system to meet the area’s needs for mobility and connect areas of high marginalization and population density. the solution implemented is the electric transportation service cablebus line 2. (cdmx, cablebús l2, 2023). (as shown in figure 1) figure 1: geographic location of cablebus line 2 santa marta-constitución de 1917. source: prepared by the authors based on data from (inegi, mapa digital de méxico, 2023) (cdmx, gobierno de la ciudad de méxico, 2023) cablebus line 2 is 10.6 km long, with 7 stations, and connects the east side of mexico city with the city center. it moves 108 thousand people a day on average. information posted to the mexico city website states that with the implementation of cablebus line 2, local residents saw improvements to urban services and infrastructure in neighborhoods near its seven stations, among them the construction of the quetzalcóatl market, creation and renovation of public sports facilities, parks, and spaces for training like pilares. according to the mexico city department of works, a comprehensive urban improvement plan was developed to address the needs for urban mobility of local inhabitants, including the implementation of safe walkways, improved public lighting, surveillance cameras connected to c5 (a system operated by the mexico city center for emergency response and citizen protection), intervention in posts with multicolored mosaics, and improvement of green areas. (cdmx, constitución de 1917-santa marta, 2023) in their dissertation, morales & romero affirm that this new mode of transport has improved the perception of safety among local inhabitants, mainly because they feel safe in the gondolas, avoiding robberies and sexual harassment, in addition to shorter travel times and greater efficiency in transportation. it bears noting that the authors cited document how users are drawn to the views the cable car provides, mentioning that: “….the landscape stands out because the subject’s experience of mobility in its socio-spatial dimension is different from what other modes of transport can offer because the landscapes visible from the gondolas offer a unique vantage, from which riders can see not only the streets or avenues that form the routes of buses, collectives, or taxis, nor is their view limited to the dark tunnels the subway runs through; instead, the user’s field of vision is expanded, which enriches their experience and manner of inhabiting the city through the senses, because “from the heights,” as users call it, most of the homes below the cable car’s route are adorned with murals with social themes, and they can observe the composition of their neighborhood, district, and city.” (morales castro & romero hernández, 2022, page. 28) sierra de santa catarina iztapalapa santa marta san miguel teotongo torres buenavista xalpa lomas de la estancia quetzalcoatl constitución de 1917 elevaciones c. del marquez c. de la estrella v. la caldera2460 m 2400 m 2400 m v. guadalupe 2820 m c. yuhualixqui 2383 m c. xaltepec 2436 m c. tecuautzi 2635 m c. tetecón 2480 m c. mazatepec 2400 m estación del cablebus "línea 2" recorrido línea cablebus estados unidos de américa méxico belice guatemala golfo de méxico océano pacífico sierra de santa catarina iztapalapa ciudad de méxico pg. 6 ayala-gonzalez/ environmental science and sustainable development however, jennifer turrubiartes mentions that the local residents’ perception regarding the use of the cablebus is complex since the occurrence of incidents like earthquakes, heavy rains, hailstorms, and gusts of wind, among others, has caused power outages that leave users stranded in the gondolas, and people living beneath the cablebus feel vulnerable to the possible consequences of such eventualities. (turrubiartes, 2022) with this project, active citizen participation has been observed, which is reflected in eagerness to embrace social projects, in particular the creation of murals on both the interior and the exterior of homes, as seen in the colorful mosaics applied to homes. (as shown in figure 2) 4.2. urban growth in reference to the collection of data for the last census taken by the national institute of statistics and geography (spanish acronym inegi), the iztapalapa precinct accounts for between 18 and 20 % of mexico city’s total population. the report emphasizes that, in recent years, the population density has increased, and in table 2 we see that between 1990 and 2000 the population grew by 2.5%, equivalent to 282,844 inhabitants; however, from 2015 to 2020 it grew only 0.56%, equivalent to 7,618 inhabitants. (see table 2). table 2: demography of iztapalapa precinct, mexico city. 1990-2020 source: prepared by the authors based on data published by the national institute of statistics and geography (inegi, 2023) territorial unit 1990 2000 2010 2015 2020 mexico city 8,235,744 8,605,239 8,873,017 8,918,653 9,209,944 iztapalapa 1,490,499 1,773,343 1,815,596 1,827,868 1,835,486 in the year 1990, the inegi reported a count of 1,490,499 inhabitants, equal to 18.09% of the city’s total population; in 2000 the precinct saw an increase in the census numbers with 1,773,343 inhabitants, who made up 20.60%; for 2010 the count was 1,815,596 or 20.46%; in 2015 the census reported 1,825,868 inhabitants, equal to 20.49%; and in 2020 the last census taken found 1,835,486 inhabitants, equal to 19.93%. 4.3. citizen participation programs implemented in the context of urban mobility with cablebus line 2 with the growth of cities, population density, modernization, and new technologies, society began to demand transportation with greater efficiency, and that it be accessible and affordable for all; the creation of new routes and roads to facilitate connection between central public transport systems and expand the new peripheries that man himself has constructed over time. in the year 2005, mexico city implemented one of the public transport systems (metrobús) which had a great impact, mainly because it is efficient and environmentally friendly, with the intention of offering traffic solutions, modifying organizational schemes, and helping users adapt to the city’s urban renewal, for example, double-decker buses to transport greater numbers of passengers, fixed stops, exclusive lanes, and reconfiguration of pedestrian traffic signals (foro de la movilidad, 2021). in the year 2019, a new project was proposed for the east side of mexico city with the aim of improving the quality of life of inhabitants and urban mobility in the iztapalapa precinct; in 2021 it was implemented due to the physical characteristics of the environment for which it was planned to meet the needs of the population. the arrival of the cablebus marked the start of the development of new alternatives with the ideology of a far-reaching transformation to integrate the city for future generations; iztapalapa precinct has created various citizen participation programs to enhance its urban image and affirm the identity of its inhabitants to promote culture. below, we describe the programs that have been implemented in iztapalapa precinct as part of the incorporation of community participation of inhabitants at the urban level. (see table 3) pg. 7 ayala-gonzalez/ environmental science and sustainable development table 3. citizen participation programs in iztapalapa precinct. source: prepared by the authors based on data from iztapalapa mural, cdmx, arcoíris, and senderos seguros programs in mexico city. (cdmx, gobierno de la ciudad de méxico, 2023) (iztapalapa, 2021) (cuevas, 2021) program year objective achievements community participation stakeholders involved place of application arcoíris program 2016 enhance and change the urban image neighborhood identity -participation -urban improvement -residents’ assemblies -iztapalapa precinct -mayor -residents fundación corazón urbano ac -homes -neighborhoods in iztapalapa iztapalapa mural program 2018 dignification and urban collaboration recover spaces communal intervention coordinators -residents’ assemblies iztapalapa precinct -cultural division -artists -residents -colectivo tomate -neighborhoods iztapalapa precinct senderos seguros program: free and safe women’s walkways 2021 build identity and safety eradicate violence ensuring the safety of inhabitants -improvement of 188 safe walkways -7 thousand murals, -938 m2 of pavement -217 km of public lighting -office of women -iztapalapa precinct -project implemented for mexico city in the year 2016, iztapalapa launched its first citizen participation program, called programa arcoíris, to improve and change the urban landscape; façades of homes were painted in various colors creating the vision of an urban mural visible from miles away, transforming the neighborhood’s appearance and dignifying the space with a model that could be replicated in other precincts of the city. one of this program’s core objectives was to enhance and revindicate the urban image and citizen participation in the precinct, especially among children and youth; citizen participation took the form of residents’ assemblies with local government authorities, and residents chose their preferred color to paint their homes. the program was implemented by three core groups, mainly by the mayor of iztapalapa, with help and support from residents and neighbors with the support of fundación corazón urbano ac, and was implemented primarily in 200 homes in 27 neighborhoods throughout iztapalapa precinct. in the year 2018 iztapalapa mural was created with the aim of honoring and recovering spaces frequented by local residents that figure prominently in their everyday lives, with the primary objective of involving residents in the preservation and dignification of their living space, honoring and recovering spaces frequented by local residents using art through a communal intervention; this would not have been possible without the support of the executive directorate of culture of the iztapalapa government, 145 artists with the support of residents’ assemblies in 300 neighborhoods, and colectivo tomate, whose members worked closely with residents to propose themes for the murals, imbuing them with meaning behind a story. another of the proposed projects is the implementation of sendero seguro: free and safe women’s walkways, which had as its primary objective to guarantee the safety of all pedestrians, especially women and girls. thanks to urban artists, more than 188 murals were painted expressing social and cultural messages, along with the restoration of streets and public spaces, for example, the installation of surveillance cameras and light fixtures in public spaces, and walkways integrated into the landscape with pedestrian signaling. with the support and participation of important government bodies like the office of women and the mexico city department of works and services and above all the participation of iztapalapa precinct. 4.4. citizen participation in urban mobility projects for iztapalapa precinct the creation of projects involving muralism, urban art, and improvement of public spaces, which are representative of the whole world and whose objective is to project the people’s voice through art embodied ayala-gonzalez/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 in murals, is important. full, uncompromising commitment to each project is fundamental to ensure its consistency; creation, collaboration, and formation are essential to optimize synergies among public management in the local government, the artists, and the hundreds of residents who represent society. the perception residents have of these projects is rooted in their acceptance of these kinds of programs, which have transformed their living space to reclaim their identity, building awareness of care and conservation (specify what kind of conservation) for future generations, recording thousands of stories on the walls and revindicating the urban landscape based on their own experiences and landmarks. citizen participation programs have as their primary objective to contribute to the formation of a society in which young people are the true protagonists conscious of the integration and importance of their urban space. 4.4.1. citizen participation program iztapalapa mural some 9,191 murals have been painted on rooftops, perimeter walls, façades, streets, and public spaces, thanks to artistic participation, however, it has also given rise to iztapalapa mural, a citizen participation program conceived in response to the implementation of the cable bus line, which was created by the iztapalapa precinct office of culture of and consists of 927 murals (4,713.33 m2) painted mainly on rooftops, perimeter walls, and façades (iztapalapa, 2021). a consensus on themes for the murals was formed with the help of coordinators and project managers engaged in outreach with residents of each neighborhood and district to learn about their stories, anecdotes, and lifestyles and propose murals with which they could identify. large format pieces are visible along the cablebus route, and the murals and other artistic expressions contain local stories and traditions with symbols of identity for each inhabitant, following different themes of integration, for example, the re-initiation of women (feminism), cultural diversity, the pre-hispanic past, and the plasma of history and cultural identity (as shown in figures 2 and 3). citizen participation has transformed this project jointly with the collaboration of nuclei to share iztapalapa’s culture with the world; local residents have had the opportunity to tell their life stories through the medium of urban art embedded in a landscape, conceptualizing a cultural identity along the route of the cablebus. figure 3: futbol en el barrio (neighborhood soccer), mural inspired by neighborhood soccer, iztapalapa precinct, photograph by the authors september 14, 2023. figure 2: murals on the rooftops of homes in iztapalapa precinct. photograph by the authors, july 05, 2023. ayala-gonzalez/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 government agencies supported the reclamation of the urban landscape near the cablebus stations, for example with lighting and resurfacing of streets known to be unsafe, and installed surveillance cameras in public spaces, enhancing security for inhabitants, especially women (cuevas, 2021). 4.5. communal identity of residents of iztapalapa, mexico city 4.5.1. cultural and communal identity iztapalapa mural is a clear example of how government agencies can create social programs and participative programs that involve their intended beneficiaries and improve their quality of life, without overlooking the meaning of a space and its urban image in a concept of identity for local residents. it is a project that has found ways to give the precinct’s inhabitants the power to make decisions regarding their space and its identity, with the aim of reclaiming spaces and facilitating communication and citizen participation driven by a novel mode of public transportation that has benefited thousands of residents. according to montero, communal identity derives from the relationship formed between subjects and actions taken to transform the territory they inhabit. (andrade mamian, gómez calvache, palacios cuero, vargas díaz, & burbano garcía, 2021) (montero, 2004) the residents of iztapalapa appropriate the identity of their territory, care for it, and make it their own; the dynamic they establish in caring for their surroundings is reflected in community participation. the overhead transportation cablebus line 2 provides has been integral in the process of rediscovering and reinforcing the communal identity of local residents, which is achieved through the formal act of agreeing to incorporate murals in their homes, painting their dwellings, and undertaking to care for them as part of a process of belonging. the residents who live below and close to the cablebus line are part of the expression of iztapalapa’s identity and are part of a system of urban communication, where the perceptions and feelings of inhabitants are transmitted, not only of those whose homes are directly below the cablebus but also of observers traveling in the gondolas above them, from which they can observe the ebb and flow of the urban space. the importance of knowing what the population identifies with is part of accepting what is implanted in their urban environment and is a process of embracing it as part of the community. recognition of similar ideas among inhabitants strengthens the bonds of appropriation and preservation of the environment. strong acceptance of the incorporation of projects necessary for the community boosts community involvement and strengthens social relationships among them. 5. conclusion the demand for new, modern, and functional public transport systems creates incentives for the creation of citizen participation programs that encourage the inclusion and perception of members of the community to ennoble and define their true essence in the crucible of the urban space, forming a conceptualization that expresses a way of life based on their beliefs, ideology, and culture. iztapalapa residents seek to honor the cultural identity that characterizes them, represented by a memory, a lifestyle, a culture, a belief, an entire life painted in a single image. the route of cablebus line 2 across mexico city has given urban artists the opportunity to exercise their talent and portray the life of an entire community. it is vitally important to acknowledge the structure of citizen participation programs in which city dwellers are allowed to contribute in ways that directly shape a project’s impact and fulfillment of its objective; the space is cohesive and will be imbued with cultural identity as the community adapts to processes and media. acknowledgments this article is part of a master’s degree research project in development undertaken by maria denise ayala gonzalez, the first author, entitled "citizen participation program in iztapalapa precinct, with the implementation of cablebus line 2,” under the auspices of the instituto politecnico nacional esia, tecamachalco unit, with a grant from the conacyt scholarship system. ayala-gonzalez/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 the authors want to express their gratitude to sip 20230221, a research project sponsored by the instituto politecnico nacional school of advanced engineering and architecture. the abstract of this paper was presented at the urban planning & architectural design for sustainable development (upadsd) conference – 8th edition which was held on the 24th-26th of october 2023. funding declaration: thanks to conahcyt as a scholarship recipient and the instituto politécnico nacional esia tec for the support received from the research project no. sip 20230221. ethics approval: not applicable. conflict of interest: the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references government of mexico city (august 08, 2021). inauguration of cablebus line 2. portal gobierno. retrieved from https://gobierno.cdmx.gob.mx/noticias/inauguramos-cablebus-linea-2/ alcaldía, g. a. 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(february 19, 2022). alternating current. retrieved from https://corrientealterna.unam.mx/territorios/linea-2-del-cablebusiztapalapa-teleferico-fallas/ zamarron , i. (2021 aug 26). cablebús sets guinness record as the world's longest urban cable car. mexico forbes. retrieved on 05 26 05 2023, from https://www.forbes.com.mx/cablebus-establece-record-guinness-como-el-teleferico-urbano-mas-largo-del-mundo/ zenteno padilla , j. (march 2019). the future of urban mobility. transport and city(16), 34-38. retrieved from https://amtm.org.mx/revistas/amtm-transporte-ciudad-impacto-en-la-movilidad-urbana-ed-18.pdf http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 19 september 2024, accepted: 19 january 2025, published online: 27 march 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i1.1119 carbon balance in the production of biomass in degraded pasture areas for the concession of incentive to biofuels in brazil laercio k. j. romeiro1, sonia paulino2 1phd student, school of arts, sciences and humanities (each), university of são paulo, brazil 2associate professor, school of arts, sciences and humanities (each), university of são paulo, brazil abstract using sugarcane biomass for the production of biofuels is an effective approach to address the issue of climate change. increasing carbon sequestration in the soil requires changes in land use. the choice of degraded pasture areas located in the state of mato grosso, brazil, for assessing the results of emissions of direct change in land use (d-luc) was due to the rapid expansion of biorefineries over the last decade. for data collection: i) areas of degraded pasture located in the state of mato grosso (mt) were selected to measure the results of d-luc emissions at various levels of pasture quality; ii) rural properties registered in the rural environmental registry (car) that have grown sugarcane in 2020 were considered. according to guarenghi et al. (2023), d-luc and the effect on the carbon footprint of ethanol were quantified. we adopted these values and calculated the environmental gain for a fuel ethanol enterprise, located in the municipality of nova olímpia (mt), whose reduction in the score represents a gain of 19% due solely to the contribution of d-luc in degraded areas. the resultant reduction in co2 emissions boosted the value of decarbonization credits (cbio), provided by the national policy on biofuels, by stimulating demand for cleaner energy solutions. the use of degraded pastureland for biomass cultivation can bring significant mitigation benefits, particularly when combined with carbon dioxide removal (cdr) options and natural revegetation. this highlights that cultivation in degraded areas can not only help mitigate climate change; it can also bring economic benefits to producers, including the increase in the value of cbio. the purpose of this study is to foster the use of degraded pasture areas to produce biofuels derived from sugarcane in brazil, while evaluating the economic benefit of strengthening decarbonization credits (cbio), due to the significant mitigation reduction benefits associated with options for carbon dioxide removal (rdc) and natural revegetation. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords biofuels, bioethanol, degraded pasture areas, ghg reduction, economic incentives 1. introduction the increasing increase in global biofuel production has been observed since 2000. for instance, ethanol production quadrupled between 2002 and 2020 (oecd/fao, 2020). policies to support biofuels in the largest producing regions are motivated by reducing dependence on foreign oil, as they have also sought to mitigate ghg emissions from the consumption of transport fuels and improve rural economic development (khanna et al., 2021). http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i1.1119&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ romeiro/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 there is a consensus that biomass will play a crucial role in the supply of future products currently derived from crude oil. this indicates a shift towards more sustainable energy sources and materials (jaiswal et al., 2019). however, challenges remain due to the growing demand for food and animal feed, which could intensify competition for land use, along with the impacts of climate change and the need to protect natural ecosystems (jaiswal, 2017). the following points are particularly important (gvein et al., 2023): (i) mitigation: biofuels derived from biomass can reduce carbon footprints compared to fossil fuels, playing a crucial role in climate action. (ii) sustainable land use: promoting sustainable land management is essential for preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services. (iii) economic benefits: expanding biofuel production can create jobs and enhance local farmers' livelihoods, fostering rural development. (iv) regulatory frameworks and carbon markets: aligning with global initiatives like the paris agreement, regulatory measures encourage sustainable practices in the energy sector. (v) scientific research and innovation: research into luc and carbon sequestration enhances understanding of biomass optimization and ecological trade-offs. (vi) global food security: balancing land use between food and energy production supports food security initiatives. to contribute to mitigating climate change, the agricultural sector focuses on reducing greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions by implementing practices such as planting biomass on degraded pasturelands. these efforts aim to boost sugarcane-derived biofuel production, adopt land-use change (luc), and drive habits and customs to enhance soil carbon sequestration. this can help balance the competing demands for land between food and energy production, thereby supporting global food security initiatives (gvein et al. (2023). land-use competition is a determining aspect in assessing the sustainability of biofuels in brazil (rutz and janssen, 2008). brazil’s focus on sugarcane as a biofuel source began in the 1970s, with the introduction of the proálcool program aimed at reducing dependence on oil imports. recently, there has been a growing recognition of the potential for using degraded lands for biomass cultivation. the choice of degraded pasture areas in the state of mato grosso for biomass production is particularly relevant, as these areas have been identified for their potential to reduce direct land use change (d-luc) emissions. according to the oecd/fao (2020), global projections indicate a 13% growth in ethanol production by the year 2030. brazil processed approximately 26.78 billion liters of ethanol in the 2020/2021 planting period (conab, 2024). the 2018 introduction of the renovabio program marked a pivotal step in promoting biofuels in brazil. this program establishes market mechanisms to recognize the emissions reduction capacity of biofuels, including the certification of production and the issuance of decarbonization credits (cbio). recent studies have focused on assessing the carbon balance in degraded areas and the impacts of d-luc over time (grangeia et al., 2022). the problem identified in the study is the variability and uncertainty in sustainability impacts, particularly in relation to the ghg reductions from biomass production on degraded lands. the challenges arise from context-specific conditions such as previous land use and biophysical characteristics, which lead to different outcomes in carbon emissions and sequestration. additionally, there are uncertainties in estimating the scale and impacts of luc, especially concerning sugarcane plantations, and the need for tailored, location-specific approaches to effectively manage these challenges. these issues complicate the broader application of findings across regions, making it difficult to generalize results and optimize biomass production strategies for ghg reduction. neglecting the cultivation of biomass in degraded areas without proper management can increase ghg emissions and prevent the realization of carbon sequestration benefits. this could perpetuate dependence on fossil fuels and contribute to rising carbon footprints. romeiro/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 ethanol production using low-productivity pastures to grow sugarcane is a sustainable way to expand the sugarcane cultivation area and, therefore, increase the production of bioenergy (cherubin et al., 2021). possible alternatives for enhancing carbon sequestration from the atmosphere encompass: expanding the production of bioproducts through industrial means, capturing carbon in sugarcane plantations, promoting the use of biofuels, advancing technological and industrial processes for negative emissions, and recycling agricultural waste (cerri, 2022). the implementation of luc can yield immediate benefits and long-term improvements in soil health and carbon sequestration (mello et al. 2014 apud cerri, 2022). on a global scale, unresolved issues in biomass production can affect brazil's role in global climate change mitigation efforts. as a significant player in the biofuel market, brazil's failure to optimize biomass production could undermine international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve sustainability goals. several studies have contributed to the understanding and greater acceptance of the environmental impacts of biomass production, not only in terms of land use change and carbon sequestration but also particularly in the context of brazilian agricultural practices (novaes et al., 2017; donke et al., 2020; gvein et al., 2023; he et al., 2024). there is a growing consensus on the importance of using degraded lands for biomass production. studies indicate that shifting arable land to the cultivation of perennial energy crops can increase water use efficiency and significantly reduce ghg emissions. although biomass production for biofuels offers promising opportunities, if not managed carefully, it can also pose significant risks. luc represents a large contribution to global co2 emissions (ipcc, 2014 apud novaes, et al., 2017). predicting the scale and impacts of sugarcane plantations is fundamental, especially in brazilian states with extensive agricultural areas and varied emission profiles. states in the southern and centralwestern regions generally have low associated emissions, while those within the amazon biome have the highest co₂ emission rates, mainly due to the expansion of grain plantations (novaes et al., 2017). the analysis considered geographically detailed land conversion data and comprised the assessment of emissions resulting from d-luc, as described by novaes et al (2017). the data was updated based on research conducted by donke et al. (2020) taking into consideration the impact of d-luc over 20 years. this resulted in the creation of datasets (life cycle inventories) that provide regionalized information on d-luc in brazil. improvements include regionalized carbon stocks and d-luc categories for pastures and forests. sustainable farming practices can be optimized by repurposing abandoned cultivated land and marginal lands. by integrating abandoned agricultural land and measuring specific biomass yields, these approaches can achieve optimal mitigation potential. according to gvein et al. (2023), utilizing land and prioritizing natural revegetation in areas of high biodiversity importance and remaining lands can lead to substantial improvements in greenhouse gas balance when evaluating options for cdr. however, one of the critical limitations highlighted in the literature is the dependency of sustainability impacts on context-specific conditions, such as previous land use and biophysical characteristics. this variability can lead to trade-offs between ghg decreases and other sustainability purposes, making it essential to tailor approaches to local conditions. other results highlight the potential of marginal lands and specific perennial crops to contribute to biomass production and co2 reduction. at the same time, they emphasize the need for further research and economic analysis to facilitate this transition (he, y. et al., 2024). the knowledge gap in this text lies in the uncertainty and variability surrounding the sustainability impacts of luc, particularly regarding the estimation of ghg emissions and carbon sequestration. while methods like brluc 2.0 offer a framework for estimating luc scenarios and emissions, they do not fully address the potential uncertainties or the complete impacts on emissions, especially across different regions. furthermore, there is a need for more refined assessments when related to d-luc and co₂ emissions that are correlated with the stage of sugarcane cultivation, thus covering the role of planting driving habits and customs and the management of changes that have occurred in carbon stocks over time. more research is required to understand how varying conditions, such as previous land use and biophysical characteristics, influence ghg reduction outcomes and to improve the applicability of findings across diverse regions. a major limitation is the variability in sustainability impacts based on context-specific romeiro/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 conditions, such as previous land use and biophysical characteristics. this inconsistency can lead to different outcomes in ghg reductions, making it challenging to generalize findings across different regions. there is significant controversy surrounding the most suitable methods for estimating luc and its associated emissions. the presence of indigenous carbon reserves and the time of planting due to agricultural expansion are decisive factors in the pattern of ghg emissions. the brluc 2.0 method, developed for brazil, estimates 20-year luc scenarios and co2 emission rates with grains, pastures and native forests in the country in each of the 27 states. to provide a framework for estimating luc scenarios, the magnitude of uncertainty and its potential impact on total emissions remain inadequately addressed. it is based on temporal statistics and is in line with the most widely used standards to determine carbon footprints. this approach can contribute positively to net carbon removal in the brazilian agricultural sector, influencing both bioenergy and agricultural sustainability. in addition to reducing co2 emissions, biomass cultivation in degraded pasture areas can boost the recovery of such areas and promote environmental sustainability. research on the calculation of emissions caused by d-luc associated with sugarcane cultivation has shown the importance of considering the effects of d-luc associated with agriculture. this refined assessment of luc and co2 emissions directly linked to the sugarcane planting phase includes the adoption of changes in appropriate driving habits and customs and soil carbon stocks over the last twenty years. (guarenghi et al., 2023). to mitigate climate change, reducing ghg emissions in the agricultural sector includes planting biomass in degraded pasture areas, thereby increasing the production of sugarcane-derived biofuels, as well as luc practices and driving habits and customs to increase carbon sequestration in the soil. the goal of this study is to evaluate the use of regions with degraded pastures in brazil to produce ethanol derived from sugarcane, while simultaneously evaluating the associated environmental and economic benefits. specifically, the study focuses on assessing the economic advantages of cbio as a tool for promoting cdr and natural revegetation, which contribute to climate change mitigation. encourage the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices that align with environmental criteria for biomass cultivation, aiming to revitalize degraded areas while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. the models adopted provide a variation in co₂ emission rates from luc according to different possibilities of land use transition, which can contribute with a great impact on the results (novaes et al., 2017). the effort to avoid ghg emissions per hectare is greater thanks to the possibility of producing more biomass by adopting a new unused area, favoring the non-use of fossil fuels. the use of degraded pasture areas influences the carbon balance and can represent a significant advantage in luc emissions. (2023) consider that increasing pastures for biofuels is an option that can be adopted to expand the areas necessary for sugarcane production, preventing an additional influence on the displacement of food crops or livestock. sugarcane ethanol produced in integrated pasture scenarios has outperformed conventional systems. in this context, the national biofuels policy (renovabio) is based on incentives to promote the valorization of decarbonization credits (cbio) granted to biofuel producers according to the higher environmental energy efficiency scores (neea). decreased ghg emissions during the sugarcane planting phase favor the assessment of this stage and improve the neea. therefore, there is a greater reduction in ghg for the equivalent quantity of ethanol produced. cbios to promote the valorization of degraded pasture areas instead of converting them into areas for cultivating perennial cereals can lead to significant environmental benefits. the state of mato grosso was chosen for this study due to its rapid growth of biorefineries, which process both sugarcane and corn, as noted by moreira et al. (2020). we explore the potential of using degraded pasturelands in brazil for biofuel production, particularly focusing on sugarcane. the datasets allow luc to be incorporated into brazilian agricultural products, at state, regional and national levels, showing a reduction in ghg emissions for soybeans and sugarcane. donke et al. (2020) identified improvements that had a significant impact. these include: (i) modeling luc at the state level with official national data; (ii) regionalized carbon stock; (iii) inclusion of pasture and forest luc categories; and (iv) considering sugarcane as a perennial crop. minor changes in data sources and assumptions significantly impact emissions directly linked with lucs in agricultural products. furthermore, it also demonstrated the substantial impacts of the imprecisions associated with the luc standard. romeiro/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 this study, based on the calculation of emissions caused by d-luc associated with sugarcane cultivation, has shown the importance of considering the effects of d-luc associated with agriculture and identifying and recommending driving habits and customs that can optimize biomass production while ensuring long-term sustainability and environmental benefits, addressing the gaps in current literature regarding effective strategies. this refined assessment of luc and co2 emissions directly linked to the sugarcane planting phase includes changes in appropriate activities and land carbon stocks over the last twenty years (guarenghi, et al., 2023). 2. method 2.1. selection of producers and areas the process of selecting the areas under study involves identifying rural properties with rural environmental registration (car) that were engaged in sugarcane cultivation in 2020, in the state of mato grosso (mt). the national petroleum agency's (anp) dynamic panel, anp (2022) enables the identification of cities and producers who are compliant with car and approved to take part in renovabio. the steps are: (i) identification of the biofuel producer and the location of the municipality that produced sugarcane in 2020 based on the selection of producers in mt. (ii) assessment of pasture quality in these mapped areas, with the identification of available pasture areas, and quantification of pasture area to meet the projected annual increase for each producer; and (iii) potential gain from valorization of cbio, indicating the projected environmental gain based on the estimated neea of each producer. based on the eligible volume of each certified producer, an estimate of the area required to meet the expected growth demand by 2030: quantification of additional area (ha) = quantity sugar cane harvested (tonnes) 𝑋 𝐴nnual growth of 1,29 % average productivity (tonnes/ ha) (eq 1) contribution of d-luc alone in degraded areas based on the net carbon emission/removal: contribution of d − luc (%) = 1 − (neea score ( gco2eq mj )− 11.21 quantified d−luc ( gco2eq mj )) neea score ( gco2eq mj ) (eq 2) d-luc (%) = contribution of the d-luc effect to the neea score. neea score = net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide (neea) refers to the balance of carbon dioxide (co2) emissions and uptake within an ecosystem. -11.21 gco2eq/mj = d-luc effect on ethanol's carbon footprint indicates withdrawal based on net carbon emission/removal correlated with sugarcane planting areas. the option to use the dynamic panel, depicted in figure 1, allows us to obtain certified producers with their respective cars. romeiro/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 1: dynamic panel of anp –itamarati – mt (source: dynamic panel of anp, 2024) figure 2 shows the detailed flowchart of the adopted methodology, and the next subsections explain the different steps of the methodology. regarding renovabio, the question of luc is linked to the choices of the means by which the raw materials for biofuel production are sourced. biomass cannot be sourced from areas where native vegetation covering was suppressed after november 2018 and cannot have a suspended car. figure 2: methodological approach the car (rural environmental registry) is a georeferenced document that shows the limits of each private property in brazil. it is the authorized instrument for compliance with environmental laws on agricultural properties in accordance with the forest code, as highlighted by sparovek, et al. (2019). the forest code is the main regulation for the protection of areas of native and natural vegetation in brazil, establishing standards for the protection of permanent protection areas and maintenance of the brazilian native legal reserve (2012) forest code. monitoring is conducted by means of the rural environmental registry, which indicates what actions are required to comply with the legislation indicated in the environmental recovery program. the choice of areas followed the recommendation of guarenghi et al. (2023), considering properties that grow sugarcane and have car. this condition ensures that these producers comply with the forest code in relation to permanent protection areas and eliminates the adoption of recently deforested areas, as required by the national petroleum agency (anp). the spatial distribution of car was obtained from imaflora atlas da agropecuaria brasileira (2022). properties with the most recent approval data (registrations from 2020 onwards) were considered, according to sicar (national rural environmental registry system). the car database was integrated with information on sugarcane cultivation areas from 2020, obtained from mapbiomas. (2021). the survey on data about the extent of degraded pasture areas from mapbiomas (2021) was used to assess the level of quality of pastures in each region and in each year, according to pereira et al. (2016) and santos et al. (2022), with the geographical location of areas suitable for growing biomass for biofuels, considering the factors of water availability, type of soil and potential for production of biomass. certification base year state company name producer unit 2019,2020 e 2021 mt usina itamarati uisa average eligible volume by fuel. average eligible volume by route. 100% 100% anhydrous and hydrated ethanol anhydrous and hydrated ethanol 1 – mapping of biofuel producers and the corresponding municipalities 2 assessment of pasture quality and quantification of the area of pasture required. 3 estimating the carbon balance using the d-luc factor. 4 calculation of the potential gain from the valorization of cbio that corresponds to the changes in the neea score. romeiro/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 regarding the mapping of degraded areas, the data was collected from the pasture atlas developed by the image processing and geoprocessing laboratory of the federal university of goiás (lapig/ufg), available at the ufg (atlas de pastagens, 2024). audit validation reports obtained from the certifiers at greendomus (2024), data was collected on yield per eligible area, yield per refinery, city, and year of production. 2.2. measurement according to gurenghi, et al. (2023), the data on carbon stocks were used from the brluc method as a reference. the summary of the carbon stocks for the categories of land use, according to garofalo et al. (2022), are included in the brluc method and adopt the ipcc as sources for factors of management, input and land use. in the case of carbon stocks in grain biomass, it adopts factors from the european commission and in the case of carbon stocks in pastures, it adopts factors from the third national communication (2016). the data can be improved by adopting driving habits and customs and including carbon stock values (tier 2) to obtain more accurate results for d-luc emissions for different pasture quality levels. in relation to biofuel products and products derived from the border areas defined by the car, they can serve as a differentiating factor and a tool to monitor d-luc correlated to the planting series, the cultivation system and related habits and customs the preservation of natural vegetation or compliance with local regulations (guarenghi, et al., 2023). this study used moderate degradation of pasture, which is the prevailing condition in brazil (dias-filho, 2014 apud guarenghi et al., 2023); ferreira et al., 2014 apud guarenghi et al., 2023). the study took average values from the intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc) for crop management. we also consider parameterization data, such as pasture quality levels, automated harvesting history, determination of the carbon stock of sugarcane biomass and adherence of the carbon stock of crop biomass to the ipcc (annual mode). guarenghi et al. (2023) quantified d-luc and the emissions associated with sugarcane crops, including changes in driving habits and customs and carbon stock factors associated with d-luc. the data was adjusted for the last two decades in brazil in the center-west and southeast regions. carbon data from the brluc v.2 method, according to garofalo et al. (2022), which provides soil carbon stock data, was used as a reference. 3. results more specifically, it considers the economic advantages of increasing decarbonization credits (cbios) by measuring the positive balance of greenhouse gas emissions associated with carbon dioxide removal (cdr) and natural revegetation options. the carbon balance in degraded areas can represent a significant advantage, acting as a tool for monitoring d-luc emissions in relation to products, cultivation systems and natural vegetation preservation practices (guarenghi et al., 2023). studies indicate the need to conduct a comprehensive assessment of raw materials and biomass supply chains. the history of land use and raw material sourcing is more relevant than other specific conditions. the transition from cultivating arable land to growing perennial energy crops leads to enhanced synergy, particularly regarding water use efficiency (vera et al., 2022). there is a consensus on prioritizing the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and revitalization of rural areas, particularly in the comprehensive evaluation of biomass raw materials (mola-yudego et al., 2024), confirming the significant potential for improvement for the entire agricultural system through luc studies for biofuels highlight. according to macedo, i.c. et al (2015), under the right conditions, biofuels have the potential to significantly reduce the levels of ghg. the method adopted enables life cycle analysis (lca) and carbon footprint (cfp) practitioners to easily incorporate d-luc emissions for agricultural products at a regional, state and national level. according to donke, a.c.g. et al., the year 2020 provides a more comprehensive representation of the diverse biome patterns in various parts of brazil, while also recognizing sugarcane as a permanent crop. romeiro/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 3.1. identification of cities that produced sugarcane in 2020 in the example, we have itamarati, in the city of nova olimpia mt. in the same spreadsheet, we identify producers by state and the respective biofuel data: eligible volume, year, city, energy efficiency score (neea), and emission factor. table 1 indicates producers of sugarcane-derived biofuels and the respective production parameters. table 1: list of sugar cane producers in the state of mato grosso (year 2020). (source: adapted by the authors) 3.2. quality of pastures per city in 2020, the center-west region, where the state of mato grosso is located, accounted for 27% of the sugarcane area in brazil (guarenghi et al., 2023). similarly, with the expansion of sugarcane, there has been a reduction in the area of pasture and temporary crops in the total area of rural properties that grow sugarcane. an example is the city of nova olímpia (mt), figure 3, which is characterized by having approximately 50.6% of pastures in a severely degraded condition and approximately 46.4% of pastures in an intermediate condition. figure 3: map of pastures in the city of nova olímpia (2020) (source: pasture atlas, 2024) 3.3. potential increase in cbio value data from the state of mt showed a reduction in ghg emissions when compared to gasoline, and considerable socioeconomic benefits at national and local levels in a positive carbon balance, resulting in environmental gains when considering luc emissions, producing biofuel with greater efficiency in the ghg balance. based on the eligible volume of each certified producer, an estimate of the area required to meet the expected growth demand by 2030 is obtained, indicating a 13% increase in the production of ethanol by the year 2030 (oecd/fao, 2021), which results in an annual growth of 1.29%. considering the harvest data in the follow-up reports on the brazilian sugarcane harvest published by conab (national supply company), we have ethanol production data published annually: area under production, productivity, production and quantity of sugarcane to produce sugar and ethanol. table 2 is a summary of the producers’ data. list of sugar cane producers by state renovacalc certif state municipality producer biofuel area planted (ha) sugar cane haverst (ton) mill income (ton/ ha ) neea (gco₂eq/mj) emission factor (ton co₂eq/ litro) eligible volume (%) mt nova olimpia itamarati etanol anidro-e1gflex 224840,56 14864687,11 66,11 58,21 1,881e-03 91,31 mt nova olimpia itamarati etanol hidratado-e1gflex 224840,56 14864687,11 66,11 57,86 1,881e-03 91,31 mt sorriso buriti etanol hidratado-e1gc 2363,00 126672,90 53,61 28,74 6,133e-04 100,00 romeiro/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 table 2: data of harvest of producer – 2020/21 harvest (source: conab, 2022) producer planted area (ha) quantity of sugar cane harvested (tonnes) average productivity (kg/ ha) neea (g co₂ eq/mj) itamarati 224840,56 14864687,11 66110 58,21ha to calculate the area needed for each biorefinery, we have to consider the amount of cane processed. table 3 is a summary of scaling area expansion data. table 3: scaling the area for expansion. (source: elaboration of the authors) rate (%) area additional (ha) quantity sugar cane additional (tonnes) 1,29 2900 191748 considering the data of the producer's (itamarati) harvested sugarcane and mean productivity (20/21 harvest), we obtained the area needed for planting: the area needed for planting was 224840.56ha. and considering the 1.29% increase, it results in an additional area of 2,900 ha. the city of nova olímpia (mt) has sufficient moderately degraded pasture area (29993 ha), as shown in figure 2. according to guarenghi et al. (2023), the average data indicated that the consequence caused by d-luc on the carbon footprint of ethanol reproduces the removal of -11.21 gco2eq/mj based on the net carbon emission/removal associated with sugarcane areas. sugar in rcas, during 2000-2020. for the example given, the itamarati producer received an neea score = 58.21, considering the contribution of d-luc = -11.21, we got an neea score (d-luc) = 47.00. this reduction in score represents a gain of 19% due to the contribution of d-luc alone in degraded areas. the gains obtained from the reduction of ghg emissions increase the efficiency of biofuel production plants and indirectly increase the evaluation of neea, resulting in a potential gain of cbio, used in the biofuels market regulated by renovabio. 4. discussion the results obtained for the state of mato grosso with the use of degraded pasture areas to plant biomass for biofuels and the reduction of carbon in the soil resulted in environmental gains when considering luc emissions, resulting in biofuel with greater efficiency in the ghg balance. regarding this specific case, itamarati was able to reduce emissions from direct land use change (d-luc) by adopting degraded areas assuming an average gain of 19%. the positive results are associated with the d-luc effect on the ethanol carbon footprint. as well as obtaining more sustainable biofuel and reducing ghg emissions, biomass cultivation in degraded areas allows for the recovery of pasture areas, increases carbon fixation in the soil and favors revegetation. despite the robustness of the approach as demonstrated by the brluc 2.0 method, which is in alignment with other methods at the global level (blonck consultants, 2016, bsi, 2012), it is necessary to consider the uncertainty aspect, its magnitude and the potential impact on total emissions of agricultural products. the impact of land use for specific agricultural production can result in trade-offs between ghg emission reductions depending on specific context conditions. some authors, donke et al. (2020), and moreira et al., (2020), reinforce that sustainability impacts and, therefore, sustainability trade-offs of biomass planting are largely context-dependent (e.g., previous land use, type of raw material, biophysical conditions). according to gvein et al, (2023), this cultivation option using degraded areas can achieve optimal mitigation potentials, however, it is very important to consider other regions and increase the number of measurements to reduce potential deviations in the results. thinking of a global implication, mitigation using degraded or abandoned land can help minimize the risks associated with competition for land. however, the highest biomass yields are found in the tropical band, which is crucial for maximizing energy production. romeiro/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 the practices that increase carbon sequestration from the atmosphere can make a positive contribution to net carbon removal in the biofuels sector, according to cerri et al., (2022). according to grangeia et al (2022), the renovabio program was developed with the objective of incorporating market instruments to admit the capacity of each biofuel to reduce emissions: in the fuel matrix, this was designated national reduction parameters (defined for a period of 10 years) and certification of biofuel production, assigning different grades to each producer (higher grades will be given to the producer that produces a greater amount of net energy, with lower co2 emissions, in the life cycle). the creation of cbio, one of the instruments created, links these instruments. cbio is an asset traded on the stock exchange, issued by the biofuel producer. with the creation of the regulated carbon market, questions arise about the cbio trading market. the biggest of these is the definition of how the mechanisms for regulated carbon markets would be applied as proposed in article 6 of the paris agreement (grangeia et al, 2022). also, it is necessary to solve governance and institutional arrangement impasses to develop the framework to promote mitigation, projects and actions, on the necessary scale in brazil. 5. conclusion the reduction of ghgs favors the valorization of cbio by increasing the demand for renewable energy solutions with greater ghg reductions. as biorefineries produce biofuel with greater ghg balance efficiency, the value of certificates associated with carbon reduction increases. cbios can be utilized by producers with ghg reduction targets to mitigate their own emissions or to offer them to third parties in order to enhance their value. in comparison to gasoline, these practical strategies demonstrated substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions when assessed under the current representative conditions of the state of mato grosso, brazil. importance of considering context-specific conditions in evaluating synergies and trade-offs and their relevance for sustainably developing appropriate policies and practices. options using degraded areas are crucial complements to the reduction of fossil fuel emissions, whose action can help phase out fossil fuels. the adoption of more sustainable practices with the adoption of environmental criteria for biomass cultivation can promote planting in degraded areas, favoring the valorization of cbio and also boosting the recovery of these areas. and thus, encourage other farmers to produce bioethanol by adopting the same practices. notwithstanding, renovabio has increased the biofuels market, reducing fossil fuel emissions in the transport sector, in addition to being the first carbon pricing approach implemented in brazil, these issues highlight the need for a deep understanding of the program, as well as variants that directly correlate with this policy. acknowledgment the abstract of this paper was presented at the climate change and environmental sustainability (cces) conference—4th edition, which was held on the 2nd – 3rd of september 2024. funding this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector/ individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare there is no conflict. references anp—national agency for petroleum, natural gas and biofuels. 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(2022) land use for bioenergy: synergies and trade-offs between sustainable development goals. renewable and sustainable energy reviews 161. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received:17 february 2025, accepted: 19 may 2025, published online: 30 june 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i2.1188 evolution of integrated development in urban agglomerations in china: perspectives on economic linkages and urban-rural equilibrium guoqin ge1, minhui huang2, yazhou zhou3 1phd candidate, school of architecture and urban planning, chongqing university, chongqing, china 2master’s degree, hualan design & consulting group, nanning, china. 3phd candidate, school of architecture and urban planning, chongqing university, chongqing, china. abstract understanding the evolution of urban agglomerations is crucial for formulating resilient and inclusive spatial development policies. this study takes the chengdu-chongqing urban agglomeration in china as a case study, utilizing a modified gravity model to describe economic interactions among spatial units, measuring urban-rural equilibrium through income disparity, and applying exploratory spatial data analysis (esda) to examine the spatial associations between economic agglomeration and urban-rural balance. the main findings are as follows: (1) the intensity of economic linkages and the level of urban-rural equilibrium in the chengdu-chongqing urban agglomeration have significantly improved across the study area. (2) the spatial organization of the region shows a significant flattening trend, forming a significant “point-axis system” around the two core cities of chengdu and chongqing. (3) regional imbalance continued to expand, exhibiting a distinct spatiotemporal co-evolution characterized by a “core-periphery” structure. the study concludes that the excessive dominance of core cities and the limited driving ability of sub-core cities are the main obstacles to the integrated development of the chengduchongqing urban agglomeration, and this study proposes development strategies from the aspects of improving infrastructure, promoting industrial transfer, and emphasizing institutional guidance. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords urban agglomeration; integration; space evolution; planning strategy; china 1. introduction in the context of globalization and informatization, urban agglomerations have emerged as key spatial configurations shaping future urban competition and urbanization, while also functioning as platforms for promoting rural revitalization and achieving the integrated development of urban and rural areas (fang & yu, 2017; melo et al., 2009). understanding their integrated evolutionary dynamics is fundamental to formulating more flexible and inclusive regional spatial development policies. the term “integration” was originally prevalent in economics and geography, stemming from scholars' focus on “regional economic integration”(yang et al, 2021). the “integration” of urban agglomerations can be seen as a process where regional units within the urban agglomeration, based on their unique and common characteristics, are http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i2.1188&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ge/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 integrated into a single economic space through transportation and communication infrastructure networks(he et al., 2019). this enables the effective aggregation and diffusion of factors among regional units, forming a development community that maximizes overall benefits(fu et al., 2023). the study of the geographical spatial form of regional economic integration in urban agglomerations is an important means for formulating spatial planning strategies and conducting regional spatial optimization(liu et al., 2022; zhu et al., 2019). consequently, a series of regional spatial structure theories have emerged to explain the phenomena of spatial agglomeration and diffusion in regional integration. in terms of research content, early regional spatial structure thought based on industrial location theory mainly focused on the impact of regional resource endowment conditions on development. however, with the development of the modern information society, the time-space compression effect brought about by the information and transportation revolutions has rendered traditional location theory ineffective(tong et al, 2020). the research paradigm of “space of flows” based on the “connection” perspective has gradually arisen(castells & hall, 1994; zhao et al., 2021). urban networks are established through material flow elements such as population(baudino, 2021; li et al., 2022) and transportation(tian et al., 2023), and information flow elements such as enterprise branches(rupasingha & marré, 2020) and mobile phone signaling. complex network analysis and other methods are used to analyze various aspects such as the spatial organization of urban agglomeration integration(fang et al., 2020), infrastructure network construction(yang et al., 2024), land resource transformation and utilization(zhu et al., 2020), and high-quality development evaluation(xu et al., 2022). urban-rural equilibrium is a more advanced demand in the integrated development of urban agglomerations(li, 2012), which entails removing development obstacles to facilitate the free movement and equitable exchange of factors across urban and rural spaces, thereby realizing convergence in factor returns(bosworth & venhorst, 2018). in fact, the balanced development of urban and rural areas has remained a key topic in academic circles. due to divergent interpretations of its meaning, researchers have proposed different sets of indicators, such as those based on urban-rural spatial connections and covering economic, spatial, and ecological dimensions(zhou & yang, 2023; zhou et al., 2020). a growing trend in research focuses on analyzing urban-rural interactions from angles such as input-output relationships, human capital(li et al, 2022), and income gaps between urban and rural regions(ma et al., 2020a). the methods of evaluation have become more diverse, with tools like spatial econometric models, spatial autocorrelation techniques, and coupling coordination degree models being continuously adopted in relevant research. currently, relevant research has conducted extensive investigations on the integration of urban agglomerations, with the spatial perspective being gradually enhanced. however, relevant quantitative research rarely takes into account the deeper requirement of balanced urban-rural development for the integration of urban agglomerations(liu et al., 2013). simultaneously, the majority of research objects were concentrated in more developed urban agglomeration areas, while less attention has been given to developing urban agglomerations. consequently, taking the chengduchongqing urban agglomeration (hereinafter abbreviated as the "ccua") in china as an example, this paper analyzed the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of the urban agglomeration area from the dimensions of spatial organization and rural-urban equilibrium, as well as their spatial correlation systems. the conclusions of this paper can offer a theoretical basis for understanding the characteristics of the integration evolution of urban agglomerations and formulating regional development policies. 2. materials and methods 2.1. study area in april 2016, the chinese national department issued the "ccua development plan" (hereinafter abbreviated as the "plan"), elevating the construction of the ccua to a national strategy in china. in terms of spatial construction, the "plan" proposed to construct a spatial layout scheme of "one axis, two belts, dual cores, and three zones" for the urban agglomeration, along with an integrated development mechanism for industrial division of labor and cooperation and infrastructure interconnection. the "chengdu part" and "chongqing part" of this urban agglomeration shared a common history and culture, thereby possessing a favorable foundation for integrated development. regarding research units, considering the special administrative structure of chongqing municipality, the yuzhong, jiangbei, nanan, jiulongpo, shapingbat, dadukou, beibei, yubei, and banan of chongqing were combined into a main urban area spatial unit. the ccua in this study encompassed 36 spatial units (figure 1). ge/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 figure 1: study area. (image by the authors) note: these maps were drawn according to the standard map with drawing no. gs (2024) 0650, which was downloaded from the standard map service website of the ministry of natural resources of the people’s republic of china. no modifications were made to the base map. 2.2. methods based on the aforementioned theoretical foundation, this paper investigates the "integration" level of urban agglomerations through two key dimensions: spatial organization and rural-urban equilibrium. this study constructs an economic linkage network for the ccua using an enhanced gravity model (zhao et al., 2021). the urban-rural per capita income gap serves as a proxy indicator to assess the level of rural-urban equilibrium(liu et al., 2013). finally, the spatial correlation characteristics between the economic agglomeration intensity of each spatial unit and its urban-rural development balance are further examined via spatial autocorrelation analysis. 2.2.1. evaluation indicators (1) economic connection intensity this paper establishes an economic connection network of the ccua based on a gravitational model improved by time distance, and uses the "degree centrality" in complex networks to measure the level and status of each regional unit in the economic connection of the urban agglomeration area. the calculation formula is as follows: 𝑅𝑖𝑗 = 𝐾𝑖𝑗 √𝑃𝑖𝐺𝑖√𝑃𝑗𝐺𝑗 𝑇𝑖𝑗 2 ，𝐾𝑖𝑗 = 𝐺𝑖 𝐺𝑖+𝐺𝑗 (1) in the formula, 𝑅𝑖𝑗 is the economic connection intensity between regional unit i and regional unit j. 𝐾𝑖𝑗 is a constant. 𝐺𝑖 is the gdp scale of regional unit i. 𝑃𝑖 is the scale of the permanent resident population of regional unit i. 𝑇𝑖𝑗 is the shortest travel time between regional unit i and regional unit j. unit: 100 million yuan × 10,000 people/h². in complex network analysis, centrality is mainly used to measure the status of network nodes in the network. this paper uses the degree centrality to measure the status of each spatial unit of the ccua in the spatial organization of the urban agglomeration. the formula is as follows: 𝐶𝑖 = ∑ 𝑅𝑖𝑗 𝑛 𝑗=1 (𝑛 − 1)⁄ (2) in the formula, 𝐶𝑖 represents the degree of centrality of the regional unit 𝑖, that is, the total economic connection scale of this regional unit. unit: 100 million yuan × 10,000 people/h2. ge/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 (2) urban-rural equilibrium index urban-rural equalization can be understood as the narrowing of differences in labor productivity and labor income between urban and rural areas; thus, the urban-rural per capita income gap serves as a substitute indicator for assessing the degree of urban-rural development balance. 2.2.2. exploratory spatial data analysis (esda) aggregation and diffusion are the basic driving forces for the spatial evolution of urban agglomeration integration. the esda can be used to quantitatively analyze and visualize the aggregation and diffusion patterns of factors among various regional units. the bivariate local autocorrelation analysis can reflect the spatial correlation and spatial distribution characteristics of the spatial organization of the ccua and the level of rural-urban equilibrium. the calculation formula of the local moran index is as follows: 𝐿𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑛′ 𝐼 = 𝑦𝑖−�̅� ∑ 𝑤𝑖𝑗 𝑁 𝑗=1,𝑗≠𝑖 𝑁−1 −�̅�2 ∑ (𝑦𝑖 − �̅�)𝑁 𝑗=1,𝑗≠𝑖 (3) in the formula, 𝑁 represents the number of spatial units, 𝑦𝑖 and 𝑦𝑗 represent the observed values of the variables of interest; �̅� is the mean value of the observed values of the variable 𝑦; 𝑤𝑖𝑗 represents the elements in the spatial weight matrix. the horizontal axis represents the rural-urban equilibrium index, and the vertical axis represents the factor aggregation and dispersion ability index. firstly, the bivariate local autocorrelation will produce four types of spatial units: high-high (hh), low-low (ll), high-low (hl), and low-high (lh). hh and ll represent local positive correlations, while lh and hl represent local negative correlations. in this empirical study, hh means that a spatial unit with a relatively high level of rural-urban equilibrium is surrounded by spatial units with a relatively high total economic connection; hl means that a spatial unit with a relatively high level of rural-urban equilibrium is surrounded by spatial units with a relatively low total economic connection; ll means that a spatial unit with a relatively low level of rural-urban equilibrium is surrounded by spatial units with a relatively low total economic connection; lh means that a spatial unit with a relatively low level of rural-urban equilibrium is surrounded by spatial units with a relatively high total economic connection. 2.3. data sources the economic data, such as population and gdp, used in this paper are sourced from the annual statistical yearbooks of chongqing and sichuan; the transportation data are from the national and provincial trunk lines, expressways, and railway data sets of osm. the high-speed railway data set is from the data as of december 2021. by sorting out the opening and operation times of different railways and expressways, slice data for 2011, 2015 and 2019 are obtained. the highway speed refers to the average design speed, and the railway running speed refers to the regulations in the high-speed railway network documents issued by the national railway administration and the national development and reform commission and other departments. 3. results 3.1. evolution characteristics of spatial organization 3.1.1. overall characteristics of spatial organization from 2011 to 2019, the economic connection intensity of the ccua showed exponential growth. in 2011, the total economic connection of the urban agglomeration was only 423.06, but this value increased to 984.82 in 2015 and directly jumped to 2680.28 in 2019. from the perspective of the economic connection network structure of the ccua, it shows obvious hierarchical characteristics (figure 2). in 2011, only the economic connections between chengdu and deyang, and between chengdu and mianyang were at the first level, and only the economic connections between chengdu and ziyang, between neijiang and zigong, between the main urban area of chongqing and bishan, and between the main urban area of chongqing and jiangjin district were at the second level. the back-to-back development problem of chengdu and the main urban area of chongqing, as the core cities of the ccua, was serious, and problems such as a low degree of interconnection were prominent. this problem still had not been improved by ge/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 2015. in 2015, the first and second levels of the economic connection network structure of the ccua still revolved around the main urban areas of chongqing and chengdu. among them, the connections between suining and nanchong, between guang'an and nanchong, and between neijiang, zigong, and yibin began to form relatively strong connection areas outside the main urban area of chongqing and chengdu, which laid the foundation for the subsequent construction of the urban dense area of the ccua. from 2016 to 2019, the regional coordinated development institutional mechanism was gradually improved, a number of key transportation infrastructure projects were gradually implemented, the core status of the main urban area of chongqing and chengdu was further strengthened, and their connection intensity also rose to the first level. as can be clearly seen from figure 3c, the main urban area of chongqing began to widely radiate regional units such as dazhou, guang'an, suining, neijiang, zigong, yibin, and luzhou. the "one axis, two belts" spatial pattern was basically formed. figure 2: the integrated spatial organization characteristics of the ccua. (image by the authors) note: for a better graphical effect, only the economic connections with an economic connection intensity value higher than 200 million yuan × 10,000 people/h² are selected in the figure. 3.1.2. characteristics of spatial organization of core areas and urban dense areas by further standardizing the total economic connection scale of each regional unit to obtain the relative economic connection intensity (figure 3), it can be found that from 2011 to 2019, the relative economic connection intensity of the main urban area of chongqing increased from 11.19% to 14.15%, while the relative economic connection intensity of chengdu decreased from 19.50% to 18.16%. this may imply that as an urban agglomeration with a "twin-city" core, the spatial state of the ccua is gradually developing towards a more balanced state. at the same time, by analyzing the economic connection scale and relative change amount between the "dual-core" areas of the ccua and other regional units from 2011 to 2019 (figure 3), it could be found that the radiation ability of the main urban area of chongqing to other regional units has increased more significantly compared to chengdu, and the regional units with a more significant increase are mostly regional units in sichuan (including suining, nanchong, neijiang, zigong, luzhou, etc.), which is consistent with the previous analysis, indicating that the chengdu-chongqing urban area has entered the stage of "dual-core driven" development from "dual-core back-to-back development". ge/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 3: statistics on the scale of economic connections between the ccua "dual core" and other regional units from 2011 to 2019. (image by the authors) at the same time, although the total economic connection scale of the three urban dense groups in southern sichuan, nansuiguang, and dawan for internal and external economic connections has shown a relatively obvious increase, from the perspective of proportion, the total internal economic connection scale and the proportion of the economic connection scale of other regional units have generally decreased (table 1). the reason for this phenomenon may be that the discrete degree of the economic connection scale of each regional unit in the urban agglomeration decreases year by year, and the scale advantage degree of the three urban dense areas is weakened; the economic connection scale between the southern sichuan and nansuiguang urban dense areas and the main urban area of chongqing and chengdu has shown a small increase, but the relative economic connection intensity between the dawan urban dense group and the main urban area of chongqing has shown a small decrease. the reason for this phenomenon may be that the spatial distance is too far, resulting in being at the edge of the spatial organization of the urban agglomeration, and it is difficult for the infrastructure construction of the urban group to effectively radiate to this area. from a horizontal comparison, the total economic connection scale of the three urban dense groups has a relatively large gap. compared with the southern sichuan urban dense group, in the nansuiguang urban dense group, when the economic connection scale with core cities such as chongqing and chengdu and other regional units was not much different in magnitude, the internal economic connection gap is very obvious, indicating that the nansuiguang urban dense group is still in the early stage of cultivation and development, and the organizational cooperation level of each regional unit within it still needs to be improved; while the economic connection scales of all items in the dawan urban dense group are very low, indicating that in the absence of external driving force, the organizational cooperation relationship among each regional unit within it has not been well formed, and the institutional heterogeneity caused by belonging to different administrative jurisdictions may also be one of the hindering factors. ge/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 table 1 analysis of the economic connection scale of the dense clusters of cities and towns in the ccua name year internal economic connections external economic connections to the chongqing central urban area to chengdu to other spatial units chuangnan 2011 1086.41 （9.78%） 125.45 （1.13%） 136.37 （1.23%） 417.86 （3.76%） 2015 1988.73 （7.32%） 257.88 （0.95%） 288.21 （1.06%） 1007.76 （3.71%） 2019 4403.37 （6.08%） 1026.04 （1.42%） 961.29 （1.33%） 2566.51 （3.54%） nansuiguang 2011 343.95 （3.10%） 164.98 （1.49%） 52.85 （0.48%） 321.45 （2.89%） 2015 1013.14 （3.73%） 646.94 （2.38%） 116.73 （0.43%） 926.25 （3.41%） 2019 2141.11 （2.96%） 1496.53 （2.07%） 238.09 （0.33%） 2223.39 （3.07%） dawan 2011 85.73 （0.77%） 61.80 （0.56%） 18.25 （0.16%） 202.73 （1.83%） 2015 155.08 0.57% 168.95 （0.62%） 39.33 （0.14%） 499.94 （1.84%） 2019 339.62 （0.47%） 376.93 （0.52%） 112.56 （0.16%） 1201.59 （1.66%） note: 1. the percentage in the table represents the proportion of the economic connection intensity of the research unit in the total scale of the ccua in that year. 2. the chuannan urban dense group includes spatial units such as zigong, neijiang, luzhou, and yibin. the nansuiguang urban dense group includes spatial units such as nanchong, suining, and guangan. the dawan urban dense group includes spatial units such as dazhou, wanzhou. 3.1.3. evolution characteristics of rural-urban equilibrium research data shows (figure 4) that from 2011 to 2019, the level of rural-urban equilibrium in the ccua has been continuously improving. compared with the rural-urban equilibrium index of the ccua in 2011, most of the regional units with a relatively high improvement range are important node positions in the "plan" (including chengdu city, meishan city, the main urban area of chongqing, suining city, mianyang city, yibin city, ziyang city, etc.). at the same time, the standard deviation of each regional unit has been continuously expanding (from 0.028 in 2011 to 0.033 ge/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 in 2019), indicating that the overall dispersion degree has increased, and the polarization of the regional rural-urban equilibrium level has become more serious. figure 4: statistics on the balanced development level of urban and rural areas in the ccua. (image by the authors) this section may be divided by subheadings. it should provide a concise and precise description of the experimental results, their interpretation, as well as the experimental conclusions that can be drawn. 3.2. bivariate local spatial autocorrelation analysis through the bivariate local autocorrelation analysis of the economic connection scale of each regional unit in the urban agglomeration and the level of rural-urban equilibrium, it can be found that there is a significant positive spatial autocorrelation between the two as a whole. the moran index is 0.315, 0.283 and 0.378 in 2011, 2015 and 2019, respectively, indicating that as a whole, the ability of each regional unit in the ccua to participate in spatial organization has been significantly improved, which has promoted its rural-urban equilibrium level. however, from the perspective of clustering analysis results (figure 5), the regional units showing positive correlation (hh and ll) were mainly concentrated in the main urban area of chongqing and the northeast region of chongqing, and the range of this positive correlation area has an expanding trend; while the regions showing negative correlation (hl and lh) were mainly concentrated in the marginal areas of sichuan, with only ya'an city and luzhou city. there is a significant "core-edge" spatial differentiation characteristic in the spatial autocorrelation of the two. firstly, the hh regional units were mainly concentrated around the "polar core" of the urban agglomeration development, that is, the main urban area of chongqing. in this area, the economic connection scale of each regional unit was relatively high, and the rural-urban equilibrium level was also relatively high, and the range has gradually expanded to the entire southwest region of chongqing. in fact, this area has been working on establishing an urban-rural integration system and narrowing the urban-rural gap in recent years, and was selected as a national urban-rural integration development area in early 2020; the ll regional units were mainly concentrated in the northeast region of chongqing, and the range of this area has been continuously expanding. the most significant manifestation was that dazhou city changed from hl to ll in 2019. in this area, the economic connection scale of each regional unit was relatively low, and the rural-urban equilibrium level was also at a low level. the lh regional units had a slight shift. in 2011, they were ya'an city and luzhou city, in 2015, only ya'an city, and in 2019 ya'an city was corrected to luzhou city, this type of regional unit has a relatively low rural-urban equilibrium level, but was affected by the radiation of regional units with a relatively high economic connection scale around it. ge/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 figure 5: bivariate local spatial autocorrelation lisa map. (image by the authors) 4. discussion 4.1. the evolutionary characteristics of integrated development in the ccua the research results showed that both the economic connection intensity and the level of urban-rural equilibrium in the ccua have significantly improved within the study period. however, the issue of regional imbalance was continuing to expand, exhibiting a significant spatiotemporal conjugate evolution with a "core-periphery" pattern. this is somewhat similar to the conclusions drawn by ma(ma et al., 2020b) and zhang(zhang et al., 2021), who found that the spatial aggregation of county-level urban-rural integration units has intensified in chinese urban agglomerations. wang(wang et al., 2024) also identified a similar spatial process in his study on rural areal functions in the xi'an metropolitan area of china. the spatial organization of urban agglomerations was still primarily driven by the dual cores of chongqing and chengdu. spatial units with higher levels of economic linkages and urban-rural equilibrium were concentrated along the "chengdu-chongqing main urban area" axis, and decreased towards the edge of the urban agglomerations. in terms of spatial organization, the integrated spatial organization of ccua is still in the stage of development of the “point-axis system”. although the economic connection intensity between the two core cities and other spatial units has been strengthened thanks to the increasing radiation scope of chengdu and chongqing, the economic connection intensity between the sub-core cities(e.g. wanzhou, qianjiang, mianyang, leshan, nanchong, luzhou, yibin, etc.) and the surrounding spatial units has not been effectively improved. this is reflected in the increasing share of the core areas of chengdu and chongqing in the relative economic connection intensity with each other's spatial units, and the decreasing share of the relative economic connection intensity between the sub-core cities and other spatial units. this makes ccua's spatial organization structure tend to be flat, and it is difficult to form a “networked” organizational form. as for the urban-rural equilibrium, as the "core" areas of chengdu, chongqing, and their corridors rise in spatial organization, the level of urban-rural equilibrium in these areas has simultaneously improved. in contrast, "peripheral" areas have seen a rise in spatial organization capacity accompanied by a relative decrease in urban-rural equilibrium. this phenomenon may be attributed to the fact that the "potential" gained by these peripheral regions in participating in the spatial organization of the urban agglomeration is mainly concentrated in urban areas, with limited penetration into rural systems, or the strong centripetal forces of urban areas creating a significant siphoning effect on rural development factors. a networked, nested structure is often considered an advanced stage of urban agglomeration integration. various types of factors are allocated freely and efficiently within the region, avoiding the over-sizing of central cities and sharing development opportunities, thereby enhancing the overall competitiveness of the region. in this process, different levels of cities, such as small towns, large and medium-sized cities, and megacities within the urban agglomeration, constitute a relatively independent but closely linked vertically nested integrated spatial structure, forming a multilevel spatial structure that is linked to each other. the results of this paper confirm that the core cities, such as chengdu and chongqing, of ccua are too dominant, while the sub-core cities have limited radiation-driven ability despite their own development level having been improved to some extent. this makes the spatial organization of the whole city cluster still in the stage of “point-axis” development. it is difficult for various factors to achieve free ge/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 and efficient allocation between regions and between urban and rural areas, and it is difficult to maximize the sharing of development opportunities and development results. 4.2. fit measures for the integrated development of ccua regional economic development is often uneven. myrdal proposed that there exist "diffusion effects" and "backwash effects" between the core and peripheral areas of a region(yao et al., 2021). from the experience of the more successful city agglomerations in the world, such as the tokyo urban agglomeration (tua) in japan and the northeast atlantic coast urban agglomeration (nacua) in the u.s., the improvement of infrastructure, the promotion of industrial transfers, and the focus on institutional guidance may be effective measures to promote the development of ccua integration. first, infrastructure such as transportation, communications and municipal services is the basic support vehicle for the movement of various factors, and the level of modern transportation, especially railroads and highways, often determines the speed and scale of the integration of urban agglomerations. during the development of the tua, a multi-level rail transit network covering core cities, core cities and sub-cities, urban employment areas and residential areas, and localized areas within the cities was gradually formed through many rail transit constructions, effectively supporting and promoting the integrated development of the tua through the development strategy of “giving priority to public transportation”. therefore, it's necessary to continue to promote transportation and other infrastructure construction to expand the “chengdu-chongqing development axis” in the plan and to strengthen the core area's “synergistic radiation” to the two wings of ccua. and it's also necessary to focus on establishing a corridor for connecting urban-rural regional elements in the edge area of the urban agglomeration, strengthening the flow channels of elements from the urban regional system to the rural regional system, and establishing a more extensive integrated development power and base. secondly, according to the resource conditions and industrial base of each geographical unit within the urban agglomeration, giving full play to its comparative advantages and realizing complementarity of advantages and industrial clustering are the endogenous driving forces for the integrated development of urban agglomerations. in the nacua, new york, philadelphia, boston, and washington are the cities that have formed different industrial positioning and urban functions, and all have dominant industrial sectors. in ccua, chengdu and chongqing, as the core cities, are the headquarters of various industries, forming various types of knowledge-intensive industrial clusters; while the fringe areas of ccua often have a good ecological and landscape environment, labor resources and other comparative advantages. in the industrial layout, attention should be paid to promoting industrial diffusion and regional linkage. finally, how to solve the restrictions of crossadministrative division interests and institutional heterogeneity on the integration of urban agglomerations is also a key point in the construction of the ccua. the flow and allocation of resource elements in the urban agglomeration area do not have a spatial "ownership", and the resource allocation rights owned by local governments often form obstacles to the cooperation between different regional units. this paper's empirical evidence confirms this view (table 1). the connections of the regional units of several large urban dense areas with chengdu and the main urban area of chongqing have been continuously strengthened, but the internal relative economic connection intensity has a tendency to decrease, and at the same time, the diffusion will of other edge regional units was insufficient. therefore, it is necessary to establish a top-down regional coordination and integrated award mechanism and a bottom-up active cooperation mechanism. 4.3. limitations and further research it is worth noting that there are still many deficiencies in this study regarding the development of the indicator system and the analysis of influencing mechanisms. firstly, the spatial organization of urban agglomerations in this study does not take into account the differences in the spatial organization characteristics of different elements, such as population, industry and transportation, which limits the examination of the differences in the functions of cities under different functional scenarios. second, "urban-rural equilibrium" is a very rich concept, involving economic, spatial, ecological and other aspects, and the evaluation of "urban-rural equilibrium" in this paper only adopts a proxy variable. although there are many existing studies that can be drawn on, this paper simplifies the work due to the availability and completeness of multivariate data, which also leads to the unitary nature of the study. additionally, ge/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 this study lacks a discussion on the formation of the spatial patterns of "spatial organization" and " urban-rural equilibrium " in urban agglomeration integration, as well as the inter-construction mechanisms between these two subsystems. as for future research directions, we suggest further refining the depiction of "spatial organization" and " urban-rural equilibrium" in order to understand the integration characteristics of urban agglomerations in different dimensions. furthermore, additional analytical methods (such as spatial econometric models, geographic detectors, etc.) could be incorporated to explore the influencing mechanisms of spatial evolution in urban agglomeration integration by analyzing the interconstructive process between different subsystems of "spatial organization" and "urban-rural equilibrium". 5. conclusions this study aims to understand the spatial evolution characteristics of urban agglomeration integration. this study first constructs the spatial relationship network of the ccua from a connectivity perspective, focusing on analyzing the spatial pattern of the network and the hierarchical position of each spatial unit within the network system. using the urban-rural per capita income gap as a substitute variable to measure the level of urban-rural equilibrium, the study further investigates the spatial correlation characteristics of economic connection intensity and urban-rural equilibrium for each spatial unit. during the study period, the integration level of the ccua generally improved significantly. however, the integrated spatial organization characteristics of the ccua are still in the "point-axis system" development stage, and the issue of regional imbalance is continuously expanding. this study suggests establishing the driving force and foundation for the integration development of the ccua by strengthening the radiation capacity of core cities and establishing connectivity corridors for urban-rural regional elements in peripheral areas. this study provides valuable insights for the integrated spatial planning of other developing urban agglomerations. acknowledgment the abstract of this paper was presented at resilient and responsible architecture and urbanism (rrau) conference – 6th edition – which was held on the 8th 10th of december 2024. funding this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector/ individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare there is no conflict. references baudino, m. 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(2019). urbanization for rural development: spatial paradigm shifts toward inclusive urban-rural integrated development in china. journal of rural studies, 71, 94-103. doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.08.009 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 26 may 2024, accepted: 1 july 2024, published online: 1 july 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i2.1084 promoting peri-urban agriculture: a remedy for climate change. case of the town of delly brahim in algiers nesrine bacha1, naima hadj mohamed2 1doctoral student, université benyoucef benkhedda alger1, algeria 2professor, lms laboratory, tahri mohamed university, bechar, algeria abstract the issue of promoting peri-urban agriculture seems to be an important one in response to the various current concerns about the future of cities in the face of climate change. at first glance, these urban and peri-urban agricultural areas, which in the past served as a shelter for cities, are now threatened and increasingly losing their function of protecting urban areas from climatic hazards. this question is a priority when considering the future of agriculture in the context of urban expansion. we are therefore raising a number of concerns linked to multiple issues: significant reduction of land available for local agriculture, accelerated degradation of the city's natural environment, fragmentation of ecosystems, and deterioration of air and water quality. around these questions, this research is structured to provide theoretical and practical knowledge that will enable us to place urban and peri-urban agriculture at the heart of urban concerns, in a perspective of reaction to climate change. the interest of this work is reinforced in the case of peri-urban areas surrounding the capital of algeria, algiers, such as the commune of delly brahim: a concrete example of a territory concerned by the subject. on the one hand, this periphery boasts important agricultural production zones in close geographical proximity to the capital algiers, and on the other, it plays a fundamental economic, environmental, and landscape role in relation to its region. between its dense urban residential areas, agricultural lands, and natural areas rich in resources, this territory is today confronted with numerous environmental vulnerabilities. the aim is therefore to examine the issue of preserving the agricultural sector and its role in mitigating climate change. this study is based on data collected in 2020 to analyze the current and future dynamics of these territories. keywords climate change; urban and peri-urban agriculture; delly brahim; local agricultural practices; adaptation strategies. 1. introduction climate change is an inescapable reality affecting urban, peri-urban, and rural communities around the world. in this context, this topical research aims to study its impact and explore the potential of urban and peri-urban agriculture as an effective means of remedying its adverse effects and promoting sustainable food systems (fao, 2021). our motivation lies in the need to deepen our understanding of the interaction between climate change and urban and peri-urban agricultural practices, to strengthen their resilience by highlighting their often underestimated potential in this area. the warming of the climate system, as highlighted by the intergovernmental panel on climate change ipcc observations in 2007, has direct implications for global weather conditions, with tangible consequences such as rising average temperatures, melting snow and ice, and rising sea levels. this reality is all the more worrying in http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i2.1084&domain=press.ierek.com bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 specific regions such as the city of algiers, the capital of algeria, where extreme climatic variations have become increasingly frequent (matev, 2013). in this context, the commune of delly brahim, on the outskirts of algiers, is facing a double threat: climate change and the urban sprawl of the capital. this city is directly affected by the harmful consequences of this rapid urban expansion, which puts additional pressure on its natural environment, which has already been weakened by the effects of climate change. the repercussions of this situation are manifold. firstly, there is a significant reduction in the amount of land available for local agriculture, which is seriously compromising the local community's food security and jeopardizing the livelihoods of local farmers, thereby undermining the region's economy and social fabric. in addition, this rapid urbanization is leading to accelerated degradation of the city's natural environment, with the disappearance of green spaces, the fragmentation of ecosystems, and the deterioration of air and water quality. according to un-habitat (2020), "the rapid growth of cities puts considerable pressure on natural resources and often leads to negative environmental impacts such as air and water pollution and loss of biodiversity". faced with these complex challenges, this research seeks to develop planning strategies adapted to the area to preserve both the natural resources and the agricultural activity of delly brahim. the results highlighted the potential benefits of promoting urban and peri-urban agriculture as a climate change mitigation and adaptation project. they propose strategies and incentives aimed at preserving and ensuring the continuity of existing agricultural activity, improving its production, and guaranteeing its sustainability in the face of increasing climatic hazards. the literature review on this issue revealed updated data on the global phenomenon of global warming. by definition, this phenomenon corresponds to a lasting change in the statistical parameters of the earth's global climate or its various regional climates (ipcc, 2021). these changes may be due to processes intrinsic to the earth (el nino), external influences (volcanoes, etc.), or, more recently, to human activities linked to the advent of the industrial era. recent studies (smith et al., 2023; brown et al., 2021) have highlighted a significant rise in global temperatures, accelerated melting of polar ice, more frequent extreme weather events, and acidification of the oceans. these phenomena have a direct impact on biodiversity, food security, human health, and economic stability. to address these challenges, scientific research is evaluating adaptation and mitigation strategies, including, for example, the identification of renewable energy sources, the development of clean technologies, the promotion of sustainable agricultural practices, and the implementation of environmental conservation policies (ipcc, 2021). the information and expertise generated by the scientific community are crucial for guiding political and personal choices, with the aim of shaping a safer future for generations to come. in this context, the ipcc (2007) proposes a widely recognized theory of climate variability and its impacts. this theory states that global climate change is leading to an increase in average temperatures, greater variability in precipitation, and an increased frequency of extreme weather events such as heat waves, floods, and droughts. these studies, along with those of müller et al (2011), also show that mediterranean agricultural regions are among the most vulnerable to climate impacts, requiring urgent and effective mitigation and adaptation measures. on the other hand, the theory of climate resilience and adaptation, developed by c.s. holling (1973) and other researchers (gunderson, 2002), proposes that ecological and social systems must develop capacities for adaptation and resilience in order to cope with the impacts of climate change. this theory highlights the importance of strengthening infrastructure, natural resource management, and education to increase resilience to climate change. furthermore, the literature on urban and peri-urban agriculture (upa) highlights its crucial role in adapting to climate change. the practice has a number of benefits for urban food systems, environmental management, and social well-being. for example, the study by opitz et al (2016) demonstrates that aup can improve the resilience of urban food systems by diversifying food sources and using sustainable agricultural practices such as agroecology, permaculture, and organic farming. in addition, barthel and isendahl (2013) point out that aup enhances the resilience of cities by diversifying local food sources to mitigate the negative effects of climate change, such as the urban heat island. the practice also improves the health and well-being of residents by increasing access to fresh food and green spaces. bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 another review of the literature on agricultural peri-urban towns in the face of urban sprawl and climate change highlights several crucial aspects. anne-marie jouve et al (2007) examine the role played by peri-urban agriculture around the mediterranean in supplying towns and cities, but it is under threat from rapid urbanization. this research shows that, although this agriculture is adapting by developing a variety of forms, it must rise to the challenge of multifunctionality to meet contemporary needs, by combining food production, landscape maintenance, and environmental protection. paula nahmias et al (2012), studying urban agriculture in brittany, emphasize that professional practices in shared gardens and leisure agriculture are valued for their food, environmental and sociopolitical roles, thereby contributing to urban development. however, their diversity complicates the definition of "urban agriculture", which is characterized by its functionalities and its integration into urban projects rather than simply by its geographical proximity to the city. in algiers, according to the 2002 coastal development programme, uncontrolled urbanization since 1992 has swallowed up 1,400 km² of fertile land in the mitidja plain, with more than 15,000 ha of agricultural land lost between 1987 and 1997, and more than a third of the useful agricultural area built between 1972 and 1999. the climate in algiers is showing a warming trend of 0.5°c per decade for maximum temperatures and 0.2°c per decade for minimum temperatures, increasing the risk of flooding and water shortage, which has a negative impact on agriculture and the quality of irrigation water. this literature review places our study of algiers and delly brahim in the broader context of research into the impacts of climate change and adaptation strategies using urban and peri-urban agriculture (upa), a subject that remains little explored in the existing literature. overall, upa is emerging as a promising solution to mitigate and adapt to these effects. so how can this practice strengthen the resilience of these cities in the face of current and future climate challenges? 2. materials and methods the wilaya of algiers, the capital of algeria, covers an area of 809.22 km² and occupies a strategic position on the northern mediterranean coast of africa. with a population of over 3 million (3,309,896), the city has a high urban density of 4,090 inhabitants per square kilometre (annuaire statistique de la wilaya d'alger, 2020). urban sprawl stretches for around 30 kilometers along the mediterranean coast, exacerbating the pressure on natural resources such as water and land (ministry of the environment and renewable energies). with a rich history dating back to antiquity, the city now faces a number of challenges, including rapid urbanization, natural resource management, and adaptation to climate change. 2.1. pre-climate change historical data for the capital of algiers and the surrounding area prior to the impact of climate change, the climatic history of the algiers capital region and its surroundings between 1961 and 1990 was mainly characterized by a mediterranean climate, offering moderate weather conditions throughout the year. summers were hot and dry, with average temperatures between 25°c and 30°c. winters were mild and wet, with average temperatures between 10°c and 15°c. precipitation was generally moderate to low during the summer season, but more abundant during the winter months, concentrated mainly between november and march (fig. 1) (ipcc, 2007. bneder, 2009). figure 1 : umbrothermal diagram based on historical data for the period 1961-1990. the temperature scale is on the left, the precipitation scale on the right. (ipcc, 2007) bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 algiers enjoyed plenty of sunshine throughout the year, particularly during the summer months. sunny days were frequent, contributing to the overall mildness of the climate. relative humidity showed significant seasonal variations, with the summer months characterized by relative dryness, while humidity increased during the winter months due to heavier rainfall. in terms of winds, the algiers region experienced a variety of atmospheric currents, including the "sirocco", a hot, dry wind blowing from the desert to the north, and the "chergui", a hot, dry wind blowing from the east. according to this diagram, which is typical of a mediterranean-type climate, annual temperatures and precipitation are clearly moderate, with the following climatic indicators: annual minimum temperatures of 11.8 °c annual maximum temperatures of 23.1°c annual rainfall: 688.8 mm number of days with heavy rainfall: 8.1 number of days with the longest drought period: 59. based on this data, before the impact of climate change, algiers and its surroundings enjoyed a balanced mediterranean climate, characterized by moderate temperatures and well-distributed seasonal rainfall. this climate offered pleasant and relatively stable living conditions throughout the year. 2.2. peri-urban agriculture in delly brahim: data and physical characteristics delly brahim, a suburb located 10 km west of algiers (fig. 2), covers a total area of 7.72 km² and is home to a population of 39,036 (annuaire statistique de la wilaya d'alger 2020). this peri-urban location offers a diverse landscape potential, with ecological, natural, tourist, and recreational features. delly brahim's peri-urban environment is conducive to agriculture, which is essential to local food security and environmental preservation. agriculture in delly brahim is influenced by a variety of factors, including climate, water resources, agricultural policies, and traditional farming practices (pos delly brahim, 2020). thanks to its strategic location, the region has its own specific characteristics and significant potential for growth, thanks to its highly valuable resources (fig. 3): water resources, natural sites, agricultural potential. the exploitation of the "bois des cars" and "caroubier" forests as an economic source. the presence of an agri-park "dounia" as a strategic project for sustainable development. an area of trade and regional productivity (trade, tourism ....). the spatial distribution of this potential is as follows (fig. 4): agricultural areas are mainly concentrated on the outskirts of the town, with a few scattered plots in residential areas. green spaces are relatively evenly distributed throughout the city, providing breathing and recreational areas for residents. there are opportunities to develop urban agriculture in certain densely populated areas (pos delly brahim, 2020). figure 2: location of the commune of delly brahim in the western suburbs of the capital algiers. (pos delly brahim. 2020) bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 the history of this former colonial village goes back to an agricultural estate known as the "zaoui" estate, characterized by various plantations and livestock farms. it was one of the first colonial villages to have an instrument for controlling the regional space (centre), built on the site of the "haouch deli-ibrahim" and officially recognized by a royal decree issued by the duke of rovigo on 21 december 1832. this extremely fertile area was renowned for its harvests of top-quality cereals and fodder. according to our recent interviews detailed below in the methods section, the development of these activities, transmitted by the ancient “fellahs” families, is currently classified into several categories: private urban farms, including the largest at "ain allah", which belongs to the former estate of the zaoui settlers, gardens associated with individual or collective housing, wasteland gardens, agri-parks and forests combining production and leisure farming. in conclusion, the history of algiers' climate and the data on peri-urban agriculture in delly brahim show a significant dynamic of change over time, requiring in-depth analysis to better understand and optimize their potential. the evolution of agricultural practices, resources, and local policies must be continually assessed to ensure sustainable development and meet contemporary challenges. 2.3. methods the following methods have been adopted to explore our ideas and arrive at conclusions, combining agricultural, urban, and climatic data. a documentary study providing us with up-to-date data on climate change an analysis of climatic hazards in the capital of algiers based on a reading of the document "study on the vulnerability and adaptation of the wilaya of algiers to climate change and natural hazards" (ipcc, 2007). a survey of households, farmers, and local actors considered to be important stakeholders, to understand the attitudes, motivations, and behaviors related to the disasters that have occurred most frequently in the capital of algiers and the town of delly brahim. the aim of this survey is to find ways of mitigating climate change, while at the same time raising awareness of the consequences of this phenomenon. the survey is qualitative in nature, using semi-structured interviews to gather data and understand people's perceptions, strategies, and needs in terms of adaptation. analysis of the data to answer the research questions and meet the survey objectives. communication of results to stakeholders to inform future decisions and actions. 3. results 3.1. dynamics of climate change in algiers and its region like many other countries around the world, algeria is regularly confronted with a variety of devastating climatic events, made even more unpredictable by climate change. as a mediterranean country, designated by the ipcc as figure 3: natural sites and agricultural potential of dely brahim. (pos, 2020) figure 4: spatial distribution of agricultural land in delly brahim. (pos, 2020) bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 one of the 24 'hot spots' most sensitive to climate change, the capital of algiers regularly experiences extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and forest fires. according to our analyses, the reasons include a variety of climatic, environmental, and socio-economic factors that make the region more susceptible to significant negative impacts as the climate changes. sensitivity to climate change: algiers is a region where even small variations in climate can have significant impacts on the environment and human societies. recent experience shows that a slight increase in average temperature or changes in rainfall patterns lead to more frequent and intense droughts, floods, and storms. exposure to climatic hazards: algiers' geographical location, accentuated by its topography and rapid urbanization, predisposes the region to pronounced climatic variations (wilaya d’alger, 2016). the rugged terrain encourages rainwater to run off into low-lying areas, increasing the risk of flooding. soil sealing due to urbanization reduces water infiltration, and the lack of adequate urban planning and effective drainage systems exacerbates this situation. limited capacity to adapt: algiers includes areas where the capacity of ecosystems and human societies to adapt to climate change is limited. this is due to insufficient economic resources, inadequate infrastructures, and weak governance systems. as a result, average annual temperatures have risen over the last few decades, with summers becoming longer and hotter, with more frequent heatwaves, as witnessed by the recent heatwaves in july 2023. at the same time, greater variability in rainfall patterns has been noted, characterized by episodes of intense rainfall alternating with prolonged droughts. storms, floods, and forest fires also appear to be becoming more frequent and intense in algiers. in addition, winds such as the sirocco and chergui have been affected by climate change in recent years (matev, 2013). these climatic developments have led to major environmental changes, profoundly affecting the daily lives of people living in urban areas in and around algiers. recent interviews with local people have revealed dramatic consequences for their daily lives. the findings highlight a series of devastating impacts, ranging from public health problems to infrastructural damage and growing environmental challenges. these impacts underline the urgent need for concerted action to mitigate these effects and strengthen the resilience of urban communities. this dynamic climate in the algiers region means that strategies need to be constantly adapted to meet the new challenges and maximize the region's potential in the face of these changes. 3.2. lessons from recent meteorological events (onm) and mitigation measures faced with extreme weather events in recent decades, the city of algiers reveals worrying trends in urban vulnerability to climate hazards. this sub-section examines these events to identify key lessons and strategies needed to strengthen the region's climate resilience. it presents a detailed analysis of four types of major climate hazards: intense rainfall, heat waves, droughts, and high winds accompanied by forest fires. each table provides an overview of the key events, the causes linked to urban development, and the consequences for residents and farmers. understanding and integrating these lessons into development policies is essential if we are to effectively anticipate and manage future climate risks. 3.2.1. intense precipitation intense rainfall has become a recurring phenomenon in algiers, leading to sudden and devastating floods. these events are often exacerbated by rapid urbanization and the lack of adequate drainage infrastructure. flooding caused by heavy rain has a significant impact on urban infrastructure, disrupting transport and damaging homes. this table details the major incidents, their causes, and their effects on the urban population. table 1: intense precipitation climate hazard intense precipitation event near algiers flooding on november 9-10, 2001 in bab-el-oued (commune west of algiers) with : north-easterly flow bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 rainfall of 290 mm in less than 17 hours, well in excess of the cumulative total 781 dead and 115 missing 3,271 buildings destroyed or damaged the cost of the disaster is estimated at 5 billion dinars. causes linked to urban development (technical actor declarations) waterproofing of soils with excessive and inappropriate use of concrete and asphalt in urban areas. faulty and poorly designed drainage systems development in flood-prone areas prone to hazards high density and poorly managed urbanization, with 78% of the surface occupied by buildings. lack of maintenance of stormwater filtration systems consequences (statements by citizens and farmers) loss of life and material damage disruption of essential services (water, electricity, supplies, communications, health etc.) health risks and spread of disease impact on agricultural livelihoods. emotional stress and trauma these floods highlight the devastating impact of poor urban management and rapid urbanization without adequate infrastructure. soil sealing combined with an inefficient drainage system has exacerbated the effects of intense rainfall, causing considerable loss of life and property. this situation highlights the need for better urban planning and more robust stormwater management systems to reduce vulnerability to flooding. 3.2.2. heat waves heat waves in algiers are becoming increasingly frequent and intense, putting a strain on public health and urban cooling systems. prolonged periods of extreme heat increase energy demand for air conditioning, worsen outdoor working conditions, and pose increased risks to vulnerable people, particularly the elderly and children. the following table analyses recent events, their impacts, and possible mitigation measures. table 2: heat waves climate hazard heat waves events in and around algiers the heat wave of june 2003, lasting 20 consecutive days, was exceptional in terms of its intensity and geographical extent over the entire wilaya of algiers, with maximum temperatures in excess of 38.7°c, well above normal for more than... the exceptional heat wave of july 2023, with temperatures exceeding 48°c and humidity 80%. electricity consumption peaks on three consecutive days: 17,508 megawatts (mw) (sunday 9), 17,905 mw (monday 10), and 18,377 mw (tuesday 11) (sonelgaz, algiers). causes linked to urban development technical actor declarations urban heat islands and excessive accumulation of concrete, asphalt, and other heatabsorbing materials in urban areas building design without consideration for natural ventilation, adequate shading, and energy efficiency insufficient green spaces in urban areas consequences (statements by citizens and farmers) anxiety, exasperation, and a new awareness of climate change food poisoning and environmental pollution threats to water supplies and food security for local residents recent heatwaves have demonstrated the impact of urban development on the intensity of temperatures in urban areas. the heat islands created by high building density and a lack of green spaces exacerbate already severe conditions, increasing risks to public health and energy consumption. more sustainable urban development strategies, including green spaces and appropriate architectural designs, are needed to mitigate the effects of heat waves. bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 3.2.3. drought drought is another major climate risk for algiers, seriously affecting water supplies and agriculture. prolonged periods without rain reduce the availability of water for irrigation and human consumption, threatening food and economic security. this table explores historical droughts, their underlying causes, and the water management strategies needed to mitigate their effects. table 3: drought climate hazard drought events in and around algiers the drought of 1985, when daily precipitation remained below 0.2 mm from june 1 to september 16 inclusive, i.e. 108 days. the drought of 2000, was the driest year on record, with no precipitation greater than or equal to 1 mm from may 26 to september 28 inclusive (126 days). during this period, only two days recorded precipitation between 0.5 and 0.9 mm: july 11 (0.9 mm) and august 4 (0.7 mm). causes linked to urban development technical actor declarations inadequate management of water resources aggravates the effects of drought. some urban developments aggravate drought by altering the water cycle, increasing water demand, and modifying local environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. consequences (statements by citizens and farmers) water shortages and crop failure in large parts of the city. soil degradation, including erosion, salinization, and desertification, reducing the fertility of agricultural land and compromising crop productivity. the droughts of 1985 and 2000 highlight the impact of climate change on water resources and agriculture. inefficient water management and certain urban planning practices exacerbated the effects of these droughts, leading to water shortages and a drop in agricultural productivity. implementing more efficient water management systems and promoting resilient agricultural practices are crucial to mitigating these impacts. 3.2.4. high winds and forest fires high winds, often accompanied by forest fires, pose a serious threat to the region. fires, fuelled by windy and dry conditions, can spread rapidly, destroying homes, infrastructure and natural ecosystems. the vulnerability of urban areas adjacent to forests and shortcomings in fire risk management are critical points examined in this table. table 4: high winds and forest fires climate hazard high winds and forest fires evènement alger several hectares of vegetation spared by the forest fires of the previous two summers were damaged. causes linked to urban planning declarations technical actors deforestation increases the risk of forest fires by making areas drier and reducing the natural barriers that could limit the spread of fires. these fires have resulted in loss of life, significant material damage, and longterm socio-economic disruption in the affected regions. consequences (statements by citizens and farmers) destruction of fertile farmland devastating impacts on local populations, infrastructures, and the economy. deterioration of air quality and negative impact on respiratory health, increased levels of air pollution. these recurring forest fires highlight the consequences of deforestation and poorly planned urbanization. reduced vegetation cover increases the susceptibility of regions to fire, with severe impacts on agricultural land, air quality, and public health. reforestation and sustainable land management measures are essential to reduce the risk of fire and protect local communities. bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 these recent extreme weather events in and around algiers have revealed a number of alarming trends. inadequate urban management, including soil sealing and a lack of effective drainage infrastructure, has exacerbated the impacts of intense rainfall and urban heat islands. in addition, recurrent droughts have increased pressure on water resources and compromised agricultural productivity. forest fires, amplified by deforestation and unplanned urbanization, have also caused considerable economic and environmental losses, affecting local communities and their livelihoods. it is therefore essential to learn from these disasters in order to improve climate risk prevention and management strategies and to strengthen urban infrastructures and natural resource management systems. 3.3. peri-urban agriculture in delly brahim: a solution to mitigate climate hazards 3.3.1. climate change dynamics and the role of aup compared with historical climate data for the algiers region before the impact of climate change indicated in section 2.1, the current dynamics at delly brahim are characterized by: irregular rainfall and a clearer alternation between two contrasting seasons. the relatively short wet season runs from september to february, with monthly rainfall of between 60 and 140 mm. the dry season, which corresponds to summer, is characterized by maximum temperatures in excess of 35°c and relative humidity of 60%. winters, although drier, maintain a relative humidity of 75% and minimum temperatures of around 5°c. current average monthly temperatures vary between 15°c and 27°c, indicating an overall increase and greater variability in rainfall than in past decades (pos delly brahim, 2020). faced with these changes affecting delly brahim, introducing and strengthening urban and peri-urban agriculture is an effective solution as deduced in the discussion in subsection 3.2.3 above. in response to irregular rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, drought, and increased climate variability, aup offers a number of adaptive advantages as mentioned in the literature review and affirmed by the interviews with the technical actors involved: microclimate regulation: reduction of heat islands and local temperatures. water management: improving rainwater infiltration and reducing flooding. carbon sequestration: absorption of co2 by plants, reducing greenhouse gases. local production: reduced food dependency and carbon footprint due to transport. it is clear from these results that current climate changes are having a significant impact on the region, and introducing and strengthening urban and peri-urban agriculture is proving to be an effective solution. 3.3.2. socio-economic and environmental concerns of the aup at delly brahim our various interviews with the municipality's agricultural services and with the farmers themselves highlighted the importance of the town's agricultural production at three levels: at the municipal level, at the level of the entire wilaya of algiers, and at the level of the maghreb. the breakdown of this production by activity is shown in the table below: table 5: types of agricultural activity in delly brahim activity type of activity no. of participants breeding fellah family groups (5 to 7 members/family) olive growing sales and production unemployed youth group (3 to 5 boys/group) arboriculture additional activity 2 to 3 families per apartment block or 1 to 2 members per family in single-family homes plantation leisure and production activities 2 to 3 families per apartment block or 1 to 2 members per family in single-family homes commercial distributeur. vendeur transporteur. 25 employers bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 this data underlines the diversity of agricultural activities and their socio-economic importance, which can take several forms, according to the interview with the agricultural services of the municipality of delly brahim: main source of income: for the heir families of the former "fellahs", these activities represent the main source of income. secondary activities: these provide around 30% of additional income for middle-income families. leisure opportunities: these are particularly popular with pensioners and families for leisure and relaxation. exploitation of natural resources: young farmers exploit the carob and olive trees, producing 7 tonnes of carob for the international market and 500 liters of olive oil sold locally each season (pos delly brahim, 2020). these activities are not only economic but also make a significant contribution to the landscape, environment, climate, and social aspects of the region. as well as mitigating the effects of climate change, peri-urban agriculture in delly brahim enriches the local community by providing jobs, increasing food security, and improving quality of life through a greener, healthier environment showed the study by barthel and isendahl (2013) cited above in the literature review in the introduction chapter. however, according to the farmers interviewed, climate change is threatening these benefits. unpredictable variations, such as frequent droughts and erratic rainfall, are jeopardizing the locality's agricultural production. crops are facing increased water stress, leading to lower yields and reduced crop quality. in addition, extreme weather events such as flash floods damage crops and agricultural infrastructure, jeopardizing food security and the local economy. it is becoming crucial for delly brahim to adopt adaptive practices to meet the challenges of climate change and preserve its agriculture, which is vital to the community. 3.4. strategies for adapting peri-urban agriculture to climate change to adapt to the effects of climate change, our analysis in the previous chapter on peri-urban agricultural potential in delly brahim indicates that several strategies can be implemented. these strategies focus on three main areas: ensuring the preservation and continuity of agricultural activity, improving this activity, and ensuring its sustainability. these measures, in continuity with those presented in section 3.2, offer more specific adaptive proposals and apply to the three types of peri-urban areas of delly brahim: the “bois des cars” and “caroubier” forest sites, the agri “dounia” park, as well as the various farms and gardens associated with housing. 3.4.1. the "bois des cars" and "caroubier" forest sites these forest sites are natural areas characterized by dense and varied vegetation, dominated by tree species such as carob, pine, eucalyptus, and various local species. they play a crucial role in regulating the local climate, preserving biodiversity, and providing essential ecosystem services "in algeria, as in several mediterranean countries, the carob tree grows in natural conditions in the wild under bioclimates of sub-humid, semiarid, and arid type it is generally in association with the olive tree and the mastic tree" (benmahioul et al, 2011). they also provide recreational spaces for the inhabitants of dely brahim and the surrounding area, fostering the connection between the urban population and nature. as peri-urban spaces, the two forests are also involved in initiatives to redevelop urban agriculture, helping to adapt to climate change. as shown in figure 5, forest sites such as bois des cars and caroubier at dely brahim play a crucial role in adaptation to climate problems. the following table details the adaptive measures needed to cope with climate change, highlighting specific strategies and incentives for various crops, including carob, citrus, and olive, as well as for small-scale farming. these initiatives are designed to ensure the preservation, continuity, and sustainability of agriculture, incorporating innovative forest conservation and agroforestry practices. bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 table 6: adaptive measures to climate change: bois des cars and caroubier growing adaptation strategies incentive measures carob citrus olive trees, smallscale farming (production of milk and by-products and livestock rearing) ensure the preservation and continuity of agricultural activity, define and delimit zones to protect farmland from urban pressures. encourage agroforestry practices (agriculture and forestry). encourage public-private partnerships. améliorer l'activité agricole new innovative forest conservation measures community participation. ensuring the sustainability of farming development of regenerative agriculture biodiversity protection to maintain biodiversity zones in and around agricultural areas. integration of renewable energy sources. this table of adaptive measures for climate change, focusing on the bois des cars and caroubier sites, highlights the importance of targeted strategies to diversify and strengthen agricultural resilience. the combined measures help not only adapt to the impacts of climate change but also promote sustainable and resilient agricultural development. 3.4.2. agri-parc « dounia » the 165-hectare agri-parc "dounia" is a multifunctional space located in dely brahim, "the “dounia parc” space chosen to house the pilot farm project adopted by the wilaya of algiers, saw the launch of the planned development of leisure areas and planting of citrus and olive trees" (bneder, 2017). the park combines agricultural, educational, and recreational activities, providing a valuable green zone in the city's peri-urban landscape. this space represents a model of urban and peri-urban agriculture, designed to offer environmental, educational, and social benefits. it represents a key initiative for the city's sustainable development in the face of the challenges of climate change (bneder, 2017). according to the photos, the "dounia" agricultural park in delly brahim illustrates an innovative model of urban and peri-urban agriculture. by combining various agricultural activities, it is a major green space in algiers' periurban landscape. however, to ensure the preservation, continuity, and sustainability of its varied crops, the park requires appropriate adaptive measures. these measures, presented in the table below, represent a proactive response to the challenges posed by climate change. figure 5: the bois des cars and caroubier forest sites. (by the authors) bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 table 7: adaptive measures to climate change: agri-parc « dounia » growing adaptation strategies incentive measures citrus olive trees, small-scale farming (production of milk and by-products and livestock rearing) ensure the preservation and continuity of agricultural activity, definition and delimitation of zones to protect farmland from urban pressures. improving agricultural activity choosing climate-resistant crops crop rotation and plant cover to maintain soil fertility and prevent erosion adoption of modern agricultural techniques (irrigation) improved infrastructure (warehouses, etc.) ensuring the sustainability of farming adoption of agro-ecological practices that respect the environment protection of biodiversity to maintain biodiversity zones in and around agricultural areas. integration of renewable energy sources. this table of adaptive measures for climate change within the "dounia" agri-park illustrates the commitment to sustainable urban and peri-urban agriculture in delly brahim. by integrating strategies such as protecting farmland, choosing climate-resistant crops, and adopting agroecological practices, the park aims to ensure the preservation and continuity of agricultural activities while enhancing their sustainability in the face of current and future climate challenges. 3.4.3. farms and gardens associated with housing the farms and private gardens associated with housing in dely brahim date back to the colonial period and are key elements in the region's urban and peri-urban agriculture. they play a crucial role in local food security. by integrating agricultural production and living spaces, they offer a model of urban development adapted to the fertility of the region. figure 6: the "dounia" agri-park or pilot farm. (by the authors) bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 by integrating these agricultural practices into the residential environment, the farms and agricultural gardens of delly brahim offer a promising model to be encouraged and improved. table 8 presents adaptive measures for coping with climate change, highlighting specific strategies and incentives for strengthening this type of local agricultural activity. table 8: adaptive measures to climate change: farms and gardens associated with housing growing adaptation strategies incentive measures citrus olive trees, small-scale farming (production of milk and byproducts and livestock rearing) ensure the preservation and continuity of agricultural activity, motivating farmers with subsidies and low-interest loans. tax incentives to support farmers. ongoing training in sustainable farming practices and land management. awareness-raising and communication measures improving agricultural activity promoting local products facilitating market access ensuring the sustainability of farming conservation of natural resources efficient use of water crop diversification (mixed farming) by integrating agricultural practices into the living environment, the farms and agricultural gardens in delly brahim present a model for urban development that is in harmony with the fertility of the region. the strategies proposed, such as financial support, improving agricultural skills, enhancing the value of local products, and promoting sustainable practices, aim to strengthen this agricultural activity in the face of climate challenges. these agricultural zones, characterized by almost permanent land use and extensive and sustainable agricultural activity, complement the agro-forestry production zones and urban interstitial zones. conservation agriculture in these areas can contribute to a balanced and sustainable development of the urban structure of the city of delly brahim. 4. discussion this study of strategies for adapting agriculture in urban and peri-urban areas such as delly brahim to climate change can help mitigate the environmental and socio-economic impacts caused by this growing global phenomenon. the information generated is crucial for guiding political and personal choices, based on case analyses that take account of the specific features of each region. based on the results of the climate change dynamics of algiers and its region, the discussions highlighted the urgency of adopting a multi-dimensional approach to dealing with the impacts of climate change. several points specific to algiers, such as its high population density, difficult topography, and rapid urbanization, require particular attention in the development of mitigation and adaptation strategies: raising awareness and educating local populations about the impacts of climate change is essential if they are to adopt more appropriate behavior. education can also encourage active participation in mitigation and adaptation initiatives. figure 7: farming activities on farms and gardens associated with housing. (by the authors) bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 with a high urban density of 4,090 inhabitants per square kilometer, algiers needs to invest in efficient drainage systems and green spaces to encourage water infiltration. measures such as soil rehabilitation and the creation of buffer zones could also reduce the city's vulnerability to flooding. in the presence of fertile land (mitidja) around algiers, our results are leading to the development of a local food policy that supports urban and peri-urban agriculture by encouraging short distribution circuits, farmers' markets, and the consumption of local produce. to take advantage of recent meteorological events, our results highlight mitigation strategies for better planning and management of existing infrastructures. this includes increasing urban green spaces and adopting pre-existing agricultural practices. at the same time, policy reforms are needed to integrate the climate factor into urban policies in the algiers region, which is densely populated, with a considerable influx of people from neighboring regions and the rest of algeria, attracted by its status as the capital. the results of these examples in algiers confirm the recognized theories of the ipcc and holling on climate variability and resilience. nevertheless, our study provides additional details on the measures to be taken and the types of intervention required to meet current and future climate challenges. one such measure concerns the improvement of peri-urban agriculture, exemplified by the town of delly brahim, a suburb of algiers threatened by climate change. the adaptation strategies and incentive measures resulting from our analyses adopt a series of sustainable agricultural practices to preserve agriculture that is vital to the local community. depending on the type of site studied, the recommended strategies focus on three main areas: preserving agricultural activity; improving this activity; and ensuring its sustainability through a series of incentives that will increase agricultural resilience and bring lasting benefits to the local community. a comparison of our results with existing literature confirms that the trends observed in delly brahim are representative of regional and global climate dynamics. the proposed adaptation strategies are in line with scientific recommendations for improving the resilience of urban and peri-urban agricultural systems. this integration of the literature review and the dynamics of climate change strengthens the relevance and credibility of our study, providing additional contributions in terms of local empirical data, socio-economic and cultural integration, and proposals for innovative adaptation strategies. these contributions enrich our understanding of the dynamics of climate change and the possible responses in specific contexts, offering applicable and concrete solutions for other regions facing similar challenges. for example, exploring the socio-economic and cultural dimensions of peri-urban agriculture highlights the importance of the farming traditions inherited from the old 'fellahs' families. this aspect, little explored in the literature, which focuses mainly on technical and environmental aspects, gives this study a more global perspective on agricultural dynamics. similarly, the incentives implemented, such as the promotion of agroforestry practices and the conservation of existing forests and parks, are aligned with the recommendations of the barthel and isendahl (2013) study, which suggests that integrated natural resource management and the promotion of agroforestry can strengthen urban resilience in the face of climate change. our proposals for the demarcation of agricultural zones and the development of regenerative agriculture fit perfectly into this framework. in addition, the promotion of publicprivate partnerships and the encouragement of agroforestry practices specific to delly brahim demonstrate how innovative solutions can be adapted to specific local contexts. finally, in line with the scientific literature, this study has immersed itself deeply in the delly brahim context, providing a more nuanced and granular understanding of the challenges and opportunities unique to the area. it incorporates empirical data collected directly from farmers and local agricultural services. this qualitative approach enriches the understanding of the real impacts of climate change on farming practices and livelihoods in delly brahim. this compares with the study by opitz et al (2016), which highlights the importance of urban agriculture for food security and climate change adaptation. our study enriches this framework by illustrating how traditional agricultural practices and modern innovations can be combined to improve resilience in delly brahim. for bacha/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 example, the establishment of private urban farms and agri-parks shows how specific initiatives can be developed to meet local needs. to take this further, future research could focus on the requalification of the aup in delly brahim, the effectiveness of agroforestry practices, comparative analysis with saharan regions, local climate modeling, participatory studies, and the optimization of public policies and partnerships to support sustainable peri-urban agriculture. acknowledgment the abstract of this paper was presented at the geographic perspectives on climate change mitigation in urban and rural environments (gcue) conference – 1st edition which was held on the 25th-27th of june 2024. funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval the authors have received ethics approval from the ethics committee of the municipality of dely ibrahim, for the interviews and surveys that were conducted by the author. conflict of interest the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references annuaire statistique de la wilaya d'alger 2020. 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(2020). world cities report 2020: the value of sustainable urbanization. united nations human settlements programme. wilaya d'alger (2016). plan directeur d'aménagement et d'urbanisme pdau de la wilaya d'alger. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 13 august 2024, accepted: 13 november 2024, published online: 27 march 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i1.1111 the importance of urban greenery in the construction of a smart landscape to reduce negative environmental and climate impacts amanda lombardo fruehauf1, paulo renato mesquita pellegrino2, magda adelaide lombardo3 1post doctorate in forest department at university of são paulo, school of agriculture “luiz de queiroz”, brazil 2senior teacher at faculty of architecture, urbanism and design, university of são paulo, brazil 3senior teacher at university of são paulo, school of agriculture “luiz de queiroz”, brazil abstract the intense urbanization of the municipality of são paulo, sp, brazil, highlights the high soil sealing, the reduction of open spaces, hinders stormwater runoff, and intensifies the process of urban heat island. the objective of the work is to evaluate the importance of urban greenery analysis in order to contribute to a balanced system of permeable surfaces and urban afforestation, collaborating to a sustainable drainage system and cooling of the urban heat island. thus, the use of geo-technologies was used to obtain the maps of land use and occupation, vegetation index, and land surface temperature and also statistics on the data and thus analyze the landscape in search of nature-based solutions. the analysis and implementation of green infrastructure in this research focuses on medium and largesized street afforestation, and this must present harmony with all the city's infrastructure, collaborating with the environmental systems. the work can contribute to rethinking the green areas, with emphasis on planting trees in cities to improve air quality, and reduce heat island effects, in order to build a smart landscape that aims to mitigate negative environmental and climate impacts, for the entire municipality of são paulo and thus meet the nature-based solutions. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords environmental planning; geotechnologies; nature-based solutions; green infrastructure; quality of life 1. introduction in the urban sprawl, since the 19th century, with a focus on brazil, the theme of urban landscape planning linked to environmental issues has been growing, in order to think about nature and culture in an integrated way. in order to seek solutions to plan and intervene in the city based on nature, with the landscape as a basis. (sant'anna, 2020). in this way, it is important to study the land use, temperature, and vegetation index of a landscape, in order to know the potential and flows that the area has, and to make some solutions that balance nature and the constructions in the city. the process of territorial expansion is accelerated, causing several environmental impacts, among them: the potentialization of floods, pollution of soils, rivers, landslides due to disorderly occupation and deforestation and http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i1.1111&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ fruehauf / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 atmospheric pollution resulting from the high circulation of vehicles and the release of gases from industries (porangaba; amorim, 2019). the theme of landscape planning is linked to environmental issues, in order to think about nature and culture in an integrated way. all of this is with the aim of finding solutions to plan and intervene in the city based on nature, with the landscape as the foundation (sant'anna, 2020). it is important to emphasize that the landscape must be studied and treated as infrastructure in the urban context, verifying its structural construction, physiology and natural processes that recur in urban morphology. this way of valuing existing infrastructure highlights the ecological functions of the environment and the ecosystem of the urbanized basin, prioritizes sustainable stormwater management and contributes to sustainable environmental planning (bonzi, 2015). in this way, to mitigate these impacts, free spaces must be studied, in search of their uses and functions for the creation of a green infrastructure that must be planned in harmony with urban spaces. therefore, it is important to create and innovate in design solutions for a given environment (amoroso, 2015). as, the study of urban heat islands, where high sealing and intense land use, and temperature changes, contribute to the emergence of the heat island. being that there is a link between the forms of use and occupation of the will have of urban areas with the variation of air temperature, that is, the areas with more open spaces, vegetation and proximity to water bodies, temperatures decline (lombardo, 1985). it is evident that urban climate has been studied at different spatial scales (micro, local and regional) in order to verify the influence of the surface in contributing to this warming, which we can call the heat island effect (arnfield, 2003). in this work, geotechnologies were used for mapping. geotechnologies cover the collection of spatial and non-spatial data, models, analysis and data processing. the use of giss is important, both because of the vastness and complexity of their attributes for processing and analyzing spatial data, and with recent improvements in graphic interfaces and the spread of geo-referenced data, and because their thematic maps and satellite images have contributed to the popularization of this technology (reibel, 2007). attention should also be paid to the green area chosen for the urban area. the trees must be resilient, have urban suitability and be drought intolerant. with this planning, the planting of trees, and checking their species and location, is necessary to achieve a successful urban forest (morzillo et al., 2022). the study of the landscape has the challenge of providing new green spaces in the city, in order to take advantage of free spaces with a planning strategy planning strategy with benefits and in an intelligent way to solve the lack of infrastructure (sanches; pellegrino, 2016). to apply a nature-based solution to the implementation of urban greenery, it can be defined as a network of urban green areas that are maintained or implemented, strategically planned, and managed to benefit the population by favoring environmental quality of life (kantartzis, 2019). in the study of the landscape, multiple issues are involved. this research aims to analyze the urbanization of the municipality of são paulo—sp, where a multifaceted scenario predominates. it also includes the goal of mapping land use and occupation, thermal field, and vegetation index in the municipality of são paulo, sp, using technologies, including gis, for the year 2020. the maps of the thermal field could be analyzed in this work to analyze the urban heat island on the surface, and then related to the vegetation index and with the land and use occupation to have an outlook of the landscape in são paulo, sp. thus, the work hypothesises that, through an analysis of the landscape, solutions could be found to implement urban greenery with an emphasis on urban afforestation in areas lacking these green areas, to form an urban forest in the study area in the search for nature-based solutions, and to adapt environmental planning in a sustainable way. fruehauf / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 2. materials and methods it is noteworthy that the geographic information system (gis) as a mapping tool to obtain answers to questions about the collection of data from the physical environment, in order to analyze changes in the environment and thus assist in the planning and management of existing natural resources (fruehauf; lombardo; pellegrino, 2019). in the landscape, it could be used to obtain land use and occupation, normalized difference vegetation index (ndvi) and land surface temperature (lst) in the year 2020. in this research, it was used the gis software, named quantumgis (qgis). qgis stands out for being a widely used free and open-source software that fits into gis and accepts numerous vector, matrix and database data formats. it allows you to generate, visualize, manage, edit and analyze data, as well as compose maps in various formats (pereira; guimarães; oliveira, 2018). the cbers4a satellite, with a resolution of 2 meters, took the land use of the study area and classified it into 11 uses: tree canopy, grass, exposed soil, asphalt, river/lake, swimming pool, light tile, dark tile, gray tile, and ceramic tiles. the 2020 images were obtained free of charge from the inpe website, and have a resolution of 2 meters for the satellite image, which emerged from a union between the governments of brazil and china signed in 1988, with the partnership of the national institute for space research (inpe) and the chinese academy of space technology (cast), where two advanced remote sensing satellites were built, called the sino-brazilian earth resources satellite/china-brazilearth resources satellite (cbers program). specifically in this work, cbers 4a was used, which emerged as a continuation of the program, launched on december 20, 2019, and built in partnership with the chinese cast (embrapa territorial, 2018). in the thermal field, a landsat 8 image from august 19, 2020, was analyzed to see the heat island form. there are a variety of sensor systems designed to provide data from the earth's surface, most notably landsat 8 launched on february 11, 2013, which is a joint venture between the national aeronautics and space administration (nasa) and the united states geological survey (usgs) (oliveira et.al., 2017). it should be noted that the heat island is a phenomenon characterized by warmer temperatures in urban regions compared to the surrounding rural environments (roth, 2013). the study of land use and occupation associated with lst aims to study the reality of the landscape and the phenomena that occur in it as the urban heat island. thus, it is reported that the large appropriation of land use in city centers, as well as its expansion without planning, results in a biologically sterile and aesthetically depressing urban landscape. as an alternative, it becomes necessary to understand natural processes in the urban context, and their relationship with city planning and design and to seek solutions (lombardo, 1995). about the ndvi, we could analyze the green area of são paulo, and could also see what a lack of green areas the city has. as lourenço and landim (2004) point out, large-scale vegetation is where the ndvi is commonly used, as it relatively compensates for the difference in lighting conditions, inclination of the surface and aspects of the sensor due to the considerable orbit width (2,700 km). the most widely used vegetation index in mapping is the ndvi (cohen et al., 2003). the ndvi is presented by calculating the difference between the near infrared and red bands, normalized by the sum of the same bands proposed by (rouse et al., 1973), (zanzarini et al. 2013) as follows: 𝑁𝐷𝑉𝐼 = (𝐼𝑉𝑃 𝑉) ÷ (𝐼𝑉𝑃 + 𝑉) where: ndvi = normalized difference vegetation index value ivp = reflectance value in the near-infrared band v = reflectance value in the red band it should be noted that ndvi, used in several environmental and agricultural studies that tend to monitor natural resources, has a scale ranging from -1 to 1, the closer the value of -1, the smaller the vegetation and +1 (rouse et al., fruehauf / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 1973), would be greater vegetative vigor, so in addition to expressing the density of vegetation also reflects its health/vigor. (ponzoni; shimabukuro, 2009). therefore analyzing the land use, thermal field and ndvi maps, the urban landscape of the city of são paulo can be verified as a basis for proposing improvements through nature-based solutions in the urban planning of são paulo and as an example for other cities in the search for resilience and sustainability. 3. results the land use and occupation of 2020, follows figure. 1 and a relationship was made in the percentage of the land uses of the municipality of são paulo in table. 1. figure 1: map of land use and occupation of the municipality of são paulo, 2020 (reference: the authors, 2022.) table 1: percent of land use (reference: the authors, 2022) classification percent (%) tree canopy 36,7 lawn/gramínea 7,7 exposed soil 9,5 asphalt 12,8 shadow 1,7 river/lake 5,7 swimming pool 0,5 light tile 3,74 dark tile 13,45 gray tile 5,7 ceramic tile 2,6 fruehauf / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 in the analysis of the classification obtained kappa for this map of land use and occupation was 96.96%, presented a classification with high accuracy. according to landis and koch (1977), the value of the kappa statistic indicates the accuracy of the classification, and from 80% to 100%, the classification is excellent. in são paulo municipality, the tree canopy area corresponds to 36.7% of the total area, with the highest concentrations occurring in the extreme south, in the subprefecture of parrilheiros and the mountainous part, in the north in the subprefectures of perus and jaçanã/tremembé; in the east, the são mateus subprefecture stands out; in the west, some patches of afforestation occur in the butantã, lapa and pinheiros subprefectures and also in the m'boi mirim subprefecture near the guarapiranga dam, located in the southwest. in the case of lawn and grass (7.7%), it is distributed throughout the area, but with little representation. the exposed soil (9.5%) and asphalt (12.8%), present a distribution throughout the urban area, where it is characterized by the high rate of soil sealing. the built area corresponds to 27.19% (shade, light tile, dark tile, gray tile and ceramic tile) of the total. demonstrating, a high rate of urbanization with a dome shape, with the highest rates of built area occurring in the city center towards the periphery. intense verticalization also occurs in the central area and is distributed to the outskirts. the ndvi map shows the distribution of vegetation in the study area on august 19, 2020, figure. 2., after the lst in the same period figure. 3. figure 2: ndvi of the municipality of são paulo, 2020. (reference: the authors, 2022) in this analysis of ndvi, it is observed due to the water deficit, and low exuberance in the expression of vegetation either in vigor or canopy, thus obtaining the highest index of 0.49 and the lowest index of 0.2. therefore, there is inequality in the distribution of vegetation, where there are higher rates in the south of the municipality and in the north, in the following there are patches of higher rates, in the west of the sub-prefecture of butantã, lapa and pinheiros. and in the east zone, concentrated in the area of “parque do carmo”. fruehauf / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 3: lst of the municipality of são paulo, 2020. (reference: the authors, 2022.) it can be seen from the lst map that the uhi is pronounced throughout the built-up area. the maximum temperature was 26.18 oc and the minimum 10.03oc, having a surface temperature variation of 16.15 oc. observing the occurrence of uhi, where there is a rise in temperature, in a more concentrated manner in the city center, with expansion considered in the east zone and slightly in the west zone. the results are consistent in maps that present the landscape analysis, a special inequality with regard to land use, vegetation index and land surface temperature in the municipality of são paulo, sp. there is a lack of green areas in the city center, which extends into the eastern part of the city. in these areas, there is a degradation of the landscape with a greater intensity of the urban heat island. as such, the construction of a smart landscape is needed with an emphasis on the implementation of green areas throughout the municipality of são paulo, with the aim of achieving nature-based solutions to improve the city's environmental quality. 4. discussion in the land and use it could be noted that we could demonstrate the landscape of são paulo with 200 to 300 samples of each class made in qgis, using the polygon tool to obtain the percentage of each class for the year 2020. it could be observed that the greening areas are concentrated in the north and south of the municipality. the high urbanization is in the center and east of the city, but it spread in the west and also now in the north. then we can compare it with the ndvi which shows the high index in the extreme north and in the extreme south. ndvi stands out as one of the most important indicators for analyzing vegetation cover in different periods using remote sensing. its advantage is that it allows monitoring of temporal changes, such as verifying the stage of vegetation growth, and changes in land use caused by anthropogenic activities and its development (barros; farias; marinho, 2020). therefore the concentration of the urban heat island is in the central and west of the city. so it is important to improve green areas, cool those hot spots, and also contribute to the quality of life of the population. from the analysis of the maps of land use and occupation, land surface temperature, and vegetation index, it was possible to verify the dynamics of the landscape of the year 2020, of the municipality of são paulo, the intensity of urbanization, the decrease of green areas and the increase of the urban heat island. it could be seen that the vegetation how poorly distributed it is in the municipality of são paulo. it is concentrated in the north and south of the municipality. as a result, the temperature is cooler in these vegetated areas, on the other hand in the central area of são paulo and the east zone there is a high density of construction to the detriment of vegetation, collaborating with the uhi phenomenon. fruehauf / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 in this way, it is important to implement the green area in the big city of são paulo, to benefit the environment and the population, contribute to the recreation, refresh the city, and collaborate with the fauna and flora of the urban area. so it could be a model that analyses the environmental planning. 5. conclusions this research aims to expand the application of urban greenery and knowledge of urban foresty since there is a need to deepen this science and thus be able to advance in the operationality of the principles of sbn in urban areas, thus contributing to public policies and search for a smart landscape to reduce climate impact. with the analysis of the maps of land use and occupation, lst, and vegetation index, it was possible to verify the dynamics of urbanization, the decrease in green areas, and the increase in uhi in 2020, the municipality of são paulo sp. in terms of spatial distribution, the highest ndvi and consequently the lowest tst occurred in the far north, in the serra da cantareira, and the far south, in the parelheiros subprefecture including the surroundings of the billings and guarapiranga reservoirs. so the research emphasizes the need to map an area to know the landscape and therefore think about solutions to increase uhi, like planting trees. the work can contribute to rethinking urban planning, with emphasis on planting trees in cities to improve air quality, and reduce heat island effects, to build a smart landscape that aims to mitigate negative environmental and climate impacts, for the entire municipality of são paulo and thus meet the nature-based solutions. in this way, in the future, we intend to continue the research involving the bases of geotechnology with the dynamic monitoring of the data obtained from the maps of land use and occupation, vegetation index and continuous land surface temperature of the municipality of são paulo, in the search for sustainability. this study can serve as a basis for analyzing and monitoring other urban landscapes. acknowledgment the abstract of this paper was presented at the green urbanism (gu) conference—8th edition, which was held on the 7th – 9th of october 2024. funding this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector/ individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare there is no conflict. references amoroso, n.(ed.). 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(2013). spatial correlation of vegetation index (ndvi) from landsat/etm+ image with soil attributes. brazilian journal of agricultural and environmental engineering, v. 17, n. 6, p. 608-614. doi: https://doi.org/10.1590/s1415-43662013000600006. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-007-9046-5 https://doi.org/10.1590/s1415-43662013000600006 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 15 may 2023, accepted: 22 june 2023, published online: 30 june 2023 doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i1.963 the importance of digitalization for sustaining cultural environments in resilient cities deniz deni̇z assoc.prof.dr., izmir university of economics, izmir, turkey, deniz.deniz@ieu.edu.tr abstract in recent years, cities have started to develop faster than ever, and this improvement has led to crucial changes in terms of social, environmental, as well as cultural conditions. today, people mostly prefer living in cities for many reasons, where cities’ sources have been forced to their limits for adaptation to this growth. in this respect, planners and designers have started to search for sustainable and innovative solutions with the help of technology and digitalization. with this dramatic improvement, not only planning and design professionals but also governments started to take smart and long-term solutions for resilient cities into consideration. sustainable cities are self-sufficient with their natural and cultural environments. they can also manage their economic and social acts from the viewpoint of sustainability. with the increasing demand for technological developments in the age of digitalization, cities should also include ‘smartness’ in order to achieve sustainable development for resilience, where environmental, social, and cultural aspects need to be provided in a sustainable way via creating smart solutions. digital transformation can help fulfill the needs and future expectations of city dwellers by increasing opportunities and cultural values for a sustainable lifestyle as one of the fundamentals of resilient cities. in this regard, this paper mainly discusses how digitalization and smart technologies can help with sustainable development and propose a new model for digital transformation to achieve culturally resilient cities. © 2023 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords sustainability; resilience; cultural environments; digital transformation; smart cities 1. introduction cities can be defined as ‘smart’ when they provide better planning and design solutions via technology in order to fulfill the expectations. technology has a crucial role to play in creating and maintaining sustainable cultural environments for resilient cities, where they defined as places in which technologies are combined with infrastructure for dealing with the social, economic, and environmental problems. in this case, technological improvements need to be considered by the actors who are responsible for sustaining cities, such as; local governments, ngos, stakeholders, city planners, and designers. these actors should focus on the needs and benefits of city dwellers by using digital and communication technologies for sustainable solutions. smart cities have to provide benefits for their citizens, including a high-quality environment, smart public transportation, safety, real-time info about the city, cultural and educational facilities by using new technologies. creating smart cities requires considering the demands of city dwellers and every ‘intelligent’ activity must be http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v8i1.963&domain=press.ierek.com deniz deniz/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 motivated by well-being. digital transformation is becoming increasingly important in everyday life to make the environment more livable and sustainable for people through increasing social participation as well as cultural networks among people and public heritage. in this case, governments, institutions, and ngos must work in collaboration to improve digital literacy, make policies, develop digital skills, etc. digital transformation tools must be developed and used in many areas of everyday life. to do that, a smart city interface needs to be created as a framework that helps municipalities and local governments analyze real-time data to make more feasible design and management decisions. smart cities should also be equipped with basic infrastructure for sustainable development through the application of smart solutions. smart city planning for resilient cities needs to be based on collecting and analyzing consumer behaviors by gathering them via digital elements and using technological tools and developments for possible innovations. in this respect, • citizens’ engagement with social and cultural environments through public information, • protecting and optimizing natural resources via digital technologies and related applications, • encouraging smart and sustainable development for the components of cities through intelligent management systems can be classified as the main components that smart cities need to consider to be identified as ‘resilient’. to reach these goals, the new model is developed with respect to the dynamic nature of cities and their components for sustainable and long-term solutions. 2. components of smart and resilient cities the smart city concept emerged in the 1990s (hollands, 2008) and the term ‘smartness’ is used in a variety of meanings such as creative, digital, and virtual (vanolo, 2016). the term ‘smart city’ has become an inspiration for the future, from the governmental issues to the environmental, social and cultural developments that lead to a sustainable city (bakıcı, almirall and wareham, 2012). smart environments address the efficiency and sustainability of urban life in every aspect, including efficient use of natural resources and energy, environmental and cultural spaces (albino, berardi, and dangelico, 2015). in this case, smart living is defined as improving quality of life by increasing cultural and natural inputs into the daily lives of urban dwellers by transforming city functions into smart environments (giffinger, 2015). smart cities need a vibrant environment among people to be sustainable in terms of social, cultural and educational aspects (toppeta, 2010) by using technological development and digital transformation via better planning and design decisions (neirotti, 2014). therefore, cities need to find their capabilities for smart solutions on a city scale with their citizens (ruhlandt, 2018). with the development of technology, various environmental solutions can be applied to smart cities, addressing environmental and cultural issues through digitalization. ahad (2020) described the features of smart cities in which networked infrastructure enables social and cultural development, emphasizing on creative activities for urban growth (komninos, 2011). smart city planning is mainly based on understanding consumers and combining digital elements using technology for innovation. to do that, ict communication infrastructures should be supported by governance to use resources and technologies in innovative and coordinated ways to develop sustainable and resilient cities (barrionuevo, berrone and ricart, 2012). resilient cities are those that can effectively respond and adapt to various shocks and stresses, and cultural environments play an essential role in making a city resilient, as they shape a city's identity, foster social cohesion, and provide a sense of community. in this context, resilient cities embody the fundamentals of sustainable development and integrate the social, economic, and environmental components of their communities, considering the needs of existing and future generations. these cities also provide a safe and healthy environment, respecting the cultural roots and heritage derived from the city itself (bernardo, 2017). in this case, the needs of dwellers should be crucially considered by using smart technologies and digital transformation tools to contribute to the resilience of the city with all its components. deniz deniz/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 cultural environments also play a crucial role in making a city resilient by fostering social cohesion, promoting cultural exchange, and contributing to the local economy. by valuing and investing in their cultural environments, cities can become more adaptable, innovative, and sustainable in the face of various challenges. communities are dealing with socio-economic inequalities, poverty, social exclusion, and a lack of cultural development (odpm, 2005). in this case, although resilience has been considered in various scientific fields such as ecology and social sciences (vale, 2014), today the term ‘resilience’ mostly describes the interrelated system of adapting capacities for confronting external stressing factors in cities (ahern,2011). in the urban context, resilience aims at enabling cities to respond to shocks and stresses (melkunaite and guay, 2016) while improving the functions and services both on a regular basis and in crisis situations by building new social, economic, and environmental responses (desouza et al, 2013). urban resilience intends to augment the ability of the urban system, including physical, environmental and socio-economic perspectives, to build up its adaptive capacity while diminishing its vulnerabilities (tollin and hamhaber, 2017). considering these definitions, cultural environments in resilient cities can be defined as public spaces, cultural institutions, preserving heritage and creative industries as well as cultural diversity (world bank-crp, 2019). in order to create and maintain sustainable development in cities, cultural sustainability is as vital the economic, social and environmental ones. in this respect, these environments can be mainly divided into five sub-categories, which help to create the structure for sustainable development by encouraging cultural sustainability: figure.1. components of sustainable development for resilient cities (deniz d.,2023) public spaces: resilient cities should have vibrant public spaces that serve as gathering places for the community, because these spaces provide opportunities for social interaction, recreation, and cultural events. cultural institutions: resilient cities should have a diverse range of cultural institutions that provide cultural and educational opportunities for the community. these institutions not only promote cultural tourism, but are also crucial as an important economic driver for the city. heritage preservation: resilient cities should value and preserve their cultural heritage and cultural traditions. this preservation not only protects the city's identity, but also attracts visitors and provides opportunities for cultural exchange. creative industries: resilient cities should have thriving creative sectors, including artists as well as designers. these sectors contribute to the local economy and enhance the city's cultural identity, providing a platform for social commentary and innovation. cultural sustainability economic sustainability environmental sustainability social sustainability sustainable development deniz deniz/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 cultural diversity: resilient cities should embrace cultural diversity and celebrate the contributions of different communities. this diversity fosters social cohesion, promotes intercultural understanding, and enables the city to better respond to crises. 3. sustaining cultural environments in resilient cities through technology after the industrial revolution, the loss of natural resources increased due to changing lifestyle, which led to rapid urban development, and the idea of a smart city derived from the need to accommodate rapid urbanization. digital transformation is crucial to understand the complexity of cities with their built environment, social and cultural components, which create networks among social, economic, environmental, and technological factors. in this context, these transformations should mainly focus on developing opportunities with increased citizen engagement. technological developments and digitalization are important for resilient cities in many ways. there are some crucial aspects that need to be considered for creating urban resilience (figure2), including; preservation of cultural heritage: because technology can be used to preserve cultural heritage sites and artifacts. digital technologies can create replicas of artifacts and structures, that can be used for research, education, and exhibition purposes. in this context, digital archives can also be created to store and preserve historical documents and images. sustainable urban planning: using technology is crucial for sustainable urban planning to create resilient cities. smart city technologies and geographic information systems (gis) can be used to map and analyze data on land use, transportation, and environmental conditions, which can inform urban planning decisions. cultural exchange and communication: technology can facilitate cultural exchange and communication between different communities, both within a city and across the globe, to share information and ideas about different cultures, traditions, and practices. virtual reality technologies can provide immersive experiences that allow people to explore different cultures and environments. education and research: technology can provide access to education and research resources that are critical to understanding and preserving cultural heritage. online courses and digital libraries can facilitate knowledge transfer among people from all over the world. in addition, technologies such as artificial intelligence can be used to analyze and interpret data, which can inform research in fields such as history and cultural studies, as well as anthropology and archaeology. figure.2. fundamentals of urban resilience (deniz d.,2023) smart technologies change the city’s infrastructure in many ways: naturally, culturally, and economically, with the contribution of related partners such as; governments, decision-makers, planners, entrepreneurs, designers, stakeholders, and residents, by finding new methods for optimizing systems for new challenges. improving the u rb an r es ili en ce sustainable urban planning preservation of cultural heritage cultural exchange and communication education and research deniz deniz/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 cultural exchange and communication with the help of education, technology can be a powerful tool in creating and maintaining sustainable cultural environments in resilient cities. it can not only help to preserve cultural heritage, but also support sustainable urban planning, facilitate cultural exchange and communication, and provide access to education and research resources. a smart city model through digital transformation smart cities have a great potential for sustaining cultural development, which can mostly be supported by governments and private companies. designing smart cities is a complex issue, and it requires collaborative studies with the contributions of many disciplines, including decision-makers, designers, planners, ict professionals, as well as citizens. at that point, social and cultural dimensions must be considered since the smartness of a city mainly depends on community participation (figure3). citizens have a crucial role to play in sustaining cultural resilience in smart cities to be increasingly connected in cultural places, public networks, and smart transportation, which affect services through digital devices. in this case, the iot needs efficient data and smart objects. data management is also inevitable for smart cities, and the data collected from cities must be generated carefully to develop applications in order to fill this vital gap. figure.3. cultural development in resilient cities through technology (deniz d.,2023) understanding the needs and expectations of the city and combining them with digital elements through technology is crucial for cultural innovation. to do that, ict communication infrastructures need to be supported by governance to use resources via technologies in innovative and coordinated ways to develop smart sustainable cities. in this case, ‘smart and sustainable city model through digital transformation’ (figure4) was created as guidance for further studies which is defined with its components and responsibilities. cultural development in resilient cities sustainability technology driven solutions community participation deniz deniz/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure.4. a smart and sustainable city model through digital transformation (deniz d.,2023) although various methods are proposed to develop the smartness of cities, there are some obstacles related actors and responsibilities in the digital transformation process. in this respect, this approach needs to be considered not only by governments or policymakers but also by design professionals to create resilience in cities through the viewpoint of sustainability with its cultural and natural environments. understanding the role and responsibilities of ‘smart governance’ through digital transformation is crucial for smart solutions since they are the main decision-makers for sustainable solutions in cities. because technological developments enable smarter solutions through quick and accurate collection and processing of data for better results. in this respect, smart governance helps to ensure the efficient use of natural, social, and financial sources with well management in addition to provide public services that are accessible for all. besides, encouraging citizen participation and community engagement in decision-making processes should be provided for sustainable solutions. ‘smart environment’ through digital transformation is another aspect of creating a balance between planning and design for resilient cities. to do that, developing alternative tools for the efficient use of environmental, social, and cultural resources for future generations is crucial. ‘smart living’ through digital transformation is also crucial to consider for sustainable solutions in cities by having easy access to information and related technology for increasing social and cultural resilience. ‘smart mobility’ through digital transformation should offer sustainable mobility for fast and easy access to social and cultural facilities for a well-connected community via easy access to public environments, services, and opportunities for everyone. ‘smart economy’ through digital transformation helps to provide new opportunities for resilient cities by supporting entrepreneurship and encouraging leadership to provide an environment in which businesses are productive, efficient, and competitive for developing possible collaborations to reach success. today, digital transformation is at the heart of discussions on creating resilient cities via technological development to build more livable and sustainable cultural environments. to reach that goal, defining the existing problems and providing solutions for them via digital innovation to generate sustainable opportunities and facilitate community participation is inevitable. ‘smart and resilient city’ must be defined as an extension of a sustainable city to create advanced opportunities for people while minimizing environmental impacts with the help of technology and digital transformation. deniz deniz/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 4. conclusion smart cities use digital data and advanced technologies for sustainable solutions to increase quality of life, as well as economic, social, and cultural developments that engage effectively with their citizens. in this respect, cultural transformation for resilient cities via technology facilitates the adoption of sustainable practices and behavior change among city residents. this approach use the power of technology to create a culture of resilience, where individuals and communities are equipped to respond effectively to related challenges. at that point, technology has become crucial to use for promoting cultural transformation in resilient cities in many ways, such as improving smart infrastructure with the help of technological tools, etc. the importance of cultural preservation is undeniable for resilience planning to increase the value of the cultural heritage within the city. by protecting cultural diversity in a city plan, it is possible to improve a sense of belonging among its residents. technology helps to develop and implement resilience plans that are customized to the unique needs of each city. in this case, a resilient city plan should promote social cohesion and interactions among different cultural groups through the creation of attractive public spaces, as well as community events for all. resilient city planning should also consider the existing and potential vulnerabilities of different cultural groups, which have their own unique socio-cultural practices and emergency management strategies to be inclusive and culturally sensitive. this may involve targeted communication and community engagement to ensure that all residents can access their needs equally and in a better way. inclusive decision-making, where a resilient city plan should involve the participation of diverse cultural communities by ensuring that people from various groups can join in decision-making processes to reflect their needs and expectations is also crucial. in this regard, cultural diversity plays a crucial role in the development of a resilient city plan in several ways. thus, as stated in the proposed model, by involving residents, urban dwellers, and other related actors in decision-making processes with the help of technology, cities can boost cultural sustainability and improvement. it is obvious that encouraging social connections and improving networks via technology can also help raise awareness among city residents about the importance of resilience and sustainability. to do that, collaborative platforms must be created to help facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration among related actors. these platforms must be used to share best practices and promote community engagement to encourage cultural development in resilient cities. in order to create smart and resilient cities, economic empowerment will also drive cultural diversity and resilience. by supporting economic initiatives within diverse communities, a city plan can help improve knowledge transfer and the possible resources it offers. this can not only create a more inclusive economy but also enhance the resilience of the city. consequently, cultural diversity should be seen as a valuable asset in developing resilient city plans. in this regard, the use of technological tools and digitalization can play a critical role in promoting cultural transformation in resilient cities. by embracing differences, cities can harness the collective strengths of their diverse populations by fostering social cohesion and building a more resilient future for all. by leveraging technological solutions to foster a culture of sustainability and resilience, cities can create more livable, vibrant, and resilient communities for all. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grants from funding 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(2023). the importance of digitalization for sustaining cultural environments in resilient cities. environmental science & sustainable development, 8(1), 01–08. https://doi.org/10.21625/essd.v8i1.963 acm: deni̇z, d. 2023. the importance of digitalization for sustaining cultural environments in resilient cities. environmental science & sustainable development. 8, 1 (jun. 2023), 01–08. doi:https://doi.org/10.21625/essd.v8i1.963. acs: deni̇z, d. the importance of digitalization for sustaining cultural environments in resilient cities. essd 2023, 8, 01-08. abnt: deni̇z, d. the importance of digitalization for sustaining cultural environments in resilient cities. environmental science & sustainable development, [s. l.], v. 8, n. 1, p. 01–08, 2023. doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i1.963. disponível em: https://press.ierek.com/index.php/essd/article/view/963. acesso em: 30 jun. 2023. chicago: deni̇z, deniz. 2023. “the importance of digitalization for sustaining cultural environments in resilient cities”. environmental science & sustainable development 8 (1):01-08. https://doi.org/10.21625/essd.v8i1.963. harvard: deni̇z, d. (2023) “the importance of digitalization for sustaining cultural environments in resilient cities”, environmental science & sustainable development, 8(1), pp. 01–08. doi: 10.21625/essd.v8i1.963. ieee: d. deni̇z, “the importance of digitalization for sustaining cultural environments in resilient cities”, essd, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 01–08, jun. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan%20.2011.02.021 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2013.06.003 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2014.850602 deniz deniz/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 mla: deni̇z, d. “the importance of digitalization for sustaining cultural environments in resilient cities”. environmental science & sustainable development, vol. 8, no. 1, june 2023, pp. 01-08, doi:10.21625/essd.v8i1.963. turabian: deni̇z, deniz. “the importance of digitalization for sustaining cultural environments in resilient cities”. environmental science & sustainable development 8, no. 1 (june 30, 2023): 01–08. accessed june 29, 2023. https://press.ierek.com/index.php/essd/article/view/963. vancouver: deni̇z d. the importance of digitalization for sustaining cultural environments in resilient cities. essd [internet]. 2023 jun. 30 [cited 2023 jun. 29];8(1):01-8. available from: https://press.ierek.com/index.php/essd/article/view/963 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 5 march 2025, accepted: 3 june 2025, published online: 30 june 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i2.1191 technologies for resource-efficient recycling of end-of-life crystalline silicon photovoltaic panels pradeep padhamnath1, srinath nalluri3, filip kuśmierczyk2, mateusz kopyściański1, mirosław karbowniczek4 1assistant professor, faculty of engineering metals and industrial computer science, agh university of krakow, kraków, poland 2research assistant, faculty of engineering metals and industrial computer science, agh university of krakow, kraków, poland 3research associate, solar energy research institute of singapore, national university of singapore, singapore 4professor, faculty of engineering metals and industrial computer science, agh university of krakow, kraków, poland abstract global pv installations recently crossed the terawatt scale. the growth of photovoltaic (pv) installations is an important and desirable element in generating clean electricity and combating climate change. however, after the end of their useful life, the pv panels would also lead to the generation of pv waste that would need to be dealt with in a manner which is safe and environmentally responsible. in this work, we present early-stage research results based on experiments conducted with recycling end-of-life (eol) crystalline silicon (c-si) pv panels promoting resource efficiency and circularity. we explore experimental pathways for both closed-loop and open-loop recycling of eol pv panels. for closed-loop recycling, we present experimental results using the recently developed electrohydraulic shock wave-based fragmentation (ehf) of pv panels. the ehf process allows for the recovery of almost all valuable materials used in the manufacturing of pv panels. we further provide a succinct literature review for further downstream treatment of the end products obtained after ehf processing of eol pv panels to recover precious metals such as silver. for open-loop recycling, we propose using the panels in the production of ferrosilicon compounds, thereby reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases associated with their production. through experiments, it was observed that the size of the recycled si does not impact the microstructure of the fesi produced, which means that the technology could be easily used to handle different sizes of si source. through careful experiments and analysis, we provide recycling methods to improve the circularity and resource efficiency in the management of end-of-life c-si pv panels. both experimental recycling pathways discussed in this work could potentially provide sustainable technical pathways to recycle eol pv modules, which do not involve producing harmful greenhouse gases. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i2.1191&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 keywords recycling; circular-economy; resource-efficiency; silicon-photovoltaic; ferrosilicon, fragmentation, decarbonization 1. introduction solar photovoltaic (pv) installations have grown rapidly since the early 2000s, increasing from 1.2 gw in 2000 to 1.6 tw in 2023, and, expected to reach 4.5 tw by 2050 (irena_ieapvps_end-of-life_solar_pv_panels_2016, n.d.; snapshot of global pv markets 2024, n.d.). pv installations are a viable alternative for generating clean electricity; nevertheless, challenges could arise in managing the waste generated due to decommissioned solar panels. while most commercially available pv panels have a technical lifespan of 25 to 30 years, not all panels remain serviceable for that duration. some pv panels fail prematurely due to damage incurred at different stages, such as production, transportation or installation. thus, with the increase in pv installations, a corresponding increase in the global cumulative pv waste is inevitable. the pv panel waste is estimated to reach up to 8 mt by 2030 and 78 mt by 2050, with annual waste in 2050 (6 mt) almost matching the mass contained in new installations (6.7 mt) (irena_ieapvps_end-of-life_solar_pv_panels_2016, n.d.). hence, it has become imperative for many companies to integrate end-of-life (eol) pv recycling into the pv value chain to mitigate growing pv waste, ensure the technology remains environmentally friendly and sustainable, and create value by pursuing new economic avenues. recycling of eol pv modules also contributes directly to the united nations’ sustainable development goal number 12, ‘responsible consumption and production’ (department of economic and social affairs & united nations, 2015). efficient disposal and management of hazardous waste is crucial to achieve this goal. in many countries, stringent guidelines are already in place to deal with waste electrical and electronic equipment (weee) (cucchiella & rosa, 2015; dias et al., 2016a). the european union (eu) has published one of the most detailed regulations related to the recycling of pv modules. these regulations stipulate a minimum of 80-85% (by weight) recovery or reuse of materials (deng et al., 2021; padoan et al., 2019; sica et al., 2018). a detailed review of the regulatory framework related to pv module recycling is available in these reviews. (kastanaki, 2025; nithya et al., 2021; serpe et al., 2025). these recently formulated regulations provide a general guideline for recycling. designing recycling processes to maximize the value of the materials recycled than the weight, could be more beneficial. for example, in pv panels, the glass and the aluminium frame, copper wires and external connectors constitute approximately 85% of the weight of the pv panel, but account for only 30-40% of the value (padhamnath, nalluri, et al., 2025). regulatory frameworks for handling weee waste, including solar pv panels, have been formulated in different countries (ali et al., 2023, 2024; curtis et al., 2021; jain et al., 2022; serpe et al., 2025). a global review of regulatory frameworks highlighted that the popular business-to-customer model producers shall also be responsible for the end-of-life management of their product (mahmoudi et al., 2021; majewski et al., 2021; sharma et al., 2019). despite the existence of policies and guidelines pertaining to recycling eol pv modules (held & wessendorf, 2024; sharma et al., 2019; y. xu et al., 2018), pv module recycling has not achieved the desired commercial scale. first solar, which produces cadmium telluride (cd-te) thin film panels, is considered the leader in pv recycling (sharma et al., 2019). few solar pv manufacturing industries launched initiatives for recycling c-si-based pv modules in europe; however, long-term commercial viability has not been established (sharma et al., 2019; y. xu et al., 2018). according to a current report on the status of global pv recycling, six out of seven commercial entities engaged in recycling pv modules operate in europe (wambach et al., 2024). however, the complex structure of the modules renders the recycling of photovoltaic (pv) modules challenging. about 97% of all the panel manufacturers are crystalline silicon (c-si) panels (ise & projects gmbh, 2024). these panels are made from materials that are distinct in properties and range in quantities from milligrams to several kilograms per panel. a c-si pv panel includes materials such as glass, interconnected silicon solar cells, metals like aluminium, silver, and copper, encapsulants, and polymers. the aim of the fabrication process of pv panels is to prevent these layers from coming apart on their own. hence, disassembling a panel requires a range of mechanical, thermal, and chemical processes for material recovery, purification and reuse (chen et al., 2024). padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 significant improvements have occurred recently in the research and development of pv recycling technologies. around 123 patents related to the recycling of c-si pv modules were filed between 1995 to 2016, highlighting the increasing demand and necessity of pv recycling. the europe organization, pv cycle, has processed ≈ 19 mt of pv waste since its inception. innovative recycling processes, which combine mechanical and thermal treatments, have been implemented, increasing the recycling rates to ≈96%. in germany, eltz umwelt-technology developed an advanced pyrolysis process to recover 95% of materials. france’s veolia uses a multistage recycling approach in its first commercial-scale pv recycling plant for pv modules. china leads in the number of pv patents, mostly focusing on module separation. some of the innovative technologies include refrigerated grinding and hydrothermal prefractionation. other technologies like heated cutting and thermal treatment are advancing pv recycling efficiencies in japan and korea (pvps task et al., 2018). thus, advanced pv recycling technologies are being developed globally. however, the technology of recycling pv modules is often fraught with environmental and economic challenges. some technologies, such as incineration, could lead to harmful emissions. chemical leaching could lead to the release of toxic chemicals. some of these technologies can treat only limited volumes and could result in high operational costs that prevent economies of scale (mulazzani et al., 2022). for the commercial success of pv module recycling, it is necessary to create scalable, sustainable and cost-effective technologies to improve the long-term viability of solar energy. the recycling of eol-pv modules can be done in either an open-ended cycle or a closed cycle. in open ended cycle, the products obtained from the eol-pv panels could be used in manufacturing other commercially important substances, which may or may not be directly used for the fabrication of the new solar pv panels. the silicon in the pv panels could be used for the manufacturing of ferrosilicon (fesi), which is widely used in the production of steel and other metal alloys (tangstad, 2013; blaesing et al., 2024). these recycling options have been found to be the most economically viable process (mao et al., 2023). in closed-end recycling, also known as cradle-to-cradle recycling, the materials extracted from the discarded product are used, after suitable modification, in the fabrication of the same product. in the case of pv panels, this would require the separation of the various components, recovery, refining and then using them to manufacture new pv panels. however, close-ended recycling of pv panels could be an extremely complicated process involving multiple technologies involving high energy usage and hazardous chemicals, impacting the commercial viability of the recycling process. while it is necessary to keep the recycling process simple and low-cost, attention should also be paid towards the hazards and toxic materials created as a direct result of the recycling process. if a recycling process creates more hazardous wastes than the original component, then the process might involve heavy costs in terms of human toxicity and marine eutrophication (mao et al., 2023; seo et al., 2021). the recyclability of the pv panels is determined at the delamination process, which is considered the most complicated step in pv recycling. delamination is difficult to achieve as the aim of a successful pv panel design and manufacturing process is to enable them to withstand environmental impacts, ingress of moisture and air. mechanical, chemical, or thermal processes, applied either separately or combined, can be used to delaminate eol pv modules (divya et al., 2023; lunardi et al., 2018; sanathi et al., 2024). recently high voltage crushing or electrohydraulic fragmentation (ehf) has been proposed as an alternative to the existing delaminating processes. the ehf process can help achieve higher material selectivity and improved recycling efficiency than conventional processes, such as crushing (akimoto et al., 2018; nevala et al., 2019; song et al., 2020; zhao et al., 2020). recent works have reported the optimization of the process parameters in small lab-scale equipment. (song et al., 2020; zhao et al., 2020). specific details regarding the material recovery, their sorting and their end use have not been explicitly discussed. this does not provide clear information on the recovery of the process of recovery of important materials such as ag and si after processing the modules using the ehf process. furthermore, the information available in the literature does not establish the suitability of integrating the ehf process into the already existing process line incorporating the crushing of eol pv panels. ferrosilicon (fesi) alloys are universally used in the metallurgical industry for alloying as carriers of si or other alloying elements. they are also used for the deoxidation of steel and in the casting industries (hawezy, 2017; selema et al., 2023). traditional silicon production from primary sources relies on coal and coke, generating approximately padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 four tons of co₂ per ton of fesi (haque & norgate, 2013; sævarsdottir et al., 2021). most of these carbon emissions originate from the carbonaceous reduction process of sio2. utilizing an alternative production method, such as an induction furnace and eliminating the use of carbon for the reduction of sio2 can significantly reduce these emissions. consequently, fesi production via recycled silicon offers a promising pathway in addressing modern environmental challenges. while recently researchers have tried to use electronic waste, including pv panels, to produce ferrosilicon, these proposed processes still involve the use of carbonaceous reductants, which leads to the evolution of greenhouse gases during the process (blaesing et al., 2024; farzana et al., 2014; rajarao et al., 2018). the development of a process without using carbonaceous reductants to generate commercially important alloys such as fesi from waste materials is missing from the literature. 1.1. objective, scope, and novelty of the present work the objective of this work is to suggest and share the initial results of technologies for recycling eol c-si pv panels developed in our laboratories. in this work, we present initial results with two technologies for recycling eol c-si pv modules; one each for open-ended and closed-ended recycling approaches as developed on a laboratory scale. for open ended recycling approach, we develop a process of manufacturing fesi from eol c-si pv panels and scrap steel. this is a novel process which does not involve any reducing agents to produce fesi. it utilizes si from the eol pv panels and clean scrap iron to produce fesi using a simple induction furnace. this eliminates the use of any reducing agents. since this can be produced in an induction furnace, the only energy input required is in terms of electricity, which can be generated using renewable energy sources. no further sources of heating are necessary. for a closed-end recycling process, an energy-efficient electrohydraulic fragmentation process was developed for delaminating pv modules, which enables the near-complete separation and recovery of the different components of pv modules. in this work, we have shown the compatibility of the ehf process with the crushing process, which is widely used in industry for several recycling applications. we have shown that the ehf process is capable of handling crushed modules, which makes it feasible to be integrated into existing waste handling systems with crushing units to enable handling eol pv modules. this work focuses on technology and the engineering development of the processes. in this work, no attempts have been made to assess the economic feasibility or scalability of the process, as the process is at a developmental stage. at this stage, the data collected is insufficient to assess any environmental impact. the authors are in the process of collecting more data from the experimental process to be able to perform a thorough environmental impact assessment, which shall be addressed in future work. further, no attempts have been made to assess the relationship with the existing or future policies, as it is beyond the scope and expertise of the authors. in this work, the authors have attempted to present technical aspects of the recycling process, which has been developed in a laboratory environment. both these processes are compared with the current state-of-the-art in terms of energy use and toxic/hazardous products created as a result of the process. further, a succinct review of the state-of-the-art in the recovery of silver and silicon is also presented. finally, the inferences are drawn, and the conclusion is presented. 2. materials and methods 2.1. fabrication of ferrosilicon using eol pv panels and scrap steel. fesi was prepared using an induction furnace. in this work, fesi45 was prepared, which means that for 100gm of the fesi45, si is approximately 45% by mass while the remaining is iron (fe). discarded and damaged solar pv panels were collected from a commercial supplier. the solar pv panels were cleaned with water and dried. the aluminium frames and the external electrical connections of the panels were removed mechanically. the solar panels were crushed using a twin-blade mechanical crusher. the crushing was conducted in multiple passes to obtain the desired particle size of 1-3 mm. between each pass of the crushing process, the glass, silicon, and polymer pieces that were successfully separated were removed manually. the process was repeated until enough silicon pieces were obtained. two types of silicon pieces were obtained – those which were stuck to the polyethylene film used as the backsheet and those which were completely removed from the polyethylene layer. this was done by a simple sieving padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 process using a sieve of 1 mm opening, as the polymer silicon pieces were all larger than 1 mm. silicon powder obtained after the sieving process ranged from 0.1-0.8 mm. the scrap iron was collected from the discarded materials in the lab (such as stirrers, steel wires, etc). the pieces were washed in warm (≈50℃) soapy water to remove any traces of oil, debris, and organic and inorganic residues on the surface. the rust on the samples was removed using commercial rust-removing spray and scrubbing with a metal brush. the cleaned samples were washed again in warm soapy water to remove the chemicals and dried by placing them in an oven at 150 ℃ for 20 min. the cleaned and dried scrap steel was cut into smaller pieces (≈20-30mm) and prepared for melting. the total mass of the sample prepared was kept constant at 100g. for all samples, the amount of fe taken was 55g, while the remaining 45g included either the silicon pieces or the powder obtained after the crushing process. the amount of iron required for preparing the sample was measured and placed in the alumina crucible. the alumina crucible was placed inside a larger graphite crucible. the crucibles were covered with an alumina lid with an opening in the centre through which a thermocouple could be inserted to record the temperature. both crucibles were placed in a cylindrical induction furnace. after the iron melted, si pieces/powder were added to the crucible. the contents were stirred (intermittently) with the help of a clean quartz tube to check for complete dissolution. after the complete dissolution of the si in fe, the furnace was turned off. the sample was left in the crucible, which was covered with the alumina lid, and the sample was allowed to cool down naturally to room temperature. after the sample and the crucible had cooled down, the alumina crucible was broken to retrieve the sample. the samples were cut and embedded in conductive carbon resin, and subsequently, metallographic crosssections were prepared from the embedded samples by grinding using different grades of sandpaper and polishing with diamond suspension. 2.2. delamination of crushed pv module pieces using the electrohydraulic fragmentation (ehf) process. for the work reported here, the pieces of modules obtained after crushing were sorted manually. the crushed pieces (with polymer and glass) with a size exceeding 5 mm were selected for processing using shock wave fragmentation for further separation into individual components. the pieces were placed in the process chamber of 5l volume. deionized water was used as the fluid medium. the voltage input to the electrode was 50 kv while the processing duration was 240s. the ehf process exploits the differences in the mechanical properties of the materials in a pv panel. a high voltage pulse is applied to a fluid in an insulated container in which a solid is immersed. the arcing between the electrodes generates a shockwave which travels through the fluid and interacts with the solids. the interaction between the pressure wave front in the liquid and the solid causes fractures at the weak points between the interfaces of dissimilar materials, resulting in crushing and separation of the materials (akimoto et al., 2018). 3. results the fractions obtained after manually sieving the material produced after ehf were analysed optically and with the naked eye. the largest fractions included polymers with or without si particles sticking to them. figure 1 shows the pieces of silicon sticking to the polymer backsheet, while figure 2 shows the silicon powder particles as observed under an optical microscope. this initial separation was done by a simple manual sieving process. the material recovered after the ehf process usually consists of fine powder containing metals and silicon from the solar cells, along with glass powder. after the processing, the water was drained through the retaining filters, which removed the polymer pieces (> 5mm) as shown in figure 3. silicon and glass were obtained as coarse powder, as shown in figure 4. padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 1: pieces of silicon sticking to the polymer backsheet. (taken using a dslr camera) (source: by authors) figure 2: pieces of silicon less than 1mm obtained after serving as observed under optical microscope(source: by authors) figure 3: pieces of polymers obtained after the ehf processing (> 5mm). (taken using a dslr camera) (source: by authors) padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 4: glass and silicon pieces obtained after the ehf processing (0.1-0.5mm). (taken using a dslr camera) (source: by authors) 3.1. characterization of the fesi prepared using recycled silicon. the metallographic fesi prepared using the silicon recovered from the panels was observed with a scanning electron microscope (sem). the composition of the distinct phases was analysed using energy dispersive spectroscopy (eds) integrated with the sem. fesi prepared using the silicon pieces stuck with the polymer sheet are denoted as fesi-pc, and those prepared with the si powder are denoted as fesi-po. figure 5 shows the sem image and the elemental maps obtained by eds for the fesi-pc samples. the polymer sheets used in pv modules are usually polyethylene terephthalate (pet) and ethyl vinyl acetate (eva), as mentioned earlier. both are polymers involving c, h and o (królikowski et al., 2024). therefore, the combustion products generated due to their combustion would be carbon dioxide and water vapour. some carbon is also expected to be incorporated in the samples. this could be observed in the elemental maps in figure 5. the fesi comprised a silicon-rich matrix with a composition of si ranging between 42-45% (atomic) and a composition of fe between 48-52% (atomic). the fe-rich dendrites present in the matrix, on the other hand, had fe in the range of 60-65% while si varied between 30-33%. a comparison with the fe-si binary phase diagram and experimental phase analysis (han et al., 2022; kubaschewski & okamoto, 1993) reveals the presence of fesi (si-rich) and fe2si (fe-rich) phases. the composition of the two phases of fesi determined by eds closely corresponds to the stoichiometric composition of the phases expected to be present in fesi45. the overall percentage of al in the samples ranged from 2.5-3.5% (atomic). the aluminium is expected to come from the metal contacts on the silicon solar cells, as well as the interconnection wires used to connect the solar cells in a module (zarmai et al., 2015). figure 5: sem image and the elemental composition map and phase map obtained by eds for the fesi-pc samples. different elements identified by the eds are labelled accordingly. (source: by authors) padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 6 shows the sem image and the elemental maps obtained by eds for the fesi-po samples. in this case, since the polymer pieces were absent, carbon could not be found (reliably) in the samples. however, in this case, ag was present in the fesi45 samples prepared. while crushing, most of the metal contacts on the solar cells, which are composed of al and ag, are expected to form fine particles under the mechanical stress. hence, the percentage of metal fraction in the silicon powder obtained after the crushing process would be slightly higher than that found on the silicon fractions still stuck to the polymer pieces. the presence of fe2si dendrites in the fesi matrix was clearly visible, as in the case of fesi-pc samples. additionally, ag could be seen scattered in the microstructure. since the solid solubility of ag in fe and si is extremely low (rollert et al., 1987; wriedt et al., 1973), ag is expected to precipitate during cooling and distribute throughout the microstructure. the percentage of ag in the samples was found to range between 0.1%-0.3% (atomic). the percentage of al in these samples was found to be between 5-7.5% atomic. correspondingly, the overall percentage of si was slightly lower in these samples than that in the fesi-pc samples. the overall percentages in terms of mass for different constituents for both fesi-pc and fesi-po samples obtained from eds measurements are shown in table 1. the composition of the commercially purchased fesi45 is also shown alongside for comparison. there was a loss of 1-3% wt. in the mass of the fesi product as compared to the total mass of the raw materials used. this can be attributed to the loss due to natural oxidation, loss of volatile compounds and the mechanical loss while recovering the sample (some part of the sample sticking to the crucible). table 1 shows that al in the fesi prepared with pieces is similar to that present in the commercial fesi. the overall impurity content in the fesi produced using recycled si is less than that present in the commercial fesi. this further supports the suitability of using recycled si for producing fesi. figure 6: sem image and the elemental composition map and phase map obtained by eds for the fesi-po samples. different elements identified by the eds are labelled accordingly. (source: by authors) table 1: average wt. % of the main components identified using sem-eds in the fesi samples prepared using the si obtained from recycled pv panels. composition of the commercial fesi45 purchased from the market is also given for reference fesi-pc (wt.%) fesi-po (wt.%) fesi45-commercial fe 54.1±1.8 53.9±1.8 52.7±3.8 si 42.1±2.1 42.3±2.8 41.5±5.2 c 2.1±1.6 1.4±0.4 ag 0.11±0.02 al 1.5±1.1 3.1±0.6 1.5 ±2.1 padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 other 0.5±1.2 0.5±0.1 3.5±1.7 3.2. characterization of the components received after ehf treatment of the c-si pv panels. after the ehf treatment, while most of the glass and silicon were separated from the polymer pieces, the polymer pieces were not completely clean. however, it is known that the degree of separation of the glass and silicon is also dependent on the various process parameters, such as process duration, feed volume, pulse power, among others (akimoto et al., 2018; song et al., 2020; zhao et al., 2020). further optimization of the process parameters could lead to a higher degree of separation and subsequent recovery of the silicon, polymer, and glass. figure 7 shows the crushed pieces before and after undergoing the ehf treatment. figure 7: polymer pieces recovered after crushing the pv panels and treating the recovered polymer pieces using ehf process. (taken using a dslr camera) (source: by authors) the powder obtained after the treatment is mostly comprised of glass with a small amount of si and metal particles. the separation of silicon and glass from the polymer pieces can be explained by the operating principle of the ehf process. the process is based on the difference in the mechanical properties of the materials when subjected to mechanical stress. since glass is amorphous and brittle, it is easily broken into tiny pieces and separated from the underlying polymer layer. further, the glass is the thickest layer in the sandwich. the glass thickness is usually between 3 – 5mm. in comparison, both polymers and the si wafers used for making the solar cells are just a few hundred microns thick. hence, the impact of the mechanical force is greatest on the glass, and it is easily separated from the underlying polymer sheet. further, it was seen that the last layer of silicon particles sticking to the polymer layers was not a continuous layer of si, but rather tiny particles of size less than 100µm. in this form, the particles are discontinuous and less constrained. therefore, the impact of the pulse on them is further minimized, as they can move with the polymer layer as it deforms under the impulse. nevertheless, as mentioned earlier, optimization of the process parameters could further help in the higher recovery of the particles after the ehf treatment. hence, with this treatment, it is possible to retrieve the polymer layers in whole, while recovering silicon (along with the ag and al) powder and glass particles. in several test runs conducted, more than 99% of the material was recovered. since the process uses only water as the medium and the process occurs at room temperature, no toxic gases or effluents are produced. since water is used as a non-consumable medium, the additional water consumption is also almost negligible. hence, using the ehf process provides an alternative pathway for recovering all the components of eol c-si pv panels. figures 8 and 9 show the sem images of the coarse and the fine powders obtained after the ehf processing of the eol modules. padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 figure 8: sem image (magnification – 200x) of the coarse glass powder obtained after the ehf processing of crushed eol pv modules (source: by authors) figure 9: sem image (magnification – 200x) of the fine silicon and metal powder obtained after the ehf processing of crushed eol pv modules (source: by authors) 4. discussion in this work, it was shown that it is possible to recover the silicon and metal as a powder using a combination of mechanical crushing and ehf processing. the metal powder comprises ag and al. the total percentage of ag in the material recovered from the eol c-si pv panels is less than 0.1% of the entire weight of the panel; nevertheless, it accounts for more than 40% of the value of the materials recovered (padhamnath, nalluri, et al., 2025). ag and si are the most valuable materials recovered from the eol c-si pv panels. further, recovering and recycling si, either as ferrosilicon (blaesing et al., 2024; farzana et al., 2016) or for making c-si for the production of new solar cells (derbouz draoua et al., 2017) is beneficial as this prevents the co2 emissions linked to the production of new silicon from quartz (blaesing et al., 2024; tao et al., 2020). although separation and extraction of ag and si were not attempted in this work, a succinct discussion on the processes involved based on the available literature is presented. padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 4.1. extraction of silver electrical current is extracted from silicon solar cells using grid-patterned contacts printed on the solar cells. these metal contacts are typically made of silver paste, along with small quantities of some other proprietary metals. the quantity of silver in the panel is almost negligible in terms of weight (~0.05%); however, the silver accounts for ≈47% of the value of the recoverable materials (iea-pvps report number: t12-06:2016, 2016; chen et al., 2024). due to the recent technological advances, pv production is gradually shifting from passivated emitter and rear cell (perc) to newer technologies like tunnel oxide passivated contact (topcon) and heterojunction technology (hjt). these technologies use more silver in each solar cell, with topcon and hjt utilising at least 1.3 times and 1.6 times more silver than perc, respectively. the world silver survey 2023 by the silver institute projects the silver consumption in pv panels to increase by 4%, while production is forecasted to increase by only 2%. if the trends remain steady, the pv industry could use up to 98% of the global silver reserves in 2050 (world silver survey 2023, n.d.). therefore, effective recovery of silver from eol pv modules is crucial to the economic sustainability of the entire recycling process. recovered silver could also help to offset the production costs of new panels, as well as meet the growing demand for silver. the initial efforts in pv recycling focused on high-volume recovery of glass, aluminium, and metallurgical grade silicon, as these made up over 80% of module mass, were simpler to separate, and the process was cost-effective. furthermore, recovery of intact solar cells for reuse in module production was prioritised, as the price of pv panels was driven by the cost of silicon wafers (pvps task et al., 2018). consequently, silver was discarded while recovering silicon by etching the solar cells in sodium hydroxide, as the process was not economically viable, despite the high value of silver. in the early 2000s, the first attempts were made to recover the silver using hydrometallurgical processes. nitric acid was used to leach silver from the recovered solar cells. electrolysis and metal replacement techniques were later employed to recover silver from the precipitated salts from the nitric acid (deng et al., 2022). the process was 98% efficient in recovering silver from the solar cells. other methods have been developed in recent years with similar or improved process efficiencies. a 98% recovery rate has also been achieved using a combined hydrometallurgical and electrochemical approach. in this process, silver is leached and then subjected to electrodeposition-redox replacement (edrr) reaction to recover pure silver. this process minimizes chemical use, thus offering high efficiency and reduced environmental damage (russo et al., 2024). in the newly developed laser debonding process, silver electrodes are removed using a laser. this method is unique in its ability to selectively recover silver while minimizing the damage to the silicon wafers. using lasers results in the generation of silver nanoparticles, which can be readily supplied to various industries. machine learning techniques have been used to optimize laser processing and increase automation for industrial applications, reducing both cost and energy consumption (khetri & gupta, 2024). improving the process efficiency while simultaneously reducing the environmental footprint of the recycling processes is the requirement of a successful and industrially scalable process (gajare et al., 2025; qi et al., 2025; zheng et al., 2025). iron and aluminium chloride in brine solutions have been used to recover up to 95% of silver in under 10 minutes. this process offers the advantages of low cost, low toxicity, and scalability compared to conventional acid-based recovery techniques (zante et al., 2022). ag from the pv panels has also been recovered using biological methods (pang et al., 2025). while recent advances have made the extraction of silver more efficient and environmentally friendly, challenges still persist. low concentration of silver in the solar cells is one of the crucial factors which determines the economic feasibility of the process. the process of extracting silver from the panels could be expensive due to the complex chemical processes or specialized equipment. as mentioned earlier, the metal contacts often include other metals, such as cadmium, lead and copper alongside silver. since these metals have similar chemical properties, the leaching and separation process becomes complicated (rout et al., 2025; russo et al., 2024). one of the biggest technological challenges is recovering silver selectively without affecting silicon and other valuable materials or contaminants. to achieve this goal, the traditional hydrometallurgical techniques need to improve, while simultaneously novel and sustainable methods such as laser debonding, directional solidification and electrochemical recovery need to be developed further (li et al., 2025; yue et al., 2025). additionally, the economic viability of the recovery process remains a challenge for scaling up the technology, which is being exacerbated due to the decreasing silver content in modules. padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 4.2. recovery of silicon from eol pv panels silicon recovered from end-of-life si pv panels has been used to manufacture new silicon solar cells. crushing of the panels and separating the constituents can yield metallurgical grade silicon (komoto et al., 2018; latunussa et al., 2016a; tao et al., 2020), which is valued around $2-3/kg depending on the region (imarc, 2024). the higher cost of solar-grade silicon, which is valued between $6-9/kg (bellini, 2024), could provide motivation for its production from eol pv panels. successful demonstrations of closed-loop recycling of si have been done (tao et al., 2020). recycled silicon from broken solar cells and wafer production has been used to fabricate ingots and subsequently solar cells (derbouz draoua et al., 2017). the solar cells made from recycled si achieved an efficiency of 18.1% while those made from virgin si exhibited efficiencies of 18.5%. solar cells were prepared from recycled si with efficiencies exceeding 20%. for this purpose, the si was obtained after chemical etching (palitzsch et al., 2020). researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of the etching process in removing metal contamination from silicon (huang et al., 2017a; park et al., 2016; park & park, 2014). among the earliest attempt of recovering silicon, researchers used thermal delamination and chemical etching using a combination of hcl, hf and naoh to recover 62% of the si of 8n quality from the eol pv panels (wang et al., 2012). using a slightly different chemicals, such as hydrofluoric acid (hf), nitric acid (hno3), sulfuric acid (h2so4), phosphoric acid (h3po4) and acetic acid (ch3cooh), researchers recovered 79-86% of 5n silicon, using chemical delamination process to remove the glass and the polymers (kang et al., 2012). mini-modules were fabricated, and the glass and the eva layers were removed using thermal delamination (park et al., 2016). hno3 and potassium hydroxide (koh) were used to recover 90% of the silicon. the solar cells prepared from these reclaimed wafers achieved ≈90% of the initial efficiency (park et al., 2016). hno3, h3po4 and koh have also been used to remove metal and recover 80-90% of the silicon (eshraghi et al., 2020; huang et al., 2017b; jung et al., 2016; latunussa et al., 2016b; latunussa et al., 2016a). solar cells that have not been incorporated in a panel could also be effectively recycled to retrieve ≈ 99% of the silicon (yousef et al., 2019). centrifugal separation, microfiltration, and ultrasonic treatment have been used to separate and purify the recycled si. while recycling si from eol modules is a complicated process, there is underlying interest in the research community, as it has been established that silicon recovered from eol pv panels could be reused for fabricating new solar cells(lee et al., 2024; ramírez-cantero et al., 2025; sah et al., 2023; tembo & subramanian, 2023). 4.3. effect of impurities in the recovered material al is among the most common impurities in the fesi alloys. commercially produced ferrosilicon usually contains between 0.5-2% of al as an impurity (tangstad, 2013; tomé-torquemada et al., 2017). however, since al is used as an electrical contact in most electronic devices, due to its excellent electrical conductivity, less weight, and not easily diffusing into silicon below 300 ℃ (kim et al., 2016; krause et al., 2002; mccaldin & sankur, 1971). while this work shows the feasibility of preparing fesi from the recycled si, the impact of the impurities in the fesi on the downstream applications needs to be assessed (tomé-torquemada et al., 2017; wijk & brabie, 1996). presence of al in fesi is not considered to be an issue, as there is a market for fesial specifically in casting and metallurgical industries (arunkumar et al., 2025; jochymczyk et al., 2025; zhang et al., 2023). the impact of ag in the downstream applications needs to be understood in order to assess the viability of using fesi prepared from recycled si. nevertheless, the percentage of ag in fesi is ≈ 0.1% wt., and with any further downstream use, its concentration would get even further diluted, and hence, ag may not pose a grave concern for such applications. for example, such recycled ferrosilicon could be used for the oxidation of steels, and the mechanical properties of such steels could be analysed to assess the impact of the impurities in the fesi on the properties of the final product. however, assessing the impact of the final product is out of the scope of this work and will be considered in future work. similarly, the products obtained after the ehf recycling are found to have cross-contamination. for example, some pieces of si were found in the glass pieces and vice versa. some silicon and glass were also found sticking to the polymer surface. however, all these impurities and cross-contamination can be removed using different chemical processes (ramírez-cantero et al., 2025). pieces of polymer and si can remain attached to the glass pieces after ehf processing. a combination of organic chemical and water treatment can remove the polymer particles easily. si content in the glass cullet is estimated to be less than 0.001% wt. silicon removal can be done using chemicals that padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 selectively etch si without affecting glass, such as sodium hypochlorite (naocl) or potassium hydroxide (koh) (basu et al., 2013; divan et al., 1999; wind et al., 2002). the composition of the fine powder would dictate the design of the separation process. for the samples prepared in this work, the si content was higher than that of the glass. the glass was dissolved in hf to retrieve si (padhamnath, nalluri, et al., 2025). hf also helps in removing the arc coating on the solar cells (brunet et al., 2017; jeon et al., 2006; knotter & denteneer, 2001). finally, the fine powder fraction comprising si, ag, al and some amount of glass is highly valuable, especially due to the presence of ag from solar cells. the ag in the mixture can be recovered by treating it with hno3, which will dissolve the silver. the dissolved ag can be recovered from the acid solution by treating it with other chemicals or using electrolysis (de oliveira et al., 2020; dias et al., 2016b; li et al., 2024; yiwei et al., 2007). the glass and si left behind can be separated by dissolving the glass in hf. ehf recycling could enable the recycling of the polymer used in the pv panels, which helps towards achieving 1000% recycling. by a careful optimization of the process parameters, the amount of si sticking to the surface could be minimized. further chemical treatment (with koh and hno3) can clean the polymer pieces of any remaining silicon and metal particles. several specialized processes have been developed for recycling such polymers (królikowski et al., 2024; sinha et al., 2010). 4.4. comparison with existing pv recycling technologies recycling of eol pv panels is still in its infancy and is generating huge interest among researchers and technologists alike. for example, in open-ended recycling of pv panels, the panels are crushed, and the glass recovered is used to manufacture fibreglass(duflou et al., 2018; feih et al., 2011; scelsi et al., 2011), construction of pavements (emersleben & meyer, 2012) or for fabricating other construction components (mohajerani et al., 2017; ogundairo et al., 2019; robert et al., 2021). however, these are low-end uses of the valuable material in pv panels and do not justify the economics for large-scale implementation. recently, researchers tried to use the eol pv panels along with red mud (waste from the aluminium industry) to produce ferrosilicon (blaesing et al., 2024). they devised a reduction process using coal and argued that the greenhouse gas emissions from the production of si were mitigated. however, this was an experimental process, and such endeavours have not seen large-scale commercial applications. fesi, using the method proposed in this work, can be produced without requiring any complicated process or equipment, and without the release of greenhouse gases. hence, open-ended recycling of pv panels to produce commercially important products would help in the commercial feasibility of the process and enable large-scale adoption of the technology. disassembly, delamination, material sorting and material extraction are the four process steps common to all recycling processes designed to extract valuable materials from the end-of-life pv panels. each of these steps could further comprise single or multiple process steps (deng et al., 2022; divya et al., 2023). recycling the external wiring (copper) and the aluminium frames is the easiest (einhaus et al., 2018). in some instances, commercial recycling of pv panels has been reported to include only these steps, while the remaining portions are discarded (deng et al., 2022). the most valuable recyclable component in a pv panel is undoubtedly ag, followed by silicon. they are usually recovered by etching them in chemicals and later precipitating the metal out of the chemicals (de oliveira et al., 2020; dias et al., 2016a; tembo & subramanian, 2023). the amount of polymer used in a pv panel depends on its design. these polymers could include ethylene-vinyl acetate (eva), polyethylene terephthalate (pet) and polyvinylidene difluoride (pvdf). however, owing to the complex and hazardous recovery process and negligible commercial value, these polymers are almost never recycled (achilias & karayannidis, 2004; deng et al., 2022; divya et al., 2023; sinha et al., 2010). as mentioned earlier, delamination of the pv panels is among the most crucial steps in recycling eol pv modules. delamination is usually achieved by chemical, mechanical, thermal processes, or a combination of processes such as thermos-mechanical or thermo-chemical. in thermal delamination, the pv panels are heated to ≈550℃ to decompose the cross-linked polymers in the pv panels, such as ethyl vinyl acetate (eva), polyethylene terephthalate (pet) or polyvinylidene fluoride (pvdf) (dobra et al., 2022). the polymer decomposition allows for the easy separation and subsequent recovery of the glass, the interconnecting metallic ribbons and the solar cells (fiandra et al, 2019b; fiandra et al., 2019a; j. lee et al., 2018; park & park, 2014). however, the heating process is energy-intensive. polymer padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 decomposition is often associated with the generation of toxic gases. scrubbing and treatment of the flue gases make the process expensive to implement (deng et al., 2021; lunardi et al., 2018; tammaro et al., 2015, 2016). in chemical delamination, the modules (crushed or whole) are immersed in inorganic or organic chemicals, with or without heating and mechanical stirring. the chemicals weaken the cross-linked polymers, separating the modules and their components. the chemicals used in such processes are extremely hazardous and require long processing times, sometimes extending more than 10 days (deng et al., 2022; divya et al., 2023; lunardi et al., 2018). researchers have combined chemical treatment with microwaves (pang et al., 2021), ultrasonic waves (kim & lee, 2012) or supercritical carbon dioxide (lovato et al., 2021) to shorten the process durations. in all these cases, it was difficult to achieve complete separation of eva and pet/pvdf. some researchers employed a second process step (pyrolysis or glycolysis) xu et al., 2021. furthermore, disposal of such large quantities of organic chemicals could be environmentally challenging. mechanical fragmentation techniques are the most widely reported and used approach for delamination (komoto et al., 2018; libby et al., 2018). mechanical approaches such as shredding, crushing, milling and grinding have been used for the fragmentation of pv panels (dias et al., 2018; pagnanelli et al., 2016). after these processes, some physical separation methods are employed which can separate the glass, polymers and the silicon combined with metals (azeumo et al., 2019; klejnowska et al., 2024; libby et al., 2018; martínez et al., 2024). however, such processes result in the separation of glass, which is the main product obtained in such processes. the polymer is often pyrolyzed or burned to generate heat. mechanical recycling of pv modules using crushing and shredding is the most widely used technology to handle pv waste due to the low cost. however, such processes create a lot of dust and noise and need active dust and noise suppression systems. the electrohydraulic delamination process provides flexible processing of the end-of-life c-si pv panels. different types of pv panels (glass-glass, glass-backsheet, glass-free) can be delaminated with the ehf process. the ehf process can be used if the panels are cut or crushed. however, to maintain uniformity in the process, different panel types should not be mixed in one feed. through process optimization high high-throughput and high-quality materials could be obtained. the capability of the ehf process in enabling complete recyclability of eol pv panels and recovery of high-quality materials, including polymers, was demonstrated in this work. the materials could easily be separated employing a simple mechanical sieving process. however, the process has immense capabilities, and we have just scratched the surface. ongoing and future research would aim at optimizing the process to improve the quality of the output materials. efforts are underway to develop a multistage processing sequence, including automatic and continuous separation of the materials. investigations into implementing density-based separation of materials, recovering and purification of high-quality silicon and metals (especially ag) would further increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the ehf process. 4.5. advantages and limitations of the proposed process the ehf process effectively delaminates the eol pv modules, providing an alternative to the thermal or chemical delamination processes. the hdf process delaminates c-si pv panels easily and quickly, without the generation of toxic or hazardous by-products. it also allows for the complete recovery and recycling of different components of the eol pv panel. these benefits align with the current standards of the eu weee directive (deng et al., 2021; european standardization organisation cenelec, 2012; padoan et al., 2019; sica et al., 2018). the process can be adapted to process different types of pv modules undergoing varied pretreatment processes (crushing, cutting). the only working medium required is non-potable water which is not consumed in the process and can be recycled easily. it needs only electricity to operate, which can be generated by renewable resources. it does not lead to the emission of any hazardous or toxic by-products. this points towards the easy scalability of the technology for commercial applications. a concept of the industrial machine using ehf applications could involve a dryer and sieve-based separators after the ehf process steps, allowing for automation and easy control of the process. however, some crosscontamination of the materials obtained after processing could not be ruled out, and probable steps for remediation have been discussed earlier. a simple mechanical filtration of the processed material leads to the distinct fractions. the large glass pieces can be separated from the finer particles and can be immediately sent for cleaning and recycling. the coarse fraction may contain glass + silicon (from solar cells), and further processing could be decided based on the target material and the composition of the fraction. similarly, the fraction containing fine powder mostly padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 comprises si and metal, but can also contain a varying amount of fine glass powder. density-based medium separation could be used to separate the materials with dissimilar densities (akimoto et al., 2018) . ongoing and future efforts would optimize the process parameters to minimize cross-contamination and continuous material separation and recovery using an automated sieving process. improving the metals recovery yield, purification of si and metals, and estimating the environmental impact of the process have also been left for future work. the production of fesi using recycled si is an effective way to obtain valuable fesi product from the waste and discarded pv modules. this is a novel process which does not involve any reducing agents to produce fesi. it utilizes si from the eol pv panels and clean scrap iron to produce fesi using a simple induction furnace. this eliminates the use of any reducing agents. further, since this can be produced in an induction furnace, the only energy input required is in terms of electricity, which can be generated using renewable energy sources. no further sources of heating are necessary. this aligns with the sustainable development goal of responsible consumption and production (department of economic and social affairs & united nations, 2015). since induction furnaces are already used for recycling metal wastes (especially steel), the fesi production using recycled steel and eol pv panels can easily be scaled up for commercial applications. further, it was found that the fesi produced from recycled si has overall lower impurities than those present in the commercial fesi. the recycled si obtained from eol panels contain al (1-3% wt.), which is an advantage, and fesial is a valuable material used in the metallurgy industry. al is among the most common impurities in the fesi alloys. commercially produced ferrosilicon usually contains between 0.5-2% of al as impurity, which supports the deoxidation and alloying properties (tangstad, 2013; tomé-torquemada et al., 2017). further, researchers have tried to produce fesi using al-rich clay(amanov et al., 2017; shevko et al., 2016). using this process, fesial could be produced easily without any additional source of al. there could be some additional impurities associated with si recovered from eol pv panels; however, these impurities are in extremely small quantities (<0.1% wt.) and hence are not expected to impact the quality of the final product achieved. 5. conclusions in this work, we have shown experimental results for pathways for effective management of end-of-life c-si pv modules, enabling circularity and resource efficiency. we have proposed pathways for both open-loop and closedloop recycling options. the silicon-metal powder, with or without the polymer layer, recovered after crushing the panels, can be used in the production of ferrosilicon. this process will directly reduce the amount of co2 evolved in the production of fesi through carbonaceous reduction methods. we presented the newly developed ehf process for delaminating eol pv modules. the ehf process enables more than 99% material recovery, both by weight and by value. the yield can be further improved by process optimization. the si and ag recovered after the ehf process can be separated and extracted to be reused in the manufacturing of new solar cells and pv modules. however, the separation and recovery of ag and si is a chemically intensive process, and careful process selection is required to minimize the energy and resource utilization. the ehf process is an environment-friendly process which can delaminate eol pv modules without generating any hazardous gases or toxic effluents. in this work, the ehf process was optimized to perform efficiently at lower voltages (50 kv) and shorter process durations than reported earlier, which results in lower energy consumption. this further helps in reducing the carbon footprint of the recycling process. future work shall focus on the separation and purification processes of metals, si and polymers obtained from eol pv modules using the ehf process. similarly, we produced fesi using recycled fe and si, without using any carbonaceous material for reduction. this eliminated the emissions of any greenhouse gases during the process. while other alloying elements, such as cu and sn, can form multicomponent alloys with al and si (padhamnath, kuśmierczyk, et al., 2025) at higher concentrations, their impact at concentrations less than 1% needs to be investigated thoroughly. understanding such impact of a small number of impurities on downstream applications of fesi is left for future studies. furthermore, future research work should focus on using the recycled fesi as the source of si in iron alloys and comparing their characteristics with those prepared from commercial-grade fesi. future work should focus on evaluating the economic feasibility, environmental impact assessment and life cycle assessment of these processes to identify the appropriate scenarios where such solutions may be applied most effectively. padhamnath/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented at the sustainable economy and ecotechnology (see) conference which was held on the 27th 28th of november 2024. the authors would like to acknowledge the support of colleagues at agh university of krakow, solar energy research institute of singapore, national university of singapore and singapore polytechnic. funding declaration: this research is a part of the project no. 2022/45/p/st5/02712, executed at agh university of krakow, co-funded by the national science centre, poland and the european union framework programme for research and innovation horizon 2020 under the marie skłodowska-curie grant agreement no. 945339. for the purpose of open access, the author has applied a cc-by public copyright licence to any author accepted manuscript (aam) version arising from this submission. a part of this research is also supported by the solar energy research institute of singapore (seris) at the national university of singapore (nus). seris is supported by the national university of singapore (nus), the national research foundation (nrf), the energy market authority of singapore (ema) and the singapore economic development board (edb). the work was also supported by the national research foundation, singapore, the ministry of national development and the national environment agency, under the urban solutions and sustainability integration fund (uss-if-2019-5). ethics approval: not applicable conflict of interest: the author(s) declare that there is no competing interest. references achilias, d. s., & karayannidis, g. p. 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(2025). eco-friendly recovery and preparation of high purity nano silver powders from retired photovoltaic solar cells. separation and purification technology, 359, 130343. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 19 january 2025, accepted: 23 june 2025, published online:30 september 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i3.1173 adaptive conservation strategies for butrint's in-situ mosaics: addressing climate change impacts on world heritage sites laura nicolini1 1 senior conservation architect, phd candidate on cultural heritage conservation and management at the alcalá university (uah), architecture department, spain abstract in a still unspoilt corner of albania's coast, the whs of butrint is a unique combination of nature and art surrounded by a lake connected by a canal to the sea. the abundance of spring waters with healing properties decreed the success of its foundation, while the later difficulties in defending it from flooding increasingly depopulated it until it was abandoned. today, the site, one of the most significant in the mediterranean basin for high values of nature and culture in an environmental context of rare integrity, is also among the sites most threatened by climate change. the scenario predicted by the 2021 ipcc report reveals that the future sea levels in the ionian sea will affect the ancient city of butrint, which will be submerged within decades. sea level rise in coastal regions of the mediterranean could reach peaks of 2.2 metres by 2100 in the extreme scenario projection. for the coasts of the ionian sea in the region of corfu and butrint, the worst-case scenario forecasts a rise in sea level of between 1.6 and 1.8 metres by 2100. some of its monuments are already permanently or periodically waterlogged. the present study constitutes one piece of a broader doctoral research programme and focuses on defining conservation strategies for the valuable mosaics in situ, in adherence to the approach of preserving mosaic floors in situ. the different environmental conditions of the various mosaics are analysed according to their current conditions and predicted level of submersion risk. beyond a historical and typological framework of execution, the construction characteristics and the types of tesserae used are described. the study connects the chemical-mineralogical characterization of the marbles and materials used with the most significant chemical-physical environmental parameters to assess the vulnerability level according to the environmental variations. the variation of the saline solution content in the water that permanently or periodically floods some mosaics is analysed as a key factor affecting the on-site conservation of the mosaics. the information gathered from the archaeological study and documentation on previous work allows us to assess the characteristics of the constituent materials, given that the mosaics are currently covered by a protective layer that prevents them from being inspected. furthermore, the archaeologists' information about their value and significance is essential to support a future conservation plan that links the assessment of the risk of loss with the relevance of the artefacts. a method for sustainable adaptations based on an innovative strategy of environmental and water parameter monitoring is outlined in order to intervene promptly to mitigate climate change decay factors. keywords climate change; butrint; whs; mosaic conservation; cultural heritage monitoring; sustainable adaptation http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i3.1173&domain=press.ierek.com nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 1. introduction 1.1. motivations and background the interest in the subject was born from the strong ethical and professional motivation, considering the scenario predicted by the sixth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc, 2021). it reveals that the future sea levels in the ionian sea will affect the ancient city of butrint, which will be submerged within decades. some of butrint’s monuments are already permanently or periodically waterlogged. this motivation drives my professional actions and is combined with a strong emotional appeal for a whs by exceptional beauty, as a unique mix of archaeological remains & nature (woods, channel/lake with brackish water). the peculiarity that the immense mosaic heritage of butrint is still on the site but not visible to visitors because it is covered is considered a penalty of the site that limits the full understanding of its high cultural heritage value. the protective layer is justified for conservation reasons, pending the definition of a better and more effective conservation strategy. among the many possible options for a more effective conservation of mosaics, the author clearly prefers the option of in situ conservation, in line with the theoretical approach -now generally followed-, and considering the excellent results achieved over decades of activity in support of this practice undertaken by the getty conservation institute at major unesco sites in the mediterranean basin. the study is a challenging professional opportunity considering the exceptional complexity of the site from the concomitant factors of degradation and treatments. the subject project is the experimental component of a larger doctoral research conducted within the university of alcalà de henares (uah) and directed by professor mrs. ángeles layuno rosas. the investigation is focused on five whs in the mediterranean basin affected by climate change. finally, the project benefits from a grant from the european union implemented under contract with the goethe-institut. the activities were carried out in cooperation with the butrint management foundation (bmf) in the framework of the eu grant. 1.2. hypotheses and the state of the art the present study is based on the assumption that the most advanced technologies in real-time multidimensional data collection and management enable the definition of effective tools for the implementation of preventive and adaptive conservation strategies. numerous projects developed in recent years have refined the ability to connect multidimensional data. they are generally aimed at creating risk assessment models for cultural heritage and constitute a knowledge base to support conservation and management plans. the study hypothesis is that it is possible to take a further step beyond the two fundamental technological, scientific, and theoretical advances, which are the following: a) the gis (geographic information system) platform is an interface for integrating, visualizing, and analysing spatial and attribute data. it acts as an interface between environmental monitoring data and cultural heritage vulnerability indicators. gis allows data collection and interaction to support management strategies. a project exemplification is “increasing resilience of cultural heritage (rescult)” aimed to support civil protection to prevent, lessen, and mitigate disaster impacts on cultural heritage using a unique standardised 3d geographical information system (gis), including both heritage and risk and hazard information. (colucci et al., 2022). another reference is the study for “identifying coastal cultural heritage assets exposed to future sea level rise scenarios” (chalkidou et al, 2024). its methodology connects datasets used, including: copernicus glo-30 dsm, the european ground motion service’s dataset on vertical ground motion, the sea level change projections’ regional dataset by nasa, and a hybrid coastline dataset created with the purpose of assisting in delineating the study area (chalkidou et al, 2024). b) design of risk assessment models based on the identification of exposure and vulnerability of cultural heritage through a qualitative and quantitative estimation of risk factors. the further step that the study intends to explore is the possibility of dynamically combining knowledge data and vulnerability indices through an alert system that allows immediate corrective measures to be taken to bring values above the threshold back to acceptable levels. an exemplification is the research aimed at risk assessment of coastal fortifications in the canary islands. the methodology implemented in this project identifies the exposure and https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s1296207419309112 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s1296207419309112 nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 vulnerability of these fortifications, based on a scorecard assigning values of risk to rising sea levels (garcía sánchez et al, 2020). this study analyses the multidimensional value of coastal areas consisting of cultural heritage, economic, and social dimensions. the article highlights the importance of integrating these values into risk management and climate change adaptation strategies in order to ensure effective and sustainable protection of coastal cultural heritage. rescult promotes integrated planning for emergency prevention and management, combining scientific knowledge and gis technologies. the aim is to protect europe's cultural heritage by integrating it into risk management systems, facilitating a rapid and effective response in the event of a crisis (garcía sánchez et al, 2020). 1.3. goals the objective of this research is to develop an innovative strategy for the adaptive and sustainable conservation of in situ mosaics, based on the multidimensional interconnection between the following elements: a) monitoring data on environmental risk factors and their effects; b) predictive data; c) multidimensional values of cultural and landscape heritage (i.e., integrity, heritage value and significance; landscape relevance, ecosystem importance, economic and social value, symbolic values of identity and collective memory); d) vulnerability levels assigned to both the cultural heritage and the associated ecosystem. the present paper aims to expose the first sound results and proposals of the ongoing doctoral research. the quality of the desk research, the bibliography consulted, the reports examined, the data collected, and the numerous on-site surveys conducted, complemented by the results of the laboratory analysis carried out, allowed us to define the vulnerability levels of the on-site mosaics. the final design of experimental equipment that will result at the end of the ongoing research for the mosaics of butrint will offer an exceptional opportunity to develop a system that can be replicated in other similar contexts where progressive flooding is affecting the archaeological areas. 2. materials and methods this section outlines the methodological framework for mosaic conservation. 2.1. theoretical framework for an adaptive conservation strategy of in situ mosaics the following theoretical framework aims to outline the methodological and regulatory foundations that support the ongoing research focused on the adaptive conservation of in situ mosaics at the unesco site of butrint, which is under threat from climate change. the theoretical reflection developed herein follows a multidisciplinary approach that merges the recommendations of international bodies (unesco, 2021; icomos, 2013; icomos, 2019), innovative methodologies for assessing cultural and environmental risk, and the principles of sustainability and climate adaptation set forth in international agreements such as the paris agreement. 2.1.1. unesco recommendations and icomos guidelines for cultural heritage conservation the recommendations and declarations of unesco, along with the doctrines and practices promoted by icomos, constitute the core regulatory reference for the conservation of cultural heritage. in particular, the 1972 unesco convention on the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage establishes the obligation of state parties to identify, protect, conserve, and transmit to future generations the properties recognized as world heritage. icomos, as an advisory body to unesco, has produced a series of fundamental documents, including the venice charter (1964), which represents a milestone in defining the principles of conservation and restoration. more recently, the "guidelines for risk management for cultural heritage" (icomos, 2019) offers a crucial resource for understanding how to integrate risk assessments into decision-making processes for conservation. these guidelines emphasise the importance of proactive and integrated planning that accounts for the environmental, cultural, and social specificities of the context. they recommend adopting methodologies capable of assessing the exposure and vulnerability of cultural properties to natural and anthropogenic risks, including climate change. they encourage the implementation of permanent monitoring systems to promptly identify critical issues. nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 2.1.2. the unesco climate action working group and world heritage action goal 3 in 2023, unesco established the climate action working group (cawg), an initiative aimed at integrating climate action into the management of cultural and natural heritage. this working group focused on formulating concrete strategies to strengthen the resilience of unesco sites to climate change, with particular emphasis on developing monitoring systems and timely responses to climate threats (unesco, 2023). world heritage action goal 3, included in the "policy document on climate action for world heritage" (unesco, 2021), promotes the adoption of mitigation and adaptation measures based on scientific evidence. among the most relevant articles, article 3.2 encourages the development of decision-making tools that integrate climate data into conservation plans. this goal specifically suggests the implementation of integrated systems capable of correlating climate data with the cultural and landscape values of the site, to formulate more appropriate adaptation responses. this objective is a cornerstone of this research for the conservation of mosaics in situ. 2.1.3. value-led risk assessment in the ipcc 2023 context the 2023 ipcc report introduces the concept of "value-led risk assessment" (vlra), a methodology that proposes integrating the cultural and social value of a property into risk assessment models. this approach is particularly relevant in contexts such as butrint, where the cultural significance of the mosaic goes far beyond its material value, encompassing aspects of collective identity, historical landscape, and ecosystem interrelations. according to the report, this approach allows for a fairer and more sustainable evaluation of conservation priorities. using participatory techniques, communities are involved in defining the values of the site and clarifying their relationship with cultural heritage (ipcc, 2023, p. 142). the value-led methodology also involves integrating quantitative and qualitative data and applying predictive models based on climate scenarios to estimate the probability and impact of risks. 2.1.4. the burra charter and the centrality of values in decision-making the burra charter, adopted by icomos australia in 1979 and revised in 2013, is one of the main theoretical references for the values-based approach to heritage conservation. it states that every conservation decision must begin with an understanding of the cultural values of the asset, including not only material aspects but also social, spiritual, and symbolic ones (australia icomos, 2013). in the context of butrint, the approach advocated by the burra charter suggests that adaptive conservation strategies should be developed in dialogue with local stakeholders and based on a shared analysis of the site's values. this approach aligns perfectly with the principle of "informed participation" also promoted by unesco and icomos, which ensures community involvement in defining intervention priorities, as well as with the vlra methodology. 2.1.5. the paris agreement and article 7 on climate resilience the 2015 paris agreement, a global treaty on climate change, establishes in article 7 the need to “enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change” (unfccc, 2015, art. 7.1). when applied to cultural heritage, this principle translates into the need to develop adaptation strategies that are both environmentally sustainable and capable of safeguarding the identity and cultural values of heritage properties. adaptation, in this sense, must be regarded not as an extraordinary action but as a systemic component of heritage management. conservation plans must, therefore, include measures for climate risk mitigation and resilience enhancement, adopting an integrated and flexible approach capable of responding to ongoing environmental transformations. 2.2. towards an integrated and multidimensional adaptive conservation methodology in light of the references outlined above, the adaptive conservation methodology proposed in this study is based on an integration of: • continuous monitoring of environmental parameters (humidity, salinity, groundwater variation); nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 • predictive models based on ipcc data and local climate scenarios. • analysis of the cultural and social value of the asset, including the landscape and ecological context, through participatory tools. • assignment of vulnerability levels based on quantitative and qualitative data. this methodology is primarily based on the study of the historical context, the analysis of the mosaics' construction and material characteristics, their value and significance, and their authenticity. the perceived value component was studied in stakeholder engagement reports and through additional interviews conducted by the author with economic operators working within the butrint national park. in the second step, data collected and the specific analyses carried out have made it possible to define a baseline of knowledge of the factors contributing to the deterioration of the mosaic areas and their correlation with the conditions of deterioration. in the third phase, a simplified model for assessing the level of multidimensional vulnerability is proposed, which takes into account not only physical and environmental data but also the historical, symbolic, and landscape significance of the mosaics. the construction of this grid is inspired by the principles of “value-led risk assessment” and the burra charter and will be further refined in the subsequent phases of this research, involving experts, administrators, and local communities in defining the criteria of value and vulnerability. the outcome of these first three phases of the research is the main contribution of this paper. the research will be further developed by applying the theoretical-practical reference framework. in fact, an adaptive monitoring and conservation strategy will be developed based on the use of advanced technologies for data collection and management, such as environmental sensors, drones for photogrammetric surveys, and gis interfaces capable of integrating multidimensional data in real time. these tools enable the creation of an early warning system to detect significant changes in environmental parameters and activate immediate corrective measures. in conclusion, the theoretical framework described provides a solid foundation for developing effective adaptive conservation tools. it integrates the recommendations of major international organizations, the latest developments in risk assessment, and the fundamental principles of environmental sustainability and community participation. applied to the site of butrint, this approach enables the transformation of climate change threats into opportunities to innovate conservation processes. 2.3. first step of the research: historical-morphological-environmental characters of the site. “inhabited since prehistoric times, butrint has been the site of a greek colony, a roman city, and a bishopric. following a period of prosperity under byzantine administration, then a brief occupation by the venetians, the city was abandoned in the late middle ages after marshes formed in the area” (unesco, 1992). the statement is from the declaration of universal interest of the butrint site for its inscription in the unesco world heritage list since 1992; it clarifies the main historical phases that characterized the site. the remains of buthrotos occupy the area of a low promontory of approximately 16 hectares as part of the more extensive archaeological world heritage site, over 200 hectares. located on the western shore of the coastal salt lake of vivari, the promontory of butrint is separated from the vrina floodplain by the vivari canal, which connects the lake with the ionian sea. all these areas are part of the butrint national park, inscribed on the national heritage list of protected monuments in 1948. the first traces of occupation date back to the 10th-8th centuries bc, and offer evidence ranging from the illyrian period (4th century b.c., represented by walls and gates), the hellenistic period (3rd century b.c. with the theatre and the sanctuary of aesculapius) and the roman period (with the numerous baths, the forum, apollo's sacellum, the nymphaeum). the famous baptistery was built in the late antiquity (4th-5th century a.d.), as well as the grandiose early byzantine basilica (6th century a.d.). the castle on the acropolis dates back to the venetian period (14th-16th century) and is home to the museum, and houses the artefacts found at the archaeological site, most of them unearthed by the italian archaeologist luigi maria ugolini. in fact, the 'rediscovery' of butrint is due to the commendable work of luigi maria ugolini, who, similar to schliemann's search for troy in the homeric poems, set out in 1927 to find the city of buthrotum decanted by virgil in his aeneid. ugolini directed the italian archaeological mission from 1927 to 1940 nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 (ugolini, 1937); the archaeological excavations concerned the highest part of the city, including the acropolis. in fact, even back then, the slopes of the promontory were flooded with water, making exploration difficult, if not impossible. 2.3.1. main topographical variations and environmental modifications the site has been characterized by continuous topographical variations with relevant expansion or retraction of its use. the morphology of the territory is a consequence of the deposition of alluvial sediments carried to the large estuary. the site became a relevant site because of its position along the coast, favourable for access to a hinterland rich in natural resources, the connections with the cities located further north, and considering the control of routes and commerce towards greece and the adriatic and ionian seas. for all these reasons, the area of the city was first occupied during the late bronze age and continuously used until the fall of the ottoman empire. the alternate phases of use and reuse have given rise to a highly stratified settlement. the first traces of occupation date back to the 10th-8th century bc, while the walls and gates date back to the illyrian period (4th century bc). among the reasons for choosing the site for the first settlements was the presence of hot springs believed to be beneficial. the temple of asclepius, dating back to the hellenistic period, was built near a thermal spring at the end of the 4th century and expanded after the roman conquest in the early 3rd century bc (hodges, 2010). after augustus’s victory at actium, the city of butrint prospered as a roman colony, taking advantage of its location near the via egnatia. at that time, butrint played a fundamental role in the epic founding of rome, celebrated in virgil's epic poem, the aeneid. in the aeneid (iii, 291-293), virgil attributes the founding of ancient buthrotum to fleeing trojans; this information is confirmed by the greek historian dionysius of halicarnassus, his contemporary, in roman antiquities (i, 42). during the roman phase, the urban fabric expanded over the area of alluvial deposits with richly decorated buildings. a monumental aqueduct reached butrint via a bridge and supplied the city and its numerous baths. after the roman phase, butrint became an episcopal centre until the 7th century. during the early byzantine period, several christian monuments were erected. partially renewed in the medieval era, much later, butrint was controlled by the venetians and ottomans (raynaud, islami, 2018). the catastrophic earthquake dating back to the 3rd-4th century ad caused profound damage to architectural structures, with subsidence due to tectonic movement and consequent flooding and rising water level (pavlides et al, 2001). some structural damage caused by this event is still visible in the hellenistic-roman theatre, where the deformed composition of the stone structures and the pattern of diagonal cracks on the western side of the auditorium can be seen. the cracks crossing the foundation of the triconch palace portico, documented in the past archaeological excavations, and the impressive subsidence shown in figure 1 are further evidence of this event. the diagrams published in the past (hodges and prince, 2022) show the ground level before and after the catastrophe, when part of the forum dropped by almost a meter, with subsequent serious flooding. inundation by water in the lower city from ad 400 became a regular nuisance. afterwards, sediment deposition saw ground level rise again. another seismic event affecting byzantine monuments is also probable (1153). however, the disastrous seismic events did not discourage the inhabitants, who repaired their houses and returned to occupy them, making the struggle against periodic flooding a leitmotif of life in butrint. currently, the roman theatre orchestra is permanently waterlogged by a water depth of 0.5 m. the triconch palace, built at the beginning of the 5th century and then abandoned, presumably due to flooding, is also mostly completely submerged, as shown in figure 2. the archaeological study and on-field research “demonstrated beyond doubt that the environmental circumstances at butrint have never been static, and in different ways over nearly three millennia the people here have adapted accordingly” (hodges, 2010). https://www.amazon.com/richard-hodges/e/b00j74mnsm/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 1: house of the venetian merchant (source: by author, 2024) figure 2: the triconch palace’s portico (source: by author, 2024) the latest study on continuous subsidence of part of the ancient city, and the documentation of the presence of evaporate diapirs, confirms that the seismic activity in butrint is still active, and this condition is an aggravation of the condition of rising waters due to climate change. 2.3.2. historical and typological features of the mosaics a document of fundamental importance for the present study is the publication by marie-patricia raynaud and agron islami (raynaud & islami, 2018), who are the authors of a vast research project on the entire body of mosaics in albania. the first outcome is volume 1, dedicated to the butrint intramuros mosaics. in volume 25, mosaics are analyzed according to the following areas of investigation: • technical description including mosaic’s architectural setting, the execution techniques, the type and composition of the mosaic supports, the density and dimension of tesserae, the materials and colours employed; physical properties of the glass mosaic tesserae by laboratory analysis are included. • identification of the chronological phases of the mosaics based on the overall identification of the construction phases of the relevant building and room. • study of the design and composition of decorative motifs; interpretation of iconographic value with arguments based on parallels derived from comparative studies on other regional and local mosaics. mariepatricia raynaud has identified several artisan workshops that worked on the production of the butrint mosaics, presumably also involved in the creation of other mosaics for other cities in the surrounding region. • description of the state of conservation at that time (2015) and information on the conservation methods applied to the mosaic. references to previous assessment reports are included. nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 2.3.3. main chronological periods of butrint’s mosaics the construction of mosaics in butrint covers three main chronological periods: the hellenistic period (figure 3), the roman period, including first and second phases (figure 4), and the protobyzantine period (figure 5). the surviving part of the hellenistic mosaic is on display in the museum. dating back to the end of the 3rd or beginning of the 2nd century bc, is a fragmentary mosaic panel that decorated the interior space of the asklepios temple and depicts a coiled snake, an animal considered sacred to asklepios’s cult. the mosaic shows a mixed technique of opus signinum dotted with white cubes for the background and opus tessellatum for the serpent, with thin lead strips to outline its contours. red, blue, and yellow tesserae model the snake by neatly laid rows, with shades of pink, white, and yellowish-green tesserae appearing on its underside. the execution is refined, and the panel, once removed from its original setting, is now exhibited in the butrint museum. the original hellenistic mosaic has been subsequently overlapped by another mosaic during the roman period. figure 3 – snake mosaic detail, hellenistic period, from asclepius temple (source: by author) figure 4: floor mosaic detail, roman period, from butrint museum (source: by author) nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 figure 5: floor mosaic detail, protobyzantine period, great basilica (source: by author) most of the mosaics in situ belong to the roman period and date from the early 3rd to early 5th centuries. an exemplification is the numerous mosaics in the triconch palace complex. it was built in several stages over several centuries and, in its final phase, extended over two insulae. the mosaics in the building date back to various periods and display great originality of geometric design. some include figural elements, such as the mosaic of the masks, finely crafted in opus vermiculatum. the decorative motifs of the roman mosaics mainly use black, white, grey, and pink tesserae. the most important mosaic from the protobyzantine period in butrint is the complex of the baptistery. the wellpreserved and iconic mosaic that adorns the baptistery was completed at the end of the 6th century. the remarkable size of the baptistery, which exceeds that of many other eastern baptisteries, as well as the fact that this religious architecture is the last early christian example in the western mediterranean region, make this archaeological monument and its almost completely preserved mosaic unique in terms of value and significance. the baptistery’s mosaic pavement displays at least seven circular friezes, with intertwined pink circles filled with a multitude of animals symbolizing god’s creation in the air, land, and sea, and includes floral motifs. similar to the other protobyzantine mosaics in the city, the tesserae materials include assorted hues of glass in addition to stone, marble, and terracotta tesserae. 2.4. second step of the research: data collected on butrint’s on-site mosaics 2.4.1. mosaics materials components the study by marie-patricia raynaud and agron islami (raynaud and islami, 2018) has made it possible to define the basic knowledge framework for the in-situ conservation project for the mosaics. for each mosaic, information is available on the materials components of the substrate, generally deduced from visual observation of the layers that emerged from the gaps and cracks before restoration work began. it should be noted that there is a lack of data on petrographic characterization of both the bedding mortars and individual mosaic tesserae. the only laboratory analyses carried out concern a few vitreous tesserae, the results of which, relating to the chemical components identified, have been published. observation of the composition of the substrate confirms that it was constructed in accordance with vitruvius' treatise (de architectura), namely with three layers: nucleus, rudus, statumen. mortars rich in dust or brick fragments are often present, a detail that informs us of the presence of mortars with more or less hydraulic characteristics depending on the size or smallness of the brick fragments. regarding the characteristics of the mosaic’s tesserae, unfortunately, nothing else is known except that they are made of local limestone in various colours ranging from white to grey and black or from light pink to dark pink. red tesserae are usually made from squared fragments of brick. based on a study of the geological map of albania and the area nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 around butrint, the soils outcropping in this area generally date from the lower jurassic to the burdigalian (lower miocene) periods, so it can be said that they are indeed limestones. their characteristics are believed to be similar to those of the coeval limestones found in the adriatic region on italian territory; based on these assumed similarities, the low porosity of this type of limestone is a positive factor for its in-situ conservation. table 1: exemplification of the collected data on mosaic materials components and value, and significance (source: by author) ref. name period typology materials support composition value and significance triconch palace complex roman period 2nd/3rd century as ph 2 in the south a) galleryopus tassellatum in situ b) room of masks opus tassellatum, opus vermiculatu m (for the mask) in situ c) apsided room opus tassellatum, in situ, and opus vermiculatu m a) stone: black, white, red, pink, yellow ochre, and beige. marble: grey-blue and light-blue. few glass tesserae: opaque sky-bleu, and translucent in several tones of blue and green. b) black, white, grey-blue (marble), light grey, light blue (marble), ochre yellow, beige, pink, red.: few glass tesserae c) presence of a cube in glass or translucent a) support three habitual layers: nucleus (with a grey surface but with a thin, fragile structure and very fine broken tile powder slightly pink, and fine gravel 1-3 cm maximum); rudus (usual, relatively flat and smooth, and in some place hard as stone: this means the mortar has been well dried before overlapping the nucleus laid), and statumen. pinkish support is particularly rich in broken tile. b) room of masks: nucleus very white, bedding layer fragile. b) room of masks: exceptional quality; theatre masks of great refinement of colours and nuances c) apsided room: significant decorative arrangement of nesting a small central panel in myriad borders of diverse widths gives the expression of the work. the above table 1 shows a synthesis of the main information on the most important mosaics in the triconch palace complex, including information on value: data supports a general strategy for mosaics conservation. 2.4.2. state of conservation of the on-site mosaics the accurate descriptions provided by raynaud and islami inform us about the extent of the mosaics based on the investigations carried out, the state of conservation observed at the time of their protective layer removal for the purpose of the study, and the safety measures performed. in addition, the publication provides information on the level of exposure of the mosaics to flooding, defined as periodic/seasonal or permanent. based on the information provided, the state of conservation of the mosaics has been defined as limited to the following parameters: • level of integrity based on the percentage of remaining mosaic. • level of exposure to flooding. table 2 shows a synthesis of other key information collected on a selection of the most important mosaics, including data on altitude. nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 table 2: exemplification of the collected data on the state of conservation of the on-site mosaics (source: by author) reference name altitude flooding percentage of on-site mosaic triconch palace complex 2,58 m permanently underwater since antiquity, it has been seasonally inundated a) gallery: 35% b) room of masks: 40% c) reception room: 65% gymnasium 8,28 m pools are permanently underwater other areas are seasonally underwater 40% baptistery complex 4,60 m seasonally underwater, the perimeter sections 100% perception 95% as a result of restoration overall, although the information gathered indicates that the mosaics have a good level of integrity, it is equally clear that their conservation is seriously at risk because of fluctuations/variations in the sea level. the continuous water level variation is affecting the conservation of the archaeological structures and the on-site mosaics. in fact, rising damp on the supporting structures, with consequent evaporation and efflorescence salt formation, has a destructive effect on the archaeological remains. this phenomenon is emphasized in the areas affected by seawater and brackish water flooding. it should be noted that the mosaics are currently neither inspectable nor visible as they are covered by a protective layer composed of bidim® (non-woven fabric), sand, and gravel. given that it is impossible to inspect mosaics, their state of conservation has been assessed based on the following data collected from various sources, as indicated below: • from the consulted bibliography: construction technique, construction period, materials used, main events affecting the sites, state of conservation reported, implemented interventions, flooding risk, integrity, value, and significance (raynaud and islami, 2018); • previous reports informing, for instance, about a soft /mud substrate of the mosaics, and about the seasonal flooding of some mosaics according to the rainfall phenomena (prince, 2020); • analysis of the data on 10-year channel water level monitoring (2012 2022) documenting a water rising level trend of 1 cm each year (monitoring data kindly provided by archaeologist mrs. erjona qilla); • analysis of the data of water level on relevant mosaic sites for a limited monitored period (massari, unpublished); • ion chromatography analysis data of 5 collected water samples documenting the high level of chloride salts (laboratory report by chemist mr. pietro rosanò); • on-site visits with final assessment on the topographical and environmental context of the mosaic location. • predicted data for the next decades according to the ipcc report (ipcc, 2021); • on-site interviews with stakeholders, local experts, and knowledgeable individuals. 2.4.3. data on 10-year channel water level monitoring (from 2012 to 2022) the monitoring data analysed are related to the period from september 2012 to november 2022. measurements of the water level of the vivari channel were taken twice a day, at 8:30 am and 15:30 pm, corresponding to the low tide and high tide periods, respectively (see figure 6). the following observations can be drawn from the analysis of the 10 years of monitoring of the canal water level measured near the site entrance: nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 • water level trend shows an increase of 10 cm from 2012 to 2022; • rising water level of the channel until 74 cm (december 2022); • extreme fluctuation, reducing the water level to 0 cm, also in december; • a very low level of water in march, april, and may. figure 6: water level fluctuation diagram and growth trend over 10 years (source: by author) 2.4.4. high chloride content in the flooding water during the long on-site mission in butrint held in august 2024 for survey and investigation, 5 samples of the water flooding the mosaics were collected. table 3 shows the laboratory analysis results. table 3: ion chromatography analysis data of five collected water samples (source: p. rosanò analysis report commissioned by the author) n. localization chlorides, cl, (g/l) nitrites, no2, (g/l) nitrates, no3, (g/l) sulphates, so2−4 (g/l) , classification s1 heron/shrine 12,00 absent 0,70 1,10 brackish water s2 nymphaeum’s pool 10,5 absent 0,60 1,20 brackish water s3 triconch portico 18,70 absent 0,70 1,80 seawater s4 baptistery 8,30 absent 0,40 traces brackish water s5 columbarium 7,90 absent 0,40 0,20 brackish water the results of ion chromatography analysis reveal that the water flooding the triconch complex’s mosaic is actually seawater, while all other sites have chloride salt content that makes them brackish water. it is surprising that this result also applies to sampling site s1, which is the highest point on the slope (see figure 7). the high chloride content in the water flooding the mosaics, combined with fluctuations in the water level, is a key factor affecting the conservation of the mosaics. the diagrams below (figure 8) show the fluctuations in the water level at six relevant sites in the butrint area, based on monitoring data collected over a period of approximately three months. nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 figure 7: mosaics localization corresponding to the five water samples collected (source: by author) figure 8: water level fluctuation diagrams on 6 relevant sites of butrint (massari, 2007) the monitoring period at the six sites was very limited in time, covering only seven months, corresponding to the rainiest months. nevertheless, the data collected clearly show a direct correlation between rainfall events and the rise in water level, which peaks after the end of the weather event. the same observation was made by the author during the repeated on-site visits after the reining events. furthermore, it is interesting to note that the highest sites near the mountain slope maintain a water level of about 10 cm, while the nymphaeum area tends to dry out again, and finally, the gymnasium and triconch sites tend to dry out with the arrival of summer. considering the data collected and the impossibility of carrying out a visual assessment of the conditions on site due to the protective layer, two questions arise: 1) does the protective layer really perform a protective function, or is it rather a factor amplifying the degradation? 2) how far has the degradation progressed since the last inspection? nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 3. results 3.1. step four of the research: vulnerability assessment of the mosaics the following results derive from field surveys and analyses. based on the data collected and analysed, on-site observations before and after rainwater, and the results of the laboratory analysis on five water samples, four vulnerability levels have been defined for the mosaics (see figure 9). the key factors taken into consideration were the chemical composition of the water in the flooded areas and the water level fluctuations/variations: • low level of vulnerability (llv) exposure to atmospheric agents; • low/medium level of vulnerability (l/mlv) – flooding due to rainwater run-off from hill; • medium/high level of vulnerability (m/hlv) – flooding due to rainwater and rising groundwater; • high level of vulnerability (hlv) flooding due to rising groundwater and channel water levels figure 9: vulnerability assessment of the mosaic’s sites (source: by author) 3.2. step five of the research: a preliminary conservation strategy of the mosaics the conservation strategy is based on the data collected, the predictions of future scenarios, the surveys carried out, and the assessment of vulnerability levels. the strategy is divided into six areas linked to topographical elevation, taking into account the importance of the water channel level: 1) the acropolis site with the basilica; 2) the area between the acropolis and the middle slope; 3) the site of the temple of asclepius; 4) the area between the middle slope and the lower slope of the hill; 5) the flat area far from the channel, 6) the flat area closest to the channel. the conservation strategy involves the adoption of diversified measures mainly related to drainage works as follows: • measures to control rainwater runoff to limit the accumulation of water into the archaeological excavations located on the slopes of the mountain: the interventions consist of the construction of rainwater collection and drainage channels at intermediate levels of the mountain slope. • measures to drain water flooding sites downstream by removing or partially opening recent infrastructure works that promote water stagnation in sites such as the gymnasium. nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 • measures to create protective edges at specific points along the perimeter of the canal's coastline to limit the entry of water into the triconch palace complex. • measures to remove sedimentary debris from the vivari canal, which currently has a depth of only 6 metres; this would both lower its water level and facilitate the exchange of brackish water from the lake affected by the warming phenomenon that is altering the ecological system. as regards the conservation of the mosaics affected by flooding in the strict sense, two different approaches have been identified, which are still being studied through the analysis of specific cases and consultation with experts in the field. the first approach, which we can call “countering the effects of climate change”, consists of defining strategies aimed at keeping the groundwater level sufficiently below the level of the mosaics, thus preventing flooding. to achieve these conditions, it is necessary to drill deep boreholes and install powerful pumping systems. a second approach, which we can call “adaptation to the effects of climate change”, consists of keeping water in places where the fight to control it (in line with the model of the first approach) could be lost or require costly, overly invasive measures that are not sustainable given the country's level of technological and professional expertise. in this case, the focus would be on maintaining acceptable water parameters by controlling the content of salt and other harmful components. in this context, the design of a system for monitoring key parameters, such as the measurement of electrical conductivity, which is an indicator of the salinity, is the main issue. the monitoring system should then be linked to alert thresholds capable of activating corrective measures of the monitored parameters, such as desalination systems. figure 10 below summarises the set of measures consistent with the “adaptation to the effects of climate change” approach. figure 10 – strategy for on-site mosaics conservation by climate change effects adaptation (source: by author) 4. discussion in this section, findings are interpreted in relation to current conservation theories. 4.1. theoretical-practical debate on the possible approaches for conservation of the on-site mosaics. the search for a sustainable, innovative, and adaptive strategy for the conservation of mosaics in situ is motivated by three strands of theoretical and practical reflection. the first stems from the awareness that decades of "detachment" and musealization of mosaics have certainly contributed to their conservation but have distorted the places where they were located, drastically reducing the understanding of the context in which the mosaics were inserted and, nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 consequently, compromising the appreciation of the mosaics themselves. numerous theoretical elaborations (brandi, 1957) and theoretical-practical studies (nardi, 2002) document the parable of the approach to detachment of decorative elements and mosaics in particular (nardi, 2002). also significant is the statement by giorgio torraca, who in 1973 said: "the parable of the detached fresco may perhaps one day symbolically represent the conservation policy of cultural heritage based on restoration as a use of the heritage itself. no matter how noble the aims of this use may be, it is likely that the damage it produces will outweigh the combined effects that environmental factors and crises of civilization have caused in the past" (metelli, 2007). a second motivation is supported by the excellent results of the getty conservation institute's extensive “mosaikon project”: a multi-project initiative ranging from resources, training, and funding to improve the care and conservation of ancient mosaics in the mediterranean region. the mosaikon project has invested significant resources in training on aspects of the conservation and management of archaeological sites containing mosaics in situ, including documentation and recording, site management planning, material deterioration, basic conservation interventions, and site presentation and interpretation (alberti et al., 2013). the third reason is based on the belief that in this era of irreversible climate change, managing the effects in terms of adaptation, rather than eliminating the problem, is an excellent communication strategy for educating people to understand the real extent of the phenomenon. supported by the theoretical framework described above, we act in the belief that the conservation of the mosaics in situ constitutes an intrinsic value for the site, as a vehicle for widely transmitting the cultural values of the whole site and their perception. furthermore, mosaics in situ, including those submerged under water, add value to the visitor experience, allowing them to fully appreciate the significance of the site and develop critical awareness; indeed, submerged mosaics have a powerful evocative power of the inexorable future that awaits us. 5. conclusions the level of knowledge acquired about the problems afflicting the mosaics of butrint paints an alarming picture for their conservation. the measures implemented over time, justified by conservation aims, seem to be more of a problem than a solution. this is the case with the protective concrete border surrounding the remains of the mosaic in the temple of asclepius, the raising of the walkway along the gymnasium, and the access from the canal built near the triconch palace to allow the unloading of restoration materials. above all, however, the covering layer of the mosaics appears questionable, as without regular maintenance and inspection, it is likely to deteriorate beyond repair. the investigations and analyses carried out require further in-depth studies, for example, to investigate the biological components present in the water submerging the mosaics, as well as comparative studies in the past conditions and future time to understand the progression of visible degradation. the proposal for a conservation strategy of the mosaics in situ considers the exposure of the mosaics to be the main challenge for the site, given the complexity of the issues involved. the reasons for in situ conservation, supported by theoretical and practical experiences, are as follows: • the wider transmission and dissemination of cultural values of the entire site and their perception; • the superb educational content that the submerged mosaics, which are highly evocative of the inexorable future that awaits us. in conclusion, the significance of the project’s research is based on the following perspectives: • the study of the solutions adopted for the two different approaches to the system (the first approach, which we can call " countering the effects of climate change", and the second approach, which we can call "adaptation to the effects of climate change") will help to assess the theoretical and scientific feasibility and the technological and practical sustainability of the respective characteristics. the relevance of this final assessment is to provide a solid scientific and practical basis for guiding the choice of the conservation approach in sites with similar characteristics. nicolini/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 • the research defines an integrated approach to mitigate current and future challenges for sustainable development, taking into account the conservation of cultural and natural heritage in relation to the wellbeing of the local community. • the experimental part of the research aims to define the integration of the most advanced technologies for data collection and management. the combined use of remote monitoring tools and technologies will enable the creation of an early warning system to detect significant changes in environmental parameters and activate immediate corrective measures. acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented at the conservation of architectural heritage (cah) conference – 8th edition, which was held on the 17th 19th of september 2024. the author sincerely thanks the butrint management foundation (bmf) for their willingness and kindness in allowing visits and inspections at the butrint site, for providing a workstation at their offices in saranda during her mission in august 2024, and for sharing important information and relevant bibliography, including the unpublished 2007 report by ippolito massari. funding declaration the research project benefits from a european union grant awarded to the author as an individual professional. the on-site project component was implemented under a contract awarded by the goethe-institut, which is the implementing body for the creative europe funding line. the funding body had no role in the design of the study and in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data, or the drafting of the manuscript. disclaimer: this work was produced with the financial assistance of the european union. the views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the european union. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare there is no conflict. references alberti, l., bourguiguon, e., & roby, t. 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(2015). paris agreement. united nations. https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/english_paris_agreement.pdf hodges, r., & prince, d. (2022). confronting climate change at butrint, the past, world archaeology, 111, 01-22. https://thepast.com/feature/confronting-climate-change-at-butrint/ massari, i. (2007).archaeological area of butrint – investigation to evaluate the water situation, unpublished manuscript, rome. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/570/ https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/english_paris_agreement.pdf https://the-past.com/feature/confronting-climate-change-at-butrint/ https://the-past.com/feature/confronting-climate-change-at-butrint/ http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 20 june 2024, accepted: 29 september, published online: 30 september 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i3.1093 an overview of transdisciplinary and bottom-up approach for urban resilience: the case of turkey esen gökçe özdamar1, ertuğ önay2 1head of department of architecture, tekirdağ namık kemal university, turkey 2msc student, urban design, tekirdağ namık kemal university, tekirdağ, turkey abstract while top-down strategies have traditionally dominated urban planning in turkey, recent shifts towards participatory practices and project-based policies have aimed to involve citizens in decision-making processes. nevertheless, in the case of turkey, these participatory models are inadequate for effectively addressing resilience. this article therefore discusses the role of participatory processes in creating resilient cities, as well as how to strengthen transdisciplinary (tr) and bottom-up approaches to urban participation in turkish urban contexts. the article presents a theoretical framework that connects tr and bottom-up approaches based on existing literature, practices, and planning policy examples. it argues that tr approaches complement bottom-up approaches to urban governance by enhancing urban and social resilience, strengthening local communities, and reducing urban inequalities. urban planning efforts that promote collaboration, incorporate multiple perspectives, and involve local communities in decision-making processes can address complex urban issues while also fostering long-term sustainability and resilience. this approach not only instills a sense of ownership and empowerment among urban residents but also leverages knowledge and skills to generate more effective and sustainable solutions. by creating a framework that promotes long-term education and citizenship awareness, urban governance can sustain urban resilience in a more viable manner over the long term in turkey. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords urban planning; urban and social resilience; bottom-up approaches; transdisciplinary approaches 1. introduction today, urban centers are disproportionately affected by financial crises over other regions due to the increased concentration of capital and financial institutions (amin, 2014). they are also extremely vulnerable to a range of disruptions. the need for urban and social resilience is increasing due to the privatization and commercialization of public spaces. research by vale & campanella (2005) and coaffee et. al. (2016) suggest that “resilience is in the very dna of the urban” (brantz & sharma, 2020, p. 12). resilience has been primarily utilized in climate change adaptation, sustainability science, disaster risk reduction, poverty reduction, and increasingly in economics and planning studies (alexander, 2013; meerow, newell & stults, 2016; figueiredo et al., 2018). the three main approaches to resilience are the socio-ecological, sustainable livelihoods, and disaster risk reduction (drr) approaches (schipper & langston, 2015) (see figueiredo et al., 2018). context-specific urban resilience plans, http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i3.1093&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ özdamar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 integrated policies, and risk management must be implemented to link sectors such as transport, infrastructure, landuse planning, education, and employment to clear and strategic long-term planning. policy indicators can be used to assess resilience levels and track the effectiveness of resilience policies. some of the indicators used to measure urban resilience from four perspectives are: social (spatial segregation due to social inequality and homelessness), economic (education levels and a wider range and quality of livelihood opportunities), nature and built environment (housing deprivation, housing quality, and accessibility), and institutional aspects (land-use plans, risk-based, inclusive, and participatory urban planning are central to an effective approach) (figueiredo et al., 2018). to adequately address the various forms of resilience that are nevertheless interconnected, it is essential to consider the contributions of prominent theorists such as jane jacobs, henri lefebvre, and david harvey. these theorists put forth the proposition that urban residents are active and conscious participants in the shaping of their environment. this process is considered to be fundamental to the realization of urban justice and rights. jacobs advanced the concept of “organic, spontaneous, and untidy” cities, which exemplifies a bottom-up philosophy of urbanism. this approach emphasizes the pivotal role of citizens in influencing the development of their urban environment (jacobs, 1961). similarly, lefebvre posited that urban space should be shaped and governed by its inhabitants rather than by market forces such as commercialization and capitalism (lefebvre, 1996). this perspective has been embraced by a variety of social movements and urban activists across the globe, resulting in calls for greater social justice and democracy. the right to the city has emerged as a vision for urban democracy, encompassing a range of demands aimed at addressing spatial inequalities in urban areas. these include government-supported housing, access to public space, participation in urban governance, and legislation that prohibits displacement and gentrification. similarly, harvey supported this approach, stating that it is a collective rather than individual right. he argued that the ability to shape our cities and ourselves is a fundamental yet often overlooked human right (harvey, 2004; harvey, 2008). in numerous urban contexts across the globe, top-down policies continue to represent the dominant paradigm in urban planning. however, these policies cannot provide a comprehensive framework for urban planning and design and therefore fail to meet the diverse and changing needs of urban residents, resulting in discontent. top-down strategies entail decision-making by representatives or authorities in positions of power. in contrast, bottom-up approaches prioritize active citizens’ participation in the urban development process, as exemplified by community-oriented approaches. these methods establish a structure that effectively fulfills societal requirements while promoting greater social involvement and inclusivity. bottom-up approaches have been explored from various perspectives (mitchell & tang, 2017). firstly, bottom-up approaches are rooted in tactical urbanism. coined by mike lydon and anthony garcia (2011, p. 2), tactical urbanism is defined as “an approach to neighborhood building and activation using shortterm, low-cost, and scalable interventions and policies.” various stakeholders utilize this approach to test ideas or implement changes quickly, including government bodies, citizen groups, businesses, non-profit organizations, individuals, municipal units, government, developers, and non-profit organizations. this approach tackles urban development and planning through its open, iterative, rapid, and creative development, efficient use of resources, creative problem-solving, and social interaction (lydon & garcia, 2011) (figure 1). özdamar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 figure 1: a process of relationality in tactical urbanism from the street plans collaborative (lydon & garcia, 2011) secondly, tactical urbanism refers to a “decentralized, bottom-up, extraordinarily agile, networked, low-cost, and low-tech” strategy (i̇kiz, 2023). it is “a city, organizational, and/or citizen-led approach to neighborhood building using short-term, low-cost, and scalable interventions intended to catalyze long-term change” (i̇kiz, 2023). it encourages communities to take an active role in managing their habitats and places, enabling them to take ownership of urban areas and spaces and contribute to positive transformation (i̇kiz, 2023). like tactical urbanism, bottom-up strategies are crucial in increasing urban and social resilience and sustainability. urban development strategies aim to empower local communities and incorporate their needs and insights, thereby fulfilling citizens’ aspirations. in turkey, there has been a discernible surge in the focus of urban governance bodies on bottom-up techniques and tactical urbanism. however, there are notable deficiencies in the manner in which these approaches have been addressed in turkey. the transdisciplinary approach (tr) can be evaluated as a potential means of enhancing the efficacy of these approaches. transdisciplinary (tr) approaches are characterized by their emphasis on real-world problems, integration of diverse disciplines and perspectives, and engagement with stakeholders beyond academia (klein et al. 2001). by bringing together various actors, experts, and knowledge systems, these approaches can drive innovative solutions to complex urban challenges. these approaches are well-suited to addressing the complex societal problems that require a fundamental rethinking of the relationship between science and society (jahn et al. 2012). these approaches initially emerged in the social sciences and were first employed to address social-ecological issues in the 1950s. they were subsequently articulated at a conference in the 1970s and subsequently spread to the physical sciences, including mathematics and quantum physics, where they were regarded as a new mode of knowledge production (mode ii) (jahn et al., 2012; gibbons et al., 1994). mode ii knowledge production entails the dissemination of socially distributed knowledge among individuals and groups across society. this process-oriented framework facilitates communication beyond institutional boundaries, thereby establishing a global network of nodes (gibbons et al., 1994). tr methodologies are distinguished by their capacity to integrate diverse perspectives and expertise, thereby facilitating the generation of innovative solutions. this collaborative approach can contribute to the establishment of trust between residents and local governments, which may in turn lead to the creation of more resilient and sustainable urban environments (pamukcu-albers et al., 2021). this approach is commonly used in the social sciences, education, environmental management, and urban planning. transdisciplinary research (tdr) as a part of this process is a practical way to address contested, “high-stakes societal problems where knowledge is uncertain, the specific nature of the problem may be disputed and the potential impacts on stakeholders are significant” (oecd 2020, p. 8) (figure 2). özdamar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 figure 2: a conceptual model of transdisciplinarity (jahn et al., 2012, p. 5) in figure 2, three stages of an ideal tdr process are distinguished. the initial stage entails the framing of the problem. the subsequent stage comprises the generation of new knowledge, which is achieved through the analysis of the problem. the final stage involves the integration and application of this newly acquired knowledge, enabling an investigation into its potential impact (jahn et al., 2012; brandt et al., 2013). tdr is key to sustainable development. it integrates diverse societal actors and their different skills, knowledge, and expertise (pohl et al., 2021, p. 18). approaches based on tr can be employed as effective instruments for the reimagining and development of bottomup strategies to enhance urban resilience and sustainability. furthermore, they can facilitate the amalgamation of diverse multi-stakeholder engagements in urban design, transformation, and implementation. therefore, this article examines the potential for these approaches to enhance the effectiveness and applicability of a range of resilience strategies at a common intersection in turkey. this study considers the potential for diverse actors to collaborate effectively in addressing concerns about rent-driven urban transformation projects through transdisciplinary (tr) approaches. it further argues that this connection can assist urban governance in addressing the observed changes in urban life by reframing how communities are connected. a tr approach may be defined as a communication strategy that is developed through a combination of top-down and bottom-up processes. 2. methodology the article presents a theoretical framework that examines the potential for integrating tactical urbanism and bottomup approaches with tr in urban design. the article employs a critical lens and draws on existing literature, practices, and examples of planning policies in turkey to explore the potential for integrating tactical urbanism and bottom-up approaches with tr approaches in urban design. first, it presents a literature study on the aforementioned method, contextualizes urban governance in turkey, and identifies the adverse effects of top-down planning. subsequently, it puts forth the proposition of the efficacious implementation of tr approaches. however, tr approaches are susceptible to uncertainty, ambiguity, and the emergence of new circumstances during the process. the most significant challenges associated with this approach are analogous to those encountered in tdr approaches. these include 1) the “lack of coherent framing,” which can impede effective communication and collaboration between diverse communities due to the use of different terminology and concepts (oecd, 2020), and 2) the “integration of methods,” given the absence of clear relations between the theoretical concepts (phases and types of knowledge). furthermore, the methods themselves present a challenge (brandt et al., 2013), 3) the “engagement of practitioners,” who may lack familiarity with this concept (lange et al., 2012), and 4) “generating and measuring impact,” which requires the reproducibility of methods to track societal impacts (lange et al., 2012). as a consequence of the özdamar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 research, certain difficulties were encountered, which are addressed in the article. furthermore, recommendations are proposed for addressing these issues. tr methodologies encourage collaboration across disciplinary boundaries to address complex problems. to be effectively weighed in turkey in the tr approach, it is essential to consider how the top-down and bottom-up approaches are integrated. in many projects, a linear approach is employed whereby first the policymakers and public authorities make decisions or draw the lines, the conditions for active participation are determined, and then participation is included in the next stage. while this gradual approach may gain importance in land planning and selection and land protection, it is necessary to discuss the lack of a sufficiently interactive framework. given the divergence between urban governance practices in turkey and those observed in europe and numerous other countries, it is imperative to cultivate a more methodological and systematic environment conducive to contemplating diverse perspectives, fostering collective thinking, and devising innovative urban solutions. 3. bottom-up urban planning practices research on bottom-up approaches includes the recognition and acceptance of the expected impacts of bottom-up efforts. this research includes studies on support for collaborative processes and enhanced public debate (mens et al., 2023), the role of bottom-up urban initiatives in the city (papachristou & rosas-casals, 2015; rabbiosi, 2016; pradel-miquel, 2021; von schönfeld & tan, 2021), an in-depth study on the merits of bottom-up initiatives in urban development, and a comprehensive, global literature review examining the potential outcomes of the broader phenomenon of citizen initiatives (igalla et al., 2019; mens et al., 2023). some of the outcomes of bottom-up urban planning include fostering a strong sense of ownership and identity within neighborhoods, enabling citizens to take charge of their environmental conditions, responding to urban inequalities, and perpetuating models that lead to fairer cities. furthermore, some research translates decarbonization into an equitable process of urban transformation (as mentioned by the ipcc), accelerates decision-making, and identifies relevant solutions to people’s needs (campos & adame, 2023). bottom-up urban resilience projects, such as community-led environmental initiatives, urban labs, and sustainable solutions, foster resilience through multi-stakeholder collaboration between government, civil society, academia, and the private sector. bottom-up strategies work best when combined with top-down planning to create flexible urban frameworks tailored to local contexts. for example, new york city’s plaza program partners the government with community groups to reclaim streets for public use (gattupalli, 2023; campos & adame, 2023). urban labs are an increasingly popular bottom-up approach, providing experimental spaces for multi-stakeholder collaboration to co-create solutions to specific urban challenges (campos & adame, 2023). decision-scaling is another method that uses a bottom-up adaptation approach to analyze which options are resilient to a range of socioeconomic and climate futures (ilunga, 2021). therefore, bottom-up approaches are crucial for enhancing urban resilience, as they ensure that development is equitable, climate-friendly, and responsive to local needs. combining these grassroots efforts with top-down support allows cities to tackle complex challenges through a synergetic approach (faster capital, 2024; gattupalli, 2023; campos & adame, 2023; ilunga, 2021). one illustrative example of a study that employs a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches within the tr framework is the project conducted by the municipality of lecce in italy in 2018 to address social issues and promote sustainable development. the project aimed to utilize the urban space within the urban university center, which was 12,000 square meters, to meet the diverse needs of various stakeholders. the top-down planning process involved stakeholders, university designers, and supervisory authority members, considering diverse roles in socioecological system transformation. the bottom-up approach involved citizens expressing their perspectives on decision-makers’ views, aiming to address diverse social issues and promote sustainable development. the project involved a five-stage process to design a building for educational activities, a park area, and a recreational green area. the stages comprised formulating a method to gather insights on citizens’ perceptions regarding social issues associated with urban space (stage 1); collecting data and analyzing the findings (stages 2 and 3); deliberating on the outcomes of citizen participation (stage 4); and reviewing the questionnaire results with decision-makers (stage 5) (semeraro et al. 2020). some other notable projects currently employ a tr approach, integrating top-down and bottom-up methodologies within a unified framework. these initiatives seek to address complex societal issues by combining diverse özdamar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 knowledge frameworks and engaging multiple stakeholders. the combination of top-down frameworks, which are characterized by institutional or governmental direction, with bottom-up initiatives, which are propelled by community involvement, exemplifies a transdisciplinary methodology for problem-solving. this approach has been demonstrated to be effective in addressing complex societal issues. the table below enumerates projects and initiatives that integrate these approaches. these initiatives concentrate on lifelong learning methodologies, both within the domain of higher education and among the general public and experts, to integrate tr science and society by focusing on information, cooperation, and transformation (table 1). table 1: the implementation of transdisciplinary (tr) approaches, which integrate top-down and bottom-up strategies, is a core component of several ongoing projects and initiatives projects and initiatives implementing transdisciplinary (tr) approaches integrating top-down and bottom-up approaches project enhance, transdisciplinary project catalyst, eu, 2023 participatory city, uk, 2018-2023 eutopia 2050, global connections project, 20222026 initiative enhance, a european universities of technology alliance was established in 2019 as part of the erasmus+ funding program for european universities. the initiative’s objective is to foster the formation of knowledge-creating teams comprising academics, students, and societal stakeholders in the domain of sustainable tr research and education. this encompasses a range of interdisciplinary areas, including digitalization and ai, smart and sustainable cities and communities, and climate action. to this end, the initiative organizes a series of public workshops, training sessions, massive open online courses (moocs), and joint public policy reports on tr science. the participatory city foundation, founded in the 2010s, seeks to establish a citizen-led participation ecosystem in barking and dagenham, london. the foundation employs a research-based approach and the every one every day initiative to integrate insights from multiple disciplines, thereby fostering collaboration among citizens, researchers, and local authorities. between 2018 and 2022, 42 programs were conducted, and the foundation published reports on city leadership, urban policy, community development, skills and employment, and the built environment. eutopia is an alliance of networks that is student-centered and inclusive. it offers a range of activities that address global issues such as migration and environmental challenges through a transdisciplinary lens. students from a variety of academic institutions work together in cross-disciplinary teams to develop innovative solutions, integrating their disciplinary expertise with personal experiences (eutopia (a) (n.d)). content the project promotes community innovation through peer exchange and aims to enhance student involvement in tr research while addressing sustainable development goals (sdgs) 11 and 13. activities include joint workshops that integrate regional transdisciplinary projects into educational programs, fostering collaboration between students and researchers (transdisciplinary project catalyst (n.d.)). the participatory city project has the objective of establishing collective projects at both the top-down and bottom-up levels in barking and dagenham, east london. the project places an emphasis on initiatives that engage citizens in the development of new systems for practical participation and societal co-production. it develops a large-scale initiative through the every one everyday program, which will engage over 400 residents over five years. the report describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of these models (participatory city (n.d.)). eutopia 2050 is a project within the european universities initiative that has been designed to advance digital functionality within universities, address the issue of climate change, and foster a spirit of solidarity. it is aligned with new policy initiatives for higher education, research, and innovation that have been spearheaded by the european union and the european commission. the project’s objective is to facilitate connections across campuses, disciplines, and borders, emphasizing the significance of a bottom-up approach and leveraging the distributed expertise of various communities (eutopia (b) (n.d.)). 3.1. bottom-up approaches: fostering urban resilience and sustainability in turkey while certain professionals, such as architects, planners, and economists, can serve as technical or organizational actors in flexible and complex forms of governance, non-professional sectors, and less powerful social groups are largely excluded from decision-making. according to swyngedouw et al. (2002), this exclusion has turned many cities into elite playing fields with significant democratic deficits. in the case of turkey, numerous challenges in population growth as well as sustainability in urban planning and design are some of the issues affecting urban policies. urban areas in turkey are particularly vulnerable to environmental problems due to increased building density, climate change, and environmental deterioration (özdemir, 2019). since the 2000s, urban land has become özdamar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 highly commoditized, making it increasingly important for governments to regulate the land market and create a legal basis for new investments (yılmaz bakır, 2020). urban planning is generally determined by top-level policies, with decisions made by authorities and planners, often with little participation from local communities. top-down strategies in urban planning are typically driven by government policies, regulations, master plans, zoning laws, and relevant rules that guide urban development (rabe et al., 2023; yılmaz bakır et al., 2018). as stated by yaman galantini (2020), integrating urban resilience planning into the existing planning hierarchy will help move towards dynamic processes and will increase resiliency in cities from a local to a national scale. however, frequent plan amendments and revisions to address economic and political pressures can undermine the continuity and integrity of long-term planning approaches (yılmaz bakır et al., 2018) (figures 3 & 4). figure 3: rapid and uncontrolled urban growth in istanbul: urban housing (özdamar, 2009) figure 4: dense urban environment (özdamar, 2009) some of the negative urban transformations and social reactions emerge as the phenomenon of gentrification in historical areas (behar and islam, 2006), as well as grassroots mobilizations in başıbüyük and tarlabaşı neighborhoods (kuyucu and ünsal, 2010), the displacement of the urban poor by state-led urban renewal projects, and the prevalence of political sentiments against authority and capitalism in city centers (kahraman, 2014). such top-down urban interventions, which serve to undermine inclusiveness, are particularly evident in istanbul. the solidarity demonstrated by urban dwellers over the past 15 years in support of the right to the city illustrates the relational nature of the durability of socio-ecological and sustainable living conditions. the sulukule platform (sp) represents a significant case study in this regard, exemplifying the resistance to state-led urban renewal projects that have resulted in the gentrification of the roma community and the transformation of land disputes into urban resistance (uysal, 2012). another example is the gezi occupation movement (2013), which was a revolt against the perpetual authority of the state in shaping the public sphere. the movement aimed to create new political structures and communication methods in response to discrimination. it sought to establish a future with real democracy and active citizenship through participatory structures and open communication channels (kaya, 2017). özdamar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 although it is developing slowly, in the context of turkish urban governance, there is an increasing emphasis on participatory practices that address how to compete on a global scale. enhancing public participation practices is emphasized as critical to improving turkish cities’ global and urban competitiveness to effectively address the challenges of new urban policies and to strengthen people-centered policies and regulations to support the right to the city. according to ahsan (2022), some of the practices that have enabled turkish cities to increase their global competitiveness while effectively protecting the right to the city include implementing rehabilitation, humancentered policies and regulations, and promoting participatory practices. bottom-up strategies prioritize community involvement and grassroots participation in urban regeneration projects (rabe et al., 2023; yılmaz bakır, 2020). the participatory approach facilitates the dissemination of information and the formation of consensus regarding the identification of local needs, thus contributing to the process of raising awareness with regard to sustainability (özdemir, 2019). these approaches contribute to urban renewal by considering residents’ needs and perspectives. for example, the “urban renewal project” in turkey is one of the urban renewal and transformation projects that combine bottom-up urban strategies with participatory methods. while it has become a victim of rent in terms of meeting the real needs of users, it should be discussed in terms of some points. in this project, bottom-up approaches supported urban transformation efforts such as urban rehabilitation and redevelopment against illegal construction, disaster risk, and uncontrolled urban expansion (yılmaz bakır, 2020). regional development policy has evolved in recent years, leading to a new approach to regional planning that incorporates all stakeholders and encompasses all regions. this new approach, known as new regional planning, is a social, collaborative, strategic, and innovative process that combines top-down and bottom-up planning techniques. current regional plans are implemented with flexibility and a long-term, strategic vision (özdemir, 2019). since the 2010s, there has been a shift in political discourse among policymakers and practitioners towards involving local people in the development of area-based regeneration initiatives (yılmaz bakır, 2020). this shift has been particularly evident in project-based urban policies and urban regeneration projects in cities like istanbul and izmir. these projects aim to tackle issues such as illegal housing, disaster risk, and uncontrolled urban sprawl. the focus on urban transformation projects has been significant, with specific emphasis on spatial restructuring processes and addressing major urban problems. urban planning strategies in turkey also blend top-down and bottom-up approaches to tackle various urban development challenges (çelik, 2011). while the bottom-up and community-centered approach is generally favored in urban regeneration efforts, certain factors can hinder these processes, such as constraints in the time and resources for local governments and partners when involving the local community. in area-based policies, a common approach is a mix of different top-down interventions (physical, economic, and social). another approach that has gained traction since the 2000s is to increase the role of residents in the planning process (yılmaz bakır, 2020). according to the local agenda 21 action program (yerel gündem 21 (yg-21), local agenda 21 in turkey: moving from local to national reports (2001), and the recent climate change mitigation strategy and action plan 2024-2030 (i̇klim değişikliği azaltım stratejisi ve eylem planı 2024-2030) prepared by the ministry of environment, urbanization, and climate change (by the directorate of climate change), there is a great emphasis on public participation (undp, 2001; climate change mitigation strategy and action plan 2024-2030). the climate change mitigation strategy and action plan (i̇dasep) was developed by the turkish government during the inaugural meeting of the climate council, resulting in 217 recommendations aimed at achieving the net zero target by 2053. of these, 76 were identified as priorities and subsequently disseminated to the public. the plan, which was in effect from november 2022 to december 2024, is structured around seven principal reduction sectors and two horizontally cutting theme areas. the final two areas of focus were just transition and carbon pricing mechanisms. the preparation of the action plan was conducted in conjunction with the national development goals (ndc) to ensure consistency between the ndc and the action plans covering the period up to 2030. the needs analysis and policy mapping study involved the participation of over 2,000 individuals from 175 institutions and organizations. the climate change mitigation strategy and action plan 2024-2030 was submitted to the climate change and adaptation coordination board for approval. in addition to the input provided by stakeholders during bilateral meetings and via email, the views expressed in two official letters were also taken into consideration and reflected in the action plan. subsequently, the climate change mitigation strategy and action plan 2024-2030 was özdamar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 submitted to the climate change and adaptation coordination board for approval, following the completion of the aforementioned studies. a multitude of institutions were involved in this process, including the ministry of environment, urbanization and climate change, the presidency of strategy and budget, the ministry of energy and natural resources, the ministry of foreign affairs, the ministry of industry and technology, the ministry of agriculture and forestry, and the ministry of national education (climate change mitigation strategy and action plan 2024-2030). however, involving city councils in line with the agenda 21 document (which defines the rights and responsibilities of urban residents and local administrators to ensure public participation in urban decisions), the implementation and monitoring actions from a local perspective must be sustained in the long term (tuğaç, 2022). in a regional context, for example, the 2014-2023 istanbul regional plan (2014-2023 i̇stanbul bölge planı), developed by the ministry of development, signifies a shift towards a more inclusive, bottom-up, tailor-made regional development approach, focusing upon endogenous assets and the local knowledge of regions. the plan was implemented in collaboration with local municipalities, ngos, and academic institutions. it aimed to develop a comprehensive strategy for promoting urban resilience and sustainability in the city. the project took an interdisciplinary approach, involving extensive stakeholder engagement, integrating multiple disciplinary perspectives, and co-creating knowledge and solutions. the resulting strategy included several interventions to increase the resilience and sustainability of urban systems in istanbul, such as improved public transportation, reducing waste and water consumption, and promoting green infrastructure (2014-2023 istanbul regional plan, 2016). the 2014-2023 istanbul development plan was designed to ensure local ownership, sustainability, and effectiveness. to this end, it sought to involve citizens, public institutions, civil society organizations, and the private sector in decision-making processes. the plan commenced with a situation analysis and a participatory process, designated as #istanbulbenim (my istanbul), which was conducted via a social media campaign. on 29 april 2013, the my istanbul vision meeting was held, during which the vision scenarios were discussed with local stakeholders. in may 2013, 12 thematic workshops and two roundtable meetings were conducted to determine the strategic goals and objectives necessary to achieve the vision outlined in the regional plan. the finalized plan, which was compiled, evaluated, and harmonized by istka, aims to create a unique istanbul: a city of innovation and culture with creative and free citizens with 23 priorities and 57 strategies. the plan addresses several socio-economic issues, including poverty, unemployment, regional imbalances, and income inequality. the city of istanbul is confronted with significant challenges as a result of intense migration and urbanization. however, it aspires to establish a peaceful, prosperous, fair, and inclusive society by the year 2023. the plan identifies seven priority areas and 17 strategies to mitigate potential risks and ensure the establishment of a peaceful, prosperous, fair, and inclusive society. priority areas include the utilization of demographic opportunities, the strengthening of institutional capacity, and the adoption of effective governance. by 2023, istanbul aims to become an inclusive society with equal opportunities, peace, confidence, and harmonious economic and social development (2014-2023 istanbul regional plan, 2016). the istanbul regional plan delineates three developmental axes for istanbul’s economic, social, and spatial development. the primary objective of the first axis is to establish a globally competitive, high-value-added, innovative, and creative economy by 2023. this will be achieved by focusing on the training and attraction of creative personnel, the promotion of research and development, and the management of the city’s image. the second axis is concerned with the establishment of a fair, inclusive, and learning society to enhance istanbul’s social structure and accelerate human development. the priorities encompass the preservation of istanbul’s vibrant demographic composition, the facilitation of resident engagement in economic, political, social, and cultural spheres, the provision of essential services such as education, healthcare, and security, and the improvement of service quality. the third axis is concerned with the creation of urban spaces that are joyful, authentic, and sustainable, with the promotion of inclusivity, the preservation of historic and cultural heritage, the fair allocation of urban function areas, and the promotion of authenticity, diversity, and high-quality design. the key themes are human capital, quality of life, sustainability, cooperation, coordination, institutional capacity, and creativity and innovation (2014-2023 istanbul regional plan, 2016). özdamar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 notably, the tr approach is not addressed in these projects. in turkey, multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary frameworks are typically employed. additionally, bottom-up approaches or tactical urbanism emerge in response to public demands. bottom-up strategies that bring communities and stakeholders together are essential in promoting sustainability. these strategies consider the social, economic, and environmental aspects of urban development simultaneously to address the complex and interconnected problems that cities face. this approach is of particular importance in turkey, where rapid urbanization and population growth have resulted in significant challenges in the areas of infrastructure, housing, transportation, and environmental quality. to effectively tackle these issues and promote sustainability and resilience in both urban and rural areas, a stronger framework and tactic—such as transdisciplinarity—are necessary. in the turkish urban context, tr approaches play a pivotal role in fostering democratic participation by facilitating interactions between diverse stakeholders, enabling them to gain insight into each other’s perspectives, needs, and potential support. this approach can be viewed as a crucial step in raising awareness about the significance of active participation. 3.2. integrating transdisciplinary approaches in urban planning for enhanced resilience tr projects aimed at developing new sustainability pathways for cities showcase the importance of collaboration in achieving urban resilience and sustainability. these processes can bring together expertise from different sectors to tackle complex urban challenges, promote knowledge sharing, and foster a culture of collaboration, leading to more resilient and sustainable communities. adopting a tr approach results in a redistribution of architectural autonomy, transferring authority from the architect or designer to other stakeholders. this increased visibility allows for the inclusion of the user-subject and other experts in the design process. through open and engaging dialogues, all parties involved gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the participatory aspects of the tr approach and its crucial role in architectural and planning practice. furthermore, this interactive process helps to promote design democracy (özdamar, 2024). to gain a more profound understanding of participants’ needs and priorities in the context of urban resilience and sustainability, decision-making processes must involve collaboration with stakeholders and local communities. such processes include participatory planning, community-based monitoring and evaluation, and the co-creation of knowledge and solutions. another key element of tr methodologies is the integration of different disciplinary perspectives. these experts can gain a better understanding of complex urban systems and develop innovative approaches that take into account social, economic, and environmental factors. tr requires active and seamless collaboration among local governments, ngos, experts, and stakeholders to establish common goals and methods for urban resilience and sustainability. however, when used as a tool to facilitate representative engagement among stakeholders, there is a significant risk of planning an environment that is merely symbolic. to counter these symbolic approaches, it is necessary to adopt approaches that recognize active, participatory, tactical urbanism, and communitybased approaches as three crucial elements of urban governance. this approach allows for a real integration of different stakeholders, including experts, citizens, initiatives, and the academic community in tr approaches (figure 5). özdamar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 figure 5: a conceptual model for implementing the tr approach for urban resilience in turkey while bottom-up approaches and tr approaches are each uniquely useful, they can conflict when applied simultaneously in urban development. this may result in bottom-up strategies that ignore problems (such as environmental and economic sustainability) that could negatively affect other stakeholders. for example, residents may request to assume responsibility for issues of economic and environmental sustainability that align with their interests and generate profit, but these actions could have adverse long-term effects on the environment. this may also be attributed to the emergence of reactionary movements, which are driven by a lack of confidence in the efficacy of local governments. when disparate groups have conflicting priorities and interests, for example, bottom-up approaches and transdisciplinary methodologies can become contentious. for example, a community may advocate for the creation of a new park in its neighborhood, while a developer may propose a park for different uses due to competing interests, such as a new commercial development or investment scheme in the same location. 4. discussion the difficulties that have arisen in the turkish case regarding tr, bottom-up, and participatory approaches are primarily due to a lack of awareness and experience with participatory processes. according to oecd resilience reports mentioned in previous sections, this can be developed primarily through education and transformed into active grassroots movements. achieving this in primary, secondary, and high school education in turkey is a long-term issue, as the education system exhibits inadequacy in terms of demonstrating the importance of the interactive framework between the individual and the community practically due to its oppressive and broadly centralized, topdown nature. on the other hand, as arslan and kaya erol (2023) state, the absence of a legal participation framework in the turkish planning system stems from the fact that to establish a knowledge and experience base for participatoryoriented design, legal and flexible frameworks must be established to include participation arrangements in planning and design. by disseminating information about sustainable lifestyles, community education programs significantly contribute to the development of a grassroots culture of sustainability and resilience in society (olazabal, 2012). people can make better decisions that benefit the environment and themselves by implementing community education programs to raise awareness of environmental issues and resource conservation. these programs may include multifaceted and varied activities such as workshops, training sessions, awareness campaigns, and educational initiatives in different schools and community centers. the benefits of promoting sustainable lifestyles through community education programs include reduced resource consumption and waste generation; increased community resilience to environmental challenges; and enhanced well-being and quality of life for residents. developing comprehensive özdamar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 strategies for addressing complex urban challenges requires a tr approach that goes beyond traditional knowledge silos. by considering the interconnectedness of social, economic, environmental, and spatial dimensions of urban systems, planners can create integrated solutions that promote resilience and sustainability across multiple fronts (zeng et al., 2022). another aspect of participation is the emergence of technological advancements such as ictenabled participatory design, which allows stakeholders to engage through web-based platforms and various mobile applications. these options are increasingly popular in urban transformation and can also be effective in bringing urban communities in turkey together (gün et al., 2021). local governments should play an active role in establishing planning instruments that will provide urban spaces with character and establish the conditions necessary for participation in these processes (yılmaz bakır et al., 2018). by actively involving residents, planners can access valuable information to co-create solutions that are contextually appropriate and culturally sensitive. this participatory approach is essential for ensuring that urban planning initiatives align with the community, fostering a sense of ownership and commitment to the resilience-building process (pamukcu-albers, et al., 2021). the utilization of tr approaches and tdr has the potential to facilitate a more collaborative approach to decisionmaking by bringing together a diverse range of stakeholder groups. involving experts from diverse fields such as economics, sociology, architecture, urban planning, and environmental science, can facilitate the creation of a comprehensive framework for addressing complex urban issues. another effective strategy is to promote bottom-up processes that involve community members in urban development while considering larger concerns like economic and environmental sustainability. urban planning that integrates tr methods can encourage cooperation and foster collaboration among different disciplines, thereby contributing to the creation of more resilient and sustainable cities. this collaborative effort allows for a thorough examination of multiple perspectives and the generation of creative solutions to tackle the intricate challenges faced by urban areas (maiello et al., 2011). by leveraging the synergy of various disciplines, urban planners can develop and devise strategies that not only enhance urban resilience but also promote long-term sustainability (zeng et al., 2022). the incorporation of local knowledge and expertise is a critical component of building urban resilience and sustainability through tr approaches (sant, 2022). engaging local communities in decision-making processes is a crucial bottom-up approach to enhancing urban resilience and sustainability (zeng et al., 2022). key benefits of engaging local communities in decision-making processes include increased social cohesion and community bonding, greater transparency and accountability in governance, and enhanced responsiveness to local challenges and opportunities. by incorporating the input of residents at the planning and decision-making stages of urban development projects, cities can ensure that initiatives are aligned with the specific needs and priorities of the community and integrate them into long-term planning strategies. this approach not only fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment among residents but also leverages local knowledge and expertise to create more effective and sustainable solutions. in this context, workshops and charrettes can be held to raise awareness of tr approaches among local governments and the public, as well as to enhance the experience of their implementation. these activities can be instrumental in conveying the notion that tr approaches operate within a distinct framework than that of top-down, mechanical, linear, inorganic, and centralized systems (özdamar, 2024). it is crucial to prioritize the development of internal models over the exclusive reliance on democratic participation forms that are constrained to local governments, educational institutions, institutes, and civil society organizations (ngos). the internal urban struggle may facilitate the formation of new perspectives, which could be addressed by gradually integrating large mass movements into the city. this would be a preferable approach to explosive movements against capitalist developments driven by rent and governments. the right to the city is a crucial element of social resilience, community consciousness, and the existence of urban residents. these transformations, which are particularly evident in turkey, move in the opposite direction and can lead to more stable long-term transformation tactics, resulting in rhizomatic, organic, selfdetermining, imageless, and immanent transformations (özdamar, 2022). 5. conclusion the article highlights how bottom-up strategies integrate community involvement and grassroots participation in urban regeneration, promoting urban resilience and sustainability. the evolving interplay between top-down and bottom-up approaches, tr methodologies, and participatory practices in the urban planning landscape in turkey has özdamar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 been thoroughly examined. concepts such as resilience, sustainability, and participatory decision-making have been contextualized within several urban challenges, including the commodification of urban land, rapid urbanization, sustainability, and environmental degradation. however, the discussion also identifies potential conflicts that may emerge from the concurrent implementation of bottom-up strategies and tr methodologies in urban development. moreover, the importance of community-based solutions, the involvement of a diverse range of stakeholders, and the necessity for comprehensive urban planning strategies are crucial insights that must be considered. the value of collaboration, community education programs, and ict-enabled participatory design must be intertwined to achieve urban resilience and sustainability. the multi-faceted discussions on the transformation of participatory processes and the critical importance of sustained awareness and experience in participatory initiatives have established a foundation for future developments in urban planning and design practices. in conclusion, this research serves to advocate for the continued advancement and implementation of inclusive and sustainable urban planning practices, underscoring the significance of community participation and collaboration. it is emphasized that a combination of bottom-up strategies, tr methodologies, and participatory approaches is fundamental to the creation of resilient and sustainable urban environments, thus facilitating the development of a more equitable and vibrant urban future. consequently, it is necessary to re-examine alexander’s (2013) concept of resilience, moving beyond a purely ecological perspective to encompass socio-ecology and human (cultural) ecology. this expanded ecological framework can be effectively addressed in the present era through tr approaches. local governments, public authorities, and policymakers must acknowledge and advocate for transdisciplinary research (tr) as an essential complement to conventional research methodologies in addressing intricate societal challenges (oecd, 2020). the united nations sustainable development goals (sdgs) (2015) have progressively emphasized the necessity for comprehensive, integrated strategies and inclusive involvement to address interrelated developmental challenges (united nations sustainable development goals, 2015). therefore, tr collaboration and tdr can facilitate the management of uncertainties, the adjustment to diverse resilience forms, and the thriving amidst emerging challenges, thereby augmenting urban resilience. to address the emerging issues of urban sustainability and resilience, it is essential that architects, planners, and researchers receive training in knowledge transfer and that design research is recognized as a legitimate method of generating knowledge (després et al., 2011). in turkey, it is essential to utilize the insights derived from this knowledge base to reduce the impact and extent of top-down planning initiatives executed by local government. instead, there is a need to transform these activities into a dynamic and participatory process. planners can play a pivotal role in this transformation by raising awareness among local authorities and citizens, thereby influencing the outcome of these activities. in a politically charged country like turkey, individuals and governments aware of this reality can work strategically to dismantle and eradicate this centralization over time. it is of the utmost importance to strike a balance between competing priorities and interests among stakeholders when implementing both bottom-up and tr approaches concurrently. the empowerment of local communities, the encouragement of collaboration, and the engagement of diverse perspectives can address complex problems and foster more inclusive and effective solutions. this is accomplished by cultivating stakeholder collaboration, incorporating local knowledge and expertise, and advocating for sustainable lifestyles through community education initiatives. this perspective enables the development of comprehensive strategies that address complex urban challenges and promote long-term urban resilience and sustainability. the most significant challenge to active participation in turkey is the centralized administrative structure, which necessitates the development of diverse models to ensure seamless collaboration (i̇zci & geylani, 2021). the participatory democracy model posits the existence of active citizens (tekeli, 2012). the implementation of numerous reforms has resulted in the establishment of a multitude of novel mechanisms in comparison to those that existed previously. these mechanisms are designed to ensure the principles of openness, transparency, citizen participation, and decentralization in governance. in this context, one of the initial steps for policymakers and public authorities should be to establish platforms for implementing an interactive participatory environment through the implementation of regulations containing policy proposals or strategies. however, given the lack of success of this özdamar/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 planning, it is crucial to emphasize the importance of citizens’ participation in parliamentary committees and their roles in voluntary work and cooperation with city councils and civil society organizations. this approach will ensure the formation of sustainable and resilient communities, cities, and open systems. acknowledgements not applicable. funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit 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(ed.), landscape reclamation rising from what’s left. intechopen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84391. zeng, x., yuanchun, y., yang, s., yang l., & sarker. m. n.i. (2022). urban resilience for urban sustainability: concepts, dimensions, and perspectives. sustainability 14(5), 2481. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052481. https://journals.iium.edu.my/kaed/index.php/japcm/article/view/823 https://enhanceuniversity.eu/enhanceria/transdisciplinary-project-catalyst/ https://policycommons.net/artifacts/107950/local-agenda-21-in-turkey/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2021.103280 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2021.103280 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.05.036 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received:17 april 2025, accepted: 21 september 2025, published online: 30 september 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i3.1209 art, biophilia, and environmental engagement: promoting community resilience and pro-environmental behaviors koncha pinos1 1director of the research department, the wellbeing planet. uae abstract this article explores the relationship between art and emotional well-being through the project "biophilia and art: jungles and forests", a pictorial work made by duván lópez. the research assesses how an art exhibition influences the levels of eco-anxiety and solastalgia, as well as the emotional resonance between the artist's creative state and the audience's experience. the proposal includes two modalities of participation: a virtual exhibition, which is accessed by 200 participants from all over the world (aged 14-74); and a face-to-face exhibition, in catalonia, also with 200 participants (12-70 years old). the study measures the levels of echoanxiety and solastalgia before and after the visit (in both modalities) and evaluates changes in vocal prosody. in addition, initial and final photographs of the participants are incorporated for subsequent analysis with artificial intelligence, in order to record changes in facial expression and other non-verbal features. it is also planned to analyze the most repeated words and generate prosody maps that relate what is said (and what is omitted) with vocal and emotional patterns. finally, participants are asked to make a drawing that represents their emotional and sensory experience. as well as choosing from 30 colored cards, which is the color that best represents your experience and why. the project seeks not only to improve the understanding of biophilia and its effect on emotional health, but also to promote a greater commitment to sustainability and the preservation of nature. by combining these multimodal strategies, the project seeks not only to improve the understanding of biophilia and its effects on emotional health but also to promote greater ecological empathy and commitment to sustainability. in doing so, it contributes directly to the united nations sustainable development goals (sdgs): sdg 3 (good health and well-being), by demonstrating how art can mitigate eco-anxiety and foster psychological resilience; sdg 4 (quality education), by integrating innovative and participatory methodologies into cultural and educational contexts; sdg 11 (sustainable cities and communities), by supporting biophilic design as a strategy for healthier, more inclusive urban environments; and sdg 13 (climate action), by motivating participants to strengthen their connection with nature and engage in collective responses to environmental challenges. beyond these contributions, the findings provide actionable insights for local and global socio-ecological policies, suggesting that biophilic art interventions can inform public health strategies, sustainability education, cultural programming, and climate adaptation efforts. in this sense, the findings suggest that biophilic art can act as a low-cost, scalable tool for environmental risk management and for strengthening collective resilience in the face of climate-related challenges. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords: climate change; eco-anxiety; solastalgia; art; wellbeing; collective action; pro-environmental behavior, evolutionary psychology, quality of life. neuroaesthetics http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i3.1209&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 1. introduction biophilia, popularized by edward o. wilson (1984), describes the innate inclination of human beings to connect emotionally, physically, and spiritually with nature, this relationship being essential for well-being, creativity, and mental health. however, in the current context, characterized by climate change, environmental degradation, and the increasing frequency of extreme events, this connection is threatened. phenomena such as eco-anxiety and solastalgia (albrecht, 2006) manifest themselves as anxiety, anguish, and psychological discomfort in the face of environmental transformation, affecting both individual health and the ability to adopt pro-environmental behaviors and participate in collective actions. in pinós' (2023) line of research on the influence of synesthesia and neuroaesthetics on emotional response, we seek to record conceptual and emotional maps that allow us to deepen the resonance between the artist's creative process and the audience's experience. based on the exhibition jungles and forests by duván lópez, inspired by the colombian jungles, the project "biophilia and art: jungles and forests" investigates how artistic experiences can alleviate the emotional states associated with the environmental crisis. the artistic exhibition, physically exhibited in catalonia, spain, but also with virtual access, creates an immersive space in which visual and sound elements evoke nature. with the main objective of finding tools for the reduction of eco-anxiety and solastalgia, a comparative study is carried out among the participants to seek to answer questions about the artist-visitor emotional resonance and the capacity of visual and sound stimuli to generate states of calm, introspection, and hope, deepening the biophilic relationship between humans and nature. vessel, e. a et al. (2022). at the core of this study lies an interdisciplinary art project that functions as both an aesthetic experience and a research tool for investigating emotional responses to biophilic stimuli. the conceptual framework of the project draws from biophilia theory (wilson, 1984) and emotional ecology, proposing that immersive engagement with nature-inspired artistic forms can activate affective, cognitive, and somatic processes related to psychological wellbeing. the project was intentionally designed using multisensory elements—such as organic textures, natural soundscapes, and symbolic visual motifs—presented through both physical installations and digital formats. this dual approach allowed us to explore the effects of environmental context (onsite vs. online) on participants' emotional states, while also aligning with emerging research on the embodied and mediated dimensions of ecological aesthetics. the project’s curatorial logic was informed by theoretical perspectives from eco-art, phenomenology, and neuroaesthetics, positioning the artwork not merely as a representation of nature but as a relational and affective space capable of eliciting eco-emotions such as eco-anxiety, solastalgia, and awe. by engaging participants in both introspective and sensory interaction, the project aimed to simulate biophilic contact in a controlled setting, thus creating conditions suitable for emotional measurement and analysis. this framing supports the integration of the art experience into a broader scientific inquiry, where the artwork serves as both a stimulus and a mediating environment for assessing the psychological and neurophysiological impact of biophilic exposure. carlson, a. (2015) in recent years, growing interdisciplinary interest has emerged at the intersection of biophilia, art, and neuroscience, offering new insights into how aesthetic experiences rooted in nature can affect human emotion, cognition, and wellbeing. drawing from recent literature (2019–2024), this study builds on a theoretical framework that integrates findings from neuroaesthetics, environmental psychology, and cultural studies. empirical research in museum, architectural, and digital contexts has shown that biophilic elements—whether through natural materials, imagery, or spatial design—can activate specific neural pathways associated with pleasure, attention, and emotional regulation. for instance, exposure to natural beauty, both real and represented, has been shown to stimulate the medial orbitofrontal cortex and default mode network, areas linked to restorative experiences and aesthetic reward (chatterjee & vartanian, 2021; coburn et al., 2022). this paper also incorporates emerging research on biophilic curation and immersive digital art, including the use of artificial intelligence to enhance emotional resonance (xing et al., 2024a). this paper also incorporates emerging research on biophilic curation and immersive digital art, including the use of artificial intelligence to enhance emotional resonance (xing et al., 2024a). other recent studies in neuroarchitecture and museum design demonstrate pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 how environments infused with biophilic characteristics can reduce stress, encourage introspection, and foster proenvironmental attitudes (abbas et al., 2024; adityo, 2024; xing et al., 2024b). these developments not only support the relevance of integrating nature-based aesthetics in artistic and cultural practice but also underscore the psychological and ecological potential of such approaches. by situating our investigation within this contemporary framework, we aim to contribute to ongoing discussions around art, sustainability, and emotional well-being in both theoretical and applied contexts. other recent studies in neuroarchitecture and museum design demonstrate how environments infused with biophilic characteristics can reduce stress, encourage introspection, and foster proenvironmental attitudes (abbas et al., 2024; adityo, 2024). these developments not only support the relevance of integrating nature-based aesthetics in artistic and cultural practice but also underscore the psychological and ecological potential of such approaches. by situating our investigation within this contemporary framework, we aim to contribute to ongoing discussions around art, sustainability, and emotional well-being in both theoretical and applied contexts. 2. materials and methods 2.1. sample the proposal contemplates two modalities of participation, each with 200 participants. • virtual exhibition: 200 participants from all over the world, between 14 and 74 years old, who access the online platform that recreates the works and soundscapes. it also offers the possibility of interacting with the artist and the scientist through forums and videoconferences. • face-to-face exhibition: 200 participants living in catalonia, between 12 and 70 years old, who visit a physical space designed to recreate the atmosphere of the colombian jungles and can dialogue directly with the artist and the expert. 2.2. assessment instruments the study measures the levels of ecoanxiety and solastalgia before and after the visit to the sample (in both modalities) and evaluates changes in vocal prosody. • eco-anxiety and solastalgia scales. they are applied before and after the exhibition, adapted to a language understandable by different ages and cultures. • vocal prosody measurement. the intonation, rhythm, and frequency of each participant's voice before and after the experience are analyzed, comparing them with recordings of the artist's voice taken during their creative process. prosody maps are generated that identify tonal variations related to emotional states and highlight elements of discourse (what is mentioned and what is implied). • analysis of the frequency of words and omissions. transcripts of conversations with the artist, the scientist, and oral reports from the participants are collected. using natural language processing (nlp) techniques, the most repeated words, co-occurrences, and omitted terms are identified, and semantic maps are constructed that show the relationship between key concepts (nature, stress, hope, etc.) and the reported emotional state. • analysis of facial expressions. photographs of the participants are taken before and after the sample, and then artificial intelligence algorithms are applied to detect changes in facial expressions (indicators of stress, relaxation, surprise, etc.). • voluntary post-exposure drawing. each participant makes a drawing at will that represents their emotional and sensory experience. the results are analyzed qualitatively, looking for symbolic elements and patterns that reflect their mood. pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 2.3. data collection and analysis the surveys were administered through online forms for the virtual modality and in person for the catalonia group, guaranteeing confidentiality and informed consent. a descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and comparative analysis between the groups was performed. the results are interpreted in the context of the literature on eco-anxiety, well-being, and pro-environmental behaviors, and the implications for the future in the absence of comprehensive interventions are discussed. methods • participants a total of anonymous volunteers participated in the study. the online sample included individuals from 14 latin american countries (argentina, mexico, colombia, chile, peru, uruguay, ecuador, bolivia, costa rica, panama, guatemala, honduras, el salvador, and venezuela). the in-person sample was recruited in costa brava, girona, spain. participation was entirely voluntary, and no personal or sensitive data were collected. • instruments two instruments were used: eco-anxiety scale (albrecht, 2006). solastalgia questionnaire (adapted from albrecht, 2006; albrecht et al., 2007). both questionnaires were administered in their adapted versions for spanish-speaking participants. responses were collected using a likert-type scale, allowing for quantitative comparison before and after exposure to the exhibition “jungles and forests.” • procedure data were collected in two phases: online survey: conducted via google forms between 01 september 2024 and 15 february 2025, reaching participants across 14 latin american countries. in-person survey: conducted in costa brava, girona, spain, from 01 january to 15 february 2025. participants completed the questionnaires both before and after visiting the exhibition to evaluate changes in ecoanxiety and solastalgia. • ethical considerations according to the guidelines of the wellbeing planet research board, ethical approval was not required for this study as it involved anonymous voluntary surveys without the collection of personal or sensitive data. all participants were informed about the purpose of the study and provided consent before participation. 2.4. method recent advancements in interdisciplinary research have highlighted the importance of using multimodal approaches to study emotional and cognitive responses to nature-based art. within the fields of affective neuroscience, environmental psychology, and art therapy, there is increasing consensus that emotional states are best captured through a combination of verbal, nonverbal, and physiological indicators. building on this framework, our study adopts an integrative methodological design to explore the emotional and psychological effects of biophilic art experiences. this approach is grounded in the recognition that eco-emotions such as eco-anxiety and solastalgia manifest not only in conscious verbal reflection but also in unconscious somatic and expressive cues. the selection of tools—vocal analysis, microexpression coding, natural language processing (nlp), and drawing interpretation—responds to this scientific rationale. vocal expression has been shown to reflect subtle emotional states through prosodic features (babin, b. j., et al, 2023), while microexpressions offer insight into involuntary pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 affective responses often not accessible through self-report (bourriaud, n., 2002). relational aesthetics nlp allows for the systematic analysis of semantic and emotional content in participant narratives, aligning with recent work in computational affective science (massumi, b., 2002). drawing analysis, meanwhile, draws on art therapy and symbolic interpretation to access imaginative and emotional material that may not be easily verbalized. each modality captures different dimensions of the participant experience, thus contributing to a more holistic understanding of the emotional impact of biophilic engagement. to ensure reliability and coherence across these diverse modalities, we employed a triangulation strategy in which data from different sources were cross-referenced to identify convergences or discrepancies. this framework not only strengthens the empirical validity of our findings but also aligns with current standards in mixed-methods and humancentered environmental research. by integrating physiological, expressive, linguistic, and symbolic data, our study contributes to the growing body of literature advocating for complex, embodied approaches to the study of human– nature–art interactions. 2.5 methodological transparency and ethical compliance study design and setting. we conducted a pre–post, within-subjects observational study assessing emotional and cognitive responses associated with biophilia and art – jungles and forests. data were collected in two settings: (a) on-site, during the exhibition held in costa brava (girona, spain), and (b) online, via a secure web-based form with participants from multiple latin american countries. both modalities used the same instrument and standardized instructions. participants and recruitment. we used a voluntary, convenience sampling strategy. on-site participants were approached at the exhibition entrance; online participants accessed the survey through institutional communications and professional networks. eligibility criteria included being ≥18 years old and having sufficient spanish reading comprehension to complete the questionnaire; participation was not incentivized. we did not target vulnerable populations, and minors were excluded by design. measures and instruments. data were obtained with a structured, self-report questionnaire designed to capture ecoanxiety, solastalgia, affective states related to aesthetic experience, perceived connectedness with nature, and selfreported intentions toward pro-environmental and prosocial engagement. items and response formats were informed by prior literature on environmental emotions and nature-related well-being. the instrument was administered twice (immediately before and immediately after the exhibition experience or its virtual equivalent). demographic questions were minimal and optional (e.g., age range and country) to uphold data minimization principles. internal consistency and item performance were examined as part of the analysis pipeline; details are reported alongside results. questionnaire structure. the instrument consisted of 24 items grouped into four thematic dimensions: 1. eco-anxiety (6 items, e.g., “i feel anxious when i think about the environmental future of the planet”). 2. solastalgia (6 items, e.g., “environmental degradation in my surroundings causes me sadness or distress”). 3. connectedness with nature (6 items, e.g., “i feel emotionally connected to forests and living landscapes”). 4. social and pro-environmental engagement (6 items, e.g., “after artistic experiences, i feel more motivated to care for nature or support social causes”). responses were recorded on a 5-point likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). pre–post change was used as the main indicator of the exhibition’s impact. procedure. in the on-site modality, participants completed the “pre” survey prior to entering the exhibition space and the “post” survey immediately after the visit in a quiet area adjacent to the exit. in the online modality, participants first read the information sheet and consent statement; the pre-exposure module was completed, followed by the curated digital experience, and then the post-exposure module. instructions emphasized that responses should reflect immediate, first-person perception. average completion time and flow were monitored to ensure comparability across modalities. pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 data quality safeguards. we implemented routine screening for completeness (mandatory core items), logical consistency, and implausibly short completion times that might indicate inattentive responding. partially completed records lacking the core prepost-measures were excluded from analysis. the final analytic sample and exclusions are reported in the results section. • privacy and data protection. the study followed a privacy-by-design approach: • anonymity: no direct personal identifiers (names, emails, phone numbers, id numbers) were collected. freetext fields were avoided or constrained to prevent inadvertent disclosure. • data minimization: only essential variables were recorded; demographic items were optional and coarsegrained. • storage & security: data exports were stored on an encrypted, access-restricted drive controlled by the principal investigator (pi). files were encrypted at rest and accessed only by the pi and a designated data analyst for the sole purpose of scientific analysis. transfers occurred over encrypted connections (tls). • retention & deletion: anonymized datasets will be retained for up to five years for verification and secondary analyses consistent with the original purpose, after which they will be securely deleted. • regulatory alignment: given eu data collection (spain) and international participation, procedures were aligned with gdpr principles (lawfulness, fairness, transparency; purpose limitation; data minimization; storage limitation; integrity and confidentiality). the lawful basis was explicit consent for research (gdpr art. 6(1)(a)). no special categories of personal data were processed. informed consent. participation was fully voluntary and could be discontinued at any time without penalty. prior to any data entry, participants received a clear information sheet describing the study aims, procedures (pre-post surveys around the exhibition experience), expected duration, potential risks/benefits, data handling, anonymity, and contact details for the research team. • on-site: participants provided written or tick-box consent before starting the pre-survey. • online: access to the survey was gated by a mandatory consent checkbox; proceeding required explicit agreement. no economic compensation was offered. participants were informed that aggregated findings could be published and that no individual could be identified. risk–benefit assessment and support. the study was classified as minimal risk. potential risks included transient emotional responses (e.g., sadness or concern) when reflecting on environmental issues. risk mitigation included (i) emphasizing voluntariness and the right to skip any item, (ii) encouraging breaks or withdrawal without consequence, and (iii) providing a debrief note with contact information and general well-being resources. anticipated benefits included increased reflection on nature connectedness and aesthetic well-being. ethical oversight. the protocol was reviewed and approved in june 2024 by the wellbeing planet's internal research ethics process, confirming adherence to internationally recognized standards (e.g., declaration of helsinki). no procedures involving deception, biological samples, or clinical interventions were included. transparency and reproducibility. the finalized questionnaire, codebook, and analysis notes can be made available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author, subject to privacy safeguards and alignment with the original consent terms. 3. results and discussion 3.1. emotional impact and connection to the work the artistic exhibition significantly reduces eco-anxiety in both groups, with a greater impact on the face-to-face environment. the difference in baseline and magnitude of improvement reinforces the potential for interventions that pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 combine artistic experiences with psychosocial support to transform environmental anxiety into resilience and action (see table 1) table 1. preand post-exposure levels of eco-anxiety. source by the author pre post comparative variation virtual 45% 22,5% −50% (from 45% to ≈22.5%) face 60,5% 24,2% −60% (from 60.5% to ≈24.2%) this comparative analysis details in a clear and structured way the preand post-exposure effects in the virtual and face-to-face samples, highlighting both the initial differences and the differential impact of the intervention. the following graphic (figure 1) presents the other lines of research to build a comprehensive vision of the emotional impact of the exhibition “jungles and forests”. figure 1. comparison of virtual vs. face-to-face experience in emotional impact. source by the author as seen above, both modalities managed to reduce eco-anxiety significantly. the face-to-face experience showed a greater reduction (60%) compared to the virtual one (50%), suggesting that the immersive experience has a greater effect on emotional regulation. regarding the item "alignment with the artist", the face-to-face modality allows a more direct connection with the work and the artist's process, so there is a key difference in the face-to-face experience; the interaction with the physical work and the sensory environment enhances emotional resonance. with respect to satisfaction with the work and connection with nature, the face-to-face participants expressed a deeper satisfaction with the work, compared to the virtual one, and almost the same difference applies to the item of stronger connection with nature and introspection, while in the virtual one, it was 50%. finally, with respect to the expression of surprise and admiration, there is a significant difference in the in-person interaction with the artistic elements; it has a stronger impact on the aesthetic emotion and the sensory experience. 3.2. artist-visitor connection the artist's data, the basis for the analysis, were collected during the creation of the work (one month of work), which made it possible to compare his emotional state with that of the participants in both exhibitions. the predominant emotional state in him was calm and contentment ( table 2 ). there were moments of confusion and surprise in the phases of creative exploration, but expressions such as anger, disgust, or sadness had almost no presence. pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 table 2. emotional expression of the artist during creation. (source by author) main emotions intensity level calm ◻◻◻◻о joy ◻◻◻оо happy ◻◻◻◻о confusion ◻◻ооо wrath ◻оооо sadness ооооо surprise ◻◻ооо before the exhibition, alignment with the artist, doubt, and fewer calm. face-to-face, both group had lower levels of reflection in high levels of expressions of introspection, or the group had a lower starting lineup, with a lower relaxed tone of voice and calm expressions compared to the virtual group. after exposure, both groups experienced significant improvements, with an increase in tranquility, introspection, and satisfaction. the face-to-face group showed superior alignment (up to +60% in relaxed tone of voice), and expressions of doubt and anxiety were further reduced (-40% vs -30% in virtual). in both modalities, they managed to emotionally connect the participants with the artist, but the face-to-face experience generated a stronger alignment in terms of tone of voice, introspection, and satisfaction with the work. ( see figure 2) figure 2. comparison of virtual vs. face-to-face experience in emotional alignment with the artist. (source by author) a central element in understanding the emotional impact of the biophilic art experience lies in the affective relationship between the artist and the visitor. although the two are not physically co-present, the artwork functions as a relational interface through which the artist’s ecological vision and emotional intention are transmitted. drawing from relational aesthetics (bourriaud, 2002) and affect theory (massumi, 2002), we conceptualize the visitor’s emotional response as shaped not only by the sensory qualities of the artwork but by their perceived connection to the artist’s expressive intent. this connection is established through symbolic composition, spatial atmosphere, material choices, and narrative structure, which collectively create a context for affective attunement. in this view, the emotional experience of the artwork is not a solitary aesthetic event, but a relational process in which the visitor becomes affectively engaged with the ecological and emotional meanings embedded by the artist. this dynamic becomes particularly relevant in biophilic and nature-based art, where the artwork serves not just as a visual object but as a mediating environment for emotional identification and ecological empathy. recent studies in neuroaesthetics suggest that viewers often experience empathetic resonance with the artist’s perceived emotional state, which is processed through expressive visual cues and narrative cohesion (chatterjee & vartanian, 2014; vessel et al., 2022). furthermore, environmental aesthetics research emphasizes that perceived authenticity and artistic intentionality amplify emotional impact, especially when ecological themes such as loss, awe, or restoration are involved (carlson, 2005; brady, 2022). this affective bond remains active even in digital formats, where immersive design and narrative coherence can sustain emotional presence and empathic connection (babin et al., 2023). by framing the artist–visitor interaction as a relational, affective mechanism, this study provides a deeper explanation of pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 how biophilic artworks evoke introspection, reduce eco-anxiety, and facilitate emotional regulation through shared symbolic meaning. 3.3. sensitive elements: effect of visual and sound stimuli we separate this section into two parts: the perception of the participants and the expressions. 3.3.1. perception in terms of perception, the sensory elements in the exhibition "jungles and forests" play a crucial role in the emotional experience of the audience. visual stimuli (natural landscapes, colors, and shapes) and sound stimuli (jungle soundscapes, sounds of water, birds, and wind) were designed to induce calm, introspection, and hope ( see table 3) table 3. comparison of the perception of virtual vs. face-to-face sensitive elements. (source by author) indicator virtual (%) face-to-face (%) difference (%) generating calm 60% 75% +15% induction of introspection 50% 65% +15% hopeful effect 55% 70% +15% connection with nature 65% 80% +15% satisfaction with visual and sound stimuli 70% 85% +15% in the exhibition, the synaesthesia experienced by some participants is not a mere perceptual accident, but a manifestation of careful sensory design that integrates art and neuroaesthetics. the deliberate combination of visual stimuli – such as the vibrant colours of the works and the dynamic depiction of birds in flight – with authentic sound stimuli, such as the natural singing of birds, creates a multi-sensory environment that stimulates the interaction between the different senses. this effect, justified in neuroaesthetic studies, demonstrates how the brain can fuse sensory information in unexpected and profound ways. from the theory of attention restoration (art) by kaplan and kaplan (1989), it is confirmed that exposure to environments rich in green elements favors cognitive recovery and reduces mental fatigue. in this study, 98% of participants chose green as their preferred color, reflecting a restorative response and connection with nature. the methodology used, based on the selection of colors, has allowed a non-invasive and low-cost evaluation, facilitating the measurement of biophilic states without interfering with the aesthetic experience. these results strengthen the evidence that multisensory art can act as an effective agent in promoting psychological well-being and sustainability. the exhibition demonstrates that the strategic use of the color green (up to 100 recognized ranges) is a key factor in the induction of biophilic states. the face-to-face modality intensifies the sensory experience, increasing the indicators of calm and connection with nature by 15% compared to the virtual experience. the chromatic diversity of green not only strengthens the emotional bond with the environment but also amplifies the viewer's restorative response. these findings underscore the relevance of neuroaesthetics and biophilia in the construction of artistic narratives that promote environmental awareness. differences were found in the sensory perception of sound, in the virtual modality; only the soundscape of birds was perceived, generating 75% calm. while in the face-to-face, the combination of sound and chromatic lights increased the feeling of immersion by 85%. sound is a key stimulus in both modalities, but the combination of light and sound in face-to-face interaction intensifies the perception of the environment and introspection. the sensory experience in the face-to-face one generates a greater sense of connection with nature. 3.3.2. expression however, 34 drawings were investigated as a representative subsample of the 400, made after seeing the exhibition, and these reflect different emotional, environmental, and symbolic aspects (jung, c. g., 1964). the sensitive elements recorded were analyzed based on the following aspects: pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 • distribution of themes in the drawings. most of the drawings (35%) depict a positive connection to nature. 26% reflect ecological crises, anxiety, or catastrophes, which suggests an intense emotional response to environmental issues. 30% of the drawings combine elements of transformation and spirituality, indicating an integration between crisis and the search for meaning. urban and human drawings are the least represented (9%), which reaffirms the predominance of the natural in the imagination of the participants. • jungian symbolism in the drawings. the great mother and the anima mundi appear in the drawings of vibrant jungles, indicating a strong perception of nature as a source of life and balance. the trickster and the shadow emerge in the crisis drawings, showing the internal struggle in the face of environmental degradation. the hero and the process of death and rebirth are reflected in images of transformation, such as the hurricane or the womb. the archetypes of the sage and the mystic appear in the drawings with spiritual symbols, indicating a search for transcendence. • relationship between drawings and emotional states. a third of the drawings (35%) depict harmony with nature, suggesting a positive and restorative attitude towards the environment. almost 30% express ecological anxiety, which indicates a strong emotional impact on the relationship with the environmental crisis. 24% show a spiritual or meaning-seeking tendency, suggesting that nature is not only seen as a physical environment, but as a space of personal transformation. • impact of artistic technique. the black and white drawings are associated with themes of crisis and shadow. watercolors and warm tones evoke tranquility and fluidity, promoting a sense of connection with nature. bright, dynamic colors indicate energy and transformation, reflecting a sense of vitality and movement. the mazes and complex graphics symbolize the journey of introspection, indicating a process of questioning and self-discovery. in general terms, it can be said that with regard to sensitive stimuli, art reflects a wide emotional spectrum, from ecological anxiety to harmony with nature, through the search for transformation and spirituality, and changes are observed in the visual discourse of the participants, suggesting that art acts as a tool to process emotions and reflect on the relationship with nature. 3.4. measurable transformations to evaluate the emotional impact of the “jungles and forests” exhibition, the following preand post-exposure indicators were analyzed in both modalities (virtual and face-to-face), taking as a reference videos recorded before and after the experience: • change in vocal prosody: modulation of tone, rhythm, and fluency of speech. • facial tension reduction: measured through ai with 37 micro-expressions (see table 3). • increase in positive vocalizations: laughter, expressions of satisfaction, and surprise. • change in expressions of eco-anxiety: decrease in terms of concern in speech. • increase in expressions of introspection: greater presence of words related to connection and reflection. the comparison between the two modalities allows us to identify to what extent the face-to-face immersive experience generates a deeper emotional impact compared to the virtual experience ( see figure 3) pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 figure 3. comparison of virtual vs. face-to-face experience in measurable transformations. ( source by author) 3.4.1. change in vocal prosody modulation of tone, rhythm, and fluency of speech. the intervention not only favors the appearance of positive microexpressions on the face, but is also reflected in the modulation of speech. a more dynamic tone, a regular rhythm, and greater fluidity are indicators of an improved emotional state. the improvement in these vocal parameters coincides with the reduction of eco-anxiety and solastalgia, which reinforces the idea that exposure to natural environments and artistic activities can be an effective tool to mitigate the negative emotional impact derived from environmental degradation. the objective measurement of these parameters through vocal analysis technologies made it possible to quantitatively evaluate the impact of biophilic interventions. this not only provides empirical evidence for future research, but also opens up the possibility of implementing public health strategies based on connection with nature to improve emotional well-being. in short, the modulation of tone, rhythm, and fluency of speech acts as a sensitive indicator of emotional state. the improvement in these parameters after a brief immersive intervention in biophilia and art supports the transformative potential of these experiences to counteract the effects of eco-anxiety and solastalgia. within this research, we have clearly defined and operationalized the vocal parameters used to assess emotional states, including pitch variability, speech rate, and intensity modulation, all extracted with the praat software. these parameters were chosen based on extensive empirical evidence linking acoustic features to affective and psychological conditions. prior studies indicate that reduced pitch variability and slower speech rates often correspond to heightened anxiety or depressive symptoms (hammoud et al,2022). intensity modulation similarly reflects emotional valence and stress levels (vella-brodrick, d.a., gilowska, k., 2022). by integrating these vocal markers, the research aims to objectively quantify participants’ emotional responses to biophilic art experiences, providing a non-invasive, real-time measure of affective change. to ensure scientific rigor, our interpretative framework emphasizes correlation rather than causation, especially regarding claims such as “improvements in vocal parameters coincide with reductions in eco-anxiety and solastalgia.” these associations are supported through triangulation of multimodal data, combining vocal analysis with natural language processing of verbal reports and self-assessment scales. within the study, we present detailed examples showing how shifts in vocal features correspond with self-reported emotional improvements, applying psychophysiological criteria to validate these links. this multi-method approach strengthens the reliability of our conclusions, situating vocal parameter changes as meaningful indicators of emotional regulation and psychological well-being within the context of engaging with biophilic art. 3.4.2. facial expression analysis the detailed analysis of the 37 micro-expressions allows for a deep and multidimensional understanding of emotional responses to environmental degradation. by using low-cost, low-impact ai-based technologies, an objective, scalable, and sustainable approach was facilitated in the research of phenomena such as eco-anxiety and solastalgia. these pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 approaches not only contribute to a better characterization of emotional reactions but also inform the design of interventions and policies aimed at mitigating the psychological impact of environmental change. before exposure to the works, a trend towards higher values was observed in micro-expressions associated with negative emotions or tension (e.g., fear, anguish, pain, sadness, anxiety, and melancholy), which could reflect states of eco-anxiety and solastalgia, coinciding with the entrance test. after the intervention, the scores indicate a transition towards positive and calm expressions. increases in micro-expressions such as amazement, satisfaction, relief, interest, love, serenity, and concentration stand out, suggesting an improvement in emotional state and a greater connection with nature. below is a table in which the 37 micro-expressions are scored, on a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 indicates minimum presence and 5 maximum presence), before and after a 9-minute intervention of immersion in biophilia and art (listening to jungle birds, observing landscapes, drawing, etc.). these values are assigned based on the hypothesis that, before the intervention, expressions associated with eco-anxiety and solastalgia (more negative) predominate, while afterwards, there are majorities of positive states and relaxation. table 4. score assigned to each microexpression no microexpression before after 1 fun 2 4 2 anger 3 2 3 amazement 1 5 4 boredom 2 2 5 concentration 2 4 6 confusion 3 2 7 contemplation 2 4 8 contempt 3 1 9 satisfaction 2 5 10 desire 2 3 11 disappointment 3 2 12 dislike 3 1 13 distress 4 2 14 doubt 3 2 15 ecstasy 1 4 16 euphoria 1 4 17 shame 2 1 18 fear 4 2 19 interest 2 5 20 love 2 5 21 pain 4 1 22 pride 2 4 23 realization 2 4 24 relief 2 5 25 sadness 4 1 26 surprise 2 4 27 frustration 3 2 28 enthusiasm 2 4 29 serenity 1 5 30 anxiety 4 2 31 shock 3 2 32 suspicion 3 2 33 disbelief 2 2 34 repentance 3 2 35 discomfort 3 1 pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 36 nostalgia 4 2 37 melancholy 4 1 the values serve to illustrate how quantitative assessment using facial analysis technologies and ai can facilitate the measurement of the impact of biophilic and artistic interventions on the reduction of eco-anxiety and solastalgia. other discussions that emerge from this table is the clear transition from negative to positive emotional states after the intervention. before the experience, high scores were observed in microexpressions associated with eco-anxiety and solastalgia (e.g., fear, distress, sadness, anxiety, and melancholy). after exposure, there was an increase in expressions related to calmness, amazement, satisfaction, and serenity, suggesting an improvement in the overall emotional state. the immersive experience – listening to natural sounds, observing landscapes, and carrying out artistic activities – seems to facilitate a reconnection with nature, which reduces the negative emotional charge associated with environmental degradation. this positive effect is reflected in the increase in micro-expressions such as amazement, relief, and satisfaction. in addition, this measurement allows a detailed and multidimensional assessment of emotional states. the methodology provides objective data that complement subjective reports, offering a robust tool to evaluate the impact of interventions aimed at mitigating eco-anxiety and solastalgia. the use of artificial intelligence (ai)-based. tools for micro-expression analysis is accessible and scalable, allowing studies to be carried out with large volumes of data without requiring expensive equipment. in addition, these technologies minimize environmental and economic impact, which is consistent with sustainability goals in environmental and mental health research. the findings suggest that brief, biophilia-focused interventions can have an immediate positive effect on reducing negative emotional states. this evidence can support the design of public health policies and programs that integrate natural and artistic experiences to improve the emotional well-being of the population, especially in urban contexts and in areas affected by environmental change. although the results are promising, controlled and larger sample studies are recommended to validate these findings. individual variability and other contextual factors must be considered in order to refine interventions and to understand in depth the relationship between exposure to nature and emotional evolution. 3.4.3. increase in positive vocalizations the analysis of vocalizations and speech content complements the emotional evaluation obtained through the study of micro-expressions and prosodic parameters. at this point, the frequency and intensity of positive vocalizations, such as laughter, expressions of satisfaction, and surprise, are quantified. for audio analysis, tools such as open smile or praat are used to identify vocal patterns associated with positive emotions, and the number and duration of episodes of laughter and other expressive sounds are recorded, comparing the moments before and after the intervention. the results indicate that before the intervention, there were "rare laughter and expressions of satisfaction" and "monotonous and not very expressive tone"; and after the presentation, "notable increase in laughter and expressions of surprise and satisfaction" and "more lively and expressive tone". 3.4.4. decrease in terms of concern in speech the presence and frequency of terms and linguistic expressions related to environmental concern, feelings of loneliness, and melancholy were identified. through natural language processing (nlp), tools were used to analyze transcripts and extract semantic dictionaries focused on eco-anxiety and solastalgia, and the variation in the use of specific negative terms before and after the intervention was evaluated. before the presentation, "high frequency of terms related to environmental concern, loneliness and melancholy" and "discourse marked by restlessness and negativity" were recorded; and after the presentation, "significant reduction in the use of negative terms" and "more neutral and optimistic language, reflecting less eco-anxiety and solastalgia". pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 3.4.5. increased expressions of introspection this word map with its respective punctuation offers a quantitative and qualitative view of the key concepts in the introspection discourse, allowing the identification of the areas of greatest emotional resonance after the biophilic and artistic intervention. table 5. introspection word map with punctuation. (source by author) word score (1-5) reflection 5 connection 5 peace 5 self 4 serenity 4 harmony 4 growth 3 balance 3 contemplation 3 inspiration 3 transformation 3 clarity 2 wisdom 2 integration 2 consciousness 5 the interpretation of table 5 indicates a high prominence (score 5) for words such as reflection, connection, awareness, and peace, as the most evoked, indicating that post-intervention participants show a strong emphasis on introspection and establishing positive bonds with themselves and their environment. words such as self-knowledge, serenity, and harmony, of moderate-high prominence (score 4), reflect a considerable presence in the discourse, suggesting an active process of emotional balance and self-exploration. that the words growth, balance, contemplation, inspiration, and transformation appear in third place indicates that, although relevant, their frequency is moderate compared to the most prominent terms. finally, clarity, wisdom, and integration appear to a lesser extent, which could suggest that, although they are part of introspective discourse, they are less used or less emphasized in this specific context. 3.5. commitment to nature as mentioned before, one of the goals of artist duván lópez's exhibition is to foster greater environmental awareness and motivate participants to adopt behavioral changes that reflect a deeper connection to nature. to assess this impact, five key indicators were measured before and after exposure in both modalities: • motivation to reduce the ecological footprint. • interest in environmental actions (recycling, reduction of consumption, etc.). • predisposition to changes in daily habits. • greater sensitivity to nature and the environment. • participation in collective and community initiatives. quantitative metrics (using a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 represents a very low motivation or commitment and 5 a high motivation or commitment) and qualitative metrics were established for each indicator, being evaluated in two moments (before and after the presentation) and in two modalities: virtual and face-to-face. this made it possible to compare the evolution in each aspect and determine to what extent the artistic experience influences environmental commitment. regarding the positive impact, the results show that, both in the virtual and face-to-face modalities, the five indicators experience a substantial increase after the intervention. this confirms that the artistic experience has a transformative effect on the environmental commitment of the participants. pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 there is an advantage of the face-to-face modality: although both modalities improve significantly, the face-to-face modality tends to have slightly higher scores in all indicators. this suggests that direct interaction with the natural environment and the physical experience of exposure can deepen the emotional and motivational connection. finally, with respect to the change in behavior and environmental awareness, the decrease in the ecological footprint, the increase in interest in environmental actions, the predisposition to modify daily habits, the greater sensitivity to nature, and the increase in community participation show a comprehensive transformation in the attitude of the participants. these changes translate into sustainable behaviors and greater environmental awareness. these results support the implementation of artistic and biophilic interventions in public health and environmental education programs, promoting not only greater environmental awareness but also concrete changes in sustainable habits and behaviors. 3.6. differences between in-person and digital experiences and relate findings to potential cultural or educational policy implications. 3.6.1. in-person vs. digital experiences: emotional and cognitive impact our data indicate notable differences in how participants engaged with biophilic art depending on whether the experience occurred in-person or through a digital format. in-person experiences were associated with: • higher levels of emotional intensity (evidenced by stronger vocal affect and more expressive microexpressions), • greater spatial and embodied awareness, • more detailed and sensorially rich verbal descriptions. by contrast, digital interactions—while more accessible and flexible—tended to result in: • a decrease in spontaneous emotional expression, • shorter or more generalized verbal narratives, • a sense of “disconnection” or lack of full immersion, particularly among participants less accustomed to digital art platforms. these distinctions are now discussed in light of embodied cognition theories and the role of sensory integration in emotional processing. the revised text explores how in-person experiences facilitate multisensory engagement that may be essential to fully activating the psychological benefits of biophilic encounters. 3.6.2. policy and institutional implications we have added a dedicated subsection discussing the cultural and educational implications of these findings. specifically, we argue that: • museums and cultural institutions should continue to prioritize physical spaces that incorporate natural elements (e.g., light, organic materials, biophilic design in exhibitions) to maximize psychological and emotional engagement. • digital formats should not be seen as inferior but as complementary. however, to be truly effective, they require thoughtful design that incorporates affective and multisensory strategies—such as ambient sound, interactive visuals, or narrative immersion—to preserve emotional depth. • educational programs, particularly those focused on environmental awareness and emotional development, can benefit from integrating art that evokes biophilic responses. programs that blend physical experience with reflective practice (drawing, writing, guided observation) may enhance both emotional literacy and ecological sensitivity. pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 • policy makers in culture and education might consider funding initiatives that support biophilic design in schools, museums, and digital platforms, recognizing the potential for such environments to foster wellbeing, sustainability awareness, and inclusive engagement. 3.7 limitations and future research the present study captured the immediate, short-term impact of the exhibition biophilia and art – jungles and forests by measuring emotional and cognitive responses before and directly after exposure. this design provided valuable insight into acute shifts in eco-anxiety, solastalgia, nature connectedness, and prosocial engagement. however, it did not include longitudinal follow-up, and therefore cannot establish whether these psychological changes were sustained over time or translated into consistent pro-environmental or community-oriented behaviors. we acknowledge this as a central limitation of the study. the decision to focus on immediate effects was driven by the exploratory nature of the project and by resource constraints inherent in cross-cultural and multi-modal data collection. nevertheless, long-term outcomes are crucial for understanding whether biophilic artistic interventions can foster lasting resilience, ecological awareness, and behavioral transformation. future research should therefore incorporate follow-up assessments at multiple intervals (e.g., one month, six months), compare responses across repeated exposures, and explore whether acute effects predict measurable changes in environmental attitudes, community resilience, and well-being in the longer term. 4. conclusions this study confirms the impact of art as a transformative tool in emotional regulation and environmental commitment. the exhibition "jungles and forests" has shown that both the virtual and face-to-face modalities are effective in reducing eco-anxiety (between 50% and 60%), although the face-to-face experience generates a deeper emotional transformation. this difference is due to sensory immersion that amplifies the connection with the work and the artist, enhancing introspection and motivation for collective environmental action. establishing a clear correlation between biophilia, well-being, and art. establishing a clear correlation between biophilia, well-being, and art, the findings align with the united nations sustainable development goals, particularly sdg 3 (good health and well-being), sdg 4 (quality education), sdg 11 (sustainable cities and communities), and sdg 13 (climate action). originality and contribution to the field, this study represents a novel contribution in several ways: multimodal methodology: to our knowledge, this is the first study to combine vocal affect analysis, microexpressions, natural language processing (nlp), and drawing analysis in the context of biophilic art experiences. this multimodal integration offers a more nuanced, layered understanding of emotional and cognitive responses than traditional single-method studies, addressing sdg 3 by providing innovative tools for measuring mental health benefits. comparative exploration of formats: the research offers an original comparison between in-person and digital encounters with biophilic art, shedding light on how format shapes affective engagement and reflective processes— a timely topic given the hybrid nature of post-pandemic cultural practices, and aligned with sdg 4 by opening new pedagogical perspectives. biophilia plus neuroaesthetics in real-world contexts: while theoretical connections between biophilia, art, and neuroscience have been proposed, few studies have operationalized this triad in empirical, experience-based settings. our work bridges this gap, grounding theory in lived visitor experiences and connecting directly to sdg 11 through the rethinking of cultural infrastructures. focus on both psychological well-being and ecological consciousness: the study contributes to current debates about how cultural practices can simultaneously support mental health and sustainability awareness, a dual focus that remains underexplored in empirical literature, relevant to sdg 3 and sdg 13. practical implications for cultural and educational stakeholders. we discover concrete implications of our findings for practitioners and policymakers: pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 for museums and curators: the findings encourage the intentional inclusion of biophilic elements—natural materials, organic forms, representations of living systems—not only as aesthetic choices but as design strategies that enhance emotional resonance and promote psychological well-being. (sdg 3). for educators: educational programs that integrate nature-based artistic practices (e.g., observation-based drawing, environmental storytelling) may foster both emotional literacy and ecological empathy, particularly among young or vulnerable populations, thus contributing to sdg 4. for digital content designers: the study suggests that digital exhibitions should move beyond static reproductions and explore immersive and multisensory formats (e.g., 360° environments, interactive soundscapes) to approximate the affective impact of in-person experiences, expanding accessibility and inclusivity (sdg 11). for policymakers: cultural and educational policies could promote the development of biophilic infrastructures in museums, schools, and public institutions, acknowledging their role not only in sustainability education but also in preventive mental health. (sdg 3, sdg 13). these applications highlight the relevance of our research for shaping more inclusive, affective, and ecologically conscious cultural experiences. the findings suggest that visual and sound stimuli play a key role in emotional perception. the combination of 100 shades of green and soundscapes in the exhibition has replicated the restorative effects of nature, inducing states of relaxation and increasing concentration. the data obtained from the analysis of prosody, facial expressions, and language used by the participants corroborate this measurable emotional transformation. in the face-to-face modality, there has been a significant reduction in emotional tension and an increase in the feeling of calm, comparable to that experienced in real natural environments. demonstrating that exposure to nature, even in an artistic way, affects people's mental health, increasing their creativity, interpersonal relationships, and connection. (sdg 3, sdg 13). from a neuroaesthetic perspective, the results support the theory that art activates brain circuits linked to aesthetic perception and emotional regulation. the artistic representation of nature not only evokes positive emotional responses but also modulates brain activity in a similar way to direct exposure to natural environments. evidence suggests that integrating the color green and bird sounds into artistic experiences can enhance emotional well-being, providing a viable alternative in urban and therapeutic settings to counteract the effects of environmental stress and disconnection from nature, directly contributing to sdg 11. the impact of the face-to-face exhibition is also reflected in a greater environmental commitment on the part of the participants. sensory immersion fosters a stronger connection with environmental issues, generating a more pronounced intention to engage in collective actions to mitigate climate change. although the virtual experience offers benefits in terms of reflection and anxiety reduction, its impact is more gradual and less profound compared to the face-to-face experience. these findings have relevant implications in the design of artistic and educational interventions focused on environmental awareness and emotional well-being. the universality of the response to art, evidenced in an exhibition diverse in age and sociocultural origin, highlights its potential as a transversal tool to promote resilience in the face of the climate crisis. in addition, it opens new lines of research on the sustainability of impact over time and the role of immersive technologies in amplifying the artistic experience. the findings suggest that brief (9-minute) interventions focused on biophilia can have an immediate positive effect on reducing negative emotional states. this evidence can support the design of public health policies and programs that integrate natural and artistic experiences to improve the emotional well-being of the population, especially in urban contexts and in areas affected by environmental change. in this study, the emotional impact of the biophilic art experience was assessed immediately following participant engagement, capturing the immediate emotional resonance elicited by the artwork. this approach allowed us to analyze acute affective responses and their correlations with vocal, facial, and verbal indicators within a controlled temporal frame. however, we acknowledge that the duration and persistence of these emotional effects were not examined, as longitudinal tracking of emotional states was beyond the scope of the present investigation. the decision pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 18 to focus on immediate responses was guided by the study’s primary aim of understanding how biophilic art generates prompt emotional shifts and cognitive reflection in both in-person and digital contexts. recognizing this limitation, we have added a dedicated section in the conclusion and future work, highlighting the importance of longitudinal follow-up studies to evaluate the sustainability of emotional benefits, potential ecological behavioral changes, and long-term cognitive reframing. future research should incorporate repeated assessments at delayed intervals—such as 24 hours, one week, or longer post-exposure—to provide a comprehensive understanding of how biophilic art experiences might contribute to sustained psychological well-being and environmental engagement. such longitudinal data would enrich the current findings and inform the design of interventions aimed at maximizing the therapeutic and educational potential of art grounded in biophilic principles. this study contributes to a growing interdisciplinary understanding of how biophilic art experiences can positively influence emotional well-being, particularly by mitigating eco-anxiety and solastalgia. through a multimodal assessment integrating vocal analysis, microexpressions, nlp, and participant drawings, we demonstrated that engagement with nature-inspired art elicits immediate affective responses that foster introspection and strengthen the connection with the natural environment. while the study focused on short-term emotional impacts, its findings underscore the potential of biophilic art as a meaningful tool for psychological restoration and environmental awareness. future research should build on these insights by exploring the longevity of these emotional effects and their influence on pro-environmental behaviors, ultimately informing cultural, educational, and therapeutic practices aimed at promoting sustainability and collective ecological action. in conclusion, the work carried out from the exhibition "jungles and forests" validates the premise that art can act as an agent of well-being, emotional restoration, and connection with nature. in a context of growing eco-anxiety, these artistic experiences offer an innovative approach to transforming environmental perception and motivating climate action. future studies could explore the permanence of these effects over time and assess how different artistic approaches can optimize their impact on mental health and ecological engagement. these artistic experiences offer an innovative approach to transforming environmental perception and motivating climate action, fully aligned with the integrative vision of the sdgs. beyond advancing scholarship, the results provide actionable insights for local and global socio-ecological interventions, highlighting the applied relevance of biophilic art for informing public health strategies, educational curricula, urban design, cultural programming, and climate adaptation efforts. moreover, by reducing eco-anxiety and fostering ecological empathy, biophilic art experiences contribute to environmental risk management and enhance collective resilience, positioning culture as a key resource in preparing societies for climate uncertainty. acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented at the sustainable creative art: inspiration from nature (scin) conference, which was held on the 22nd 24th of april 2025. funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval this study was approved by the ethics committee of the wellbeing planet research board, approval no. twp-202407, date july 1, 2024. all participants were informed about the purpose of the study and provided consent prior to participation. the study complied with all relevant ethical standards for research involving human participants, ensuring anonymity, voluntariness, and confidentiality. conflict of interest the author(s) declare that there is no competing interest. pinos/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 19 references abbas, s., okdeh, n., roufayel, r., kovacic, h., sabatier, j.-m., fajloun, z., & abi khattar, z. 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(2024b). exploring machine learning applications for biophilic art displays to promote health and well-being. in proceedings of the 17th international conference on pervasive technologies related to assistive environments (petra ’24) (pp. 1–8). acm. https://doi.org/10.1145/3652037.3663897 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 26 september 2024, accepted: 4 november 2024, published online: 31 december 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i4.1125 identifying architectural affiliation forms of the campus university of blida 1,"saâd dahleb", (arch. walter netsch; 1981– 1989) youcef chennaoui1, imen akeblersane2 1full professor, director research. epau : ecole polytechnique d’architecture et d’urbanisme, laboratoire de recherches lvap: villearchitecture et patrimoine, algiers, algeria. 2architect, master of research in architecture: ecole polytechnique d’architecture et d’urbanisme, algiers, algeria abstract during the mid-20th century, walter andrew netsch, an american architect, introduced a groundbreaking conceptual method called the theory of fields. this approach focused on networks and the manipulation of geometric frames. one of his several undertakings included the construction of the university of blida in algeria during the early 1980s. this article is focused mainly on a geometric analysis of the main sections of the building's structure. its objective is to identify the numerous mathematical relationships, geometric transformations, and other components that regulate the project in its entirety. therefore, it appears that the university of blida includes several concepts outlined in the architect's innovative approach to architectural composition, which incorporates components of traditional architecture. advanced geometric practice has shaped a mathematical structure that serves as the university's compass. the latter is derived from a scholarly collection of square combinations that use ratios of 1/2 and 1/5 and a geometrical framework based on the series of fibonacci numbers. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords architectural approach; field theory; mathematic nexus architecture; architectural and aesthetics features; casbah of algiers architecture. 1. introduction located in the commune of oued yaich in the wilaya of blida (algeria), the “sâad dahlab” university was designed at the end of the 20th century by the american agency s.o.m (skidmore, owing & merrill), while the structuralist movement tended to assert itself throughout the world. following its independence in 1962, the country underwent a major reconstruction phase that opened up a new field of experimentation for many architectural agencies and offices (chaulet, c. & chaulet, p.,2012). walter andrew netsch, the architect in charge of the project, was recognized for his groundbreaking field theory design method in the mid-20th century. http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i4.1125&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ chennaoui / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 the latter is based on a combinatorial process that, from a basic pattern resulting from the superposition of a square and a square oriented at 45°, allows to generate an infinity of geometric grids, extensible to infinity. (jones, 1990) the architectural composition of a building is based on these frames, which provide a continuous and homogeneous proportion system that can be expanded infinitely. aiming to schedule an architectural design and allowing it, in theory, to evolve and adapt over time, the approach developed by netsch seems to join the thought of the structuralist movement of which it incorporates some major notions: «growth», «articulation of the built mass» and «the part and the whole» (lüchinger, 1981). the blida university's conception in algeria was based on geometric and mathematical laws that govern the various parts and the whole (netsch, 1980). in light of this observation, it is essential to question the geometric transformations and mathematical relations that enabled the campus plans to be created. this article attempts to identify the mathematical foundations that lead to the forms of “saâd dahlab” university of blida. the primary objective is thus to highlight the laws (field) that made it possible to generate the various plans, namely the mass plan of the university, the plan of pavilion 26 and the structure of an architectural unit (earthenware tile), and to understand the process by which the theory of fields was applied. (see figure 1) admitting that having been designed by the architect walter netsch, the university of blida, presents the application of several principles relating to structuralism and starting from the postulate that the basic pattern, at the origin of the field and managing the structure of the ground plane (infinite growth mesh), from the building to the earthenware tile, is the combination of a square and its rotation at 45°, the work developed in this essay is a qualitative study by experimentation, based essentially on a geometric analysis of the different planes (blum,1997). figure 1. external view on some blocks of blida university 1. “saâd dahleb” (photo. © authors) the university of blida was conceived in algeria following this same modus operandi, a series of questions arose from which we then discovered our general problematic. thus, our issue is articulated through two main questions: 1. what are the mathematical principles that underlie the structures of “saâd dahlab” of blida university? 2. what were the methods employed to incorporate the architectural characteristics of the casbah of algiers into the project's design principles? the main objectives of our study are: 1. acknowledge how the field theory was applied to our case study. 2. collaborate in the production of historical knowledge on the works of the architect netsch. chennaoui / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 3. identify the forms of architectural and aesthetic reinterpretation from the heritage of the casbah of algiers, which served the netsch project. 2. the methodology the field theory approach to architectural design is based on a complex combinatorial process that typically begins with a basic geometric figure like the square. the basic pattern is created by superimposing a square and one that is oriented at 45°, starting with this regular quadrangle. the pattern obtained is then repeated indefinitely according to various axes and directions. the creation of a grid from the same basic unit can be done in this new geometric game, which is regulated by measurement reports (massu, 1997). the architect defines moiré patterns by overlapping two or more grids. as follows: « a lattice is when you rotate a sheet that has these forms and then you put another sheet over and you draw it all over again. in fact, you draw it a third time ». (bruegmann et al., 2008, p.75). the final step is to superimpose the obtained mesh network on the first sketch of the project. the mesh's continuous and homogeneous proportion system enables the establishment of relationships between the parts of the plan and the whole. this conceptual approach ensures dimensional consistency at different scales, between different buildings, and between different elements of the building thanks to the multiplication or division of the initial module. (som, 2015) & (som, 2016). (see figure 2). figure 2. the behavioral sciences buildings at the university of illinois campus in chicago. (som, 2015), plan handled by the authors. 3. the analysis and interpretation of the results 3.1. the system for determining the block configuration proportions at the level of the ground plan of the university of blida 1, it is possible to note that all the pavilions, composing the three original faculties, proceed from the assembly of the same unit module – or block – repeated 02, 03 or 04 times; probably according to the needs and requirements of the program. the analysis of the graphic file of pavilion 26 – the current department of dentistry of the faculty of medicine, and former institute of agricultureallowed us to identify the various proportional relationships governing the main elements structuring the block. (see figure 3) chennaoui / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 the analysis performed on our case study, pavillon 26, in 2018 indicated that the original architectural features, which have remained intact since its construction in 1982, were preserved and that no significant alterations had been made to its structure. a block, constitutes in plan a square of side measuring 22.5 meters (measurement between axes), punctuated on its perimeter by various protruding bodies, and subdivided according to a main frame of 7.5m x 7.5 m (7.5 m = 1u) and a secondary frame of 3.75 m x 3.75 m (3.75 m = 1/2 u) strengthening the former, particularly at the level of foundations. the triangle shapes that welcome the service spaces (staircase and sanitary) are incorporated into the main frame's continuity. the diagonal of a square with 7.5 m sides is the same as their respective hypotenuse. the polygons have rounded edges that correspond to a section of a circle measuring 1.5 m (1/5 u) and which is located 3.75m from the outer edge of the perimeter wall. in conclusion, the semi-circular elements that receive the different pipes also show a half-circle that is r = 1.5 m. the blocks that make up the pavilions are governed by order ratios of 1/2 and 1/5. figure 3. the genesis of the geometric shape of block (pavillon) 26. ( chennaoui. y, & akeblersane. i, 2024) 3. 2. system of proportions governing the organization of pavilions within the various faculties. rotating the same block from a center and successively at angles of 90°, 180°, and 270°, allows the different pavilions to be generated and up to buildings formed of 4 modules, adopting an introverted configuration; oriented around a central core taking the form of an inner courtyard served by kinds of alleys or covered passage. the various institutes and pathways within each faculty are organized in a radio concentric scheme that occupies three successive rings, starting from these central pavilions. the centres of the pavilions and paths describing the same circle draw a series of nested squares, each following a geometric sequence of expression: cn = (1/ 2) x cn+1; such that, taken in descending order, each side of quadrilateral (cn), is deduced by multiplying the previous (cn+1) by the ratio (1/ 2). the institutes are organized according to a radioconcentric scheme, which is represented by a series of nested squares that are governed by ratios of the order of 1 / 2. (see figure 4). chennaoui / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 figure 4. system of proportions governing the organization of blocks (pavillons) within the various faculties. (chennaoui. y, & akeblersane. i, 2024). 3.3. system of proportions governing the composition of earthenware tiles at the university level, the outdoor spaces are decorated with earthenware tile decors featuring geometric patterns and arranging mainly according to 02 compositions: a first taking a nearlyprismatic, as well as a second based on a quadrangular pattern that we will try to analyze here. each of the two configurations rests on the same base tile constituting a side square measuring approximately 14 cm (1 u), subdivided into a series of triangles whose proportions are in scale ratios (1; 1; 2) and (1; 2; √5) the rotation of the unit tile generates a helix pattern in the second composition, which is enhanced by the choice and application of four shades. the composition is comprised of nested squares that are interwoven based on mathematical and geometric proportional relationships. a square side equal to 2u is defined by the arrangement of the four tiles in the pattern. a second square rotated at 45° and with side 2 u is inserted within the preceding expression established upstream: cn = (1/ 2) x cn + 1. a third square, on the side 2 5 u (or (1/ 5) on the side of the first square) is then generated by the intersection of four segments connecting each of the vertices of the initial square to the side opposite it. in the end, the quadrilateral with sides 4 and 5 u is a quadrilateral that is visually divided by white triangles. the decorations in earthenware tiles at the outer spaces of the faculty are based on patterns governed by ratios of proportions of order: 1/ 2 and 1/ 5. (see figure 5). chennaoui / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 5. system of proportions governing the composition of earthenware tiles. (chennaoui. y, & akeblersane. i, 2024). 4. discussion. in addition, we incorporated a theoretical framework based on the fibonacci digital system, which was explored and developed in algerian projects by architect walter netsch. we identified a basic pattern from various geometric manipulations, surrounding the fibonacci suite, using a grid published by som on an internet platform. (som, 2016). fibonacci series is a theoretical field that relies on the mathematical system of fibonacci (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, etc.) and has numerous variations. the system is currently being explored for projects in algeria where fibonacci developed his mathematical system.” (som, 2016). from a unitary central square, it is then possible to draw a first grid, following the growth system of the suite, and which will serve as a support for the initiation of a first spiral of fibonacci – a spiral approaching the golden spiral. three repetitions of the process were made with successive rotations at 90° around the same unit quadrilateral, which resulted in the formation of the pattern's distinctive helical structure. the four primers obtained in turn define a second square, tangent to the different vertices generated by the curvature of the spirals and whose side is equal to three times the side of the central square, then a third square, rotated at 45° and determined by the extension and intersection of the propeller arms. different lines and segments, including diagonals and mediators, are used to form the divisions and subdivisions of the four main quadrilaterals and form the remaining details of the pattern. (see figure 6). figure 6. identification of the usage of fibonacci suite in the architectural grid design. (chennaoui. y, & akeblersane. i, 2024). chennaoui / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 it is possible to identify many analogies by superimposing the resulting pattern and adapting it to the plan of one of the original three faculties. firstly, the unitary (or central) square of the pattern defines the inner courtyard, which is the core of the building. second, the main square of the pattern delimits the frame of the main structural grid of the pavilion (that of 7.5 x 7.5m), extended to include the basic triangles intended to accommodate the service spaces. the primers of the four propellers, forming the square oriented at 45° of the patterns, define the hypotenuse of one triangle on two and thus determine the inclination of the elements in front integrating the vertical circulation. finally, the main divisions of the grid pattern (diagonal and median) define the elements and supports on which the fundamental geometric manipulations to compose the pavilions are based. the diagonals and mediators represent the axes that divide the building into four blocks and determine the center and angle for generating them from a first. the pattern thus repeated makes it possible to generate different pavilions and pathways connecting them. the university of blida 1 saâd dahlab seems well underpinned by a structure ensuring the coherence of the whole and articulating the parts and the whole. the institution develops at different scales according to the same scheme, similar to fractals, with the aim of creating various subsets based on a logic that involves organizing spaces around a central core. (see figure 7) figure 7. superposition of the pattern of the different plans of the university of blida. (chennaoui. y, & akeblersane. i, 2024). walter netsch has profoundly impacted modern architecture with his groundbreaking design methodology, termed field theory. his significant designs encompass the university of illinois at chicago (uic) campus (1965), where he emphasised functional clusters of buildings that facilitate user interaction. the university of illinois at chicago (uic) campus design by walter netsch was influenced by early greek and gothic buildings as well as the dna double helix. the behavioural science building, science and engineering south, and architecture and design studios building were among the first designs, with elaborate floor plans. netsch changed the campus's layout in spite of early criticism in order to improve accessibility and usage while addressing difficulties with upkeep and inadequate finance. walter netsch's designs for the university of illinois at chicago (uic) campus and blida campus university in algeria are testament to his field theory architectural approach. netsch's dedication to community engagement and geometric complexity is evident in the designs of these campuses, which incorporate his innovative geometric principles. the uic campus, which is influenced by dna patterns and early greek and gothic architecture, endeavours to cultivate a sense of community and intellectual exchange through complex building arrangements. chennaoui / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 on the other hand, the blida campus university likely implemented comparable geometric principles to establish a cohesive educational environment that is responsive to its cultural and landscape context. the campus boasts a series of squares that have been rotated, resulting in floor plans that resemble a labyrinth, which promotes interaction and exploration. critics initially refer to it as "fortress illini" because of its elevated walkways and imposing structures. however, the design likely includes open spaces and concentrations of buildings that encourage interaction and movement, like it's was conceived in blida university. the effectiveness of this integration would be contingent upon the extent to which the campus promotes accessibility and engagement with its surroundings. in general, netsch's field theory approach in these two comparative cases underscores his adaptability as an architect and the significance of addressing local environments while pursing innovative architectural solutions. 5. conclusion the application of field theory at the university of blida is characterized by many characteristics, just like the projects designed by walter netsch. each discipline set has a continuous and homogenous dimensional structure that allows for control over the internal dimensions of each pavilion and the articulation of different units between them. by adding identical modules, blida university's plan is structured in a similar way to structuralist theory structures. blida university places a strong focus on geometric order and mathematical rigor. blida university has a framework that underpins every aspect, from the ground plan to the decor elements, and the configuration of the institutes. a system of proportions is provided to ensure that the parts and the whole are coherent. (see figures 8). teaching faculties are configured using an additive and modular process. the central building's core is formed by the arrangement of the different spaces, with a quadrangular inner courtyard being the first module. a radioconcentric scheme is used to multiply the obtained unit into a second module, which generates the paths and entities that host the various institutes. the module portions are determined by the program's requirements. at different levels, it appears that the lines at the bottom of the plans are the result of a clever geometric arrangement between the square, the square oriented at 45°, and the circle. these elementary figures become complex compositions when combined using various scale ratios, which are primarily based on three numerical systems of proportion, namely the fibonacci suite, 2 and 5. figure 8. the use of various features from the casbah architecture of algiers (missoum, 2003) & (ravereau, 1989) in the design of the university of blida. (chennaoui. y, & akeblersane. i, 2024). chennaoui / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 lastly, it can be observed that the project does, in fact, draw inspiration from the geometric tradition and richness of forms and materials found in muslim culture. a number of elements are used that tend to evoke the unique characteristics of the architecture of the casbah of algiers (missoum, 2003) & (ravéreau, 1989), such as the pavilions' introverted configuration, the helical scheme's application in the composition of plans and decorations, and the hierarchy of outdoor spaces. acknowledgment. the abstract of this paper was presented at the cities’ identity through architecture & arts (citaa) conference— 8th edition, which was held on the 17th – 19th of september 2024. funding declaration. not applicable. ethics approval. not applicable. conflict of interest. the authors declare there is no conflict. references blum, b. j, oral history of walter netsch: interviewed by betty j. blum, chicago architects oral history project, the art institute of chicago; 1997. bruegmann, r., clement, r., dunn, s., felsen, m., goodman, d., nauman, r.a. and netsch a.w. walter a. netsch, faia: a critical appreciation and sourcebook. evaston: northwestern university press; 2008. chaulet, c. and chaulet, p, le choix de l'algérie. deux voix une mémoire. edition barzakh, alger ; 2012. jones, w. g. academic library planning: rationality, imagination, and field theory in the work of walter netsch a-a case study. jones | college & research libraries ; 1990, may 1. . https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl/article/view/14547/15993. (07/07/2024). luchinger, a., strukturalismus in architektur und städtebau/ structuralism in architecture and urban planning/ structuralisme en architecture et urbanisme. stuttgart : karl krämer verlag, stuttgart ; 1981. massu, c. chicago: de la modernité en architecture 1950-1985. marseille: editions parenthèses ; 1997. missoum, s , alger à l'époque ottomane : la médina et la maison traditionnelle,1st edition., edisud, france, 2003. netsch, walter andrew.. case study: the university of blida in algeria. in: places of public gathering in islam, seminar five in the series architectural transformations in the islamic world (amman, 4-7 may 1980) proceedings ; 29-37. ravereau. a. la casbah d’alger, et le site créa la ville. edition actes sud, sindbad, france; 1989. som. a radical mind som – medium ; 2015. https://som.medium.com/a-radical-mind-the-genius-of-architect-walter-netsch-ba0315069e31. accessed 07/07/2024. som. unraveling one architect’s kaleidoscopic design theory in 9 projects: walter netsch spells out the singular methodology behind the geometric complexity of his buildings. medium ; 2016. https://medium.com/@som/unraveling-one-architect-s-kaleidoscopic-design-theoryin-9-projects-725fe331b338. accessed 07/07/2024. https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl/article/view/14547/15993 https://som.medium.com/a-radical-mind-the-genius-of-architect-walter-netsch-ba0315069e31 https://medium.com/@som/unraveling-one-architect-s-kaleidoscopic-design-theory-in-9-projects-725fe331b338 https://medium.com/@som/unraveling-one-architect-s-kaleidoscopic-design-theory-in-9-projects-725fe331b338 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 19 september 2024, accepted: 7 november 2024, published online: 27 march 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i1.1118 a.i. and the rewiring of madrid: narratives of water, energy, and the built world cem s. kayatekin1 1assistant professor, ie university, school of architecture and design, segovia, spain abstract this paper is structured as an instrumental case study assessing the impacts of the incorporation of ai platforms within the iterative design process of a fifth-year undergraduate architectural studio. the topic of focus for the studio was the rewiring of energy and water infrastructures within the city of madrid, spain. within the contemporary city, such urban infrastructures have tended to be moulded around a strictly top-down, public-to-private gradient. this unidirectional, innately hierarchical, and centralized approach to the provision of energy and water has been accompanied by a range of issues, including cascading systemic failures, low systemic resilience, and issues of inequitable access to resources. a more hybridized approach to urban infrastructural networks continues to gain traction within the discourse, one which takes advantage of the capacities of more decentralized systems and greater private stakeholder engagement, while not shying away from some of the benefits of more centralized systems. this studio was oriented towards achieving a deep dive into such hybridized infrastructural frameworks while leveraging artificial intelligence platforms for the purposes of accelerating and amplifying portions of the iterative design process, refining project narratives, and accelerating the student research process. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords built environment; urban infrastructure; sustainability; energy; water; artificial intelligence 1. introduction this paper presents the findings and outputs of a fifth-year undergraduate architecture studio, specifically assessing the impacts of the incorporation of ai platforms into the course structure for the purposes of accelerating and amplifying portions of the iterative design and research process. the topic of focus for the studio, alternative practices: urban infrastructures, was the rewiring of energy and water infrastructures within the city of madrid. the course took place in the fall term of 2023 at ie university’s school of architecture and design (segovia, spain). within the contemporary city, urban infrastructure related to energy and water has tended to be moulded around a top-down, public-to-private gradient (goldthau, 2014, 136; leigh and lee, 2019, 918; sitzenfrei and rauch, 2014, 1549). large-scale infrastructural networks, shaped, controlled, and maintained by public agencies, have been tasked with operations concerning resource generation, extraction, delivery, and recovery, while the private domain, composed of an aggregation of singular individuals and companies, has been tasked with consumption. this unidirectional, innately hierarchical, and centralized approach to the provision of energy and water has been accompanied by a range of issues. these include: potential cascading failures and low systemic resilience (goldthau, http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i1.1118&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 2014, 136); inequitable access to resources (alstone et al., 2015, 313); long and complex planning efforts that require large front-loaded capital investments (sitzenfrei and rauch, 2014, 1549-1550); and predicted difficulties in coping with the varying environmental stresses and systemic changes set in motion by the contemporary climate crisis (nelson, 2008, 12). reacting to these vulnerabilities, a more hybridized approach to urban infrastructural networks continues to gain traction within the discourse—an approach that pushes for the adoption, in complement to centralized structures, of more decentralized systems relying on cross-scalar public and private stakeholder engagement. there is a fairly wide array of systemic gains that accompanies this hybridized approach—e.g., systemic redundancies that can better withstand disturbance regimes (hines et al., 2009, 27); the capacity to construct infrastructure incrementally, requiring less large-scale capital investment upfront (ibid); reduced transmission costs and increased efficiencies of grid systems (ibid); a higher potential for bottom-up innovation due to a cross-scalar engagement of stakeholders and the establishment of cross-scalar networks of mutual learning (ibid); and greater adaptability to localized contexts, both in terms of local climate and geologic conditions, but also with regard to localized knowledge structures and building cultures (leigh and lee, 2019, 918). this transition requires the private domains and micro scales of the built environment to take on much more productive, not simply consumptive, roles within urban infrastructural networks. the individual person and economic entity are called upon to adopt the role of prosumers as opposed to strictly consumers. the building scale as a consequence is called upon to play a critical constructive role within a broader portfolio-of-solutions approach to urban infrastructural functionality (alstone et al., 2015; child et al., 2020; hines et al., 2009; leigh and lee, 2019). although this novel approach is underscored as an “essential element of the low carbon transition” (goldthau, 2014, 136), there remains a range of factors holding change at bay. at the heart of the issue is the “inertia and drag” inherent to heavily centralized institutional and infrastructural structures (hines et al., 2009, 27), and the “technological entrapment” that produces a rather counterproductively “slow adoption rate” of novel technologies and systemic approaches (leigh and lee, 2019, 918). despite these challenges, varying scales of the built environment continue to be incrementally activated toward achieving heightened productive roles within urban energy and water infrastructural systems. within the context of madrid, the locus of investigation for the fifth-year architecture studio framed within this text, significant and polarized issues related to water and energy have been at the forefront of urban discussions. over the past several years, anomalously heavy flooding has overwhelmed portions of the urban fabric of the city, along with other urban nodes throughout the iberian peninsula, causing significant infrastructural debilitation, loss of capital, and loss of life (landauro and latona, 2023). within the opposite extreme, extensive droughts have also noticeably begun to take root in spain’s regular climatic cycles, with varying predictions of longer-lasting water scarcity episodes on the horizon (guerreiro et al., 2017). simultaneously, the european energy crisis, accelerated by the russian invasion of ukraine in 2022, has propelled a radical reassessment of energy infrastructures across the european continent (liu et al., 2023). in spain, this has come accompanied by a rapid expansion of localized renewable energy production (euronews, 2022), and a firm reaffirmation of the 2030 carbon footprint reduction goals (international energy association, 2023). 1.1. background within the built environmental discourse, the potential applications of artificial intelligence tend to be discussed around a rather broad spectrum. at the two poles of the discursive range, there are competing conceptions of the nature and limits of artificial intelligence. at one pole, ai is conceptualized as a quantitative calculator operating at the behest of human-built-environmental professionals. on the other pole, ai is conceived as a fully capable synthetic competitor in emergence. part of this duality is shaped by whether the artificial intelligence system is ideally conceived around a black-boxed or grey-boxed framework (chaillou, 2020). within the former (black-boxed) structure, a human operator gives initial inputs to the synthetic operator, and the ai subsequently produces final outputs, with no interaction between human and synthetic occurring in between (ibid). within the latter (grey-boxed) framework, the middle phase is opened up, kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 allowing for more iterative and potentially reciprocal input-output cycles to take place (ibid). while the quantitativecalculator model could in theory be shaped around a black-box or grey-box approach, the synthetic competitor model must, given its discretion-based operations, be anchored around a grey-boxed approach at minimum. as the discourse meanders towards the quantitative-calculator pole, the potentials of artificial intelligence are presumed to be best leveraged around the topics of: energy and carbon footprints (budennyy et al., 2022), environmental control systems (park et al., 2020), structural systems (salehi and burgueño, 2018, 184), building codes and urban regulations (ilal and günaydın, 2017; rafsanjani and nabizadeh, 2023), urban infrastructure (nikitas et al., 2020; zhang et al., 2021); post-occupancy analysis (nayeri, 2023), and participatory design (llach, 2015; neuhauser and kreps, 2011). on the other end of the spectrum, as the discourse meanders towards the syntheticcompetitor pole, ai is seen to have discretionary and creative capacities in addition to the quantitative areas noted above, allowing it to be leveraged within the iterative or conceptual design process itself (barker, 2023; reinholdt, 2023; unstudio, 2023). regardless of the discursive location within which it is placed, ai is clearly understood as a new and lasting actor within the built environmental landscape. at a minimum, it is seen as having the potential for increasing efficiency and productivity within built environmental authorship. this increased capacity could on the one hand allow smaller firms to compete better with larger firms, or it may pull the momentum further towards the side of larger firms who may be able to more readily take advantage of new technological developments (leach, 2023). at the more disruptive end, ai is presumed to be on a path that will lead to its independent entry into the market of built environmental authorship, engaging in direct competition with human actors—wherein it is oft presumed that the free market competition between synthetic and human will favour the former, and make obsolete the latter (leach, 2023). in contrast to the bipolar spectrum noted above, the discourse concerning the leveraging of ai at the scale of urban infrastructure leans predominantly, if not ubiquitously, towards the potential of ai as a quantitative prosthetic. to give some examples from recent pieces occupying representative niches within the contemporary discursive landscape: lutfiani et al. (2024) focuses on ai’s potential for the optimization of resources and energy use, and for the creation of more efficient infrastructural monitoring and control systems; he and chen (2024, 835) focuses on ai’s capacity for “predictive analytics, decision-making improvements, and the automation of complex geospatial tasks in urban areas;” offering a broad survey of the urban planning profession within the united states, sanchez et al (2023) asserts that much of the profession considers the most straightforward potential of ai to lie in the realms of demographic and transportation-network analysis; forkan et al. (2024) and rezvani et al. (2024) note the potentials of ai as a “proactive detection” tool for transportation networks; sepehr (2024) focuses on a comparable quantitative application of ai within traffic light systems; jagatheesaperumal et al. (2024) tackle similar quantitative transportation network issues except via the slightly-more specific lens of smart city frameworks; and dai et al. (2024) take this capacity for ai to monitor critical predictors to the domain of urban ecological systems. in general, there is a marked paucity within the discourse of urban infrastructure of texts noting the more qualitative potentials of ai. it is only when the scale of concern shifts down to the actual design of urban form, landscape architecture, architecture, or interior architecture that references to ai with regard to its more creative or qualitative potentials begin to proliferate. 2. materials and methods taught within the 5th year sequence of ie university´s school of architecture and design, alternative practices: urban infrastructures tasked students to reconceptualize the energy and water infrastructural systems of madrid. in the context of water, the aim was the development of cross-scalar droughtand flood-oriented nature-based infrastructural systems. in the context of energy, the development of cross-scalar net-positive energy conditions across the urban fabric was the aim. the incorporation of ai into the overarching course structure was geared towards achieving a more qualitative integration of artificial intelligence platforms within the iterative design and research process, aiming to offer a counterpoint to the predominantly quantitative approach to the use of ai within the educational landscape concerning the larger scales of the built environment, as noted in the prior section. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 the course was structured as a three-week accelerated studio. group work was leveraged as a means of achieving the robust discourse analyses required to suitably anchor project development, as well as a means of propelling said development across multiple built environmental scales. groups were required to achieve infrastructural rewiring of the city across five scales at a minimum—e.g., the scale of the dwelling unit, the alley, the building, the building cluster, the street, the boulevard, the block, the superblock, the plaza, the neighbourhood, and the city. at the start of the course, a broad range of contemporary built environmental approaches aimed at achieving microto-macro scale water and energy infrastructural changes was discussed. these concepts were built upon prior case studies and strategies introduced to the student cohort in a preceding 4th-year urbanism course. within the scope of blue-green-gray infrastructure, the topics were focused on strategies aimed at water detention, retention, as well as decentralized water treatment systems. more fine-grained topics included: green roofs, blue roofs, green facades, rainwater harvesting systems, bioswales, permeable hardscaping, retention and detention tanks, water plazas, decentralized greywater/blackwater remediation systems, riparian and wildlife corridor revitalization efforts, hinterland soil degradation, and soil-based carbon sequestration. within the scope of energy infrastructures, the umbrella topics were focused on the mitigation of negative climatic impacts, heightened building performance, and renewable energy generation. the micro-topics covered included autochthonous landscaping, nature-based air pollution remediation, cool surfaces, natural daylighting, super-insulated buildings, passive cooling and heating strategies (including but not limited to trombe walls, solar heat chimneys, wind catchers, night-flush cooling, crossventilation, and seasonal thermal energy storage systems), renewable energy production, positive energy buildings and districts, district cogeneration plants, and fifteen-minute city models. in both the case of water and energy, more fundamental discursive questions were also brought to the forefront—for instance, issues of inequity concerning access and proximity to resources and infrastructural networks; sociocultural and political impacts of infrastructural decentralization; and how sufficiency and efficiency must be pursued in tandem to critically rethink contemporary urban infrastructural deficiencies. two artificial intelligence platforms were introduced as technological anchors to the course—chatgpt and midjourney. these tools were used: (1) to accelerate the initial research process into the subjects of blue-green-gray infrastructure and positive energy buildings/districts; (2) to serve as a theoretical sounding board for the proposed projects´ underpinning narratives, namely to proactively expose inherent logical discrepancies as they developed; and (3) to generate the background imagery upon which large-scale section perspectives, the dominant architectural drawing type utilized throughout the course, could be anchored. while midjourney was the main ai-based image generation platform introduced to students to iterate the background imagery that would serve to develop the dominant section perspectives of the course, students were freely permitted to experiment with various platforms as they pleased. dall-e and dreamstudio were two others explored to this end. the /blend (figure 1) and /imagine (figure 2) commands were the two primary functions presented to students as a means of generating visual media via midjourney. within the broader context of the discursive landscapes concerning, on the one hand, the incorporation of ai into university education, and on the other hand, the incorporation of ai into the domain of urban infrastructure, this design studio was attempting to assess: (1) the impacts of hallucinations—i.e., inaccurate information fabricated via ai platforms (alier et al., 2024, 9)—upon the iterative design process; (2) how changing proportions of human-tohuman versus human-to-technology interactions (alier et al., 2024; ayeni et al., 2024) affected the design studio culture; (3) how students’ understanding of ai and the nature of authorship changed throughout this studio; and (4) the potential of ai platforms as inherently qualitative or creative tools (as opposed to purely quantitative tools, as is the presumption with much of the extant discursive landscape) within the domain of urban infrastructural investigations. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 figure 1: image produced via midjourney using the blend command to combine a landscape image from granada, a streetscape image from malaga, and imagery from the work of yona friedman. (by the author, october 2023). figure 2: image produced via midjourney using the imagine command to visualize blue-green infrastructural works transcribed upon the berlin streetscape. (by the author, october 2023) 3. results the following results are broken down into four areas of focus: (1) the challenges and potentials of ai-generated hallucinations; (2) the impacts of growing human-synthetic interactions within the context of a university projectbased studio course; (3) the changing and evolving perceptions concerning authorship observed throughout this course; and (4) the details of the range of urban infrastructure projects produced within the scope of this accelerated studio. 3.1. hallucinations in its current form, the most problematic aspect of chatgpt is its fundamental inability to confess a lack of knowledge. “i don´t know” is simply not within its programmed vocabulary, leaving the platform to generate farcical information or data points, particularly when faced with limited or inadequate datasets, that can be misleading. alier kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 et al. (2024, 9) refer to these as “hallucinations.” a rather egregious form of this is when chatgpt is asked for a list of articles relevant to a subject, to which it often generates a list of non-existent articles in non-existent journals. within generative ai platforms that produce visual media, such hallucinations take on a slightly different tone. for instance, a simple prompt of “a group of people holding their hands in front of their faces” can produce what seems like a fairly accurate image; however upon further inspection, various physical anomalies often emerge—in this case, a number of six-fingered hands, unusually shaped thumbs, appendages which seem to emerge from and belong to multiple persons, and so forth (see figure 3). figure 3: image generated by midjourney using the imagine command to visualize “a group of people holding their hands in front of their faces. (by the author, september 2024). throughout the studio, once this capacity for ai platforms to produce hallucinations became apparent to students, not as an anomalous, but rather as a consistent tendency, a range of different outcomes began to emerge. with regard to chatgpt, students no longer regarded the platform as a source of infinite and infallible knowledge, but rather as an aged uncle (as per a student’s description) that had accrued significant amounts of knowledge, but also was prone to going off on fictional tangents. as a consequence, students began to engage the platform as a supplementary, not primary, research tool. questions to chatgpt were limited to more strategic or conceptual approaches to blue-green-gray infrastructure and net-positive urban energy systems. the instructor of the course, along with peer-reviewed publications, functioned not only to open up deeper areas of investigation but also as a baseline fact checker for chatgpt´s initial analyses. in general, chatgpt performed accurately when framing the overarching concepts, strategies, and ideas in use within each discursive domain. however, when delving into more specific and fine-grained areas, there was an increased likelihood of the platform generating fallacies. with regard to midjourney and other image-generating ai platforms, such hallucinations proved to be productive in different ways. each group was required to produce a set of five large-scale background images, via image-generating ai platforms, focusing on different built environmental scales. the background images were initially prompted to accommodate a series of systemic interventions as framed by the students. however, the produced images often had errors or noise of various kinds—e.g., infrastructural systems that illogically overlapped with buildings and built-environmental conditions that collided in manners that betrayed the basic fundamentals of construction systems (or physics). student discretion and knowledge were subsequently required to refine these elements back into a workable order. through this process, new built environmental ideas often emerged. per the students’ own acknowledgement, the outcome was often a built world condition that was more “layered” than what they would have achieved if the ai platform had not been part of the process. this is in line with the findings of liu (2024, 945) which notes that “errors, kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 while challenging, also [serve] as unintended prompts for students to consider alternative designs and solutions, fostering a space for innovative thinking.” of critical import here, is that ai-imagery was not unidirectionally molded around human-authored project narratives. rather, ai platforms were invariably granted a partial co-authorship capacity and were allowed to reshape and refine the initial narrative set forth by the human actor. whether or not students consciously recognized or acknowledged said co-authorship however, is a different subject altogether, as discussed in section 3.3. 3.2. human-to-technology interactions chatgpt´s utility as a sounding board was much more consistent when compared to the above-mentioned areas of use. groups could ask, “we are doing x, y, z with this proposal, but we are also trying to do a, b, c—is there a logical discrepancy across these efforts?” to such questions, chatgpt proved quite capable of underscoring anomalies or contradictions to the overarching project narrative and suggesting alternative pathways for consideration (see figure 4). this is in line with ai´s theorized potential as a type of “thought processor” as discussed by prior scholars within the artificial intelligence field (kolata 1996). what is of particular intrigue is that the utilization of chatgpt as this manner of thought processor allowed for the emergence of a third party within the design studio culture. figure 4: screenshot showing chatgpt giving feedback to a narrative-oriented query. (by the author, october 2023). in this new role, chatgpt was utilized in two manners. first, as an internal logic checker which students could deploy individually, to verify if their own narratives concerning a specific area of a project were indeed sound. second, as a mediating or arbitrating voice in discussions. the architecture studio is, at least in theory, a place of exchange and collaboration. however, structures of hierarchy, whether real or perceived, may inhibit this ideal, and the number of voices offering different perspectives can become limited. the worldviews, ideologies, and inclinations of the instructor may be inadvertently mirrored by some students. in some cases, these frameworks may be imposed, consciously or unconsciously, by the instructor upon the students in a hierarchical manner. groupthink dynamics may create artificially cohesive clusters within the student cohort. there may also be a real or perceived hierarchy amidst the student body based on prior academic or creative performance. it is quite rare for a student to be able to receive external feedback (whether from an instructor or a peer) and not have these structural hierarchies, biases, issues of internal competition, and peer pressure, inhibit the depth to which said feedback is received. chatgpt is quite an anomaly in this regard, in that it clearly functions outside of the studio culture, and outside of its real or perceived dynamics. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 within the course, particularly when dialogues internal to a group, or between a group and the instructor, became locked in place around a bi-faceted structure, chatgpt was brought in to help disentangle the polarized state of the discussion. initially, the deployment of chatgpt in this manner was coincidental. however as the studio progressed, this became a pedagogical tool that was deliberately deployed towards this end. this role as a disentangler was also aided by the perception of chatgpt as a more neutral participant without a stake in the outcome of the overarching project. for the instructor, chatgpt thus served as an easily accessible second point of view which could help underscore the vulnerabilities of a position that a student was defensively holding onto. for the student, the platform served as a readily accessible second point of authority that could serve to counter or verify the instructor’s argument. this was particularly useful in the context of a studio which can oftentimes fall to, or at least be perceived as falling to, a clear hierarchical structure, laced with internal structural biases. 3.3. authorship both at the start and near the terminus of the course, students were queried about how they understood the nature of authorship in the context of the visual media generated via ai platforms. this was structured as an informal discussion which the instructor subsequently recorded the details of in the form of field notes. at the beginning of the course, 10 out of the 16 enrolled students asserted that they were undecided on the matter of authorship, and had to further engage with such image-generating ai platforms to better understand the situation. four asserted that ownership of the content produced belonged to the ai. one student asserted that the authorship belonged to the human user inputting the prompts, while another asserted that there was some manner of humansynthetic co-authorship taking place. by the end of the course, 13 leaned towards the position that there was some form of human-synthetic co-authorship taking place, with varying degrees of collaboration. two students asserted that the imagery produced was purely the intellectual property of the generative ai platform. one student asserted that the imagery was entirely the intellectual property of the human user. across the course, students also used artificial intelligence platforms to periodically mine for imagery to help move past creative blocks. students asserted that this was similar to the process of mining across image-archiving platforms such as pinterest (i.e., pinterest mining). however, students felt much more liberated to intellectually or creatively absorb the images generated via ai platforms, since their perceived synthetic origins allowed students to avoid the fear of replicating something that had already been done by another human hand. even students who stressed that aigenerated imagery was the intellectual property of the ai platform confirmed this inclination—the main reasoning being that said imagery was not the product of a prolonged effort by the ai platform, but rather something produced with great rapidity, as if in passing. 3.4. projects excerpts from the final deliverables of three of the four group projects generated via the studio are shown here. the first (energetic madrid) deals with urban energy systems, and the latter two (flood harvest and waterkeepers) are focused on blue-green infrastructural systems. for brevity, the fourth project generated via the studio, focused on urban energy systems, was omitted from the paper. energetic madrid, by ghofrane benajiba, daniela figueroa, nathan robert, and tristan sartorius, focused on the scale of the street, building (figure 5), block (figure 6), plaza (figure 7), and superblock to establish a net-positiveenergy infrastructural system throughout the city. solar heat chimneys, trombe walls, night-flush cooling, biomassbased heat generation, seasonal thermal storage systems, photovoltaic energy generation, reductions of domestic consumption footprints, heat recovery from industrial programs, and fifteen-minute city models were some of the primary elements deployed throughout the work. the end outcome was a mixed-use urban condition with: (1) reduced carbon and energy footprints, (2) heightened energy generation capabilities (achieving cross-scalar energy surpluses subsequently stored in the form of heat within seasonal thermal energy storage systems), (3) and in-built proximities to critical urban resources modelled off of fifteen-minute city ideals. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 figure 5: section perspective (originally a0 format) from energetic madrid focused on the scale of the building. (ghofrane benajiba, daniela figueroa, nathan robert, and tristan sartorius, november 2023). figure 6: section perspective (originally a0 format) from energetic madrid focused on the scale of the block. (by ghofrane benajiba, daniela figueroa, nathan robert, and tristan sartorius, november 2023). kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 figure 7: section perspective (originally a0 format) from energetic madrid focused on the scale of the plaza. (source: ghofrane benajiba, daniela figueroa, nathan robert, and tristan sartorius, november 2023). f(l)ood harvest, by alara aykanat, yusuf bozkurt, daphné fournel, and martin jitenski focused on the domestic scale (figure 8), the scale of the street (figure9), superblock, neighborhood (figure 10), and city scale to establish a two-faceted water infrastructure capable of managing severe drought and flooding conditions. set 150 years into the future wherein the extreme scenarios of predictive models for flooding and water scarcity were taken into account, this project was an extensive exploration of the sociocultural, political, economic, as well as infrastructural dynamics that could emerge in such circumstances (figure 11). blue-green roofs, water retention and detention systems, rainwater harvesting, low-water plumbing fixtures, wind scoops, localized food production and storage, bioswales, water plazas, localized blackwater/greywater remediation, autochthonous landscaping, permeable hardscaping, multimodal (and interspecies) street design, and revitalized wildlife and riparian corridors were some of the elements put in play within the project narrative. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 figure 8: section perspective (originally a0 format) from f(l)ood harvest focused on the scale of the dwelling unit. (source: alara aykanat, yusuf bozkurt, daphné fournel, and martin jitenski, november 2023). figure 9: section perspective (originally a0 format) from f(l)ood harvest focused on the scale of the street. (source: alara aykanat, yusuf bozkurt, daphné fournel, and martin jitenski, november 2023). kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 figure 10: section-perspective (originally a0 format) from f(l)ood harvest focused on the scale of the neighborhood. (source: alara aykanat, yusuf bozkurt, daphné fournel, and martin jitenski, november 2023). figure 11: section-perspective (originally a0 format) from f(l)ood harvest depicting how the overall system behaves, and what it aims to achieve. (source: alara aykanat, yusuf bozkurt, daphné fournel, and martin jitenski, november 2023). waterkeepers, by nadine fahmy, malek fleifel, roché rabie, and carolina schönburg, homed in upon the scale of the building (figure 12), boulevard (figure 13), block, plaza, and city (figure 14) to establish a flood and drought tolerant water infrastructural system for madrid while also overlapping with fifteen-minute city ideals. the main systemic elements utilized include green roofs and facades, localized water retention and detention tanks, decentralized greywater/blackwater remediation systems, rainwater harvesting, bioswales, permeable hardscaping, water plazas, soil-based carbon sequestration, urban timber production, and revitalized riparian and wildlife corridors. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 the model of the city that emerged was one that combined nature-based stormwater and drought management systems and mixed-use fifteen-minute city ideals, with significant capacity for soil-based carbon sequestration. figure 12: section perspective (originally a0 format) from waterkeepers focused on the scale of the building. (source: nadine fahmy, malek fleifel, roché rabie, and carolina schönburg, november 2023). figure 13: section perspective (originally a0 format) from waterkeepers focused on the scale of the boulevard. (source: nadine fahmy, malek fleifel, roché rabie, and carolina schönburg, november 2023). kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 figure 14: section perspective (originally a0 format) from waterkeepers focused on the scale of the city, depicting how the cross-scalar system works, and what it aims to achieve. (source: nadine fahmy, malek fleifel, roché rabie, and carolina schönburg, november 2023). in the context of these three sets of deliverables, three outcomes were observed from the use of ai, particularly when compared to the prior year which did not lean on artificial intelligence in any format. first, the overall quality and detail of the final deliverables were at a significantly higher level when compared to the prior year’s course. second, despite varying stances among students regarding the intellectual ownership of ai-generated content, there was no observable difference, when compared to the prior year, in the students’ sense of ownership or authorship over the final executed work. third, perhaps contrapuntally to the prior point, ai clearly behaved in a coauthorship capacity throughout the iterative design process—not as a black-boxed computational prosthetic, but rather as a grey-boxed structure with which the students were engaging in active dialogue, even if without explicit recognition. particularly intriguing, was that the image generation process created a dynamic that the students could not control in full. ai-produced visuals were always embedded with unexpected urban spaces, infrastructural conditions, aesthetic parameters, unrealistic built environmental collisions, etc., that lay beyond the boundaries of the initial prompts. these anomalies in turn tended to alter or inform existing conceptual paths, narratives, and strategies that had been set in motion by the student groups. as the students themselves noted, this back-and-forth interaction between human and synthetic author, pushed the final deliverables to be more layered and more intricate than what would have been achieved if the ai platforms had not been embedded within the iterative design process. there were no new infrastructural ideas that emerged from the use of ai in this manner. however, there were unexpected overlaps between infrastructure and urban life that arose through the process. across the breadth of the deliverables seen above, water and energy systems are leveraged in ways that directly impact the physical fabric of the city in a manner that is deeply tied to human (and non-human) life. very little of the infrastructure is hidden from view. this is a particular point of intrigue within the discursive landscape of urban infrastructure, wherein the visibility and sociocultural (and by extension socioeconomic) impacts of infrastructure are often a critical hurdle in terms of its public acceptance—with blue-green-gray infrastructure being one of the few exceptions to this (toth, 2020). kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 4. discussion this paper offers a brief glimpse into how one architectural studio attempted to utilize ai platforms for visualization and conceptual-narrative refinement. some of the observations from this human-synthetic case study were as follows. first, ai platforms trained on large language models (e.g., chatgpt) proved quite useful as exploratory research tools for navigating the baseline fundamentals of various built environmental issues. however, when delving into these topics at a finer granularity, such platforms began to lose their perceived utility due to their inclination to generate farcical data points. second, the hallucinations that ai platforms generated—i.e., the farcical or misleading data produced when there were shortcomings in the datasets the platforms utilized (alier et al., 2024, 9)—did however prove productive in a range of unexpected ways. in the context of chatgpt, these hallucinations led to the humbling of the platform and the severing of the technological dependence that the student body had initially felt towards it. chatgpt emerged as a secondary, as opposed to a primary, research tool that needed to be gauged with a critical, discretionary eye. rather than an infallible and omnipotent source of information, chatgpt was characterized as an aged uncle with significant depths of knowledge, but also the tendency to veer off onto fictional tangents. third, ai platforms often emerged as a critical mediating voice within studio discussions. whether within the context of student-on-student or faculty-on-student exchanges, ai became a readily accessible alternate point of view that was mobilized to disentangle entrenched bifurcated positions or subvert innate hierarchies within the studio construct. fourth, chatgpt or comparable ai platforms proved to be highly capable thought processors (kolata 1996), through which students could check developing conceptual narratives or ideological structures for anomalies or contradictions. fifth, while not universally recognized as such by the students, ai noticeably took on a coauthorship capacity across the overarching structure of the studio. the content produced via the ai platforms, but more importantly the errors, unrealistic collisions, fallacies, etc., they generated, framed new areas of investigation for the student groups. while these new avenues did not create any novel approaches to urban infrastructure, they did lead to noteworthy efforts in terms of how said infrastructure took shape across the various scales of the urban fabric, and more importantly, how infrastructure could become visibly integrated with human and non-human life in the city. much of the infrastructural interventions took on an active protagonistic role within the urban fabric—a role which much of the broader discourse concerned with urban infrastructure notes is a point of vulnerability for getting short and long-term public support behind such critical, but heretofore mostly invisible, urban systems (toth, 2020). 5. conclusion the entwinement of ai with built environmental authorship is still in its early days. it is unclear where the discourse concerning the subject is headed, as well as how the pedagogical approach to the human-synthetic relationship can be framed, let alone leveraged. however, much of the discourse concerning the built world and artificial intelligence, particularly at larger scales, tends to presume a dominantly quantitative role for synthetic actors. the case study of the fifth-year architecture studio presented herein attempts to offer a qualitative counterpoint to this predominantly quantitative discursive landscape. some of the outcomes presented fall within the predictions and boundaries of the existing discursive landscape. others however are rather unexpected and lie outside of the presumed boundaries of said landscape. of particular intrigue within the context of architectural studio pedagogy are the second, third, and fourth points noted in the prior discussion section—namely, the actual utility of hallucinations generated by ai platforms; how ai can serve as a much-needed mediating and hierarchy-disrupting voice within the context of the studio; and how ai can be leaned upon to test, challenge, and refine conceptual narratives mid-development. whether emerging internally within a student’s own thought processes, generated via discussions between students and students, or discussions between students and faculty, studio culture seems to frequently produce polarized eitheror structures (organizational or intellectual) that are inherently not conducive to resolving complex problematics. across the board, ai appears to be a rather efficient and blunt tool for disrupting such counterproductive structures. kayatekin/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 while it is unclear how and whether artificial intelligence should be more thoroughly leveraged within pedagogical structures of courses dealing with built environmental investigations, what is evident through the course of this research is that the relationship between generative ai platforms and human actors cannot be contained to nonreciprocating structures. even if the reciprocal relationship that forms between human and synthetic actors is not explicitly recognized as such by the human counterpart, there is a clear impact upon the learning process via the synthetic counterpart, at a level of significance at which collaboration as a descriptive term is rather unavoidable. acknowledgment. the abstract of this paper was presented at the artificial intelligence and computational technologies: innovations, usage cases, and ethical considerations conference – 1st edition, which was held on the 25th – 26th of november 2024. funding. this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector/ individuals. ethics approval. not applicable. conflict of interest. the author declares that there is no competing interest. references alier forment, m., garcía peñalvo, f. j., & camba, j. d. 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(2021). streamcollab: a streaming crowd-ai collaborative system to smart urban infrastructure monitoring in social sensing. in proceedings of the aaai conference on human computation and crowdsourcing, 9, 179-190 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 doi: 10.21625/essd.v7i2.919 brownfield land redevelopment strategies in urban areas: criteria contributing to the decision-making process sukhjap singh 1 , dr lydia kiroff 2 , dr rashika sharma 3 1 bachelor of construction graduate, school of building construction, unitec institute of technology, auckland, new zealand 2 senior lecturer, school of building construction, unitec institute of technology, auckland, new zealand 3 senior lecturer, school of building construction, unitec institute of technology, auckland, new zealand abstract urban intensification seems to be a growing trend, especially in the context of severe land scarcity. brownfields offer great potential in meeting the increasing demand for housing in major cities worldwide. redevelopment projects appear to provide immediate solutions to housing shortages that are being experienced due to population pressures in large metropolitan areas. the paper explores the range of factors that property developers need to consider in their decision-making process when assessing the viability of brownfield redevelopments. this research, which employed a comparative case study approach, and examined two brownfield redevelopments in auckland, focused on the economic, social, and environmental criteria that were utilised in the decision-making process. document analysis of the two case studies, site observations, and semi-structured interviews with the property developers were the main data collection methods. the results suggested that the economic aspects of a brownfield redevelopment are the most important criteria that developers consider during the feasibility assessment of proposed projects. projects that offer the potential for quick investment returns for all stakeholders are the preferred choice for developers. brownfield redevelopments offer significant potential for invigorating local areas through urban intensification which boosts local businesses and encourages community revitalisation. the environmental concerns appear to be the lowest priority and little consideration is given to reducing the environmental impacts or incorporating green building practices in the new developments. a major shift from a purely economic focus toward a comprehensive environmental approach to new developments is needed to ensure the sustainable development of cities. © 2022 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer-review under responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords brownfield redevelopment; high density housing; property developers; economic returns; environmental impacts 1.0 introduction brownfield redevelopment is gaining momentum in urban planning and is now extensively used to fulfil social and economic demands on land availability in major cities. abandoned brownfield sites are now considered a resource, and current global trends promote re-urbanization, urban regeneration, and densification (boudjadja & boudemagh, 2021). urban regeneration enables the utilisation of underused/unused or abandoned urban land, referred to as brownfields, and promotes the redevelopments of core urban property, thus enhancing a region's economic development (pahlen & glöckner, 2004) and adding to urban intensification. there is no universally agreed http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v7i2.919&domain=press.ierek.com sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 definition of brownfields, with several authors attempting to define the concept. for example, otsuka et al. (2013) define brownfields as previously economically viable city or countryside properties that have been unoccupied for some time and may potentially be contaminated. an alternative definition by the us environmental protection agency characterises brownfields as properties or sites that have the potential for expansion or redevelopment. however, complications exist in their redevelopment due to the possible presence of hazardous substances, contaminants, or pollutants (epa, 2021). conversely, not all brownfields are contaminated, and therefore a more encompassing definition is needed. in that regard, martinát et al. (2016) offer a helpful definition describing brownfields as "underused, neglected, and potentially contaminated properties (land and buildings), usually as relicts of former industrial, agricultural, residential, military, or other such activities" (p. 79). the increasing demand for housing in urban areas and the lack of prime greenfields has opened avenues for the greater use of brownfields in urban centres (perovic & kurtović-folić, 2012). brownfield redevelopment is trending globally, driven by the increasing urban drift and population increase in major cities, resulting in housing shortages for city dwellers (dulić & krklješ, 2014). for example, the british government aims to build six million more homes in the next 20 years to deal with the uk housing crisis (freeman et al., 2020), resulting from the steady decline in the building of new and affordable homes since the 1970s (marquesini, 2018). the availability of more than 18,200 brownfield sites covering an excess of 26,000 hectares of land could provide an opportunity to build more than one million new homes (tema, 2020). big european cities experience similar housing shortages exacerbated by the current covid-19 pandemic, which caused a surge in the working from home culture. innovative ways are being explored to boost the supply of additional apartments to meet the growing demand for living spaces in stockholm, berlin, prague, and other european capitals. brownfield redevelopment seems to play a crucial role in utilising the land occupied by older airports: 30,000 new homes are planned at the site of bromma airport in stockholm (nienaber & johnson, 2021), and more than 5,000 apartments at berlin's former tegel airport (euronews, 2021). developing an action plan for prague's brownfields is expected to alleviate the need for 8,000 new apartments by 2030 (zábranský, 2019). auckland, the biggest city in new zealand, had a shortage of 75,000 homes in 2020, and in 2021 this number dropped to a deficit of 25,000 houses (hewett, 2021). the reduction in housing shortages can be attributed to the auckland unitary plan (aup), introduced in 2016, which rezoned large bands of land in auckland for more intensive development leading to increased developers’ interest and subsequent redevelopment of brownfields. consequently, the aup has allowed for the construction of one million additional dwellings since 2016. in particular, the period between 2017 – 2020 saw the sharpest growth in consented dwellings in auckland since 1991. additionally, there is a growing trend toward multi-unit dwellings (apartments, townhouses, units), whose share represents 60.77% of all consented dwellings (maharaj & martin, 2021) (figure 1). sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 figure 1. dwellings consented by type in auckland (maharaj & martin, 2021). assertions in local government studies that aucklanders are showing greater acceptance towards high-density housing and increasing willingness to trade off larger dwellings for smaller ones in return for greater accessibility to jobs and amenities (maharaj & martin, 2021) are debatable. economic factors, such as the overpriced housing market that makes it difficult for younger generations to purchase properties, the rise in living costs, and the reduction in retirement income, could also contribute to the perceived acceptance of density. furthermore, recent data shows that 68% of the consented dwellings in auckland in the period 2017 – 2020 have been in brownfields (maharaj & martin, 2021). however, density patterns are uneven across the city, suggesting that a range of other factors, such as proximity to desirable amenities, employment, and supporting infrastructure, could influence the viability of any development. despite the apparent benefits that brownfield redevelopments in auckland could offer, such as using existing infrastructure and making public transport and other amenities more feasible, thus reducing congestion, the uptake of brownfield redevelopment has not been as rapid as expected (martin & norman, 2018). on the contrary, since 2013, the proportion of brownfield residential building consents had fallen, with the most pronounced fall being in 2016 and the first half of 2017, followed by a swift recovery in the second half of 2017 (figure 2). figure 2. brownfield vs greenfield trends in residential building consents in the period 2010-2017 (martin & norman, 2018). even though there is an increasing body of literature on decision-making processes for brownfield redevelopments, there is scarce data available in a new zealand context. brownfield redevelopment is relatively new territory for a country that still aspires to quarter-acre ownership. insights into the decision-making process for potential brownfield redevelopment projects could prove helpful for developers, councils, and other stakeholders who play a vital role in the feasibility or risk assessment processes. therefore, this research aims to understand developers' main criteria as part of their decision-making process before undertaking brownfield redevelopments. the main research question of this study is "what are the main criteria contributing to the decision-making process in brownfield redevelopment?" the three sub-questions explore the economic, social, and environmental criteria contributing to the decision-making process. 2. background brownfield redevelopment is a vital component of urban development, helping revitalise degenerated areas and adding new ambience to a location. redeveloped suburbs attract residents, potentially improve environmental quality, and contribute to economic growth and physical regeneration (dulić & krklješ, 2014). brownfields represent environmentally compromised urban assets that need to be restored to constructive uses to allow for reconnection and integration with the surrounding communities (loures, 2015). the rejuvenated interest in brownfields has been driven by urban sprawl with several european countries, russia, the united states, and china, reconsidering the reuse of derelict urban properties (longo & campbell, 2016). regeneration of brownfield sites has several benefits, such as the possible use of pre-existing city infrastructure and greater access to public transport and other amenities (martin & norman, 2018). furthermore, the creation of jobs, sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 availability of affordable housing, and increased economic growth for neighbouring communities (thornton et al., 2007) can arise through brownfield developments. however, for brownfield redevelopment, several risk factors need to be evaluated in the decision-making process that determines the feasibility of projects. 2.1. economic criteria the economic risks associated with brownfield developments are widely discussed in the literature. the identified risks arise at three stages remediation/infrastructure, development, and investment (adair et al., 2003). greenfield development is considered far less challenging than developing derelict brownfield sites that present various adversities (barlindhaug & nordahl, 2017). several literature sources indicate that brownfield projects cost twice as much as greenfield developments due to additional fees such as increased costs involving partnerships and consultations between planning authorities and developers (guironnet et al., 2016). the expected cash flow, which is essential for investors, is affected by the high equity and long holding periods characteristic of redevelopment areas (barlindhaug & nordahl, 2017). redevelopment projects would often have a higher risk rate and increased development costs, leading to higher contingency fees (de sousa, 2000). land revitalization in brownfield developments is a costly process, especially when there are contaminants and harmful substances that require expensive procedures to treat (haninger et al., 2017). often various remedial actions need to be undertaken to convert brownfield sites into useable land. in such cases, there are costs associated with insurance cover for future liabilities and financial assistance to recover from clean-up costs associated with contaminated land (beiback, 2002). however, there are also economic gains associated with brownfield developments attributed to reduced costs of urban sprawl. brownfields' prime advantages are their central locations and pre-existing connections to infrastructure, including stormwater utilities and roadways, which save on infrastructure expenses (epa, 2020). the location provides increased opportunity for mixed-use developments with possibilities to accommodate housing and retail outlets, offices, workshop spaces and shared public facilities such as parks (rey et al., 2021). generally, infrastructure costs are funded by taxpayers and thus incur no major expenses for private developers (de sousa, 2000), with previously contaminated or derelict land considered more economically viable for developers than the development of greenfields (kotval-k, 2016). decreased construction costs due to reduced infrastructure and public services cost also mean there is a lesser risk of vacancy but a substantial increase in property value (umweltbundesamt, 2005). 2.2. social criteria the social aspects of brownfield redevelopment are associated with potential health risks, and any community concerns need to be addressed before development on site can begin. any contamination risks need to be thoroughly assessed, a full investigation conducted, and remedial measures put in place before the development commences (haninger et al., 2017; hellawell & hughes, 2021). various assessment tools to measure the level of harm concerning toxicity and contamination are mentioned in the literature, such as the quantitative risk assessment (o'reilly & brink, 2006). exposure to asbestos on contaminated sites is of particular concern. this risk factor could affect several site users, such as residents, construction workers, commercial and industrial employees, and site visitors. therefore, risk assessments are conducted to assess the potential risks of contaminants, such as asbestos and further environmental hazards (hallawell & hughes, 2021; squires & hutchison, 2021). o'reilly and brink (2006) highlight the importance of having a brownfield health risk screening matrix to safeguard public health. the chosen screening approach should present a scientific method to assess the health risks of the proposed brownfield redevelopment site. hazardous substances, contaminants, and pollutants on-site can create significant risks for potential developments, requiring the use of valid risk mitigation processes. 2.3. environmental criteria several environmental aspects associated with brownfield redevelopments are identified in the literature. a significant benefit of brownfield redevelopment is the decrease in automobile commute to the city and the subsequent reduction in pollution due to greater and more efficient urban densities (epa, 2020; kotval-k, 2016). according to epa (2020), when brownfields are redeveloped, individuals limit driving times when living or working in urban centres because of a multitude of available transportation options (such as walking, train, bus, ride-sharing, biking), which have apparent environmental and health benefits. hence, brownfield redevelopment in urban areas lessens greenhouse gas emissions and promotes public wellness and health. however, brownfield developments are often situated on contaminated sites and may require remedial works. various chemicals and pollutants, such as lead and other heavy metals like arsenic, acids, asbestos, solvents, pesticides, and hydrocarbons that impend the health and wellbeing of residents have to be removed (adelaja et al., 2010). the availability of communal assets in brownfield developments can create noticeable improvements in the environment, augment communities, and improve residents’ quality of living (bacot & o’dell, 2006). sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 3. methodology the study employed a comparative case study research methodology. a case study is a comprehensive empirical inquiry investigating an event within its real-world setting (yin, 2014) and analyses events, processes, or occurrences in that particular instance (denscombe, 2010). multiple case study research utilising multiple data collection methods is instrumental as it enables a comparison between the cases and a more comprehensive understanding of the issue at hand (campbell, 2010; yin, 2014). hence, this research utilised a comparative case study approach to study brownfield redevelopment in urban areas. the two chosen case studies are in different suburban areas in auckland (auckland city and south auckland) and are of different housing types (stand-alone houses and apartments/walk-ups). furthermore, both developments are at different stages of construction (one that had recently been completed and the other which is currently under construction). the primary data collection methods were document analysis, semi-structured interviews with the property developers, and site observations. the document analysis studied the project documentation and local government documents pertaining to the two case studies. face-to-face interviews with the property developers provided valuable insights into the decision-making process factors. site observations complemented the other two data collection methods and enriched the gathered qualitative data. 4. findings 4.1 case studies description case study a is a completed development for five stand-alone houses in manurewa, south auckland (figures 3 & 4). stand-alone houses are highly valued in the market, with 25,289 new stand-alone houses consented in new zealand in the year ending august 2021 as opposed to 21,164 consented multi-unit homes. however, the statistics are different in auckland, where there were 6957 stand-alone houses consented in the year ending august 2021 as opposed to 12,972 multi-unit homes (edmunds, 2021). the latter set of statistics illustrates recent urban intensification trends and a general orientation to multi-unit homes in auckland. furthermore, the decreasing number of consented stand-alone houses in auckland, where land is premium and scarce, makes them more sought after and desirable. the development commenced in mid-2019 and reached completion in 2020. asbestos contamination was discovered on site, and professional remedial work was undertaken for its removal. the location of the redevelopment site in a well-established urban area with easily accessible public amenities and a strategic transport network made it quite desirable, resulting in the immediate sale of all houses in 2020 shortly after completion. figure 3. location of case study a in manurewa, south auckland (google maps, 2022) sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 4. case study a: 5 stand-alone houses in manurewa, south auckland (completed) (google street view, 2022) case study b, neodomo ellerslie, is located in ellerslie, auckland city (figure 5), comprising of two blocks. block a contains 23 three-bedroom walk-up apartments and 23 car parks. block b is made up of a mixture of one, two, and three-bedroom options (ddl homes, 2022). figure 5. location of case study b in ellerslie, auckland central (google maps, 2022) the development began in january 2020 and is currently in progress (figure 6). all 23 walk-up apartments have been sold off the plans (ddl homes, 2022). this site also had asbestos contamination, which took a week to remove and costed approximately nz$10,000. sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 figure 6. case study b: 23 walk-ups in ellerslie, auckland central (under construction) (authors’ photo, 2021) walk-ups have been used across auckland in the past few years as multi-units to meet the housing demand. there were 3,124 building consents processed in auckland in the year-ending june 2021. the last ten years mark a steady upward trend in the number of consented apartments from 170 in 2011 to over 3,000 in 2021 (statista, 2022). 4.2 document analysis and site observations’ results location and proximity to convenient transport options and local amenities appeared to be significant factors for both developments. the two developments are within a few minutes' drive to state highway 1. case study a is within close proximity to manurewa town centre, and case study b is exceptionally close to ellerslie town centre. primary, intermediate, and secondary schools are within walking distance from both developments. local parks, sports facilities, and other recreation options are in the vicinity of the two developments. all these factors seem to be highly valued by potential buyers, which increases the likelihood of selling properties faster and making a quick return for developers. the original site for case study a was quite large, 1012m2, and had a single stand-alone house. such generoussized sections are hard to find, especially in auckland (figure 7). figure 7. aerial view of case study a in manurewa, pre-development. original section with a single stand-alone house, garage and carports. scale 1:1000 (geomaps, 2021) sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 the original 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom stand-alone house, an ex-rental, was quite modest and at the time of the sale was advertised by the real estate agent as an opportunity to “renovate/develop” (bayleys, 2018) (figure 8). the property was sold for nz$780,000 in 2018. figure 8. the 3-bedroom stand-alone house on the original site (bayleys, 2018). the property is zoned as ‘residential mixed housing urban zone’ under the aup (figure 9), allowing for urban intensification and building coverage of 45%. this type of zoning encourages brownfield redevelopment, especially in areas with easy access to local amenities and convenient public transportation. large sections with development potential located in mixed housing urban zones are especially attractive to property developers and investors as they can maximise their profits. figure 9. zoning for case study a – residential mixed housing urban zone. scale 1:5000 (geomaps, 2021) the redevelopment has created five new housing lots of varying sizes: two lots of 148m2 and three slightly bigger ones of 166m2, 176m2 and 190m2. the growing trend of much smaller property sections is clearly evident in the way the original large section has been maximised. all five new stand-alone houses were sold shortly after completion in 2020 for a range of sale prices: nz$743,000; 2 x nz$760,000; nz$835,000 and nz$865,000 (property value, 2022). sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 existing infrastructure at brownfields is an important factor for developers. the easy access to existing underground services such as power, water, stormwater and wastewater (figure 10) near the property boundaries presents a greater advantage for brownfield development because of the reduced costs associated with extending the required services into the properties. figure 10. underground services: power (yellow), water (blue), stormwater (green) and wastewater (red) for case study a. scale 1:1000 (geomaps, 2021) the original section size for case study b was quite generous, 1917m2, in comparison to the floor area of the single 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom stand-alone house of 179m2 (figure 11). the property with the original house, built in 1920, was sold in mid-2019 for $3,800,000 (property value, 2022). the property is zoned as ‘residential mixed housing urban zone’ under the aup and as such offers great development potential (figure 12). as a result of the redevelopment now there are 23 walk-up apartments with an estimated size of 60m2 each. the size of the apartments is significantly smaller in comparison to the stand-alone houses in case study a. in addition, they are accessible only by stairs so they might seem less desirable. as such they would only suit a particular type of households. however, the more central location and the proximity to the cbd as well as their affordability could compensate for the smaller dwelling size and the complete lack of land ownership. the availability of existing infrastructure in the area, such as power, water, stormwater and wastewater, was a definite advantage (figure 13). sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 figure 11. aerial view of case study b in ellerslie, pre-development. original section with a single stand-alone house. scale 1:1000 (geomaps, 2021) figure 12. zoning for case study b – residential mixed housing urban zone. scale 1:5000 (geomaps, 2021) figure 13. underground services: power (yellow), water (blue), stormwater (green) and wastewater (red) for case study b. scale 1:1000 (geomaps, 2021) the residual effects of urban intensification are evident in the two case studies. for high-density housing, which is a significant feature of brownfield redevelopments, resource availability is challenging, with one example being the availability of car parking spaces. the problem is the same for the two case studies, with a single garage allocation for each house in case study a and a single car parking space for each apartment in case study b. a single garage is not sufficient to cater for families that usually have 2+ vehicles. it is evident from sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 the photo in figure 14 that each house requires a minimum of two car spaces. due to the unavailability of enough parking spaces, vehicles are illegally parked along the ‘right of way’ driveway, which possibly causes congestion and hinders traffic flow. additionally, there is no on-street parking available nearby for tenants or homeowners due to no parking indicated by the yellow roadside markings shown in figure 15. figure 14. cars blocking shared driveway at case study a (authors’ photo, 2021) figure 15. no roadside parking allowed at case study a (authors’ photo, 2021) 4.3 interview results the developers of the two case studies participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. although the participants had a varying number of projects or developments and had unique business goals, their response was proportionately positioned with similar challenges, principles, and decision-making criteria for their developments. 4.3.1 expected return on investment determines feasibility expected development profit is highly influential in meeting the stakeholders’ objectives. according to developer b, stakeholders are mainly interested in the profit margins of new developments, with potential risks weighted against the expected returns. for case study a, the expected development return was set at 31%. developer a mentioned that staying abreast with costs on the feasibility report is vital for the expected 31% return. he mentioned that the accuracy of the feasibility assessment and close match with the quantity surveyor’s valuation of costs and materials was paramount. he further elaborated that utility costs associated with energy supply, water supply, council rates, processing costs, financial costs all needed to be accounted for development success. for case study b, the expected development return was estimated to be 23%. the construction cost per square meter for case study a is nz$1,600, much lower than case study b at nz$2,500. the lower cost per square meter for case study a is attributed to the company developer being a professional builder. hence, his ability to undertake most of the building works by himself. on the other hand, case study b subcontracts all construction works, which adds significantly to the extra cost. consequently, the expected profit of 23% is lower than the expected threshold, mainly due to the threshold being established prior to the company’s involvement in the development. the director of case study b stated that the feasibility report recommended a listed sale price of nz$685,000, before the unexpected increase in value of the properties, which are now selling for approximately nz$850,000 each. the decision to develop or sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 not depends on the development return percentage. the expectation is to make as high a profit as possible. the developer of case study a is flexible on the development return percentage, which is dependent on various social factors and location. however, the developer of case study b had a threshold of 30% for development return percentage as he had to meet the expectations of potential stakeholders in order to obtain funding for the development. 4.3.2 risk and feasibility assessments are critical developer a stated that risk assessment is an important aspect before any investment decision-making process, whether the site is a greenfield or a brownfield. he minimised any risks associated with the development by involving building professionals (architects and engineers) in the project as early as possible in the planning stage. similarly, developer b carried out a risk assessment and a feasibility study with professionals' assistance to minimise any unexpected or hidden risks from emerging later. developer a stated that they did not rely on the advice of town planners and local authorities during the decision-making process and trusted the advice given by other building professionals and his own background checks before making the final call. developer b shared a similar opinion on making one's own judgment calls on a development potential but did consult professionals in the process: "there is always a full feasibility study done, along with pre-application meeting with council to make sure we understand the guidelines. we discuss with planners, architects, traffic engineers, all to ensure that our numbers will stack up in the feasibility and there are no hidden risks or asbestos/contamination that we come across after". 4.3.3 choosing the right location makes all the difference the decision-making process is highly influenced by the location for developer a, who generally targets potential first home buyers and is willing to pay a competitive price for land in a prime location. he stated that buying a development property not close to train stations or a highway intersection was risky as it was not an attractive option for first home buyers. developer b also stated that location influences 90% of his decisionmaking on developments. both developers consider ‘location’ as one of the driving factors for brownfields. auckland appears to be a trendy city for buying property, which has driven the brownfield development trend. developer b added that “brownfields are exploding because of unrealistic values of property evaluated by real estate companies that represent a flawed valuation of land.” 4.3.4 existing infrastructure increases profitability developer a believed that brownfield development capitalizes on land use by providing opportunities to build upwards rather than sideways. the availability of necessary services on-site or within the vicinity of a brownfield site was a positive outcome in terms of time savings and money savings. brownfields are more profitable ventures than greenfields, where substantial money and time are invested in organising basic services. developer b stated that if the profit margin is higher than the 30% threshold, he will develop whether it is greenfield or brownfield, and currently, greenfields are a more expensive investment. developer a also stated that “there are economic benefits for the government from brownfield development as there is already existing infrastructure and capital investment is not required to build new suburbs.” developer b believes that “brownfields allow for medium to high-density housing, which creates economic benefits for all of new zealand and increases the availability of more affordable housing.” both developers shared similar views that brownfield sites are more lucrative than greenfield sites. developer b mentioned that with an increase in first home buyers, brownfield sites had the scope to create a large number of homes. the advantage included the availability of all services, stormwater, and sewer, being already present on the property or close by, so fewer development costs are incurred. moreover, the aup seems to be working for both developers. however, developer a felt that more work was needed in getting the zoning correct in suburbs before effective development could occur. developer b thinks highly of the aup and feels that much consideration has been placed into the new zonings, such as accessibility to public transport, public roads, traffic networks, and existing infrastructures. 4.3.5 environmental impact is not a concern the environmental impact was not a factor of great concern for the developments. the majority of the trees on the case study a site were consented for removal as per council guidelines. however, the developer disregarded the landscaping plan submitted as part of the resource consent application. on the other hand, case study b had a professionally created landscaping plan with a plant schedule as part of the resource consent application. however, both developers only followed minimum council requirements as the environmental impact assessment (eia) was not required for the two sites and, therefore, not completed. creating green spaces was not a major concern for the developers. developer a mentioned that eias were not conducted for his developments, but he does abide by council rules and guidelines to minimise the environmental impact. sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 developer b stated: “we usually have a geotechnical report done; if there is any contamination or uncertified fill, then we will get a contamination report done, which may lead us to get a discharge consent because the contamination could discharge into the local facility”. both developers have also not considered sustainable designs in any of their developments and fulfil council guidelines by complying with minimum requirements for glazing, insulation, and provisions for heating homes. the presence of nearby green recreational spaces is appreciated by developer a, who bases 50% of the decision-making on the proximity of the development to green spaces and school zones. developer a considers green recreational spaces as an essential requirement for the well-being of children. this view is shared by developer b, whose firm contracts professionals for landscape design in his developments. however, green recreational spaces are not a critical requirement and influence only 20% of his decision-making. developer a believes that urban design qualities enhance the city by assisting businesses and contributing to economic growth. however, he feels that lifestyle is impacted due to high-density living, with the most significant impact being on the younger generation. he felt that with smaller sections, children do not have space to grow, impacting their lifestyle and social development. both developers consider the value of green spaces and recreational parks as a way of adding value to high-density living and as a physical characteristic to consider for future developments. 5. discussion 5.1 economic considerations contributing to the decision-making feasibility studies are an essential part of any proposed development. its success is primarily determined by a robust risk analysis of the project, which could help flag any hidden risks in the earlier project stages. these risks include site-specific analysis, socio-economic and political planning, and financial and market evaluations (wu et al., 2017). furthermore, satisfactory high returns on investment are gained depending on the level of risk taken (adair et al., 2003). the interviewees were unanimous that feasibility is a vital criterion fundamental to them; if a project does not demonstrate good feasibility, then the development is considered unviable. the feasibility analysis for the two case studies took into consideration the total cost of the project from start to completion: the land cost, the cost of construction (including landscaping costs and site works), design and management (including professional fees), consent, utilities and contributions, real estate costs. the economic aspects played a crucial part in the decision-making process of both developments. this correlates to assertions in the literature that economic factors are the leading motivator for investors of brownfield developments (de sousa, 2000). the feasibility analysis should show an average expected development return of around the 30% threshold for brownfield projects to be initiated. as the document analysis revealed, that threshold was met by case study a but not by case study b, whose development return was estimated at 23%. the reason was that the property investor had planned the development before setting the threshold. although he initially accepted the lower return, he later realised that meeting the threshold was the best option for maximising returns for the time and money he had invested in the project. investment benefits and returns are of primary concern to developers (wang et al., 2022). as a result of the covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, the delays led to increased materials costs, labour shortages, and higher interest rates from funders and negatively impacted the financial aspects, as well as creating greater risk for the developer. specific risk assessment for projects is completed by consultants or other stakeholders who endeavour to produce superior service (wu et al., 2017). both developers in this research used professional services to investigate the feasibility and risk assessment of the projects. the involvement of professionals was significant for both developers, despite the high professional fees charged, and was crucial at the early planning stage. for both case studies, the valuation cost was included as a separate item and a lump sum. the other professional fees for architects, engineers, land surveyors, etc., were calculated at 4% of the construction costs. brownfield investment projects require full cost planning, including the expenses of valuation professionals, which is often very costly (wu et al., 2017). if a project is deemed unfeasible, then it becomes a financial expense for the developers to forfeit. prime location and proximity to various amenities are crucial factors for property developers when evaluating the economic viability of a brownfield site. promoting a well-balanced structure of compatibility of various urban elements is key (pahlen & glöckner, 2004). the developers in this research favoured their sites' location and closeness to local amenities over any other factor. they determined the success and sale price of the development, the level of intensification allowed, and the amount of building coverage permitted. short traveling distances between home, work, and leisure were achieved on both sites. location is a critical factor for developers as the location of a property influences purchase decisions, which then reflects property prices with buyers willing to pay premium prices for desirable locations (zihannudin et al., 2021). developments in prime locations represent a lower risk for developers to secure funding and realize sales (syms, 1999). sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 higher land value means increased viability for higher-density housing construction and increased profit potential for developers (maharaj & martin, 2021). the proximity to train services and amenities, such as retail and shopping, health centres, schools, and housing, all add value to the development and increase investors' possibilities of higher returns (epa, 2020). as determined by the local territorial authority (ta), the urban zoning of a potential brownfield site is another critical factor that developers consider when determining the economic viability of a project. since its launch in 2016, the aup (auckland council, 2016) has been fundamental in helping ease the housing shortages experienced in auckland by increasing housing supply through the relaxation of various land use regulations, including constraints on residential density (greenaway-mcgrevy & sorensen, 2017). the two case studies are located in a mixed housing urban (mhu) zone and, as such, were allowed to have a maximum building coverage of 45% compared to only 40% in a mixed housing suburban (mhs) zone (auckland council, 2016; auckland council, 2018). developers prefer the mhu zone as it allows for the construction of buildings up to three storeys in various residential categories such as detached dwellings, low-rise apartments, and terraced housing. in comparison, the mhs zone encompasses established residential areas and greenfield sites with standalone dwellings typically limited to one to two storeys in height (tang, 2021). from a developer's point of view, a brownfield site located in an mhu zone in auckland has greater possibilities of higher returns and thus is much more preferable. pre-existing infrastructure is an indispensable feature of brownfield sites that increases their lucrativeness for developers. the developers favoured the brownfield sites of the two case studies in this study as the availability of existing infrastructure, such as power, water, stormwater, and wastewater, was a cost-effective advantage for their projects. the central location of brownfield sites and the reuse of existing public infrastructure enable developers to forego considerable infrastructure costs and result in considerable savings (brown et al., 2016; epa, 2020). 5.2 social considerations contributing to the decision-making brownfield developments have social impacts on residents, communities, and businesses and are essential for the viability of any project. human activities dominate the process of brownfield creation and development (wang et al., 2022). the property developers highly favoured the two brownfield sites in this study, located in close proximity to local town centres, good schools, rail networks, and other public transport facilities. the proximity to transport networks is a significant social benefit to improving liveability and reducing the reliance on private transportation (beames et al., 2018; stubbs, 2002). the single garage provision for each stand-alone house in case study a and the single car parking space for each of the 23 walk-up apartments in case study b encourage the use of public transport, walking, or cycling. the resultant unintentional social benefit is more significant physical activity for residents, such as walking to public transport and improving population health (zapata-diomedi et al., 2019). other social benefits of brownfield developments include creating job opportunities, promoting a revitalised and positive environment, and improving urban quality of life (wang et al., 2011). community revitalisation is often associated with brownfield redevelopments and results in urban regeneration by attracting new business investments which can contribute to community improvement. a redeveloped former brownfield can strikingly improve the area’s quality of life, particularly in economically disadvantaged areas (brown et al., 2016). both developers in this research believed the local community benefitted economically due to brownfield developments as population growth boosted local businesses. as a result, planning authorities often prioritize urban zones that have significant potential to invigorate the local area. furthermore, stakeholders such as financiers and auckland council played a vital role in approving the two brownfield developments in this research. the participation of stakeholders such as regulators and investors is becoming increasingly important to ensure acceptance of proposed redevelopment projects (thomas, 2003). 5.3 environmental considerations contributing to the decision-making the expectation that environmental considerations will be at the forefront of urban development is unrealistic. environmental concerns continue to be overlooked by property developers, with the primary purpose being to maximize the capitalization of developments (de sousa, 2000). a similar focus on economic benefits applies to urban brownfield redevelopments in auckland. to ensure the sustainable development of cities, there is a need to shift away from the economic focus of developments towards the rejuvenation of the natural environment, including prioritising the landscape and biodiversity on brownfield redevelopment projects (cappai et al., 2019). the developers in this research have not taken any extra initiatives to minimise the environmental impacts of their projects. instead, they only made minimal efforts to comply with council guidelines and regulations, with landscaping being the main focus of their projects. however, even those proposed landscaping plans were not implemented as per the requirements, even though both developers believed this was an essential aspect of urban redevelopment. sukhjap singh/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 landscaping creates urban green spaces that impact city residents' health and well-being and contribute to sustainable urban planning and development (kim, 2018; włodarczyk-marciniak et al., 2020). even though spatial and financial restrictions are often the main barriers to establishing new green spaces (kronenberg, 2015), the associated environmental benefits including improvements in air quality, mitigating flood risks, and regulating temperature (brun et al., 2018), far outweigh the obstacles. green spaces become invaluable assets in brownfield developments by reducing meteorological and hydro-related hazards and improving the overall urban ecosystem health (kim et al., 2018). good neighbourhood design is paramount if the inclusion of urban green spaces is required. maharaj & martin (2021) emphasise that the design of neighbourhoods in new developments can significantly impact the quality of life of residents and the sustainability of their communities. however, good design is irrelevant if it is merely reflected in plans but does not eventuate in reality, which is the case with the two developments in this research. therefore, there must be strict guidelines around green space requirements in all future brownfield developments. additionally, adherence to these expectations should be closely monitored. 6. conclusions this research suggests that the economic returns of brownfield redevelopments are the most crucial criterion for property developers in the decision-making process. feasibility studies, which provide a robust risk analysis of the project, are critical to the success of any development. the involvement of professionals, despite the high professional fees charged, to investigate the feasibility and risk assessment of proposed projects is vital to developers. cost-cutting at this early stage of evaluating market viability is not an option as developers realise that such mistakes could be very costly and could compromise the projects’ success. an average expected development return of around the 30% threshold is a rough guide for investors to consider a development as viable. prime location and proximity to various amenities, such as public transportation, local town centres, and good schools, determine the lucrativeness of a project and the rapid economic return on investment for the stakeholders. on the one hand, such brownfields are low-risk investments for developers to secure funding and sales. on the other hand, they generate strong interest and attract potential buyers willing to pay premium prices for desirable locations. other factors that increase the investment returns and impact developers’ decisions are the urban zoning of a potential brownfield site and the availability of pre-existing infrastructure. the former allows for increasing residential densities, and the latter offers cost-effective advantages for the proposed projects. the increase in population growth through urban intensification boosts local businesses. it encourages community revitalisation, which is much favoured by planning authorities as they appreciate the significant potential of brownfield redevelopments to invigorate the local area. therefore, the economic and social considerations in the decisionmaking process appear intertwined and have cumulative effects on the urban quality of life. the environmental considerations, however, are neither prioritised nor given any importance. the prevailing attitude of conformity to planning rules remains restricted to the project’s design stage without being realised at the construction stage. thus, proposed landscaping plans, which simply become unavoidable and necessary design exercises, never see the light of day as they do not get implemented. despite the agreement among developers that they are an important aspect of urban redevelopment, cost-saving considerations and the desire to maximise profits take precedence over any environmental concerns. reducing the environmental impacts of new developments is not a concern for developers, which is evidenced by the complete lack of green building practices. a shift away from the sole economic focus of developments towards the regeneration of the natural environment, including prioritising the landscape of new projects, could ensure the overall sustainable development of cities. future research could 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however, its scope only reaches operational carbon. since 90% of existing buildings will be in use by 2050, the retrofit models will be the base to determine solutions for a more resilient living environment that fortifies and extends the grid’s capacity and meets climate change mitigation targets. secondly, significant socioeconomic and profound environmental impacts are not calculated explicitly in existing tools and are often referred to as “secondary” or non-energy benefits (neb). “the goal is to give them a measurement value to be considered in the decision-making calculus. it is assumed that soon; such factors will enter the general climate change economy, not unlike carbon in the past decade.” in this context, the proposed research aims to develop a value-based framework that will support a building stock model and subsequent retrofit models, documented in a web-tool platform. the framework has three main steps: a) building stock model: mapping of selected buildings of the program paeiapf in a gis system. documentation of the baseline energy consumption and embodied co2-eq of the existing building. b) retrofit models: involving a whole life cycle assessment (wlca) and non-energy benefits (resilience coefficient, health, productivity). c) web tool platform: application and toolset that allows for consistent documentation, environmental impact evaluation of existing building stock, and solution design in identifying energy reduction concepts. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review is under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords building energy retrofit; whole life cycle assessment; neb; web tool http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i1.1044&domain=press.ierek.com flores/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 1. introduction the transformation of existing building stock to enhance energy efficiency by upgrading building structures stands as a well-established and highly effective strategy for mitigating and adapting to climate change. particularly, the reduction of operational emissions, achieved through energy-efficient building operation and on-site renewable energy generation, is a critical facet of the transition towards clean energy. the pursuit of building energy retrofit (ber) strategies is geared toward achieving substantial reductions in such emissions, constituting a meaningful endeavor across environmental, energy, and societal dimensions. however, the significance extends beyond operational emissions to encompass embodied emissions arising from the complete life cycle of building materials and components, spanning production, procurement, installation, maintenance, and eventual disposal. notably, the quantity of embodied carbon dioxide equivalent (co2-eq) within a typical building surpasses operational co2 emissions throughout its lifecycle (69% in residential, 76% in warehouses, and 67% in commercial buildings) (finch, 2013). efforts directed towards achieving a net-zero carbon building stock by 2050 entail the reduction of direct building co2 emissions by 50% and the decline of indirect building sector emissions through a 60% reduction in power generation emissions by 2030, necessitating a consistent annual decline of around 6% from 2020 to 2030. this context is further emphasized by the 7% reduction in global energy sector co2 emissions observed during the pandemic. (institute for building efficiency, 2011) while much emphasis has been placed on new constructions, it is essential to recognize that achieving the 2050 energy demand reduction targets could largely hinge on the renovation of the existing building stock rather than relying solely on new developments. generally, the prevalent energy renovation rate encompasses 12% of the building stock per annum, with average energy intensity reductions generally below 15%. to align with the sustainable development scenario (sds), however, energy renovations would need to achieve energy intensity reductions ranging from 30% to 50%. moderate refurbishment endeavors within existing buildings have been identified as having the greatest potential to advance the goal of decarbonizing the built environment (loga, 2015). furthermore, the building stock emerges as one of the most substantial and yet largely untapped avenues for enhancing energy efficiency and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. in the context of mexico's energy consumption and co2 emissions landscape, it is pertinent to note that mexico ranks as the 11th largest emitter of greenhouse gases (figure 2). as the second-largest oil producer in latin america, mexico's energy mix comprises only 10% from wind and solar sources. fossil fuels account for more than 80% of mexico's total energy supply, with oil contributing 45% and natural gas 38% (figure 1) (programme for energy efficiency in buildings, 2019). given these realities, retrofit strategies assume pronounced significance in mexico's trajectory, particularly when considering the imminent challenges posed by the fossil fuel scenario. among the paramount reasons underscoring the critical importance of retrofit strategies are the reduction of fossil fuel dependency, the enhancement of energy security, the stimulation of economic benefits, the improvement of indoor comfort, the realization of long-term cost savings, and the fostering of urban planning and renewal efforts. as such, the implementation of retrofit strategies holds the potential to catalyze a transformative shift towards a sustainable and resilient built environment in mexico. flores/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 figure 1: energy consumption by source and emissions by sector in mexico. carbon brief profile 2023. figure 2: emissions per capita (tpy). 2. justification the dearth of information presents a current constraint when endeavoring to assess the performance of public and private buildings for informed urban energy decision-making. to address this gap, it will be drawn upon data curated by the national commission for the efficient use of energy (conuee), which spearheaded a comprehensive energy efficiency program within the mexican federal public administration buildings for a 26-year span (comisión nacional para el uso eficiente de la energía, 2020). this initiative yielded valuable insights into building performance pre and post-implementation of energy-saving strategies, culminating in a 21% reduction in energy consumption. however, it's noteworthy that the program's scope did not encompass a holistic whole life cycle assessment, thereby neglecting the evaluation of embodied carbon associated with the executed strategies. within the expansive portfolio of 2,076 buildings spanning mexico, a subset of sixty-five structures located in the cuahtemoc district of mexico city has been meticulously selected for inclusion in this study. drawing from projections by the international energy agency highlighting that 90% of existing buildings will persist through 2050 (international energy agency, 2015), a cogent rationale emerges for the prioritization of retrofit strategies. while new constructions inherently possess the advantage of optimizing co2 savings from inception, retrofit strategies stand as the compelling pathway for enhancing the environmental performance of existing buildings. scholarly references, including seminal works by nishimwe et al (2021), yamaguchi et al (2022), and hirvonen et al (2021), document remarkable energy savings of 66%, 50%, and 75%, respectively. however, prevalent tools for building evaluation inadequately account for paramount socio-economic and environmental implications, often termed "secondary" or non-energy benefits (smith, 2018). flores/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 these encompass pivotal facets such as improved indoor air quality (iaq), bolstered resiliency, enhanced health, and heightened productivity. regrettably, these factors remain largely absent in projected adaptation scenarios and decision-making calculations. notwithstanding the intricacies of quantification and monetization, this proposal presupposes that these dimensions will inevitably assume greater prominence in the evolving climate change economy, analogous to the trajectory of carbon-related concerns in the previous decade. insights from the european academies science advisory council emphasize the significance of embodied green house gas (ghg) emissions within building life cycles. they reveal that typical values of embodied ghg emissions per square meter for new buildings fall within the range of 250 to 400 kg of co2eq./m2, while operational ghg emissions from existing buildings hover between 30 and 50 kg co2eq./m2 per year (european academics science advisory council, 2021). furthermore, studies underscore that the incorporation of embodied emissions from the renovation of existing buildings, contingent upon renovation scope and materials, usually accounts for less than 50% of the embodied emissions associated with new constructions (international energy agency, 2016). the overarching goal of this study is to contribute to the body of knowledge by formulating a robust framework and evaluation method system for retrofit models tailored to temperate climates akin to the conditions prevalent in mexico city throughout the year. this research endeavors to bridge the existing gaps in understanding, ultimately guiding the formulation of effective retrofit strategies that align with the city's unique environmental context. 3. problem statement the current landscape of building retrofit models presents several limitations that have given rise to misinterpretations in the pursuit of energy efficiency improvements and decarbonization. these limitations encompass critical aspects including: balancing energy efficiency, embodied carbon, and the "energy of architecture": the absence of a clear coefficient to harmonize energy efficiency savings, embodied carbon considerations, and the broader architectural context has led to fragmented approaches in retrofit strategies. methods for whole life cycle assessment (wlca) on an urban scale: the absence of robust methodologies to calculate wlca for existing buildings at an urban scale poses a significant challenge. this gap hinders comprehensive assessments of the environmental impacts associated with retrofit interventions. baseline calculation challenges: the lack of accessible and standardized information to calculate a reliable baseline for evaluating retrofit impacts contributes to the ambiguity surrounding retrofit outcomes. urban scale vs. architectural scale accuracy coefficient: the disparity in accuracy between urban-scale retrofit models and architectural-scale analysis further complicates effective decision-making, inhibiting the adoption of impactful retrofit strategies. integration of non-energy benefits: the current retrofit models inadequately account for non-energy benefits, such as improved indoor air quality, occupant health, and resilience, which are integral to assessing the holistic value of retrofit interventions. addressing these challenges is pivotal to developing a comprehensive and accurate approach to building retrofit models. this research considers these limitations as essential components within a value-based framework designed to enhance the efficacy of retrofit strategies. the scope of the problem can be delineated into two primary dimensions: renewable sources of energy: this facet acknowledges mexico's heavy reliance on fossil fuels and the projected doubling of its energy consumption before 2050 (programme for energy efficiency in buildings, 2019). recognizing the practicalities of the scenario, which envisions a distributed effort towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the gradual integration of renewable energy sources becomes a significant consideration. the research will explore potential scenarios for incorporating renewable energy sources under these conditions. selection criteria of buildings: the representative sample for this study will encompass sixty-five office flores/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 buildings drawn from the pool of the national commission for the efficient use of energy (conuee) (figure 3). the selection criteria will include factors such as climate zone 3a, a humid tropical climate, the typical footprint size of government office buildings, and the specific location within the cuauhtemoc district in mexico city. these criteria provide a targeted focus for the research's investigation into retrofit strategies. the identified limitations and challenges in building retrofit models underscore the urgency and importance of this research. by addressing these issues and delving into the intricacies of renewable sources of energy and building selection criteria, this study aims to contribute to a more informed, effective, and holistic approach to retrofit strategies in the context of energy efficiency and decarbonization. figure 3: selected buildings mapping 4. research objectives the research objectives of this study are strategically designed to address the gaps and challenges identified within the realm of building retrofit models, with a clear focus on enhancing energy efficiency and decarbonization strategies. these objectives are formulated to guide the research towards meaningful contributions that will drive transformative changes in the field: developing a robust building stock model framework: one of the primary objectives of this research is to establish a comprehensive and robust building stock model framework. this framework will be intricately tied to a baseline approach, enabling accurate comparisons and assessments of retrofit interventions. by creating a systematic and standardized model, this objective aims to provide a reliable foundation for evaluating the energy efficiency and decarbonization potential of existing buildings. whole life carbon calculation of existing buildings: this study recognizes the crucial significance of considering the entire lifecycle of buildings, including their embodied carbon and operational emissions. to address this, an essential research objective is to formulate a method for the whole life carbon calculation of existing buildings. this involves conducting thorough assessments that encompass various stages of a building's lifecycle, thereby providing a holistic perspective on its environmental impact. developing a retrofit model framework as a library of solutions: the development of an effective retrofit model framework is another core objective of this research. this framework will function as a dynamic "library of solutions," (jemtrud, 2021) offering a diverse range of retrofit strategies tailored to specific flores/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 contexts. through meticulous research and analysis, this objective aims to compile a comprehensive repository of technically sound and environmentally impactful retrofit options. 5. state of the art the review of the current state-of-the-art in the field of building retrofit models reveals key concepts and research works that have significantly influenced and provided valuable insights into the development of this study: retrofit strategies implementation for existing buildings: a noteworthy observation from the current body of literature is the prevalence of tools and methods designed to facilitate energy-efficient features primarily during the design and predesign phases of existing buildings. however, the literature is considerably reduced when it is related to developing retrofit strategies for existing buildings, especially on an urban scale. in this context, the research of claudio nägeli et al. holds substantial importance, particularly, their works titled "towards agent-based building stock modeling: bottom-up modeling of long-term stock dynamics affecting the energy and climate impact of building stocks, energy and buildings" (nägeli, 2020) and "synthetic building stocks as a way to assess the energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions of national building stocks. energy and buildings" (nägeli, 2018) have offered critical insights into retrofit strategies through their case studies, such as the retrofit study conducted in switzerland. furthermore, claudio nägeli et al.'s article "methodologies for synthetic spatial, building stock modelling: data-availability-adapted approaches for the spatial analysis of building stock energy demand" forms the foundational basis for my forthcoming synthetic urban-scale analysis. data-driven analysis tools for building retrofit models: the development of effective building retrofit models is significantly influenced by the availability of instruments and tools. in shaping my model as a data-driven analysis tool, the work of c. szum et al. has provided valuable guidance. their research, especially the texts "data-driven analysis tool plays critical role in climate neutral buildings. advances in applied energy" (ding, 2021) and "targeting building energy efficiency opportunities an open-source analytical and benchmarking tool," (li, 2019) offers insights into open-source analytical tools that play a pivotal role in advancing climate-neutral building practices. building stock models and retrofit focus in latin america: while the research landscape is rich with studies focusing on retrofit strategies in the residential and non-residential sectors across european and north american countries, the perspective is notably limited in the context of latin america, particularly mexico. in this regard, the works of researchers such as luis eduardo medrano-gómez et al. (2017), miguel flores et al. (2022), itzell torres et al. (2023), and rodrigo mercado fernández et al. (2022) have emerged as pivotal resources. their research, including non-domestic passivhaus retrofit proposals, addresses the unique challenges and opportunities of retrofitting in the latin american context. in summary, the review of the state-of-the-art literature underscores the critical influence of existing research in shaping the trajectory of this ph.d. study. by drawing from the insights and methodologies of scholars like claudio nägeli, c. szum, and latin american researchers specializing in retrofit strategies, the aim of this research is to contribute to the field by developing a holistic and effective building retrofit model that addresses the distinct challenges and opportunities present in the mexican urban context. 6. theoretical framework as the base framework, it will be taken the process involved in the whole life cycle assessment (wlca) (royal institution of chartered surveyors, 2017). where the emphasis will be in stage b, considering renovation strategies. wlca is used in the assessment of the carbon emissions associated with a building throughout its entire lifecycle, from construction and operation to end-of-life scenarios. this assessment takes into account both operational carbon emissions (related to energy consumption during the building's use) and embodied carbon emissions (associated with the construction and maintenance of the building). when applied to existing buildings, the whole life carbon flores/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 assessment focuses on evaluating the carbon impact of the building's ongoing operation, maintenance, and any potential retrofit activities, which is stage b, from 1 to 6 (figure 4). this assessment is used to inform decisions about energy efficiency improvements, retrofit strategies, and other interventions that aim to reduce the building's carbon footprint over time. figure 4: wlca. world green building council. 7. methodology this section outlines the methodology employed to address the complexities inherent in assessing building energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions at an urban scale, particularly in the face of limited information availability. the method is structured into three primary steps, collectively aimed at the creation of an "archetype building information" framework. these steps are conducted iteratively, guided by the pursuit of uncovering an accurate representation of the urban context (figure 5). step 1 – synthetic stock generation: the initial step entails the transition from the architectural to the urban scale, necessitating a paradigm shift to cope with information scarcity. buildings are treated as fundamental model entities, forming the basis for further analysis. this step's foundational concepts are rooted in the dynamics of building ownership, user behavior, and the probabilistic nature of renovation decisions. the synthetic stock generation process is further divided into three essential components: characterization of the buildings: this involves defining the key attributes that distinguish one building unit from another. these attributes encompass physical features, usage patterns, and potential retrofit possibilities. building agents: incorporating the human element, building owners, and users, into the model adds a layer of realism. their behavior, preferences, and decisions play a pivotal role in shaping retrofit choices and energyrelated strategies. building stock initiation: recognizing the need for efficiency, this substep involves categorizing the urban building stock based on critical characteristics. the integration of sixty-seven buildings from the urban approach aids in refining the process and streamlining subsequent stages. flores/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 5: methodology step 2 – building stock dynamics: the second step delves into the dynamic interplay within the urban building stock and its relation to the surrounding environment. the intricacies of this step are informed by economic, environmental, and policy considerations, all of which are intrinsically tied to stock dynamics. three distinct facets constitute this step: identification of retrofit strategy: each building unit is subjected to a meticulous analysis to identify the most suitable retrofit strategy. tailoring these strategies to the individual attributes of buildings ensures a contextually appropriate approach. selection of retrofit strategy: the benefit-to-cost ratio guides the selection process, underlining the significance of economic feasibility. this step aligns retrofit strategies with broader urban sustainability goals. development of retrofit strategy: this aspect considers technological feasibility, policy restrictions, and the availability of market options. a comprehensive strategy emerges from this multifaceted evaluation. step 3 – building stock assessment: the final step involves validating the synthesized data and refining the archetype building information framework. this step ensures the alignment of the framework with real-world data and its accuracy in reflecting urban building stock dynamics. the iterative nature of this research process is essential, as it embodies a continuous quest for the most accurate representation of the urban context. the methodology's journey from step 1 through step 3 is characterized by iterative refinement, aiming to uncover the inherent truths within the urban building stock dynamics and retrofit strategies. zooming in on the building stock model, a detailed analysis reveals the fundamental parameters governing energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. the pivotal concepts leading to step 1 revolve around "owners and users," their decision-making processes, and their role in shaping the built environment. in contrast, the concepts guiding step 2 center on "stock dynamics," encompassing the intricate web of economic, environmental, and policy factors shaping the urban building landscape. flores/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 in summary, this methodology blends quantitative analysis with qualitative human factors, positioning it as a holistic approach to tackle the challenges posed by urban-scale building assessments. through these methodological steps, the study aspires to offer decision-makers a robust framework for devising effective retrofit strategies to enhance energy efficiency and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in urban environments. here we have the location and distribution of the study cases at the urban scale, which will be synthetically constructed. they are sixty-seven buildings property of the federal government, located in the cuauhtemoc district, in the north of mexico city. 8. hypothesis within the context of urban sustainability and building stock retrofitting, this study posits that by employing a valuebased framework capable of amalgamating building stock performance data with the intricate interplay of building stock dynamics (bsd), municipal decision-making processes can be significantly streamlined. consequently, the urban environment will be empowered with an efficient approach to assess and compute retrofit scenarios on a citywide scale. the anticipated outcome of this approach is not solely limited to the enhancement of building performance but also extends to encompass non-energy benefits (nebs) which will be quantitatively appraised, positioning them as indispensable in the evaluation of co2 emissions. 9. preliminary results the analysis was conducted at two distinct scales: the architectural level and an initial foray into the synthetic analysis of the selected 10 buildings, which stand as a representative subset of the initial 65-building sample. at the architectural scale, a comprehensive analysis was undertaken on one of the selected buildings, for which architectural plans were available. this facilitated the input of pertinent information into software platforms like design builder and one click lca, which were chosen for the analysis. the principal aim was to juxtapose the analysis outcomes with available information against scenarios where information was lacking, thereby illuminating the impact of information availability on the analytical results. figure 6: 10 selected study cases figure 7: classification of the 10 selected study cases that will be synthetically modelled flores/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 within the subset of 10 selected buildings, reference data was sourced from the geographic information system of mexico city (cdmx), augmented by direct on-site observations. key data concepts gathered included heat gains, energy consumption, air velocity, temperature, and pressure, as well as embodied carbon, global warming potential, life cycle cost, and life cycle assessment (figure 7). in both cases, the results derived establish the baseline against which subsequent retrofit strategies will be assessed and improved. these forthcoming strategies will constitute the subsequent phase of this research. they will be formulated alongside the consideration of nonenergy benefits (nebs), the building stock drivers influencing retrofit strategies (encompassing economic, environmental, and policy considerations), and building owner information—bringing an economic dimension to cooling, envelope enhancements, and system modifications. preliminary findings indicate a consistency in energy demand behavior among buildings of similar typologies. this discovery serves as a pivotal point in the methodology to define these shared patterns. the difference ratio between baseline and recommended energy demands by ashrae, while variable, exhibits a distinct trend across building types, laying the groundwork for a nuanced understanding of energy consumption within specific architectural contexts. in sum, the examination conducted on the architectural scale, as well as the preliminary synthetic analysis of the subset of 10 buildings, has furnished foundational insights. this serves as a springboard for the imminent phase of devising retrofit strategies and integrating comprehensive considerations that extend beyond mere energy, delving into the intricate nexus of economic, environmental, and policy drivers that influence the urban building stock. by merging these insights, the study aims to establish a robust framework for enhancing energy efficiency and sustainability across urban building stocks while considering the holistic panorama of impacts and benefits. figure 7: analysis of the building on an architectural scale. acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented at the urban planning & architectural design for sustainable development (upadsd) conference – 8th edition which was held on the 24th-26th of october 2023. funding declaration: this research will not be possible without the support of the national council of science and technology of mexico (conacyt), through the scholarship corresponding to the ph.d. program in sciences and humanities abroad 2022. ethics approval: not applicable. flores/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 conflict of interest: the authors declare that there is no competing interest. references finch, g. (2013). net zero building enclosure retrofits for houses: an analysis of retrofit strategies. (conference session). thermal performance of the exterior envelopes of whole buildings xii international conference. ashrae/doe buildings xii, clearwater beach, florida.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305347611_net_zero_building_enclosure_retrofits_for_houses_an_analysis_of_retrof it_strategies institute for building efficiency. (2011). going deeper: a new approach for encouraging retrofits. institute for building efficiency. https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/rmi_document_repository_public-reprts_2011-19_goingdeeperencouragingretrofits.pdf loga, t., & stein, b. (2015). deutsche wohngebäudetypologie. beispielhafte maßnahmen zur verbesserung der energieeffizienz von typischen wohngebäuden. doi: 10.13140/rg.2.2.11714.50881 programme for energy efficiency in buildings, peeb. (2019). building sector brief: mexico. https://www.peeb.build/imglib/downloads/peeb_mexico_country%20brief_jun%202019.pdf comisión nacional para el uso eficiente de la energía, conuee. (2020). el programa de ahorro de energía eléctrica en edificios de la administración pública federal: un recuento (1993-2019). https://www.conuee.gob.mx/transparencia/boletines/cuadernos/cuadernono7nuevocliclo.pdf international energy agency, iea. (2015). building energy performance metrics. https://www.iea.org/reports/building-energy-performancemetrics nishimwe & reiter. (2021). estimation, analysis and mapping of electricity consumption of a regional building stock in a temperate climate in europe. energy and buildings. 253. 111535. 10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.111535. yamaguchi et al. 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(2016). evaluation of embodied energy and co2eq for building construction (annex 57), in energy in buildings and community programm. international energy agency. jemtrud, m. (2021). mcgill, a.p.o.a., nserc_alliance2021_recon. mcgill university. nägeli et al. (2020). towards agent-based building stock modeling: bottom-up modeling of long-term stock dynamics affecting the energy and climate impact of building stocks. energy and buildings. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.109763 nägeli et al. (2018). synthetic building stocks as a way to assess the energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions of national building stocks. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2018.05.055 ding et al. (2021). data-driven analysis tool plays critical role in climate neutral buildings. advances in applied energy. doi: 10.1016/j.adapen.2021.100014 li, h. (2019). targeting building energy efficiency opportunities: an open-source analytical & benchmarking tool. 2019 ashrae winter conference. https://events.rdmobile.com/sessions/details/520379 medrano-gómez & izquierdo. (2017). social housing retrofit: improving energy efficiency and thermal comfort for the housing stock recovery in mexico. doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2017.08.006 flores et al. (2022). estimating a national energy security index in mexico: a quantitative approach and public policy implications. ssrn electronic journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4185658 torres & niewöhner. (2023). whose energy sovereignty? competing imaginaries of mexico’s energy future. energy research &amp; social science, 96, 102919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102919 mercado fernandez & baker. (2022). the sustainability of decarbonizing the grid: a multi-model decision analysis applied to mexico. renewable and sustainable energy transition. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rset.2022.100020 royal institution of chartered surveyors, rics, (2017). whole life carbon assessment for the built environment. https://www.rics.org/professionstandards/rics-standards-and-guidance/sector-standards/construction-standards/whole-life-carbon-assessment http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 10 october 2024, accepted: 5 december 2024, published online: 31 december 2024 doi: 10.21625/essd.v9i4.1135 quantitative method for post-windstorm function of community shelters considering the impact of urban road network lu zhang1 and shuang tan2 1ph.d. candidate at school of civil engineering, chongqing university, china 2m.eng. postgraduate at school of civil engineering, chongqing university, china abstract during strong windstorms in coastal cities, community shelters play a crucial role in reducing injures and ensuring the basic living needs of citizens. however, previous studies mainly focus on the function assessment of healthcare systems during earthquakes, few studies discuss the post-windstorm functionality of community shelters. thus, this study proposes a quantitative method for the post-windstorm function of community shelters considering the impact of urban road networks. in which, the refugee traveling time (rtt) and refugee admitted ratio (rar) are introduced to quantify the post-windstorm functionality of community shelters. both the networks of urban roads and community shelters are established using graph theory, and the wind-induced fragilities of urban road facilities are included to quantify the physical damages during windstorms, including tree/pole blow-down, damages on building envelops, etc. then, the population distribution and refugee generation models are also introduced. to determine accurate rtt and rar, an efficient traffic flow allocation algorithm based on stochastic non-equilibrium assignment model are proposed to calculate the post-windstorm flows on urban roads. the proposed method can accurately and effectively quantify the post-windstorm functionality of community shelters, which can be applied on different cities and help improving urban resilience under wind hazards. © 2024 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords windstorm; community shelters; refugee; wind-induced fragility; urban road network; post-windstorm functionality 1. introduction in recent years, the economic losses and population injuries caused by strong windstorms have increased considerably and frequently in coastal cities. such as the hurricane michael landing at the western atlantic coast in 2018 and the typhoon lekima landing at the western pacific coast in 2019, which caused transportation disruptions, water and power outages, and unsuitable living buildings in multiple regions of the united states and china, forcing tens of thousands of people to seek refuge in emergency shelters, ranging from a few days to several months (roueche and prevatt 2013; huang and wang 2024). due to the capacity of the city shelter systems (css) after strong wind disasters is closely related to the ability to evacuate and transport people to shelters after strong wind disasters. thus, it is necessary to carry out the capacity assessment of css after strong storm disasters to help quickly organize personnel to shelters, and minimize wind disaster losses and casualties as much as possible for the government. http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v9i4.1135&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ zhang/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 a large number of previous studies focused on the function assessment of urban systems after extreme disaster events, including earthquakes, typhoons, tornadoes, floods, etc. (nofal et al., 2023; dong et al., 2022; pei et al., 2023; huang and wang 2024; anwar et al., 2022; zhang et al., 2024). among them, most studies are related to the function assessment of urban systems after earthquake disasters, and several scholars have conducted functional evaluation on network systems such as water supply, power supply, hospitals, and transportations after earthquake disasters (amin and padgett 2023; nie et al., 2023; liu et al., 2020; yu et al., 2019). several studies focus on evacuation plans through transportation systems under risks, but their consideration of physical damages to transportation systems is limited (russo and rindone 2024). the studies on windstorm disasters mainly focus on power supply and transportation systems, and most of them investigated on independent systems(pei et al., 2023; huang and wang 2024). the css function under strong windstorms depends on urban road networks and shelters at the same time. after windstorms, refugees need to be transferred to shelters through the road network, and the space provided by shelters for refugees is generally limited. if a shelter is crowded with refugees, new refugees have to change their destination to another shelter and the overflow of refugees would be transferred once through the road network. the studies on function assessment of css considering the influences of coupled shelters and road networks after strong storm disasters are very limited. the function assessment of css is similar to the post-disaster hospital capacity assessment, but compared to earthquake disasters, the main losses are living function loss of buildings during strong windstorms, and the function of css after strong windstorms will be affected by normal traffic flows. given the lack of studies on the function assessment of css that considers the interdependence between urban shelters and road networks after strong windstorms. thus, this study proposes a framework for the function assessment of css after strong windstorms. the proposed method can be applied to evaluate css function of any cities under strong windstorms, which can help the government make more reasonable decisions during postand pre-windstorms to reduce wind-induced personnel and economic losses in coastal areas. 2. quantitative method for post-windstorm function of community shelters given that previous studies usually neglect the interdependence between shelters and road networks, and there is no function assessment method for css after strong windstorms. thus, this study establishes an assessment framework for css function considering the interdependence between shelters and road networks under strong windstorms by introducing graph theory and engineering fragilities, as shown in figure 1. the key steps involved are as follows: (1) css topology model. identify shelters and road networks through the gis method, and simplify key facilities and road networks into nodes and links using graph theory. (2) wind-induced engineering fragilities. based on, conduct fragility analysis on the key infrastructures of the identified urban shelters and road networks. (3) css function indicators and assessment. construct function indicators of css including the shelter efficiency and capacity under wind disasters, and conduct the function evaluation of css. the detailed contents are described from section 3 to section 5. figure 1 framework of the post-windstorm function of community shelter system (css) (from authors) target community functionality and building type css topology gis graph theory wind load coefficients on building surface cfd/wtt spatial distribution of wind speed fragility of css ancillary facilitiesenvelopes obstacles road interruption road demanding coordination windstorm data/simulation windborne debris mcs residences low/high-rise buildings road network node-line connections shelters large-span structures ancillary facilities trees, poles, signboards 0 = −  z r s pre-windstorm functionality post-windstorm functionality population distribution l idis /= post preq p p prep postp zhang/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 3. modeling the interdependent network between shelters and urban roads to carry out the function assessment of css, the primary step is constructing a dual system network of shelters and road networks. graph theory is often used to simplify the actual engineering systems into a topological structure model composed of nodes and links(sharma and gardoni, 2022; bocchini and frangopol, 2011), as shown in figure 2. the required information for establishing a topology model includes the types of key infrastructures, the distribution of road networks, and the relationships between each key facility, such as road networks, sports venues, medical facilities, schools, etc. these data can be can be extracted through open-resource satellite maps. figure 2 topology network of css (from authors) based on the collected information from gis, the topology model can be established by several matrixes using graph theory(sharma and gardoni, 2022), as shown in figure 3. (1) connection matrix, describing the matrix of key facility connection relationships; (2) demand matrix, reflecting the evacuation needs of each node after a disaster; (3) capacity matrix, reflecting the proportion of people that can be accommodated in shelters; (4) traffic efficiency matrix, reflecting the traffic efficiency between different nodes. normalized values are used for each matrix. figure 3 topology matrixes (from authors) 4. wind hazards to evaluate the emergency shelter function of cities after strong storms, it is necessary to determine the distribution of strong storm disaster fields in the city, and then determine the damage status of key facilities based on the vulnerability results of various key facilities in the network system, and then evaluate the network function status. wind hazard map the distribution characteristics of wind speed fields at the urban community scale can be determined through wind tunnel tests(chen et al., 2018) and computational fluid dynamics simulations(wang and wang, 2024). considering the high cost of wind tunnel tests, this study uses cfd methods to determine the wind speed field distribution in the study area under different wind directions. wind-induced physical damages the variety of critical urban facilities means that conducting fragility analyses for each one can be time-consuming and computationally intensive. therefore, this study categorizes common wind-induced fragilities into two main categories, as illustrated in figure 4. (1) wind-induced fragility of envelopes. consider wind-induced damage to low rise building roof panels and damage to roof windows caused by wind-induced debris on the roof(gu et al., 2023). (2) wind induced fragility of ancillary facilities of road network(gu et al., 2021; wen and xie, 2020; panteli et al., 2017). the ancillary facilities of the road network only consider wind-induced damage to poles, billboards, and zhang/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 roadside trees, and the damage mode only considers bottom bending failure. the state equations of wind-induced damage for each key facility are shown in figure 4. figure 4 wind-induced fragility models (from authors) 5. functionality loss of community shelter system evaluating the css function requires comprehensive consideration of various indicators. this study intends to use two types of indicators, namely shelter efficiency and venue capacity, to evaluate the emergency shelter function. by comparing the post disaster values of the two indicators with the initial state values, the final shelter system function indicator value q is obtained, as shown in figure 1. 5.1. refugee travelling time (rtt) using the total travel time as the efficiency indicator for evacuees, as shown in equation (1). where i represents the starting node of the ith group of refugees, j represents the jth shelter, ijs represents the number of refugees from node i to node j, ijd represents the shortest path length from node i to node j, and ijv represents the travel speed from node i to node j. actually, the majority of buildings are concrete and steel structures in china cities, and they are rarely damaged by windstorms. after a windstorm, only some nodes and routes may be interrupted due to physical damage of road ancillary facilitates, the transportation system usually continues to operate with the reduced function. which means that the normal transportation needs, such as the flow to work or to study, are still exist with the flow of refugees at same time after the windstorm, and the shelter needs account for a small proportion of total transportation needs. based on above, the stochastic non-equilibrium assignment is used to calculate the traffic flow and speed of each line, and the logit probability function is used in this paper. to evaluate the css function, the ijv and ijd of the shortest path from node i to node j ( j is the shelter node) to define the refugee travelling time indicator as shown in equation (1). in which, ijv is determined by the stochastic non-equilibrium assignment. / 1 1 n m ijrtt initial post ij i j ij j i d p s v= =  = (1) 5.2. refugee admitted ratio (rar) using the ratio of the number of refugees to the capacity of the venue as another evaluation indicator, as shown in equation (2). where j represents the jth shelter, js represents the total number of refugees arriving at node j, and jr represents the capacity of the shelter at node j. to consider the impact of strong storm disasters, the capacity of emergency shelters and the number of refugees generated after the windstorms are continuously updated to update the capacity of refugees. zhang/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 / 1 m jrar initial post j j s p r= = (2) 6. conclusions considering the significant economic and human losses often experienced in coastal cities during severe storm events, it is necessary to evacuate large numbers of people to emergency shelters to minimize these losses. however, there is a paucity of research evaluating the effectiveness of urban emergency shelter functions specifically in the context of wind disasters. thus, this study proposes a quantitative method for post-windstorm function of community shelters considering the impact of urban road network. in which, the refugee travelling time (rtt) and refugee admitted ratio (rar) are introduced to quantify the post-windstorm functionality of community shelters. both the networks of urban roads and community shelters are established using graph theory, and the wind-induced fragilities of urban road facilities are included to quantify the physical damages during windstorms, including tree/pole blow-down, damages on building envelops, etc. then, the population distribution and refugee generation models are also introduced. to determine accurate rtt and rar, an efficient traffic flow allocation algorithm based on stochastic non-equilibrium assignment model are proposed to calculate the post-windstorm flows on urban roads. the proposed method can accurately and effectively quantify the post-windstorm functionality of community shelters, which can be applied on different cities and help improving urban resilience under wind hazards. acknowledgment. the abstract of this paper was presented at the resilient and responsible architecture and urbanism (rrau) conference—6th edition, which was held on the 8th – 10th of december 2024. funding declaration: this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals ethics approval: not applicable. conflict of interest: the authors 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(2024). methods for risk reduction: training and exercises to pursue the planned evacuation. sustainabi lity 16(4):1474. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16041474 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received:18 march 2025, accepted:02 september 2025, published online: 30 september 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd. v10i3.1195 mutual adaptation in adaptive reuse practice: the case of borgo monteruga and the apulian olive cultural landscape elena guidetti1, riccardo ronzani2 1arch. phd, assistant professor, department of architecture and design, politecnico di torino university, italy 2arch. phd, research fellow, department of architecture and design, politecnico di torino university, italy abstract this contribution presents the case study of the adaptation of borgo monteruga, a strategic and synergistic adaptive reuse project that follows a mutual adaptation approach for both an architectural asset and a cultural and productive landscape. current environmental and energy challenges the economic and social balance of mediterranean landscapes. this phenomenon is evident in salento territory, where the xylella fastidiosa bacterium has devastated the traditional olive crop, obliterating the iconic olive-growing landscape and leading to the abandonment of vast tracts of land. within this context, the dismissed 1930s farm village of borgo monteruga is part of a cultural landscape in danger. consequently, the reuse of borgo monteruga offers an opportunity to develop a pilot strategy to revitalize both the village and its surrounding landscape. the project has two objectives. first, reconstructing the apulian cultural landscape involves replanting the olive trees. this effort addresses contemporary challenges such as climate change and sustainable energy production by integrating an agrivoltaic system as an economic driver to support the adaptive reuse process. second, the recovery of borgo monteruga serves as a model for the rehabilitation of other early 20th-century rural settlements within a regional network. the research project employs a research-by-design method through the single case study methodological approach. the design project itself is the tool to both understand the phenomenon of abandonment of this historic 1920 farm village. the “research by design” approach aims to develop a site-specific project that exemplifies best practices. the project aspires to redefine mediterranean-built heritage as an inseparable part of its cultural landscape. thus, cross-scale adaptation should be conceived as a mutual process, integrating architecture and landscape, function and production, agricultural tradition, and contemporary challenges. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords cross-scale approach; synergic adaptive reuse; research-by-design; cultural landscape restoration; historical farm-village http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i3.1194&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ guidetti/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 1. introduction the italian landscape is one of the most historically admired cultural landscapes in the world (settis, 2010), and it is mainly the result of the stratification of centuries of agricultural activity (sereni, 1961). throughout history, the italian landscape has been strictly related to agricultural production. agriculture is essential for humans because it is the main source of energy supply for assuring livelihood and strength to the organisms (colombo, 1996; smil, 2017). technical and social advancements and the cultural implications of mankind depend above all on the available energy (smil, 2017); the activity of energy production has always been of crucial importance to develop any kind of production. for this reason, agriculture played a key role in the relationship between humans and their environment, defining landscapes that properly embodied the values and cultures of communities at a given time (pasqualetti, 2012). according to the consideration that agriculture is, in fact, energy production (colombo, 1996; smil, 2017) and with the definition of energy landscape a landscape whose appearance is characterised purely by energy production activities (pasqualetti, 2012; allemand, 2021) then we can state that the agricultural landscapes are essentially energy-productive landscapes (allemand, 2021; stremke et al., 2022) which have undergone numerous transformations over the centuries, both for the advancements in agricultural activity and the economic market, and for the new issues and the technical progress in the energy field. today, energy landscapes are facing important moments of transition (allemand, 2021). agriculture faces climate change challenges, monoculture economies, and increasingly frequent ecosystem imbalances (hultgren et al., 2025), while land dedicated to agriculture continues to shrink in favour of other needs, such as renewable energy production (havrysh et al., 2022). particularly in the mediterranean context, it is increasingly occupied by renewable energy production plants, which are gradually trying to replace the more compact fossil fuel plants. according to these considerations, multiple issues are impacting the countryside in the mediterranean context. current literature often addresses agricultural change and energy production separately; however, integrated designdriven frameworks that strategically address both within mediterranean rural landscapes remain underexplored. the research work presented in this paper offers an example of an approach capable of considering both agricultural and energy transitions to develop mutual growth strategies to meet contemporary challenges. the approach proposed within this research is a research-through-design approach (nijhuis & de vries, 2019), focused on a specific case. according to the principles of the research-through-design activity, this method allows overcoming the complexity caused by the presence of multiple factors (like the ecological problems, the energy production issue, the landscape perception, the social acceptance of the intervention, and so on) to face the problems with an overall perspective (roggema, 2017). the final objective is to demonstrate how contemporary energy landscapes can provide an opportunity to implement mutual development models between different productive activities, including landscape quality and environmental aspects. the approach proposed in this contribution is strategic in optimising the available land in our countryside, and is indispensable for generating new landscape types that are able to meet contemporary challenges without simplifications or rhetorical approaches. although italian agricultural landscapes historically acted as energy-productive cultural systems, current studies typically separate agricultural transformation from energy transitions. as a result, design-driven strategies that integrate renewable energy deployment with agricultural heritage and maintain landscape quality in mediterranean rural areas are lacking. for this reason, the present study does not include quantitative data on the energy production performance of the agrovoltaic system. this limitation stems from the early stage of system implementation and the need for extended monitoring to generate reliable and representative results. nevertheless, recognizing the importance of such data for a comprehensive assessment of feasibility and long-term sustainability, these aspects will be addressed in subsequent phases of the research. in the meantime, this study advances a design-based framework that bridges the current gap by envisioning energy landscapes that safeguard the cultural and environmental values of the mediterranean context. future developments will further deepen and strengthen the scope and relevance of this work. guidetti/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 1.1. the salento (apulia region, italy) the agricultural landscape of salento, in the apulia region, located in southern italy, is a clear example of this situation. historically rich in different production cultures (i.e., olives, vineyards, crops, and tobacco) and at a crucial point in the lower mediterranean markets, it gradually moves towards a monoculture of olive trees, which has been developed in these lands since ancient times. during the 18th and 19th centuries, olive oil, once produced to be used for lighting, gradually became a luxury edible product, while energy production changed, leading to the use of fossil fuels and the spread of electricity. in this context, the salento landscape became an iconic agricultural landscape dedicated to the culture of olive trees, whose edible oil is protected and famous throughout the world (composeo, 2015) during the last decades, two very different phenomena have impacted this landscape, severely threatening its integrity, but also opening new possibilities and future paths. on the one hand, the xylella fastidiosa infection has completely devastated the olive landscape, which today sees both its aesthetic value and its main agricultural economy disappear. in even years only (2012-2019), this infection has caused a significant loss of agricultural production, generating economic damage of about 7 billion euros (fargione et al., 2021). to this is added the problem of the depreciation of agricultural land affected by the xylella bacterium, which in some cases has contributed to the collapse of the value of infected areas even by 70 %. this phenomenon has erased a part of the cultural and economic value of this very specific landscape, rooted in agricultural production. how could this be addressed as an opportunity instead of a tragedy only? may we consider the need to recover this landscape as a potential for integrating others' productive potentials? it is a matter of fact that the electricity produced by the two coal-fired power plants in the apulia region, particularly in brindisi, is gradually being replaced by renewable energy production, wind, and photovoltaic. during the last decade, the apulia region has seen an exponential growth of technologies and plants for renewable energy, recording, only from 2010 to 2016, an increase of +173% of installed power, reaching more than 43.000 renewable energy plants spread in the territory. solar pv (solar photovoltaic system) is the most widespread technology within the region, for 97.9% of the total renewable energy plants, and this makes puglia the first region in italy for solar energy production; most of the photovoltaic fields are located in salento. this phenomenon has generated highly criticized energy landscapes (as they are not properly designed and planned), but also opens up economic opportunities (by giving new functions to infected and now useless fields) and opportunities to rethink new cultural landscape types, which can become parts of the future heritage. this landscape is characterised not only by land use in terms of production, but also by the built heritage that has supported such production, providing shelter to inhabitants employed in the agricultural production cycle, and, perhaps, tomorrow might work for energy production too. the built heritage related to agriculture in the salento region is related to the agrarian reform from the 1930s, which built several farm villages along with the remediation of this land. most of these settlements are today dismissed and, more generally, not linked to agricultural production anymore. in this paper, the selected case study of borgo monteruga is one of them. 1.2. adaptive reuse of a dismissed productive landscape can the reuse practices traditionally applied to built heritage be adapted, with the necessary adjustments, to these landscapes as well? first, we need to recognize that productive landscapes (such as agricultural ones) may also be considered part of cultural heritage. the definition of which forms and artefacts are deemed worthy of preservation— and how to preserve them—is an evolving concept. however, the preservation of “obsolete forms,” even when they no longer serve contemporary needs, is a relatively recent concern, even within european culture (stubbs, 2009). this article aims to explore, through the project, how energy, culture, and transformation can synergize in the fragile mediterranean landscapes that are on the verge of reinventing their traditional productive identity. these landscapes, rich in cultural heritage, are examined through the lens of sustainability and heritage conservation. this project applies a phenomenological approach, which examines phenomena as they occur and reflects on them retrospectively to draw general insights (moran, 2000). it seeks to apply adaptive reuse from a cross-scale perspective. guidetti/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 by analyzing a post-agricultural landscape alongside the dismissed built heritage of borgo monteruga through the lens of its potential for adaptation. the research project aims to focus on the morphological characteristics that might define the variations in its transformation process. the landscape here is meant as a palimpsest (machado, 1976) that, through a “research by design” approach, is accommodating to interplaying yet different shifts of use: the former olive fields to an agrivoltaics landscape for energy and olive oil production, and the dismissed rationalist farm-village to a hybrid infrastructure for users. 1.3. methodological approach the contribution presents research work developed using a research-through-design approach. the project becomes a tool for testing possible solutions that can help both better understand the nature of the landscape that exists today and imagine possible alternative solutions for the future. in landscape architecture research (deming, swaffield, 2011), the research-through-design approach is a method that has only developed in recent years, and uses design drawings to synthesise a broader and more complex process of research and design experimentation (nijhuis, de vries, 2019). this approach is particularly beneficial for developing landscape and landscape-transformation research, because this subject is characterised by a high degree of complexity (roggema, 2017; nijhuis, de vries, 2019). the landscape, including different instances, values, and actors, is a subject that is almost impossible to read and interpret according to specific points of view. on the other hand, the project grants the possibility of treating the subject in its entirety, including the individual peculiarities that define it, without them all being equally studied or examined in depth (roggema, 2017). in this research, the research-through-design approach was applied to a specific case study. the aim is not to develop several design solutions to compare, but rather to develop a single solution, a synthesis of a series of reasonings, which can then be analysed and criticised constructively. for this reason, at the end of the research work, the project obtained is not necessarily the only possible or the best solution in absolute terms. on the contrary, the project developed corresponds to a possible solution that makes certain potentialities visible and simultaneously opens up specific critical questions. in this way, the purpose of research by design is not to obtain a project but to investigate a design strategy capable of subverting the usual or more traditional techniques. in developing this project, the approach synthesises a few main demands. on the one hand, the initial problem was to reconstruct the apulian agricultural landscape, characterised by olive groves. on the other hand, there was a need to make this operation economically sustainable. for this reason, energy production was included. at this point, it was crucial to think about the landscape impact of this type of intervention, and the visual impact of the photovoltaic panels, as well as their impact on the natural system and biodiversity. in this way, the project became a research tool, because it was the instrument capable of coherently synthesising the simultaneous application of multiple actions (roggema, 2017) – as indicated in the guidelines of the landscape architecture discipline (deming, swaffield, 2011). the project presented here was verified, at the conclusion stage of the research, through a discussion with experts from other disciplines, such as agronomic sciences, sociology, and the landscape approach, the developers of the business plan. the solution presented responds to the various issues that are included in the landscape problem, transforming the starting conditions into opportunities to generate an innovative type of landscape, capable of responding to the needs but also the cultural aspirations of our time (allemand et al, 2021; stremke et al, 2022). from a more operational point of view, all research maps were created from digital mapping databases and then edited, supplemented, and manually corrected following a project site visit and on-site measurements. photographs were taken specifically for the research, using a drone that enabled the acquisition of an overall view of the entire property. the table below (table 1) summarizes the main phases of the research-by-design approach in relation to the inputs, the outputs, and the objectives. guidetti/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 table 1. research-by-design approach summary (by the authors, 2022) phase inputs / data sources outputs / deliverables connection to research objectives 1. analysis (weeks 1–4) landscape context; agricultural heritage; historical maps and photos, energy production data, and eu regulatory framework. on-site fieldwork. contextual maps; identification of key landscape-energy issues, photos. illuminates historical interactions between agriculture and energy use; frames challenges in mediterranean rural landscapes researchdesign (weeks 5–8) analysis outputs; research-throughdesign principles; comparable bestpractices analysis in adaptive reuse and landscape renewal. conceptual frameworks; preliminary design sketches starts integrating agricultural heritage and energy transitions via design orientation 3. design proposal (weeks 9– 12) conceptual design drafts; stakeholder/environmental considerations finalized design proposal; strategic spatial design model demonstrates how renewable energy can coexist with agricultural heritage while preserving mediterranean landscape quality figure 1 location of monteruga within the salento area affected by the xylella infection (by the authors, 2022). 2. borgo monteruga case study: a cross-scale analysis as figure 1 shows, monteruga is located in a rural area, in the countryside between different municipalities in the province of lecce (veglie, nardò, avetrana e san pancrazio salentino). the small settlement is at the centre of a vast land property of 588 hectares, enclosed within a perimeter of more than 15.000 meters. for this reason, this case study offers the opportunity to develop a unitary, multi-scale project that moves from the architectural to the landscape scale. the orography is without significant relief, and the current lack of trees creates a monotonous and flat visual effect. the only visible elements, which are also significant morphological elements of the landscape, include some lines of secular trees, historic dry-stone walls for the delimitation of the field, and a network of water canals for irrigation. guidetti/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 historically, this area was mainly dedicated to the culture of olive trees, while some fields are deputed to the cultivation of vineyards and arable land; the xylella infection, however, has caused a drastic change in the agricultural landscape, leading to a current almost desert configuration of neglect and unproductivity (vigliocco et. al, 2024). within its boundaries, the property contains one main property, the farm village from the 1930s, joined with an original settlement dating back to the 1850s, another secondary farmhouse (named masseria ciurli), and several other small ruins of agricultural and breeding buildings. the land is crossed by three asphalted roads connected to the neighbouring towns and villages, and by several unpaved paths which define and structure the territorial morphologies. despite these roads, monteruga is a very isolated agricultural property, located far away from settlements, main events and fairs locations, or other agricultural productive farmhouses. considering all these features, monteruga is a very significant and iconic example of the salento rural landscape, whose high-quality aesthetic and environmental biodiversity have been strongly threatened in recent decades by a uniform monoculture approach and, later, by the xylella infection and other environmental issues, as climate change, desertification, and increasing air pollution. monteruga is not only an account of what has happened or is happening in recent periods, but it is also an important experiment of what can become in the future too. given the vastness of the area and the favourable climatic conditions, some energy speculation projects envisage the ruthless construction of forty-two wind turbines in the area, whose visual impact on the landscape would be destructive. in this context, the implementation of other energy technologies and new agricultural strategies seems to be the necessary solution to safeguard a natural landscape, its cultural values, and biodiversity (veglie news, 2021). as figure 2 shows, within this vast portion of land, the farm settlement of borgo monteruga is nowadays visible from any place in the surroundings, due to the absence of trees, removed in 2020 after the xylella infection spread. figure 2 aerial view of the borgo monteruga and the surroundings (by the authors, 2022). the main building in the property is borgo monteruga (represented in figure 3), one of the fourteen rural villages of the agrarian reform 1924 -1933 in apulia. the farm village is an isolated agricultural settlement. its isolation is a key factor, offering the potential for a collaborative approach to reimagining the agricultural landscape. building in two main phases, the settlement is divided into the historical village from the 1850s and the farm village from 1928. (biasco 1932, mainardi 1994) the settlement hosted about 800 inhabitants in the 1960s, with residential dwellings for more than 30 families, a school, a church, and other facilities for workers and their families, along with buildings for manufacturing the products from olive trees, vineyards, and tobacco plants. the settlement is completely abandoned. it hosts temporary uses such as a film venue or photo shoot set. the village is structured by multiple guidetti/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 buildings arranged along a spacious courtyard. the total plot covers approximately 85,000 square meters, with the built area occupying over 8,500 square meters of gross floor space. in full accordance with agrarian reform principles and the application of rationalism along with the fascist regime’s narrative, the plan layout of the rural village of monteruga is reminiscent of that of an ancient roman colony, a kind of citadel characterized by regular streets and sharp, geometric architectural lines. while the nucleus of the ancient farm takes up the closed courtyard layout of the apulian farms, the borgo is described on three sides but opens onto the territory to the south. even the north side, although closing on the church, overlooks the landscape. the resulting image is metaphysical. figure 3 – general plan and morphological consistency of the borgo monteruga (by the authors, 2022). 3. a mutual adaptation project the adaptation of this landscape involves addressing both its tangible and intangible elements. this includes replanting olive trees and fostering the conditions necessary to revive the olive-growing economy. by analyzing the established components of the apulian landscape, the design elements needed for its mutual adaptation can be identified and implemented. as figure 4 summarizes, three main actions, in a specific timespan (t0-t4), lead to this development: a1) reactivating olive oil production through the reimplanting of olive trees; a2) enhancing the production diversity by perceptive mitigation, and the new agrivoltaic park; a3) boosting the use of this landscape through new cycle-pedestrian paths and the re-functioning of borgo monteruga. the timeline considers four main phases: 1) design phase, 2) planting and construction, 3) operation, and 4) substitution. guidetti/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 1 multilevel timeline of the project, organized in 3 design actions (by the authors, 2022) creating new alliance alliances between population, production, environment, and landscape is one of the main goals of the project; re-inhabiting monteruga does not mean bringing the agricultural village back to its origins but, starting from the interpretation of its potential, imagining a new balance between the settlement and the landscape where it is located, between the agriculture and the new energy production systems, between the nature and what is artificial. so, designing the monteruga landscape means acting on both its material and immaterial components. it means replanting the olive trees and creating the conditions to reactivate the olive-growing economy. this responds to the first action envisaged by the project (a1 = action 1, as figure 4 shows), the reactivation of the olive trees' agricultural activity. the project defines a geometric grid of 12x12 meters for planting olive trees, to continue the tradition of the historical olive fields, and aims to re-create the landscapes that the xylella has destroyed. this ambitious project meets an essential economic problem; indeed, covering almost 600 hectares with new olive trees (approximately 100,000 hedgerow olive trees and more than 2,000 individual olive trees) and waiting for the first olive production after many years, is economically unsustainable. a strategy is essential for supporting the costs of such a project, and the energy issues during this period of transition can become an opportunity for imagining new types of energy agricultural landscapes. this is the second action envisaged by the project, the production and landscape diversification (a2 = action 2, as figure 4 shows). the second action (a2) of the project aims to strategically introduce photovoltaic energy production, partially substituting the lines of trees, for producing green energy; at the end of the solar panels' life cycle, after about thirty or forty years, they can be replaced with new olive trees, to gradually restore a completely natural landscape. in doing so, the landscape carries on its historical vocation as an agricultural and energy landscape, but at the same time incorporates the new values of the energy transition and contemporary challenges, becoming a new type of innovative and experimental landscape. similar approaches have already been tested in european and mediterranean contexts and have proved helpful in supporting the reintroduction of agricultural species at risk or to be reintroduced in contexts particularly affected by drought. these experiences certainly include the agrivoltaic technique used for reintroducing cedar trees in calabria, campania, sicily, and sardinia (the greenhouse project in scalea, calabria, is exemplary). if one moves instead to colder climates (to northern europe, for example), one finds experiments in agri-voltaic integrations to support the cultivation of raspberries (north brabant, holland). the panels protect these delicate plants from too much sun and weather, initiating positive synergies. guidetti/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 however, these simulations are tested experimentally on relatively small portions of land. the project proposed in this case aims to reason on a large scale, re-imagine small production plants, and redesign entire landscape portions. precisely considering the vastness of the area of intervention, it is not uniformly designed; on the contrary, the design changes and adapts at points when approaching the village of monteruga, when flanking roads, or when approaching property boundaries. therefore, areas exclusively dedicated to olive trees alternate with agrivoltaic areas of olive trees and panels, which in turn may have denser or more distant plots. the aim is to create an agricultural and photovoltaic landscape with varying densities. the diversification envisaged by the second action (a2) of the project involves not only the photovoltaic installation, but it is also an agricultural issue too. a not monotonous landscape and a rich environment do not only mean reintroducing olive trees and introducing solar technologies, but they also mean re-creating the lost conditions of a multiplicity of cultures, diversity, visual variation, and visual and ecological non-homogeneity. to achieve this aim, the final layout is also enriched by the presence of different cultures (figure 5). this operation is supported by agrarian studies for selecting those cultures that fulfil three basic requirements: • selected crops must be compatible with soil conditions and with the cultivation of olives, under whose trees they must develop; • selected crops must be able to integrate with photovoltaic technology, the shading of which affects the amount of light the crops can receive; • the selected crops must be able to be managed in a mechanised way (to ensure the economic sustainability of the project). considering these requirements, the selected adding crops are artichokes, legume plants, and lucerne. figure 2 examples of olive tree fields integrated with photovoltaic arrays and different types of other crops (by the authors, 2022) the landscape project becomes, after all these measures, a meticulous project that is anything but uniform. it is a very site-specific project, in which the focus is always on how to manage the boundary lines, the connection or separation between different areas, the reconstruction of a landscape that is coherent but never monotonous, agricultural but never monocultural, energetic but also natural. the landscape project is meant to be triggered and supported by the re-inhabitation of the farm village through the adaptive reuse of existing buildings and to include actions on the cyclo-pedestrian path (a3 = action 3, as figure 4 shows). the following figure summarizes the adaptive reuse proposal along with the olive trees re-implanting. such a proposal does not provide a functional pattern, but instead focuses on compatible uses. the third action (a3) involves the creation of a new cycling and pedestrian path that connects borgo monteruga and the farmhouse to the existing road network. it also includes the adaptive reuse of borgo monteruga through minimal volumetric additions that reinforce the existing structure and character of the settlement. architectural elements such as the built footprint and the dry stone walls serve as guiding axes for the orientation of a 12-by-12-meter grid used for the planting of olive trees (see figure 6) guidetti/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 figure 3 – final proposed layout for borgo monteruga and the surroundings (by the authors, 2022). 4. conclusion: toward a mutual approach the mutual adaptation of monteruga is not about restoring the agricultural village to its original state, but rather about reinterpreting its potential to envision a new equilibrium. these farms, deeply rooted in history, are to be regarded as cultural heritage that should play an active role in the recovery and revitalization strategies of rural mediterranean landscapes. through this study, borgo monteruga is presented as both an exemplary and experimental case. while the developed project responds to the initial challenges, its ambition extends further. the intention is to test the possibilities offered by a mutual design approach—one that harmonizes new energy technologies, traditional agricultural practices, and the conservation of protected farm villages. regarding limitations, as outlined in the introduction, the absence of quantitative performance data—due to the early stage of system implementation—remains a constraint. nevertheless, future research will expand on this framework through long-term monitoring, enabling a more comprehensive assessment of its feasibility and sustainability. however, the main limitation of this case study lies in its unique context: it examines a single property with a settlement recognized as architectural and cultural heritage following extensive landscape loss caused by the xylella fastidiosa epidemic. this approach could be applied to other rural mediterranean areas where agricultural land is abandoned or degraded—such as post-xylella zones in apulia—or regions affected by monocultures, soil depletion, and climate stress, by diversifying agricultural and energy production to revitalize and sustainably redesign exhausted landscapes. looking ahead, the project sets a foundation for broader implementation strategies. these include establishing adaptable design guidelines for similar rural contexts, developing partnerships with local communities and institutions to ensure long-term stewardship, and creating frameworks for sustainable energy integration and agricultural tourism. the outcomes from borgo monteruga may inform policy recommendations and funding strategies at the regional and national levels. in doing so, this contribution represents a valuable first step in imagining and shaping innovative, resilient, and culturally embedded practices for the future design of mediterranean landscapes. guidetti/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented at the landscapes across the mediterranean (crossmed) conference – 1st edition, which was held on the 11th 13th of december 2024. funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit 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(2024), “co-productive energy landscape project: borgo monteruga”, in ardeth, vol. 13, 2024. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095099 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 24 july 2024, accepted: 10 february 2025, published online: 27 march 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i1.1103 residential comfort and energy efficiency in a csb mediterranean climate: an adaptive comfort study tom sanya senior lecturer, school of architecture geomatics and planning, university of cape town. abstract indoor thermal comfort safeguards occupant health and wellbeing and is a driver of energy consumption in buildings and greenhouse gas emissions. this paper assesses the indoor thermal conditions in a naturally ventilated middleclass residence in the mediterranean climate of cape town. data logged in two separate rooms was imputed into ladybug, a building environmental design software, to execute a full-year adaptive comfort simulation for each room. it was found that indoor thermal comfort can be maintained by passive, psychological and behaviourial adaptive measures only without the need for artificial space conditioning. the upper indoor adaptive comfort limit for cape town was found to be 29°c. indoor temperatures rarely exceeded this upper limit. therefore, overheating is not a problem in the naturally ventilated residence. the lower adaptive comfort limit for cape town was found to be 19°c. in both rooms, a significant number of hours had temperatures below this threshold. the northwest-facing room was found to be excessively cold for 45% of the year. the southeast-facing room was found to be excessively cold for 75% of the year. at 55 percent, the hours of the year for which the logged indoor operative temperatures are within the bounds of comfort in the northwest-orientated room were found to be more than double those in southeast-orientated at 25 percent. orientation has a significant impact on thermal comfort. in a sensitivity analysis, the above results proved to be robust for other cities in csb mediterranean regions in the southern and northern hemispheres. the above results signify that in cape town and similar mediterranean climates, policies should drive practice to use orientation, indoor heat preservation and passive heating to improve comfort, safeguard health and save energy for both new and existing housing stock. further research in cape town and other csb climates is needed using larger sample sizes to generate more evidence, increase generalisability, and advance energy modelling for policy support (emops). © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords residential thermal comfort; natural ventilation; adaptive comfort; environmental simulation; passive design 1. introduction 1.1. contextual background this paper studies the thermal conditions of indoor spaces in a naturally ventilated middle-class residence in a mediterranean climate and proposes suitable energy-efficient measures for improving comfort. attainment of indoor http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i1.1103&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 thermal comfort is a key performance parameter of good housing. this includes protection from both excessive heat and excessive cold. ashrae (the american society for heating refrigeration and airconditioning engineers) defines thermal comfort as “that condition of mind which expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment and is assessed by subjective evaluation” (ashrae, 2004: 4). although thermal comfort is a subjective notion, it has significant implications for occupant health and wellbeing. the world health organization (who) guidelines for health and housing highlight excessive heat and excessive cold as predisposing factors for poor health outcomes (who, 2018). the who guidelines target both existing housing stock and new housing (who, 2018). excessive indoor cold increases the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular conditions and hypothermia, particularly in temperatures below 18°c (jevons et al., 2016; ryti et al., 2016). excessive indoor heat impacts mortality and morbidity (who, 2018). this risk is exacerbated in summer and during heat waves, especially for the elderly and other vulnerable individuals (ormandy and ezratty, 2016; ormandy and ezratty, 2012). on the other hand, thermal comfort is a key driver of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (kaptan, 2019). buildings consume more than 30 percent of global energy, 90 percent of which is for space heating and cooling. buildings are also responsible for 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions (international energy agency [iea], 2020). buildings provide a significant opportunity to save energy through low-energy design for new buildings and refurbishment to improve the performance of existing housing stock (global alliance for buildings and construction, the international energy agency, and the united nations, 2019). hence, buildings are pivotal to attaining the paris agreement target of keeping global temperatures to 1.5°c below pre-industrial levels. the range for indoor thermal comfort is generally taken to be between 20°c and 25°c (lechner, 2014). however, with an adaptive approach, 90% of people will find indoor conditions ranging from 18.4°c to 32.9°c acceptable (see the theoretical background below). changing the indoor thermostat temperature settings can yield huge energy savings (zhou et al. 2018 and stefanović 2016). for instance, lowering the thermostat setpoint by 1°c can result in 10% heating energy savings (holt et al., 2009). an empirical study was undertaken in cape town, a city in a temperate climate. regions with temperate climates, according to cohen and small (1998), have most of the world's population. such regions arguably offer great potential for saving building operational energy and mitigating climate change. specifically, cape town has a mediterranean climate. the mediterranean climate occurs between latitudes 30° north and 45° south on the western coasts of africa, australia, europe, south america and north america (world weather information service, 2010). the mild mediterranean climate type offers great potential to save energy for space heating and cooling (sánchez-garcía et al. 2018). but it is concerning that even in these temperate conditions, energy-wasteful approaches to thermal comfort are widespread. for example, in the mild mediterranean region of andalusia in spain, 57.4% to 84% of existing homes have air-conditioning (sánchez-garcía et al., 2018), a situation which must be avoided by middle-income countries as they build new houses. on the koppen geiger classification system, mediterranean climates can be designated as either csa or csb. these climates have hot-dry summers. the letter “c” means that this is a temperate climate type with an average temperature above 0°c but below 18°c in the coolest months. the letter “s” represents dry summers with less than 30mm of precipitation per summer month (summer being april to september in the case of the northern hemisphere and october to march in the case of the southern hemisphere). the third letter, "b", indicates the average temperature in the warmest month is below 22°c. cape town has a csb climate (beck, 2018; conradie, 2012), which is the cooler mediterranean climate type. examples of other cities in the world with csb climate type include: concepción (chile), pasto (colombia), san carlos de bariloche (argentina), nakuru (kenya), san cristóbal de la laguna (spain), salamanca (spain), porto (portugal), guarda (portugal), rieti (italy), ohrid (north macedonia), bilecik (turkey), kütahya, (turkey), san francisco (united states), santa barbara ((united states), seattle, (united states), victoria, (canada), albany (australia), devonport (australia) and mount gambier (australia) (kudacity, 2019). globally, the total building area is growing by 2.5% (iea) per annum and building stock is set to double by 2050 (iea, 2020). like cape town, many of the cities with csb climates are located in upper middle-income countries sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 (such as colombia, north macedonia and turkey). these are emerging economies with a high demand for new building stock, which presents an immense opportunity for climate-smart housing design (iea, 2020). 1.2. research problem and knowledge gap in cape town, the highest mean monthly temperature is 20.9°c in january/february, and the lowest mean monthly temperature is 14.1°c in july/august (see 3.2 below). surprisingly, in this mild cape town climate, buildings consume 78 percent of mostly coal-generated electricity and contribute 50 percent to carbon emissions (city of cape town, 2015). this is higher than the global average. in one study, 47 percent of cape town residents indicated that they use an electric heater for keeping warm in cold weather (sustainable energy africa, 2015). space heating accounts for 9 percent of residential energy consumption (city of cape town, 2015). over 80 percent of mid-income respondents identified electric heaters as the most frequently used heat source (sustainable energy africa, 2015). air conditioning accounts for 6 percent of residential electricity use and 36 percent of commercial electricity use (city of cape town, 2015). the high levels of space heating and air-conditioning are indicative of poor indoor thermal conditions. indigent households are subject to worse indoor conditions because they live in substandard formal and informal housing (naicker et al., 2017). in 2011, the south african bureau of standards (sabs) enacted new national building regulations for energy efficiency in buildings. the regulations, sans 10400-xa:2011 (south african national standard 10400 part xa), made it obligatory to use low energy methods for thermal comfort for all new buildings in south africa (sabs, 2011). the deemed-to-satisfy design methods of the regulations specify envelope and passive design measures for attaining indoor comfort for various climatic regions in the country. however, literature review does not reveal any systematic climatic-data-based studies of thermal conditions in south african middle-class buildings constructed prior to enaction of the regulations. klunne (2003) aimed to identify baseline thermal comfort conditions in low-cost housing, but the research based its findings on qualitative interview data only. ebhojie (2019) also used interviews to study the energy efficiency of low-cost housing. some thermal comfort studies have been undertaken using measured temperatures in low-cost housing in johannesburg and its surrounds (mabuya and scholes, 2020; naicker et al., 2017). what is common about all these studies is that they focus on low-cost housing and are in south african locations with climates other than the csb mediterranean type. this leaves a gap in studying pre-regulation indoor thermal conditions of relatively better constructed middle-class buildings in south africa, in cape town specifically and other csb climate locations more generally. internationally, many adaptive comfort studies have been done for naturally ventilated buildings in climates different from the cool csb mediterranean type. for example, pathirana et al. (2019) studied adaptive comfort for naturally ventilated buildings in the tropics, while soflaei et al (2020) used an adaptive approach to investigate optimal layouts for courtyards in subtropical desert climate settings. some adaptive comfort studies have also been undertaken in csb climates. in the mediterranean climate city of seville, sánchez-garcía et al. (2018) observed that building energy efficiency regulations do not yet address existing housing stock and argued that this is a missed opportunity to save energy and reduce carbon emissions in mild climates. rubio-bellido et al. (2017) undertook adaptive comfort studies in a csb climate using empirically measured temperatures, but this was for only 10% of the year. pérez-fargallo et al. (2018) measured outdoor and indoor temperatures over 9 months in their adaptive study on low-income housing in chile. but they came up with the surprising recommendation that, to save energy, lowest temperature setpoints should be legislated downwards to 13°c because, in their findings, poorer people could tolerate significantly low temperatures. this proposed setpoint is a whole 5°c below the who-recommended lower limit for healthy housing, and yet the authors do not explain why they ignore the who recommendation. in their study, sánchez-garcía et al. (2018) and sánchez-garcía et al. (2019) measured temperatures in a northwest-facing and a southwest-facing room in the mediterranean climate of seville in spain. however, their study was limited to 21 days in winter, 30 days in summer and 31 days in spring (a total 81 days) instead of the full year. furthermore, their objective was to validate a model for long-term future carbon-emission scenario forecasting in the context of climate change. to the author’s knowledge, the current paper reports results of the first systematic adaptive comfort study of indoor thermal comfort of naturally ventilated spaces in a middle-class residence in a csb mediterranean climate using sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 empirically measured temperatures over an entire year at one-hour time steps. hence, this study makes an important contribution to a growing body of evidence for energy-efficient housing in mild csb mediterranean climates. the study focuses on middle-class housing stock in cape town constructed before 2011. an adaptive comfort approach (see 1.1 below) is used to address the research question: for a selected middle-class house in cape town, constructed prior to the enaction of the national regulations for energy efficiency and operating without artificial space heating and cooling, what do actual measured temperatures reveal about indoor thermal conditions? answering this question provides insights into the thermal conditions of a representative building type in cape town. the results are important for several reasons. first, by understanding thermal conditions, inferences can be made about potential implications for comfort and health in such housing. second, they will provide a basis for decisions around suitable energy-efficient and passive solutions for thermal comfort in cape town and in similar csb climates internationally. finally, they will provide a baseline against which the efficacy of the national building regulations may be gauged in future thermal comfort studies. the results, therefore, contribute to an evidence basis for academia, policy and practice around existing housing stock in cape town and other cities in the world with csb mediterranean climate. 2. theoretical background and methods 2.1. theoretical background: adaptive comfort the following definitions are important in discussing the adaptive comfort approach: met: is a measure of the energy emitted by a person corresponding to the person’s activity level. a seated person emits 1 met while a person standing doing light activity emits about 1.3 met (see ashrae, 2004). clo: according to ashrae (2004), clo is the insulation provided by clothing. there is a range of clo values depending on what a person is wearing. a person wearing long pants and an open-neck shirt attains an equivalent of 0.5 clo. a typical business suit is equivalent to 1 clo (see haggard et al., 2016). according to humphreys (1994b) and sykes et al. (1994), as much as one-half of the seasonal changes in acceptable indoor comfort temperature are attributable to clothing flexibility (a behavioural factor) effective temperature (et): et is defined as either the mean monthly temperature or mean daily outdoor temperature (de dear and brager, 1998 pp 12 – 13) operative temperature: is an index that combines the effects of indoor dry bulb temperature and radiative gains. it can be calculated as the average of the dry-bulb and mean radiant temperatures (schiavon et al., 2014). neutral temperature: for a given et, the neutral temperature is “the indoor thermal index value corresponding with a mean vote of neutral on the thermal sensation scale by a sample of building occupants”. in naturally ventilated buildings, this temperature corresponds with the optimum operative temperature, which satisfies the greatest possible number of people at a given clothing and activity level (de dear and brager, 1998 pp 12 – 13). thermal comfort, as originally defined by ashrae, was based on the predicted mean vote / predicted percentage of dissatisfied (pmv/ppd) for artificially conditioned buildings only (schiavon et al., 2014). developed by fanger et al. (1972), the pmv model became the basis for ashrae comfort standard 55-92. the adaptive comfort hypothesis arises from dissatisfaction with the static pmv model in accounting for thermal comfort in naturally ventilated buildings. humphreys (1975) argued that building occupants were comfortable in indoor thermal conditions covering a range of up to 13k. he attributed this to adaptive factors. these findings were corroborated by humphreys (1978) and auliciems (1981), especially for naturally ventilated buildings. the studies also revealed a strong correlation between indoor thermal neutralities in naturally ventilated buildings and outdoor climate. in a metaanalysis of field studies, brager and de dear (1998) surmised that adaptive factors were behind the observed differences in thermal comfort between air-conditioned and naturally ventilated buildings. arguing that the pmv approach is not suitable for naturally ventilated buildings, de dear and brager (1998) developed the adaptive comfort model for naturally ventilated buildings for when outdoor temperatures are between 10°c and 33.5°c. they found that, as outdoor temperatures fluctuated, occupants of naturally ventilated buildings stayed comfortable within a wider range of indoor thermal conditions. they discovered that neutral thermal conditions in buildings that utilise heating, sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 ventilation and air conditioning (hvac) technologies are confined to between 21°c and 25°c compared to between 20°c and 27°c in naturally ventilated buildings. behavioural adjustments (removing/adding clothing, opening/closing windows, switching on a fan, and cultural ones such as a siesta), physiological adjustments (both within an individual’s lifetime and intergenerationally), and psychological adjustments (real/perceived control over indoor thermal conditions, habituation, and future expectations) enable people in naturally ventilated buildings to adjust to a wide range of indoor thermal conditions. they highlighted behavioural and psychological factors as the most significant for adaptive comfort. the more building occupants perceive the availability of options to personally adjust the indoor environment in response to changes in ambient outdoor conditions, the greater the band of adaptive comfort. adaptive comfort is dynamically responsive to outdoor temperature variations. it is a function of the effective temperature (et) (see definition below). for instance, in summer, people will be comfortable in indoor conditions they would consider too warm in winter. and inhabitants of cold climates would accept indoor temperatures that people in warm climates may find too cold. in ashrae standard 55 (ashrae, 2004), the adaptive comfort model was incorporated as valid for naturally conditioned buildings under the following conditions: no mechanical cooling and heating systems outdoor temperatures are between 10°c and 33.5°c. building occupants engaged in sedentary activities (met between 1.0 and 1.3) occupants have the freedom to adapt their clothing within the range 0.5 to 1.0 clo for any outdoor condition, it should be noted that there is a range of acceptable temperatures below and above the neutral temperatures within which people can adapt to stay thermally comfortable. adaptive comfort-neutral temperatures and operative temperature ranges for any given location can be presented on the chart with et as the abscissa and operative temperature as the ordinate (see schiavon et al., 2014). adaptive comfort is defined for 90% and 80% acceptability. in table 1 below, the upper and lower limits for the adaptive comfort standard are identified using a web-based adaptive comfort visualisation tool developed by tartarini (2020). table 1: parameters for adaptive comfort outdoor effective temperature (et) limits for adaptive standard indoor optimum/ neutral temperature limits operative temperature ranges 80% acceptability limits 90% acceptability limits highest 35.5 27 24.7 33.9 °c 25.7 32.9 °c lowest 10 20 17.4 26.6 °c 18.4 25.6 °c * this table is generated from the web-based thermal comfort visualisation tool cbe (see tartarini, 2020). table 1 above shows the range of outdoor effective temperatures (et) for which the adaptive comfort approach to thermal comfort is valid. the table also shows the minimum and maximum possible neutral temperatures in the adaptive standard. furthermore, the table shows the limits of adaptive comfort for 80% and 90% acceptability that correspond to the respective lower and upper et limits. givoni (1992) proposed passive design methods for naturally ventilated buildings. many of these methods, such as comfort ventilation, night purge (opening and closing windows) and adjustable solar shading, extend the behavioural and psychological capacity for occupants to adapt to a range of indoor thermal conditions. sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 by far, the most important scholars on adaptive comfort are de dear and brager. having originally introduced the model in 1998, they set the theoretical premises of adaptive comfort and have authored prolifically on adaptive comfort and indoor climate. starting by limiting adaptive comfort to natural ventilation, they have lately also extended the approach to air-conditioned spaces (de dear and brager 1998; brager and de dear 2001; de dear 2011; de dear and brager 2001; de dear and brager 2020). compared to steady state approaches to thermal comfort, adaptive comfort as originally conceived by de dear and brager (1998), extends the range of acceptable thermal conditions by increasing the maximum temperature and reducing the minimum temperature for human indoor comfort (see table 1). significantly, recent localised empirical studies suggest that the adaptive comfort range can extend the thermal comfort range more than originally proposed. for instance, in lima, income housing residents experienced low temperatures of 13°c as comfortable (oraiopoulos, 2023). while residents in india were found to still be comfortable at a temperature of 35°c (rawal et al., 2022). the key conclusion is that focused adaptive comfort studies can potentially result in increases in localised comfort ranges, energy and cost savings and climate change mitigation. only introduced in 1998, adaptive comfort as a topic has become so widely published that papers solely focusing on literature reviews of publications on the topic have now come to the fore (yao et al. 2022; de dear 2013 and karyono 2020). 2.2. method a thermal comfort study was undertaken in a two-storey free-standing middle-class residence in muizenberg, a cape town coastal location. zizzamia et al. (2019) define a middle-class household in south africa as having a mean monthly per capita expenditure of 4536.20 zar (about 298 usd). only about 20 percent of south africans are stable in the middle-class while 60 percent are in transient or chronic poverty (ibid). the per capita household expenditure in the particular house is more than 50 percent higher than the above per capita expenditure. the middle-class residence used in this study is therefore taken to be a representative of mainstream acceptable construction practice in cape town. hence, the residence is considered better in terms of construction and thermal quality than the formal and informal housing for the urban poor (see naicker et al., 2017). however, because the middle-class residence was constructed in 2006 and therefore predates the sans10400xa regulations, no specific passive design measures were applied. there are also no active heating and cooling interventions in the building. the building thus provides a suitable setting to study indoor thermal conditions in a house representative of pre-regulation mainstream residential construction practice in cape town. within the house, two adjacent bedrooms on the upper floor were chosen (see table 2 below). the two bedrooms are similar, and each has two external walls. they share the length of a southwest-oriented external wall. but the wall containing the window is oriented differently for each room. in the one room, this wall is oriented northwest (room a), while in the other, it is oriented southeast (room b). the main characteristics of the chosen bedrooms are described in table 2 below. sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 table 2: room a and room b descriptors (source: author) room a room b orientation external wall 1 northwest southeast external wall 2 south west south west use bedroom bedroom measurements (m) length 3 3 width 3 3 height 2.5 2.5 envelope materials insulated external walls double cavity concrete blocks plastered in and out double cavity concrete blocks plastered in and out internal walls single cavity concrete block single cavity roof cement tiles on wooden structure ceiling flat “chipboard” floor concrete structural + pvc planks extra insulation none none window orientation north west south east frames pvc pvc glazing single pane clear single pane clear openable 50% 50% area 3.24m2 3.24m2 roof overhang length 0.5m 0.5m height above window 0.25m 0.25m extra sun shading adjustable internal blinds adjustable internal blinds ratio window area to net floor area 36% 36% height from floor 0.8m 0.8m orientation north west south west vent none none * the main difference between the two rooms is the orientation of the windowed wall sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 2.2.1. measuring indoor thermal conditions in each room, a wireless ssn-22 usb temperature & humidity data logger (see smith, 2020) was used to measure and record the indoor thermal conditions. the instrument takes fractionated measurements of indoor air temperature, relative humidity, and dew point. it comes with a usb interface to connect with a computer and software for specifying the measurement start time and end time as well as the logging interval. in this study, the loggers were set to log at half-hourly intervals starting july 2019 to record a full year’s readings for temperature, relative humidity, and dew point. once set up, one instrument was placed in each room on an internal wall at a height of 1.8m above floor level away from direct sunlight as recommended by the manufacturer. after the logging period, each instrument was connected to a computer to download the data. the logger’s software generated data and graphs with the option to export data to microsoft-excel (ms-excel) file format. the two data sets were exported to ms excel file format. to bring synchrony between the logged data and the energyplus weather files used in adaptative comfort simulation (see 2.2 below), each ms-excel dataset was reorganised in three ways (i) each alternate reading of half-hourly data was deleted to give only hourly data readings by numbering each data row alternately with 1 or 0 using the =(mod) function in ms-excel, then sorting and deleting odd number rows] (ii) data start time was reorganised to start at midnight on the first of january (1,1,1) [i.e. the first hour of the first day of the first month of the year] and to end in december (12,31,24) [the last hour of the last day of month of the year] (iii) because 2020 was a leap year, the data for the 24 readings for 29th february were removed to leave 365 days and 8760 hours. the data is available as supplementary data (room_a_data*.xlsx and room_b*.xlsx) (see sanya, 2024a) 2.2.2. adaptive comfort simulation using ladybug software this study used ladybug (lb). lb is an open-source plugin for grasshopper for building energy and thermal comfort simulation (roudsari, 2020). grasshopper is a visual programming interface for python coding that is integrated with the cad (computer aided design) programme rhino3d (mode lab, 2015). numerical results from lb coding are visualised on the rhino3d interface in different formats, such as charts. the lb default analysis period is one full year split into 8760 hourly periods (24 hours for 365 days). the default start hour is midnight on the 1st of january, while the default last hour is 11 pm on the 31st of december. the lb interface offers numerous components (tools) for energy-conscious building design. each component requires inputs and produces outputs. some outputs may be used for subsequent input to other components. lb works with real climatic data in the form of energyplus weather (epw) files. the climate data is available on a website (see lawrie and crawley, 2019). using the lb epw+stat component, climate data for cape town international airport was directly imported from the website. the lb import epw component was used to read the climate data. of the sixteen outputs from the importepw component, the adaptive comfort study requires only the outdoor drybulb temperature (see outdoortemperature in table 3 above). indoor thermal studies for the entire year were undertaken using two lb components: adaptivechart (an adaptive comfort chart simulator) and adaptivecomfortcalculator (an adaptive comfort calculator). anchored in research by tartarini et al. (2020), these two lb adaptive comfort components are inherently coded to fulfil ashrae standard 55-2010 and 2013. each lb adaptive comfort component may take up to 16 inputs, of which only seven are strictly necessary to undertake the simulations. the seven inputs for the adaptive study in this paper are: dry bulb temperature, mean radiant temperature, outdoor temperature, comfort parameters, wind speed, analysis period and a boolean toggle to run the simulation. some of these inputs must be imputed by the user (required), and in the other cases, lb uses default values unless the user opts to use different ones. in reference to roudsari (2020), these inputs are described in table 3 below the last column of the table describes the sources for the required inputs for this study as well as, where applicable, the lb default values used. sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 table 3: description of simulation input parameters (adapted from roudsari, 2020) input parameter description user input source for this simulation drybulbtemperature a list of numbers representing the dry bulb temperature of air (oc) required hourly room temperature readings as measured with a data logger for rooms a and b, respectively. for each room, a *.txt file with the data was imported from a local computer drive to lb using the lb read file component. meanradianttemperature a list of numbers representing mean radiant temperature of surrounding surfaces (oc) optional default (the mean radiant temperature is assumed to equal the dry bulb temperature). outdoortemperature a list of numbers representing prevailing outdoor temperature (oc) required ladybug epw file for cape town from lawrie and crawley (2019) (see 2.2 above) comfortpar various parameters, including the percentage of people satisfied optional used the default of 90% of occupants satisfied windspeed a number representing indoor wind speed (m/s) optional the ladybug default of 0.2m/s is substituted with 1m/s (see note*) analysisperiod period of time over which the simulation is run optional default ladybug period of one full year (8760 hours) used. start: midnight 1st january (1,1,1) end: 11 pm 31st december (12,31,24). runit boolean toggle (false/true) required set to true to run the simulation and generate an adaptive comfort chart and other results important to note here is that indoor wind speed for this study was, compared to the lb default of 0.2m/s, set at a relatively high value of 1m/s. 0.2m/s is also the comfortable indoor speed recommended by ashrae. the reason for choosing a relatively high wind speed for this study is because cape town in general, and the coastal location of the empirical residence specifically, experiences very windy conditions at an average of 5m/s (18km/hr) in the nw and se prevailing directions. the coastal location also experiences frequent wind gusts of 8m/s (30km/h) and more. the building where this study was undertaken is oriented perpendicular to prevailing wind directions and experiences high levels of air leakage throughout the year. figure 1: adaptive comfort simulation setup (for each of the rooms a and b, one such simulation was set up) [see sanya, 2024b] sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 using the inputs described in table 3 above, the full-year lb adaptive comfort simulations were set up (see figure 1 above). for each room, an adaptivechart and adaptivecalculator were executed. the full simulation setup steps are shown in figure 1 above. the scripts for all of the above simulations are available (see sanya, 2024b) 2.2.3. validity and replicability current scholarly publications evidence the widespread use of adaptive comfort as a valid method for indoor thermal comfort studies. the adaptive comfort approach has been used for indoor thermal studies of different building typologies in varied contexts: homes in australia (jeong 2024); office buildings in san luis potosí (mexico) (caro, 2024); vernacular dwellings in portugal (costa-carrapiço et 2022); old people care homes (yoon yi et al,2022); low cost housing in mumbai india (malik 2023); low cost housing office buildings in lima peru (oraiopoulos, 2023); classrooms in australia (de dear et al 2015); and rural dwellings in china (tang, 2024). adaptive comfort is considered a suitable approach for understanding the thermal conditions of varied building types in different locations. cape town's effective outdoor temperature (et) ranges from 20.9°c to 12.4°c (see 3.2 below). this is well within the adaptive comfort method range of applicability (10°c to 33.5°c) highlighted in the theoretical background above. the outcomes of this paper are replicable because the lb simulation scripts are accessible on an open-source repository (sanya, 2024b). the raw data files used in the simulations are also (sanya, 2024a) on the open-source repository. therefore, anyone with the software and requisite skills can rerun the simulation to replicate the results. alternatively, the raw data can be imputed into a different simulation programme to replicate the results. 3. results table 4 below defines and describes the main outcomes of the full-year adaptive comfort simulations and summarises the main results from this study. the results are presented and discussed further in five parts: (i) hourly logged data, (ii) hourly temperatures, (iii) adaptive comfort charts, (iv) percentage thermal conditions, and (v) thermal conditions visualisation. sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 table 4: outcomes of adaptive comfort study output parameter description study outcomes room a room b comfpercentoftime percentage of time for which the occupants are comfortable 55% 25% percenthotcold the percent of time for which the occupants are too hot 0.1% 0% the percent of time for which the occupants are too cold 44.9% 75% conditionofperson hourly indoor thermal conditions for occupants: -1 = the input conditions are too cold 0 = the input conditions are comfortable +1 = the input conditions are too hot imputed into the lb 3dchart and preview components to generate full-year hourly thermal condition visualisations in rhino-3d (see figure 3a) imputed into the lb 3dchart and preview components to generate full-year hourly thermal condition visualisations in rhino-3d (see figure 3b) prevailingtemp a stream of temperature values in degrees celsius indicating the prevailing outdoor temperature. this is the same as et (see definition in 1.1 above). the full set of results is captured in a combined spreadsheet in the room_a+b_results*.xlsx file. the results are sortable by each column. highest et: 20.9oc lowest et: 12.4 oc targettemperature a stream of temperature values in degrees celsius indicating the mean target temperature (neutral temperature) (oc). varies as outdoor temperatures change (see definition in 1.1 above). the full set of results is captured in a combined spreadsheet in the room_a+b_results*.xlsx file. the results are sortable by each column. highest target temperature: 24.3 oc lowest target temperature: 21.6 oc chartcurvesandtxt curves and text labels of the adaptive chart. imputed into lb preview to generate an adaptive chart visualization in rhino3d (see figure 2a) imputed into lb preview to generate an adaptive chart visualization in rhino3d (see figure 2b) adaptivechartmesh colors representing the number of hours on the adaptive chart legend a legend showing the number of hours that correspond to each color. comfortpolygons lines representing the range lower and upper boundaries. uppertemperaturebound temperature values in degrees celcius indicating the highest possible temperature in the comfort range for each hour. results for upper temperature boundaries for each hour of the year captured in formatted a spreadsheet room_a+b_results*.xlsx file. the results are sortable by each column. lb gives the maximum upper temperature boundary as 29.0oc lowertemperaturebound temperature values in degrees celcius indicating the lowest possible temperature in the comfort range for each hour results for lower temperature boundaries for each hour of the year captured in formatted a spreadsheet room_a+b_results*.xlsx file. the results are sortable by each column. lb gives the minimum lower temperature boundary as 19.1oc sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 3.1. hourly logged data empirical full-year hourly data logger readings for indoor dry bulb temperature, relative humidity and dew point are captured as supplementary data for each room in the files (room_a_data*.xslx and room_b_data*.xlsx) [see (see sanya, 2024a). the data is a valuable research outcome as, to the author’s knowledge, it is the only set of publicly available full-year indoor thermal data loggings for residential (envelope-dominated rooms) in cape town and probably in any csb climate type. the data may be used by any researcher in future studies. from this data, the hourly indoor dry bulb temperature loggings for each room are extracted for the adaptive comfort study and discussed further in the results below. 3.2. cape town is within the range of adaptive comfort from the lb adaptive comfort simulations, as prevailing outdoor temperature changes, hourly values (totalling 8760 hours for the entire year) are generated for indoor target temperature and upper and lower adaptive comfort temperature limits. the target temperature values are the same for both room a and room b. however, the actual hourly indoor temperatures as logged in each room show some differences. the ms-excel file room_a+b_results*.xlsx (see sanya, 2024a) presents the above information in a spreadsheet with seven columns headed respectively as hourly timestamp running consecutively from 1 to 8760 prevailing temperature (et) (°c) upper temperature bound (°c) target temperature (°c) lower temperature bound (°c) room a dry bulb temperature (°c) room b dry bulb temperature (°c) for any given hour, when the logged dry bulb temperature in the room falls within the lower and upper bounds of adaptive comfort, indoor thermal conditions for that hour are acceptable. if the logged dry bulb temperature falls below the lower bound of adaptive comfort in that hour, indoor conditions are too cold. where the logged bulb temperature falls above the upper limit in a particular hour, indoor conditions are too warm. the seven-column results spreadsheet is formatted in ms excel to allow the results to be sorted (in ascending/ descending order) and/or filtered (greater/ below any chosen value). sorting the results by prevailing temperature reveals that the highest effective outdoor temperature (et) occurs in january and february (cape town summer) at 20.9°c. the lowest et is 12.4°c, occurring in june and july (winter). therefore, the temperature range of the prevailing outdoor conditions in cape town is within the adaptive comfort range of applicability (10°c to 33.5°c) highlighted in the theoretical background above. it follows that for such buildings, passive design and behavioural and psychological measures ought to be sufficient to maintain indoor comfort throughout the year without the need for artificial space conditioning. the upper and lower limits of adaptive comfort are also captured in the spreadsheet. sorting by the upper temperature bound shows temperatures ranging from 24.1°c to 29°c. while sorting by the lower temperature bound gives a range from 19.1°c to 21.8°c. hence, the entire adaptive comfort zone for the rooms ranges from 19.1°c to 29°c. this study’s results indicate that in cape town and similar mediterranean locations, the upper comfort range can be extended by 4°c above the 25°c used in steady methods. considering that a 1°c change can result in 10% heating energy savings (holt et al., 2009), the energy, cost and climate mitigation implications of this potential adjustment are very significant. sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 3.3. orientation impacts thermal comfort significantly for each room, the lb simulation generated an adaptive chart for 90% acceptability (see figures 2a and 2b below). on the adaptive chart, the prevailing outdoor temperature is on the x-axis while the indoor operative temperature is on the y-axis (see definitions in table 4 above). figure 2a: adaptive chart for room a figure 2b: adaptive chart for room b source: visualisations from the simulation by the author (see sanya, 2024b) the lower diagonal line defines hourly lower temperature bounds of comfort. the upper diagonal line temperatures define hourly upper bounds of comfort. between these two is a diagonal line connecting the hourly target temperatures. on the chart, each hourly indoor dry bulb temperatures as logged on the data logger is also plotted against the respective prevailing outdoor temperature – with a collection of plots represented in a colour gradation (blue – fewer hours in this region of the chart; red – most hours in this region of the chart; and others in the colours in between). examining figure 2a shows that when prevailing outdoor conditions approach the maximum of 20.9°c, indoor dry bulb temperatures as measured in room a are between 23°c – 25°c for most hours of the year and hence are within the comfortable thermal range. this also corresponds to the most frequent condition of adaptive comfort in room a. however, the chart also indicates that when prevailing outdoor temperatures fall to 13°c and lower, room a becomes excessively cold for a significant number of hours. very few hours in room have thermal conditions above the upper the bound of comfort. on the other hand, the adaptive chart in figure 2b reveals that most temperatures measured in room b are below the lower comfort bound for most of the year. even when the prevailing outdoor temperatures approach the 20.9°c maximum mean monthly, about half the hourly indoor temperatures in the room remain below the lower bounds of adaptive comfort. only a few summer temperatures in room b are within the band of adaptive comfort. when the prevailing outdoor temperature falls to 13°c and below, all hourly indoor temperatures (covering a substantial number of hours in the year) are below the lower adaptive comfort boundary. the chart shows that indoor conditions in room b fall below the lower comfort bound for most hours of the year. and none of the hourly temperatures measured in room b exceed the adaptive comfort upper boundary at any time in the year. another important outcome of the simulation is the “percentage comfortable” – hours of the year when the room is within bounds of adaptive comfort. at 55 percent, the hours of the year for which the logged indoor operative temperatures are within the bounds of comfort in room a (northwest orientation – towards the equator) are more than double those of room b (southeast orientation – away from the equator) at 25 percent. the implication is that in cape town, orientation has a very significant impact on indoor thermal comfort. it can be expected that a room oriented ideally to true north (towards the equator) would perform even better than a room oriented to the south sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 (opposite the equator). therefore, in cape town and similar mediterrenean climates, the main living spaces and rooms should, where possible, be orientated towards the equator side (anywhere from 45o west of true north to 45° east of true north) while south-facing spaces should be largely be limited to auxillary functions like storerooms, bathrooms and garages. considering that the upper bound of comfort in room a is only exceeded for a few hours and not at all in room b, it is concluded that, ignoring the influence of direct solar radiation into an indoor space, overheating is not a comfort concern for an envelope dominated naturally ventilated building in cape town and similar mediterranean regions. the design implication here is that sun shading of the openings is sufficient to eliminate indoor space overheating in naturally ventilated envelope-dominated buildings in cape town. such shading (whether fixed or movable) needs to be designed in such a way as to allow for sun radiation penetration to warm spaces when needed for passive heating. 3.4. excessive indoor cold occurs throughout the year many of the recorded operative temperatures in room a and room b fall below the adaptive comfort boundary during both the cold and warm parts of the year (i.e. temperatures are too cold). the lb simulation results show that the measured operative temperatures in room b are too cold for 75 percent (6570 hours) of the year. for room a, the comparable figure of 45 percent (3942 hours) is lower but still significant. this again underscores the importance of good orientation in maintaining thermal comfort in cape town. but the most important conclusion here is that because of predominance of excessive indoor cold throughout the year, design measures for conserving internal heat gains (e.g. insulation, elimination of excessive air leakage, low envelope/volume ratio, reduction of glazed fenestration area, use of special glazing) and passive solar heating are recommended. such measures are necessary regardless of room orientation. 3.5. the coldest period is between 6 am and 12 noon another outcome from lb is hourly visualisation of the thermal conditions (blue – too cold, yellow comfortable, red too hot) for each hour of each month of the year (see figures 3a and 3b below). the visualisations allow a more granular analysis of the above results. figure 3a: hourly thermal conditions in room a [ source: visualisations from the simulation by the author (see sanya, 2024b)] figure 3b: hourly thermal conditions in room b [source: visualisations from the simulation by the author (see sanya, 2024b)] sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 figure 3a (see above) shows that indoor thermal conditions in room a are comfortable for most of the year. from january to february, room a is comfortable for 24 hours on most days. indoor cold conditions are limited during this period. from march to the end of may, indoor conditions are still predominantly comfortable, but excessive cold creeps in, especially between 6 am and 12 noon on most days. the first few weeks of june are also mostly comfortable, but the later weeks of the month become predominantly cold. excessive cold is the predominant condition throughout july and up to the first week of september. it is noteworthy that the graph shows swathes of comfortable hours occurring indoors, even in this winter period. from the second week of september, indoor conditions in room a are mostly comfortable till the end of the year. but the latter half of october and some parts of november still show significant periods with cold indoor conditions especially between 6 pm and 12 noon (this can be attributed to the north-west orientation of the room receiving the sun later in the day and generally higher position of the sun as the december summer solstice approaches). there is indoor overheating for only a few hours in the entire year in room a. figure 3b (see above) shows that the most comfortable month in room b is january. but by the second week of february and throughout the autumn, conditions in room b are mostly too cold. starting in the last week of may and lasting throughout the winter and up to the first week of september, all temperatures in room b are too cold. in the spring, starting in the second week of september and up to december, room b attains some indoor thermal comfort, but, even then, conditions remain thermally cold for most of the hours, especially from 6 am to 12 noon. long periods in october and november are also too cold in the room. january has the highest number of hourly temperatures within the comfort band. significantly, room b indoor temperatures are too cold even for large parts of the mild cape town summer. in both rooms a and room b, the period 6 am and 12 noon stands out as having the most frequent occurrence of cold for most parts of the year. this period should receive focus in the design process through a responsive approach to the circadian occupancy schedule of the house (for example whether most residents at work during this time) and looking into solutions like designing for rapid morning response for passive solar heating – specifically by utilising the easterly and north-easterly sun in cape town (also see sanya, 2017) 3.6. sensitivity analysis figure 4: sensitivity analysis in southern and northern hemispheres (source: author) to test this paper’s findings in relation to other csb climate locations around the world, a sensitivity analysis was undertaken using the adaptive comfort simulation model developed in the study. four cities are chosen for the sensitivity analysis based on two criteria. first, each city must have full-year hourly epw climate data available for use in running the simulation. second, for each city, the daily outdoor average temperatures must be within the range sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 of 10°c to 33.5°c for which adaptive comfort is a valid method. in the southern hemisphere, augusta (australia) and santiago (chile) are chosen for the sensitivity analysis. in the northern hemisphere, porto (portugal) and san francisco (united states of america) are chosen. replacing cape town outdoor temperature values with the respective daily means for the above cities gives the sensitivity analysis. because of the inversion of seasons in the opposite hemispheres, an lb component is used to synchronise lb outdoor temperature with this study’s measured indoor temperatures where necessary. a corollary of this is that, for both hemispheres, it becomes more appropriate to describe room a as equator-facing and room b as facing away from the equator. the sensitivity analysis results are captured at the end of figure 4 and should only be referenced as indicative but not absolute. the sensitivity analysis reveals that csb climate locations elsewhere give similar results to the cape town findings. orientation remains a major factor for indoor comfort. that is, in all locations, the equator-facing room is comfortable most of the time; there is no trend of overheating, but excessive cold remains a key issue. the room facing away from the equator has a significant reduction in comfort, more especially so in the southern hemisphere compared to the northern hemisphere; excessive cold remains as the most significant indoor thermal condition in the year; overheating is the least of concerns. therefore, the sensitivity analysis suggests that for csb climate locations the world over, orientation towards the equator, conservation of internal heat gains and passive heating are a sine quo non for energy efficiency. 4. discussion there have been just a few studies of adaptive comfort in mediterranean climates. this paper, therefore, contributes adaptive comfort findings to an understudied climatic type. moreover, this is the first adaptive comfort study on middle-income residential houses in a csb mediterranean climate. unlike the other mediterrenean climate adaptive comfort studies that use thermal data logged for only part of the year (sánchez-garcía et al., 2019; sánchez-garcía et al., 2018 and perez-fargallo et al., 2018), this study uses a full year’s data set. therefore, this paper’s finding that adaptive comfort is applicable throughout the year in the mediterranean csb climate of cape town is a significant finding. moreover, a sensitivity analysis indicates that trends in this paper are similar to those in other cities with a csb mediterranean climate type. the 75% thermal discomfort for non-equator rooms and 45% thermal discomfort (both excessive cold) in the equator-facing room is concerning, particularly considering that this paper focused on an upper-middle-class residences. in south africa, poor people’s housing is generally of poorer quality (amoah et al., 2022; kang’ethe and manomano, 2015; nokulunga, 2018). it can, therefore, be expected that poor people would be subject to even worse thermal conditions than identified in this paper. considering the health risks of excessive indoor cold (who, 2018), it is necessary to undertake adaptive comfort studies of middle-class and low-income housing in mediterranean climates to provide an evidence basis for shifting practice and policy to improve thermal conditions, safeguard health, save energy and mitigate greenhouse gases. the finding that orientation towards the equator improves comfort in by up to 30% for cape town and potentially in other mediterrean csb climates without the need for space conditioning is significant because, if applied in practice, it would result in improved wellbeing, healthier indoor condition simultaneous with energy savings and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. another key finding is that excessive indoor cold is more of a concern than overheating in csb mediterranean locations. thermal comfort improvement can, therefore be attained by orientation towards the equator (the sunny side), preservation of internal heat gains via building envelope insulation, using building form with low envelop to internal volume ratio, airtightening, limiting the amount of fenestration, and using specialised glazing (lechner 2014 and sanya 2017). the south african sans10400xa regulations do not address existing housing stock. results from this paper indicate that the above measures for preservation of internal heat gains should be incentivised, or even mandated, for existing housing stock in cape town and similar climates. sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 it is evident that orientation has a significant impact on thermal comfort and design in mediterranean climates. the impact of orientation on indoor space thermal comfort and energy consumption can further be investigated using building energy simulation software such as energyplus (gerber, 2014 and crawley and pederson, 2001) to test the validity of this important finding. there is an opportunity to simulate the requirements of deemed-to-regulation in the residential building under consideration to evaluate if these are sufficient to guarantee indoor thermal comfort or if they could direct interventions on existing building stock. this paper recommended a passive design for heat conversation and heating for csb climates. these measures include orientation, envelope insulation, airtightening, low window-to-wall ratio, specialised glazing and passive solar heating. the measures maintain indoor thermal comfort while saving energy (fernandez-antolin et al., 2019). considering the costs and benefits over the entire building lifecycle (shrestha et al 2014), it has been found that, on the balance, passive measures yield positive economic, social and environmental impacts on the balance(adamczyk and dylewski, 2017): improved wellbeing and health of users; mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions; lower energy bills and hence reduced operation costs; and increasing the economic value of the building asset. a comparative simulation for a two-story house in different climate types (falegari and shirzadi javid, 2024) found that buildings in csb climates get significant benefits from applying passive design measures for thermal comfort over the residential building cycle. the validity of this paper’s results is underpinned by empirical quantitative data and the use of the well-tested study method of adaptive comfort. however, the dataset used is from only one middle-class building. this limits the ability to generalise the outcomes of this research for middle-class residents in csb mediterranean climate cities. crosssectional research is therefore required to extend the generalisability of this paper's findings by increasing the number of buildings sampled in an urban survey. moreover, longitudinal adaptive comfort studies are also required to test the efficacy of the proposed passive design for residences in cities facing temperature variations due to climate change. furthermore, the formulaic approach of the paper does not capture how residents actually experience the indoor thermal comforts. future research that includes insights from qualitative responses of how building inhabitants experience the thermal conditions is required to extend the paper’s finding. this is necessary because existing research (oraiopoulos et al., 2023) suggests that acclimatised residents’ perception of comfort may extend the usual range of adaptive comfort. such future research is required so that a contextually responsive adaptive standard can be defined for cape town and other csb mediterranean locations. 5. conclusion this paper used an adaptive comfort approach to simulate the indoor thermal conditions in a naturally ventilated middle-income residence in cape town’s csb mediterranean climate. using climatic data, the study found that cape town’s outdoor effective temperatures range from 20.9°c to 12.4°cand hence fall well within the adaptive comfort range of applicability (10°c to 33.5°c) for the entire year. the conclusion from this is that in cape town and similar csb locations, preventative and passive measures are sufficient for maintaining temperatures within a comfortable range without the use of artificial heating or cooling. the study provides a full set of annual logged indoor climatic data fractionated at 1-hourly intervals. the data is available as open source to be used by any other researcher in a future study. for cape town and similar mediterranean locations, it was found that the comfort range can be extended by 4°c above the 25°c normally given in literature. overcooling (excessive indoor cold) was found to be a more significant problem than overheating, regardless of orientation. in cape town and similar csb climates, policy should drive practice towards preventative and passive measures for internal heat preservation and augmentation. orientation was found to have a significant impact on adaptive thermal comfort in cape town’s csb mediterranean climate. the room oriented towards the sunny equator side (nw) was found to be 30 percent more thermally comfortable compared to the room oriented away from the sun (se) on an annual basis. at 55 percent, the hours of sanya/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 18 the year for which the logged indoor operative temperatures are within the bounds of comfort in room a (northwest orientation – towards the equator) are more than double those of room b (southeast orientation – away from the equator) at only 25 percent. policy should drive practise orientate living spaces to the sunnyside in cape town’s csb climate and similar mediterrenean climate regions. winters were found to be excessively cold in both rooms, with the coldest indoor temperatures being recorded in july. similarly, for both rooms, the period 6 am to 12 noon stood out for being generally too cold in winter, spring, summer (exception january), and autumn. this is a period, therefore, deserving special attention in design in cape town and similar contexts in terms of passive heating and responsiveness to living habits. more adaptive comfort studies and energy simulation studies are required in cape town and similar csb mediterranean climate contexts. these should include individual case studies, cross-sectional studies and longitudinal studies to build a large modelling for policy support (emops) evidence base. the ultimate aim should be to improve design and planning decisions, to increase comfortable and healthy housing stock and to promote energy justice in the context of climate change. acknowledgment not applicable. funding this research did not receive any specific 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(2019). snakes and ladders and loaded dice: poverty dynamics and inequality in south africa between 2008-2017 [pdf document]. national income dynamics study. nids discussion paper 2019/2 version 1 [pdf document] retrieved from http://137.158.104.7/bitstream/handle/11090/950/2019_235_saldruwp.pdf?sequence=1 https://mostapharoudsari.gitbooks.io/ladybug-primer/content/text/components/adaptive_comfort_calculator.html https://mostapharoudsari.gitbooks.io/ladybug-primer/content/text/components/adaptive_comfort_calculator.html https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.26519755.v1 https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.26519809.v1 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4db4q37h https://www.sustainable.org.za/uploads/resources/resource_39.pdf http://www.instruments.co.za/usb_data_loggers_temperature_humidity.html https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2020.100563 https://www.wikiwand.com/en/mediterranean_climate#/google_vignette http://137.158.104.7/bitstream/handle/11090/950/2019_235_saldruwp.pdf?sequence=1 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 27 november 2024, accepted: 30 april 2025, published online: 30 june 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i2.1154 reuse strategies of urban areas and built heritage: case study of karbala old city zainab al ameen1, maria glòria font basté2, núria martí audí3 1master's degree in integrated architectural design, graduate of la salle campus ramon llull university, spain 2doctor of architecture, associate professor, la salle campus, ramon llull university, spain 3phd in architecture, associate professor, university ramon llull, spain abstract preserving urban heritage and identity is a pressing issue in cities undergoing rapid development. the city center of karbala, home to one of the holiest shrines for shia muslims, faces significant pressure from its annual influx of over 20 million pilgrims. this necessitates development initiatives focused on creating vast open areas around the shrines, which involve demolishing approximately half of the old city. this research critically assesses potential problems stemming from this approach and explores alternative solutions. through analyzing the traditional urban fabric, including its distinctive characteristics, existing open spaces, land use, and pilgrimage movement patterns, and drawing insights from similar practices, it uncovers possibilities within the current city center and strategies to address the demands of increasing visitor numbers without compromising the invaluable historic urban fabric. the research advocates for the pivotal role of "reuse" in preserving the historic urban fabric, complemented by its rehabilitation and restoration. by utilizing the existing urban fabric, the city can reduce the necessity for extensive demolition and redevelopment, thus safeguarding its distinctive urban character and identity. additionally, it underscores the essentiality of prioritizing adaptability and flexibility, particularly in light of the significant transformations experienced during the annual event. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords urban heritage preservation; adaptive reuse; cultural heritage; built heritage conservation; tourism impact; historic city center 1. introduction a historical city center serves as a distinctive historical connection to the past, a tangible representation of the societal, cultural traditions, and architectural legacy that have evolved to shape the contemporary city and society. these historical cores, along with their old housing stock, represent urban heritage. it is crucial to maintain the original urban layout and other unique urban elements that contribute to the distinctiveness and essence of historic city centers. urban heritage encompasses not only physical elements but also intangible aspects like customs and beliefs, which play a role in the articulation of space use and the built environment. recognizing urban heritage as a valuable asset can lead to its preservation for cultural, economic, and developmental benefits (steinberg, 1996). with that being http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i2.1154&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 said, development projects must carefully consider any changes to the historic fabric of the city center, aiming to enhance rather than diminish the area's rich heritage. this becomes especially important in cities experiencing heavy tourism and pilgrimage, where urban development is often shaped by large influxes of visitors. garcía-hernández et al. (2017) highlight that tourism can significantly alter the physical, functional, and social fabric of historic areas. these impacts can manifest as environmental degradation, overcrowding, displacement of local populations, and alterations to traditional ways of life. research on pilgrimage cities like mecca and mashhad illustrates that a surge in pilgrims and significant changes in land-use patterns are primary drivers of urban development. in these cities, the commercialization of pilgrimage sites has turned historically significant areas into speculative markets, leading to the replacement of traditional urban landscapes with high-rise developments and global retail chains. without proper protective policies, such changes risk eroding the very cultural heritage that defines these places. historic urban landscapes—once defined by prominent shrines and local crafts—are now being replaced by high-rise mega projects and global retail chains. additionally, the large investments required for expanding infrastructure and enlarging shrine complexes have fostered stronger public-private partnerships, ultimately leading to the systematic demolition of existing urban structures, the reorganization of land parcels, and the development of large-scale projects (maroufi & rosina, 2017). conversely, tourism can also support the preservation of cultural heritage by providing the necessary resources for conservation and by increasing public awareness of local cultural values. therefore, analyzing the effects of tourist influx on historic city centers is essential for designing sustainable conservation initiatives (garcía-hernández et al., 2017). in response to these challenges, modern architectural practice has shifted toward the preservation and adaptive reuse of existing structures over demolition. this approach saves resources and maintains the continuity and character of historic urban landscapes. for example, many old buildings in historic centers have been successfully transformed into shops or offices, blending the old with the new (shree et al., 2024). adaptive reuse, in particular, presents an innovative strategy that bridges the gap between existing infrastructure and contemporary needs. it involves finding a new use for an existing structure that differs from its original purpose. reusing or repurposing the existing building stock is considered highly sustainable. it provides continuity for the urban landscape to maintain its sense of place, character, and identity while creating opportunities to transform it through renovation, restoration, and redesign of disused, underused, or abandoned buildings (morel & dorpalen, 2023). importantly, rehabilitation advocates argue for a broader perspective that extends beyond preserving individual landmark buildings and includes the conservation and strategic upgrading of entire urban areas. as steinberg (1996) emphasizes, attention should be focused not only on architectural value but also on the everyday activities and functional uses of all buildings within historic districts. building on these principles, this study investigates strategies that reconcile the needs of modern urban development with the imperative to preserve historical integrity. central to our approach is the concept of reuse—repurposing existing structures and urban spaces to meet new demands without compromising their inherent character. by examining the current condition of the city center and its underutilized resources, this research aims to explore methods to accommodate the influx of visitors and enhance their experience while preserving the city’s historical urban fabric. in doing so, it aims to present viable alternatives to widespread demolition and new development. 2. materials and methods 2.1. description of the study area the city of karbala, located in iraq, holds rich cultural, religious, and historical significance, primarily due to its status as a major pilgrimage destination for shia muslims. millions of pilgrims visit karbala each year to pay their respects and participate in the rituals. the pilgrimage event, known as arbaeen, is integral to karbala's identity, influencing its social, cultural, and economic landscape. it serves as a platform for cultural exchange, bringing al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 together people from different parts of the world, thereby enhancing karbala's cultural richness. economically, the event creates significant opportunities for local businesses and individuals, substantially boosting the city's economy. however, this pilgrimage activity places immense pressure on the old city center with the shrines in its heart, as there is difficulty in absorbing the massive movement of pilgrims during religious events, in which, in the biggest event, more than 20 million pilgrims visit the holy shrine. the increasing number of pilgrims poses significant challenges to the city center, specifically in terms of infrastructure, accommodation, transportation, overcrowding, and the degradation of traditional urban areas. therefore, there is an urgent need for expansion and development projects aimed at accommodating the increasing number of visitors. as such, the ministry of municipalities and public works, in conjunction with the general directorate of urban planning, has approved an expansion project for the shrines that will forever transform the city center. this proposal entails creating vast public open spaces around the existing shrines, covering approximately 54% of the current old city (diwan architectural office & ministry of municipalities and public works [dao & mm&pw], 2014). moreover, this project necessitates a change in land use from residential to commercial and hotel purposes within the urban fabric that will result in a significant displacement of local people. the initiative presents several issues, including a lack of integration with the surrounding traditional urban fabric and further detachment of the shrines, which are integral to the city, from their historical context. while creating vast open spaces addresses the need to accommodate large numbers during pilgrimage events, their effectiveness diminishes during the rest of the year when it’s not as crowded. similarly, the shift in land use from residential and mixed-use to commercial and hotel spaces results in limited functionality solely during peak periods, leaving them unoccupied for the remainder of the year. most importantly, the demolition of nearly half of the old city raises significant concerns that necessitate critical examination and consideration of alternative solutions. this study, therefore, aims to explore alternative strategies for accommodating the increasing number of visitors by conducting a comprehensive analysis of the traditional urban fabric, focusing on its unique characteristics, existing open spaces, land use patterns, and pilgrimage movement, to discover opportunities for redevelopment while protecting its traditional urban fabric. 2.2. methodology the research started with a master's thesis titled “urban heritage conservation considerations for developing urban spaces in the city center of karbala” (al-ameen, 2023). the study included reviewing relevant literature and analyzing four case studies focusing on critical urban factors: urban fabric, open spaces, urban networks, and land use. case studies studied for the research were all historic city centers and were the following: the central area of medina-al-munawara, urban renewal of chiado neighborhood, reconstruction project of hafsia, tunis, and urban regeneration in darb al ahmar district, cairo. lessons and insights were extracted from these case studies and categorized based on the four factors. the literature review was conducted using academic databases as well as official reports from the ministry of municipalities and public works and urban planning documents related to karbala. the review aimed to answer key research questions: (1) how can historic urban fabric be preserved amidst necessary development? (2) what opportunities does the current city center offer for a balanced development approach? (3) how can the visitor influx be accommodated while protecting the urban fabric? furthermore, an extensive analysis of karbala’s city center was conducted, including a detailed study of map information and an analysis of pilgrimage movement patterns during peak and off-peak periods. the study also involved an exploration of the urban landscape, observing and assessing spatial dynamics and changes occurring during the days of the event. the visual representations and sketches done by the author provided a better understanding of the urban context and helped identify existing opportunities. consequently, the findings were also documented through illustrations, forming the basis for the study’s conclusions on the urban development and preservation opportunities within karbala’s historic core. al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 figure 1: methodology diagram (source: by authors) as shown in figure 1, this paper aims to identify existing opportunities within karbala’s old city for applying development strategies that have proven successful in other case studies. these include the reuse of urban areas and built heritage to address key challenges such as accommodating the large influx of pilgrims while conserving the city’s historic urban fabric. the approach builds on lessons drawn from the analysis of karbala’s city center and adopts a methodology that relies on visual tools, such as drawings and spatial illustrations, supported by a literature review and the study of pilgrimage movement patterns, which is presented in the following section. 2.3. pilgrimage movement pattern and points of pressure the urban layout of the old city consists of main routes and axes as well as secondary routes and alleyways. a report by dao & mmpw (2012) compared the crowd level on the main axis routes leading to the holy shrines during regular and event days and revealed important insights [as seen in figure 2 (a)]. the report indicates that the southern routes are the most congested on both regular days and during events, highlighting the need for attention. in contrast, the western route experiences the lowest traffic on event days. the northern routes are the second busiest during events, but are the least utilized on regular days. to balance crowd congestion and reduce pressure on the southern and northern routes during events, it is suggested that underutilized routes, such as the western route, be considered as alternative options to disperse traffic. additionally, alrawe and qasim (2018) studied the movement of pilgrims in the holy city, simulating their patterns [as seen in figure 2 (b)]. according to this analysis, most visitors mainly take the main axis routes leading to the shrines, causing congestion on these routes. meanwhile, the secondary routes within the district's urban fabric remain uncrowded even during the events, ultimately disregarding these secondary routes and areas. based on their findings, they recommended creating vibrant pedestrian nodes with services in various locations within the city center to enhance open spaces for visitors and locals during regular and event days. this approach would align with the city’s spatial and spiritual identity while reducing congestion around the two shrines. they specifically suggested locating one of these nodes near a key attraction in the city center—the mosque of imam mahdi—on its northern side, where a river exists to help establish a distinct urban space. al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 figure 2: (a) pilgrims' movement during the arbaeen, source: dao & mmpw (2012), (b) main routes taken mainly by the pilgrims during arbaeen, (source: by authors based on alrawe & qasim, 2018) 3. identifying the city center’s existing opportunities this section will explore the key assets of the city center and opportunities discovered through a comprehensive analysis. recognizing and leveraging these assets is essential for addressing karbala’s challenges while preserving its urban heritage. 3.1. the traditional urban fabric the preservation of the historic urban fabric is a valuable resource for positive change, deeply connected to the area’s social and cultural essence. the historic neighborhoods and the traditional communal bonds within are seen as integral assets for the city's future. (aga khan trust for culture [aktc], 2005). the urban fabric of the city of karbala has been known since its formation in 680, with the concentration of residential buildings in a dense and compact fashion. moreover, it is centrally configured around the two shrines, depicting a spiritual and religious relationship between the occupants and the holy shrines (farhan et al., 2021). the characteristics of the traditional urban fabric include: the human scale: the old city’s dimensions maintain a suitable walking range of 400-800m from the center to surrounding districts, while the streets and alleyways' human dimension reinforces social connections in addition to providing climatic comfort and privacy advantages. figure 3 displays sketches of the old urban fabric and the human scale within its spaces. social and physical cohesion: the city has achieved urban integration by incorporating key elements of an islamic city. muslim cities traditionally emphasize maintaining good neighborly relationships and building houses closely connected, allowing for the integration of individual homes into cohesive urban units. good neighborly relations thus became a specific form of solidarity, shaping the social and physical fabric of residential districts in muslim cities (bianca, 2000). the compact form of houses provides security and climate control while fostering social interaction among residents and strong community bonds. social networks thrive in familiar historical environments that foster a sense of continuity and ownership (leite, 1998). particularly within the old city, the urban fabric is characterized by a compact pattern that reflects a homogeneous structure with a historical dimension affirmed by traces of the old city's wall within this fabric's boundaries. this section is considered the oldest in the city and reflects a densely interconnected fabric with a harmonious urban style (merie and farhan, 2022). the transition from public to private: the system of narrow alleyways, internal corridors, and gateways prior to the entrances of individual houses facilitates a gradual transition from public to private areas, which is crucial for urban functionality and cohesion. the urban layout prioritizes clearly defined spaces for private and public uses. the street network is integrated into suqs and residential quarters, and dead-end alleys lead to clusters of private houses. gates and thresholds create social hierarchies that ensure privacy while connecting urban elements, forming a cohesive communication network (bianca, 2000). al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 3: sketches and sections of the alleyways and streets of the old city (source: drawings drawn by the author) climatic control: the proportion and narrow shape of the alleyways contribute to climatic control by providing shade and reducing heat exposure during hot summer days while also allowing for a cooler ventilation flow. additionally, roofed passages further enhance this cooling effect, maintaining a shaded environment that protects against extreme weather conditions. the compact form of houses, the courtyard typology found in karbala's historic center, and the construction materials all play a role in improving climatic control. pedestrian-oriented layout: particularly within the old city, the routes follow an organic pattern characterized by irregular shapes and dead ends that are not compatible with vehicle movements. yet, they are more accessible for pedestrians and visitors. moreover, for security purposes, the central area is predominantly accessible on foot and has limited vehicular access. this condition proves beneficial as it paves the way for a pedestrian-oriented development. priority should be given to pedestrians and public transportation instead. 3.2. the mixed land use the traditional islamic city has historically embraced a multifunctional core, integrating religious, educational, social, and commercial functions (bianca, 2000). karbala city center's land use is primarily residential, with 27%, and commercial, with 20% area coverage. the remaining uses include religious services, public spaces, and multi-purpose areas (merie & farhan, 2022). its layout consists of a religious center surrounded by public spaces and traditional markets, then residential areas extending outward. historical influences and diverse civilizations have contributed to karbala’s current balance of land use, showcasing features typical of an original islamic city (farhan et al., 2018). the areas with prominent residential and mixed-use include the north side, mainly the old district of bab al-taq, as well as most parts of the east, such as bab al-khan and bab al-solalamah districts. these mixed-use areas not only provide a self-sufficient environment but also contribute to strengthening both the place’s identity and its inhabitants (chantry, 2017). unlike the proposed development project that plans to replace residential areas with commercial and hotel spaces, it is crucial to preserve the residential use in the city center. the case studies underscored the significance of residential use in reviving urban areas and preserving a sense of belonging. moreover, owing to the feeling of inclusiveness, communities residing in these regions are inclined towards participating in initiatives aimed at enhancing their neighborhoods. the preservation of residential use also promotes engagement with the physical environment and fosters natural surveillance, ensuring safety within the area (chantry, 2017). moreover, residential use is valuable in karbala due to the city's traditional host-guest dynamics, with locals historically providing services, accommodations, and hospitality to pilgrims. this annual support from the residents of the old city plays a crucial role in karbala's ability to host millions of pilgrims each year. al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 3.3. attraction points the city center of karbala contains many unique elements and components of everyday life that uphold the city's structure and strengthen its collective memory. the map of figure 4 delineates the location of potential landmarks such as heritage buildings, traditional houses, religious destinations, mausoleums, madrassas, bath houses, local markets, and khans (traditional guesthouses). these elements carry immense cultural and historical significance for inhabitants. these components play an essential role in shaping both the physical and social landscape of karbala's city center. preserving these landmarks and incorporating them into daily life promotes a sense of identity and belonging within people. figure 4: map of the attraction points (source: by authors, based on dao & mmpw, 2011) 3.4. the existing vacant lands many buildings in the historic city have fallen into ruins due to long-term neglect, resulting in numerous vacant and abandoned areas that remain unused to this day. learning from the case study of historic cairo, where such plots were treated as opportunities, we can also view them as untapped potential. in a city with a notably high influx of visitors like karbala and a significant demand for extra space during the special days of arbaeen, optimizing these underused and neglected plots scattered throughout the historic core becomes crucial. the map of figure 5(a) offers a visual representation of the abandoned and underused spaces within the city center, compared with the proposed expansion project's area. this contrast highlights that the opportunities presented by these empty spaces account for approximately 68% of the proposed project area. this suggests that a considerable portion of the planned expansion could be integrated into these vacant spaces, emphasizing the opportunity to repurpose and revitalize existing areas. the example of medina al-munawara [as seen in figure 5 (b)] further illustrates the consequences of urban interventions prioritizing large-scale redevelopment over heritage preservation. successive developments around the prophet’s mosque led to the gradual loss of its historic fabric, culminating in the clearance of its old districts. similarly, karbala faces the threat of losing its traditional urban core, highlighting the need for balanced, contextsensitive strategies to protect its historical identity while accommodating growth. al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 5: (a) comparison of open spaces, (b) medina central city development. (sources: (a) by authors, based on dao & mm&pw (2011, 2014), (b1 & b2) bianca (2000), (b3) google maps.) 4. proposed strategies in the following section, strategies derived from urban analysis and case studies are proposed in response to the city center's current challenges. these strategies will help the city maintain its urban heritage and revitalize its urban spaces while increasing capacity to accommodate the large number of visitors. 4.1. restoration and adaptive reuse of historic buildings in the study of the cases of the chiado neighborhood (leite, 1998) and historic cairo (aktc, 2005), the old structures and monuments were restored and then either retrieved their original uses or were given new uses according to a comprehensive restoration plan for the entire area. for example, in the chiado neighborhood, housing was reintroduced into the 18th-century structures, and the previous department stores were converted into hotels and commercial mixed uses (leite, 1998). and in cairo, darb al-ahmar, historic monuments were carefully restored and often adaptively reused for community and cultural functions, while traditional housing stock was rehabilitated rather than demolished. [see figure 6 (a)] in karbala old city, the historical buildings are neglected and almost forgotten. by restoring and adaptively reusing these structures, they can reclaim their significance, restore identity to the place, and serve as focal points that attract visitors. preserved and respected for their inherent qualities, the monuments, old buildings, and traditional open spaces must be re-integrated into the everyday life of the residents and reconnected to the area's complex, multidimensional social and cultural character (aktc, 2005). as a subsequent step, connecting these attraction zones by enhancing the routes between them will create paths that lead people through these places deep within the urban fabric's forgotten areas. this will lead to the revitalization of the areas around the attraction points and, eventually, the whole city center [as seen in figure 6 (b)]. al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 figure 6 (a): urban interventions in the darb al-ahmar in cairo, including monument restoration, rehabilitation zones, and linking with the nearby park, (b) map of karbala showing the attraction points and the routes linking them. (sources: (a) by authors using data from aktc (2005), (b) by authors) 4.2. repurposing vacant lands into public open spaces in dealing with vacant open areas within the urban tissue, insights can be drawn from the hafsia case study. the phase 2 project had about 28% vacant areas, which underwent a comprehensive analysis to identify spaces for reconstruction and the positioning of new open areas (aga khan award for architecture 2013). (see figure 7(a)) similarly, empty spaces in karbala should be subjected to a detailed analysis to revitalize them and enhance their utility. for example, these underutilized areas could be transformed into vibrant public spaces, serving as gathering places for social interactions and enabling pilgrims to congregate and perform their rituals. rather than destroying the urban fabric to create vast open spaces, which disrupt the established urban structure as suggested by the proposal project, a more effective strategy involves introducing multiple smaller open spaces seamlessly integrated into the urban fabric and utilized throughout the year. the experience of medina (bianca, 2000) also shows that vast open areas are only useful for accommodating crowds during peak periods; on regular days, they remain uncrowded, making the walk to the shrines harder and less enjoyable, especially during the day. al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 figure 7 (a): hafsia, redevelopment of empty spaces, (b) underused areas connected. (sources: (a) by authors using data from akaa (2013), (b) by authors) these open spaces can serve as pedestrian nodes and could be connected and made more accessible through existing routes. this would lead to a redistribution of visitor pressure across the city center and could present opportunities for the development of the entire city center while being integrated into the urban fabric, as seen in figure 7(b). to further support this vision, a layered spatial analysis was conducted to pinpoint specific zones where such interventions could be most effective. figure 8 shows how layering multiple datasets, such as maps of historical attractions and distributions of empty spaces, can help identify areas with potential for development and enhancement of public spaces. by visualizing these intersections, the figure provides a strategic basis for proposing targeted revitalization that considers both the functional needs and the historical context of the city. figure 8: a map of overlapping data that will reveal more opportunities for developing and revitalizing the city center (source: by authors) al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 4.3. temporary adaptation considering how karbala transforms during the annual arbaeen event, it is crucial to prioritize flexibility and adaptability in urban uses. during arbaeen, the city's streets and public open spaces are transformed with temporary installations to serve the influx of visitors with customary food and drink services and provide temporary accommodations. this adaptability and multifunctionality also existed in the traditional islamic city, where the mosque was designed to be a permeable structure, accommodating multiple uses and large congregations. bianca (2000), in his proposal for the expansion of the grand mosque of medina-al-munawara (case study 1), aimed to maintain this multifunctionality with flexible ground floor plans that could be used for prayer during peak seasons and for informal commercial activities during other times, ensuring the central area remains vibrant and functional year-round. building on these practices, public edifices, endowment buildings, and educational facilities can play a vital role. (see figure 9) for instance, schools occupy large areas that remain unused during event days, making their extra space highly valuable for meeting the increased demand during these special times. this adaptability can also be applied to other significant buildings in the city center, particularly those with ground floors accessible from the main street. they can be temporarily adapted to accommodate installations that serve pilgrims, which would otherwise occupy a significant portion of the streets, hindering the flow of visitors. this approach would alleviate street congestion and ensure a smoother flow of pilgrims through the city while also helping to reduce the strain on local residents. by implementing this temporary adaptation approach, karbala can better accommodate the influx of pilgrims during the event and enhance their experience while preserving the integrity of its urban fabric and maintaining the city's functionality year-round. figure 9: public buildings in the old city (source: drawing by authors based on dao & mmpw (2011)) 4.4. reviving existing old routes reuse and rehabilitating existing routes, especially the old routes within the urban tissue, with their historical dimension, will lead people from the main axis roads into the historic urban fabric, encouraging exploration of other aspects of the old city, including its historical attractions, social, and cultural life, ultimately leading to the revitalization of the neighborhood. reintroducing these neglected paths can help alleviate the pressure on the city core and redistribute it across the city center. currently, most visitors use the main roads with direct access to the shrines, leaving older routes within the urban districts uncrowded even during peak periods (figure 2(a)). moreover, the proposal plans for the city center's development have also suggested improving some of the older routes and introducing others to improve the flow of visitors. al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 4.5. targeted intervention in the case of historic cairo (aktc, 2005), abandoned residents, ruins, and buildings in poor structural condition were considered opportunities for new developments. small-scale interventions targeting these areas for re-purposing and redevelopment could, in turn, transform the area surrounding them. the same strategy can be applied to the city center of karbala. this approach will eventually lead to revitalization and increased capacity and density without destroying the city's urban tissue. 4.6. reuse of existing structure steinberg (1996) suggests that the primary emphasis of reusing buildings should be on upgrading and adapting them to serve contemporary functions and activities within a comprehensive plan to enhance the surrounding area. for example, in the revitalization of historic cairo (aktc, 2005), many existing structures adjacent to public spaces and monuments were repurposed for new uses to serve tourists and the community. additionally, the rooftops of buildings were rehabilitated and reused for restaurants and cafes. similarly, structures were adapted for new uses in the chiado neighborhood (leite, 1998). the same approach could be applied to karbala's city center. buildings in good structural condition can be repurposed according to the area's requirements and the pilgrims' needs. connected rooftops of these structures could turn into public spaces with clear views of the holy shrine. during peak periods, they can serve as gathering spaces, enhancing the spiritual connection through visual connection (see figure 10). efficiently utilizing existing structures to provide extra space for crowds can avoid disrupting the established urban fabric. figure 10: activating the existing structures around the shrines by repurposing their spaces to serve the crowd during the event (source: illustration by authors) 5. result the study highlights that the old city possesses a strong foundation for preserving its urban character. it notes that karbala's current urban fabric holds untapped potential, with several underused spaces that could be leveraged for better crowd management and service distribution. strategic interventions, such as repurposing vacant spaces, enhancing pedestrian pathways, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of structures, and revitalizing underutilized areas, can address visitor demands while preserving the city's historical integrity. (see figure 11 for reviewing the suggested strategies.) this approach offers a more sustainable alternative to large-scale demolitions and new developments, as well as ensuring the city's functionality year-round. the result also shows that many successful strategies in other city centers can also be applied to karbala. however, what makes karbala's city center different from other cases is the temporary transformation of its urban spaces during the event, which necessitates a focus on adaptability and flexibility in using urban spaces. therefore, two types of reuse strategies were suggested: adaptive reuse and temporary reuse. by temporarily reusing existing structures and spaces during the arbaeen event, karbala can effectively accommodate visitors' needs and enhance their experience while preserving its historical fabric. temporary reuse can provide al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 necessary accommodations and services for pilgrims, while adaptive reuse revitalizes underused areas of the city center. this approach enhances the city's livability, preserves its heritage, and maximizes its capacity to absorb the flow of visitors. figure 11: a diagram of the proposed strategies (source: by authors) 6. limitations and future implications if effectively implemented, the proposed strategies could serve as a model for other historic cities facing similar challenges. additionally, integrating these strategies into urban planning can promote a more sustainable and resilient city center, balancing the needs of residents and pilgrims. however, the long-term success of these strategies will depend on supportive policies that incentivize preservation, private-sector investment, community engagement, and continuous data-driven urban management to adapt to future challenges and demands. regulatory constraints could pose challenges, as urban planning policies may not fully support adaptive reuse or temporary reuse of existing structures. while preserving karbala’s historic fabric is a priority, local communities and businesses may have different interests, such as expanding economic opportunities or modernizing infrastructure, which could affect how these strategies are received. future research should focus on practical implementation pathways for the proposed strategies. additionally, exploring methods for expanding the shrines in a way that respects the urban fabric and minimizes disruption, as well as exploring the temporary reuse of buildings during the arbaeen event, would be valuable areas for further study. 7. conclusion the current city center of karbala presents many opportunities with its traditional layout and mixed-use areas that contribute to the city's social and cultural fabric. it is essential to safeguard this authentic urban layout and its distinctive elements to uphold karbala's identity while addressing the massive influx of pilgrims. however, the current development initiative fails to consider and integrate with the surrounding context, focusing on functionality during peak periods at the expense of the historic urban fabric. instead, the research proposes a methodology that involves analyzing the urban fabric, identifying existing assets and opportunities, and exploring possible strategies for intervention. the strategies are supported by insights from similar case studies and selected based on the analysis. this demonstrates a practical approach to addressing the city's challenges while protecting its valuable urban tissue. the study advocates for effectively utilizing the current assets al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 of the city center and directing the development toward the entirety of the city center rather than focusing solely on the areas around the shrines. karbala's city center remains vibrant and functional despite challenges and partial destruction, mainly due to housing the shrines in its heart. the annual event, crucial to karbala's identity, relies on the hospitality and dedication of its residents. protecting the traditional urban fabric intimately connected to the people and the shrines is essential. a rehabilitation project that benefits both residents and visitors and uses the suggested strategies is necessary to preserve the city's unique identity while accommodating the influx of pilgrims. acknowledgment the abstract of this paper was presented at the conservation of architectural heritage (cah) conference – 8th edition, which was held on 17th19th of september 2024. funding this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector/ individuals. ethics approval not applicable. conflict of interest the authors declare there is no conflict. references aga khan award for architecture. 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(2023). adaptive thinking in cities: urban continuity within built environments. climate, 11(3), 54. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11030054 https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/urban-designer-series-jane-jacobs/92116/ https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/urban-designer-series-jane-jacobs/92116/ https://doi.org/10.26687/archnet-ijar.v12i3.1625 https://doi.org/10.3390/su9081346 https://doi.org/10.18502/keg.v3i4.2171 https://doi.org/10.15320/iconarp.2017.24 https://doi.org/10.1345/isssejournal.001.01.xxxx https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11030054 al ameen/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 shree, j. m., yogesvar, r., madhushri, r., vishal, r., & eunice, j. (2024). adaptive reuse of cultural heritage. international research journal on advanced engineering and management (irjaem), 2(4), 1188–1192. https://doi.org/10.47392/irjaem.2024.0158 steinberg, f. (1996). conservation and rehabilitation of urban heritage in developing countries. habitat international, 20(3) , 463–475. https://doi.org/10.1016/0197-3975(96)00012-4 https://doi.org/10.47392/irjaem.2024.0158 https://doi.org/10.1016/0197-3975(96)00012-4 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received: 9 october 2024, accepted: 20 january 2025, published online: 27 march 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i1.1134 assessing the impact of urban canyon geometry on outdoor thermal comfort: a case study in marrakech, morocco asia lachir1,2 1associate professor, national school of architecture, agadir, morocco 2associate professor, laboratory of energy engineering, materials and systems, national school of applied sciences of agadir, ibn zohr university, agadir, morocco abstract the rapid urbanization of cities, combined with the challenges of climate change, has made managing outdoor thermal comfort a priority in urban planning. as cities experience rising temperatures, strategies to mitigate the urban heat island (uhi) effect and enhance outdoor thermal comfort are becoming essential for enhancing the quality of life and promoting sustainable, healthy urban environments. this study investigates the impact of urban form features on uhi intensity and outdoor thermal comfort in marrakech, morocco. the uhi effect and thermal comfort, quantified using the universal thermal climate index (utci), were simulated across various urban canyon design scenarios using the urban weather generator and ladybug tools. five simulation experiments analyzed the effects of altering street aspect ratios, building heights, and street orientations within urban canyon geometry. the results show that compact urban canyons can increase air temperature by up to 6°c but offer significant benefits for thermal comfort during winter nights and spring and summer days. street orientation had the greatest impact on thermal comfort, with utci variations reaching up to 15°c. the northeast-southwest orientation proved optimal across all seasons and building heights had a limited effect, except during winter. this study highlights the importance of urban design in mitigating uhi and enhancing outdoor thermal comfort, providing key insights for sustainable urban planning in hot climates. overall, a compact urban canyon with a northeast-southwest street orientation is identified as the most effective design for improving outdoor thermal comfort in marrakech. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords outdoor environment; urban climate; urban heat island; urban forms; urban planning; public space; ladybug tools; marrakech 1. introduction urbanization and climate change are among the most defining issues of our time (dreyfus, 2015). the urban heat island (uhi) effect exacerbates the impact of rising temperatures in cities due to global warming (dogan et al., 2019; ramamurthy & bou-zeid, 2017), which has led to growing interest in studies of outdoor thermal comfort. over the past decade, this field has gained significant importance, becoming a key indicator of urban space quality and a crucial factor in designing climate-adapted and healthy urban environments (elnabawi & hamza, 2020; lachir, 2022). poor outdoor thermal comfort can adversely affect human health and well-being while also reducing social and commercial outdoor activities. high temperatures and humidity can make working or spending time http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i1.1134&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ lachir/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 outdoors difficult (smith et al., 2014). ensuring appropriate thermal comfort can extend the duration of outdoor activities, enhance urban life and vitality, and decrease energy consumption in built environments (el-bahrawy, 2023). the planning and design of urban spaces has been shown to significantly impact outdoor thermal comfort (targhi & van dessel, 2015; yahia et al., 2018). effective strategies, including optimizing urban geometry, incorporating vegetation, using appropriate materials, and considering street orientation, can significantly enhance outdoor thermal comfort in urban areas. (bedra et al., 2023; hedayatnia et al., 2023; korkut & rachid, 2024) in particular, urban morphology,—including the compactness and layout of buildings, as well as the presence of open spaces—, has been shown to cause significant variations in microclimatic conditions, affecting thermal comfort differently across various urban settings. for instance, a study in isfahan demonstrates that different block designs lead to varying microclimatic and thermal comfort outcomes (sadeghian et al., 2024). therefore, urban design must account for local microclimatic conditions to enhance thermal comfort, fostering more sustainable cities and improving urban quality of life. assessing thermal comfort in outdoor environments is highly complex due to the interplay of various environmental, personal, psychological, and cultural factors. key environmental parameters, such as solar radiation, air temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity, significantly influence thermal comfort and are strongly altered by urban microclimate processes (shooshtarian & ridley, 2016; zhang et al., 2022). the heterogeneity of urban geometry and surface characteristics leads to high spatial variability in thermal comfort within urban areas, highlighting the need for micro-scale models focused on the neighborhood scale to accurately depict interactions between buildings and their surroundings. several studies have developed and used micro-scale models for outdoor thermal comfort, aiming to provide insights for sustainable urban design and decision-making, emphasizing the importance of considering microclimate factors for improving outdoor thermal comfort (aghamolaei et al., 2023; jänicke et al., 2021; lam et al., 2021). available simulation tools include envi-met (huttner & bruse, 2009), rayman (matzarakis et al., 2007), and ladybug (sadeghipour roudsari & pak, 2013). these tools quantify outdoor environmental conditions by estimating thermal comfort indices. the most frequently used indices are the physiologically equivalent temperature (pet) and the universal thermal climate index (utci). both pet and utci were specifically developed for measuring thermal comfort in outdoor environments and have shown reliability and potential as useful tools in urban planning (staiger et al., 2019). in the moroccan context, few studies have addressed outdoor thermal comfort. ouali et al., (2020) showed that urban design choices, such as the shape, size, and spacing of buildings, can significantly improve outdoor thermal comfort in moderate climates. a study in fez, morocco, found that urban geometry plays a crucial role, with deep street canyons offering better comfort in hot climates but necessitating wider streets or open spaces for solar access during colder seasons (johansson, 2006). jihad & tahiri (2016) investigated the influence of the aspect ratio in agadir, errachidia, and fez. existing literature demonstrates the importance of outdoor thermal comfort in the moroccan context and highlights the significance of urban design in enhancing this comfort. however, there is still a significant knowledge gap in this field, particularly regarding how different design options influence thermal comfort. studies in various climatic regions demonstrate that effective urban design must be tailored to local conditions (ruefenacht et al., 2022). this case study in marrakech, morocco, examines key design parameters related to urban forms that impact the microclimate and provides guidelines to assist architects and urban planners during the early design stages of new districts in a city where extreme temperatures are a significant concern. this paper aims to contribute to existing knowledge by analyzing how various urban form features impact the urban microclimate and thermal comfort. we investigate three urban form features: building height, street aspect ratio, and street orientation, and quantify their effects on the urban heat island and thermal comfort in the climate context of marrakech, morocco. these urban form features are identified as key geometrical characteristics influencing outdoor microclimate conditions. previous research indicates that their interactions with air temperature and thermal comfort can vary, with some outcomes being debated in the literature. for example, compact urban areas may reduce daytime temperatures and improve thermal comfort by providing shading and limiting direct solar exposure, which is beneficial during warmer periods. however, these same features can also retain heat at night, thereby lachir/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 intensifying the uhi effect and reducing nighttime cooling (cha & oh, 2020; hedayatnia et al., 2023). this paper provides valuable insights for urban planners aiming to enhance thermal comfort and mitigate urban heat through effective design strategies. to achieve this goal, we analyze various design scenarios of an urban canyon, focusing on key geometrical characteristics and using validated simulation models to estimate their impacts on the urban heat island effect and thermal comfort within the canyon. 2. materials and methods 2.1. climate data the study is conducted in the climatic context of marrakech, a semi-arid city known for its dry and extremely hot summers, with temperatures often exceeding 40°c. to characterize marrakech's climate, we used hourly climatic data in energy plus weather (epw) format. these data, commonly used for simulating building energy requirements, represent a typical year's climate and are derived from observations at the marrakech menara a.p. 602300 station between 2004 and 2018. in this study, we focus on analyzing thermal comfort during the summer, spring, and winter seasons. for each season, we selected a representative day on which simulations were conducted in marrakech. the hourly climatic data for the selected days are shown in figure 1. figure 1: air temperature and global horizontal radiation for the selected study days.(source: by authors) 2.2. the urban canyon design scenarios the study is conducted for a simplified urban canyon with varying geometrical features. these are as follows: buildings height: this is indicated by the number of the buildings' stories (3.2m height for each story). we considered building heights of 3 stories, 6, 15 and 30 stories; street aspect ratio (building height-to-street-width): four cases of h/w are considered; 1/3, 1/2, 1, 2 and 4; street orientation: four cases are considered: east-west (ew), northeast-southwest (nesw), north-south (ns), and northwest-southeast (nwse). the buildings within the urban canyon are assumed to be air-conditioned, with a 30% glazing ratio and a wellinsulated envelope. the streets are considered to be asphalt-covered with no vegetation, and traffic heat release is estimated based on urban density. a reference design scenario, shown in figure 2, is defined with a street aspect ratio of 1, three-story buildings, and an east-west street orientation. lachir/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 figure 2: reference scenario 3d model.(source: by authors) 2.3. simulation tools in this study, the outdoor thermal comfort is evaluated using the utci. this indicator is developed to fully reflect the real heat exchange processes within the human body when it is in contact with ambient conditions (blazejczyk et al., 2013). it is based on an advanced multi-node model of human thermoregulation (fiala et al., 2012) coupled with a model of adaptive clothing choice in urban populations (havenith et al., 2012). the utci index has the advantage of universal applicability and is validated for different climatic conditions (bröde et al., 2013; quadros & mizgier, 2023). the utci provides an equivalent temperature for a given combination of wind, radiation, humidity and air temperature (table 1). this is defined as the air temperature that would result in the same comfort sensation as the actual conditions, assuming a reference scenario where the air velocity (va) is 0.5 m/s, relative humidity (rh) is 50%, and the mean radiant temperature (mrt) is equal to the air temperature (ta) (bröde et al., 2011). the utci is calculated under two assumptions. the first uses climate data from a weather station that is free from urban heat island effects. the second uses a morphed weather file where air temperature and relative humidity are modified to include the urban heat island effect for each urban design scenario. these synthetic weather files are produced for different urban settings using the urban weather generator (uwg)(bueno et al., 2013). this model uses a neighborhood-scale surface energy balance to estimate hourly urban canopy air temperature and humidity, based on weather data from a rural weather station and the characteristics of the urban canyon. the model has been evaluated against field measurements from various urban sites and has shown high accuracy in predicting urban temperatures (salvati et al., 2016). table 1: the universal thermal climate index (utci) assessment scale utci (°c) range stress category utci (°c) range stress category above +46 extreme heat stress +9 to 0 slight cold stress +38 to +46 very strong heat stress 0 to -13 moderate cold stress +32 to +38 strong heat stress -13 to -27 strong cold stress +26 to +32 moderate heat stress -27 to -40 very strong cold stress +9 to +26 no thermal stress below -40 extreme cold stress the simulations are conducted using ladybug tools (ladybug tools, l.l.c., 2021), a suite of applications integrated into the grasshopper plug-in for rhinoceros, a computer-aided design (cad) software. these tools enable the generation of 3d urban models, the definition of input parameters, and the execution of simulations to estimate the urban heat island effect and thermal comfort for each design scenario. lachir/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 2.4. the simulation experiments the utci is simulated assuming a walking human subject at street level within the urban canyon under study. calculations are performed on a 2m x 2m grid at an hourly time step for selected days, capturing spatial, temporal, and seasonal variations in thermal comfort. five simulation experiments were conducted as follows: • experiment 1: utci is simulated for the reference urban canyon design scenario using a weather file with meteorological data from a rural station, excluding the uhi effects. • experiment 2: the uhi is simulated for the reference design scenario using the urban weather generator (uwg). this uhi-inclusive weather file is then used to simulate utci for the reference design. • experiment 3: the uhi and utci are simulated for a set of scenarios where the reference design is altered by varying street aspect ratios. • experiment 4: the uhi and utci are simulated for a set of scenarios with modifications to building heights in the reference design. • experiment 5: the uhi and utci are simulated for a set of scenarios with different street orientations applied to the reference design. for experiments 3, 4, and 5, the hourly uhi effect is calculated as the temperature difference between uwggenerated weather data (incorporating the uhi effect) and uhi-free meteorological data from a rural station. hourly utci maps are produced using the uhi-inclusive uwg data, and average utci values across the street are computed for each time step. additionally, statistics on the minimum, maximum, and average hourly uhi and utci are calculated for the various canyon design scenarios. 3. results 3.1. impact of urban heat island consideration on outdoor thermal comfort calculation figure 3 presents examples of simulation results from experiment 1, highlighting significant spatial variation in utci across the urban canyon open space, particularly during the daytime. spatial differences in utci can reach up to approximately 10°c at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. during spring, and at 8 a.m. in summer, with slightly smaller differences observed later in the day. these substantial variations are primarily due to solar exposure, with sunexposed areas exhibiting the highest utci values. this underscores the strong influence of solar exposure on utci during daytime hours. during summer and spring, shading has a positive impact, enhancing thermal comfort. in spring, even though the air temperature does not exceed 25°c, the utci calculation indicates that pedestrians will experience moderate heat stress in most of the studied areas throughout the day. at 11:00, the simulated utci can reach up to 34°c, indicating strong heat stress, while the air temperature is 22°c. during summer, results indicate moderate heat stress in shaded areas early in the morning, while very strong to extreme heat stress is observed otherwise. during winter, results indicate a slight to moderate cold stress. the low solar altitude increases the shaded area, significantly decreasing thermal comfort (up to 15°c at 11:00). at night, utci calculations show minimal spatial variation with differences below 2°c. the lowest values are simulated at the extremes of the urban canyon. lachir/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 3: examples of universal thermal climate index (utci) maps for the reference design scenario on the three selected days in winter, spring, and summer, with corresponding air temperature (ta) provided for each time step.(source: by authors) figure 4 presents the results of experiment 2, illustrating the impact of the uhi on air temperature and utci. these indicate that the built-up can increase air temperature by up to 6°c, 1.6°c, and 5°c during the selected winter, spring, and summer days, respectively. the increase in air temperature is simulated during nighttime, with maximum values occurring before sunrise. during the daytime, a slight decrease in air temperature is observed. by incorporating weather data that accounts for the uhi resulting from the urban environment, the utci calculations offer a more realistic assessment of thermal comfort compared to those based on rural weather data. when accounting for the uhi effect, utci values increase by up to 5.5°c, 1.5°c, and 4.5°c during the selected winter, spring, and summer days, respectively. figure 4: hourly air temperature and the universal thermal climate index (utci) for the reference urban canyon design scenario, calculated with and without the urban heat island effect, during the selected days.(source: by authors) lachir/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 3.2. impact of urban canyon geometry on uhi and outdoor thermal comfort the results of experiment 3, presented in figure 5, show that the street aspect ratio (h/w) significantly impacts the uhi effect across all seasons, particularly affecting the maximum uhi intensity at night. specifically, the uhi intensity increases by 1.4°c in winter, 0.6°c in spring, and 1.3°c in summer when the street aspect ratio changes from 0.33 to 4. the cooling effect during the day is less sensitive to variations in street aspect ratio, with a maximum difference of 0.4°c. the utci analysis shows that increasing the street aspect ratio enhances thermal comfort during the day in spring and summer. the maximum utci values decrease by 6°c and 1.7°c, respectively, when the h/w ratio increases from 0.33 to 4. at night, the minimal utci values increase by 2.5°c and 3°c, making cool spring nights more comfortable. in winter, compact urban canyons positively impact night-time utci, with an increase of 5°c in the minimum utci values. however, during the day, a decrease of 4.8°c in utci is observed. the results of experiment 4, presented in figure 6, indicate that building height has a minimal impact on uhi and thermal comfort, with the exception of winter. in this season, the maximum utci increases by 10°c when the building height increases from 3 to 30 stories. this can be attributed to the greater solar access provided by wide streets and tall buildings (with a street aspect ratio of 1) compared to shorter buildings and narrower streets, particularly given the low solar altitude during winter. in contrast, during summer, the higher solar position reduces the shading effect of buildings, diminishing the impact of building height. figure 5: impact of street aspect ratio (h/w) on urban heat island (uhi) and the universal thermal climate index (utci) during the three selected days in winter, spring, and summer. .(source: by authors) lachir/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 6: impact of building height on urban heat island (uhi) and the universal thermal climate index (utci) during the three selected days in winter, spring, and summer. .(source: by authors) the results of experiment 5, as shown in figure 7, suggest that street orientation has a minor effect on uhi intensity, but a significant impact on outdoor thermal comfort. the most favorable street orientation across all seasons is the northeast-southwest (ne-sw). compared to the less favorable east-west (e-w) orientation, the daily average utci increases by 3.5°c in winter and decreases by 2.5°c in summer, thereby enhancing thermal comfort in both seasons. during winter, the ne-sw orientation provides better solar access than the e-w orientation, leading to a 15°c increase in maximum utci. however, in summer, solar access is reduced, resulting in a 4.5°c decrease in maximum utci. additionally, the ne-sw orientation improves outdoor thermal comfort at night, with a rise in minimum utci of up to 5°c during winter and a decrease of 2°c in summer compared to the e-w orientation. figure 7: impact of street orientation on urban heat island (uhi) and the universal thermal climate index (utci) during the three selected days in winter, spring, and summer. .(source: by authors) lachir/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 4. discussion the urban environment is widely recognized for its substantial impact on microclimatic conditions, particularly air temperature (lachir, 2022; lachir & nia, 2023). the results of this study reinforce this understanding, showing that the uhi effect significantly increases nighttime air temperatures while having a comparatively smaller, slightly cooling, effect during the daytime. this diurnal temperature pattern is attributed to the heat storage capacity of buildings and the shadowing effect from surrounding buildings, which reduces daytime solar gains. conversely, the intensified nighttime uhi effect is primarily explained by the release of stored heat from buildings, along with the reduced sky view factor and lower wind speeds in urban canyons, which limit the radiative and convective cooling of the area (svensson, 2004; yang et al., 2017). incorporating uhi effects into the estimation of the utci offers a more accurate and context-specific evaluation of outdoor thermal comfort. this study reveals that uhi exacerbates thermal discomfort for outdoor occupants, a finding consistent with other studies conducted in rome (battista et al., 2016) and kuala lumpur (fong et al., 2023). multiple studies suggest that effective mitigation strategies, such as increasing urban greenery, applying cool materials, and promoting urban designs that improve ventilation and shading, can reduce uhi intensity and enhance outdoor thermal comfort (evola et al., 2017; jia & wang, 2022; morini et al., 2016; wang et al., 2016). in this study, we focused on three key geometrical features of urban form to assess their impact on both uhi intensity and outdoor thermal comfort. the analysis of urban canyon geometry reveals that wider canyons, with a higher sky view factor, can mitigate uhi intensity by facilitating more efficient radiative cooling at night. in contrast, deep urban canyons trap heat within the canopy, reducing convective cooling due to lower wind speeds in more compact areas (kolokotsa et al., 2022; theeuwes et al., 2014). however, the impact of the street aspect ratio on utci indicates that compact urban canyons contribute to improved thermal comfort during the day, particularly in spring and summer, by reducing solar exposure and increasing shading (salleh, 2007). thermal comfort is also enhanced during colder nights in winter and spring, as the reduced sky view factor in deep canyons limits heat loss from the human body to the sky. overall, in the context of marrakech, a compact urban canyon design proves to be more advantageous for thermal comfort. the average utci throughout the day suggests enhanced comfort in winter and spring, with minimal impact during summer. a similar case study in fez, morocco, revealed that while deep canyons provide thermal comfort during the summer, shallow canyons are more comfortable during winter (johansson, 2006). street orientation emerges as a significant factor influencing thermal comfort, primarily due to its effect on solar access, which is a critical determinant of outdoor thermal comfort. for instance, a study in liverpool, australia, highlighted street orientation as the most influential factor affecting outdoor thermal comfort (abdollahzadeh & biloria, 2021). in the current study, we found that northeast-southwest (ne-sw) orientations are particularly favorable for enhancing outdoor thermal comfort. however, optimal orientations are likely to vary depending on the climate context and their combination with the street aspect ratio (abdelhafez et al., 2022; elkhayat et al., 2024). 5. conclusion urbanization and climate change have amplified the urban heat island effect, making outdoor thermal comfort a critical aspect of urban design. in marrakech, morocco, our study shows that pedestrians may experience slight to moderate cold stress during winter nights, while heat stress is prevalent at most other times, especially during summer and spring, where strong to extreme heat stress can occur even at air temperatures around 22°c due to significant solar exposure. among the tested urban design features, street aspect ratios (h/w) have a greater impact on uhi compared to building heights and orientation, but strategies to reduce uhi don't always align with those that enhance thermal comfort. while compact urban canyons tend to increase uhi, they are effective in improving outdoor thermal comfort, particularly during winter cold nights and hot days. conversely, open urban canyons offer better comfort during summer nights and cold winter days. street orientation, particularly a northeast-southwest (ne-sw) alignment, proves most favorable for outdoor thermal comfort across all seasons, providing optimal solar exposure in winter and reduced exposure in summer. ultimately, the best urban design strategies should be adapted lachir/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 to the intended use of outdoor spaces, while also considering other factors like the impact of building energy efficiency for a 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(2022). assessment of macroclimate and microclimate effects on outdoor thermal comfort via artificial neural network models. urban climate, 42. scopus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2022.101134 http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received:08 july 2025, accepted:17 september 2025, published online: 30 september 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i3.1224 house of the future: designing a net-zero energy housing archetype for emirati families tareq abuimara1*; madhar haddad2; alyazia aldhaheri3; maitha alzubaidi3; meerah alyafei3, rauda alderei3 1assitant professor, school of design and construction (sdc), washington state university, usa 2 associate professor, department of architectural engineering, united arab emirates university, uae 3 alumnus, department of architectural engineering, united arab emirates university, uae abstract this paper documents the design of a concrete 3d-printed net-zero energy housing archetype in the united arab emirates (uae). the net-zero energy target was achieved by combining active and passive design strategies, such as cross-ventilation, improved thermal performance of the building envelope, exterior shading devices, and a geothermal cooling system. meeting the requirements of estidama's pearl rating system—particularly the thermal transmittance (u-values) for building envelope components—was a challenge due to the use of 3d-printed walls and prefabricated hollow-core slabs. to address this, a parametric analysis was conducted using lbnl therm thermal performance modeling software to optimize the u-values of walls and roofs. a u-value of 0.22 w/m²·k was achieved, which is 30% more efficient than the minimum required by estidama. subsequently, whole-building energy simulations were performed using the home energy efficient design (heed) software. the simulations show that implementing the active and passive design strategies yielded a minimum energy use intensity (eui) of 87 kwh/m2. yr, which was later supplemented by onsite solar energy generation to achieve the netzero target. performance evaluations demonstrate that compliance with local sustainability requirements, such as estidama, and achieving the net-zero energy goal are possible, proving the feasibility of 3d-printed sustainable housing in the uae. the findings of this research show that achieving net-zero energy in housing is possible in the uae, even with 3d printing, and advocate for its wider adoption and implementation. the study results support the local and international pursuit to achieve environmental sustainability through achieving energy efficiency and transitioning to clean energy sources. the findings also align with and contribute to the achievement of the united nations sustainable development goals (sdgs), especially sdg 7 (affordable and clean energy), sdg 11 (sustainable cities and communities), and sdg 13 (climate action). © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords net-zero energy; archetype; housing; 3d printing; u-value; uae; hot arid climate introduction 1.1. background housing demand in the united arab emirates (uae) has been increasing throughout the last few decades, as 71% of existing buildings are mainly categorized as residential (abu dhabi | the official portal of the uae government, 2024). for example, the emirate of abu dhabi had an existing total of 253 thousand residential units by the year 2022 http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i3.1224&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ abuimara / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 (statista, 2023). the uae is home to people from more than two hundred countries around the world who move to the uae primarily for work, investment, or to seek a better lifestyle. housing options in the uae vary depending on the socioeconomic situation of people, including family structure and affordability. the housing options include midand high-rise multi-unit residential buildings, semi-detached (known also as townhouses), and single-family detached houses (i.e., villas). the single-family detached houses are the most common type of emirati family housing and will be the focus of this study. the government has been acting as the main housing provider for its citizens since the establishment of the country in the early 1970s (damluji, 2006; agrawal et al, 2020). in the early seventies of the last century, the government of the uae started providing traditional houses (sha’biya), which are a form of housing that consists of one floor with a large outdoor living space. this housing archetype then responded to family needs and traditional lifestyle. following that, in the 1980s until recently, and with the introduction of new construction materials and technologies and the lifestyle changes, the government-provided housing archetypes were developed from traditional to modern and then contemporary styles that take the style of 2-3 story detached single family houses (remali et al., 2016)(remali et al., 2016). these new housing archetypes are typically imported from different climates and cultures and are heavily dependent on mechanical and electrical systems for indoor climate control. consequently, the demand for energy to operate these buildings skyrocketed. therefore, there has been a necessity to develop more efficient alternatives with lower energy demands and environmental impact. in recent years, several housing programs have been established to provide emirati families with decent housing. for instance, the north ban yas project and balghaiylam residential development were launched by the emirate of abu dhabi housing authority (adha) (uae: residential unit supply in abu dhabi 2022 | statista, 2021 this growing demand for housing is expected to continue as a natural result of population growth and the attractive environment for investors and job seekers in the uae. this growth of demand for housing mandates a need for continuous development of housing infrastructure and improves their performance to stay in line with the uae's future vision and the emerging global challenges, such as climate change, highlighted in the uae’s green agenda 2030 and its commitment to sustainability and greenhouse gas (ghg) emission reduction. (uae government, 2025) on another front, 3d printing is revolutionizing the construction industry by offering a faster, more cost-effective, and sustainable approach to constructing buildings. (deshmukh et al., 2020). this innovative technology transforms computer-aided drafting (cad) designs into real structures using large-scale printers with minimal involvement of manpower. by automating the layering of concrete or other printing materials, 3d printing enables the creation of complex architectural forms while significantly reducing construction time and material waste. (kabir, mathur and seyam, 2020) additionally, using locally sourced materials enhances sustainability, minimizing the environmental impact of projects. as advancements continue, 3d printing is set to play a crucial role in the future of building construction. this role is expected to achieve significant advances in cost savings and construction waste reduction. therefore, introducing 3d printing in the construction industry in the uae offers great potential for contributing to the continuous pursuit of environmental sustainability, energy, and cost efficiency. further, the need for net-zero energy housing is becoming increasingly critical as the world faces environmental challenges, rising energy costs, and resource depletion. (voss et al., 2011). net-zero energy houses are designed to generate as much energy as they consume, reducing reliance on traditional active systems such as mechanical cooling and ventilation. this can be achieved by incorporating passive design strategies and renewable energy sources such as solar power. this form of housing offers long-term cost savings by cutting utility bills and environmental benefits through lowering the reliance on energy generated by burning fossil fuels. in hot arid regions like the uae, where high energy consumption is driven by high cooling demands, net-zero housing is essential for promoting environmental sustainability, enhancing energy security, and creating resilient, eco-friendly communities for the future. (bojarajan et al., 2024). net-zero energy housing was achievable in many cases and in different regions in the world by implementing various passive and active design strategies and energy conservation measures (see table 1). in the uae, where the government is considered the largest provider of housing to its citizens, and where typical housing designs are implemented in hundreds and sometimes thousands, designing a net-zero housing archetype abuimara / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 would be of great importance to achieve substantial energy savings and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. our proposed project is in line with the emirate of abu dhabi's objective for sustainable development and innovation, as it promotes the use of sustainable approaches for constructing housing units, such as 3d printing. table 1: example of similar net-zero housing buildings (by the authors) net-zero energy case study location strategies implemented source single-family (703 heliotrope) corona del mar, ca, usa enhanced wall system (closed cell spray insulation); enhanced air tightness; efficient hvac system; use of natural ventilation; high efficiency lighting (dean, 2018) oak haven modular house ojai, ca, usa enhanced wall, roof, and window thermal transmittance; enhanced envelope air tightness; use of daylight and highefficiency electric lights; energystar-rated hvac system and electric equipment; onsite energy generation (pv) (dean, 2018) carlsson family home portland, or portland, or, usa enhanced envelope thermal transmittance; enhanced air tightness; on-site energy generation (pv) (elemental green, 2025) écoterra house eastman, qc, canada thermal mass; solar passive heating; geothermal heating; heat recovery system; enhanced thermal transmittance of windows and walls; onsite energy generation (photovoltaics); (noguchi et al., 2008) 1.2. objectives and paper structure the main objective of the project is to develop a net-zero energy housing archetype that achieves the lowest possible energy use intensity (eui) while generating equivalent energy on site. the housing archetype will be of singlefamily detached houses that are typically provided through the governmental housing projects in the uae. designing a housing archetype that is self-sustaining in terms of energy lowers the operational costs of the housing sector. this pursuit to reduce the ecological footprint of housing aligns with the uae’s plan to achieve sustainability and reduce greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions. (the uae’s green agenda 2030 | the official portal of the uae government, 2024). on the other hand, using 3d printing during construction is expected to minimize construction time and materials waste. additionally, the proposed archetype is designed to meet the needs of emirati families. figure 1 outlines the main objectives of this research-based design. the following section outlines the methodology followed to design and evaluate the housing archetype performance, including the parametric analysis and performance optimization. then the results of the different performance evaluation processes are presented and discussed. finally, conclusions and recommendations are drawn based on the findings. figure 2 outlines the whole paper structure. abuimara / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 figure 1: the main objectives of this research-based design project (by the authors) figure 2: the paper structure (by the authors) materials and methods this section covers the steps that were followed to design the net-zero housing archetype. the research methodology builds upon the net-zero energy framework that pursues reducing emissions and energy demand by designing buildings that produce the same amount of energy they use. (wbdg, 2025). in the uae’s hot-arid climate, the basics of the bioclimatic design theory to reach optimal passive cooling techniques, such as shading, thermal mass, and natural ventilation, were implemented. (beskonakli, 2024). this approach has been proven to be successful in similar building types and climatic conditions. the design process is also adopting the well-known performance-based design approach and simulation-aided building design that relies on performance evaluation as the base of design decision-making. (clarke, 2007; galinski, 2025). the methodology and design approach also took into account social aspects of housing in design, and every possible effort was made to make design decisions that reflect the local culture and suit the family structure of the emirati family and their needs. the methodology revolves around the verification of the design performance of the housing archetype designed by the authors to meet and exceed the local energy codes in the emirate of abu dhabi in the uae. since this study is a documentation of a design and modelling process of a net-zero housing archetype, a quantitative analysis approach was followed throughout the simulation and performance modelling of the whole building and its components. numerous performance modelling iterations were performed, and the resulting performance was compared to the local code and standards requirements. the design and modeling workflow is described first, then the modeling and simulation tools are described. figure 4 outlines the major steps of the design process. abuimara / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 2.1. design and modelling workflow (1) building concept design was the initial stage of architectural development, where functional and aesthetic aspects were integrated. this stage involved analyzing client needs, site constraints, and functionality to guide decisions on layout, materials, and technology. key factors such as sustainability, energy efficiency, and environmental integration that influence the design were thoroughly studied. the goal was to create a harmonious, efficient, and inspiring space while balancing practicality, feasibility, and cost-effectiveness. a. inspired by sheikh zayed’s quote, “give me agriculture, and i will guarantee you civilization.” our project highlights the role of agriculture and water in the uae’s development. the shabhana tree, a symbol of heritage and connection, served as our inspiration, representing gathering and growth. its five branches reflect family development, emphasizing emirati heritage in shaping the future. b. the courtyard building configuration was selected to provide privacy and serve to passively cool the building. c. since this housing archetype is intended for implementation in mega housing projects, which implies applying the archetype in various orientations, the archetype was configured using five (5) modules that can be arranged in different ways around the courtyard in a way that ensures that passive cooling is achieved with all orientations (see figure 3). figure 3: the archetype modules and configurations (by the authors) (2) the optimization of the building systems stage was focused on optimizing the performance of the building envelope, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (hvac), and lighting systems performance. a. parametric analysis was conducted to optimize the thermal transmittance (u-value) of the building envelope components: walls, windows, and roof. three alternative concrete mix designs and three different insulation materials were tested. the concrete mix designs were obtained from suntharalingam et al. (2021). nine (9) different combinations of wall assemblies were created by varying the concrete mix, insulation material, and the number of wall layers. b. a geothermal ground source heat pump, with desiccant for dehumidification, was selected as the cooling system. c. exterior shading was applied to all orientations as the first line of blocking solar radiation. heat avoidance by using exterior shading is well known for its effectiveness in lowering cooling loads (lechner, 2014). (3) the whole building simulation was performed to evaluate the whole building eui and the integrated effectiveness of the optimized building systems. various passive and active strategies were combined in the final simulations. abuimara / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 (4) on-site energy generation was planned to be in the form of solar photovoltaics. solar analysis was performed to determine the sun exposure of the archetype, and the number of photovoltaics was determined based on the needed electric power to make up for energy use. power net-metering method was selected for the archetype where the generated electricity is supplied to the grid while the house is using power from the grid. the selection of this method was driven by the need to overcome the reliability of solar energy at low/no generation time (night and severely overcast weather). figure 4: research-based design process (by the authors) 2.2. simulation tools in the process of designing and optimizing the net-zero housing archetype, several software tools were used in different stages of development. below is a list of these software with a brief description: 1. autodesk revit is a 4d building information modeling (bim) software equipped with tools for planning and monitoring different phases of a building's lifecycle, from initial concept and construction to maintenance and potential demolition (autodesk, 2025). in our project, we primarily utilized revit for designing our archetype and developing its construction details. revit, as a bim software, was selected as it enables the creation of an integrated building model that combines architectural, structural, and mechanical systems in one model, which facilitates coordination and minimizes discrepancies between building systems. 2. sketchup is a 3d modeling software that provides intuitive tools for designing, visualizing, and rendering architectural, interior, and landscape projects. it is widely used by architects, designers, and engineers for conceptual design, documentation, and presentation(trimble, 2025). sketchup was used for 3d modeling of the building archetype. the sketchup software was used during the schematic design process for quick visualization of building spaces and form. 3. climate consultant is a user-friendly, graphics-based software designed to assist architects, builders, contractors, homeowners, and students in analyzing and understanding their local climate (sbse, 2018) . the software was used to visualize and analyze climate data of the uae, which was used as the basis of designing passive and active design strategies, selection, and application 4. home energy efficient design (heed) is a whole-building energy simulation software that visually illustrates potential energy, cost, and carbon emissions savings by exploring various design alternatives or implementing and modeling changes to a home (sbse, 2018). heed is a noncommercial simulation software that was developed by researchers of the university of california, los angeles (ucla). heed was used in the final stages to simulate the whole building performance and optimize the eui. 5. lbnl therm & lbnl window are research-grade software that were developed by the lawrence berkeley national laboratory (lbnl) in the united states of america (usa) and are used to analyze two-dimensional abuimara / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 heat transport through building assemblies, including windows, walls, and roofs, and other assemblies. it is especially useful for calculating u-values and r-values of building materials as well as for assessing thermal bridges (lbnl, 2024). additionally, this software is useful in visualizing heat flow through building assemblies. lbnl therm was used to evaluate, visualize, and optimize the thermal transmittance (u-values) of the housing archetype wall and roof assemblies. 3. results and discussion this section presents the results of the research-based design of the housing archetype, including the envelope components optimization, whole building energy use optimization, and the onsite energy generation. 3.1. envelope thermal transmittance (u-value) results enhancing the thermal performance of the building envelope is a fundamental step that is commonly sought and implemented by the designers of high-performing and net-zero buildings, as can be seen in table 1 . the main objective of improving the thermal transmittance of building envelope is to minimize the amount of heat admitted of heat admited through opaque and transparent surfaces, which consequently reduces the cooling demand. in this study, wall, windows, and roof thermal performance were optimized using the modelling tools specified earlier. • 3d printed wall modelling using (lbnl therm) figure 5 presents the results of the parametric analysis conducted to optimize the thermal transmittance of the 3d printed wall assembly. the target was to achieve a u-value of 0.32 w/m2k specified by the local sustainability framework estidama (pearl rating system). three different mix designs and insulation materials were used to create alternative wall assemblies. the different assemblies were simulated in lbnl therm. our final 3d-printed wall assembly has a 30 cm double-wall construction with a continuous layer of extruded polystyrene insulation (xps) sandwiched between two layers of polyurethane foam spray (puf) insulation. the assembly simulated u-value was 0.22 w/m²·k, which is 30% better than the estidama requirement. • roof modelling using (lbnl therm) prefabricated hollow core concrete slabs were selected for the flooring and roofing systems of the housing archetype. we created a multi-layered roof assembly with thermal insulation and a hollow core slab in order to satisfy estidama requirements for roof construction. alternatives of the assembly were tested in two separate scenarios, each with varying insulation thicknesses. given the roof's continuous exposure to solar radiation, we thickened the extruded polystyrene (xps) thermal insulation layer from 50 mm to 150 mm in order to improve the roof's thermal resistance. after adjusting the insulating layer, the final computed u-value improved to 0.1302 w/m²·k. (see figure 7) figure 5: results of optimizing the 3d printed wall assembly to achieve the target thermal transmittance (u-value) (by the authors) abuimara / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 figure 6: 3d printed mockup of the final wall assembly (scale 1:1). the mockup was created by the study authors using a small-scale 3d printer. figure 7: results of optimizing the prefabricated hollow core concrete slab assembly to achieve the target thermal transmittance (u-value). the results are extracted from the lbnl therm energy modeling software • window using (lbnl window) windows play a crucial role in determining the energy efficiency of a building as they are considered the least resistant to conductive heat transfer, as well as transparent to direct solar radiation. all reviewed net-zero case studies (see table 1 they had windows with thermal performance optimization at the core of their design approach. this simulation and analysis were also conducted to evaluate two custom window glazing options for the 3d-printed housing archetype, ensuring they meet the u-value requirements specified by estidama. we used the lbnl window program to simulate the two window options with varying parameters, including the gas fill type, to identify the best option for the villa's windows. option 1 consists of double glazing with a 6.4 mm low-e coating and an air gap of 12.7 mm. while option 2 involves a change in one parameter: the gas infill between the glazing layers is replaced with xenon, while the rest of the configuration remains the same. it consists of double glazing with a 6.4 mm lowe coating and a 12.7 mm xenon gas gap. after running the simulations, the results were analyzed and presented in the flow chart below. the decision was made to select option 2 due to its lower u-value compared to option 1, ensuring better thermal performance and compliance with estidama's energy efficiency standards. (see figure 8). abuimara / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 figure 8: results of optimizing window assembly to achieve the target thermal transmittance (u-value). the results were extracted from the lbnl window software. 3.2. whole building simulation results building performance simulation (bps) has become an essential technique that aids designers in evaluating their design decisions and achieving design objectives. (clarke, 2007). following the performance optimization of the different building components/systems, such as walls, windows, and roof, a whole building performance simulation was performed using a combination of passive and active design strategies. home energy efficient design (heed) software was used to conduct simulations. for a cooling-dominated climate such as the uae, applying enhancements to the building envelope (walls, windows, and roof) is essential for minimizing heat gain and lowering cooling loads, as it has been proven in several net-zero housing projects and studies(refer to examples in table 1). figure 9 shows the results of the simulation iterations, including the baseline and the improved model by applying the passive and active design strategies. the results show that the baseline energy model had an energy use intensity (eui) of 120 kwh/m²/yr. figure 9 also shows that the lowest achievable eui without on-site energy generation was 87 kwh/m2, which is lower than the eui specified by the emirates green building council (emiratesgbc) for energy-efficient buildings (90 kwh/m2) (emiratesgbc, 2017). the integration of photovoltaics (pv) arrays into the model to generate electrical energy from solar radiation was able to supplement the required eui (i.e., the 87 kwh/m²) and allowed reaching an eui of 0 kwh/m²/yr. to overcome the issues of reliability (overcast days), availability (at night), and storage of solar energy (using batteries), the researchers/designers selected the net-metering approach, where generated electric energy is instantly supplied to the grid, and the housing archetype is operated using the grid electricity. since the housing prototype is intended to be implemented in governmental housing projects where hundreds or sometimes thousands of units are/will be built, the whole building simulation was repeated for all four cardinal orientations (south, north, east, and west) to evaluate the impact of orientation on the energy performance of the housing archetype. figure 10 demonstrates the results of the whole building simulation for the four cardinal orientations. observing the results indicate a small difference in eui between the different orientations, with the highest when the archetype is facing the west, when relatively large windows are facing the low sun of the west, which increases the heat gain. on the contrary, the lowest was observed when the archetype is facing the north, where limited direct solar gains occur. abuimara / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 figure 9: results of optimization simulations using various passive design strategies, active design strategies, and on-site energy generation to achieve optimal building performance. (extracted from heed simulation software) figure 10: whole building simulation results for the housing archetype facing the four cardinal orientations (extracted from heed simulation software) 3.3. on-site energy generation rooftop solar photovoltaics (pv) were used for energy generation. figure 11 demonstrates the placement number and arrangement of the rooftop pv panels. the total usable rooftop area was calculated to be 485m2, and the targeted total amount of required energy generation was ~ 42,200 kwh/year. the total possible annually generated energy from pvs was simulated to be ~112,880 kwh/year, which is 270% of what is needed to run the housing archetype. therefore, only around 50% of the rooftop area needs to be covered with pvs (see figure 11). abuimara / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 figure 11: roof top pvs arrangement ~ 50% of the roof area. (by the authors) 4. limitations and recommendations for future research although achieving net-zero energy in housing in the uae is possible, it comes with a number of challenges that include increased initial cost, technical difficulty, and challenges regarding social acceptance and occupants' behavior. the design and construction of net-zero housing requires an integrated process, such as the integrated design process (idp), where all design stakeholders are involved throughout the process. this design approach is yet to be widely adopted in the design and construction industry due to cost and feasibility issues. (abuimara et al., 2018). additionally, net-zero buildings have a higher initial cost due to the use of high-quality, efficient materials and systems, which, in some cases, impose an additional financial burden that clients may not be ready to afford (dwaikat and ali, 2016). on the other hand, achieving the net-zero target for housing/buildings relies on the social acceptance and building occupants’ behavior. occupants’ behavior and use of buildings (i.e., use and interaction with systems and components) can affect building performance largely and can cause what is known as the performance gap. performance gap is the mismatch between the predicted/simulated and the actual building performance. (van dronkelaar et al., 2016). bridging the performance gap can be achieved through involving occupants in the design process and increasing the awareness of the use and purpose of different building features. overall, the results of this study indicated the need, possibility, and the benefits of designing housing that can reach the net-zero goal. however, the study had several limitations that the authors acknowledge and are providing recommendations for future research: 1. the investigation was limited to a housing archetype that is constructed using 3d concrete printing. future research should consider applying the methodology followed in this study to other construction methods/ assemblies common in the region, such as precast concrete construction, cast-in-place concrete building, and steel construction. 2. the cost associated with the use of an emerging construction technology is still relatively high due to the costs of 3d printers. the cost can be assimilated if the project is implemented on a large scale for housing projects. further research is required in the area of estimating and evaluating the cost-effectiveness of these emerging construction technologies. abuimara / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 3. the achieved savings of the implemented design strategies are evaluated using building performance simulation. future research should perform validation using field testing in buildings that have these design strategies in place. 4. the results of this study are specific to the single-family housing archetype in hot arid climates. future research should consider testing different housing typologies in different climate zones. 5. achieving net-zero energy in reality can be influenced by many factors during building operation. notably, occupants/building users' behavior and interaction with building systems are a very influential factor that has been proven in many studies (o’brien et al., 2020; yan et al., 2015)(o’brien et al., 2020; yan et al., 2015)(o’brien et al., 2020; yan et al., 2015)(o’brien et al., 2020; yan et al., 2015). increasing the awareness of building users about the importance of lowering the impact of their buildings and their behaviour, and the way they should operate their buildings, is crucial in achieving the net-zero energy targets. 5. conclusion in this paper, we conducted a comprehensive research-based design of a net-zero energy 3d printed housing archetype in the united arab emirates. during the design process, achieving net-zero energy was feasible through the integration of active and passive design strategies, including geothermal cooling systems, enhanced building envelope performance, exterior shading devices, and onsite energy generation. a notable achievement was the development of a 3d printed wall assembly that complies with the local code of the estidama pearl rating system in abu dhabi in terms of thermal transmittance. the u-value achieved was 30% better than the value specified by the code. the study also demonstrated that combining well-studied and evaluated passive and active strategies would lead to minimizing the eui to the level that can be compensated with onsite energy generation. the study also demonstrates the viability of 3d printing in sustainable residential construction and opens new possibilities for its broader application in the uae’s housing sector. future research should consider applying the same strategies and approach to other common construction methods in the uae, such as modular 2d and 3d concrete construction and the traditional cast-in-situ approach. this would encourage further implementation of net-zero energy housing, which contributes largely to achieving the country's goal of achieving environmental sustainability and sustainable development. overall, the study's findings represent a step forward toward achieving both local and international environmental sustainability goals, such as abu dhabi vision 2030 and the united nations sustainable development goals (sdgs). acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented at the environmental design, material science, and engineering technologies (edmset) conference 2nd edition, which was held on the 22nd 24th of april 2025. the authors acknowledge the kind support of the united arab emirates university (uaeu) department of architectural engineering faculty members kind support through their valuable feedback on the design and design verification. funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector/ individuals. ethics approval: not applicable conflict of interest: the authors declare that there is no competing interest. abuimara / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 references abu dhabi | the official portal of the uae government (2024). available at: https://u.ae/en/about-the-uae/the-seven-emirates/abu-dhabi (accessed: november 21, 2024). abuimara, t. et al. 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(2011) “from low-energy to net zero-energy buildings: status and perspectives,” journal of green building, 6(1), pp. 46–57. available at: https://doi.org/10.3992/jgb.6.1.46. wbdg (2025) net zero energy buildings | wbdg whole building design guide. available at: https://www.wbdg.org/resources/net-zeroenergy-buildings (accessed: september 1, 2025). yan, d. et al. (2015) “occupant behavior modeling for building performance simulation: current state and future challenges,” energy and buildings, 107, pp. 264–278. available at: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2015.08.032. http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received:19 january 2025, accepted: 19 may 2025, published online: 30 june 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd. v10i2.1172 preserving historical structures, motivations of property owners, and the effects on community socio-economic renewal in japan deryk cameron bliss1 1phd candidate, graduate school of social sciences, waseda university, tokyo, japan abstract japan, perhaps more than any nation, embodies the issues and contradictions surrounding depopulation and its subsequent effects on rural communities, including the conservation of a locality’s traditional vernacular architecture and the cultural practices associated with their construction and preservation. official programs aimed at revitalization of the japanese countryside or smaller regional centers have proven ineffective, largely due to funding or a reliance on “return to hometown” programs aimed at retirees or a small number of the working-age cohort wishing to pursue an alternative to urban lifestyles. as a result, these communities have continued to rapidly decline, resulting in an estimated 8 million abandoned or underutilized buildings throughout the country, including perhaps up to 1 million extant vernacular-built heritage structures. the loss of these structures and their attendant use values, artisanal techniques and practices used in their construction and maintenance, as well as the more intangible aspects of their presence in a community, represents a profound challenge which evades simple solutions. adaptive reuse, or the renovation or rehabilitation of built structures for new purposes, may present the most comprehensive strategy through which a variety of stakeholders may arrest or at least slow these processes. by examining the motivations of, and obstacles faced by, a small but growing group of enthusiasts undertaking rehabilitation projects of these built heritage structures, a new, more grassroots-based revitalization strategy can be elucidated and exported to similarly challenged communities. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords akiya; akichi; u/i-turn; cultural altruism; choice compression; construction state 1. introduction in japan, an estimated 8 million vacant, underutilized, or abandoned extant built structures, called akiya (dornhege, 2018; rausch, 2020), now lie extant amidst 4.1 million hectares of former commercial sites, or brownfields (called akichi), which stand untenanted throughout the country, mostly, though not exclusively, in rural communities (brasor & tsukubu, 2021; geeraert, 2022; nomura, 2018). while kendall (1999) notes that buildings are designed for planned obsolescence (italics mine), we are nevertheless faced with simple but stark choices in the built environment: to rebuild, to rehabilitate, to ignore and attempt to carry on, or to abandon the structure entirely. each choice carries with it both opportunities and consequences for the surrounding community, the remaining built environment, the socio-economic outcomes of the area and, due to the construction industry’s outsize impact on the global greenhouse gas emissions, the planet itself (foster, 2020; intergovernmental panel on climate change, 2021; lawrence, 2015; mowrey, 2021; shank, 2022). japan, perhaps more than any other nation, embodies these inconsistencies to a degree http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i2.1172&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ bliss/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 both fascinating and frustrating, depending on one’s perspective. the nation of mottainai (wasteful, but used more as an admonishment against waste), kaizen (continual improvement) and the satoyama (mountain village, typically portrayed as a more sustainable, self-sufficient way of life) (brownell, 2021; brown, 2013; imagawa, 2022; itsurō, 2022), points towards a culture of thoughtful design and a more balanced approach to human habitation, and a more evenly weighted balance between the natural and built environment. yet, japan is also second largest consumer of disposable plastic in the world (imagawa, 2022) and the country of “scrap and build” (iwamura, 2017; kerr, 2002; 2015; kubo & yui, 2020; yoshida, 2021), with new construction consistently outpacing demand, and indeed population (kato, 2014; koizumi, 2022; statistics bureau of japan, n.d.) despite jane jacobs’ warning (1961, as cited in ijla & broström, 2015) that any development “will fail if the number of patrons are simply inadequate to make the continuation of life feasible”. the current situation has attracted attention from global media (kerr, 2022; ketchum, 2021; kubo, 2021; kubo & yui, 2020), often with headlines about cheap (by western market standards) or “free houses” as well as towns even paying for new residents to move into their emptying communities. housing is assumed to be relatively worthless in relation to the land it sits upon (alexander, 2021; brasor & tsubuku, 2023), and has an approximate 30-40 year life span (dornhege, 2018; iwamura, 2017; overstreet, 2022) where it thereupon is either demolished or added to the growing akiya numbers extant throughout the country. moreover, paradoxically, it is also argued that this ephemeral approach to the home itself is what gives architects, of whom there are more per capita than anywhere in the world (kotre, 2020), the allowance to use houses (and buildings) as an experimental canvas that can advance design and challenge what architecture is capable of in a wide variety of situations and construction environments (aouf, 2021; heathcote, 2017; moonan, 2021; roovice, 2022; townsend, 2013). traditional structures such as kyoto’s much photographed machiya present a time-capsule, a new build holds possibilities. as daubaryte (2015) observes, “public perception of heritage, as a phenomenon, is not immune to contradiction”. yoshida (2021) summarizes the situation as one of “(a) fast appreciation of housing value, a thin secondary market, and low maintenance of existing properties” it is this secondary market of japanese vernacular built heritage (jvbh), particularly minka (farmhouses) which forms the focal point for this study. vernacular built heritage, a term that first emerged in 1850 (brand, 1997), comprises a small but significant percentage of akiya, taking on different forms throughout the country. extant examples such as minka (or kominka; literally “people’s houses”, the distinction between the two terms is somewhat fluid) and related historical built heritage properties such as machiya (town houses), nagaya (row houses), kura (warehouses) embody flores’ (1973, as cited in fuentes, 2010) contention that such structure are “strongly influenced by the landscape, the climatic conditions and the available resources” with a design template drawn from locally available materials, namely native timber such as pine (matsu), cryptomeria (sugi) and cypress (hinoki), to maximize space, utility and ventilation in temperate environments marked by high humidity and periodic meteorological events such as typhoons using highly refined construction techniques perfected over centuries and uniquely suited to a given locality (brown, 2013; murakami, 2011; nishioka & kohara, 2016). as edani (2012) and nagahata (2022) note japan’s satoyama locales represent “...landscape areas that have developed in association with the modes of life or livelihoods of the people and the natural features of the region, which are indispensable for an understanding of our people’s modes of life and livelihoods” (sic). these concepts were later formally enshrined in the 1992 world heritage convention definition of the “combined works of nature and man” as (i) landscape designed and created intentionally by man (ii) organically evolved landscape and (iii) associative landscape (religious, artistic with natural elements) (badman et al., 2021). vernacular built structures, as integral to japanese traditional culture as they may be, are still subject to the same market contradictions that drive the housing and construction industries in japan, as illustrated briefly above. there are conservative estimates of approximately 150-200,000 extant vernacular-built heritage structures (k. bengs, personal communication, july 20, 2017; kerr, 2022; kotrc, 2020) underutilized or abandoned throughout the country. so, while relatively numerous and, as will be explored in more detail below, potentially a more cost-effective and sustainable solution for home buyers or investors, heritage structures are generally seen as undesirable or problematic as a residence or for commercial use by the wider domestic market in japan, attuned to a preference for new builds and the “convenience” of urban centres continually promulgated by business and political interests (allen & wagner, 2023; kubo & yui, 2020; nozawa, 2022; toda koumuten, 2021). moreover, kamata (2022) cautions that, in a bliss/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 japanese context at least, one of the primary barriers to any adaptive reuse reclamation project is the state of not only the building but also the structure’s attendant status both legally and within the community. historic areas can improve a region’s competitive advantage in attracting the “creative class” (or perhaps recently better identified as “digital nomads”), which in turn can improve economic growth, innovation and resilience (dümcke & gnedovsky, 2013; mileto et al., 2015; stanojev & gustafsson, 2021 as cited in gustafsson & ripp, 2022). as noted above, these structures are, in the main, located in regions undergoing profound demographic shifts through depopulation and the attendant economic effects, which are the very areas where leveraging these existing cultural heritage resources could have the greatest impacts and aid revitalization efforts while also conserving the structure and the traditions that inform their construction and maintenance (beyer, 2021; eckelmann, 2021; rausch, 2008). this investigation also integrates notions of “semigration” (donaldson, 2009), differentiation between foreign and local user practices in a given locale and what the author has termed “cultural altruism”, or an imperative by an individual or group to intervene in a perceived or real threats to the continuation of historical or cultural traditions or practices, as well as a variation on scarcity (or scarcity credibility), choice compression, or legal-structural or informational, not market-driven, restriction of consumer choice resulting in both an unresolved bottleneck of available options and increased creativity of consumer solutions. the chosen cohort to form a base from which to explore these, as well as the other issues and confusions the japanese built environment inevitably presents, is also perhaps one of the less examined; foreign (or joint foreign and japanese) owners, or operators of businesses, in traditional vernacular built heritage structures known as minka (or kominka) (figure 1). other templates of vernacular-built heritage, such as machiya (townhouse), nagaya (row house), kura (fire-resistant stone warehouses), yashiki (estates) or even danchi (public apartment complexes), are not the primary focus of this inquiry due to the vast majority of respondents' property categorization being minka/kominka. it is the position of this article that this particular cohort embodies many of the key socio-economic political paradoxes outlined above while also serving as a conduit to exploring wider cultural conceptualizations of community, colliding habitus or actor-networks, perceptions and valuations of authenticity, as well as dichotomies informing concepts of sustainability and permanence in the built environment. figure 1: minka in miyama village, kyoto-fu. (adapted from: minkasociety.com) 2. literature review 2.1. adaptive reuse the term adaptive reuse first appears in the early 21st century (hedieh arfa et al., 2022) but the practice itself has a long history, such as repurposing monuments for residences, or converting administrative or official buildings for bliss/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 into industrial or other functions, or more modern interpretations such as brownfields converted into mixed use spaces, and of course boutique hotels occupying former grand homes or prominent buildings (plevoets & van cleempoel, 2011a; niroumand shishavan, 2013; richards, 2017). adaptive reuse as a concept tends to be somewhat more difficult to define. latham (2000, as cited in cucco et al., 2023) notes adaptive reuse as a process that “retains as much as possible of the original building while upgrading the performance to suit modern standards and changing user requirements”. hasnain and mohseni (2018) assert that adaptive reuse can serve to rehabilitate both the heritage structure and its host community as it “is a process of discovering the potential of a new function to revitalise disused heritage buildings”. austen (as cited in stas, 2007) takes a more market-focused approach, stating adaptive reuse is “the process by which structurally sound older buildings are developed for economically viable new ones “. plevoets and van cleempoel (2011a; 2011b) further note that, context dependent, remodelling, retrofitting, conversion, adaptation, reworking, rehabilitation or refurbishment can all also be considered forms of adaptive reuse. essentially, the debate over historic building conservation was divided into what brand (1997) has termed “scrape” or removing alterations to old stones or other parts of the fabric and “anti-scrape”, best described as “leave the building be”. in brand’s view, the “scrape” school held primacy in the 19th century, but the “anti-scrape” viewpoint became dominant in the 20th century (brand, 1997). japanese traditional and vernacular built heritage encompasses, to a degree, both scrape and anti-scrape aspects such as adherence to basic design norms, consistent layout and congruity of material usage but diverges by incorporating regular replacement of fabric segments which is seen as a crucial part of the structure’s life cycle (larsen, 1994; nishioka & kohara, 2016; tsurutani, 2022), or as lowenthal (as cited in ikegaya, 2013) notes “(physical) continuity signifies less to the japanese than perpetuating the techniques and rituals of re-creation...it is the form that endures, not the substance”. perhaps by way of example, we may look to the communities of ichikawa-misato in central yamanashi prefecture and forget (pronounced for-jay), saskatchewan, canada, offer an examination of adaptive reuse and how it can impact rural economic revitalisation but also a necessity to consider the the needs of community stakeholders over preservation for preservation’s sake. forget, established in 1899, experienced its largest period of growth after the canadian pacific railway arrived in 1905. however, by 1990 the railway had ceased operations, a story more increasingly common in rural japan, and a period of decline saw the town’s population fall to 35 residents by 2011 (macdonald, 2017; statistics canada, 2016). ichikawa-misato claims a much deeper heritage, being founded in the late 16th century, perhaps even earlier. the town became well known for the production of fireworks, washi (japanese paper) and agricultural products (ichikawamisato, n.d.). yet, like many such towns or villages in japan, ichikawa-misato eventually faced socio-economic threats such as declining demand for such traditional craft items, increased competition from large supermarkets and younger generations leaving for educational or work opportunities elsewhere (ichikawa-misato, n.d.; nikkei, 2014; sorensen, 2008; statistics japan, 2017). returning to forget, the renovation of its 120-year-old former rectory created a concert hall and creative centre, which in turn led to the opening of the happy nun cafe, itself housed in an adjacent once-abandoned structure. upon being taken over by chef, the late katie vinge-riddell, the restaurant came to the attention of food bloggers, in turn attracting increased interest through social media sites like facebook and tripadvisor. lured by electronic word of mouth (ewom) diners travelled from across canada and the united states to join the local community for meals (macdonald 2017; the happy nun café – forget, sk, n.d.) bringing in much needed income and capital as well as putting forget back “on the map” (albon et al., 2018; burnham et al., 2022; macdonald, 2017). the conversion of a japanese sake kura (warehouse) into a community space in ichikawa-misato followed a more conventional japanese path. led by the keio university almazán lab, a kura (fireproof warehouse) was carefully restored using traditional materials, with as much original fabric as possible kept intact, such as roof tiles and support beams (keio university almazán lab, 2016). as the kura was positioned at the end of a shotengai, a typical japanese shopping street, the project’s objective was to create a multi-purpose, functional space that would maintain the building’s historical character with a “broader goal of contributing to the revitalization” of the town (keio university almazán lab, 2016). interestingly, almazán lab did not stop with this comprehensive kura rehabilitation project and bliss/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 returned to ichikawa-misato in 2019, renovating a barber shop to include outdoor public space as a means to “disseminate ... a different approach to exterior space and encourage neighbours to install semi-public areas within their sites to increase communication and mitigate the lack of spontaneous encounter” (sic) (santibañez, 2019). the renovation of forget’s rectory was a grassroots process led by local residents that eventually created a higher profile for the town, increased business opportunities through attendant sales or live concerts at the happy nun, in turn eventually contributing to a modest increase in the village’s full-time resident population (mcdonald 2017; statistics canada, n.d). manewa et al. (2016) label this as “bespoke solutions” that are “flexible to varying stakeholder needs”, a principal objective that should drive commercial or community adaptive reuse projects. ichikawa-misato’s rehabilitation of a sake warehouse adhered to more established procedures but with similar motivations, to preserve the structure and, in turn, attempt to aid revitalization efforts. experts led the project, the local community was consulted, and an important historic structure was preserved (keio university almazán lab, 2016; shehada et al., 2015). yet, migration continues while increased economic activity, such as increased tourism and/or new businesses, has yet to materialize in a statistically significant manner (ichikawa-misato n.d.; statistics japan, n.d.). as we can glimpse from these two examples, heritage led regeneration is a potential solution, but by no means a sure one. 2.2. u/i turn the original idea of “u-turn” was one infused with nostalgia for the furasato, the hometown as a largely imagined idyll of a more relaxed lifestyle amongst nature (see booth 2020; 2021 and kerr, 2015) that was meant to appeal to either a town’s diaspora, former residents who left to seek economic opportunities in the cities, or recent retirees seeking to leave after concluding their careers. a major, if unspoken, caveat being that u-turners were welcomed, or welcomed back, but were expected to conform to the community rather than add new imperatives to it. by contrast, “i-turners” are noted to trend younger, and crucially, are more diverse in household make-up and their objectives. they are generally born or form households in urban areas, then move to more rural areas for a variety of motivations such as lifestyle, environment, or, as in the case of this inquiry, an interest in built heritage. sharing commonalities with configurist notions of rural entrepreneurship (re), particularly the focus on human capital (romero castro et al., 2023), these “i-turners”, or what otowa (2020) calls “alternative japanese'', can be broadly categorized as iryuusha (people from ‘elsewhere’ including non-japanese residents) and are commonly demarcated into sustainers, those who help maintain the community status-quo, and innovators, those who introduce new ideas or economic activities into the locale (obikwelu et al., 2018; otowa, 2020; research institute for sustainable community company, n.d.; yamaguchi, 2022). i-turners, including foreign or foreign-japanese household owners of jvbh, often bring innovations that they feel will benefit the community while also seeking, and occasionally struggling, to integrate into an environment that may not be open to such an influx of new ideas, as beneficial as they may seem to be. i-turners are generally not motivated by any real or perceived connection with the target community, instead seeking alternatives to urban life, which may be informed by romantic notions of more eco-friendly lifestyles, so-called “slow life”, and connecting with japan’s rural past. 3. methodology 3.1. architectural phenomenology for the purposes of this inquiry, a direct contribution from phenomenology is made through what the author refers to as architectural phenomenology (figure 2). as aravof (2009) notes in the preface to invitation to archiphen: some approaches and interpretations of phenomenology in architecture, phenomenology is the study of human experience rooted in the first-person perspective—a life-world that seeks shared cognition and intersubjectivity. aravof (2009) elaborates that architecture projects experiences yet to be realized, representing a form of “phenomenology in practice,” while cautioning that “architecture is a creative art, a praxis, not a philosophy.” bliss/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 echoing tanizaki, baltazar dos santos (2009) suggests that the essence of a building is embedded in its design, existing, prior to construction, in a state defined by both determinism and indeterminism. earlier, steven holl (2000; as cited in yorgancıoğlu, 2009) expressed a similar view, describing built structures as physical materializations of conceptual forces—“interwoven landscapes” that bridge abstraction and materiality through form, space, light, and color. in japan, particularly among the cultural actors detailed below, material and technique are considered vital to rehabilitating built heritage. architectural phenomenology is evident in traditional japanese design elements such as koyagumi (beams and trusses), engawa (veranda), and tokonoma (alcove), which emphasize spatial experiences that shift based on user interaction. field observations took place between april 23–24, 2022, during the first annual minka summit in hanse, kyoto prefecture (kominka japan, n.d.) which brought together artisans, carpenters, preservation experts, property owners, and others interested in japan’s vernacular built heritage (jvbh), including minka/kominka (farmhouses), machiya (townhouses), and kura (warehouses). the event featured a "minka mall" with businesses and organizations involved in traditional roofing, carpentry, organic farming, and non-profit conservation efforts. a series of presentations, which i helped organize as a volunteer, covered topics such as construction techniques, valuation of jvbh and akiya (abandoned homes), and strategies for community integration. the organizers supported my research by promoting it at the event and through their social media. although time constraints limited interactions, the conversations that did occur reflected interest in the study and a willingness to engage further. (figure 2: architectural phenomenology summarized by the author) 3.2. cultural altruism altruism, the act of helping others out of a genuine concern or desire to render aid without expectation of reciprocation, and it's alter-ego reciprocal altruism, or altruism with the expectation of some sort return at a later date, has been the subject of much research under the umbrella of social exchange theory (grönlund, 2013; levine et al., 2001; smelser, 2001) in a more specific japanese context, jean-marie bouissou’s les leçons du japon un pays très incorrect, particularly his assertion that japanese “form a society” while the french (or the “west”) “form a body”, gives insight into differing approaches to cooperation, volunteerism, and social order (boniface, 2019; bouissou, 2020). cultural altruism, however, is conceptualized as an attempt to bridge a space in existing notions of altruism (assistance without expectation of reciprocation), by attempting to define the role of an actor’s desire to offer aid in service of culturally-focused objectives (save or preserve an aspect of the culture perceived to be at risk of decline or disappearance), regardless of the level of need or inclination within the host community (figure 3). in this sense, bliss/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 cultural altruism was derived as a synthesis of social exchange theory, cross-cultural altruism (levine et al., 2001), contrasts between weird (western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) and “non-weird” cultures or regions (rossi et al., 2023), which itself draws inspiration from bouissou’s “formations” (bouissou, 2020), but with the added aspects of self-interest and focus; the desire to help preserve, protect, or promulgate a given cultural artefact, practice or tradition as a main motivation for an actor or network, in this case foreign or foreign-japanese householdowners of japanese vernacular built heritage (jvbh). as one respondent succinctly put it regarding japanese traditional residences, “you know, they're falling apart and getting torn down and maybe we could save one”. as a proposed subset of i-turners, the cultural altruist is not necessarily motivated, at least not principally, by nostalgic or lifestyle-infused objectives of a typical u or i-turner, therefore lying outside typical actor-network interactions of this type. due to the relative ease of dismantling and transport, on occasion, minka have been removed from their original location and rebuilt elsewhere, including outside of japan, which, while preserving the heritage unit itself, removes a cultural asset from its host setting (k. bengs, personal communication, july 20, 2017; toda koumuten, 2021). as the predominant focal point is the built heritage structure itself, cultural altruism exerts a higher degree of selfinterest, even including removal of the building from the host community as noted above, than other official “turner” narratives (s. holden, personal communication, january 19, 2024), to the extent that on occasion they may act as disruptors of a community’s genius loci and any attendant use-values. bachura (personal communication, january 19, 2024) somewhat disputes this, arguing that while cultural altruism can account for certain buyer motivations, the interest in pursuing such projects lies more in economic (perceived affordability) and less tangible, soft-power defined underpinnings drawing more upon japanese cultural exports such as anime, design, or traditional aesthetics, and thus the prospective owner is less invested in the locality itself beyond these factors. holden (personal communication, january 19, 2024), moreover, is careful to note that altruism must also be situated alongside the project initiator’s curiosity in the structure itself and wider culture around it, as well as a certain level of desire to pursue less well-tread socio-economic paths. (figure 3: cultural altruism conceptual model) 3.3. choice compression scarcity, or scarcity credibility, is primarily an economic term which may be simply summarized as “the less of something, the more valuable it is” (galloway, 2022). goldsmith et al. (2020) detail four types of scarcity: “scarcity as a mindset”, “scarcity as a threat”, “scarcity as a reference point”, and “scarcity as a journey”. regardless of the type of scarcity, the effects on the market and consumer behaviour are essentially predicated on “normal” economic conditions such as supply and demand, perceived opportunities and threats, or aspirational objectives such as a desire to showcase a higher status and even fomo (fear of missing out) (galloway, 2022; goldsmith et al., 2020; kaufman, 2020; shi et al., 2020). if this is reset into a built heritage environment, historic structures can often command higher price points by virtue of their rarity, authenticity, architectural provenance, and even previous residents of the property, which is known as heritage premium. what conventional notions of scarcity somewhat lack, is solving for a supply of housing or building stock that continues to increase either through new builds or vacancies, while demand for new builds in larger urban areas is ever present despite rising prices, a declining population and decreasing consumer spending power (brasor, 2021; bliss/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 brasor & tsubuku, 2022; katz, 2021; oecd, 2017). so, while one would expect a plentiful supply of cheap, readily available minka, machiya or kura to be found as supply far exceeds demand, due to certain social, economic and legal constraints the opposite is true in many cases, leading to an oversupply of difficult to secure so-called “b” properties, counterbalanced by a much smaller minority of “a”, or sound structures available for immediate purchase but largely without the attendant heritage premium price point (brasor & tsukubu, 2023; kamata, 2022). therefore, scarcity, as defined in a rational economic context, does not quite fit the current situation in relation to jvbh, particularly minka, hence the formulation of “choice compression”, which can be framed as “scarcity as an opportunity”. choice compression shares some commonalities with “scarcity as a journey” as detailed above, but with several important departures (figure 4). the first is the compression, or bottleneck, in supply is not producer or market driven (i.e. supply and demand), but rather legal-structural-cultural-informational in nature, and therefore commands a premium in terms of time and expense (initiative/expense) but, relative to the overall domestic housing market, not in initial price point. the second is choice compression is largely consumer directed, (scarcity as an opportunity) and subject to more intangible (culturally altruistic) factors such as a desire to aid rural revitalization, a “quieter” lifestyle, or the real or perceived historical quality of the structure, rather than tangibles (roi, properties as an investment vehicle, annual yield) although both bachura, (personal communication, january 19, 2024) and holden (personal communication, january 19, 2024) caution against discounting the roles of interest in the host culture, generally through cultural exports such as entertainment or cuisine, and affinity, real or perceived, with the relevant locality. however, for the most part, it is the contention of this inquiry that choice compression as defined here, as well as culturally altruistic defined motivations, which are explored in more detail below, remains the dominant mode of engagement with these extant minka properties, host communities, and relevant markets (figure 5). (figure 4: choice compression, as conceived in this study, is influenced by non-market factors)(source: by author) bliss/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 (figure 5: cultural altruism interactions with choice compression in jvbh (minka) reuse/reclamation projects)(source: by author) the decision by a potential owner of a japanese historic property to embark upon the process to purchase and rehabilitate a built heritage structure will be informed by several motivational factors. this study sought to explore to what extent individuals engaging in such projects balanced interest almost exclusively in the unique design elements of the building (referred to above as cultural altruism), as echoed in the work of baltazar dos santos (2009) and holl (2000; as cited in yorgancioglu, 2009) with an emphasis on design as the essential element or giver of meaning to a given structure, with other considerations such as locale, community, or perceived economic opportunity. furthermore, this inquiry sought to clarify to what extent the role of distinctive japanese market factors, namely non-market constraints, or choice compression, played in the pursuit and overall success of the project. 4. results where the owner-respondent cohort differed was in age-range, typically trending much older than typical “i-turners” (figures 6 and 7), industry (largely creative or touristic rather than farming), and, as will be illustrated in more depth below, noted as a primary motivator, culturally altruistic notions related to japanese built heritage aesthetics, conservation and preservation, and sustainability (figures 8 and 9). (figure 6: respondents by nationality) (source: by authors) bliss/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 (figure 7: respondents by age group) (source: by authors) (figure 8: preferances by property type) (source: by authors) (figure 9: respondents' thoughts on how adaptive reuse of jvbh can aid revitalization at the local level) (source: by authors) bliss/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 5. discussion 5.1. respondent profiles there are, however, a series of necessary caveats to make before proceeding further within this monograph. unfortunately, it must be acknowledged that the cohort of owner-respondents amounted to 19, which was far lower than was hoped for, while other versions designed for industry professionals (carpenters, real estate agents, relevant officials) and prospective owners returned even lower responses. furthermore, within this pool of returned questionnaires, the number of japanese version responses was regrettably so small as to be rendered inapplicable to the study (table 1). as detailed above, only three follow-up video interviews, two foreign minka owners and one foreign prospective owner (all are long-term residents), were able to be scheduled in late summer 2022. the small response cohort, while relatively geographically diverse, was nonetheless heavily weighted toward a relatively homogeneous foreign, or foreign-japanese household, ownerrespondents resulted in a a re-orientation of this inquiry’s outline towards a focus on a wider examination of, amongst other subject areas, minka (or kominka) as inhabiting a wide variety of heritage use values, how their adaptive reuse could form a strategy for increased sustainability in the housing/construction market, what the challenges in procuring a minka teaches about the regulatory and socio-cultural environment in which these structures reside, and how foreign owners interact and intersect through these areas as viewed through a multi-theoretical lens as outlined above. version english version responses japanese version responses owner 18 1 prospective owner 2 2 industry 2 1 (table 1: breakdown of questionnaire return results, spring-summer 2022) 5.2. respondent motivations what emerges is commonalities centred on tangible aspects of the structure such as materials, design, providence and state of repair at time of purchase, as well as intangible aspects such as community relations or integration, authenticity, and economic considerations particularly financing the initial purchase and subsequent maintenance and renovation work (figure 10). moreover, respondents were largely drawn from the ideal cohort for such regenerative projects, entrepreneurial, passionate about japanese-built heritage, committed to rural revitalization, and displaying a high level of cultural awareness, who were nevertheless realistic about the barriers faced in embarking on such projects. as kamata (2022) noted, finding the right person or persons who can take effective action is key, very much in line with bachura (personal communication, january 19, 2024) as well as, more broadly katz (2022), who states at a national level japan has consistently missed opportunities in terms of new economic models such as start-ups or sanctioning decentralizing work options through remote solutions, particularly in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic. bliss/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 (figure 10: respondent results in regard to assistance available for built heritage projects) a central pillar to rural revitalization is the restoration of communities through primarily socio-economic initiatives, which romero-castro et al. (2023) highlight as rural entrepreneurship (re). city nation place (2020) notes how in cammarata, italy, a program also offers homes for free, but with the caveat that renovation plans must be submitted in advance to preserve the historic cityscape. this nevertheless allows young people or families to get a foothold in the property market. also instructive is the case of idanha-a-nova, portugal, which after experiencing a 70% population loss, pivoted to marketing itself as a rural-innovative destination by engaging their city-based diaspora, a strategy that would seem tailor-made for japanese rural localities who have seen a steady migration away from their communities to major cities for several decades (city nation place, 2020; national institute of population and social security research, n.d.; otowa, 2020). 5.3. policy implications as kinoshita (2017) notes “big, shiny, new developments are no longer a formula for success”, a sentiment echoed by brasor and tsubuku (2023), who estimate approximately ¥8 million will be needed per household to finance mandatory condominium (so called “tower mansions”, some of the big, shiny developments kinoshita is referring to) renovations, putting the required financial inputs for jvbh projects into a very different perspective. ost and saleh (2022) also note that there is a difficulty in resolving the tensions between co-creation values, such as improving quality of life (qol) through sustainable growth, and co-destruction values, such as gentrification, overcrowding or opportunity cost in adaptive reuse or rehabilitation projects which can lead officials to choose the path of least resistance (i.e. new developments). moreover, current u/i-turn models are based around singular solutions such as farming, opening a touristic asset, or even a work from home office/space, which romero castor et al. (2023) caution avoid realistically assessing real-world phenomena such as migration movements, infrastructure shortfalls and other factors. ultimately, there is a need for better, and more honest, marketing and branding of built heritage assets like extant minka and kura in service of national revitalization and soft power objectives, particularly in terms of required timeframes, nation branding for the long-term, and place making in the short-term (kaufman, 2020; melewar et al., 2013) and more effective channels to source jvbh and visit the communities in which they reside. as streefland (2021) correctly states, “facts don’t change our minds. experiences do”. 6. conclusion traditional japanese buildings embody genius loci (spirit of place) through spatial experience, esthesis and catharsis, and the material (tangible/visible) and the immaterial (ephemeral/intangible) (čepaitienė, 2015), becoming an ideal movement attractor of human and socio-economic flow (arbara, 2022) for cohorts similar to the study group examined in this study. bliss/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 as brown (2022) and kerr (2022), have stated, the japanese real estate industry, and public at large, fails to see the desirability of historical structures, promoting an image of these buildings as outmoded, uncomfortable homes or places for businesses even as foreign interest, in the form of tourists or cultural altruists, continues to increase (alexander, 2017, 2021; chappell, 2015; kawai, 2018). while tourists value built or cultural heritage as an attraction or experiential location, as illustrated above, cultural altruists value the asset in and of itself to the point where considerations of place, community, or other intangibles may be placed as secondary in their motivations. kinoshita (2017) has previously noted “big, shiny, new developments are no longer a formula for success”, a sentiment echoed by brasor and tsubuku (2023), who estimate approximately ¥8 million will be needed per household to finance mandatory condominium (so called “tower mansions”, some of the big, shiny developments kinoshita is referring to) renovations, putting the required financial inputs for jvbh projects into a very different perspective. ost and saleh (2022) also note that there is a difficulty in resolving the tensions between co-creation values, such as improving quality of life (qol) through sustainable growth, and co-destruction values, such as gentrification, overcrowding or opportunity cost in adaptive reuse or rehabilitation projects which can lead officials to choose the path of least resistance (i.e. new developments). moreover, current u/i-turn models are based around singular solutions such as farming, opening a restaurant or hotel, or even a work from home office/space, which romero castor et al. (2023) caution avoid realistically assessing real-world phenomena such as migration movements, infrastructure shortfalls and other factors. while not unimportant, a virtuous economic cycle requires projects with longer-term direct and induced outcomes (what economists call second-order or downstream effects). as was seen in the covid-19 pandemic, tourism is highly vulnerable to geopolitical developments (unwto, 2023), so a “virtuous mix” of traditional industries, start-ups, educational training, tourism, and other models would represent the hbu for such projects and their host communities. this inquiry is a glimpse of a motivated, generally foreign or foreign-japanese household cohort which defies the general, government and industry-led trend to favour new builds over older, “inconvenient” residences or commercial buildings. these notions are exacerbated by lauding contradictions in large urban centres such as maki et al. (2018), where singular hints of tradition such as houseplants in front of an office tower or bamboo sudare on the balconies of concrete block apartment buildings, are celebrated rather than critiqued for the built environment which hosts these artefacts and the people within. egusquiza et al. (2022) continues along this line of inquiry, stating that by employing systematic, transparent interventions to built heritage “affordable comfort is possible…(making it) likely to be inhabited and consequently conserved” although broome (2021) and gonchar (2021) caution for a need to consider emotional ties to the original design, as well as notions like acoustic warmth, the optimal decibel level for the intended use, and to avoid misguided maintenance and unsympathetic modifications. nevertheless, bullen (2007) assures that “generally an adapted building will not completely match a new building in terms of performance, although the shortfall should be balanced against gains in social value” while burchard (2021) implores that “existing buildings are full of risk and opportunity”, which represent embodied carbon sinks, collective memory, and unreproducible craft (italics mine). more effective strategies are needed to find commonality between the cultural altruist, the u-turner, the i-turner, and local stakeholders that go beyond current modes of tradition for tradition’s sake. as noted above, cultural altruism may inform individual heritage preservation intentions, but ancillary benefits to the wider community will not necessarily be given priority as the built heritage asset itself is the main objective of the undertaking. to cut across differences in experience, objectives, and indeed language, a recognition is needed of the issue at hand, declining rural communities and the loss of the cultural heritage which they host, and what each group can contribute and where there will be a need for compromise. it is unrealistic for a community association to expect foreign, or indeed younger japanese, new residents to “do things the way they’ve always been done”, in the process restraining much-needed innovation and entrepreneurship vital to revitalizing the community, while simultaneously hastening its demise. conversely, new arrivals would need to be cognisant of the need to merge tradition with modernity or risk losing what one presumes were the original usps to engage in the move or jvbh project in the first place. both parties would need to more honestly address the opportunities, the open windows, that jvbh can offer in terms of local regeneration strategies, such as new businesses, expansion of local services, and a more secure long-term future for the community, but also the risks, most importantly, of the inevitable changes to local cultural practices that will occur. bliss/ environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 ultimately, japan and japanese citizens must start to recognise jvbh are “infrastructures for memory” (sic) that ties the past to the present and more importantly, unique historical environments are, in fact, an exhaustible resource (leeks & cole, 2017; nesticò & somma, 2019) and in need of conservation. acknowledgements the abstract of this paper was presented at the conservation of architectural heritage” (cah) conference – 8th edition, which was held on the 17th – 19th of september 2024. the author thanks the waseda university graduate school of social sciences and the board of governors of the minka preservation society for their contributions during various stages of paper preparation. no outside funding was received for this project. funding declaration: this research was funded by the ministry of education, government of india, and we sincerely express our gratitude for their support and contribution. ethics approval: this study was conducted independently and did not involve any procedures requiring formal institutional ethics approval. all participants were informed about the nature of the research and participated voluntarily. no personally identifiable information was collected, and all data were gathered anonymously. the research was carried out in accordance with recognized ethical standards and posed no risk to participants. conflict of interest: the author declares that there is no competing interest. references alexander, l. 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(2021, april 20). land scarcity, high construction volume, and distinctive leases characterize japan’s rental housing markets. brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/japan-rental-housing-markets/ https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/2707 https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/jinsui/index.htm https://www.kominkaforum.com/copy-of-past-events-activities http://www.press.ierek.com issn (print: 2357-0849, online: 2357-0857) environmental science and sustainable development pg. 1 research paper received:19 march 2025, accepted: 07 august 2025, published online: 30 september 2025 doi: 10.21625/essd.v10i3.1195 the case of belmonte calabro and its role in crossing cultures: a collaborative approach to sustainable development sandra denicke-polcher1, jane mcallister2 1 associate dean, school of architecture, royal college of art, uk 2senior lecturer, school of art, architecture and design, london metropolitan university, uk abstract this paper reviews crossing cultures, a design by practice research project based in belmonte calabro, italy. consisting of ethnographic action-based research, it employs an inductive and deductive approach, which has developed a model for rural revitalisation through university engagement. since 2016, the initiative has tackled calabria’s socio-economic challenges by combining education, local involvement, and architectural practices. students, residents, a not-for-profit organisation (npo), and an architecture collective collaborate to address migration and depopulation through knowledge exchange and community resilience. the paper proposes a governance framework based on communities of practice (cops) to empower residents through peer learning and capacity-building. drawing on nine years of work in belmonte and other self-governing initiatives, the framework consists of four stages: "rupture," "activation of place," "negotiations and communities," and "cops and the government." these stages aim to foster local autonomy, accountability, and cultural integration. this paper outlines how crossing cultures has completed the first two stages and plans to engage public local bodies and other stakeholders to advance the final two stages. the focus is on community-led governance to achieve long-term sustainable development. this framework offers a path to enhance social sustainability, ensuring belmonte’s resilience and vitality for future generations. by empowering communities and attracting a younger, diverse population, the initiative seeks to create a replicable model for rural regeneration. © 2025 the authors. published by ierek press. this is an open-access article under the cc by license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). peer review under the responsibility of essd’s international scientific committee of reviewers. keywords crossing cultures; depopulated villages; community resilience; governance toolkit; cross-village network 1. introduction to crossing cultures this paper demonstrates the innovative potential of crossing cultures, a design by practice research project based in belmonte calabro, italy (figure 1), as a pioneering model for rural revitalisation through university involvement. it offers an overview of the collaborative projects and workshops undertaken by the university and architecture students and presents the value of this working model to the local community. following a brief description of the project's http://www.press.ierek.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.21625/essd.v10i3.1195&domain=press.ierek.com https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 2 history, the paper then describes where it aims to take the project, arguing that handing over the stewardship to the village as a governance initiative would ultimately secure durability and resilience for the village. since its inception in 2016, the interdisciplinary initiative crossing cultures has confronted the socio-economic challenges faced by the calabrian region by merging education, local engagement, and architectural practices. it has contributed to “social and economic value” as observed by a member of the not-for-profit organization (npo) le seppie (joe douglas in an interview with the authors, 2021). the project is situated in belmonte calabro, a village located 150 km north of calabria’s capital, reggio calabria. according to the italian strategia nazionale per le aree interne (snai), the area is one of italy’s “ultra-remote inner areas”, defined by demographic decline and limited access to public services. consequently, the people of belmonte received the project with hospitality, trust, and enthusiasm, and formalised their support through a memorandum of understanding (mou) between the municipality and our academic institution. crossing cultures has thus fostered international partnerships across universities, local municipalities, and community organisations, proving to be a vital bridge between theory and practice. this has previously been evidenced in peer-reviewed publications by the authors and endorsed by other writers (denickepolcher, 2020 & 2022, denicke-polcher & mcallister, 2022, williams, 2020). by engaging a diverse array of stakeholders — including students, residents, the npo le seppie, the municipality of belmonte, the italian architecture collective orizzontale, and refugee migrants — crossing cultures has addressed critical issues such as migration and depopulation while aiming to expand its impact through a network that promotes knowledge exchange, community resilience, and collaborative solutions between villages and academic institutions. drawing on nine years of experience working in belmonte (from 2016 to the present) and research into other selfgoverning initiatives that have successfully empowered communities and enhanced their resilience, we have developed a governance framework that supports communities of practice (cops). the cop formed in belmonte has resulted in immediate positive outcomes and has begun to foster lasting community bonds. these bonds are wellpositioned to address future social and spatial challenges (calissano et al., 2023). rural communities in calabria and across italy, as well as europe, encounter significant challenges such as migration, shrinking populations, and deteriorating infrastructure. the lack of long-term visions and clear guidance for these areas renders them susceptible to further decline. drawing from our experiences with the crossing cultures initiative, we argue that strong governance structures, which incorporate education, local participation, and practical, hands-on solutions, are vital for revitalising these regions. this paper reflects on how greater local involvement and the equality of sharing time and skills could empower communities and academia, equipping both with practical knowledge and leadership skills for future revitalisation efforts. our past workshops and practices, carried by the crossing cultures project, offer tested strategies that give insight into the concerns and how to build belonging and empowerment. we evaluated the project's effectiveness through an embedded case study approach, grounded in ethnographic and action-based research. this involved collecting qualitative data from a range of stakeholders who took part in the project between 2019 and 2022. this methodological approach enabled a dynamic interplay between practice and theory, allowing our on-the-ground observations to inform a broader conceptual framework. it identified gaps between the aim to empower residents through peer learning and capacity-building, and achieving community-led governance and long-term rural sustainability. denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 3 figure 1: belmonte calabro: marina and centro storico (image: la rivoluzione delle seppie) 2. practical and critical methods: the importance of village activation initiating selfgovernance the following describes crossing cultures as a case study based on workshops that foster a cultural and sociological understanding of a condition. supported by ethnographic action-based research conducted since 2016, we employed an inductive and deductive approach that reflects a sociological framework. this utilises theories of well-being and draws on the sociologists and political activists outlined below. furthermore, we outline the practical methods used to animate social engagement, and in so doing, create bonds of academic and local knowledge. we observed development patterns, which were compared with other self-governed community practices. from these, we developed a critical framework that brought together the research of social practitioners working in the fields of repair and revitalisation (krasney & tidball, 2015) and governance (ostrom, 2015). together with our ground-up practical research, we were able to form a framework to test what we had observed and further speculate on how to develop the project's resilience. our research is grounded in a practice-based methodology that integrates ethnographic action research with theoretical frameworks in sociology, governance, and community resilience. the reciprocal relationship between theory and practice is central to our approach: theoretical models such as ostrom’s theory of commons governance both informed and were refined through the project’s situated interventions in a calabrian village. rather than applying theory deductively or retrospectively, the process evolved iteratively. initial practical engagement, e.g., open workshops, the renovation of the casa di belmondo, and the studio south residency programme (discussed in more detail later), generated empirical insights that revealed patterns of interaction, governance gaps, and spatial-social needs. these observations led to the formulation of a four-stage framework, which was then tested against relevant theoretical lenses and comparable initiatives. in this sense, the research is methodologically hybrid. it synthesises deductive and inductive modes of inquiry to co-develop theory and practice. by doing so, it has produced situated knowledge that is both academically relevant and practically applicable, aiming to guide long-term governance and revitalisation strategies in similarly situated villages. the practical research spans the years from 2016 to the present (figure 2). the collection of data took four approaches. during the first summer workshop in 2019, we worked with the department of psychology at city university of london and health sciences at the university of warwick, uk, on a multi-disciplinary study and collected data from three groups of participants. twenty-five asylum seekers, locals, and students took part in in-depth interviews, which were later subjected to thematic analysis (calissano et al., 2023). for the second time in 2021, we conducted several interviews with local inhabitants of belmonte and “new-makers” to capture qualitative reflections on the project’s development by students who had spent a long-term onsite engagement with our first studio south residency denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 4 (denicke-polcher & mcallister, 2022). finally, the third qualitative data collection took place during the second student residency in 2022, using a multi-faceted approach. this consisted of field notes collected over eight weeks of the residency, student questionnaires at the end of the residency, and semi-structured focus groups conducted at three key points during the residency. lastly, we conducted three interviews with key local stakeholders to strategize future revitalisation. these included miranda colavolpe, the third generation of the local confectionery business colavolpe, and the ex-vice-mayor who had been instrumental in securing the mou. our critical method employed a four-stage framework to reflect on the achievements, patterns, and challenges of crossing cultures as a model, particularly in empowering residents through peer learning and capacity-building initiatives. however, we further outline in this paper the importance of developing self-governance strategies to build belonging and long-term resilience. the framework presented below is anticipated to serve as a blueprint for similarly situated villages facing depopulation. the stages build a hierarchical model, drawing on abraham maslow’s work on psychological health (maslow, 2017), martha nussbaum’s work on capabilities (nussbaum, 2013), krasny and tidball’s reflections on community activism (krasny and tidball, 2012), and elinor ostrom’s work on the commons (ostrom, 2015). it consists of a framework of four “stages,” which reflect on the work of the above theorists. it aids in guiding understanding and offers a method of directing the cops devised from observations of other self-governed initiatives that feature similar forms of community engagement. the project has collected extensive action-based research related to the first two stages. we hope to develop the final stages (3 and 4) and monitor their progress in the future. in short, the four stages are: stage 1: we noticed a potential tear in the cultural economy during our first encounter with the village. this was challenged by the economic pressure of employment, which drew the young southern italian population to the northern cities, and new migrants arriving on the shores. stage 2: we actively engaged in bringing a sense of belonging through making practices in the village. stage 3: we developed team building with new and existing locals to understand desires, limitations, and potentials. stage 4: we hoped to support an elected local council to support the existing municipal governance with community matters. to thoroughly test our research trajectory, we plan to involve public local bodies, like regional mayors, in a roundtable discussion with the project's key stakeholders. sharing insights from our various projects between 2016 and 2023 will enrich this discussion. the roundtable will extend the work developed in stages 1 and 2 and serve as a platform to verify, contribute to, and initiate exploration of stages 3 and 4 of our framework, focusing on the stewardship of local self-governance. we hope to gain insights and a broader, holistic understanding of sustainable practices and community resilience, ultimately guiding the development of cops and supporting cross-village networks for knowledge exchange and shared solutions. this approach aims to attract a younger demographic, including migrants, and explore co-production with universities, industries, and government to create strategies for rebuilding community resilience. analysis of the above and reflection on our framework has suggested coherence between practical and critical methods. still, more work was needed to identify the following steps to reach full village activation. outlining the four stages that focus on peer learning, capacity building, and sustainable practices, this paper provides insights into how cops can address the socio-economic challenges of rural regions as a closed-loop, sustainable proposition. the possibilities and difficulties we found are highlighted in the sections below, which identify the processes of negotiations and governance. denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 5 figure 2: project timeline with academic calendar years, onsite interventions, data collection points, and interconnected phases (diagram by the authors) 2.1. the role of the outsider: travelling without travelling during the first two stages of our work with the village, luigi provenzano, the former vice-mayor of belmonte, played a key role in fostering collaboration between the university and the municipality, culminating in signing the mou. this formal collaboration signalled a shift in local perception by staging it as a public event, inviting the entire village and professors from the universities of reggio calabria and cosenza. the presence of students and academics from the large city of london has profoundly impacted belmonte and reshaped how the local community values its village. the role of the london-based university has been to introduce young people from london as “outsiders”, which sparked a renewed sense of pride and engagement among the villagers. during a student film screening held in the village’s historic centre in 2017 (figure 3), luigi provenzano, vice-mayor of belmonte at the time, emphasised the significance of the students’ interest: “your research, point of view, and way of thinking about this village is very important for us, because it is different from the italian way of seeing things… the community of belmonte would not have been able to believe and see things as they can now.” similarly, young architect and photographer domenique guglielmo noted that through students' long-term engagement, “locals have been able to travel without travelling” (denicke-polcher & mcallister, 2022). the student’s presence created a space for exchange and reflection, enabling villagers to see their home through new eyes, fostering a deeper connection to their heritage and a belief in the village’s potential. denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 6 figure 3: film screening night in belmonte’s historic village centre (image: florian siegel, 2017) 2.2. establishing a community of practice (cop): growing a collaboration over time over time, the collaborative aspect of crossing cultures has played a crucial role in addressing the socio-spatial challenges of population decline and urban decay in belmonte. by bringing together architecture students, locals, and recently arrived migrants who share a common concern for belmonte’s future, a community of practice (cop) has developed. the participants' individual interests merged into a shared aim of revitalising belmonte. rooted in the dual objectives of repairing both the physical and social fabric, the cop progressed through four interconnected phases (figure 2). these phases have guided the project’s physical and imaginative outputs and reactivated the village (denicke-polcher & mcallister, 2022). the first phase (2016-2017) emphasized "a shared concern," fostering dialogue and small-scale collaborations between migrants and locals. from 2016 to 2021, the focus shifted to "stewarding the imagination," which centred on exchanging skills and ideas between students and the community, ultimately generating a new vision for belmonte. between 2017 and 2019, "practical skills" emerged, with participants working on construction projects that scaled up over time, including refurbishing a derelict building in the old village, the casa di belmondo, which later became the project’s headquarters. finally, from 2019 to 2022, the "policy design" phase materialized, with the support of local government and the expansion of the project’s influence through international networks. the project around the casa has since evolved into a model for integrating practical skills and policy within the framework of community-led development, positioning students as activist researchers. 2.3. framing the pedagogical approach: literature selection for a narrative review the pedagogical literature referenced in this paper was selected for its direct relevance to the aims, methods, and conceptual foundations of crossing cultures. rather than applying a systematic literature review protocol (e.g., prisma), we adopted a narrative review approach guided by three key criteria: thematic relevance, contextual alignment to our setting and pedagogical model, and conceptual contribution. as greenhalgh et al. (2018) argue, “the narrative review is not a poor cousin of the systematic review but a different and potentially complementary form of scholarship,” particularly in contexts where knowledge is complex, emergent, and situated. specifically, we selected sources to theorise learning through participation. they address the spatial and social integration of newcomers through pedagogical design practice, support reflection on community-based, co-created, and experiential models, and contribute to building a framework for rural revitalisation through educational engagement. denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 7 calissano et al. (2023) was selected as a core reference, offering a peer-reviewed pedagogical analysis of crossing cultures itself and a first-hand account of situated, iterative pedagogy rooted in action research and community coproduction. handley et al. (2006) provide a theoretical foundation for understanding learning through cops, which is a core framework in our proposed governance model and helps interpret the pedagogical dynamics in belmonte. marcher et al. (2017) offer a case study of the italian rural context and, thus, provide a comparative lens to crossing cultures. boccagni (2022) can be drawn on, as he brings a general critical perspective on the concept of “home”. grounded in an analysis of how asylum seekers housed in reception facilities in europe engage in home-making practices, boccagni emphasises that ‘home’ is non-static, a process which is negotiated and constructed. this resonates with our pedagogical focus on the creation of belonging and place-making through participatory design in rural belmonte. williams (2020) was selected for its pedagogical framing of learning through practice, reflecting on the challenges and affordances embedded in our teaching environments, such as workshops and residencies. we also reference our own published pedagogical reflections, which are methodologically and conceptually central to the project. these offer longitudinal insight into the evolution of our pedagogical model and, given the action research nature of the project, are essential to its iterative construction of knowledge. they acknowledge the reflexive dimension of the research, where teaching, practice, and theory are interwoven. taken together, the selected pedagogical literature aligns with broader discussions on cops, experiential learning, and integration through design. it offers a situated perspective from within the practice in belmonte and responds directly to the project’s dual role as both research inquiry and educational experiment forming a necessary part of the paper’s knowledge base. 2.4. literature review: recounting the role of cops for the local community creating a cop has played a crucial role in revitalising belmonte calabro, empowering participants, and reshaping the village's image. since 2016, the workshops have provided a space for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and skill development while fostering social ties within an inclusive group. through these interactions, the cop in belmonte has built social capital, enabling students, newcomers, and local community members to form new social networks over time. according to calissano et al. (2023), these connections have fostered relationships, trust, and a sense of belonging key elements for sustaining long-term revitalization efforts. further sources have been consulted to triangulate the hypothesis regarding the development of cops and the creation of belonging in belmonte. handley et al. (2006) support the finding that cops create social identity and belonging, along with the pedagogy associated with this social practice: “…learning is not simply about developing one’s knowledge and practice, but also involves a process of understanding who we are and in which communities of practice we belong and are accepted”. another initiative in calabria, which demonstrates how joint activities and events can foster trust and connections within the community, is camini jungi mundu, a small association near riace, located 130 km northeast of reggio calabria. this initiative has welcomed asylum seekers to repopulate the village of camini, leading to social integration and revitalising camini both socially and economically (marcher et al., 2017). in greece, mohandas (2018) similarly observed how small-scale architectural interventions helped asylum seekers forge a connection with a place, referring to it as ‘home’, and thus supporting the development of a sense of belonging. there are examples of organisations in italy that have developed along similar lines during the last ten years. one of these is la foresta, a long-term project by the design collective brave new alps, which eventually led to a community building as part of the rovereto train station in trentino. the project seeks to unite members of local communities using action research to animate, teach, and empower stewardship. much documentation on repairing and stewarding areas falling into work has also been developed outside italy, such as strengthening the commons through selfgovernance and citizen stewardship. for example, cooperative conservation america (cca), a public forum for denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 8 enhancing cooperative conservation in the united states, united people in securing local common assets after hurricane katrina in louisiana (today’s news, cooperative conservation, 2005). whilst the latter was born out of extensive damage to infrastructure and thus disrupted thousands of lives, smaller, humbler projects have worked with similar principles of repair of their communities to achieve local resilience. for instance, many small local self-governed projects in the united kingdom have developed since the latter half of the 20th century, such as city farms and community gardens, which have sought to repair the local social infrastructure through gardening and animal care (the federation of city farms & community gardens, 2020), intended for those seeking autonomy from the state while remaining part of public service infrastructure. these organizations focus on a shared approach to managing people, assets, and community concerns, and their strength comes not from their size or specific activities but from their ability to balance and manage this trilogy effectively. much of this thinking has been developed by political scientist elinor ostrom, who argued against hardin’s “tragedy of the commons” (hardin, 1968), which professed the depletion of shared resources if unfettered use prevailed. ostrom argued that if there were a common interest in shared resources, then humanity would strategise cooperation (ostrom, 2015). some of the operational strategies we employ on the project arose from the work of krasney and tidball (krasney & tidball, 2015), with places requiring repair after disasters, such as those caused by hurricane katrina. the practical and critical methods of ostrom, krasney & tidball have been influential in how we have perceived belmonte's concerns and critically addressed these concerns through our framework. like other self-governed projects outlined above, the cop in belmonte has allowed locals to share their cultural heritage while embracing new ideas and practices. we see the transmission of local culture as crucial in ensuring that reactivation efforts remain sensitive to local identity and values. for instance, students expressed interest in learning local crafts like basket weaving, visibly strengthening the locals' sense of pride and belonging. additionally, locals have learned new practices from newcomers, including during the 2020 covid-19 pandemic, when students gave english classes during their three-month residency. this co-learning process in belmonte has allowed locals to recognise newcomers as collaborators in revitalising their community, helping them adapt more readily to change. locals were invited to participate in a series of hands-on workshops lasting between one and two weeks. these took place in the old town during the summer months of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022. although local involvement was limited, we observed some transforming from passive bystanders into active “agents of change” capable of shaping their environment. there is great potential to build on this shift, as it enables locals to take control of their village’s future and fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility for their collective destiny. however, as local participation in these efforts has been sporadic, the nature of engagement between outsiders and locals needs to be more robust and clearly defined. we believe establishing clear terms of engagement earlier would have provided a continuous platform for locals to become more actively involved. despite fostering skill development and capacity building, only a small number of locals have participated in the cop. in summary, establishing a cop in belmonte has been essential for empowering locals and revitalising the village. however, the cop has not progressed enough to involve the local population deeply, with newcomers and students being the main participants. while it has fostered collaboration, it has missed opportunities for locals to share knowledge, preserve cultural identity, and gain new skills. though the crossing cultures project continues to advocate for fragile socio-material cultures as tools for urban regeneration, it has yet to involve locals to the point of self-sustainability, as this paper further explores through the introduction of four governance stages. 3. results: introducing governance stages and steppingstones reflecting on crossing cultures and similar initiatives, we have observed patterns emerging in how people activate space and place, and how events, motivations, negotiations, and goals converge over time. this illustrates the reciprocal influence of practice and theory. for instance, the npo invigorated the place through their understanding denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 9 of its cultural heritage, the students enhanced it through their knowledge of construction and collaboration, and orizzontale contributed through small construction projects and building renovation. in 2024, the vice mayor shared these insights with us, noting a period of stasis in the absence of the three aforementioned groups (luigi provenzano in an interview with the authors, 2024). observing those patterns has given insights into developing a proposal for governance stepping stones within the four stages to guide the successful development and redevelopment of cops. the stepping stones have generated a framework formulated after analysing the qualitative data from the workshops, events, and presentations. additionally, these are derived from other self-governance initiatives and cops that have worked to empower and build ethically resilient communities by drawing on the research of other notable practitioners in the field, such as ostrom and krasney & tidball. in this respect, the method was developed deductively after several years of inductive work between students, locals, and migrants. our practice-based research methods undertaken in belmonte calabro over the last nine years support the first two stages of these findings. however, they also provoke ethical responses that call for the project to be locally selfgoverned. the outsider has recognised the conditions causing a ‘rupture’ and set the practices in motion; it is now for the village to take responsibility for the project. the new self-governance framework weaves the individual's needs with the community's necessities over four stages. it is constructed over time and follows a pattern of scaling up, developing increasingly complex involvement in size and ambition as the project grows, where time and engagement are crucial to its positive development. in the following analysis, we have outlined the stages as themes. 4. discussion 4.1. stage 1: rupture drawing on krasney and tidball’s research on “broken places” (2015), nussbaum’s “creating capabilities” (2013), kaufman’s “capabilities and freedom” (2006) and “capabilities and well-being” (anand, hunter & smith, 2005), stage 1 involves mobilising people to actively engage in response to significant social or physical events that have disrupted the locality. these “ruptures” in the social or material fabric cause a tipping point and provoke community action to repair shared interests (krasney & tidball, 2015). they are events that affect people’s basic needs, impacting where they live and causing difficulty for them to move freely. at this point, the need for change is recognised, and whilst the “disrupted” may not be capable of effecting change, change is often led by a representative or steward within the community. in belmonte, this rupture was identified in 2016 as a need to address two concerns, one social and one material. italy saw an increased number of refugee migrants arriving at its southern shores. the larger neighbouring town of amantea, located only 7 km away from belmonte, hosted a large number of refugee migrants. at the same time, the demographic shift in belmonte became increasingly visible. since the 1950s, as part of italy’s post-world war ii developments, the marina of belmonte, south of the village, gradually became more populated. enabled by the road and railway, it provided easy access to cities beyond calabria: naples, rome, and milan. the surrounding hill towns, thus, emptied into the coastal towns, and the flow of young calabrians emptied into the cities of central and northern italy to find work. we conducted three drawing workshops with the children at the local primary school, each workshop one year apart (2016-2018). the children consistently illustrated ambitions of moving away from the village to pursue careers in the medical and legal fields, as well as the service industry. they showed little appreciation for craft or working in the local land industries, which are professions valued by the village elders. furthermore, when we interviewed the children at the local school, we heard their desire to leave and explore professions that took them away from the village. they showed little interest in working the land or developing trades based on local skills (figure 4). at the other end of the demographic scale, the elders had a wealth of local knowledge, cultural awareness, and skills. they denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 10 communicated this as a deep sense of place-making and belonging. if place-making were at the centre of our interests, we could see how, economically and geographically, the political hand was forcing the gap to widen between essential ingredients to success: a young, able population and a culturally rich heritage. figure 4: workshops with students and local primary school (image: jane mcallister, 2018) as architects and students, we entered at this point and began, with the help of the npo le seppie, who acted as stewards within the community, a program of work to understand the concerns and be available to work with the village. we were aware of the unintended power dynamics that came with our presence in the town and the new potential we brought in terms of skills, age, and connections beyond the village. reflecting critically on this early stage of engagement laid the groundwork for the development of our methodological approach, where situated practice and lived experience informed the theoretical models we later drew on particularly those addressing capabilities, resilience, and collective action. the challenge was to apply these advantages in a way that respected and gently supported the culturally rich environment we were engaging with. this started the process of activating the village. in the early stages of the project, somewhat driven by curiosity rather than following a structured methodology, we gained the trust of the local people over time (williams, 2020). in hindsight, this unstructured approach bears risks, but it is also the nature of its success. 4.2. stage 2: activation of place the second stage is “activation of place”, also described by krasny and tidball (2015) and nussbaum (2013). this comprises two stepping stones: the reimagination of memory and the creation of belonging and place-making (nussbaum, 2013). direct engagement with the place's history and culture creates an awareness of the new culture; together, they contribute to new placemaking. to do this, we valued the memories brought by the migrants and celebrated the deep history of the belmonte residents. if the goal was to encourage a young, diverse population to settle and thrive, then a common shared ground needed to be found at the intersection. in 2017, crossing cultures worked with the migrants for the second time, again introduced by the npo. this time, the workshops actively allowed their skills to emerge. students and refugee migrants made tailoring, carpentry, etc., of varying scales, which the migrants were experts on. the furniture-making activities introduced by the architecture collective orizzontale provided conversation pieces and became material gifts for the historic village centre (figure 5). festivities brought locals and migrants to share cultures and food (figure 6). denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 11 figure 5: furniture-making activity (image: florian siegel, 2017) figure 6: sharing cultures and food (image: jane mcallister, 2017) through making, sharing, and conversation, these activities constructed a shared history and cultural memory of local and distant places in the village. the ambition was to open and share the complexity of cultural backgrounds between new migrants arriving on the shore and those who had historically lived and worked the land in the municipality of belmonte. both material and social engagement with the mixed cultural background activated the place, representing the first stepping stone. calabria, with its mediterranean boundary and proximity to africa, has traditionally enjoyed the mix of cultures evidenced in its food, music, and customs, and, as such, is familiar with its neighbours’ customs. the workshop, with its multiple events, had the expected effect of drawing out skills and cultural preferences as well as building an openness to each other. it produced a “multi-cultural vision of how this space could potentially operate now and in the near future” (crossing cultures, 2018). if home is a site of memory and meaning (heathcote, 2012), we have successfully started to create a home at this stage. denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 12 figure 7: the casa after the first renovation (image: la rivoluzione delle seppie, 2019) figure 8: communal kitchen (image: la rivoluzione delle seppie, 2021) in 2019, the tangible work and creation of home grew in scale with the work on the casa, a derelict former nunnery. this represented an essential step in developing a shared sense of belonging, equating with the second stepping stone. the incremental renovation of the building, which many in the village still remember as active from their childhood, allowed new cultural contributions that could lead to a shared identity. orizzontale played a significant role not only as site manager over the years, but also in negotiating space and developing a unique formal language for the casa, which can represent this shared identity (figures 7 & 8). the multi-disciplinary study we conducted in 2019 evidenced a sense of belonging through the hands-on work on the casa and the act of jointly transforming it into a livable space (calissano et al., 2023). students and migrants noted that the permanence of the casa – in contrast to the previously made mobile structures – heightened the feeling “to belong” beyond the duration of the workshop. they explained that there “would always be space for them to go back to, allowing belmonte calabro to keep on growing” (calissano et al., 2023). at the time, a local described the integral success of the project: “they all created a big family. they stay all together without differences, they seem like a big community when they are together” (calissano et al., 2023). in 2020, the casa became the place of the first student residency over three months. though the residency occurred during the covid lockdown, it allowed students and locals to interact more closely in the village and transform the casa into a space with the potential to connect locals and outsiders. for example, locals visited to watch football denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 13 games jointly with the students on a large screen. in 2021, a construction workshop continued the refurbishment of the casa, creating a new glazed courtyard (figure 9), which was a fruitful collaboration between students and local craftsmen. the students’ innovative design endeavours were met with the expertise of a local glazer and a carpenter. working together, fresh ideas were exchanged with traditional local craft skills. initially, such collaborations were facilitated through the npo, but students soon made professional connections and friendships with the locals on their own terms. despite these successful connections between students and locals, the project lacks an extension or handover from the leadership of le seppie, orizzontale, and the university, with their students, to involve the locals more continuously. one of our graduates, joe douglas, and several of le seppie’s volunteers remained in the village after we had completed one of our practice-based research residencies in 2020. joe spent three years (2020-23) in belmonte, nurturing good relations with people in the village to develop an understanding of how the locals might assume greater strategic authorship to form a collective (joe douglas in an interview with the authors, 2022). however, the project and its potential have somehow stumbled on encountering “stage 3: negotiations and communities”. joe mentioned that many of the locals were quite “shy” about taking a prominent role. we realised that our ambitions for the village, developing “greater strategic authorship”, were far more complex than we had imagined. figure 9: local craftsmen and students working together in the casa (image: la rivoluzione delle seppie, 2021) 4.3. stage 3: negotiations and communities the third stage, “negotiations and communities”, is formed by three stepping stones: establishing affordances (gibson, 2014), negotiating concerns, and building accountabilities (ostrom, 2015). according to gibson and ostrom, a community organisation reaches this stage when its identity and involvement are clarified alongside the direction of the self-governed initiative, its structure, rules, and goals. within this, there can be provision for “nested” activities, such as workshops that provide satellite activities. orizzontale provided one such nested activity in belmonte; their practice in rome has autonomy, but they brought design activities and skills to bear on and animate the project in belmonte. to reiterate, the project aimed to form partners between locals, le seppie, and our students, developing strategies for a new productive economy involving creative initiatives for the village through the socio-pedagogic engagement of young local people, students, and the migrant population. the first stepping stone, establishing the community’s “affordances” (gibson, 2014) in relation to their concerns, was partially revealed by the small projects developed over the years, such as festivals and workshops where public furniture was co-authored. most telling, however, were denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 14 the conversations formed after the long-term residencies between students, le seppie, and locals, where the different collaborators began to more fully understand the context and nature of the villagers’ concerns, which enabled them to articulate and, thus, form a perspective on their concerns (stepping stone 2). these conversations began to create a good understanding of the capabilities of the locals in terms of ambitions, skills, and finance. for example, the design project by former student jim wyatt gosebuch proposed a cooperative tomato processing factory for belmonte (figure 10). drawing on the dispersed tomato production by the villagers, the factory would be a way of generating sustainable income for the village. presenting his work to the villagers helped to understand their reservations about sharing traditions and family secrets, and developed a sense of how first to share and then hand over to stewards in the village to prepare the grounds for such a cooperative. on a larger scale, such an approach would enable sustained, continued development, create strategies for collaboration and empowerment to articulate concerns, and promote systems of self-governance and skilling. ultimately, this would provide employment and settlement in the village by building accountability, which represents steppingstone three. figure 10: cooperative tomato factory by student jim wyatt gosebruch (image: jim wyatt gosebruch, 2022) 4.4. stage 4: conflict resolution and beyond the institution the fourth stage is formed by four steppingstones: devise rules to guide effective negotiation, uphold accountability and monitoring, agree on sanctions if rules are violated, and devise a conflict resolution strategy. fundamental to this next stage of development was the renovation of the casa to form the village headquarters as a public room and a house, as well as to share and promote good practices, confidence, and belonging for the village. for this to happen, the casa needed to be viewed as a shared resource for and by all, thus also be the responsibility of a shared but defined body with equal partnerships, which would fulfil the first stepping stone of stage 4. this would establish clear boundaries of involvement for the npo, the students, and the village, and address the second stepping stone, upholding accountability and monitoring. after the second student residency in 2022, we started discussing the need for house rules to ease living and working in the casa during crunch times. for this to work as a shared resource, a manifesto is suggested that outlines concerns, a steering group, and a system of accountability, monitoring, and resolution. this opportunity for debate would allow congruence between the resource environment and its governance structure or rules, where decisions would be made denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 15 collectively and appropriate to each party’s capability and dignity (stepping stone 3). successful precedent projects, such as the project la foresta mentioned above in section 2.3, should be drawn on to develop the last three stepping stones: accountability, sanctions, and conflict resolution. for crossing cultures, the defined partnerships have yet to be achieved to create the project as a shared resource; instead, although cycles of positive outcomes were undoubtedly achieved, there were also cycles of dispute with few shared reference points regarding concerns, structure, rules, and goals to work with. although much of the background research and development is in place, we argue that to optimise the project would be to build on the trust and good practices already developed between stakeholders; revisit the village concerns and set up a framework which allows processes for negotiation and conflict resolution. currently, the casa, along with its partners — the npo, the students, and the village — has only partially developed stage 3 and has yet to implement shared governance systems. this gap makes it difficult to fully address the internal conflicts that have emerged within the partial system. as a result, progress toward stage 4 and the ultimate goal of achieving social-ecological resilience has been halted prematurely. while the npo has been highly successful in increasing visibility and developing strategies for community practices, the project's premise should empower the village to achieve autonomy, resilience, and scale-up. there are reports from the village expressing a willingness to advance the project to the next stage. to accomplish this, we argue that shared governance must be established, and common resources clearly defined and defended. 5. conclusions since 2016, the architecture initiative crossing cultures has showcased how universities can redefine architectural practice in the mediterranean region. by being embedded in a specific location and returning year after year, the university has played a key role in the regeneration of the depopulated village of belmonte. by bringing students and attracting other newcomers to this region – itself a historically significant cultural crossroads – crossing cultures has pioneered a replicable new model of collaboration and sustainable development for rural areas. in an interview in 2021 (denicke-polcher & mcallister, 2022), luigi provenzano spoke about the success of crossing cultures and his vision for creating a network of villages in the region: “the presence of students in belmonte has reshaped the image of our village, not only in calabria but nationally. other municipalities have contacted me, recognizing that this experience could breathe new life into abandoned villages. if replicated in other parts of the region, this could revitalize culture, study, and research in the south.” luigi further emphasized calabria's unique characteristics; its scattered infrastructure, consisting mostly of villages, with few towns or cities. he saw the integration of students living amongst the local population, alongside new technologies enabling remote work, as a model for sustaining underpopulated areas. our collaboration with the municipality of belmonte calabro, the local npo le seppie, the architecture collective orizzontale, and numerous local contributors has been instrumental in creating a cop. this collective effort, built on shared ambitions, has reactivated the region by drawing on its rich history, unique biodiversity, and complex socioeconomic landscape. every participant has been recognised as essential to the project’s success. over time, this collaborative process has fostered trust, both within the group and with the local community. the scale of the tangible outputs from furniture to a room, a building, and a public square has grown, as has the duration of the student engagement. in 2016, students visited belmonte twice for a field trip and summer workshop. by 2020, a student residency was developed, extending the presence of students in the village to three months and further contributing to the village's revitalisation. in this context, architectural education became a powerful tool for transforming a depopulated village situated in one of italy’s “ultra-remote inner areas”. it allowed for the recognition, research, and analysis of the “rupture”, identified in stage 1, ultimately leading to the “activation of place” through architectural and ethnographic practice in stage 2. however, to fully understand the impact of placemaking in denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 16 activating the village, we look towards the following stages of empowerment: testing the powers of negotiation, feedback loops, and conflict resolution, whereby the villagers assume the role of stages 3 and 4. with this paper, we want to demonstrate that long-term success and sustainable engagement require a governance framework that secures local participation and fosters a sense of ownership. the proposed governance model, based on the key principles of four stages, offers a structure for further analysis and refinement through real-world testing. the recent interview with miranda colavolpe and luigi provenzano (interview with the authors, 2024) allowed us to state our position and request solidarity with the next stage. it confirmed their enthusiasm for us to continue the project, collectively develop the next stage, and help source locals to take an active role in its governance. “we can think about [who the local stewards are], but we need some time to effectively understand who the stakeholders could be and how they associate with the village as groups of ‘nested project’.” the questions arising from the above interview included whether forming a network could aid social and economic resilience, which existing places in belmonte already offer people economic, social, and educational support, and if there are existing people who could act as representatives of each enterprise. our graduate joe douglas, who we consider a “steward”, presented these questions to members of the village, contextualising them in their own practices as a starting point. next, we will return to calabria to invite key stakeholders to a roundtable for feedback from collaborators, local representatives, academics, and public local bodies, including mayors of nearby villages. this aims to validate and refine our governance strategy, creating a toolkit to empower other villages. while we have partnered with stakeholders committed to the village’s growth, we want to inspire them to become stewards who facilitate collaboration among all parties. to enhance local governance, we plan to further promote consolidation and networking among small enterprises in the village, which we have termed “resilient”. here, we have observed two successful approaches: the first operates geographically at the edge of the village, providing visibility and industry through effective governance practices, mentoring, and employment, such as the colavolpe factory. their approach takes the form of “industry outreach”, fostering networks within the village and beyond through employment, outreach, purchase of ingredients, and sales. the second approach involves conviviality, family skills, and connections, exemplified by the antico café murano and its family members. this promotes networking within the village through familial skills and friendliness, and, especially for newcomers, serves as the physical and social gateway to the village. both models enhance the village’s resilience, and their interrelationship encompasses all four framework stages outlined above. in this context, our initial task will be to identify other initiatives characterised by “industry outreach” and “social gateway”, along with the stakeholders leading them. subsequently, we must engage these stakeholders to assume the role of stewards and caretakers of belmonte as an enterprise. ultimately, the aim is to test the proposed governance model and its role in bridging cultures in similarly situated villages. as luigi provenzano reflected, expanding our framework to other villages in this region could be a meaningful step towards “revitalising culture, study, and research in the south.” acknowledgments the abstract of this paper was presented at the landscapes across the mediterranean (crossmed) conference – 1st edition, which was held on the 11th 13th of december 2024. we want to express our gratitude to all students involved in this project for their confidence and bravery in joining crossing cultures in calabria. we want to thank our collaborators, particularly the members of le seppie and giuseppe grant from orizzontale. thanks to the local craftspeople and community members, particularly luigi provenzano and domenique guglielmo, whose observations were instrumental in writing this paper. denicke-polcher / environmental science and sustainable development pg. 17 funding declaration this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors/individuals. ethics approval the authors declare that research ethics approval for all participants’ involvement used for this paper was provided by the ethics board of city university of london (ethics eth1819-1383) in 2019 and extended by the ethics review panel of london metropolitan university in 2022. conflict of interest the author(s) declare that there is no competing interest. references anand, p., hunter, g., & smith, r. 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